Building up a gang was just too slow.
The Twelve Knights chose to take direct control; with their strength, it was all too easy to crush the slum gangs, then bring along the subdued ones to conquer other places.
Aililan arrived lightly at the flower garden.
Theresa was collecting cuckoo dew honey, her brows gently furrowing whenever the sounds of scuffles echoed now and then from the slums.
“Miss Theresa!”
“You are… Miss Aililan?”
“It’s only been one night apart, and Miss Theresa has already forgotten about me? That’s truly a heartbreaking thing!”
“Miss Aililan, is there something you need from me?”
“Can’t I look for you for no reason?”
“That’s not it, I didn’t mean it that way. It’s just that the slums have gotten rowdy again for reasons unknown, maybe the gangs are fighting over territory again! I only hope that you’ll be careful, just in case!”
“Theresa.”
Aililan chuckled softly and said, “What if I told you there’s a chance it’s my people seizing the gangs’ turf?”
Theresa sprang up abruptly.
She looked utterly incredulous.
“What, you?”
“But… aren’t you a doctor?”
“Theresa, have you ever seen a doctor who goes around with two bodyguards?” Aililan had no intention of hiding the matter.
She did what she did—why bother covering it up? In the game, perhaps the two of them were lovers, or maybe they once had a close, inseparable relationship.
But the Aililan here was no longer the one in the game, and she hadn’t fallen for this blind girl yet. There was no need to worry too much about the other’s opinion.
Theresa looked a little lost, asking, “Miss Aililan, why are you doing this? Do you realize this might hurt innocent people?”
Aililan shrugged, replying with a calm smile, “Remember what I asked you yesterday? Medicine can’t save the slums, and the people here can’t save themselves either, the rot goes all the way through. The gangs are at least half the cause.”
“Miss Aililan, I understand what you mean. I didn’t mean to criticize you, but you should also know how things are in the slums, many people here make their living in gray areas. If you just wipe the gangs out, lots of people might lose the work they depend on.”
“Theresa, have you considered, some people may work in those gray areas, but others want to escape this quagmire and live in the sunlight. Should they be chained to the mud by those gangs, their yearning for light held back?”
“I…”
Theresa opened her mouth, then finally bowed her head and said, “That’s something I haven’t thought about. Perhaps you’re right, good people shouldn’t be bound by the mire.”
“Theresa, don’t you have the ability ‘Heart’s Scales,’ able to weigh a person’s virtue and evil? My actions might implicate innocent people, so why not try weighing the good and evil of what I’m doing?”
“Can… can I?” Theresa asked softly.
“Of course you can.”
“Then I’ll risk being impolite.”
Theresa very much wanted to know what sort of person this girl, who had suddenly barged into her lonely world, really was.
A phantasmal scale appeared, strands of mysterious power reaching out to Aililan; she felt as if her soul was being peered into.
A moment later.
A look of surprise suddenly surfaced on Theresa’s face.
“How can this be?”
Theresa muttered in a daze.
Aililan asked, “What’s wrong?”
Theresa took a deep breath, but for some reason, a faint upward curve appeared at the corner of her mouth, and she whispered, “I saw a purity beyond compare, and a truly kind heart.”
At the doorway, Renata pursed her lips.
Pure? Of course!
You should see who’s standing in front of you, it’s none other than the Saint of Chastity, one of the Seven Virtues Saints of the Chanting Church. If she’s not pure, then the sky might as well fall!
Aililan smiled and waved her hand, saying, “Just a bit of virtue, not worth mentioning.”
Theresa shook her head repeatedly, excitedly saying, “It’s not just a bit of virtue, you are the kindest girl I’ve ever seen.”
She was a blind girl.
Her world was all darkness and emptiness, yet it seemed a beam of light shone within her heart, the girl before her was as clear as a gemstone.
What kind of girl must she be, with such a beautiful soul?
She must be beautiful!
But unfortunately, she couldn’t see.
Aililan helplessly smiled again, and asked once more, “So do you still have doubts now?”
Theresa quickly shook her head. “No more, and I want to apologize for my earlier rudeness.”
“No need to apologize. I hear Miss Theresa’s honey water is famous in Atester City. Would you sell me a few bottles to try?”
“How could I sell it? Miss Aililan, however much you’d like, I’ll prepare for you.”
“If I drink your honey water for free, are you going to go hungry today just to show me?”
“I…”
Theresa’s cheeks instantly flushed red, but Aililan casually tossed out two silver coins, which spun and rolled across the table before stopping.
“Miss Aililan, that’s too much, one bottle is only two copper coins.”
“The extra is your reward.”
Theresa hesitated for a moment.
But she accepted the two silver coins.
Still, Aililan kept saying her honey water was delicious. Why did it sound a little strange?
Evening came.
The Twelve Knights regrouped.
In a single day, they’d wiped out three gangs and recruited over a hundred underlings, but there were over a dozen gangs in the slums, involved in smuggling, extortion, kidnapping, human trafficking and all kinds of crimes. Wiping them all out was no small task!
After discussion, the twelve decided to stay in the slums for now; otherwise, they’d never complete the mission Aililan assigned them within three days.
Aililan thought it over and instructed, “You must screen the gang members. In a place like this, it’s unrealistic to expect them all to be clean, but at the very least, no truly wicked people are allowed in your ranks.”
The twelve nodded and accepted the order.
Everything was proceeding smoothly.
Among adventurers, each of the twelve would be either a leader or a vice-captain; dealing with these little gangs was nothing less than overwhelming force.
On the second night.
More than half the slum gangs had already been swept away.
Knight Arkernard, to complete the Saintess’s mission, led a midnight raid against a rival gang, only to arrive at their turf when..
“Stand where you are!”
“I am Betiliana, captain of the Military Police.”
“You are already surrounded by the Military Police. Drop your weapons and surrender immediately.”
Knight Arkernard was shocked: “What? Why are the Military Police here?”
A place like the slums.
The Military Police either ignore it or come in full force, does that make sense?
Arkernard didn’t have time to think. Despite being gravely injured, he fought his way out of the siege, because he knew he could not let anyone find out that the Saintess was running gangs in the slums.
If he were caught, he would choose loyalty, no matter the cost.