Your Majesty's money, why don't you engrave my name on it?

“Uh, of course,” Margarita paused for a moment, managing a weak response, but ultimately she ended with a feeble sigh, “But… Dionysus.”

Was she previously speaking to the Empire's princess about how rules shaped the lower classes? And the context wasn't exactly friendly; she was actually implying that Angreta was also one of the lower classes who imitated the rules!

However, Angelita didn't take it to heart, and she assumed that the nobleman had considerable refinement... It seems that the mystery has now been solved. It wasn't that Angelita didn't care about her sarcasm, but rather that the nobleman was the one who created the rules.

If we consider this in conjunction with the prince's escape from the chaotic empire, her words would likely be taken as unintentional, the highest form of praise. And she herself…

"I feel like a clown..."

Margaret covered her face, tears welling in her eyes; she had never felt so humiliated in her life. If she had never said those things to Angreta, she might be able to remain calm.

“I won’t allow that, Mary,” the princess, who had finally revealed her true identity, laughed with a hint of amusement. “Your abilities are far too good for a court jester; you should at least be my attendant. But I’m too far from my original position now, so I’ll have to trouble you to be my commoner friend for now. I hope you won’t mind too much.”

Mary looked up in surprise upon hearing this: "You mean... although it's rude to ask directly, is it what I'm thinking?"

“Hmm,” Angelita raised her shoulders slightly, “You think just as much as I do; we can both understand each other. Isn’t that why we’re friends, Mary?”

Although the young woman in front of her, who had just celebrated her coming of age, was merely a "former noble of the empire" a moment ago, and even now did not actually possess the power and authority of a true imperial princess, a few words were enough to make Margaret feel unprecedented pressure.

Unlike her father Roddy's meticulous calculations, and unlike Wood's unrestrained emotional outbursts, Margaret could navigate and mediate between these two approaches to achieve her needs. But the pressure she felt now... came from a different level.

It wasn't the bloodline suppression of relatives or elders, nor the disregard for ants by supernatural powers. Angelita stood opposite her, her smile as relaxed and bright as ever, yet it gave Margarita the illusion that the girl opposite her had completely controlled her—something even her father had never achieved.

Margaret glanced instinctively to her side and behind her, observing Angreta's expressions and movements before comparing them to the reactions of the others. Bella, von Dahl, Daisy... none of them noticed this; they were still focused on her, looking at her awkward situation with the air of "experienced people."

It makes sense, even though Angrita had shown them this side of herself before, a druid, a dwarf, and a poet oscillating between madness and lucidity were certainly not suitable candidates. Some things cannot be solved by fighting or magic, nor even simple intelligence is enough; what is needed is a keen perception of certain things.

It's an instinctive reaction, similar to the bear goblin's attempt to avoid being killed by Reslaufer. It needs to be fast enough and correct enough.

She was the perfect size and shape, already "correct" enough; what she needed now was to be "fast" enough. This princess absolutely disliked being surrounded by entourages; there were very few places for people to stand around her.

Upon thinking of this, Margaret immediately revealed a smile similar to Angreta's but slightly weaker: "Of course, Anne, our friendship was built on that."

“However… I’m not saying I really crave the princess’s reward, but if you’re going to keep this identity, why go so far? In my opinion, the elven territories to the east of the empire are a more suitable direction.”

“What’s there to say? It was all about escaping for our lives,” Angelita said, her smile fading. She then beckoned the others over. “I’ve been reluctant to explain the details before, but now that the goblin has laid it all out in the open, I might as well be frank—before this, only Uncle Leslaufer knew the truth.”

“Old Franzky needs your care, buddy,” Raslaw glanced at the coachman. “His ears are better left where they are, not growing out of place, understand?”

The latter quickly led his still-shaken horse to a safe distance.

Angelita's account of her experience was similar to what she had told Leslaufer, except that some details had been elaborated upon. These were things that could never be known to ordinary outsiders.

“No wonder…so the west, where the empire’s control is weaker, is indeed the best option,” Margaret nodded slowly after hearing this. “And being far enough away also avoids the possibility of being tied to someone else’s war machine.”

"Mad King, Mad King. If those teams are really blinded by this title and see him as a madman, they will probably all be drawn into his madness."

