"Your Excellency, ahead is the royal capital of Lisnas."
"Mm...…"
Duanmu Huai raised his head and looked at the towering city walls before him.
"Looks like the defenses here are really tight."
"That's right...…"
As she spoke, Kentō Kanami cast a complicated look at Duanmu Huai. To be honest, when she first heard that she would be traveling together with Duanmu Huai alone, she had been quite startled. This wasn't because she was worried that Duanmu Huai might make a move on her—after all, Kentō Kanami had already prepared herself for that. On the contrary, what she was worried about was that they would be discovered by the Hermann patrols along the way, or by those brainwashed Lisnas soldiers. If that happened, things would become troublesome.
After all, Duanmu Huai's physique was extraordinarily large. Although in this fantasy world of swords and magic, people of similar size were not unheard of, a body like his was still extremely conspicuous. Once discovered, it would be very easy to be hunted down. As a ninja, Kentō Kanami was naturally proficient in concealment, but when it came to Duanmu Huai… she honestly had no confidence at all.
However, along the way, Duanmu Huai's actions had left Kentō Kanami utterly astonished. The reason was that…
"Ah, a patrol is coming from over there."
"Let's avoid them!"
Hearing Kentō Kanami speak, Duanmu Huai nodded. Then Kentō Kanami watched as he casually stepped into the shadow cast by a small tree that wasn't even a meter thick. Immediately afterward, a patrol composed of Hermann soldiers and Lisnas soldiers walked over from not far away. As they walked, they looked around to both sides, and then—just as if they hadn't seen anything at all—they passed directly by Duanmu Huai. Even though more than half of Duanmu Huai's body was still outside the shadow, the patrol soldiers acted as if they were blind, completely failing to notice his existence!
"All right."
After the patrol had gone far away, Duanmu Huai finally stepped back out and stretched a bit. Meanwhile, Kentō Kanami stared in disbelief at the direction the patrol had left, her expression utterly incredulous.
"No matter how many times I see it, I still can't understand how you do this at all..."
It was no wonder Kentō Kanami felt this way. At the very beginning, when she saw Duanmu Huai casually squat down somewhere, she had been completely shocked. After all, according to common sense, with a body as large as Duanmu Huai's, unless he hid inside dense woods, it should have been impossible for him not to be noticed.
And yet, even though Duanmu Huai was right there in front of them, those patrol soldiers behaved like blind men, turning a blind eye to him. At the time, Kentō Kanami had even wondered whether this was some sort of delaying tactic—perhaps they had noticed Duanmu Huai but felt they couldn't beat him, so they were planning to call for reinforcements and launch a sneak attack at night or something like that.
But time after time, it was the same result, which only left Kentō Kanami more confused. It wasn't until she finally asked Duanmu Huai directly and personally experienced it herself that she realized just how outrageous his concealment truly was. She had only looked away for a single second, and when she turned back, he was gone. And the surroundings were nothing but open grassland and scattered shrubs—there was nowhere anyone could possibly hide.
At the time, Kentō Kanami had nearly dug the place up three feet deep. In the end, it was only when Duanmu Huai voluntarily revealed himself that she discovered he had been hiding the whole time in a clump of bushes less than half a meter tall, not far from her at all!
How was this even possible?
As a ninja who made a living through concealment, Kentō Kanami simply couldn't figure it out. That bush was less than half a meter tall—Duanmu Huai would still be taller than it even if he lay down!
How in the world could he hide inside it without making a sound?
In response, Duanmu Huai could only say—
You just don't understand the techniques of the Dark Crow Guard…
Maybe he could teach her someday.
Of course, this trick was useless once they reached the city gates. After all, the atmosphere there was extremely tense, with heavy defenses everywhere. Unless Duanmu Huai wore a shipping container on his head, there was no way he could enter through the gate. But this didn't stump him either. Although the walls of the Lisnas royal capital were dozens of meters tall, to Duanmu Huai it was nothing more than child's play. He almost effortlessly climbed up the high wall, then jumped down from the other side and blended into the royal capital of Lisnas.
"All right, we're in… Hmm, you can't really see any signs of war here."
"Yes...…"
Hearing Duanmu Huai's comment, Kentō Kanami appeared somewhat dejected. Along the way, they had passed through more than one city, but what they saw was far from encouraging. On the side of the Free City Alliance, perhaps because the occupation had happened not long ago, there were still clear traces of warfare. But after entering Lisnas territory, although most cities showed some damage, at least on the surface they had almost returned to their former peaceful lives. Aside from an increased number of soldiers, everything looked much the same as before the war began.
For Kentō Kanami, this was obviously not good news. Although the fact that civilians had not been harmed by Hermann soldiers gave her some relief, it also meant that the people of Lisnas were very likely to gradually adapt to this way of life—and might even refuse to be dragged back into war again.
After all, if the Hermann army were running rampant here, killing and burning, then even if the citizens submitted out of fear, they would also harbor resentment and resistance toward the Hermann army. But if the other side posed no immediate threat to their lives, combined with Princess Lia's previous declaration—if things continued like this, Lisnas might truly be swallowed up by Hermann!
After all, those resistance fighters were also Lisnas people, and their families lived in these cities. If their families were harmed or slaughtered by the Hermann army, they would naturally unite in hatred and seek revenge. But if their families were not harmed, then it would become far more difficult for the Lisnas resistance to rise up again.
