You've found the Gusha-hime Knight, so put your hair up in a bun!

"The Empire's Blackthorn has already begun its operation; none of those slave traders will escape the law."

Woohoo! Woohoo! Woohoo!

Hearing Xiluo's calm demeanor, as if he had everything under control, the demi-humans raised their arms and cheered, their eyes filled with fervent reverence as they looked at Xiluo.

With a downward press of his hands, Shiro's movements caused the demi-humans' shouts to cease abruptly once again.

“Now, I want you to stay here and wait until Ms. Serene and I return.”

"As you wish!!"

Just as Shiloh broke the magic circle of the leader of the dark magicians, Freya, who was lurking outside Truman's mansion, suddenly narrowed her eyes and tensed up like a fox giving a warning.

Something's happened!

Upon seeing the dark figure emerge from Truman's mansion, Freya quickly picked up her terminal and sent a message to Shiloh.

Just as she was about to chase after the dark figure, she suddenly stopped.

On second thought, Truman's actions indicated that Shiloh had done something significant.

The fact that Shiloh sent him to keep watch meant that Truman would send reinforcements, which was within his expectations. Therefore, he was absolutely confident in dealing with Truman's men.

If that's the case, then tracking this person would be somewhat unnecessary.

After thinking for a moment, Freya slapped her palm and made up her mind.

sneak into!

Infiltrate fiercely!

With that thought in mind, a glint of cunning flashed in Freya's mind. She then crouched low, like a nimble hunter, and, under the cover of darkness, infiltrated Truman's mansion without alerting any guards.

Truman's residence wasn't particularly complex in design; it was mostly just regular main roads. So, Freya easily slipped into what looked like a study.

Freya stared intently at the two guards standing at the door, slowly closed her eyes, and twitched her ears to sense the movement around her.

Hmm, no one's in the room, that's good.

Although Freya, like these two guards, is a transcendent being of the [Azure Flame Rank], her strength has never been in her transcendent rank, but rather in her ability to skillfully use tools.

Jingle Bell!

Step, step, step...

Freya tossed a metal speaker nearby, and the crisp metallic clanging attracted the guards' attention. The footsteps it emitted made them instinctively stop and look into the distance, completely unaware that Freya, who had concealed her aura, had already arrived behind them.

呲——

The sharp, pointed tip pierced the bodies of the two guards from the back of their necks. With the injection of the paralyzing alchemical potion, the two men collapsed into limp, leather-like bodies without even being able to groan.

Seeing this, Freya drew a line in the air with her fingertips, uttered a few short syllables, and then used a simple teleportation spell to lift the two of them into a hidden corner.

After doing all this, Freya licked her lips, then took out her lock-picking tools and carefully worked on the door to Truman's study.

Despite the sophisticated design of the lock on Truman's study door, it was easily pried open by the professional agent Freya.

"Hehe~ Let me see what earth-shattering secret is hidden inside~"

After closing the door, Freya felt like a mouse that had entered a granary and seen a mountain of rice, eager to have a feast.

As a general of the [Erosion Rank], Truman played a very important role in the illegal slave trade case.

If all goes well, they might uncover a large number of clues, and the illegal slave trade case that has been troubling officials of all ranks in the capital will be cracked today by the genius girl Freya!

Hiahiahia~~~

The thought of this bright future almost made Freya burst out laughing.

Cough

Calm down, calm down, wait ten minutes, wait ten minutes before you laugh...

Upon entering the quaintly decorated study, the sharp-eyed Freya immediately spotted a small corner of a clean white letter peeking out from the stack of books on the desk.

The moment Freya stepped into the room, she knew from looking around that Truman was definitely a meticulous and perfectionist person.

Almost everything was arranged neatly, so this tiny bit of letter paper that had popped out became quite noticeable.

Well……

Freya narrowed her eyes, quickly stepped forward, put on fingerprint-resistant gloves, and carefully pulled out the letter, holding it between her fingertips.

Ok?

Ah, just as I thought.

Halfway through the draw, Freya suddenly noticed some bloodstains on the ground near the door.

It's highly likely that after Shiloh's side made some big commotion, the person who came to report acted impulsively and barged in without reporting, which is why Truman punished him.

Truman happened to be looking at the letter, and in his haste, he could only stuff it in here. He needed to deal with the trouble caused by Shiloh, so he left in a hurry without putting it away properly.

Just how shady must it be that he doesn't want others to see it...?

Filled with curiosity, Freya slowly unfolded the letter. After reading two lines, her brows furrowed.

The penmanship on it is very neat, and at the same time, it reveals a ruthless and decisive edge.

Aside from the handwriting, the content of the letter was nothing special; it was just an ordinary love poem... apparently written by some mediocre poet from the capital, even though this person seemed to be quite popular.

Freya frowned as she finished reading, then looked up at the blacked-out name, lost in thought.

Given Truman's status and power, if he were to announce the marriage alliance, a whole host of nobles would be flocking to his door the very next day.

However, the fact that Truman would even cross out the name of the person he was confiding in when writing love poems in private speaks volumes.

Truman's love interests and his relationships with her were absolutely secret. If they were to reveal their relationship, even an Imperial General of the [Erosion Rank] might face disaster.

As Freya was thinking, she suddenly trembled as if she had been electrocuted, and the letter in her hand suddenly became hot to the touch.

"Holy crap, Truman wouldn't... have been having an affair with one of His Majesty's concubines, would he?!"

Freya stared wide-eyed in shock at her own startling conjecture, suddenly feeling as if the letter in her hand weighed a ton.

