The Villain Princess survived the Imperial Riot

"What about women?" Hestia played with the wine glass in her hand. "Pariah, could you please explain it more clearly?"

"Noble?" The bartender heard Hestia's familiar arrogant tone and sneered, "So what if you're a noble? Don't you know that there have been noble lords with their necks hanging on their gates these past few days? Whose territory do you think this is, you..."

"Oh!"

With a gunshot, the alchemical lead bullet penetrated the hardwood bar and hit the bartender's shoulder accurately, breaking the joint and leaving only eroded tendons and flesh hanging on the stump of his arm.

"Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah--"

"Shhh."

Hestia stood up, put the barrel of the gun against the bartender's open jaw, and fired another shot, directly blowing the nearest thug away, leaving only half of his face.

Being able to withstand such recoil, the Celestial Dragons are already superior to most adventurers based on their physical fitness alone.

The expressions of the drinkers present varied. Some picked up their weapons, while others hid in the corner to watch the show, still with no intention of leaving.

"what……"

Hestia was shocked to discover that at the moment of executing the thug, the Witch's Book in her consciousness drew a wisp of mist from the void.

It seems like the spirituality of the souls of those who have just died, pure and clean.

However, *did not transform into a mark with extraordinary power like killing the Inquisitor.

Hestia tried to contact the mist with her mind, and then, like a slide show, fragmented memories played in front of the "screen", allowing her to watch as a bystander.

That was the life of the thug before his death. His father was a gambler, his mother was sick, and his alcoholic brother took away all his belongings to make a living overseas. It was not a very good life.

Hestia focused her attention on the mark of "Judgment of Punishment", and the spirit of the deceased was instantly infused into it, quickly restoring one tenth of her previous consumption.

"interesting."

Hestia glanced cruelly at everyone present.

The army had already surrounded this street (alley), and before she released Yi Qiyanaki's secret technique, the Spirit Butterfly left, and also asked it to investigate the so-called black market in order to block all the retreat routes of this group of people.

"Stop! Sir, don't you know that this is the Black Hand Guild's location?!"

Seeing the silver-haired girl shooting and killing without hesitation, and now pulling the hammer of her revolver, a middle-aged man in leather clothes walked down from upstairs.

His face was terribly gloomy. He didn't expect that such a scene would break out while he was discussing important matters with others.

"Of course I know about the Black Hand Guild." Hestia sneered.

The Black Hand Guild is an outlaw force with tentacles reaching all over the Blue Sky. They engage in everything from pirate trade, ruins excavation, and military contracting to sexual torture, drug smuggling, slave trade, and forced prostitution. There is no Order faction that does not hate these blood-sucking parasites that lie on everyone's backs.

However, no matter how hard the various countries try, they cannot eradicate this organization that has plagued the oceans for 1 billion years.

Hestia knew the reason—the Black Hand was essentially a loose alliance of cockroaches, freer than free will, more brutal, and without limits. Without a headquarters, there was no leader. No matter how many times they were eliminated, the Black Hand relied on its resources and intelligence networks to rapidly expand its reach, filling gray areas around the world.

The secret cultivators who control the Black Hand Guild remain a mystery, but some clues exist—they cultivate the very essence of blades, yet are not rebels, but rather ruthless conspirators; they cultivate the very essence of concealment, yet avoid secrecy, remaining hidden and unseen. This ragtag group worships the ancient elders who preside over slaughter, shadows, and conspiracy. Compared to the Iron-Blooded Princess, it's hard to say who's more brutal.

This is also the reason why Chloe is unwilling to provoke the Black Hand Guild.

So, when Chloe mentioned this name, Hestia had already planned to chop off all the tentacles of the Black Hand Guild.

"Do you know?" The middle-aged man frowned and looked at the two women with vigilance.

"Oh, Mr. Logan, I didn't expect someone to mess up your place. It's rare."

At this moment, another voice came from upstairs, and a well-dressed gentleman came down with a cane.

"Don't worry, Sir Glenn. No villain can take advantage of the guild." Logan smiled grimly, looking at Hestia as if he were looking at two dead people. "Adventurer? I have a hundred ways to make you understand that personal bravery is not worth a…"

Before he could finish his words, he heard the distinguished guest next to him kneel down on the ground with a thud. He didn't know whether he fell on the stairs or sprained his ankle.

