The story of the black silk female knight

Currently soaking in the hot spring are Tia and Friggia, both looking very comfortable, and Valensa, who has just taken off her armor and clothes and is preparing to go into the water.

The ability of the Exquisite Demon Sword allows Valensa to teleport to the location of Moon Kiss at any time, but it cannot summon Moon Kiss into Valensa's hands.

So after returning to Fran, Valensa went to the outskirts of Bizk to retrieve Moon Kiss, and went into the water a few minutes later than Tia and the others.

"It's time to discuss some serious matters."

The three women were soaking in the hot spring, eating tea and snacks, and chatting for a few minutes when Tia interrupted the atmosphere that seemed to be Freya trying to seduce Valensa.

Leaving Friggia aside for now, Valensa and Tia should have reported to their superiors and explained the situation as soon as they returned to Fran.

They weren't just here to relax; they also needed to discuss how to write their report.

Valensa had no intention of giving up on the achievement of killing multiple Radiant-rank powerhouses, including the Great Prophet of the Wild Beasts, and annihilating hundreds of thousands of ordinary Wild Beast warriors.

But the nuclear bomb was difficult to explain, and Valensa didn't want anyone else to know.

Valensa also wants to legally acquire the ruins that Tia has already mapped.

Chapter 100 Discussing the Explanation

In the past, whenever Valencia achieved incredible results, she would attribute most of the victory to the Sun Goddess.

In the hearts of believers, the Sun Goddess is omnipotent, and it is normal for those who are especially favored by the Sun Goddess to achieve miraculous results.

And no one would doubt that shifting the blame to the goddess is extremely disrespectful, even if the blame is called credit.

But there's a saying: those who are favored are fearless.

After discovering that even blaming the Sun Goddess only resulted in punishments that were more like teasing, such as being kicked in the butt with high heels, Valensa became increasingly daring. She would push anything she couldn't explain or didn't want to explain onto the Sun Goddess... and it always worked very well.

But this time it won't work, because this incident happened in the Barrens.

Just like Valencia's cell phone in her previous life, no matter how advanced the technology, it's no better than a brick in a place without power or internet—no matter how much the sun goddess favors you, you won't get much power boost in a land where the sun goddess doesn't look after you.

If they were to shift the blame to the Sun Goddess again, the Sun Church would likely lock Valensa up for an internal investigation before anyone else even suspected them.

Therefore, it is necessary to find a new, powerful entity to shift the blame for the killing of the Great Prophet of Wild Beasts and the annihilation of hundreds of thousands of ordinary wild beasts.

After all, Valensa's apparent strength is only at the Beacon level... Even if she is a beloved paladin who can easily defeat multiple elite beast warriors of the same level, it is impossible for her to accomplish the feat of killing the Great Prophet of the Beasts and annihilating hundreds of thousands of beast warriors on her own.

There must be a reasonable explanation.

It's possible to refuse to explain, but that would undoubtedly arouse suspicion from the royal family.

—What are your intentions in possessing such great power? Could it be that you're planning a rebellion?

So regardless of whether it's true or false, it's best to have a reasonable explanation.

To be honest, that's definitely not going to work... Once the existence of nuclear weapons, which can disrupt the existing order and whose acquisition methods are monopolized by Valencia, is known, it will be more troublesome than forcibly refusing to explain.

The best approach is to shift the blame to some powerful entity.

For example, a great witch who was nailed to the ground and sealed for more than 1000 years.

Tia agreed with Valensa's idea, and Friggia had no objections either.

Once the general direction is decided, the next step is to discuss the details.

"A nuclear explosion can be considered the Great Witch's legendary level of destructive magic, and nuclear radiation and self-destruct commands can also be described as the Great Witch's legendary level of curses... These are not major issues."

Tia leaned against the edge of the hot spring, tilting her head back slightly, and swallowed a dumpling made of chicken, fish roe, and wheat flour, her eyes half-closed in comfort.

"The problem is, how are you going to explain why you went to kill the Great Prophet of the Wild Beasts? Did you just act on impulse? And then you happened to dig up some great witch from the ruins? That's too absurd, isn't it?"

Even if you had the luck of a novel's protagonist, how did you know that the Great Prophet of the Wild Beasts was in the camp north of Thunderclap Cliff at the time? Such important intelligence could be held accountable if concealed!

Because that's the power of love~~

Valensa grinned and moved closer to Tia from the side, took a dumpling into her mouth, and pretended to feed it to Tia mouth-to-mouth.

"Woo..."

Tia blinked shyly, but still closed her eyes and opened her mouth, waiting for Valensa to feed her.

Valensa, however, grinned mischievously, gulped down the dumpling herself, and then, amidst Tia's angry and embarrassed punches, laughed contentedly:

"I'm an impulsive young man... When I saw Tia being hurt in Her Majesty the Goddess's Apocalypse, I impulsively rushed into the Desolate Ridge to seek revenge, only to run into the Great Prophet of the Wild Beasts?"

