“Miss, are we a little…” Holly looked ahead at the refugees who seemed terrified.
They completely forgot to dodge to the side and chose to turn and run instead!
The current situation… was that the carriage was chasing those panicked, crying refugees as they fled forward!
“Remember, weakness is not the capital to coerce others; strength is~”
Having just witnessed such a bloody scene, the Lady seemed completely unaffected, even with a slight smile at the corner of her mouth as she patted the shoulder of the girl in front of her.
For the first time, Holly felt a kind of… heartfelt… familiar fear towards this Lady before her.
‘Huh? Why… did I feel this kind of fear towards the Lady?’
‘Is it… because of her attitude of not treating human lives as lives?’
“Before, you also told me… the place you used to stay was a peaceful, tranquil world, but this place is different from the world in your memory.”
Ileya crossed her arms, her tone carrying a hint of instruction.
Holly’s memory of the village was similar to the rural countryside of her past life, and after leaving the village… she had been following Ileya, personally killing people, handling incidents…
In her own eyes, perhaps she had become mature and steady enough to stand on her own.
But in reality… Miss Holy Sword Bearer was still a fledgling under the wings of her master and the Lady.
Having never experienced the dangers of society, she still didn’t quite understand the principles Ileya spoke of, and her own thinking couldn’t change that quickly.
“If… we were really just a few helpless noble ladies and maids, what do you think those refugees would choose to do when they see the treasures in the rear carriage?”
“Would they… just pretend not to see and leave as if nothing happened?”
Of course not.
Holly answered in her heart.
If it was really as the Lady said, the most likely possibility was… one second they were civilians, the next they would be bandits…
Judging by the behavior of these people just now, they would not only steal their belongings, but even…
Thinking of this, Miss Holy Sword Bearer subconsciously looked at the others around her.
Her master went without saying—she had been driving the carriage, carrying out the Lady’s orders.
Even Senior Veil seemed completely unconcerned about what had just happened…
She was just eating the fruit laid out on the table in front of her, stuffing her cheeks like a squirrel preparing for winter.
‘Looking at it this way, was I really the odd one out?’
Holly scratched her head in confusion, her mind momentarily… in chaos.
Clatter, clatter, clatter…
Just as Holly was sinking into deep self-doubt, the carriage had already left that forest and entered the proper main road.
It was a road paved with irregular bluestones.
And on both sides of the road, there were no longer forests and shrubs, but vast golden wheat fields.
It was indeed the autumn harvest season.
However… there weren’t many people harvesting in the fields at the moment; looking out, only a few scattered figures could be seen.
Moreover, the wheat fields that should have been tidy were now in disarray, with stalks leaning every which way.
It was clearly neglected, trampled by wild animals or other people, leading to this situation.
It was only natural for this to happen.
After hearing that foreign races had invaded the kingdom and would massacre humans on a large scale, everyone naturally fled to places with city walls.
“Lady, this place seems to be called [Six Wells Village].” Amisa, sitting in the driver’s seat looking at the map in her hand, said softly.
But looking now, there didn’t seem to be many people left in this village.
Looking into the distance, a few people could be faintly seen busy between heaven and earth, harvesting the golden wheat ears before them.
People’s thoughts were always different; some wanted to flee, and naturally some were unwilling to leave.
Thus, the situation in Six Wells Village came to be.
Most people had left, but some elderly and a few clever individuals had stayed.
The elderly naturally didn’t leave because they couldn’t travel far and didn’t want to abandon their hometown at their age.
As for those clever fellows.
They had naturally spotted the opportunity within this disaster.
Staying in a place without city walls under these circumstances was certainly dangerous, but the opportunity was also considerable…
Take Six Wells Village alone—it had over a hundred households. Ileya didn’t know which noble owned the fields or who cultivated them.
But with everyone gone, wouldn’t these bountiful harvest fields and tens of thousands of catties of grain become ownerless property, free for the taking?
The people skulking around in the fields right now were probably those with such intentions.
However, these brave individuals who put it into practice were still too few for these hundreds of acres of land…
If one could organize a group of people, find more villages like this to collect grain, and store it somewhere…
Once this disaster passed, even a mere refugee could turn their life around.
What a pity… Hmm?
Thinking of this, Ileya suddenly stroked her chin.
‘That’s right… If others can do this, why can’t I?’
The downside of doing this was that if a noble amassed grain widely, it would definitely arouse the Royal Family’s suspicion and wariness, and after this period passed, there might be a reckoning in the future.
But… Ileya already had no goodwill towards the Royal Family to begin with, and she even knew that one day in the future, those people would make a move against her family…
If that was the case, then what did being suspected matter?
Making a fortune amid the chaos… given her current situation, it wasn’t a bad fallback option.
