The story of the black silk female knight

“I asked my second sister based on the timeline you provided, and she said that she spent the whole day serving Her Majesty the Queen while she soaked in the hot springs. It’s impossible that Her Majesty the Queen attacked the Seren tribe.”

The captain, however, didn't emerge from the room again until about half an hour after the thousand-leaf grass incident. He looked relieved and said to Valensa:

"It wasn't Her Majesty the Queen who attacked the Seren tribe; it must be some treacherous person deliberately sowing discord... According to reliable sources, Her Majesty the Queen has not left Jade Island during this period and has been indulging in various ways to please the Chiba sisters every day... cough."

The two people's information matched.

While the possibility of collusion between the Chiba and Teido families cannot be ruled out, it is unlikely, as there is no need for it.

Given Queen Himiko's strength and personality, if she really did this, she would only openly admit it and even publicly mock the Seren race, instead of trying to cover it up like this.

More importantly, Queen Himiko isn't stupid... What good would it do her to personally assassinate the second-in-command of the Seren clan, other than turning an ally into an enemy?

King Seren likely understands this, which is why he hasn't made a fuss yet. He's currently only investigating the truth, and the Seren clan's actions in retaliating against the Four Islands Alliance's merchant ships are just the actions of a minority of radicals.

Therefore, this matter is temporarily no longer related to Valensa and the others. The Four Islands Alliance will try to coordinate with the Siren Clan to investigate the truth, and King Siren should also have a way to temporarily restrain the behavior of the Siren Clan's radical faction.

The merchant ship will continue its journey to Mirror Island of the Four Islands Alliance along the established route, and the captain will once again express his gratitude to Valensa on behalf of the Teido family.

The merchant ship was attacked by a horde of monsters, two Radiant-rank monsters, and the Seren Clan army. If the ship relied solely on its own guards, it would certainly not have survived.

Whether it was Valensa killing the giant crab herself, or Tia, Thousand Leaf Grass, and Melody's outstanding performance in fighting against the Cyren army, they all played a crucial role in saving the merchant ship.

Therefore, the Imperial family's gratitude to Valensa and her party was not only expressed verbally, but also included tangible benefits.

Valensa received a blue hexagonal snowflake-shaped badge. According to Chiba and the captain, this badge was the mark of the highest-ranking VIP in the Imperial Household Agency. Holding this badge allowed her to enjoy priority and preferential services in all Imperial Household Agency properties, and also to obtain VIP seats in the Imperial Household Agency's special trade fairs.

The Imperial Household typically only bestows this highest-level VIP badge upon two types of people.

The first is someone like Valencia, a powerful expert of the Radiant Rank who has greatly helped the Imperial Family.

The second type is the real tycoon... who accumulates 20 gold coins in spending across various industries of the Imperial Household every year for more than 5 consecutive years.

For Valensa and her group, who were about to travel through the Four Islands Alliance, this top-tier VIP status from the Imperial Household Agency was like a godsend... The Imperial Household Agency's commercial monopoly over the Four Islands Alliance was even stronger than that of the Nora Chamber of Commerce in Fran, and with this VIP status, they could travel even more comfortably.

Tia, Chiba, Melody, and Gilhari also received generous material thanks from the Teidang family.

The three girls received a clothing customization voucher from the top tailor of the Ditang family. Each of them could customize 20 gorgeous, handmade dresses by the Ditang family, tailor-made to their own.

Gil and Harry received special invitations to the brothels owned by the Teidang family, allowing them to enjoy 30 sessions of harem service with 10 beautiful girls serving them at any of the brothels under the Teidang family's name.

However, Valensa felt that Giru and Harry probably didn't have the energy... It would take the two of them working together to barely satisfy Melody, let alone have the energy to go to a brothel.

In addition to the rewards funded by the Imperial Family, the captain also let Valensa and her party enjoy the fun of opening large blind boxes.

Because of space storage technology, the cargo capacity of merchant ships in this world is much greater than that of the cargo ships in Valensa's previous life.

The merchant ship that Valensa and her companions are currently on is actually more like a luxury cruise ship with cargo holds and weapons on deck, but its carrying capacity is much larger than twenty or thirty similar-sized cargo ships in Valensa's previous life combined.

The cargo hold of the merchant ship was filled with storage containers about the size of beverage cartons. These containers had a capacity of about 20 cubic meters, which is roughly equivalent to one shipping container.

