"I shall follow the will of my God!"
After listening to Leilin's account, Tipha fixed him with a deep, penetrating gaze, her eagle-sharp eyes seeming to try to pierce through the defenses of his divinity and see his true self.
Once she finished speaking, her figure vanished into thin air, as though everything before had been nothing more than a hallucination.
"Quasi-magical abilities from my true body's Chosen, and high-level Ranger or Thief class on top of that…"
Leilin's eyes flickered. He, too, returned to Dark Forest Fortress.
As for the possible exposure of his surface identity, he felt no nervousness whatsoever. After all, the divine power within him was more than sufficient to deceive anyone.
Even if Tipha had discovered his identity as Leilin Farell, the noble, she would at most assume that he had received his true body's favor and been granted a spark of divinity.
"Now that Tipha is here, many of my plans can be set in motion…"
Although he had already decided to devour Bezalebul's faithful, Leilin still needed someone to take over and direct the whole operation.
It seemed that Tipha himself was very well suited for the position.
He had sufficient strength and leadership ability. If conditions permitted in the future, Leilin might even cultivate him into his first High Priest.
"And infusing power into the natives to help them adapt, transforming them into forms acceptable to the
Leilin's gaze grew deep.
From that brief contact alone, the energy manifestation patterns on Tipha had already proved extremely enlightening.
Even his previous idea of localizing Wizards had now roughly found a direction.
"Such forcible infusion is bound to fail. Tipha's success is nothing more than a lucky exception!"
On this point, Leilin—who had already conducted countless experiments across other worlds—was well aware.
"Therefore, what I need to do now is continue observing this specimen and experiment with the changes brought about under various conditions…"
Leilin ducked into an alley. When he emerged again, he had reverted to his daytime mercenary appearance.
"This identity as a divine one is only good for intimidation…"
Leilin shook his head with a sigh and returned to the inn.
"I, Lefinia, a high-ranking Knight who has inherited the Way of the Knight, shall take the defeat of evil as my lifelong creed!"
Before he even stepped through the front door, the knight girl's impassioned voice rang out, making Leilin want to clutch his head: "What's going on?"
He walked in, puzzled, and saw Lefinia in full armor, her knight's sword raised high in a posture of solemn oath.
"Oh! My heavens! Lei, you're finally back…"
Old Bam, standing to the side, spread his hands helplessly: "Ever since this young lady heard that there were traces of devil cultist activity in Dark Forest Fortress, she's been itching to go out and make a name for herself. No matter what we say, we can't talk her out of it…"
Beside Old Bam, Hera wore the same wry expression.
Arani, for her part, could no longer endure the others' amused stares and had long since retreated to her own room.
"Isn't nighttime precisely when those devil cultists are at their most rampant? I'm going to rescue the innocent civilians suffering under the devils' ravages… Lei! You should come too!"
Lefinia issued her declaration of justice, though she had enough sense to try to drag along Lei, who looked like the strongest one.
"My lady…"
Leilin was at a loss for words: "Do you know what time it is? You should get some rest!"
In truth, how could he possibly go out to fight his own subordinates? Besides, if Lefinia went alone, who would be saving whom? Quite possibly, this hot-headed young lady would end up in the bellies of the devil cultists, repenting her sins.
"Rest? While other citizens are suffering under the devil's clutches? Are you joking?"
Lefinia's expression was one of saintly resolve: "None of you are to stop me!"
"In that case, do you remember that a Knight must follow the virtue of keeping one's word?"
Leilin sat down elegantly, even finding the time to ask the waiter for a pot of red tea and some late-night snacks. After all, he had been busy the entire night and deserved a rest.
"The Knight's Code, Chapter Fifty-Four: I shall abide by my contracts and keep my promises!"
Lefinia knew these passages well.
"Very good! Don't forget it. You are still in Hera's employ!" Leilin dabbed his lips gracefully with a white napkin: "What if your employer decides to leave Dark Forest Fortress tomorrow?"
"That's right! Lefinia, I'm planning to set out from here tomorrow and head to the Danbres royal capital!" Prompted by Leilin, Hera's eyes lit up, and she spoke in a pleading tone: "You wouldn't just abandon us sisters, would you?"
"I…"
Lefinia froze on the spot. The two knightly virtues of upholding justice and keeping one's promise churned through her mind, her face filled with inner conflict.
