The story of the black silk female knight

With the evidence irrefutable, we immediately turned against the villagers and interrogated them about the whereabouts of the cult members.

However, those villagers were all incredibly stubborn. Even when I used rather cruel methods of interrogation, they refused to say anything... Instead, I ended up getting a scolding from the Paladin.

She was too kind-hearted, believing that the villagers were simply being deceived by cult members and were also victims, and wanted to resolve the issue through gentler means.

In fact, those villagers were ridiculously naive. Even though I used violence against them, I didn't sense a single trace of malice from them... even when they suddenly grabbed farm tools and attacked us.

"They attacked, but without malicious intent?"

Valensa frowned slightly, immediately understanding Hugh's meaning:

"Were those villagers controlled by cultists using sorcery?"

"...They were indeed controlled, but it wasn't by evil magic."

Hugh shook his head:

"After all, the person who went on the mission with me was a Lighthouse-level Paladin... If the villagers were really controlled by evil magic, she would have been able to tell at a glance."

But the truth is that even when the villagers surrounded us, we didn't feel the kind of evil magic energy that cultists often use on any of them.

The paladin lady firmly forbade me from killing the villagers, so we could only defend ourselves against their chaotic attacks while continuing our investigation along the simple sacrificial ritual.

This time it went quite smoothly... The paladin lady has divine perception, and I have my own methods of pursuit as a scout, so it was easy to find the cultist hiding in the village.

"So it turns out that the cultist was a master, and you and the Paladin couldn't beat him. The Paladin sacrificed herself to save you, Teacher Hugh?" Valensa guessed again.

"...No, quite the opposite."

Hugh shook his head again:

"Back then, the Paladin and I were both beacons, while that cultist was at most a pearl, and the kind who wasn't good at direct combat... Normally, I could take him down in three moves at most."

In fact, I did intend to kill him immediately, but the paladin interrupted me... because just as I drew my sword and pointed it at the cultist, the villagers who were originally besieging us suddenly all turned their sharp farm tools on themselves.

The villagers say that the cultist is their village's wise man... If we arrest or kill the cultist, the villagers will all commit suicide together.

Actually, I didn't care. Such an ignorant and useless person can just die... But the Holy Knight was an overly kind person, and I wanted to pursue her at the time, so I didn't go against her wishes.

And so a stalemate ensued... The Paladin tried various methods, communicating with them and using divine magic to persuade the villagers to change their minds.

But it was no use... The villagers were clearly not affected by any evil magic, but they were determined to protect the cultist.

Seeing how effective the villagers' threat of their own lives was, the cult members became even more arrogant and even tried to capture the two of us completely.

Under his instructions, the villagers once again launched a harmless attack on us, claiming it was for our own good, to help us escape this painful mortal world and go to see their evil god.

What's worse is that whenever we launch a counterattack to try and control the villagers, they commit suicide without hesitation... After several rounds, even though the Paladin and I were very careful with our attacks, more than a dozen villagers died by their own hoes.

After that, we were even hampered in our defense and counterattacks, and we were soon injured... The villagers wouldn't even allow the Paladin to use her divine magic to heal us, otherwise they would continue to commit suicide.

Even if we are much stronger than them, we can't fight back or heal ourselves, so we will soon be overwhelmed... Breaking out and escaping is impossible, and the villagers will commit suicide as well.

The only solution I could think of at the time was to find out how the cultists controlled the villagers... Once the villagers were freed from their control, the problem would be easily solved.

However, even after the Paladin was beaten bloody and near death by farm tools, we still couldn't find the cultists' methods of controlling the villagers.

Seeing that the paladin was about to be beaten to death if things continued like this... I held back, killing dozens of villagers in one fell swoop, breaking the cultist's limbs, capturing him alive, and then carrying him and the paladin who had lost consciousness from blood loss, we broke through the encirclement and escaped.

Chapter 166 You're still too incompetent.

"...So the Paladin ultimately succumbed to her injuries?"

The students were all very unhappy with the result, and Chiba even stood up, one hand on her hip and the other pointing at Xiu:

"Mr. Hugh, where were you all this time? You should have been tougher then, ignored Miss Paladin's opinion and dealt with the problem decisively! It's true that men who respect women's opinions are gentlemen, but men who only listen to women are useless!"

"...Who told you that the paladin lady died from her injuries? Although she is indeed the biggest regret in my life, she didn't die such a miserable death."