With such a large carrying capacity, few merchant guilds could fill a ship entirely with their own goods. Therefore, most merchant ships actually carried goods from dozens or even hundreds of merchants, and this merchant ship was no exception.

There is an unwritten rule in the maritime transport of goods.

As long as the merchants are there, the goods are there; everyone on a merchant ship has a responsibility to protect it.

In other words, if a merchant on a merchant ship absconds when danger is encountered, it is assumed that he has automatically relinquished his ownership of the goods on the ship.

If the merchant ship successfully weathered the danger, all the abandoned cargo would be considered spoils of war for those who remained on board to fight the danger, and would be distributed by the captain according to their merits.

When the merchant ship's defensive shield was breached by the centipede's acid, about a third of the passengers seemed to think the ship was doomed and chose to abandon ship using teleportation scrolls.

The escapees' cargo has now become the spoils of the defenders; the captain has already counted 102 storage crates.

The fact that the owners of these cargo containers would abandon ship without hesitation suggests that the contents of the containers were probably not particularly valuable.

Valensa and her companions had performed exceptionally well in the previous battles, so the captain generously waved his hand and let them choose first. Each person received a storage box, and whatever they got was theirs—it was like a giant blind box game.

Valensa and her entourage were either nobles or wealthy merchants, and they weren't particularly interested in the goods themselves, but they did enjoy the blind box game.

Even those who had the ability to sense what was inside the storage box deliberately didn't use their senses and instead relied purely on luck.

Soon, Valensa and the others each brought a storage box that they felt a connection with, gathered in Valensa's room to open the boxes, and shared their finds.

Tia was the first to open her blind box, but she blushed after only a couple of glances and refused to tell Valensa what was in the storage box she had chosen, no matter how much she asked.

So, taking advantage of Tia's inattention, Chiba snatched her spatial storage box, examined it briefly, and then burst into laughter. She even casually pulled out an item and gestured to Valensa.

No wonder Tia blushed and was shy; this was a whole box of nighttime pleasure toys.

There are various light and almost transparent halter-neck short skirts, modified work uniforms from various industries, tools to help girls establish deep connections, and special pleasure props such as whips, soft ropes, restraint belts, and locked underwear.

"Hehe~~ I never expected that Tia, who seems the most serious among us, would be such a bold person, actually choosing such a box of toys."

As she spoke, Chiba ran directly to Valensa's side, held up the prop she had just taken out against Valensa a few times, and laughed:

"Are you planning to use these toys on your older sister like this? Can I have one too?"

"Gumu~~"

Valensa first let out a soft moan in instinct, then angrily snatched the toy back from Chiba's hands and used it on Chiba, then sat on her and pinned her down.

"Cao Cao, you really need a good scolding! Let me see what you brought in this box again!"

Ignoring the groans that Chiba Grass was making that sound like she was either comfortable or protesting, Valensa simply snatched Chiba Grass's storage box and took a look at it.

I thought I'd find something shameful to laugh at Chiba, but it turned out to be just a box of ordinary Fran specialty products, mainly daily necessities and small ornaments.

Seeing the obvious regret on Valensa's face, Chiba, who was sitting beneath her in black pantyhose, made a face and giggled:

"Haha, big sister miscalculated, didn't she? Small fry?~~ Idiot small fry?~~ Ugh!"

Thousand Leaf Grass was soon scolded by an enraged Valensa, while Melody and the others watched the spectacle while opening their own blind boxes.

Sure enough, the items that were decisively discarded were not of any value.

Melody chose storage boxes filled with vegetables and fruits from the interior of Fran... These might be quite valuable in America, but in Fran, they're just cheap street vendor goods.

Giru's storage box mainly contained training tools, with more than twenty wooden dummies. The dummies' vital parts, such as their hearts and heads, were specially dyed, presumably for trainees to use as targets to improve their accuracy.

Harry's storage box was the only decent find; it was full of wood... not wood for firewood, but all raw materials for making wands.

Although the raw materials weren't particularly expensive, they were still much more valuable than the pleasure items and daily necessities that others obtained, making him a lucky winner.

Now, only the storage box that Valensa chose hasn't been opened yet... After thoroughly cleaning up the Thousand Leaf Grass until it started meowing, Valensa also looked at her own storage box.

"Huh? The whole box is full of books, and they're all folk adventure novels... Hmm?"

