The story of the black silk female knight

Those monsters below the Radiant rank are extremely hostile to humans, basically fighting to the death... but monsters below the Radiant rank rely almost entirely on instinct and talent in combat, and it's impossible for them to master such ingenious techniques.

Therefore, the one who secretly implanted the spell within Chiba's body could not be a demon.

Who would that be?

Valensa's heart raced, and a petite figure in a kimono quickly came to mind.

Could it be her? The Demon Queen Himika... She definitely has the ability, and she doesn't seem to lack the motive either.

But why would she do that?

During their conversation on Jade Island, Valensa could clearly sense that Himika was definitely the kind of person who acted swiftly and decisively, and it was hard to imagine that she would do such a thing.

More importantly, Valensa had been in contact with Himiko and vaguely remembered Himiko's magical aura, which was clearly different from the energy that escaped from Chiba's body last night. Therefore, Himiko was somewhat suspicious, but not very much so.

No, I can't believe it.

Valensa shook her head, unable to find a particularly suspicious target in her mind, and could only turn her hopeful gaze back to Zero:

"Can you tell what specific technique is inside Cao Cao's body, Sister Zero?"

"No, it's too late."

Zero immediately shook his head regretfully:

"If I had examined this anti-demon ninja sister's body carefully before last night, I might have been able to see something... The problem is that the technique went berserk last night. I can only barely confirm that the technique was present in her body, but I can't tell what kind of technique it is."

"That's it..."

Valensa frowned even more, looking very worried.

She had an old saying from her past life: "It's not the thief you should fear, but the one who has designs on you." This kind of enemy who plots against you in the dark is more troublesome and must be found as soon as possible.

"correct."

At this moment, Zero seemed to have thought of something, and his eyes lit up:

"Valenza, you said before that the energy last night was quite agile when it escaped, as if someone was controlling it remotely, right?"

"Yes."

Valensa nodded:

Could this be a clue?

"Of course!"

Zero paced back and forth in the room twice, her hands behind her back, the succubus's tail whirring behind her.

“Remotely controlling one’s own spells and energy is something I absolutely cannot do across a vast ocean. In other words… the person who secretly implanted the spells into this sister must still be on the Divine Continent!”

As for the Divine Continent... Hmph, it's a place we can absolutely control. Even if that guy has incredible abilities, he will definitely be found!

"Don't worry, Valencia. I'll check the files tonight to see if any suspicious individuals have been seen on the Divine Continent recently."

"Then I'll leave it to you, Sister Zero."

Valensa couldn't think of a better solution at the moment, so she could only agree to Zero's proposal.

The matter of Chiba being ambushed has come to a temporary end. As agreed last night, Zero took Valensa and the others to the Badr family's residence in the Sanctuary.

It's quite large here, and in terms of building appearance and land area, it's no less impressive than Valencia's house. It's also located in the heart of the Sanctuary, very close to places for watching ball games and playing cards, which is something Valencia really likes.

The building also has a two-story structure. The first floor has a living room, dining room and guest rooms, while the second floor is a corridor that looks a bit like a hotel, with rooms on both sides.

Valensa glanced around and noticed that the names on the doorplates of six of the rooms belonged to the successive heads of the Badr family, including her father and grandfather.

Her father was the sixth Knight of the Baldr family, and she herself was the seventh.

A family that has been passed down for nearly a thousand years has only reached the seventh generation. In Valensa's previous life, this would have been absolutely unbelievable, but in this world, it is quite normal.

Because the lifespan of a Radiant-rank expert is greatly extended, the first five generations of Inner Templar Knights of the Baldr family worked for more than a hundred years, with the longest working for nearly 200 years.

This is also one of the reasons why Valensa knew almost nothing before meeting Lika... At that time, Wilson had only been in office for more than 30 years, and normally he was far from retiring, so he was not in a hurry to train an heir. Unexpectedly, something happened suddenly, which almost caused the Badr family's inner temple knight lineage to be cut off.

Valensa had no recollection of any of the family ancestors older than her grandfather, so she didn't rush into their rooms. She simply visited her grandfather's and father's rooms.

Grandpa's room gave a similar impression to him. According to Valensa in her previous life, he was a fanatical military enthusiast, or rather, a naval enthusiast—the room was filled with various warship models, as well as many warship design drawings that were probably personally drawn by Valensa's grandfather.