Thinking this, Ileya immediately took out paper and pen.
Although she had absolute confidence in herself, she wouldn’t regard everyone else in this world as fools.
Especially the Royal Family—having held the kingdom for a hundred years, there were bound to be many capable people among them.
She didn’t know whether they would prioritize dealing with the refugee problem or the autumn harvest issue.
The girl stroked her chin.
She had no insights into governance, so she simply stopped guessing and wrote a letter with her pen.
She didn’t have the ability to contact someone remotely like Bishop Kauls did, so she could only have someone in the team ride a fast horse ahead of the group to deliver the letter to the Crystal Capital.
So… who was most suitable to go?
Ileya turned her head and looked at the two people in front of her.
Holly, still pondering the earlier incident and not yet recovered.
Veil, determined to annihilate the plate of fruit in front of her, never lifting her head.
These two… couldn’t be counted on.
One might meddle in other people’s business halfway, and the other didn’t know how to ride a horse and was easy to deceive—after being tricked, she’d probably even count the money for them, but could she even count money correctly?
“Ah… ah-choo!!” Just as Ileya’s thought settled, Veil across from her sneezed loudly.
Miss Goddess Young Lady rubbed her nose in bewilderment, then continued her battle with the fruit platter!
Then… the best candidate was still…
“Lili~” Ileya stuck her head out the window and called out to the back.
Whoosh!
Soon, Reliel flashed into the Lady’s carriage.
However, judging by her expression, her eyes were a bit evasive.
She was clearly not yet used to being called by her nickname in public.
“I have a small task for you~” Ileya smiled and pushed the envelope with her signature toward Reliel.
“I’ll give you a Spectral Horse. You go ahead of us back to the Crystal Capital and take this letter…”
Ileya thought for a moment.
“Deliver it to Jenny.”
The Marquis Mansion’s target was too big, and once it was mobilized, it would be like constantly scratching the Royal Family’s scales.
She hadn’t forgotten that her two cheap older brothers and the Butler were currently within the Royal Family’s jurisdiction.
On the other hand, Jenny was different. As a personal force of a wastrel, she could excuse anything with “young and ignorant.”
Listening to the Lady’s instructions, Reliel slowly nodded.
Delivering letters and packages—she had taken on many similar tasks when she was a mercenary.
She was no stranger to this kind of thing.
“Oh, right~ There’s one more thing… Come closer.”
Just as Reliel was planning the route and estimating the time in her mind, Ileya suddenly beckoned her over with a finger.
The girl was slightly startled and instinctively leaned her body closer to the Lady.
And Ileya also slowly approached Reliel, her soft lips gradually nearing the other’s round, fair earlobe…
“Have a safe trip~”
After whispering this, the Lady suddenly opened her mouth and gently nibbled on Miss Younger Sister’s cute ear.
“Mm…” This intimate gesture made Reliel instinctively dodge away.
Although her facial expression didn’t change much, the intense shaking in her pupils showed…
She was questioning the bad woman in front of her!
‘What are you doing!!’
“I’m just joking with you~” Ileya looked at the bristling younger sister.
Seeing her like this, it could be considered revenge for the last time at the bathhouse.
Thump!
And in the next second, the carriage seemed to hit a large stone, and the entire cabin jolted violently!
Reliel, who had just been startled into standing up by Ileya’s surprise attack, was clearly still in a state of panic!
Because of this sudden jolt, she lost her balance and instinctively fell forward!
Thud!
“Ugh…”
In the moment she fell, Reliel instinctively tried to adjust her posture, but she suddenly realized that her hand… seemed to be touching not the carriage floor or wall…
But rather, she had grabbed onto some soft little animal…
She instinctively squeezed it twice… ‘What is this texture?’
In a daze, she focused her eyes and looked at the person she had unconsciously fallen onto, and at the spot where her left hand was instinctively pressing…
“How… does it… feel ♡?” Ileya felt that at this moment, she should be… blushing.
But the unyielding spirit in her bones still made her stubbornly utter this line.
She… had actually thought about the famous “Lucky Pervert Incident” from her past life, and in idle moments, had even briefly imagined… that she might become a protagonist in such an event.
But she never expected that she was indeed the protagonist… just the one being knocked down and taken advantage of.
“Yeah.”
But… what Ileya didn’t expect was that Reliel didn’t immediately let go of her… instead, she nodded as if responding to her own words from before.
“One hand can just hold it.”
Instantly, Ileya felt the other three gazes in the carriage turn toward her direction…
‘Huh!? This person… is she serious?’
‘Is this something you can just say out loud!?’
‘Why… why do I feel a sense of defeat again!?’
‘Could it be that this person… was sent by heaven specifically to counter me?’