The more you know about the affairs of the imperial family, the faster you will die.

Freya felt that her position was not enough to bear the consequences, so she decided to pass the letter on to Shiloh when she returned.

Then, Freya continued rummaging through the drawers and cupboards...

Chapter 106 A Hymn to Courage

"Haha~ There's something new too~"

After pressing a hidden mechanism, Freya watched as the secret compartment slowly opened beneath the desk, and couldn't help but smile with excitement.

"This is……"

Taking out the notebook from the hidden compartment, Freya flipped through the pages of thin paper, her expression gradually becoming serious.

Those were pages containing some kind of dark magic. Judging from the materials and the way they were written, they were probably secretly recorded by Truman or his subordinates from some dark magician.

Freya's talent in magic wasn't particularly high, so after thinking for a moment, she took out her terminal and made a video call to Shiloh.

beep - beep -

click

After the call connected, Shiloh's face appeared on the screen. He looked at Freya for a moment and said, "Where are you now?"

“In Truman’s study, I found something that might be very important.”

After saying that, Freya switched the camera angle and included the contents of the black magic book in the shot.

"Take a look, what does this black magic look like?"

After glancing at it twice, Shiloh raised an eyebrow and said, "Heh, it seems Truman and the others had already planned to use these dark mages and then discard them... They developed a reversal spell based on the dark magic of a [Erosion Rank] dark mage."

Xi Luo touched his chin, his brows furrowing slightly.

Cracking the spell of a mage at the [Erosion Rank] and developing a reversal technique is not something that ordinary magic researchers can do.

A glint of light flashed in his dark eyes, and Xi Luo's narrowed eyes were filled with coldness.

It seems I should remind my father to keep an eye on things.

Suppressing his thoughts, Shiloh continued, "Now that we've resolved things here, Truman is very likely to launch some kind of crazy counterattack. Be careful."

"Huh? Oh, um."

Freya nodded, hung up the call, and prepared to run away.

But just as she ran out of the study and dodged a few steps toward the exit of the mansion, she suddenly stopped and turned around abruptly.

"This is... demonic energy?"

As the "Blackthorn Flower," Freya's keen perception of demonic energy comes from countless training sessions.

In that brief moment, Freya was certain that she had sensed demonic energy within Truman's mansion!

"...Damn it!"

Freya hesitated for a moment, then gritted her teeth and shouted, quickly sending a message to Editor Shilo on the terminal before turning back and running like a fox into the spacious and deep mansion.

As she dashed forward, Freya slowly closed her bright silver eyes, letting her mind sink into her body.

咚咚

咚咚

The sound of her heartbeat was very clear. When Freya opened her eyes again, the pure, moonlit eyes had lost their silvery white color and were replaced by a ray of crimson gold like the setting sun.

【Flow】 is an innate talent possessed by Freya.

According to ancient records, in ancient times, some warriors were born favored by the gods and possessed a powerful combat talent called "flow" at birth.

When a warrior enters a state of flow, their awareness of their body will be greatly enhanced, and the duration of this state is related to their mental strength.

Despite the immense power of this combat talent, it also consumes an enormous amount of one's mental energy.

Once mental energy is overloaded, the user may experience various aftereffects.

For example, dementia, or becoming a killing machine.

Suck--

call--

After a brief deep breath, Freya's expression turned indifferent. The demonic energy that had briefly vanished became incredibly clear at this moment, manifesting in the girl's eyes as an ominous, ribbon-like aura.

Then, Freya quickened her pace silently until she felt a chilling aura approaching her, at which point she stopped and looked toward the source of the demonic energy.

Her gaze shifted rapidly, and Freya locked onto a burly middle-aged man shrouded in subtle demonic energy, her pupils contracting.

Truman...

Despite knowing Truman was not clean, Freya still instinctively clenched her fists when she saw a general who should have been fighting against the demons now shrouded in demonic energy.

Freya tapped the body camera twice, switching it to concealed levitation mode. She then lay prone inside the tower's top, secretly observing the situation below.

At this moment, on the training ground of Truman's residence, the wide, flat stone slabs were filled with soldiers in heavy armor, their blades gleaming coldly.

Gazing at the neatly arranged, orderly soldiers, Truman, standing on the high platform in front, lowered his eyes and silently surveyed them, seemingly preparing to say something. However, the clenched fist behind his back revealed the inner turmoil he was experiencing.

These soldiers were all brothers who fought alongside him against the demons, but today...

Truman clenched his fist so tightly that it cracked, and the veins on the back of his hand, which was covered by the hand armor, bulged out.

No, it's all for... a new future!

With this thought in mind, Truman's turbulent emotions completely subsided. He took a deep breath and emitted a series of muffled thunderous sounds.

"Brothers!"

Clang—!

Truman drew the heavy sword from his back; its heavy, sharp blade reflected a cold light in the sunlight, highlighting the resolute look on his weathered face.

Truman surveyed the soldiers, who stood tall and straight like a forest, and said in a deep voice, "Having waited so long in this remote city, do you still remember the time you spent fighting the demons?!"

Clang!

The soldiers did not respond verbally, but instead drew their knightly swords in unison, their eyes revealing unwavering determination.

Suppressing the last trace of guilt in his heart, Truman gazed at the scene, raised his greatsword high, and roared, "Now, the wicked demons are attempting to destroy the great forests where our fellow non-human races live! Tell me, what should we do?!"

"Kill!! Kill!! Kill!!"