Strength 99999 but the Holy Sister

Because Aisha was a little concerned about what Harper said, she asked Tricia to interrogate them. For Tricia, this was not difficult.

Sure enough, things are not that simple.

Aisha was suspicious: "Criminal?"

"Well, someone made a promise to them, offering them the chance to be pardoned of their crimes, and used it as a bargaining chip to have them disguise themselves as bandits and attack the caravan. They came well prepared, and they used drugs to gather the mountain goblins—I think that's the scent you smelled, Elsa."

Aisha frowned slightly, sensing some kind of signal.

Regardless of the reason why the other party attacked an ordinary caravan, Elsa also noticed what Tricia said - the other party could exempt criminals from punishment, so his identity and background must be extraordinary, right?

Aisha didn't care about this. She thought for a moment and asked, "Is their target the caravan, or us?"

"The target is only the caravan. They don't seem to know about us."

Tricia said, smiling.

"As for the instigator, it's the Lord of Seyavis, Earl Leonard. Elsa, we're now within Seyavis' territory. Should we tell Silbaz and Ebusen about this?"

If we tell Silbaz and Ebusan, then many things may have to be carefully considered.

Aisha thought for a moment, "Does anyone else know about this?"

"No, they didn't even know what they said—I hypnotized them."

Tricia smiled widely, causing Grace's shoulders to tremble.

"Well, that's good," Aisha nodded. "I'll go and test their opinions first. Don't tell them for now."

Elsa emotionally stands on the side of the caravan for the time being, but until now, Elsa's understanding of the people in the caravan is limited, so she will not make a direct judgment.

But in short, Earl Leonard has been labeled as an "evil man" in Elsa's heart. What he did is abominable, and Elsa does not want to ignore it - no matter what Leonard's reasons are, he uses the temptation of innocence to instruct criminals to continue committing crimes, which is contrary to the duties of a lord.

……

The caravan set off again.

The rain was still falling and the adventurers were already exhausted, but there was no way to rest now. They could only muster up their strength and continue to move forward in the rainy night.

Elsa was planning to get some information from Silverbaz and inquire about the merchant Ebusen and Count Leonard, but Silverbaz took the initiative to find her first.

"Thank you so much for this time. Speaking of which, Miss Fasha, you are already strong enough to win the gold medal, right?"

Silbaz came specially to express his gratitude, and there was a hint of respect in his words. Most adventurers respect the strong, and Silbaz is no exception.

"You have a good eye," Aisha smiled and found a more reasonable explanation. "If this commission goes smoothly, I'll be able to accumulate enough points to get the gold medal. For the next cooperation, I'll have to pay more."

Silbaz suddenly understood.

……

------------

307. She gave you earrings?

Generally speaking, the border between two territories is where bandits are most active.

Because the boundaries of fiefdoms are often vague, and there are no resources worth developing in such places, and they are particularly far away from the main city, they are usually lawless areas.

If the main road had not been blocked, they would not have gone this way - many of the trees on the roadside were newly cut down, and it was obvious that this road had indeed been abandoned for a long time and was only recently used by people again.

Simply put, this place is exactly the gap between the two lords - whether it is near Seyavis or Dammas, or the nearby towns and villages, there will be the lord's army responsible for defeating dangerous monsters, eliminating cunning bandits, and providing security for their subjects. As for small-scale instability factors, they are entirely left to the Adventurer's Guild or the local church to deal with.

This is the most common governance model in this world, and one of the reasons why the Adventurer's Guild and the Church enjoy such fame and power.

"But no matter which side it is, they usually don't point their swords directly at the border area."

Silbaz said.

"Firstly, it's to avoid sparking disputes with other lords. Secondly, the territory is simply too vast, and the lords don't have enough manpower to manage every area. There will always be areas that are missed. As far as I know, each territory generally only sends out a small team of powerful knights to conduct patrols on a regular basis. This saves time and money, and also serves as a deterrent, but the effect is limited.

Those bandits were smart. They didn't rob the church or the nobles. As for other people, who cared?

Even if Lord Hibern of Dammas really made up his mind to send troops to suppress these bandits, it would be fine if he successfully eliminated them, but what if he failed? The bandits might get wind of it and run to the territory of Seavis to hide. Then we would have to unite with Seavis to encircle and suppress them, which would be a troublesome matter. If Lord Leonard of Seavis also agreed and sent troops, then who would contribute more and how would the already limited spoils be divided? What if Seavis suffered casualties? Lord Hibern, as the initiator, would have to provide some compensation, right? That would be another headache.