Valencia's father's room, on the other hand, was a completely different style—almost like a sweet love nest for a young couple on their honeymoon. The entire room had a rather ambiguous style, and the wardrobe with about 30 cubic meters of storage space was full of sexy uniforms.

Ilana was equally interested in the room. She entered as if she were in her own home, looking around familiarly, and her eyes quickly lit up:

"Huh? This is still here? Looks like your mother isn't so stingy after all~~"

It was a giant plush frog, about 1.5 meters tall, sitting obediently and comically in the corner of the room, looking at the bedside. Now it was being held tightly by Ilana, its furry body and Ilana's soft figure pressing against each other.

“…What is this?”

Valensa also went over out of curiosity and pulled out the plush frog's tongue to play with it a few times.

"It was a reward he received when he won a game during my first date with your father at the Sanctuary... He then gave this to me and brought me here."

Ilana still clutched the plush frog tightly, her eyes filled with hazy, happy memories.

"I should have pretended to hesitate or even pretended to refuse back then... Unfortunately, I was too naive and let him get his way so easily... Tsk."

After reminiscing for a while about the sweet life she once shared with her childhood sweetheart, Ilana looked into the wardrobe with a hint of anticipation.

But this time she couldn't find what she was hoping to see, and shrugged.

"As expected, your mother wasn't that generous... At least all the clothes I left in your father's room were thrown away by her and replaced with her own."

"This... haha~~"

It's really not easy for Valensa, as a younger generation, to comment on the emotional entanglements of the older generation; she can only play dumb and get by.

After visiting her grandfather's and father's rooms, Valensa did not break family tradition. She wrote her name on the nameplate of the empty room next to her father's room and made some simple arrangements, such as taking some of her clothes out of the storage space and filling the wardrobe.

At this point, Valensa could be said to have her own property in the Divine Continent.

At noon, Zero took Valensa and the others to watch another ball game. This time, the players on both sides were all Candlelight-level cultivators. One team wore all white stockings and was called the White Saint Team, while the other team wore all gray stockings and was called the Gray Fallen Team.

In the Candlelight level matches, the players displayed more fancy moves than in the Firefly level, the competition was more intense, and there were even some fouls.

For example, after a defender is dribbled past by an opponent, he turns around and grabs the opponent's waist, then pretends to fall and pulls the opponent's stockings down from the waist.

Alternatively, the attacking player might stand on the ball with their rear end sticking out, spinning rapidly to create a whirlwind hip strike that knocks away any oncoming defender.

There were also players with flat chests who would charge at each other with their steel plates raised, the force of which could even crush the ball sandwiched between them.

In short, there was almost no competitiveness or fairness, but the entertainment and viewing experience were off the charts, making the entire audience blush and shout, even the noblest saints were no exception.

Lunch was eaten on the VIP section of the stadium while watching the game, and in the afternoon, at Valensa's strong suggestion, everyone played cards for the rest of the afternoon.

Seeing that Ilana and Chiba seemed a little reluctant to play cards every day, Zero and Velenkasa exchanged a brief glance and made a decision.

They stopped holding back and unleashed their full power, using their meticulously crafted decks built over centuries to take turns playing against Valensa, leaving her nearly dumbfounded.

After losing nearly twenty games in a row, even the most addicted card player would feel weak at the sight of cards and wouldn't want to play anymore for a while.

So before nightfall, the group visited several other wonders within the Sanctuary. Valensa also obtained a lot of top-quality ingredients from the luxury goods application office, intending to take them back to share with Tia.

These top-tier ingredients can almost only be obtained by hunting Moon-level monsters, and each serving requires a considerable amount of prayer time.

Fortunately, Valencia, as a high-ranking member of the Church of the Sun, still received some preferential treatment... When applying for luxury goods, she could use them first and pay later, just like Velenkasha, and then spend some time praying every day.

That evening, Valensa, Thousand Leaf Grass, and Ilana did not go to Velenkasa's house for help again, but instead stayed at the Badr family's house.

Ilana originally wanted to stay in a guest room on the first floor, but Valensa hesitated for a moment before inviting Ilana to stay in her father's room, thinking that her parents probably wouldn't mind.

Ilana was overjoyed, of course, as this was equivalent to Valensa officially acknowledging her status as a stepmother... She first gave Valensa a good beating with face wash, then rolled around on the bed in Valensa's father's room with a flushed face, talking to herself and completely lost in fantasy and memories.

Seeing this, Valensa didn't bother her anymore. Instead, she pulled Chiba into her room... under the pretext of ensuring Chiba's safety tonight and getting a medical check-up, she and Chiba snuggled into the same bed.

