The Fake Saintess and the Elf Warrior

"..."

This time, with no close human companions, Naka had no intention of seeking any more teammates. Nor did she plan to help any humans. Those things were utterly useless to the plan. But sitting alone in the quiet room, listening to the cold wind rattling the window, with no one to keep her company, no one to chat or laugh with, her solitary figure on the edge of the bed appeared so forlorn.

Seeking insiders

Compared to the streets of Isard Town, the Royal Capital was also bustling with activity on ordinary days. However, the number of adventurers in the Royal Capital was significantly higher than in Isard Town, and many high-level, powerful adventurers, completely unknown in Isard Town, were frequently seen in the Royal Capital. The quest lists they carried were almost all challenging missions with a difficulty level of 40 or higher, tasks that would be absolutely impossible to find in the Adventurers' Guilds of Isard Town. As the core stronghold of the human faction, it was only natural that it attracted so many top-tier adventurers.

Naka sat on a bench beside a small fountain on the street, slurping down a mouthful of Tabioka. Her eyes were constantly scanning the adventurers passing by. Through her observation, she had gained a general understanding of the adventurers in the royal capital. While searching for shops selling Tabioka throughout the city, she also used the fake cross on her chest—a real communication device—to transmit images of the royal capital's facilities and structures to the Demon King's castle.

In conclusion, Naka couldn't help but admire the capital city's reputation. Impregnable, watertight, and meticulously guarded – these were the immediate impressions the town left on her. This was evident in both the buildings and the work ethic of the staff. Naka wanted to find a weakness to exploit to launch her plan, but she hadn't yet found a suitable opportunity. For now, she was searching through the flowing crowd for people who might know the information she needed and whom she could use. Sitting there drinking a beverage, she would appear to anyone as an ordinary saintess, arousing no suspicion. Therefore, Naka temporarily dropped her "disguise" and used "Demon King's Authority: Insight" on the crowd before her.

This power can mark all living beings within a certain range, transmitting their locations and ecological energy levels to the Demon King without reservation. Its maximum radius is approximately one kilometer. Combined with the "Discernment" power, Naka can obtain a vast amount of information about human abilities at once. The higher the level of a person, the more likely they are to have direct contact with the kingdom's inner workings. Finding the highest-ranking person possible, approaching them, and probing their intentions is Naka's first step in her strategy to find someone who "might know the whereabouts of the Fang of Agh."

However, Naka seems to have underestimated the population density of the capital.

"Wow! What is this...?"

Even though she had filtered out all non-human beings and only checked human abilities, a massive amount of information still flooded into Naka's mind the moment the two powers were activated simultaneously. It really startled Naka.

This information included not only intelligence from adventurers, but also information about ordinary citizens, shop owners, and other people without combat abilities. While the amount of information was enormous, it also contained a lot of completely worthless data. Selecting this information and differentiating it from the adventurers' intelligence was an extremely arduous task, causing Naka considerable distress.

Even more problematic is that within a one-kilometer radius of the "Insight" effect, tens of thousands of people are active. And every second, people leave this area while new people enter. Old intelligence disappears before Naka can even finish reading it, and new intelligence arrives in quick succession. Naka's reading speed simply cannot keep up with the rapid pace of information exchange. After several minutes, Naka not only failed to obtain the information she wanted, but was also left with a completely bewildered head.

"...I'm not playing anymore!"

Finally, unable to endure it any longer, Naka simply gave up, relinquished her powers, and reverted to her saintly identity through "disguise." She couldn't help but regret it; perhaps using this method to find her target wasn't the best approach.

But what if this plan fails? Those who know the information, the high-ranking members of the royal palace, don't wear their identities on their sleeves. You can't tell the details of so many adventurers just by looking at them.

Naka had originally intended to find her target while seated, avoiding unnecessary movement or communication to gather information. After all, actively seeking information about the palace's interior would inevitably arouse attention and suspicion. However, due to unexpected circumstances, simply sitting in the chair wouldn't yield any substantial progress and would only waste time. She no longer had the option of using this easier, more discreet method.

"There's really no other way..."