Silbaz tried to liven up the atmosphere, laughing heartily, and seemed to be accustomed to what was being said.

Aisha didn't say much.

In fact, Elsa has a different opinion on this, but Elsa does not intend to make any comments on it.

Perhaps, as Silbaz said, it is very troublesome to wipe out the bandits, or it is a thankless task. Even the Dammas Fortress still has places like West Street, let alone a vast territory?

But no matter what, this is just the opinion of Silbaz. If we only talk about the current incident, this statement needs to be scrutinized - because the relationship between these bandits and Earl Leonard is one of employment.

I'm afraid we'll have to ask the Earl himself what the truth is.

"How much do you know about Count Leonard?"

Having reached this point, Aisha asked directly, and Silbaz didn't think there was anything wrong.

"Lord Leonard..." Silbaz thought for a moment and said, "I've been to Seyavis many times, but I've never seen him in person. I've heard a lot about him from the tavern... Is Miss Fasha interested?"

Aisha just smiled and said, "I'd like to hear more about it."

"The story begins with the Leonard family."

Perhaps adventurers always like to brag and chat, which is a good way to relieve boredom on the road. Silbaz also became interested and talked a lot.

"Although it's a new aristocratic force that has only gradually emerged in the past thirty years, Leonard was actually just a small noble in a small town near the south. Later, I don't know how he suddenly rose to power and became the most wealthy noble. Now, that Leonard has become the Earl of Seyavis, Earl Leonard, Viscount of Carinthia, North Holland, and De Gusbang. Can you imagine, his wealth is probably so much that even a castle can't hold it all, right?

We are now passing through his largest territory, the Seavis Territory. If you have the chance, Miss Fasha can visit the city of Seavis. Although it is not as magnificent and prosperous as Dammas, it is still a rare and beautiful place.

As he spoke, Silvers began to tell some anecdotes about Earl Leonard. To be honest, it just sounded like a story, and Elsa didn't get much useful information from it.

"However, there's a rumor that some pagans appeared in Seyavis. I don't know if it's true or not."

"Pagan?" Aisha looked at Silverbaz. "Can you tell me about it?"

Unlike the previous life, the pagans in this world are not just those who disagree with the church's beliefs and doctrines or have conflicts of interest. Most of them are genuine fallen people who believe in demons and devils.

Aisha has been living in Weilin Town. She has never seen those people, but she has heard of them.

"I don't really know about that," Silverz shook his head. "I've only heard about it from others, but I've never seen it myself... Rumors like these are sometimes true, sometimes false. I'll just listen to them. I believe the Church will definitely expel all those demons."

Aisha nodded and didn't ask any further questions.

If paganism was really so weak, it would not have existed in the world forever - the objects of worship of those believers are demons and devils, and these titles in this world are not made up things, but real.

Elsa took the opportunity to chat with Silvers and asked about the businessman Ebusen. She asked vaguely whether Ebusen had made any enemies or had any disputes with Earl Leonard, but she got nothing.

So Elsa finally confirmed the route and returned to the back of the caravan.

"how is the situation?"

Tricia asked.

Aisha shook her head. "I didn't get anything out of my question. I don't think Silbaz knows much about this. I'll probably have to ask Ebusen."

But if you ask Ebusan directly, it would seem too deliberate.

"Let's take one step at a time."

Elsa stopped thinking about it and turned to look at Tricia. After thinking for a moment, she asked, "Tricia, do you think I'm being too nosy?"

After all, what kind of person Count Leonard is is strictly speaking an internal affair of the empire and has nothing to do with the Holy See.

Tricia just smiled mischievously: "Her Majesty the Queen won't mind. She'd love to make those nobles suffer a little."

As she spoke, Tricia seemed to have thought of something, lowered her brows and sighed.

"Come to think of it, Elsa, the Queen should have contacted you, right?"

Aisha didn't hide anything from Tricia and nodded.

"Well, she sent me a letter and a 'meeting gift'."

"What did she say?"

"Nothing much was said," Aisha recalled, "just some greetings. But the 'welcome gift' was a bit unique: a pair of earrings."

"Earrings?" Tricia suddenly looked strange. It was obvious that she didn't know about this matter. She quickly asked, "Her Majesty the Queen gave you earrings? Blue ones?"

……

------------

308: Old News from the Capital

Elsa took out the pair of sapphire earrings (they were mistakenly written as pendants in the previous chapter, but they were actually written as earrings before), used magic to block the rain, and handed them to Tricia to see.

