They stopped outside the borders of the Laurent Marquisdom.

“We’ve arrived, Princess Liana,” Minoga said.

Liana stepped down from the carriage. From here, she could see the entrance in the distance.

“Are we trying to avoid the inspection? Worried that our sudden arrival will alert them?” Liana said.

“Mn, so we need to prepare a little.” Minoga looked at the distant border. “The security has become much tighter. I wonder if it’s to guard against demonkind, or if they ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) have other plans.”

Minoga swiped her hand through the air, and a door appeared in front of them.

“Although this can let us directly enter, it will inevitably leave traces of magic. In the current situation, a sudden, unfamiliar magical fluctuation will definitely be detected and investigated,” Minoga said.

“Then we need to hurry even more.” Liana put on a mask to disguise herself, preventing others from noticing anything unusual at first glance.

They arrived inside Laurent’s borders. It wasn’t much different from the Venus Dukedom. The people in the marquisdom didn’t seem to be affected, still trading and sitting at their doorsteps chatting about gossip, just like before.

After today, perhaps they would no longer have this chance.

As Liana passed a teahouse, she heard a group of young girls commiting flower-craziness1犯花痴 (fàn huā chī), fawning over an attractive person. over Karen.

“Have you heard? Lord Karen recently defeated another group of bandits and saved a convoy from them! And he also properly buried the guards who died in the attack.”

“Yeah, yeah! The last time I was traveling far from home, I was also saved by Lord Karen! He’s really amazing, and so handsome and gentle!”

“Lord Karen has been appearing frequently lately. After all, aren’t they saying that demons are about to revive? For our safety, Lord Karen often patrols outside. I’ve had more chances to see Lord Karen too!”

“Karen...” Liana muttered.

From their conversation, Liana extracted some useful information. Karen was the main force dealing with bandits recently, and the people killed by the bandits were also “properly handled.”

But this “handling”...

Liana had to put a question mark on that. Really handled? How were they handled? Being used as feed for demonkind was also a way of “handling.”

Moreover, Karen had only recently become this active. It was highly likely he was looking for food for the demon.

“Sephirena, do you remember how to get to that place from your memory?” Liana asked.

Sephirena shook her head. However, even if she didn’t know the way, she remembered the place’s name. And Minoga, who was beside her, definitely knew the routes around here well. She just needed to tell Miss Minoga the name.

“Angu. Miss Minoga, do you know this place?” Sephirena asked.

“Angu?” Minoga nodded. As a Judge, she naturally had knowledge of all the various places in the kingdom. “It’s not too far from here, but we can’t travel at high speed. It will probably take about a day’s journey.”

“A day’s time?”

“Mn, but Princess Liana, you don’t need to worry too much about the time. Our tracks won’t be exposed that quickly. After they discover them, they’ll also need time to investigate. By the time they realize something is wrong, we’ll have already reached our destination,” Minoga said.

“Let’s go. Don’t waste time,” Liana said.

“Mn.”

They set off again, heading toward their destination.

Just as Liana had overheard, after leaving the small town, Liana saw Karen’s figure. He was currently leading an injured convoy back.

“Lord Karen!” The young girls’ cheers echoed through the sky.

A satisfied expression appeared on Karen’s face. He really enjoyed this, the feeling of being surrounded, of being the center of everyone’s attention.

“The bandits have been repelled by me! For now, no more bandits will attack this city. Although I’m reluctant to leave, I must head to the next location.” Karen said loudly, causing many young girls to scream in adoration. “Right now, it’s not just bandits. We might also face attacks from the demon race. So, if it’s not necessary, I ask that you please stay safely at home.”

Where some were happy, others were naturally sad. On the carriages being brought back, many people were weeping. They had inevitably suffered casualties during the attack and had lost their loved ones.

“Princess Liana, what do you think?” Minoga asked.

“Is it possible that Karen is in cahoots with those bandits?” Liana proposed her idea. “That would seem more logical, wouldn’t it?

“If they were really just bandits, with the frequency that Karen is dealing with them, the bandits would definitely go into hiding. They wouldn’t want to run into such a lord head-on.

“And if this happened too often, the bandits would take a break to avoid crashing into the muzzle of a gun.2撞上枪口 (zhuàng shàng qiāng kǒu), to run right into danger. In serious cases, some might even quit the business.