Valensa casually picked up a few books and flipped through them, intending to give a few casual comments about the clichéd plots, mediocre writing, weak character designs, and that they were not worth mentioning. However, what she found unexpectedly made her frown.

A problem has been discovered.

A faint golden light suddenly shone in Valensa's eyes. She used both Insight-type divine magic and mental power enhancement at the same time, quickly flipped through the novel in her hand, and then tossed it aside to move on to the next one.

The others realized something must have happened, so they stopped fooling around and watched Valencia flip through the novels at lightning speed, waiting for her conclusion.

"hastily."

"……Um?"

Although her body was still a little too weak to get up, Chiba immediately responded:

"What's wrong, my dear sister?"

"Go ask the captain who the original owner of this cargo was... I'm going to notify the church to arrest him immediately, and if he resists, he'll be purified!"

Valensa, her brow furrowed with anger, slammed the novel she was holding onto the ground.

"These books may seem like lowbrow adventure novels on the surface, but they actually contain quite dangerous knowledge of evil magic... The evil magic used by the villains in the novels is described in great detail, and it's all real. If you have the means, you can replicate it and use it directly!"

"What? Is there such a thing?"

Cultists are universally condemned, and upon hearing that someone had used this method to introduce dangerous evil arts into her country, Chiba immediately stood up, leaning against the wall, and walked out of the room.

"I'll go ask the captain right away!"

Since it involved a cult and a Holy Knight of the rank of Radiant was personally involved, the captain naturally dared not neglect it. He immediately took the cargo registration catalog and followed Thousand Leaf Grass to Valensa's room, marking the original owner of the box of books.

The registered merchant was an ordinary Fran merchant who owned a bookstore in the capital and often brought Fran novels to the Four Islands Alliance to sell. The captain had some impression of him... This was not his first time on this ship.

Valensa immediately used a remote communication spell to send a message to Fran, instructing Fran to take the paladin to arrest the merchant.

Fran's actions were very efficient; the interrogation results were in less than an hour.

The arrested bookstore owner had indeed just escaped from the merchant ship using a teleportation scroll, but he knew nothing about the problems with his books, and the other books he sold in his bookstore were perfectly normal.

In the Church of the Sun in the capital of Fran, there are quite a few priests who can detect lies, and the bookstore owner is just an ordinary person, so there is no possibility that he could lie and deceive Fran.

He probably really didn't know anything and was just being used by the cult.

The cult behind this is probably trying to spread knowledge of evil magic through these adventure novels... If any reader tries the evil magic recorded in the novels out of curiosity or for any other purpose, it will likely cause unpredictable dangers and losses.

Fortunately, Valensa won these books in a blind box... and she happened to have enough knowledge to see through the true nature of those adventure novels, otherwise the consequences would have been unimaginable.

After this incident, the captain no longer dared to play the blind box game. Instead, he inspected all the abandoned storage boxes and, after confirming that there were no problems, distributed them to the other people on the ship.

The voyage that followed was uneventful, and the merchant ship arrived at Mirror Island of the Four Islands Alliance on the morning of the third day after the attack.

The so-called Four Islands Alliance refers to the four islands: Mirror Island, Sword Island, Ruler Island, and Jade Island, each with an area of ​​approximately 2 to 5 square kilometers.

The four islands are all about a day or two's sailing distance apart, and their overall layout is roughly cross-shaped, with Mirror Island at the northernmost point, Ruler Island at the westernmost point, Sword Island at the easternmost point, and Jade Island at the southernmost point.

Mirror Island is the second smallest of the four islands, only slightly larger than Jade Island, yet it is home to over 70% of the entire Four Islands Alliance's population, serves as the Alliance's commercial center, and boasts the Alliance's largest port.

The reason is simple: Mirror Island is the closest to the Frenoia continent, has the best natural environment of the four islands, and there are no dangerous monsters in the wild... If it weren't for the fog demons that appear with the fog and launch indiscriminate attacks, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that this is the most suitable place for ordinary people to live.

At the same time, Mirror Island is also the place where the Teido family's influence is most profound. The most suitable tourist attractions for ordinary people in the entire Four Islands Alliance are also located on Mirror Island. It has the most prosperous city, the largest shopping mall, and the most decadent entertainment venues in the Four Islands Alliance.

Sword Island to the east is the territory of the Chiba family, and Valensa and the others have already heard a lot about Sword Island from Chiba.