While everyone was speculating about what Richard VII had done and what he was planning to do, Daisy remained unusually silent.

Chapter 272 Devil or Demon

The bard remained silent because she was preoccupied with communicating with another being, and at this moment, she was waiting for Zhengling to send her a message from another place.

"No, at least not openly or under any deep cover, there is no such plan in the entire Purgatory."

Zheng Ling quickly resumed her voice communication with Daisy, and her voice sounded somewhat solemn: "Just like I said when you asked me, this is not good for the devil. We do need to collect souls, but not in this way. This is clearly the way of the devil."

“But if it’s demonic infiltration, there must be a way to throw the entire empire into chaos more easily,” Daisy conveyed her opinion through the telepathic link. “Why go through all this trouble, starting with the currency?”

“That’s also my question,” Zheng Ling said without hiding it. “Demons are mostly short-sighted, and it’s hard for them to come up with such a plan in terms of scope and scale. Especially since, according to what I found out, they had already begun to integrate all the resources within the empire by the time of her grandfather. Even though Richard VII’s monetary reforms were so radical, it took a considerable period of stability before the situation began to change. The turning point was that the interests of those great nobles were seriously infringed upon.”

"The greater chaos is that the war has lasted so long and is still not over; the devil's measures should not have resulted in this outcome."

"Moreover..." Zheng Ling's voice paused noticeably for a moment before resuming after two or three minutes, "There was indeed a succubus by that emperor's side, but it was discovered long ago. The mortal emperor kept her around purely for the thrill. That demon didn't even replace a pair of mortal sisters as the most favored queen."

"If even succubi can only manage this much in their area of ​​expertise, it's hard to imagine that demons could create such a large-scale spectacle. Therefore, my conclusion is that there is another group of unobserved demons, or even a demon lord who is skilled in this area himself, who was involved in the planning."

"Are you in such a hurry to get rid of the devil?" Daisy mimicked a loud clicking of her tongue in the mind link. "Isn't it all aimed at me? You said a great change is coming, or even has already come, and I should strengthen myself as soon as possible, like signing a contract with you to become a sorcerer and obtain a magic contract, the price being that you take my soul if I disobey..."

“You think too highly of yourself, but you’re not really,” Zheng Ling snorted. “However, you did guess the second half correctly. Unfortunately, my reason was that I’ve helped you so much, shouldn’t you give me a little something in return?”

“Being a devil is difficult, especially for a slave like me who was originally destined to be burdened with debt for eternity. I have to make some achievements—otherwise I’ll be stuck in the mistress’s theater forever as…or, as you remember, the top performer.”

"As for why I was so eager to remove the devil... first ask if it is, then ask why. I did not try to do so. The reason I thought it was unlikely to be the devil is because when I said 'under a not-too-deep cover,' I meant all the plans that my mistress could detect."

"And let me remind you, she is in charge of the judicial body in Hell that is accountable only to the Supreme King. All disputes and cases related to contracts must go through her and another co-ruler's records. In fact, that's why my mistress was just casually flipping through the documents with great interest at first, but now she has started to take it seriously."

The devilish grand duke would certainly take this seriously: a conspiracy, possibly orchestrated by a devil, was not within her sights. It could be another attempt by other devils to introduce new laws and precedents into the courts, or it could be a conspiracy against her and her co-rulers.

The worst possibility is that this is a plan specifically targeting her by her co-ruler, whom mortals would guess as her father, brother, son, spouse, or a combination of these.

Even the devilish Grand Duke couldn't see any connection between them for the time being—but the problem was that this might be the work of another Grand Duke who knew her very well. Once this chain of suspicion was established, it would not be over until the truth came out.

But for anyone other than that being, the possibility of the devil's involvement is extremely slim.

“It’s better to make a deal with the devil than to be skinned alive by the devil, Daisy,” Zhengling persuaded. “And we are both musicians, colleagues, and natural allies.”

"They could also be enemies." The poet shook her head, forcefully severing the connection between them. Over the past few days, she had gradually gained some control. Of course, the majority of the power still lay with Zheng Ling. For example, although she could cut off the connection, the other party could reconnect the very next second.