Naka stood up and casually tossed the now-empty container into a nearby trash can. She then walked into the flow of people.

Naka had a general idea of ​​where to go next. The most likely place for palace staff to appear, and also the place where she could encounter as many adventurers as possible, was simply one place...

"Adventurer No. 1446, is Adventurer No. 1446 here? Please proceed to counter number 7!"

It didn't feel like a crowded, noisy place at all, and the noise was tormenting Naka, whose face was already covered in black lines.

She believed that the most likely place to obtain the information she wanted was undoubtedly here: the Adventurers' Guild. Only adventurers frequented this place, and the movement of people was much slower inside the enclosed space compared to the outdoors. By narrowing down the scope of her "insights" here, she could more intuitively and concisely grasp a large amount of information about adventurers... However, it wasn't until she arrived at the gates of the Adventurers' Guild in the royal capital, Wefen, that she realized how naive she had been to apply her impression of the Adventurers' Guild in Isaad Town to the royal capital.

Just like when entering the city, there was a long queue here. Many adventurers waiting to turn in quests, accept quests, submit party requests, etc., had formed a line that stretched for about two blocks. Even though the guild building was several times larger than the guild building in Isard Town.

Even after queuing for most of the day and finally entering the Adventurers' Guild, it's not the end. Those queuing aren't "waiting for someone to process their requests," but rather "people who can't get into the guild." Once inside, they have to take a number and wait for the receptionist to call their number before it's their turn. This is the number of adventurers who have to hand over their work here in the royal capital every day.

Naka didn't go in to queue. She just stood at the entrance, listening to the guild's chaotic chatter that made it impossible to hear the conversations. Looking towards the end of the queue in the distance, she briefly used her "Insight" and "Discernment" abilities to observe the situation inside the guild. After confirming that there weren't any particularly powerful adventurers nearby, she gave up and turned away from that place where she didn't know when she could get in.

If even this tactic doesn't work, then Naka has very few options left.

"Should we go straight to the palace and take a look...?"

But what could she do even if she went to the palace? It would be heavily guarded, and no outsiders would be allowed to enter freely to gather information. Naka could only watch from afar. Using "Insight" on it wouldn't confirm the location of the Fang of Agh, nor could it lure out those inside. It was pointless. Besides, the Fang of Agh might not even be there at the moment.

Should she go to the palace for initial observation, or try another route to find someone who knows the information? Naka pondered, resting her chin on her hand, as she wandered aimlessly through the streets of the capital.

However, luck is a fickle thing. Naka's deliberate search for intelligence yielded nothing. Yet, as she strolled through the streets, she was suddenly blessed with good fortune.

"I...I will definitely find that dragon tooth and prove my abilities...hiccup..."

In front of a bar that was open even during the day, a man reeking of alcohol, dressed in tattered clothes, leaned against the bar's exterior wall, stammering what passersby would perceive as nothing more than drunken ramblings. Just then, Naka happened to be passing by and clearly heard the drunkard's incoherent speech. He uttered other incoherent phrases, but this one sentence, every single word of it, reached Naka's ears clearly.

"Hey! What did you just say? You mentioned Dragon Fang, right?!"

Ignoring how dirty and smelly he was, Naka grabbed him by the collar and loudly questioned him. The drunkard just rubbed his barely open eyes and mumbled curses.

"Who the hell are you, you brat? How dare you interrupt my drinking session... Believe me, if I get drunk, I'll just have my way with you right here in the street! Get lost, get out of my way, I can still drink..."

"I'll ask you one more time, how much do you know about that dragon tooth?"

"You, you let go..."

Even an emperor would avoid a drunkard. Naka had no intention of pursuing his outbursts, but instead relentlessly pressed him for the core of the issue. The more Naka questioned, the more incoherent the drunkard became, utterly unable to provide any answers Naka desired. To outsiders, it appeared to be nothing more than a chaotic scene of a girl yelling at a drunkard. The situation reached a stalemate.

"Hey, don't bother with this saintess."

The deadlock was broken by the shop owner, who had come out to investigate after hearing the commotion outside. He assumed the man, who had been kicked out of his shop the previous night for drunken antics, was causing trouble again and had offended a passing civilian. Therefore, he advised Naka...