“After all, Karen’s status isn’t low. No bandit would be stupid enough to confront the marquisdom directly. If they were working together, then they wouldn’t need to worry about any of this. They would just need to follow Karen’s orders to scare people and attack convoys.”

Sephirena continued along Liana’s line of thought. “Then, Karen would step in to ‘save’ them. He gains a good reputation and the support of the masses, and the people fooled into being bandits and the knights who perished in battle, become food for the demon. Is that it, Princess Liana?”

Liana nodded. Only in this way could he have a steady supply of food for the demon. Otherwise, there wouldn’t even be enough bandits for Karen to kill. Once all the bandits were wiped out, finding suitable food would become extremely difficult and troublesome.

Especially in this special situation, if people just vanished for no reason, it would definitely arouse suspicion and attention. So this was the best solution.

“Let’s hope this is just our speculation,” Liana bit her lip. Would someone really lose their mind and go crazy like this?

Liana didn’t know. For now, she could only go and see with her own eyes.

“Let’s go. If it’s true, we might be able to save a few more lives.” Liana’s tone was a bit heavy.

When an innocent life vanished before her, Liana felt a trace of powerlessness and gravity.

“Mn.”

Minoga and the others continued toward Angu.

“Princess Liana, someone is following us,” Minoga said after they had traveled for a while.

“Bandits?” Liana glanced out the window and saw carriages appearing from all directions, surrounding them.

“This formation... it basically confirms our previous speculation was correct.” Liana’s expression darkened.

At a time like this, to dare attack another convoy while waving big flags and beating big drums3大张旗鼓 (dà zhāng qí gǔ), doing something with great fanfare or on a large scale.... This was unnatural.

Not to mention, Karen had just shown his face nearby. Unless they had a pit in their brains, they wouldn’t do something like this.

“We’re heading to the same destination, after all. It’s normal that Karen would target us. He’s most likely treating us as prey, preparing an extra meal for the demon.”

Liana thought for a moment. “Minoga, hide for now.”

“Okay.” Minoga nodded and disappeared. She had already assessed the strength of the people surrounding them. No one was capable of threatening Liana, or rather, threatening Princess Sephirena.

Liana tilted her head, looked at Sephirena, and said, “You have to protect me well, my guardian knight.”

Sephirena froze for a moment.

Liana could tell that Sephirena was even more nervous than she was.

Liana then smiled and waved her hand. “Don’t be so nervous, I’m just joking with you. They’re just some ordinary bandits, it won’t be a problem.”

“Oh...” So she was just joking?

Still, she really did have to protect Princess Liana.

“Here they come. I’m very sensitive to pain, you know...” Liana watched as the other party’s carriage slammed directly into their own.

The violent jolt nearly made Liana fall over.

Immediately after, a sharp blade slashed through the window. “Hand over your valuables!”

“I’m sorry, but the most valuable thing here... is me. Unfortunately, I already have someone I like, so I can’t hand myself over to you,” Liana said, raising her hand. A crystal longsword appeared in her grasp.

Without any hesitation, Liana directly severed the blade that had been thrust in.

Liana would show no mercy to people like this.

Liana’s action completely enraged the other party. Liana could smell a distinct magical fluctuation. Next, what she’d be facing wouldn’t be blades, but magic.

A fireball ignited the carriage, but Liana and Sephirena had already retreated outside long before.

“They’ve got some skill. Be careful,” the bandits whispered among themselves.

“They can use some mid-level magic. Considered good ‘cargo’. Preferably alive.”

“We’re being completely looked down on.” Liana looked at Sephirena beside her. “They’re no better than beasts. No need to hold back.”

“I understand.” This was the best opportunity to prove herself in front of Princess Liana.

Sephirena raised her hand. The flames that were still burning suddenly gathered in her palm. She grasped the empty air, and a wooden bow appeared in her hand.

She lightly drew the bowstring. 【Fire Arrow】

The flaming arrow shot toward the enemy.

The equipment in their hands was extremely fine, all of it had magic stones embedded in them.

The opponent raised a shield to defend, but Sephirena’s arrow easily pierced through their defense.

The scorching flames ignited their bodies.