“So, Mr. Green, do you think those Orcs will take the bait?”
Swish.
“Of course.”
Inside the dilapidated hostel, Green drew the dust-laden curtains, blocking out the sunlight and plunging the cramped, claustrophobic room into darkness. “With Your Highness’s beauty, you are naturally the choice cut of meat in the eyes of those Orcs.”
Green chuckled, finding that the strategy of using the Princess as bait was a tactic that never seemed to fail.
“You—never mind!”
Hearing Green’s “compliment,” Teresa’s face showed little joy; instead, a flush of crimson crept up her cheeks. She let out a huffy snort and turned her head away in a fit of pique. “Honestly, Mr. Andy, you didn’t reuse some ‘Honey Trap’ on purpose, did you?” she asked pointedly.
“Honey trap?” Andy looked at the two of them, utterly bewildered, not quite catching the subtext of their exchange.
“The last time we ambushed the Barbarian army, we relied on Her Highness to lure out the Barbarian King. Well, even though in the end the Barbarians didn’t fall for it and actually surrounded us instead…”
Green looked at the fuming Princess with amusement and shook his head. This Princess… although she had become quite capable and even displayed a general’s poise after everything she’d been through, at her core… she was still just a child.
“Still, an Emperor like this isn’t so bad.”
Green narrowed his eyes, carefully sensing the conditions inside and outside the room. Although he wasn’t leaking any mana, his transcendental hearing gave him the ability to perceive everything happening in the hostel.
Within a few breaths, Green had confirmed the details of the premises. “I see, that Orc staff officer didn’t lie… the owner is indeed very familiar with him. Heh, how could an informant not be familiar with his own boss?”
Green wasn’t surprised by this. “I wonder what excuse they’ll use later to drag Her Highness off to the General’s estate?”
Holding his parchment scroll, Green continued to jot down notes and sketches of their daily life, looking every bit the traveling bard.
“I don’t know the specific method, but Your Highness, please be extremely careful later.” Andy looked at Teresa with a solemn expression. “Although the magical devices developed by our Chamber of Commerce can temporarily halt the signal tower monitoring and even the defensive arrays in General Love’s estate, we still cannot be careless, lest the General has other hidden cards.”
The former Chief of Staff no longer spoke with his previous humility. Instead, his words carried a trace of mature stability, his earnest reminders like a parent giving a thousand instructions to a mischievous child.
Teresa didn’t feel the slightest bit of annoyance. In fact, in her eyes, Andy’s image had begun to overlap with a certain familiar face, bringing her a rare warmth in these difficult days.
Since being exiled by Father, how long has it been since I’ve experienced this kind of concern? Mr. Green occasionally gives me instructions, but that feels more like banter between friends, not this parental-like care.
Teresa didn’t dislike the feeling. Her vision blurred slightly as fragments of her life in the Capital flickered through her mind. Her mother’s laughter, her father’s kindness…
Clang.
She gripped the royal sword at her waist. “I will take it all back,” Teresa’s eyes flashed. “I will save Father and the Empire from that female magician’s hands!”
“Mr. Andy, please lend me your strength. In return,” Teresa’s voice grew fervent, “Mr. Green and I will capture General Love alive for you.”
Capturing a Legend alive was infinitely more difficult than killing them. Just as they had faced Antonio’s self-destruction in the fortress hall—even with Green manifesting his Apostle form, he had been unable to stop the destruction of the floating battleship’s core.
And now, Teresa had to risk herself again, relying on two Legends, Green and Andy, to complete this near-impossible challenge amidst the layers of Orc defenses.
“However…” Teresa paused. Having grown up significantly, she was no longer a simple child who measured the world only by abstract concepts of justice and honor. Her expression became solemn as she probed, “Mr. Andy, I wonder if you could explain why we must capture General Love alive?”
“If it’s for revenge, wouldn’t it be much easier and more convenient to just kill him?”
Despite having heard the potential reasons from Green, Teresa was now skillfully employing negotiation techniques to get the definitive answer from Andy himself.
“Revenge?” Andy was silent for a long time, then slowly shook his head. “Yes, Your Highness, I think of avenging the Commander and my brothers in the Eighth Legion every waking moment. But before that, I must know the truth.”
“How did our ‘venerable and great’ Marshal conspire with the Orcs to set up the old Commander? And not only that…” Andy became more agitated as he spoke. The face that could endure the loss of a Legend’s dignity to bow to Orcs was now trembling uncontrollably.
“I want to tear off that Orc ‘hero’s’ mask! A hero? Heh, how can a treacherous, backstabbing villain be called a hero?”
Not just killing the man, but destroying his legacy? Green smiled slightly. “This is indeed excellent story material.”
Swish.
“I see, Mr. Andy. Then allow me to lend you a hand. After all, as a bard, it’s perfectly normal to know how to script a revenge drama.”
Whoosh!
A gust of wind blew the curtains up. Under the bright moonlight, several figures were moving outside.
Bang! Bang!
A sharp knocking at the door. “Open up! We are the Kingdom Gendarmerie! Listen up, those inside—the contraband you delivered contained magical eavesdropping equipment. I suspect you are spies sent by the Empire!”
Spies? Green rolled his eyes. “Why are the tropes always the same old cliches?”
“If a trope is old, doesn’t that just mean it’s effective?” Teresa said with a beaming smile, picking up a communication crystal and pressing it firmly.
Sizzle.
“Commander?” Colonel Ryan’s cynical face was etched with exhaustion. “Our men are ready. Once you begin your move, we will draw attention outside to prevent the defense force from successfully activating the barrier arrays.”
“Heehee, these Orc magical technologies are always like this.” Teresa nodded with satisfaction. “At first glance, the functions are complete and the technical level is high, but they fall short in the details. It’s just…”
Her tone became heavy mid-sentence. “Our Imperial Military Intelligence Department hasn’t realized for all these years that the biggest weakness of the Orc defense line is the inability to activate internal and external defenses simultaneously. This reflects the current state of the Empire.”
The Imperial Army that, in storybooks, was always invincible and brilliant… was actually just a fading shadow of its past glory. Thinking of the decay she had witnessed in the Capital and the border guards who were nearly collapsing due to budget cuts, Teresa’s mood grew complex.
“You mustn’t lose heart, Your Highness,” Andy consoled her quickly. “It was only because we’ve been smuggling for so long and have seen so much that we discovered the flaw. The Orcs claim their defensive arrays are impregnable, but they cannot defend inside and out at once.”
“So, once we infiltrate General Love’s estate and notify Colonel Ryan, even if the defense line the Great Shaman built is as perfect as he claims, it is destined to fail against a pincer attack from within and without!”
The thought of obtaining a “human witness” and washing away the years of stigma from the old Commander and his comrades made Andy incredibly excited.
BAM!!!
Just as they were in the middle of their heated discussion, the room door was kicked open. Orcs in gendarme uniforms rolled out a parchment and announced loudly: “By order of Commander Love, humans, you are under arrest! Do not offer futile… eh?”
The Orc gendarme blinked in confusion halfway through his sentence. He didn’t hear the expected roar of anger, the questioning of “but the Staff Officer promised us,” nor was there any desperate begging. There wasn’t even any emotional agitation.
Swish.
He saw the three people in the room raise their hands in perfect cooperation.
“Alright, Officer. We surrender.”
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