The story of the black silk female knight

Tia smiled and nodded.

In Valensa's house, she appeared quite relaxed, even taking her small, white-stockinged feet out of her somewhat stuffy leather shoes, spreading her toes to push up the socks, and placing them on the stone slabs of the garden pavilion to enjoy the cool breeze.

Seeing this, Valensa also took off her shoes, placed her black-stockinged feet on the stone slab, and poked Tia's soles with her toes like a fencer.

"ah."

Tia let out a cute cry, puffed out her cheeks, and then nudged them back with her big toe:

"Ugh... I just wanted to cool my feet off, but you wouldn't listen!"

"Hey~~"

Valensa just laughed, leaning against the pavilion pillar and tossing snacks into her mouth, continuing to fencing with Tia with her feet, her black stockings toes poking the white stockings soles, and then the black stockings soles being poked by the white stockings toes.

Melina, meanwhile, sat on a chair next to them, occasionally brewing a pot of tea or taking out small cakes and snacks she had prepared in advance from her spatial storage.

pat.

Just as the three were enjoying their leisurely afternoon, the gate of the mansion was opened once again, and two young girls walked in one after the other.

The girl walking in front had medium-length flaxen hair and wore a Hanfu with wide and long sleeves, giving her an ethereal and fairy-like appearance. She was none other than the fairy Linglan, who was now officially employed by Duchess Sunflower as her private doctor and alchemy consultant.

The girl behind her was dressed in a black tailcoat, somewhat like the stage magician Valencia had in her previous life. She also had a short magic wand about the length of her forearm tucked into her waistband. She was Lefrey, a rare professional Word Spirit sorcerer and a mansion guard officially employed by Duchess Sunflower.

LeBlanc is pursuing Suzuran with fervor, while Suzuran has always been very reserved, but she seems to be losing patience and is now naturally accepting invitations to go out with LeBlanc... Right now, the two of them look like they just came back from a date.

Chapter 131 The Little Fairy Must Work Overtime!

Seeing such a fairy-like lily of the valley, one can't help but tease her a bit.

This is what Valensa thought, and this is what she did:

"Oh, isn't this our little fairy? Taking my guards out for fun in broad daylight, how leisurely... Did I hire you so you could go on dates every day?"

"It's not a date!"

Lily of the Valley first blushed and retorted, then snorted defiantly:

"You used to exploit me a lot by making me do your research. Now that I'm free, what's wrong with going out and having some fun? My expertise is in medicine and necromancy, while you're a paladin, so you don't usually need my help."

"That's true... Although your medical skills are impressive, divine magic is more useful in most situations. As for your necromancy... wait a minute!"

Valensa's eyes suddenly lit up, and even her black-stockinged feet, which were fencing with Tia, stopped, as Tia poked the soles of her black-stockinged feet several times with the toes of her white-stockinged feet.

"After you've become like this, will you still be able to use the necromancy you practiced before?"

"Why wouldn't I know how to use it? How could I easily forget the skills I've already learned? The only reason I haven't used necromancy since I became like this is because there's no magic in this body. As long as I have a source of magic, I can become a Lighthouse-level necromancer again anytime!"

Lily of the Valley gave Valensa a strange look, then walked to the pond on the other side of the house, took out a handful of breadcrumbs from her sleeve and sprinkled them into the water to feed the ornamental fish in the pond.

"Necromancer... necromancy... undead!"

Valensa muttered these words to herself several times, her eyes growing brighter with each repetition.

"Decided!"

She completely ended her game of foot-tapping with Tia, still barefoot, standing in the garden pavilion only through her black stockings, looking at the fairy lily of the valley:

"Your happy vacation is over. Starting tomorrow... no, starting tonight, you'll be working like crazy! You'll be in a very interesting place, working as an assistant to a very capable person, and encountering a lot of new knowledge..."

. . . . .

After taking Lily of the Valley to the ruins to work as Friggia's assistant that evening, Valensa and Tia returned to school, spending the night in Valensa's dormitory.

In the middle of the night, Chiba Grass mischievously ran to the door to eavesdrop, but unfortunately, she was discovered by the warning magic barrier set up by Tia. Valensa then dragged her back into the house and, together with Tia, spanked her.

Chiba Grass kept begging for mercy while being beaten, but her face showed an expression of 'I'll do it again next time,' and she even seemed to enjoy it.

