The story of the black silk female knight

"……All right."

Since that's what they said, Valensa could only disperse the holy light she had already gathered in her hand and look away from the little ninja's expectant gaze.

Sweat more during normal times and bleed less during war.

Valensa had heard many similar summaries of experience in her previous life, and they certainly made some sense.

Although it may seem unpleasant for ninjas to have to endure the bites of venomous insects and snakes from a young age, it is worth it if it can actually increase their survival rate when they go on missions as adults.

However, the scene of a group of children crying and screaming after being bitten by poisonous insects and snakes was too cruel. Valensa and the others did not want to watch it again after seeing it once, and the visit to the infiltration training ended prematurely.

As Granny Brown Leaf said, the Ninja Village is essentially a military zone, not a tourist attraction, and is not suitable for tourism at all.

There are really interesting and interesting things, but they are all classified and cannot be seen. And the content that can be seen is basically not interesting.

There's nothing fun to do here, and being looked down upon while staying makes it the best course of action to leave.

After the visit to the ninja school, Valensa made it clear to Ziye that they would be leaving the following morning.

Ziye readily agreed, saying she would make all the arrangements so that everyone could have a good rest in the village that night.

However, when Chiba expressed her desire to continue the graduation trip with Valensa and the others, Ziye shook her head with a troubled expression:

"I'm afraid I can't make that decision myself; I'll have to ask Granny Brown Leaf for her opinion."

"Then let's go ask for permission, let's all go together."

Seeing that Thousand-Leaf Grass seemed a little afraid of her going to see Granny Brownleaf, Valensa smiled and took over the conversation:

"It's also a good opportunity for me to thank Granny Brown Leaf in person for her warm hospitality."

Thousand-leaf grass finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's as you wish."

Purple Leaf remained gentle and obedient, leading Valensa and the others to see Granny Brown Leaf.

As the current acting village chief of the ninja village, Granny Brown Leaf rarely lives in her own home and spends most of her time sleeping in her office, making her a true workaholic.

When Valensa and her group entered the administrative center building of Shinobi Village, Granny Brown Leaf was still working, receiving envoys from other major families of the Four Islands Alliance and discussing various emergency plans for the current situation.

This was an important task that obviously couldn't be disturbed, so Valensa and her team waited patiently in a meeting room.

Grandma Brown Leaf finally had some free time after the tea leaves had been changed three times and more than a dozen pots of water had been added, after several plates of pastries and fruits had been eaten, and after the sky outside the window had turned from dusk to night.

When Valencia said she would be leaving the next day, Granny Brown Leaf readily agreed, making no attempt to hide the underlying sentiment in her tone that 'you shouldn't have come.'

Grandma Brown Leaf's attitude was indeed unpleasant, but the things she did were alright.

Upon learning that Valensa and her group planned to stay on Sword Island for a few more days, Granny Brown Leaf immediately sent over a new map of Sword Island and personally marked several places where dangerous monsters roamed and several military restricted areas also under the control of the Ninja Village.

Although Granny Brownleaf's original intention was most likely to tell Valensa that they couldn't go to the military restricted area, the map was indeed a great help, and Valensa quickly expressed her gratitude.

Everything was going smoothly until Chiba suggested continuing the graduation trip.

"No! Absolutely not!"

Grandma Brown Leaf's expression immediately changed, and she refused without any room for negotiation.

Her reasons were also quite valid. In the current special period, the entire Four Islands Alliance was in a delicate situation. As one of the three remaining direct descendants of the Chiba family, Chiba Grass had to stay in the Ninja Village for protection.

Even when Chiba pitifully begged that she would only stay on the island of swords with Valensa and her group before returning to the village, it was still no use.

Not only that, to prevent Chiba from having any inappropriate thoughts, Granny Brown Leaf stopped letting Chiba stay with Valensa and the others at night. Instead, she sent Chiba back to the Chiba family's ancestral home and assigned trusted ninjas to guard her closely.

Chiba was extremely helpless and looked at Valensa with pitiful and helpless eyes several times, hoping that Valensa could speak up for her, or better yet, take her away from the ninja village.

However, while the thrill of revenge may be momentarily satisfying, the various troubles that follow can lead to deep regret... Valensa sympathized with Thousand Leaf Grass's plight, but after careful consideration, she did not act rashly.

She even bid farewell to Chiba in front of Granny Brown Leaf, promising to visit her in the ninja village again after the storm had passed.