"This guy was a thief, always committing crimes with his gang. They pulled off a heist on their way to the capital, but because of a dispute over the loot, he was left behind. In a fit of anger, he reported them to the authorities, revealing their hideout and modus operandi. Because of his informant's contribution, he was released after less than a month. But since then, he's been homeless and jobless, spending his meager savings coming to me every day to drown his sorrows in alcohol. He always gets completely drunk, causing me a lot of trouble... When he's drinking, he keeps muttering things like 'dragon teeth' and 'dragons,' which are completely meaningless. Miss Saintess, you don't need to take it seriously. There are no dragons around in the capital; it's very safe."

"What...what does this mean?! It really exists, there are dragon teeth! It's just that you ignorant commoners don't know, never mind! That thing is very, very powerful! Priceless! Many thieves are burying and lying in ambush inside and outside the city to find it!"

"Alright, alright, I'm sick and tired of hearing that. You never say this when you're sober, only when you're drunk. Do you think it's true? If you've had your fill of drinking, hurry up and leave. Don't be an eyesore in front of my shop and disturb my business."

"Nonsense! Who comes to your house to drink in broad daylight? Only me..."

While the boss and the drunkard were still bickering over trivial matters, Naka had already quietly let go of him and left without either of them noticing. Although she hadn't asked him directly, she had already obtained enough information.

Although it's unknown when or through what channel the news leaked, the thieves learned of it beforehand, even though it wasn't disclosed to the residents of the capital.

It's not hard to understand, actually. Dragons possess power unimaginable to humans. Even a drop of blood, a scale, or a hair has immense value. Adventurers and thieves alike dare not provoke dragons in ordinary times, but once they learn that a dragon's tooth has fallen into the human world, many eager to take advantage of the chaos will surely come to investigate.

What to do next was now clear to Naka.

Finn, the capital city, is surrounded by mountains on three sides. Because there is only one road leading to it, it is virtually impregnable by attacks from the rear or sides, making it highly secure and easily defensible. This is why it was chosen as the capital.

In the mountainous region surrounding the capital, besides some wild animals and weaker wild monsters, there have recently been other visitors. They've dug caves in the mountains as bases, entrenched there, eyeing the capital with predatory intent. Among them is a group of twenty, led by a man with a terrifying scar running from his left eye to his right chin, residing in one of the caves.

They were highway robbers who made their living by killing and robbing. Recently, they learned a crucial piece of information: of the ten demonic dragons released by the Demon King, a tooth from one of them was found by Frost of Sunflower Town and handed over to the capital. Everyone in their line of work knew the power of the demonic dragons and the immense value of their materials. If they could obtain that rare treasure, even if they stopped their highway robbery business for decades, they could definitely make up for the losses of those decades.

This event attracted not only thieves but also some legitimate adventurers. While the adventurers could enter the capital openly, the thieves, unable to enter the city, camped in the mountains, trying to find an opportunity to enter the city in force while sending scouts who could enter to inquire about the whereabouts of Dragon Fang.

However, a month passed without any good news. The chief remained clueless about the whereabouts of Dragon Fang or how to enter the city. While he couldn't rush Scarface, with their funds and food reserves dwindling, the chief had begun to consider further action.

Unfortunately, before that day arrived, an uninvited girl came to the entrance of their cave.

"Is anyone there? I want to speak with your leader."

Two henchmen acting as lookouts surrounded her. Although she didn't appear to be capable of attacking, they still cautiously hesitated to approach. Soon, Scarface, the leader who had received the news, came out to greet her.

He looked at the girl. This silver-haired girl was short, appearing to be just beginning her teenage years. Having once killed a lone saintess, he immediately recognized her as wearing a specially made nun's habit, a version of the saintess's. Her movements showed no aggression, and she didn't seem to be carrying any weapons. He lowered his guard somewhat and asked...

"I am the leader. What business do you have with us, Holy Maiden?"

With their leader appearing, the remaining henchmen all emerged from the cave, brandishing their weapons and baring their teeth. The girl, however, seemed completely oblivious to them, responding calmly...