Only after sending the young lady back to her room did Hera gracefully thank Leilin: "That was truly a save, Lei! Otherwise, I shudder to think what trouble Lefinia might have caused…"
"Not at all. I actually want to leave as soon as possible myself. After all, no matter what it is, once the devil gets involved, things are bound to become troublesome…"
Leilin spoke barefaced lies, yet they drew unanimous agreement from Hera and Bam. The devil's terrifying image, relentlessly smeared by the various divine religions, had long since taken deep root in the common folk's minds.
Hera in particular abandoned even her original plans to rest and recuperate.
There were plenty of cities along the route where they could rest. There was no need to stay here and deal with devils. In truth, even without Leilin bringing it up, she had already been thinking of leaving early.
"Very well then, good night everyone! We'll set out tomorrow and leave this place as quickly as possible!"
Leilin rose to take his leave, chuckling inwardly. Thanks to his intervention, the devil cultist activity in this city had already been suppressed ahead of schedule—but there was no need to mention that.
……
The next day, the mercenary party, having hastily replenished their supplies, set off once more.
Lefinia rode her warhorse Nick ahead on point, still looking somewhat sulky. Hera and the others wisely chose not to bother her.
Seemingly having learned her lesson from before, Hera had not hired any additional mercenaries. She had merely found a coachman who looked relatively honest and hired a carriage, apparently placing her safety entirely in the hands of Leilin and his group.
"Beyond Dark Forest Fortress lies the kingdom's central plains, its most important agricultural base. The King has stationed heavy forces here, and public order is generally good…"
In Leilin's view, they could have traveled with just a handful of servants if they were bold enough. But the Hera sisters had clearly been traumatized by the ogres from before, preferring to keep raising the commission rather than leave the protection of Leilin and his companions.
"Still, hiring a high-ranking Knight and a level-ten
Leilin had no particular complaints. He no longer felt any sense of urgency.
After all, the countermeasures he had left behind would keep those pursuers occupied in Dark Forest Fortress for quite some time.
Those devil cultists would never face off head-on against a Paladin in direct combat. But discreetly dragging their feet? They could manage that perfectly well.
With this time, Leilin could comfortably make his way to the Danbres royal capital and even calmly set everything in motion.
So he was in no hurry at all. He even had the leisure to toy with Lefinia.
Pushing a pure and steadfast soul into hell—that was, after all, a devil's bread and butter, wasn't it?
Though Leilin currently possessed only the memories of a Devil Grand Duke, he didn't mind giving it a try.
Just as Leilin had predicted, once they entered the central plains, the surrounding environment and security improved markedly. Villages and towns could be seen on both sides of the road at regular intervals, along with patrol militias and guard units raised by various local lords.
Large-scale bandit gangs had no soil in which to survive here. As for ogres and other dangerous beasts? The kingdom's armies had long since hunted them to extinction. The few encounters Leilin's party did have were with petty thief bands numbering fewer than twenty.
That level of threat was something even Old Bam could handle with ease, and under Lefinia's charge, they crumbled into chaos.
Then, one day, the vast silhouette of a city appeared on the horizon.
"We've finally arrived—the Danbres royal capital!" Hera lifted the curtain of the carriage, her eyes filled with emotion.
Had she not happened to encounter Leilin and his group, she and her sister might well have perished on the journey.
"The Danbres royal capital—according to legend, the first King led his followers here and successfully slaughtered a wicked dragon, then distributed all the dragon's hoarded wealth to the surrounding commoners. From that, a city was born, which eventually grew into a kingdom…"
Lefinia's eyes shone with admiration, which Leilin found rather amusing.
He had seen plenty of this sort of self-aggrandizing myth-making by founding emperors. To bolster their own legitimacy and sanctity, those court chroniclers would say anything. He certainly wasn't buying it.
"Slaughtering a wicked dragon? This environment isn't even what dragons like…"
No one could hear Leilin's silent complaints. Even Arani poked out her little head, listening with apparent relish as Lefinia recounted the King's great deeds.
Once they entered the capital, Hera directed the carriage eastward to the noble district and stopped before an imposing mansion: "The fact that my sister and I were able to reach the capital safely is entirely thanks to all of your protection along the way. My fiancé and I will make sure to repay you!"
It was at this moment that the hitherto quiet Arani finally spoke, a trace of pride on her face.