"Majestic... Palace, palace, palace, palace..." Sir Glenn's eyes were almost popping out.

That silver hair, those golden eyes, even if he forgot what his biological mother looked like and what her name was, he would never forget the beautiful silver-haired girl in front of him!

Damn it, how could a princess come to a place like this?!

"Do you know me?" Hestia frowned, having no impression of the beast in front of her.

"do not know!"

Sir Glenn immediately shook his head, suddenly thinking of the Governor's lecture a few days ago.

In front of dozens of high-ranking bureaucrats, the usually arrogant governor almost pleaded with them in a tone of entrusting and pleading, asking them to open their eyes and not to blow themselves up on the spot like a certain blind prosecutor, thus implicating the entire family of everyone present.

How did that Inquisitor die?

Sir Glenn wasn't entirely sure. At the time, he'd simply considered the possibility of meeting the princess far-fetched, and hadn't paid much attention to it. But the fact that the princess had come to such a place meant something extraordinary was going on.

"Sir Glenn, what's wrong with you?" As the leader of a Black Hand Guild stronghold, Logan had already noticed something was wrong and subconsciously helped the other person up.

"Fuck you, Sir Glenn! Do we know each other well? Get out of here!" Sir Glenn turned hostile and cursed loudly. He stood up and pointed his cane at Logan. "I'm telling you, this is an ultimatum. If you don't pay the taxes, you'll have to serve in the prison's textile factory to pay it back!"

"Huh?" Logan was stunned. How could Sir Glenn, who had just a few minutes ago happily discussed the division of the contraband smuggling proceeds with him, turn his back on him the next second?

"Remember! This is the ultimatum! Imperial tax officials will show no mercy to tax evaders!"

As he spoke, Sir Glenn walked out of the tavern with his cane.

"Wait a minute." Hestia stopped him, staring at the sweaty knight in the winter, narrowed her eyes and asked, "You really don't know me?"

Volume 22: Dreamer: . You fart!

When Logan, the leader of the Black Hand Guild stronghold, called out the title "Sir", Hestia had already thought of what kind of person Glenn was.

Although her portrait is not widely circulated, she has been in Yunding City for several months and many chaos have occurred recently. Even if the nobles have been educated by the pleasant scenery of the Yunling Coast and have become fat tigers with their claws clipped, they should still maintain the minimum political sensitivity.

So Sir Glenn probably knows what he is doing and is just pretending to be stupid.

“Recognize, recognize, recognize…recognize, recognize…”

Sir Glenn stuttered several times and couldn't utter a complete sentence.

Hestia toyed with the High Knight's revolver. "Working with the Black Hand Guild isn't a legitimate business, is it? You're being secretive and spouting nonsense. You probably want to die."

In the Empire, the Black Hand Guild is less harmful than Free Will and many cultists. These bastards are not keen on subverting order, but are parasites of order. They mostly harm unarmed untouchables and occasionally manipulate the political structure of some cities.

Where are there no gangs? In the end, they have to collude with the local nobles. Even if they lose profits, it is the empire's business and has nothing to do with the bureaucratic nobles.

This is a pan-blue force similar to the Adventurer's Guild and the Arcane Alliance. It even has a similar thieves registration organization. Its composition is complex, so even if the countries suppress it, they will not declare an all-out war like they would to crack down on cultists.

This leaves a gray area for local nobles to operate in, and cultivates a talented person like Sir Glenn who is good at getting along with everyone.

"Glenn, who is she?"

Logan took several steps back, his heels touching the door frame of the back kitchen. He stared at the revolver in Hestia's hand and the armor symbol carved on the buttstock, recognizing it as belonging to the Imperial Iron Army.

"She she she she she she..."

"Her?" Hestia looked at Sir Glenn with murderous eyes.

"Your Highness!" Sir Glenn's face was ashen. He knew he couldn't escape, so he simply knelt on the ground. "Tax Collector of the Cloudtop Governor's Office, Bronze Medal Honorary Knight, Oli Glenn pays homage to the Princess! May the Heavenly Dragon's blessing be everlasting! May the Empire's grace endure forever! May the Iron Army be immortal!"