"Excuse me, are you aware that the capital recently acquired a dragon tooth?"

"So what if I know?"

"That makes things easier... May I ask where you learned this information? Please be sure to tell me the identity, appearance, and whereabouts of the person who leaked it."

"Why are you asking this?"

"That's none of your business."

"...Girl, are you underestimating us?"

If the girl had answered the question politely, Scarface might have actually told her. But she completely lacked the attitude one would expect from someone asking for help. Her mere presence here already made Scarface feel slighted, and her arrogance in the face of so many people and weapons only reinforced his belief that this girl, who completely disregarded him, was sent by a colleague with whom he had a grudge to deliberately cause trouble and extract information.

Given this, he, a seasoned assassin with years of experience in this line of work, naturally accepted all comers. With a swift movement, he drew a long knife from behind his back and pressed it against the girl's neck.

"I don't know who sent you, but I'm used to it. In our line of work, being stabbed in the back is commonplace. I usually just kill those kinds of people without hesitation. But..."

Scarface looked at the girl who remained unmoved even as his large sword approached, and a lewd smile appeared on his face.

"...You're quite a beauty, girl. It's interesting that you can remain unfazed even with a knife to your throat; you're no ordinary saintess. Fine, I won't kill you. But my brothers and I have been lying in wait here for a month, and we haven't had our fill of fun. Girl, since you've come to your death, you can't just leave as you please. Spend a few nights with us. If you're still alive by then, we'll let you go back."

"What if I refuse?"

"That's not up to you!"

As he spoke, Scarface raised his long sword. The girl remained calm. However, her hand had somehow slipped behind her back, and a black light flashed from her fingertips...

"Wait a minute! Release that girl!"

However, just before the black light in the girl's hand could wipe everyone out, another uninvited guest arrived at the cave entrance, shouting lines commonly used in heroic rescue scenes. Everyone turned to look in the direction of the voice.

Standing there was a person clad in gleaming silver armor, wearing steel boots, and wielding a long spear. His beautiful, flowing blond hair swayed in the wind, beneath which lay a young, delicate face.

She raised her gun high in front of the girls and thieves, who were still confused about the situation, and introduced herself with righteous indignation.

"Royal Palace Adventurer's Direct Reserve Member: Knight Lucius, dispatched to subdue mountain bandits!"

Deal with thieves

"My name is Lucius, a valiant knight in the reserve force of the great Royal Palace Adventurer's Guild! I, Lucius, will never forgive any thugs who lay a hand on ordinary people! Release this saintess, or you'll regret it!"

"..."

Both Scarface and the Saintess fell silent. The former was surprised that the kingdom had discovered his hideout and was momentarily speechless. The latter, on the other hand, secretly complained that the female knight had ruined her plans.

Who is this saintess who, despite being rescued, turns around and resents her rescuer? It's none other than the Demon King: Nama Kallenra.

Even without the female knight's intervention, she wouldn't have encountered any danger. Besides, she hadn't yet obtained the information she wanted. Naka had originally intended to demonstrate her skills to these thieves, forcing them to confess. But with the female knight's arrival, this tactic no longer worked. The female knight believed she had saved the saintess, but in reality, she had only given these thieves more time to live.

However, the thieves were unaware that the female knight's act of bravery had actually saved their lives; she was, in fact, their savior. Upon hearing her purpose, they all drew their swords, revealing their murderous intent. The group swarmed forward, forming a circle and trapping the female knight. Another member timidly asked the scarred man...

"Boss, what should we do if she really is from the Royal Palace Adventurer's Guild? Killing her might backfire..."

Scarface knew that his gang was no match for the royal adventurer group, a gathering of elites from all walks of life. He didn't give the order to attack; instead, he secretly sheathed his longsword and asked Lucia...

"Woman, you claim to be a member of the Royal Palace Adventurers' Guild. What proof do you have?"

"Can't you see this medal?"

Lucius brandished her spear once more, a tassel fluttering in the wind at the junction of the spearhead and shaft. Adorned with a gleaming gold medal, it was engraved with the outline of the royal palace—a prestigious item reserved only for the royal adventurer's guild and its reserve members. The thieves trembled with fear at the sight of this certificate of merit directly bestowed by the royal family. The circle surrounding Lucius grew even larger.