When Tia stopped fighting after getting a little tired, Chiba even showed some signs of unsatisfied desire.

So Valensa tied up Thousand Leaf Grass again, took off her tabi socks, and tickled the soles of her feet with a spoon through her fishnet stockings. Tia also casually gave Thousand Leaf Grass a buff that doubled her tactile sensitivity.

This time, Chiba couldn't take it anymore and quickly started begging for mercy, but she was ignored. Tears streamed down her face, soaking a large part of the bed sheet.

Because they had a lot of fun the night before, Tia kept yawning when it was time to get up the next morning, while the female knight and the anti-demon ninja were fine... High tolerance means being willful and having fun.

After having breakfast with Melody, who lived next door to Valensa, and then joining the other two members of the Trio, Giru and Harry, the group left the school together.

Today wasn't a day off, so it was quite a sight to see six people skipping class together.

Fortunately, Valensa had just achieved great feats on the battlefield, and her own strength was enough to suppress all dissent; otherwise, the fact that the top student led the team to skip class would probably have become a rumor immediately.

Upon arriving at the Adventurers' Guild in the royal capital, the recruited adventurers had already assembled.

A fairly large team of adventurers accepted the mission, sending a total of 4 Lighthouse-level adventurers and 24 Pearl-level adventurers to carry it out, which exactly filled the commission cap set by Valencia.

Of course, the price Valensa offered was definitely not the price adventurers could get, because the Adventurers' Guild would take a cut, usually 15%.

In other words, the actual commission that Lighthouse-level adventurers can earn per day is probably 170 gold coins.

Of course, it's more likely that Lighthouse-level adventurers will still receive 200, while Pearl-level adventurers will receive even less.

However, that was a matter for the Adventurers' Guild and the Adventurers' Team to handle, and Valensa didn't care much. She carefully examined the four Lighthouse-level adventurers.

They look pretty good; well-equipped and sharp-eyed, they are all truly experienced and capable adventurers.

The four adventurers were two men and two women. The two men were around forty years old and were twins. The two women were younger, but still around 30. They possessed a maturity that Tia, a young girl who had just come of age, could never fake.

Judging from their equipment, there is one warrior among the men and one warrior among the women. The remaining man is a thief, and the woman is an elemental mage like Harry.

This is a common configuration for elite adventure teams.

Valensa had just finished observing the adventurers when one of the twins, the male warrior, who was probably the captain of the group, came up to greet her and formally introduced himself.

Their adventure group is called the "Red Cloud Adventure Group," and it's considered a high-level adventure group. They recruit elite members, with the lowest level being Pearl-level, and the male warrior is one of the vice-leaders.

Besides their superior strength, another important reason why they were able to take on Valensa's mission was that they were very good at dealing with gregarious monsters, which was perfect for dealing with the cave monsters of the Mawsmora Basin.

Valencia was fairly satisfied with the team and announced that they would depart immediately.

"...Please wait a moment."

However, the male soldier objected, saying he wanted to have a private chat with Valensa.

Valensa did not refuse.

The two quickly found a secluded spot near the Adventurers' Guild, while the rest of the Red Cloud Adventurers politely asked passersby to leave, offering them small snacks as an apology.

“I’m sorry, I know my behavior may have been a bit rude, but I had to do it for the safety of my companions, and I hope you can understand.”

The male soldier apologized first.

"It's alright... A team leader who can consider the needs of his companions is very reliable."

Valensa smiled:

"Speak, what is it? As long as it's not too outrageous or wastes time, we can discuss it."

"No, I just have a few questions I'd like to ask."

The male soldier breathed a sigh of relief, gave a friendly smile, and tentatively asked:

"If I'm not mistaken, you must be the winner of this year's Golden Iris Vanguard Award, the Sunflower Duchess who made outstanding contributions in the Autumn War, right?"

Chapter 132 Smoke Bomb

“That’s right, I am the Sunflower Duchess.”

When asked by the male soldier, Valensa readily admitted it.

The male soldier breathed a sigh of relief again, seemingly reassured by Valensa's sincerity, but quickly became cautious once more:

"I heard you also obtained the 'Expansion Order'? You hired adventurers to investigate the Mawsmora Basin, is that for this?"

"I can only say, perhaps."

This time, Valensa did not give a definite answer, and her tone was ambiguous:

"After all, that place is not bad, is it? Except for the cave monsters, which are rather annoying."