There is only one human settlement on Sword Island, and the rest of the environment is similar to the Misty Mountains... The monsters there are probably slightly weaker than in the Misty Mountains, but still much more dangerous than the wilderness of Fran.

As for the human settlement on Sword Island, it is very similar to the famous Konoha Village from the anime in Valensa's previous life... It is a large village with a total population of over 3. Almost every family in the village has someone serving as a Demon Ninja. The Chiba family is the strongest family and leader in the village.

The island to the west was originally the territory of the Tsuchimikado family, and many magic practitioners from the Four Islands Alliance lived on the island.

But after the Tsuchimikado family was wiped out, Chino Island fell into chaos... The attack on the merchant ship that Valensa and her party were on this time is very likely related to Chino Island.

Many of the monsters, including the centipede crab, originally lived in the southern waters of Ruler Island, but now they have appeared in the northern part of Mirror Island.

Chapter 54 She's a jinx!

Something has likely happened recently in the southern waters of Chinoshima, or rather on Chinoshima Island itself.

And Chill Island is a destination that Valensa will most likely visit on her graduation trip.

The only known source of the special pheromone solvent, the Human Acorn, is currently the only recorded source of this material: Chino Island.

Valensa plans to explore Mirror Island while using her connections with the Thousand Leaf Grass and now the Imperial Family to try and acquire those two materials with gold coins. If she can buy them with money, that would be best; if not, she'll have to try her luck at the place of origin.

As for Tamanoshima, the southernmost island in the Four Islands Alliance, it is the most mysterious island.

This island is the private residence of the Oni Queen Himika, hidden by a very powerful maze, and only those with permission and direct descendants of the three starter families are allowed to set foot on the island.

Although everyone else knew that the island was located at the southernmost point of the Four Islands Alliance, they couldn't find Jade Island without permission to land, and they might even get completely lost in that sea area.

Even Chiba Kusa, the third young lady of the Chiba family, had never been to Jade Island. Valensa and the others only knew about Jade Island from various folk tales and vague information.

However, it didn't matter. Valensa had no plans to deal with Himiko, the Queen of Demons, nor did she intend to visit Tama Island.

The graduation trip plan is for everyone to first have a great time on Mirror Island for half a month, then go to Sword Island where Thousand Leaf Grass grows... If they can't buy Human Acorns, they'll try their luck on Ruler Island last.

The port where merchant ships dock at Mirror Island is very large. In terms of scale and throughput alone, it is even larger than the ports of the capital of Fran and America Gangdia... After all, this is an island nation, and maritime transport is practically its lifeline.

For the entire Mirror Island, the dock is arguably the most important place, so important that the lord's mansion is located in the dock area, and you can see fully armed samurai patrolling just a few steps after disembarking.

Unlike the dockworkers at the Fran capital, who are mostly temporary workers paid daily, the dockworkers at Mirror Island are all long-term contract workers. They wear uniforms and have received standardized training, and there are even quite a few spellcasters among them.

These spellcasters were mostly below the Pearl level, and their combat strength was probably not very strong, but they were all very skilled in using the Mage's Hand technique, and each of them could easily carry dozens of boxes at the same time. The sight of many such spellcasters working together at the docks was quite spectacular.

Valensa recorded this scene using the Dimensional Hardware Store terminal and posted it as a new status update to show off to Vi and Asakura Mai:

[A serious female rider: It's proven that manual handling is the best way to move things! Can your technologically advanced forklifts and robotic arms do it?]

After that, the dimensional hardware store terminal that looked like a leg ring under Valensa's skirt started buzzing wildly, as Asakura Mai and Vi kept replying to Valensa's new posts, engaging in intense chatter and bickering.

Crossing the dock leads to Chuyun City, the main city of Mirror Island and the largest and most populous city in the entire Four Islands Alliance.

After the cosmic cataclysm, all the intelligent civilizations that reappeared on the planets were created by the Sun Goddess using Earth's civilization as a template. Naturally, many of these civilizations also bear the imprint of Earth's civilization... Although for Valensa, this Earth was just a parallel world, many things were still similar to her previous life.

For example, the cities of Fran and America are basically medieval European classical cities with modern sanitation standards, while the legendary Eastern Continent culture, judging from the writing and clothing, should be very similar to the ancient Celestial Empire of Valensa's previous life.