Scarface was a well-informed man. He knew that whoever possessed this item must have ill intentions. But there was still room for maneuver in the current situation.

They weren't actually committing murder or robbery and were caught red-handed by Lucius. The strangely calm saintess before them hadn't asked Lucius for help or explained the situation after Lucius arrived. There shouldn't be any incriminating evidence she had against them. Scarface simply pretended to be confused and asked...

"So it really is a messenger from the royal palace... May I ask what business this lady knight has with us?"

"Need I say more? Our palace received intelligence long ago that many thieves have been active outside the city for the past month, fearing you might be plotting some dangerous action against the capital. Today, we have specially dispatched our reserve army to the mountains to wipe out you thieves!"

"What? We're thieves? That's a huge misunderstanding!"

Scarface spread his hands with a helpless expression.

"We're not thieves, just a group of homeless vagrants. We call the world our home, and just because we lingered in this cave a few days longer, you think we're thieves? That's going too far. We're all law-abiding citizens!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah."

Upon hearing their boss's plan to bluff his way out, the henchmen readily echoed him, some even feigning illness and playing the victim. But Lucia loudly retorted.

"Don't play dumb with me! You tried to abduct and kill this saintess, do you think I didn't see it?"

"Ambush? Not at all. This saintess just came to ask us a question, and we're just having a chat."

"Then what did you mean by raising the knife at her just now?!"

"This...it was just a joke. This saintess asked some very strange questions, and we didn't know how to answer them. We tried to persuade her to leave, but she wouldn't budge, so I could only scare her a little to get her to leave quickly. In these dangerous times, it's not inappropriate for us people who live day to day to carry some weapons for self-defense, is it?"

"That's right, that's right."

Hearing Scarface's words, and with the jeers of his henchmen around her, Lucia showed a hint of skepticism. She asked Naka...

Is that really the case?

For Naka, getting rid of this meddlesome female knight now would make it easier for her to make her move. Since Scarface intended to end the matter hastily and get rid of her, Naka went along with it and replied...

"I think so."

"Huh? What does that mean?"

"Let's assume so."

"What does 'tentatively' mean?"

"Just take it as that."

"What do you mean by 'just consider it'?"

The female knight also considered that Naka might be threatened by these thieves and afraid to ask for help. So she repeatedly checked, trying to find flaws to expose the thieves' lies. But her concern only pushed Naka's tolerance to the limit. No matter what, she kept asking the same questions and refused to leave, finally causing Naka to yell at her in anger.

"Are you kidding me?! Get lost, okay? I have important business to discuss!"

"Huh..."

Before the thieves, who clearly didn't look like good people, could even react, Naka, who looked like a victim captured by a group of thieves, suddenly turned on the female knight who was rushing to her rescue. This startled the female knight, who couldn't help but tremble. For some reason, the woman who had just wanted to put on a "hero saves the damsel in distress" act suddenly felt like she was the villain who had interrupted their conversation and presumptuously treated the other party as the bad guy.

Naka's gaze was unwavering, completely unlike that of someone forced into a corner. Lucia became increasingly convinced she might have truly wronged someone. She reluctantly put away her gun, her face flushed, and quietly said to those present, "Excuse me, sorry to bother you," before scurrying away into the woods.

After the troublesome people disappeared and some time had passed, confirming that the female knight was completely gone, the henchmen surrounded Naka again and drew their weapons. Scarface stroked his thick beard, watching the saintess, whose expression remained unchanged, with great interest. By now, Scarface was quite certain that the saintess was deliberately refusing to leave with the female knight. Her choice to help him drive away the royal adventurers and remain here must have a special purpose. Something exceptionally powerful seemed to be hidden within this seemingly petite girl, supporting her. He somewhat suppressed his lust and contempt for Naka, and said with some admiration...

"You've got guts, woman. When I was lying to that female knight, I was worried you'd expose me. If you had asked her for help, you might have been able to return safely, but you chose to give up that chance to live and stay alone with us... Woman, who are you? What do you want?"