“It might be the work of demons. Think about what happened in Shinmu City,” Daisy stated her conclusion. “That Lamia switched the mages in Shinmu City a long time ago, but no one noticed. Demons may have infiltrated the Empire a long time ago.”

"Are you serious?" Vondar looked at Daisy suspiciously. "To create an impenetrable, orderly nation? The Empire even regulates the spellcasting of mages and the prayers of priests!"

“The problem with chaos is that occasional periods of order are also part of chaos,” Daisy countered the dwarf’s statement. “And can anyone predict the length of these ‘occasional’ periods of ‘chaos’?”

It could happen in an instant, it could happen over ten thousand years, or it could "seizure" every so often like epilepsy. No one can predict it, and that's what chaos is all about.

“If that’s the case…” Angelita sighed, “I’m afraid I really should hope that Grand Duke Lance will win?”

"Don't worry, no matter who wins, you'll be safe," Bella said, completely oblivious to Angelita's complicated emotions, and put her arm around the girl's shoulder in a friendly manner. "I can't say what they're planning, but I can stay here with you."

“Thank you, Bella,” Angelita chuckled. “Yes, at least it’s safe here. I really shouldn’t think too much right now.”

“If you’re planning to turn back, I can just ask that old mage for two or three times the price,” Leslaufer stamped his foot on the ground, looking around to see that there were no more stealthy assassins lurking around looking for trouble. “Let’s continue. Western Inasth is starting to get chaotic, and my original plan to leave you in Central Inasth is probably no longer safe. We need to head further north.”

"Then let's go to Haidong!" Feng Daer laughed loudly. "My house is very spacious. Even if there isn't enough space, I can dig out dozens more rooms!"

Chapter 273 The Desperate Druid

Even after the rain stopped, the land remained muddy. Although Raslaufer and his companions had a carriage for transportation, they still had to walk most of the time to prevent their only vehicle from sinking into a mud pit disguised as flat ground.

This situation only improved when they rediscovered the main road.

“The road here looks a bit broken,” Angelita said, looking into the distance. “Is it because the Western Inathas prefer the Imperial side?”

“Pretty much, the frequency of repairs on the two sides is completely different,” Margaret replied. “In the notices of the city of Tilted Bottle, you might see that the same section of road on the south side is repaired three times, while the section on this side is only repaired once.”

"After all, travelers are not sympathetic, while merchants will continue to travel even on bad roads as long as there is profit. But if the army of Central Inasas attacks along the roads we have built, then there will be a big problem."

Such roads cannot support the rapid transfer of heavy siege equipment, and the limitations on siege equipment mean that no matter how much friction occurs between the two regions, it will be difficult for the people of Central Inas to conquer any relatively strong fortress in Western Inas.

"But the reverse is also true, so the boundary between western and central Inassus has remained largely unchanged for centuries, while the boundary between the central and eastern regions has been exactly the opposite."

Raslaufer's tone was unusually nostalgic: "The first battle I participated in was a skirmish with the Central Indians. When I was fourteen, seven Central Inasas mercenaries set fire to a village in the east during the war. Three hundred of them fought back and cut off sixty-seven heads. Three and a half of those heads, a few Eastern Inasas gold coins, and a set of swords, zithers, and shields were placed by my bedside and kept me company for more than a month."

"Later, I gradually learned how to avoid giving all my earnings to doctors and priests. There were more and more dead heads near my place, so I had to dig a hole and bury them. Instead of bringing those things home, I put them at a mercenary trading post so their friends and family could claim them and make some more money."

"Ugh—" Bella immediately showed a disgusted expression upon hearing this, "I thought it was some deep-seated hatred that made you like this, but it turns out you were already like this at that age?"

“That was my first campaign, but not my first battle,” the mercenary explained. “But it’s too embarrassing for me to talk about now, so don’t even think about hearing about it.”

Bella grumbled in dissatisfaction. She kicked aside a piece of gravel blocking the wheel and turned her gaze to the trajectory of the car through the air. However, before the gravel hit the ground, the druid let out a soft exclamation.

"You guys go first, I'll go check that out..." Belle pulled a few strands of red hair behind her ear, lifted her light blue robe, leaped off the road, and ran towards a crooked old tree.

