“Village chief… shouldn’t we… tell them…”
Luola looked at the road ahead, silently asking the old village chief for permission with her eyes.
The old village chief shook his head faintly and said, “Wait a little longer.”
“But…”
Luola nervously glanced behind her.
After a night of idle chat yesterday, that originally very wary silver-haired adventurer was no longer looking this way today, nor paying them any attention.
She seemed to have fully believed their story, completely letting down her guard.
Under normal circumstances, such trust would make her happy, but now it only filled her with guilt and self-blame.
She clenched her fists tightly.
As the captain of the village’s defense team, she never thought she would have to guide an adventurer to her village in this way.
But if not this, what else could she do?
Luola looked despondently at the priest beside her.
Even the most far-sighted priest in the village had agreed to this plan, which was proof that this was the most correct—and the only—way.
“The Goddess will forgive us. She is Dictator Li Si, the strongest novice adventurer in legend. If anyone can do it, she can. Please hold on.”
Suoda lowered his voice to the barest whisper, not daring to glance behind even once.
That legendary adventurer had extraordinary insight.
Even if she was acting perfectly normal now, Suoda would not underestimate her.
Before the Crimson Moon fell, he had heard many tales drifting from Border Town.
Dictator Li Si was the first to clear the Deadly Forest with the Flame Team, then led the Gold and Silver Flower Team to set the fastest record for the Swamp Adversity.
Afterwards, she accompanied Life Vine to clear the Thorn Jungle, where no one had survived before.
And most recently, the most shocking feat: she led the useless priest Lili Ya to become the first person to conquer a dungeon.
Suoda didn’t know how many devout prayers it had taken to earn this chance encounter.
But he was certain that if they brought this person back to the village, the village would have hope.
However, the rumors also said she had a bad character—arbitrary and autocratic, like a monarch.
She was also extremely cautious about her life, never having died in an adventure, always putting safety first.
If they explained the village’s current situation truthfully, any ordinary adventurer would immediately turn and run, let alone Dictator Li Si, who was rumored to have the strongest sense of danger.
So they absolutely had to bring this person to the village first.
They had to make her see it with her own eyes.
Even if they could keep her in the village for just one more second, that would be hope.
Suoda silently clenched his fist, muttering the Goddess’s name in his heart.
Perhaps by the Goddess’s grace, things were much better than yesterday.
The dictator seemed to have truly believed their act, and along the way, she hadn’t asked a single extra question but something still felt a little off.
Suoda silently watched the sky darken again.
It wasn’t until the captain of the Violet Team decided on the campsite that he suddenly realized what was wrong.
From the noon stop to water the horses until now, when they chose the camp location, the dictator hadn’t expressed any opinions like she had yesterday.
Come to think of it, for most of today, she had only been silently holding her sword hilt and looking up at the sky.
She wasn’t just quieter today—she also had a special aura.
Suoda suddenly remembered the three major incidents that had happened to Li Si, the three incidents that established her reputation as the dictator.
And at this moment, Suoda clearly felt that kind of “stay away” vibe, strong enough to drive people off.
Ah…
Li Si looked up at the sky.
She seemed to be misunderstood again.
She felt that her escort was imagining something very impressive, but in reality, she was just spacing out while looking at the night sky.
It wasn’t that she had nothing to do.
She was just a little annoyed because since last night, she had been hearing a constant click-click sound around her.
The sound was very similar to the shutter of a camera from her past life, and in fact, it was the sound of someone taking pictures—just using the skill [Photo].
Normally, she wouldn’t be able to hear it, but this was the wild.
Her Strict Father perception could even detect malice, let alone such a blatant skill activation sound.
Li Si tilted her head to look behind a tree.
A head of blonde hair quickly ducked back, pretending nothing had happened.
But Li Si felt that her blue bar was almost empty.
If she kept taking pictures like this, she would eventually run out of mana and die.
She had no idea what was wrong with this fangirl.
She had been snapping nonstop since last night.
She had tried to stop her, but then Jian switched from blatant photography to sneaky shots like this.
When she called her out, Jian just said, “I’m not taking pictures of you!! The Gold and Silver Flower Team’s members didn’t say they wanted to see your pretty pictures!”
“Uh…”
What could she say to that?
Li Si looked at the sky, counting the stars for today, “Sigh… so pretty, so pretty…”
Jian quickly snapped a shot.
She used the skill twice, but nothing happened, so she fumbled in her bag for a mana potion—only to find it empty.
She had been shooting since last night; the consumption was indeed huge.
Jian stomped her foot in frustration.
It wasn’t because Li Si was pretty that she was taking pictures!
The group had wanted to seriously judge Li Si, so they assigned her as the vanguard, even setting her as vice-captain for management.
As Princess Yi Li Sha Bai’s number one fan, how could she refuse such a request?
But…
The pictures she took always felt a little off.
[Gold and Silver Flower Team]
[Jian: (Li Si helping push the cart.jpg)]
[Jian: (Li Si helping lead the horse.jpg)]
[Jian: (Li Si checking Lili Ya’s hands.jpg)]
[Jian: (Li Si showing Ailin her sword.jpg)]
[Jian: (Li Si helping a Violet Team member find his money pouch.jpg)]
[Lanni: ?????]
[Lanni: Vice-captain, are you recording the Demon’s good deeds?]
[Naniya: Isn’t she a demon? Dictator? Vice-captain, how did you make her look like an idol!]
[Nika: Exactly! Those pictures must be deleted!]
“Damn it…” Jian gritted her teeth as she looked at the Adventurer Panel.
Did she want to take these pictures?
Those idiots had no idea how terrifying it was to photograph Demon Li Si.
Only when Li Si was doing these things did she not bother blocking the skill’s line of sight.
‘These pictures were hard to get, you know! And why were these members so stupid? Couldn’t they use these pictures for comparison? She was so gentle with others, but so mean to our Yi Li Sha Bai! Isn’t that proof of bullying!’
Jian stomped her foot in annoyance, then suddenly froze.
She stared at a private message in the chat interface and was stunned.
[I want to buy the photo of the pink-haired girl exclusively. If you get any future pictures of the two of them together, I’ll take them all.]
Jian was taken aback.
She wasn’t taking pictures of Li Si just to get shots of the two of them together!
Jian decisively ignored it, but the other party sent a picture.
[(Yi Li Sha Bai drinking morning tea.jpg)]
In the picture, the princess was right across from the shooting angle.
This distance… this angle…
Jian looked at the sender’s name and froze.
[From: Mei Lin]
“Jian, what are you doing here?”
A soft voice suddenly came from behind the tree.
Jian felt a spike of nerves, snapped to attention, and straightened up, “I wasn’t sneaking pictures!!”
“Oh…”
Lili Ya held her staff, gave Jian a strange look, and said gently, “Li Si said there’s a dangerous presence nearby. Something is watching us.”
“Ah…”
Jian then noticed that everyone in the camp was gathered around the bonfire.
The atmosphere seemed very tense, as if they were arguing about something.