At first, Chiba was naturally very dissatisfied, but when Valensa gently hugged her and whispered a few words in her ear, her eyes lit up and she nodded happily in agreement.

Back at their lodgings, Tia and Melody quickly went to sleep after taking a bath. Valensa also pretended to be asleep and lay down next to Tia with her eyes closed, but in reality, she secretly pricked up her ears and focused her attention on listening carefully to the sounds of the ninja village at night.

Sure enough, another accident occurred... From two different directions in the ninja village, about an hour and a half apart, two cries for mercy and screams were heard in succession.

The whole process was very similar to what Valensa overheard last night... The victims all fell silent after a very short scream, leaving only the faint chewing sound of insects.

This is absolutely a case of inhuman beings committing atrocities in the ninja village, yet the village's defenses have failed to respond.

To the unsuspecting villagers, the Ninja Village may now be more dangerous than the wilderness of Sword Island!

After having breakfast at their lodgings the next day, Valensa and her group of five officially bid farewell and left the ninja village, led by two young ninja men.

They first moved a distance away from the ninja village and, after confirming that no one was following them, Valensa took out Granny Brownleaf's map and the map given by the weapons merchant to compare them and confirm the location of the small village where the forger of the radiation dagger lived.

Sure enough, that little village must be special. It wasn't marked at all on the so-called latest Sword Island map that Granny Brown Leaf gave us... On the map of the Ninja Village, that location was just a wasteland.

However, aside from that, the map of the Ninja Village is more detailed and clearer than the map of the weapons merchant, and is several levels higher.

For graduates of the War College, finding their destination using a map is a basic skill, and Valensa and her group quickly devised the fastest route and headed towards the small village.

"It should be right here."

About two hours after leaving the ninja village, Gilu, panting heavily, cleaved tree branches with his blood-stained greatsword:

"According to the map provided by the ninja village, there is a supply hut here, which is prepared for the ninjas who are training in the wilderness. We can also rest here for a while... Phew, the monsters on this island in my hometown are really fierce."

"Yes, yes..." x3

Tia, Melody, and Harry all agreed.

The journey isn't actually that far; if we don't get delayed, it shouldn't take more than an hour.

But they walked for more than two hours... because they encountered many battles along the way, and each time the enemies were monsters of Pearl level or above, and they were usually in groups or even multiples.

Of course, if Valensa is willing to take action, it doesn't matter how many monsters below the Radiant rank come; it won't take much time.

However, Tia and Melody both believed that this was a rare opportunity to gain practical experience, so they asked Valensa to try not to take action and only provide assistance in times of crisis.

Theoretically speaking, Tia, Melody, Gil, and Harry, as elite graduates of the War Academy, should be able to sweep away anything below the Radiant Rank.

But the truth is that they went through many tough battles, and even Gil and Harry were injured, only to be healed by Valensa with divine magic.

In terms of raw power, the monsters on Sword Island are significantly weaker than those in the Misty Mountains, and most of them are the same type as those in the Farron Wilderness, only in greater numbers.

However, unlike the monsters in the wilderness of Fran that would run away when they couldn't defeat humans, the monsters on Sword Island seemed to be in a perpetual state of bloodlust, and were quite insane.

Once a battle begins, it's a fight to the death; there's never an option to run away. Even if their body is shattered into pieces by a door panel or a greatsword, and only half their head remains, they'll still open their mouths and bite you hard.

So although two hours is not a long time, Tia and her companions had already gone through many tough battles and were somewhat exhausted, so they took a short rest at the supply point.

However, upon entering the cabin in the woods at the supply point, they discovered that someone had already gotten there first.

"Hehe, you're so slow, big sisters~~ I'm almost falling asleep waiting~~"

Besides the familiar female demon ninja, another black-haired woman dressed in a maid-style ninja outfit was also standing nearby, smiling silently. It was none other than Ziye.

"Huh? Cao Cao? Miss Ziye? What's going on here...?"

Valensa expressed surprise.

It's easy to understand why the thousand-leaf grass wants to escape, but why would the purple leaf help?

Although Granny Brown Leaf's words last night were somewhat unreasonable, they were logically sound... During this special period, Chiba Grass should indeed stay in the Ninja Village for protection.

“Ninja Village does have various defensive facilities, but after all, all the Radiant-rank experts except for Granny have gone to Jade Island with the Second Miss. It may not be as safe as being by the Duchess’s side there.”

Zi Ye naturally began by praising Valensa, then added meaningfully:

"Moreover, I have a feeling lately that something has changed in the ninja village. It might be better for the Third Miss to stay in the village, as it could be a dangerous place. Perhaps we should let her come out and continue traveling with everyone."