Hugh rubbed his temples in exasperation.

"Don't underestimate me, okay? I'm an excellent elite soldier, so I can accurately assess injuries and perform basic first aid without any problem... After breaking through from that village and returning to the city, the Paladin's injuries were quickly healed by her priest companion, and so were mine."

"Hey?"

Now, it's Chiba Grass who's in an awkward position.

However, she reacted quickly, immediately tilting her head and blinking her eyes in a cute, curious manner:

"If that's the case, then the mission is complete, right? Just who exactly is Miss Paladin...?"

"...She committed suicide, I guess you could say that."

Hugh remained silent for a good ten seconds before continuing his story:

"After returning to the city, we immediately conducted a joint interrogation of that cult member... We thought he would be a tough nut to crack, but he turned out to be a coward... I hadn't even used many of my torture instruments yet, and he confessed everything with tears streaming down his face."

This guy not only lacks backbone, but his strength is also very weak. His pearl-level evil magic power is all built up through sacrifice. In a real fight, most candlelight could probably easily take him down.

So we became even more curious... how did such a cultist, whose sorcery was so utterly inept, manage to control those villagers?

To ensure we got to the truth, we even used alchemical potions and mental magic during the interrogation to force people to tell the truth... and the truth turned out to be unbelievable.

The cultist's method of controlling the villagers was not some kind of sorcery at all... He actually brainwashed the villagers entirely with language, turning them all into loyal followers of the evil god.

The villagers were all genuinely willing to risk their lives to protect him... I think this kind of brainwashing is much more powerful than evil magic, because no matter how powerful the magic is, it cannot quickly undo brainwashing; it can only subtly change people over a long period of time.

The wicked cultists were eventually thrown into the holy flames for purification, but the kind-hearted paladin was worried about the villagers and went back to the village after recovering from her injuries... I was worried about the paladin, so I went with her.

The village is still there, but all the villagers are gone... Just as they threatened us before, after I forcibly took the cult members away, they all committed suicide on both sides of the road at the entrance of the village.

The scene was truly... well, the Paladin must have been quite shaken; she swayed and then collapsed. Of course, I rushed over and caught her... cough cough."

"Tch, men... they really know how to take advantage of others when they're in trouble."

Most of the girls in the classroom cast disgusted glances at Xiu.

"I don't deny that I did have the idea of ​​taking the opportunity to get closer to her at the time, but..."

Xiu's face darkened.

"That was the last time I held her... The villagers' story shocked her greatly, and she also heard some nonsense while interrogating cult members... In the end, her faith wavered."

"Faith wavering?"

Many students looked surprised, and Valencia gasped in astonishment.

Valensa, who has been undergoing paladin training these past few days, knows very well that for a paladin, wavering faith can be more terrifying than death.

"Yes, her faith wavered."

Hugh continued with a wry smile:

"She seemed to be influenced by the rhetoric of cultists, believing that the villagers' seemingly harmless madness was essentially a form of piety, a kind of piety she had only seen in her own companions before."

Are cults really evil? If cults are truly evil, why do so many villagers support them without being controlled by sorcery or gaining any benefit from it? She doesn't believe it's simply a matter of villagers' ignorance, but rather a deeper issue of faith.

Add to that the nonsense spouted by cultists... such as the idea that cults are not cults at all, but simply different beliefs from Her Majesty the Sun Goddess. It was the Sun Church that labeled them cults to exclude dissidents.

In short... the faith of that kind and innocent paladin lady wavered, and she began to doubt the scriptures and rules that she had always believed in.

So she chose the most drastic means to pursue the truth... She jumped into the blazing holy flames right in front of me.

She said she wanted to go to the Kingdom of Gods in person to ask Her Majesty the Sun Goddess... But in my opinion, this behavior is no different from suicide.

And so, a Lighthouse-level Paladin was tricked into committing suicide by a cultist who could be easily defeated by a Candlelight-level Warrior... Is it laughable? I don't think it's laughable at all; on the contrary, I find it terrifying.

Whether it's sorcery or rhetoric, as long as it can control people's minds, it becomes a terrifying force and can easily cause terrible consequences... That cult member may seem weak, but he is actually a terrifyingly powerful individual.

"Such rhetoric can easily brainwash ignorant villagers and even shake the faith of paladins..."