Tricia took a quick look and then looked away. She obviously recognized it.

"It's indeed this earring," Tricia said slowly, looking at Elsa with an indescribable look, "but the magic circle on it is damaged."

Elsa was a little strange.

"Magic circle? Is there a magic circle on it?"

"Well, this earring was a birthday gift from the previous empress to Her Majesty. I personally carved the magic circle on it, so I shouldn't be mistaken."

There was a hint of regret in Tricia's eyes, and she seemed to be recalling an event from the past.

"It's just that the magic circle on it has lost its effect now, and the magic has dissipated, turning it into an ordinary sapphire. Although it looks no different from its original appearance, I can no longer sense its remaining magic. But it doesn't matter. That magic actually has no effect on you, Elsa."

Elsa had paid close attention to it when she first got it. She felt that she should be able to control her magic and dispel it. Elsa had tried it at that time and didn't find anything special.

But if Tricia said yes, Aisha would never doubt it.

Elsa felt that Tricia might have misunderstood something - after all, anything with magic power would be damaged if it fell into Elsa's hands. Tricia's eyes seemed to say "Don't worry, I understand."

Elsa was full of doubts and decided to explain, "But it was already like this when I got it. I tried to inject magic into it, but there was no feedback."

This made Tricia stunned.

Tricia really thought that this thing became like this after falling into Elsa's hands, but she did not doubt Elsa's words.

"Huh? Is that so? If that's the case, it should have been damaged a long time ago. No wonder its magic power has dissipated so completely. It seems that it has long been..."

Tricia shook her head thoughtfully. "Anyway, it would be great if these earrings could be used as they should be."

Royal things are often coveted by others, especially when she was asleep, a lot of things happened in the imperial capital, so there is nothing to regret even if the thing is damaged.

Aisha heard something obscure in Tricia's tone.

"Did anything happen in the Empire?"

"Well, about two years ago. Elsa, you might not know this, but Her Majesty has experienced a lot of...unpleasant things to reach her current position. Her mother died in a political struggle, and she was forced to take the throne. You might think the empire is stable now, but the pain from two years ago hasn't subsided yet."

"Two years ago..."

Elsa pondered.

The memories of two years ago are actually quite vague. At that time, Elsa had just come to this world. The muddled days made her, who had no experience in surviving in the wild, exhausted. During that time, Elsa went to some villages, met many people, and encountered many things. No one would take in a strange girl who didn't understand the language of this world, especially Elsa who deliberately made herself dirty, which was also for safety. At that time, the most food she ate every day was the animals she hunted and the bread brought to her by the kind nuns.

It was not until she later drifted to the town of Weilin and was taken in by Father Angus that Elsa finally settled down in this world.

The memories of two years ago have become completely blurred. Aisha vaguely remembered something, but it disappeared in a flash.

"It's normal that you didn't know. The coup in the imperial capital lasted only a short month. During that time, the news was strictly blocked. Not even many people in the imperial capital knew about it. I was still asleep at that time, and I only learned about it later."

Tricia sighed, a complicated look in her eyes.

She is a contemporary of the previous empress, and she treats the current empress more as a junior, or even as her own niece.

"The previous empress was forced to abdicate, and her daughter, the current Empress, fled the Imperial Capital, intending to seek my help. However, her carriage was intercepted en route, and she became disoriented. It wasn't until a month later that she returned to the Imperial Capital and reclaimed power. Even so, there have been occasional conflicts between the Empress's supporters, the 'Empress Faction,' and the new aristocracy's 'Royal Rule Faction.' The Empire is not as stable as it appears."

Elsa suddenly realized.

No wonder Tricia said just now that the Queen wouldn't mind Elsa punishing Earl Leonard, and even "would like those nobles to suffer a little."

Elsa couldn't help but sigh.

I always feel that, just like watching TV dramas in my previous life, Elsa feels that she has no say in these political factional struggles.

Tricia looked at Aisha thoughtfully, "But...why did Her Majesty give it to you?"

This is what makes Tricia feel strange.

It would be fine if this thing was still intact, but now it seems that it was already like this when Elsa got it. Would Her Majesty the Queen really give Elsa a pair of decorative earrings that have lost their original function?

Elsa also shook her head, but after Tricia said this, Elsa suddenly felt that the two earrings seemed more and more familiar.

"Anyway, Elsa, keep it. It's a very important item—even if it has lost its original function, it's still a token of the imperial family. Her Majesty the Queen won't leave the imperial capital easily, but we will definitely go there in the future, and maybe it will come in handy."