"Really?"

Valensa raised an eyebrow in surprise, exchanged a glance with Thousand Leaf Grass, and continued to ask:

"But in that case, Miss Ziye, you've disobeyed Granny Heye's orders, haven't you? I heard from Caocao that the punishment for disobeying orders is quite severe for you ninjas..."

"It's okay, we've already thought of what to say."

Thousand-Leaf Grass immediately winked at Valensa and said:

"I escaped from home on my own. Sister Ziye didn't help me; instead, she came to take me back. But by the time she caught up with me, I had already reunited with you. She couldn't defeat you, a powerful expert of the Shining Rank, so she had no choice but to give up on taking me back and instead stay by my side to protect me."

"Ah this..."

Valensa remained silent for a few seconds, speechless, before finally smiling wryly:

"The logic of this argument is indeed flawed, but wouldn't that make me the villain?"

"What does it matter?"

Thousand-leaf grass immediately hugged Valensa's leg and started shaking her:

"Anyway, you are a powerful expert of the Shining Rank, and a high-ranking member of the Church of the Sun... Even if Granny Brown Leaf is really angry with you, she will only reprimand you a couple of times, and she won't really do anything to you."

"My dear sister, at most you'll lose a little reputation, but I, Cao Cao, will gain freedom!"

"...Fine, Cao Cao, your freedom is important."

Valensa was speechless for several seconds before affectionately patting Thousand-Leaf Grass's head and slapping its little bottom before looking at Purple Leaf again:

"So... Miss Ziye will also be joining us from now on?"

"Ah."

Zi Ye smiled and nodded:

"Don't you all want to stay on Sword Island for a few more days? Please allow me to continue as your guide."

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Miss Ziye."

Valensa didn't stand on ceremony and directly stated their next destination, then asked Ziye if she knew anything more about that small village.

"There are still villages here?"

Looking at the location Valensa was pointing to on the map, Ziye seemed quite surprised:

"I have lived on Sword Island for at least 35 years, and I often train there. Why have I never heard of this?"

Valensa looked intently into Ziye's eyes upon hearing this, and Ziye met Valensa's gaze without any guilt, appearing quite honest.

Seeing this, Valensa stopped pressing for details and continued talking about the blacksmith, asking Ziye if she remembered him.

This time, Zi Ye hesitated noticeably for a moment before nodding:

“I think I know who you’re talking about… Strictly speaking, he’s my older brother; we were both adopted by the former head of the family.”

"Oh?" x?

Everyone was curious about this.

"……Why."

After a moment of silence, Zi Ye sighed again, then gave a bitter smile:

“His name is Sanmiha. He is the oldest among the children adopted by the family head. Although he is not particularly talented in ninjutsu, he is especially good at weapon forging. One of the weapons I use now was left by him.”

"Do you remember why he was exiled from the ninja village? Did he contact you again after he left the village?" Valensa asked again.

"At least we haven't been in contact for years."

Zi Ye first answered Valensa's second question, then thought for a moment and said:

"I don't know the specifics of what happened to Brother Sanweiye, because I was on a mission on Mirror Island at the time. I only heard about it from other people later."

It seems that Brother Sanweiye obtained a special ore from somewhere and forged it into a demon sword with a special curse power.

At first, those demon swords were very popular among ninjas, and everyone who used them said they were good... Many crazed and bloodthirsty monsters would slowly lose their strength and die if they were stabbed by those demon swords, making the battle much easier.

Unfortunately, their good fortune didn't last long. The ninjas who used the demon sword soon began to feel unwell... The curse power of the demon sword would also harm the user. However, since the user was not pierced by the demon sword, the curse power would take effect more slowly, but repeated use would still be fatal.

By the time those ninjas realized that their physical discomfort was related to the demon sword, it was already too late.

That strange curse power could not be dispelled by conventional means, and in the end, the village could only watch helplessly as several ninjas died.

Brother Sanmiha was filled with remorse... and the village needed to deliver a fair verdict regarding the deaths of the ninjas. Ultimately, Brother Sanmiha was exiled, never to return to the village.

"That's it..."

Valensa nodded thoughtfully and didn't ask any more questions.

Ziye's answer perfectly matched the known information, but there were no more valuable clues... To find out where those stable radioactive minerals came from, we still need to find Sanweiye herself first.

No problem, just keep heading towards that small village.

After resting for half an hour at the supply point, the group set off again.