Others would hardly notice anything amiss around the tree; it looked no different from any other plant. But to the druid, it was a record so conspicuous it couldn't be more obvious.

Unlike the previous ones outside Shinwood City, this mark, left in the special language of the druids, was not intended as a warning, but rather as a narrative.

“I have no other choice. This is of course part of the way of nature, and I should obey the arrangement of the Father of Oaks, but how can I be content with that? My dear Gitanas, without you the world seems to have fallen into an eternal winter, so when will spring come?”

"I can't worry about anything else now. Maybe this is what they mean by 'desperate measures.' I'm going to seek refuge with Granny Nightingale. She should be able to help me."

It seemed to be a confession left in despair by a druid who had lost a loved one. Bella sighed softly, paused for a moment in front of the druidic words, and then turned to catch up with the others.

"What did you find?" von Dahl asked.

Bella recounted what she had seen and recorded, and after hearing her account, the atmosphere in the group became somewhat heavy.

"My love..." the driver murmured softly, "Back then, I also..."

He only said half a sentence before stopping. His physical condition and age didn't give him much time left, and those past events now seemed like someone else's memories. What was the point of bringing them up now? At least he still had old Franzsky for company.

"That druid mentioned Granny Nightingale, does anyone know who she is?"

“It’s just an old, worn-out legend,” Margaret shrugged. “It’s about an old woman who lives in the woods. She might be a fairy, a witch, or a sorceress. She loves helping people. If someone is by the lake at night, holding a bunch of irises, and calls her name three times towards the lake, she will quietly appear beside that person and spend about a week observing and assessing the person seeking help.”

“If the person seeking help is a truly good person, then his wish will be granted; but if he is a wicked fellow, he will be mocked and punished by her,” Margaret said. “But this is unlikely to be true, after all, no one in the City of Broken Bottles has ever been truly helped or mocked by the Nightingale Mother.”

"Is it possible that the City of Wine is a city blessed by the god of feasting? How could a creature still in the material world possibly go and cause trouble for the god of wine? Although someone has already done so, the main instigator was Purgatory, not an ordinary human."

However, regardless of the circumstances, the message Bella saw had been around for quite some time, and the person who wrote it must have met with either joy or sorrow, so no one paid it much attention. As the poorly maintained road gradually led to a fork in the road, a wooden signpost stood before them, and the outline of a small town appeared on their right.

“Southeast: Ersore Town; North: Oguri Society,” Daisy casually read the words on the road sign. “Judging from this, Granny Nightingale probably lives in the south.”

"How can you be so sure?" Bella looked over curiously.

“Isn’t this obvious? Your druid organization is called something like ‘Society.’ If that old Nightingale also lives over there, how would you have seen that message by the roadside? It can only be that the druid happened to be passing by and wrote it in a state of pain and inner turmoil.” The bard rested his chin on his finger, striking a pose like a private detective as he reasoned.

"But there's one thing I don't understand. Druids aren't ordinary people. Of course they have all sorts of ways to find more reliable people to help them, right? Even if it's just to find a psychologist or something to help them, why would they specifically seek help from a character in an 'old-fashioned legend'?"

Chapter 274 Twelve Gold Coins

"Because Grandma Nightingale is not a legend, but a real person."

A voice rang out nearby, and when everyone looked over, they saw a man in a gray-brown robe carrying two grouse, walking towards them along the north-south road.

He had no intention of striking up a conversation with strangers on the street. When he reached the fork in the road, he immediately wandered off in the southeast direction, seemingly a resident of Ersore.

“You’re a hunter?” Bella looked at the prey in his hand with slight surprise. “The druids of this Chestnut Grove seem to be a gentle society.”

“Gentle?” The man stopped in his tracks upon hearing this, scrutinizing Bella with a mocking gaze. “Then you two really can’t distinguish right from wrong.”

“Those druids are all evil people and madmen. I don’t know why they suddenly went crazy a while ago and started kidnapping everyone who came near their woodland. A while ago, even the pedestrians on this road were not spared. If it weren’t for Granny Nightingale calling on everyone to defeat them, we would have almost starved to death next to this woodland.”