Not to mention that Princess Lia had issued such a declaration…
"I'll go gather some information nearby. Please wait a moment."
After saying this, Kentō Kanami's figure flashed, and she disappeared into an alley. Duanmu Huai, having nothing better to do, found a place to sit down and looked around.
Mm… I can indeed sense it—the aura of demons.
Duanmu Huai could feel it. Although it was very faint, within this royal capital of Lisnas there truly was that kind of evil, dark aura similar to demons. This feeling was very much like the twisted presence he had once sensed in the Imperial capital of Aldorf, only weaker—meaning that the Devilmen here must have appeared not too long ago.
After quite some time, Duanmu Huai finally saw Kentō Kanami run back, panting slightly. She looked around the alley, glancing left and right. Only then did Duanmu Huai stand up from the side. When he suddenly emerged from the shadows, Kentō Kanami was startled, reflexively drawing her small blade. Only after realizing it was Duanmu Huai did she finally let out a sigh of relief.
"Hah… Your Excellency, that trick of yours is really terrifying."
"It's not that bad."
Duanmu Huai didn't care at all.
"What did you find out?"
"Mm...…"
Hearing Duanmu Huai's question, Kentō Kanami's expression immediately darkened.
"For now, both inside and outside the royal capital are relatively relaxed, but everyone is also very tense. Although the Hermann soldiers aren't arbitrarily arresting people like before, no one knows what they're really doing behind the scenes. Also… according to the information I gathered, three months from now, Princess Lia will marry Prince Barton."
"That's quite a long time. I thought Hermann would be in a hurry to make their move."
Hearing Kentō Kanami's report, Duanmu Huai was somewhat surprised. Kentō Kanami nodded.
"I've heard that some problems have arisen within Hermann itself. Not everyone supports Prince Barton."
"He's already fought his way into another country's capital, and there are still people opposing him?"
Duanmu Huai genuinely couldn't understand it. To be honest, regardless of what methods were used, being able to descend like divine troops and launch a surprise attack on another country's capital, occupying most of its territory in a short time—that was already an extremely impressive feat. Logically speaking, shouldn't Hermann be working together internally and externally at this point, seizing the opportunity to swallow Lisnas in one gulp?
What's there to oppose?
"I've heard that within Hermann, many are very unhappy about Prince Barton colluding with Devilmen. This time, Prince Barton didn't inform the king or others of his actions, and he even colluded with Devilmen. Once this matter spreads… it will have an impact on Hermann. And also…"
At this point, Kentō Kanami frowned.
"I'm not sure if my thinking is correct, but when I previously gathered intelligence on Hermann, I learned that Prince Barton isn't actually favored within the country. It seems that the king and many ministers would rather have another princess inherit the throne."
"I see."
Hearing this, Duanmu Huai immediately understood. At first glance, Hermann's actions seemed incredibly stupid, but once connected to a struggle for succession, it all made sense. Prince Barton had acted first and reported later, joining forces with Devilmen to raid another country's capital. Even if he succeeded, it wouldn't necessarily be a good thing for Hermann. After all, it would greatly increase the likelihood of Prince Barton ascending the throne—something the princess faction would certainly not welcome.
They would probably be more than happy if Prince Barton died in Lisnas and never returned. How could they possibly help him?
In other words, these three months were likely the maximum amount of time the princess faction within Hermann could delay matters. If Prince Barton was defeated or killed by Lisnas within these three months, they would naturally celebrate. If Prince Barton managed to hold on for three months, or even turn the tables and completely take Lisnas…
Then what could they do?
Pinch their noses and accept it.
"What about news of Princess Lia?"
"Nothing special. She occasionally appears before the public to say a few words. At least on the surface, there's nothing unusual, and it should be the real person, not a double."
As she said this, Kentō Kanami frowned again.
"At present, the inner city is extremely tightly guarded. Although the royal capital was always heavily defended in the past, it's nothing compared to now. Even I probably wouldn't be able to sneak in. And the sentries inside are extremely dense—it would be very hard to act."
"So the best approach is to find a reason that lets us enter openly… Is there one?"
"I do have an idea."
At this, Kentō Kanami seemed to think of something and lightly clapped her hands.
"There's an arena in the inner city. I've heard that the princess plans to hold a grand tournament there, selecting powerful warriors to serve as her guards…"
"So what you're saying is, as long as I participate in the tournament and win the championship, I'll be able to meet the princess openly… Hmm, that's not bad. But there's still one problem."
"Yes. The arena is in the inner city. To enter the arena, one must obtain a pass, and getting such a pass is not easy. However, I did hear some information. Recently, there have been successive cases of young girls being kidnapped and going missing, including daughters of nobles. In fact, during this period, some adventurers accepted commissions related to this, but in the end, the adventurers themselves all went missing. At present, no one dares to take on these commissions anymore. If Your Excellency were to accept one of these commissions, you could negotiate with the nobles, and perhaps obtain a pass from them."
"All right, I knew it would be this kind of routine."
Hearing Kentō Kanami's explanation, Duanmu Huai curled his lips, then turned around.
"Then let's head to the Adventurers' Guild first and take a look."
(End of Chapter)