"It's absolutely disgusting!"

The male soldier said solemnly:

"Crypt monstrosities are creatures that are very good at escaping and extremely vengeful. If you cannot kill all the Crypt monstrosities in the area, they will definitely seek revenge in the future."

Powerful cultivators may indeed be fearless, but there will still be civilians living in your territory who will be quite powerless when faced with attacks that come from the unpredictable underground.

So please forgive my bluntness… if you intend to use this mission to clear out the cave monster tribe in the Mawsmora Basin, I'm afraid it's impossible. We alone are not capable of that.”

"So that's what you're worried about."

Valensa smiled:

"Don't worry, just like I said when I issued the mission, this is just a regional survey mission... I need to conduct an on-site investigation of the Maussmora Basin first."

If we encounter cave monsters, just being able to temporarily repel them will suffice... Being good at running away means low morale, but that shouldn't be too difficult for you, right?

"Well, if it's just about repelling the cave monsters in skirmishes, my team is enough."

The male soldier nodded, hesitated for a moment, and then said very sincerely:

"Although it may be presumptuous of me to make such a suggestion, I would still like to say... if you are considering the Maussmora Basin as the target of the 'Expedition Order,' you would be better off choosing another one."

Cave monsters are really troublesome... Even if you could wipe out the entire cave monster population there instantly, there's no guarantee that the ones on the surface are all of them... They might have built even larger nests underground.

"I know."

Valensa chuckled and nodded again, her deep blue eyes gleaming with dazzling confidence.

"It's true that the cave monster race is difficult to completely eradicate, but it's only difficult, not impossible, right? And regarding this, I have a private acquisition commission, the kind that doesn't go through the Adventurers' Guild. Are you interested?"

“…Please speak.” The male soldier paused for a moment before speaking.

"It's very simple, just acquire materials from powerful individuals of the cave monsters."

Valensa said:

"If your adventure team kills a Crypt Monster of Lighthouse level strength in an encounter during this mission, please try not to damage its heart and brain, and minimize blood loss. I am willing to buy these three materials at 30% above the market price."

"……I see."

The male soldier remained silent for a moment before nodding and saying:

"I will tell the rest of the team about this, and if we have the chance, we will kill the target without destroying the materials as much as possible."

"It seems we've reached an agreement..."

Valensa smiled.

"Have you enjoyed working together?"

"Pleasant to work with."

With everyone in agreement, the next step was simply to set off.

The journey from the capital to the Mawsmora Basin is nearly 1300 kilometers. Even for adventurers, it would take several days to walk there, and three days of employment wouldn't be enough to cover the distance.

Fortunately, the main city of the Britannia family's territory is located more than 100 kilometers northeast of the Mawsmora Basin. The group can first use Tia's teleportation spell to travel there, and then spend about half a day to reach the Mawsmora Basin.

With the aid of the Sage Tower's magic and the enhancement of the Gray Rat Magic Array technology, Tia can now use the spatial link secret technique, which originally required Star Glory level to perform remote teleportation. However, in terms of teleportation scale and speed, it is still not comparable to that of the Strategist.

If the strategist disregards the loss of magic power, he can teleport tens of thousands of troops to any location with his spatial coordinates in just a few seconds. It is this great enhancement of the army's mobility that makes the Britannia family the most powerful military family in the Fran forces.

Tia can now teleport a hundred people at a time over long distances. She and Valensa travel between the capital and the underground ruins using this ability.

Previously, Tia could only teleport four people at a time, so the effect wasn't very noticeable. Now, with more than thirty people to teleport at once, her casting speed slowed down significantly, and her magic consumption increased dramatically.

The group waited for more than twenty minutes before Tia's teleportation spell finally succeeded, bringing everyone from the royal capital to the main city of Britannia in an instant.

. . . . .

About five minutes after Valensa and Tia disappeared in the magical light, a ghostly figure emerged from the ground where they had been standing and flew up at great speed toward the palace.

Soon, the figure arrived at the king, who was discussing matters with the crown prince in his study, and knelt down on one knee in silence and respect.

"Is there news so soon?"

The king was clearly surprised and looked curiously at the spirit that had regained its human form:

"So, which piece of land does that Sunflower Duchess intend to choose as the target of her 'Expansion Order'?"

"Your Majesty, it is the Maussmora Basin."