"I hunted these two grouse myself without permission, and I don't need anyone's permission. It's only natural for me to go out and hunt for food when I'm hungry."

"Yes, yes, I'm very sorry." Bella was timidly rebuffed by this unexpected scolding, but her doubts only increased.

According to this man, the druids of the Oguri Society might belong to a certain extreme druidic sect. After all, with the Returned Ones as a "beacon of wisdom," it seems reasonable that they might be more extreme than the Inathas druids, who are even more chaotic than those within the Empire.

But if that's the case, how could these ordinary people possibly defeat the druids? You have to understand, even before she could perform a single real magic trick, she still had the fighting power of an ordinary soldier, and could even hold her own against mercenaries and gain a slight advantage when Leslaufer wasn't paying attention.

It's unlikely that a group of townspeople could achieve what the man described.

"What did Grandma Nightingale do during this time?" Angelita suddenly asked. "She must have sacrificed a lot for your cause to earn your love and respect."

“That’s absolutely right!” The man stopped in his tracks, gesturing wildly as he spoke. “After we decided to rebel against those druids, she blessed the water source! Just one sip of its water makes us strong and agile, and we can work for a whole day and night without getting tired! When we charged at that druidic society after we were blessed, you should have seen the shocked, stupid faces of those bastards!”

“My mother-in-law has sacrificed so much for us! When we first met her, she was a middle-aged woman, but after she blessed us, she looked like she had aged fifty years. It took several months for her to recover. It’s unbelievable.”

The man shook his head as he spoke and walked away, leaving the crowd looking at each other in bewilderment. Margaret glanced at Angelita and the others out of the corner of her eye, then took out a few valo and handed them to the coachman.

"Thank you for your service. That's enough for you. You can go back along the main road. Here's the agreed-upon payment."

"Thank you, Miss!" The coachman's eyes widened at the sight of so much gold, but then he glanced at the town of Ersore and hesitated before speaking, "Um... I'll leave tomorrow. I'll go into town first and rest a bit..."

“That man was a member of an organization that combines con artists, thieves, and poachers. Oh, and don’t forget the tomb raiders—remember those two spotted cat people? That’s where they started being hunted.” Margaret glanced at him and said slowly.

"If you really want to rest, then go ahead, but whatever you do, don't flaunt your wealth. Otherwise, if they spot you, we won't be able to protect you after we leave."

"Ah?!" The driver exclaimed in shock. "You mean... this... this can't be right?"

“Then let’s go together, buddy,” Raslaw stepped forward and grabbed the coachman’s arm. “Don’t worry, you’re safe until we leave.”

How could he possibly feel at ease?! Of course the coachman knew this group was heading to Central Inasas! How could he possibly follow them that far? Even if he could, why would they save him every time?

"I... I'd better hurry back. Qingzun City will probably be settled by the time I get back..." The coachman stammered, breaking free from Leslaufer's large hand. He chuckled sheepishly as he bowed to the crowd and retreated. "May you all have smooth sailing, good fortune in battle, uh, congratulations on your wealth!"

“It’s not good for him to stay, not for us either,” von Dahl-Banchou nodded. “It’s the right thing to do to get rid of him.”

“Hopefully we can still find some normal people inside. Our equipment and supplies are in dire need of replenishment,” Leslaufer nodded. “If not, we’ll have to leave as soon as possible.”

There are a few small towns not too far apart along the central-western Inasas border, so there's no need to put all your eggs in one basket. However, for travelers wandering the wilderness, finding a place to rest regularly is a necessity.

The man carrying the grouse home was unlikely to be a villain, and from what everyone saw after entering the town, most people were probably just ordinary people. The sounds of vendors hawking their wares could be heard everywhere in the streets and alleys, and many of them were items from the central region of Inasas, which were being sold at high prices to make a profit.

"How much is this sword?"

Raslaufer naturally headed straight for the shops selling weapons and armor, where he quickly found a two-handed greatsword characteristic of Eastern Inathas, very similar to the one he had used before. Although far inferior to dwarven craftsmanship, it was still his top choice.

Life outside the military is much more exciting and unpredictable than life in a combat unit, but there are also many unforeseen circumstances that lead to a significant increase in additional expenses.