The next morning, the three women, all feeling refreshed, had just finished their respective communion in the first-floor restaurant when Zero and Velenkasa, who had agreed to continue playing together that day, arrived together.

"We've made a discovery."

However, Zero's expression seemed somewhat serious, suggesting that he hadn't come solely to visit Valensa.

“Last night I went back and asked the Midara sisters (the twin vampire saintesses), who are in charge of intelligence among our saintesses… and guess what? A while ago, a big fish was actually caught on the Divine Continent, and the case is still ongoing, the interrogation is still going on… I think it might be related to what happened to Chiba.”

"A big fish? Who's that?"

Valensa, while stuffing a piece of bread with a grilled sausage into her mouth, asked curiously:

"Is he the leader of a notorious cult? Or some ruthless party animal?"

"She was a reveler, but she was far from vicious, and was even quite harmless."

Zero shrugged, picked up a piece of bread, dipped it in peanut butter, and ate it in small bites.

"In fact, our church is too lazy to issue a warrant for her arrest. Those who are issuing warrants for her arrest are basically nobles who have been tricked by her, such as your French royal family... Who would have thought that she would be so arrogant as to target our church's treasury this time, so she was arrested."

"what?"

Valensa froze for a moment, a few drops of hot milk dribbling from the corner of her mouth, staining her lace shirt with spots.

A reveler, harmless, who played pranks on the French royal family and targeted the treasury, she...

These keywords combined make it hard for Valensa not to think of a certain acquaintance, someone she hasn't seen in quite some time.

"Could that reveler be...?"

Valensa asked cautiously.

"The answer should be easy to guess, right?"

Ling smiled and took another bite of bread, then drank some orange juice.

"It's that phantom thief, Red Fox Mask... Although she calls herself a phantom thief, it's hard to say whether her behavior counts as theft or not, because she just likes to hide lost items near the owner's house. This behavior should be called a prank... If she hadn't sent a letter saying she wanted to steal from our church's treasury, our church really wouldn't have had time to deal with her."

"It really is her..."

Valensa's facial expression involuntarily stiffened, and more hot milk dripped from the corners of her mouth, making it almost impossible for her to wear her lace shirt.

This obvious loss of composure immediately alerted Zero to the problem and the reason behind it. Zero then curiously raised an eyebrow at Valensa:

"Could it be... Valencia, you know Red Fox Mask? And you're quite close?"

"This……"

Valensa hesitated for about ten seconds before finally nodding and readily admitting it:

"Yes, I know Red Fox Mask, and we're quite close... You must have heard about Zero Sister's killing of Reveler Gray Rat in the capital of Fran, right?"

"Yes, you did a great job in that matter. I personally reviewed and signed off on the reward plan for you at the time... wait."

Zero immediately grasped the key point:

"I remember that before that incident broke out, you, Valensa, had prior information... It was thanks to your intelligence that the losses were minimized. Could it be that your source of intelligence was...?"

"Yes, the one who gave me the information was Red Fox Mask."

Valensa nodded repeatedly. She didn't rush to plead for her stepsister, but instead analyzed the situation objectively:

"Red Fox Mask's pranks have indeed caused a lot of trouble and annoyance, but she is by no means bad and should not be treated the same as those vicious revelers."

"Of course, we're not stupid people who can't distinguish right from wrong."

Zero immediately saw through Valensa's true intentions, and waved his hand with a smile:

"Don't worry... According to my information, that phantom thief didn't suffer much; she was just locked up and her freedom was restricted."

"Is that so... That's good."

Valensa didn't hide her relief and asked curiously:

"Sister Zero, you just said that the attack on Cao Cao might be related to Red Fox Mask. What's that all about?"

"It's just a guess."

Zero shrug:

"Although the Revelers are a very loose organization, they are still an organization after all... I was just wondering if other Revelers would come to rescue Red Fox Mask after learning that she had been captured... Given the Revelers' strange abilities, it's not surprising that they know some weird spells."

"Revelers, huh... that's certainly true."

After careful consideration, Valensa admitted that Zero's guess made a lot of sense.

But Red Fox Mask is, after all, her senior sister, and it's impossible for Valensa to completely ignore her capture.

So Valensa quickly looked at Zero with a serious expression that was 4 parts coquettish and 6 parts pleading:

"Could I see her and talk to her?"

Chapter 23 Seeing Senior Sister Again