"The arrogance and impulsiveness of youth..."

Tia continued slapping Valensa's soft skin with one hand, making a slapping sound, while her other hand twirled a strand of her own silvery hair on the water's surface, pondering:

"The motive is barely plausible—our relationship isn't a secret, and you killed a lot of elite beast warriors during the hunt, so it's understandable that you got a little too cocky. But... it's too much of a coincidence that you just happened to run into the Great Prophet of the Beasts and then just happened to dig up the Great Witch."

Those in power like royalty certainly wouldn't believe that—even if they outwardly believe it, they'll still harbor resentment towards you. It's best to come up with another excuse.

"...What should we do? I was telling the truth this time!"

Valensa caught Tia's little hand that was patting her, stuck out her tongue and licked the base of her middle finger, then traced it upwards to the tip.

This time, she was indeed telling the truth most of the time—she would secretly enter the Barrens to assassinate the High Prophet, and it really was for Tia's sake.

Unfortunately, often people are more willing to believe what they find reasonable than the truth.

Valensa and Tia couldn't think of a better reason for a moment... Tia continued to lean against the hot spring with her head tilted back, eating chicken and fish roe balls, while Valensa floated in front of Tia in a backstroke position, blowing bubbles.

"Perhaps... you could try an explanation that reverses cause and effect?"

Frieda, who had been sitting by the water enjoying fruit and fried steak without saying much, suddenly made a suggestion.

"...An explanation of reversed cause and effect?" x2

Valensa looked up curiously, and Tia stopped chewing the meatballs, seemingly lost in thought.

"look……"

Friggia then picked up a piece of meat with her thumb and forefinger, and quickly devoured it with her teeth in small bites, like shredding paper, before chuckling softly:

"The hardest part for you to explain is not Valensa's motives, but why Valensa happened to meet the Great Prophet of the Wild Beasts and me, right?"

To call it a coincidence is too far-fetched, and to say that Valensa knew the location of the Great Prophet of the Wild Beasts in advance would lead her to make the mistake of delaying important intelligence.

Since that's the case... you can totally pin the blame on me.

As a high-ranking member of the Church of the Sun who possesses the All-Spirit Ether and the Goddess Toy Sword, Valensa has every right to know my relevant information.

So you could say that Valensa went to the Wastelands not to kill the Great Prophet of the Wild Beasts, but specifically to release me after my seal had expired... but unfortunately she encountered the Great Prophet of the Wild Beasts, and ultimately, with my help, defeated the powerful enemy and made a great contribution... Doesn't that make much more sense?"

"!" x2

Valensa and Tia looked at each other as if waking from a dream.

"It really is!"

Friggia's idea was indeed brilliant, and Valensa and Tia quickly began to refine the details.

Tia was responsible for explaining the terms in detail, while Valensa first took out a small golden stick and checked the Sun Church's database.

After confirming that she truly had the authority to view some of Friggia's information, Valensa left a message for Fran through the little bat, asking Fran to forge a record of her request to access top-secret information from a few days prior.

Chapter 101 One more night

After being attacked by a beast assassin during the War Academy's entrance exam last year, Valensa made no attempt to hide her hatred for beasts.

After learning from Tia that there were ancient civilization ruins beneath the Barrens, Valensa asked many retired teachers from the front lines at the academy for information about the Barrens and the underground ruins.

In some of the paper-like assignments in the theoretical classes, Valensa also wrote several plans to deal with the wild beasts with the aim of exterminating her race, drawing on her memories from her past life. Many of these plans received praise from her teachers.

These are all well-documented and verifiable clues, which can be used to create the image of a female knight who hates wild beasts and is very interested in the ruins of the Wasteland.

Now, this female knight has inherited her family business and become a high-ranking member of the Church of the Sun. She has access to more top-secret information and possesses the boldness, impulsiveness, and decisiveness of a young person.

Therefore, it is perfectly logical that she would be curious about the Great Witch who had been sealed in the ruins of the Wasteland for over a thousand years and want to release her to deal with the wild beasts.

At the very least, it's more convincing than someone who, in a fit of rage for a woman, kills indiscriminately based purely on luck.

Even if someone doesn't believe it, a quiet investigation afterwards will reveal that the clues match up perfectly.

Following this line of thought, Valensa and Tia ate snacks and drank herbal tea in the hot spring, whispering amongst themselves, and quickly came up with a fairly perfect story, enough to report to their superiors.

After finalizing the report's wording, the snacks and herbal tea were almost completely consumed, and Tia's skin was slightly red from soaking in the hot spring.

Soaking in hot springs can help relieve fatigue and relax the mind and body, but soaking for too long is not good.