Valensa took a deep breath:

"It's really quite scary."

But I still feel it's not as good as Melody... For example, someone like me won't be fooled by those messy religious theories, but I'm also quite horny.

Valensa gave herself a simple assessment in her mind.

At the same time, Chiba Grass also widened her eyes, looking at Hugh with confusion:

"So, Mr. Hugh, you just stood by and watched the Paladin commit suicide without stopping her?"

As a result, Hugh's expression worsened, and he even seemed about to cry:

"How could I not stop her? She's the woman I fell in love with at first sight... Of course I tried to stop her, but I lost."

"Oh~~"

Qianyecao didn't say anything more, but deliberately dragged out the "oh" sound, and showed an expression that said, "It's because you're too bad."

"Tsk."

Hugh scratched his head, provoked by the little female devil:

"In short, what I want to tell you is that under any circumstances, this kind of enemy who can control people's hearts is the most dangerous... When necessary, even if it will bring dissatisfaction and misunderstanding from your comrades, you must take ruthless action to get rid of this kind of enemy first."

Like that time, if I had ignored the Paladin's advice and forcibly killed the cultists from the beginning... I might have been dumped in a flash, but the Paladin probably wouldn't have been so distraught..."

Chapter 167 Cao Cao Wants a Thrilling Reward

After Hugh reiterated the terrifying power to control people's minds, it was almost noon, and get out of class was about to end.

Before get out of class ended, Hugh briefly explained the course plan he was in charge of.

This course will be a new course separate from the theory and practical courses, and will be held once a month for three to five days each time.

The main teaching methods are the same as this time: students first enter a virtual city, either to solve random events that occur in the illusion, or multiple students compete against each other in two different roles... Afterwards, Xiu selects the most meaningful teaching materials and everyone shares their experiences.

This is the response the French military took after the Gray Rat incident... starting with cadets, training elite soldiers to handle various unexpected events.

As the most elite mass-produced military unit in the Kingdom of Fran, the Vanguard cannot only fight wild beasts on the northern battlefield; they must also be able to confront all kinds of cunning human criminals.

Things like the near-success of the Phantom Thief Girl at the Game Royale and the Thanksgiving Festival by Gray Rat must not happen again.

The French military and experts also have their pride; they can't always be the object of revelers' boasting.

"Big sister, big sister~~"

At the lunchtime restaurant table, Thousand Leaf Grass hugged Valensa's arm, blinking her eyes:

"Do you still stand by what you said about giving Cao Cao a reward?"

"Of course it counts... Your sister is a noble and righteous paladin, how could I do something like breaking my promise?"

Valensa chuckled softly and gently patted Thousand Leaf Grass's head:

"I don't know what kind of reward you want, Cao Cao? Let me make it clear first, anything too outrageous won't do."

"Don't worry, don't worry~~ I'm a good girl, I won't go too far."

Thousand-leaf grass's eyes darted around, making no attempt to hide its mischievous thoughts:

"I heard that you two kissed in public at Tia's coming-of-age ceremony a few days ago, right? Now that you're openly dating, you must go on dates on your days off, right?"

"Definitely."

Valensa nodded generously:

“We’re planning to go to the beach… Do you really want me to bring Tia along? Absolutely not… We can’t bring you either, because we want to enjoy some time alone together.”

"Well... hehe."

Thousand-Leaf Grass didn't give up. While Valensa patted her head, she adorably wriggled her body, gently rubbing her fishnet stockings against Valensa's black stockings.

"If I told you that I have a way to provide you with some more exciting entertainment without Tia finding out... would you still refuse, sister?"

"More exciting forms of entertainment?"

Valensa narrowed her eyes, her expression somewhat strange:

"Cao Cao, what are you trying to do? You're not planning to sneak around and have an affair with me in front of Tia, are you?"

"Eek~~ As expected of my shameless older sister, she thought of that so quickly~~"

Thousand-leaf clover smiled meaningfully:

"How can that be called adultery? That sounds awful... It's clearly my older sister rewarding me and helping me with my special training... training me in the Leaf Concealment Technique, so that I can play pranks on you in front of Tia without Tia finding out."

"Nonsense! Talking nonsense!"

Valensa immediately tapped Thousand Leaf Grass on the head:

“I’m a proper female knight, how could I possibly accompany you in such an improper training? This kind of reward is absolutely unacceptable… let’s find something else.”