As soon as the words fell, the entire tavern fell silent. The mercenaries and adventurers who had originally planned to watch a good show were trembling with fear and looked towards the door and the window at the same time.

Blood is about to be seen. Everyone had this thought in unison. Blood was more than just having arms ripped apart and skulls blown off by alchemical lead bullets.

However, just as no one intended to leave at that time, no one present dared to escape first.

Hestia chuckled, "Honorary Knight, haha, you really bring honor to the Empire."

"Your Highness, I have devoted all my energy to the Empire! It is the Black Hand Guild that has been bullying me and delaying tax payments for years, forcing me to play along. Otherwise, I wouldn't even be able to step out of this door! Logan! This greedy gold-eating devil even tried to bribe me with the profits from smuggling contraband, but Your Highness, I haven't agreed to a single word!"

He said it with gritted teeth, as if it were true.

Regardless of whether the princess believed it or not, he believed it anyway and would say so even if he died.

As for concealing it?

Once the princess cleans up this place, she can investigate how many cats his dog has given birth to, let alone such petty and despicable things!

"Don't listen to his nonsense! These two are here to mess things up, little bastards, don't hold back, just go all in!"

Logan's eyes were fierce, and with a single order, a dozen or so young men under his command actually rushed towards Hestia and Chloe.

What princess, what highness, what knight... Sorry, they are not well-educated, and many of them are barbarians. They have never heard of these words, so God knows what they are mumbling.

Dark blue secret codes immediately appeared on the thugs' skin, and their limbs were shrouded in invisible shadows. The light and fire in the tavern were flickering, and the shadows of more than a dozen people spread out at angles that defied optical logic.

"They're the Shadow Servant from the Black Hand Guild! If the tavern continues to be dark, they'll be in trouble!"

screamed a well-informed adventurer.

These individuals weren't esoteric cultivators, but rather mortals imbued with extraordinary powers through rituals, much like the Iron Army to the High Knights. Adventurers might not have personally encountered this group of esoteric cultivators, but after years of wandering the seven seas and exploring ancient ruins, they'd witnessed numerous extraordinary powers.

"Are you going to explain even if you're at your own mother's grave?! Run!"

His companion slapped him in the face, grabbed his arm and dragged him out the window.

At the same moment when the tavern thugs suddenly attacked, dozens of drinkers present scattered, each showing their own skills, and there were countless trembling footsteps upstairs.

Logan, who had his subordinates at the front, did not join the battlefield. His figure darkened and gradually blended into the shadow of the gap in the back kitchen door, ready to escape.

Fighting against the Celestial Dragons? What a joke!

"It's the territory of the empire. You can come and go as you please."

Hestia ignored the lights and the shadows that were lingering outside and slowly took out a golden candle and lit it.

Radiant candles, used by the Church of the Light in worship and sacrifice, contain holy oil blessed by the saints, allowing them to burn eternally and see through the hidden. Upon learning of the need to combat the Black Hand Guild, Hestia asked Clara to request several hundred Radiant candles from the church.

At this time, she hadn't yet seized power, and unlike the canonical historical depiction, she wasn't overtly hostile to the Church of Radiance, instead displaying a slightly cold attitude. Only close servants like Iyana and a few members of the royal family knew of her dislike for the Church of Radiance.

Therefore, even if she demanded a huge sum, nearly emptying the inventory of the Cloudtop Cathedral, the bishop would only be proud of it. Even if the princess could also believe in the Holy Church and accept the blessing of the Radiant Light, even canonizing her and placing her in a saint's niche in the Cathedral would be a trivial matter.

The bright candles illuminated the Black Hand Guild's shadow servants, forcing them to reveal their figures. Logan had just revealed half of his head when Chloe stepped forward and pulled him out of the shadows.

"court death--"

Even a clay man has a temper. It's fine if he doesn't want to be an enemy of the Tianlong people, but how come any Tom, Dick or Harry dares to deal with him?

Logan immediately drew out the dagger from his waist, and a cold light flashed, and the afterimage was so fast that it was difficult to catch and was dazzling.