Of course, Valensa is fine—her current physical condition means she could easily survive a hot spring bath, or even jump into a pot and stew herself without much problem.

But in order to take care of Tia, Valensa also came out of the hot spring, rinsed her body with cool water, and then wrapped herself in a bathrobe and put on black stockings.

After rinsing herself with warm water, Tia, wearing a slip dress and white stockings that went past her knees, sat opposite Valensa at a stone table by the hot spring.

Now that we've already discussed how to report to our superiors, it's no longer appropriate to continue playing the disappearing act.

Tia took the initiative to use communication magic to contact her and Valensa's nominal superior, Drake.

Drake was as sensible as ever, and before Tia could ask any questions, he said that everything was arranged.

Drake clearly believed Princess Elsers's words and genuinely thought that Valensa and Tia had been having a secret rendezvous since they disappeared last night.

He had even arranged Tia's secret contact mission for tonight and Valensa's escort mission, implying that the two women could play around for another night and just need to get to the Third Fortress by tomorrow morning.

Due to the surprise attack on Bizik Town by the wild beasts and the strategist's personal visit to the Third Fortress, the Third Fortress has now become the temporary supreme command center.

The troops that withdrew from Bizik are currently at the Third Fortress.

Although the Beast Warriors who raided Bizk Town were almost completely wiped out by Valensa's dust explosion, the military was unaware of this... They only knew that an explosion had occurred in Bizk Town and that the Beasts had suffered heavy casualties.

The camp and granary in Bizk will be temporarily closed until the cause of the explosion is determined and the danger is eliminated.

If it had happened at the beginning of the Autumn War, losing the logistics camp of Bizk might have caused considerable trouble for Fran—the supply and transportation efficiency of the nearby major fortresses would have been greatly reduced.

But it's already late autumn, and winter is just around the corner. In years when the wild beasts' attacks weren't so fierce, the war would have already ended by now.

In fact, from this morning until now, the beasts' offensive has weakened across the board, and many beasts outside the fortress have even withdrawn completely... while others have launched a final charge, crashing into the fortress's defenses with unstoppable momentum.

According to information revealed by Drake, at the military conference held this afternoon at the Third Fortress, some officers had already suggested that preparations could be made for the end of the war.

However, the strategist remained cautious as always, ordering all fortresses to continue to be on alert according to wartime standards until further definite intelligence was available.

"We should be able to go back to the academy soon."

After learning all this from Drake, Tia made her judgment:

"We can no longer afford to fight the wild beasts... The loss of the Great Prophet, several Radiant-rank experts, hundreds of elite warriors, and nearly ten million cannon fodder is a devastating blow, even for wild beasts with their extremely high reproductive capacity."

For at least five years, the wild beasts won't be able to launch any decent offensives... Hum, this is good news for us. Our mandatory service period after graduation should be quite easy.

"I hope so... Ahh."

As Valensa spoke, she peeled a banana and took a big bite out of it:

"By the way, Tia... what do you think about me asking His Majesty to grant me the ruins of Friggia as my fiefdom?"

"Hmm...theoretically speaking, there shouldn't be any problem, but..."

Tia also picked up a cherry, rolled it with her tongue, ate it, and then spat out the pit:

"Judging from the exploration missions and mission reports that our vanguard has received in the past, the royal family attaches great importance to the ruins of the Barren Ridge, and they should also recognize the valuable treasures within the ruins."

"You think you can conquer the entire ruins by yourself? That's probably impossible... Even if His Majesty agrees to make that land your fiefdom, there will definitely be conditions attached, such as the royal family retaining the right to explore the ruins."

"What use would I have for a piece of wasteland where nothing can grow and there's no one around? There might even be some wild beasts of the rank of Yaoli that come and unleash a powerful attack from tens of kilometers away every now and then... tsk."

Valensa finished the remaining half of the banana in one bite, then sighed.

"Is there any way to both keep the fiefdom and retain the right to explore the ruins?"

"Well..."

Tia frowned, then quickly ate three grapes and half a green plum:

"Perhaps we can ask Father for advice tomorrow... My knowledge of aristocratic politics is still insufficient."

"Umm...okay, I guess."

Valensa can play around with noble ladies, but when it comes to cunning and shrewd political experts, she doesn't think she's a match for them. Seeking advice from a strategist would indeed be a good idea.

The two chatted and ate fruit for a few more minutes when they heard a splash from the nearby hot spring—Frigia had also emerged from the water.

The great witch didn't bother to wash herself. She simply snapped her fingers, and all the water droplets on her body evaporated, revealing her fiery and perfect body in a splendid display under the moonlight.

Snapped.

Valensa was just getting a little mesmerized when Friggia smiled and snapped her fingers again, causing her own shadow in the moonlight to transform into a black gauze dress that enveloped her delicate body.