Inside the Royal Palace of the Re-Estize Kingdom.
Warm sunlight streamed through the glass, illuminating the room. Princess Lana, dressed in a blue dress, was elegantly sipping her morning tea at the head of a round table. Exquisite pastries were neatly arranged on the table, and the members of the Wild Rose adventurer team were gathered opposite her.
“Princess Lana, what exactly happened last night?”
Gagaran, clad in bright red armor and with a physique more robust than most men, casually grabbed a pastry and tossed it into her mouth. She looked up at Princess Lana and inquired.
After Princess Lana led the Wild Rose team leader, Lakyus, away from the banquet last night, the Wild Rose team members who had been secretly hiding outside also withdrew. They had initially believed that the events of the banquet had concluded.
However, this morning, the kingdom's guard issued a search warrant. At least one-third of the nobles who attended the banquet last night had vanished. Initially, their families assumed they were simply engaging in the usual post-banquet activities, seeking deeper connections with nobles or maids they fancied.
Such occurrences were perfectly normal among the nobility, with even more outrageous things happening. For instance, the kingdom's nobles even practiced the incomprehensible custom of exchanging wives, and this was even considered fashionable?
For example, if a baron's wife was exchanged for a marquis, it would be considered an immense honor for the baron.
Therefore, the nobles' families initially paid no attention to the matter. However, this morning, several noblewomen gathered and discovered that their husbands had not been seen at the residences of the others or any other noble families.
Subsequently, they inquired with other nobles who had also attended the banquet last night, only to discover that one-third of the nobles who had attended the banquet had completely disappeared. Moreover, when they questioned the surviving nobles who had also attended the banquet,
the nobles all gave the same answer: they knew nothing. They claimed that the banquet had proceeded normally, and the missing nobles had simply chosen their prey and left halfway through the evening.
But the ridiculous thing was that the carriage drivers who remained in the manor courtyard said they had not seen their masters leave at all. By the way, the drivers of those missing nobles had all been taken to the Royal Capital Guard's prison this morning.
By now, they should be almost dead. After all, with so many nobles disappearing at once, the guards would do anything to obtain clues.
“I don't know. I only saw them leave normally. Don't you agree, Lakyus?”
As she spoke, a hint of distress appeared on Princess Lana's delicate and adorable face. Then, she tilted her head and looked at Lakyus, who was elegantly sipping her black tea, as if she were questioning her own memory.
“Yes, Princess Lana is right. The nobles who disappeared last night did indeed leave,”
Lakyus said slowly, a look of enjoyment on her beautiful face. The rich aroma of the high-quality black tea made her feel somewhat intoxicated. As for the missing nobles, Lakyus didn't care much. After all, during the Wild Rose team's investigation of Eight Fingers, they had learned quite a bit about what those nobles had been up to.
“...Looks like something's wrong!”
Upon hearing Lana and Lakyus's words, Gagaran, who was standing beside them, became serious. She turned her head and looked at the Wild Rose teammates who had been guarding outside with her last night. They had been guarding outside the whole time and hadn't seen any nobles leave.
That is to say, there was a discrepancy between their memories and the memories of Princess Lana and Lakyus, who had attended the banquet. In their memories, Princess Lana and Lakyus were the first to leave the banquet, but in Princess Lana's and Lakyus's memories, some nobles had already left before them.
“Something definitely happened. I knew there would be a problem with that Eight Fingers leader, Hilma, holding this banquet!”
Ibillai, the strongest member of the Wild Rose team, said seriously, her face hidden behind her mask. As a magic caster, she was absolutely certain that she had not been subjected to any suggestive magic. Therefore, she was absolutely certain that her memory was correct.
But that was the problem. She had secretly checked her team leader Lakyus's and Princess Lana's bodies and minds and confirmed that they showed no signs of being magically manipulated. That is to say, neither of their memories was wrong.
Coupled with the inexplicable and indescribable feeling Ibillai had felt while watching the manor last night, Ibillai's heart began to feel uneasy.
“It seems that there is a problem with our memories and perceptions, and this problem is definitely related to the missing nobles.”
At that moment, Lana's expression also became serious. Her azure eyes were full of intelligent light. When the Wild Rose members saw Lana like this, they couldn't help but feel a sense of reassurance. After all, they had spent a long time together and accepted Princess Lana's request to investigate Eight Fingers, and they had long been confident in Princess Lana's wisdom.
“Princess Lana, do...do you feel unwell anywhere?”
At this time, Climb, who had been silently standing behind Princess Lana, protecting her, rushed to Princess Lana's side with a worried expression after hearing the princess say that there was a problem with her memory and perception, and asked with concern and worry in his eyes.
“I don't feel unwell anywhere. Thank you for your concern, Climb.”
Looking at Climb's face so close to her, especially his undisguised concern and worry, which resembled a cute puppy caring for its master, Lana's morbid and twisted love was greatly satisfied.
“Please rest assured, Princess Lana. I, Climb, will protect you with my life!”
After hearing Princess Lana say that she was fine, Climb breathed a deep sigh of relief, and then knelt in front of Lana and vowed with a firm expression.
“Yes, thank you, Climb. It is because you are here that I feel so at ease.”
Looking at Climb kneeling in front of her, speaking like a loyal dog, Lana couldn't help but reach out and gently stroke Climb's hair, with a satisfied smile on her face. However, in the eyes of the Wild Rose members on the side, this scene looked a bit like a master stroking a puppy's head to show encouragement.
In the next second, the Wild Rose adventurer team, except for the leader Lakyus, shook their heads vigorously to throw this idea out of their minds. After all, how could they think so about the sacred scene of a knight and a princess swearing allegiance to each other?
On the side, Lakyus, who had just refilled her teacup, looked at her teammates who were shaking their heads in unison with a confused expression. At this moment, she completely didn't understand what was wrong with her teammates.
“By the way, there is something I need to ask the Wild Rose team to do next.”
At this time, Lana, who was stroking Climb's hair, looked up at the Wild Rose team members in front of her. Her delicate and adorable face seemed to radiate light in the sunlight, coupled with her azure eyes full of wisdom. In an instant, the Wild Rose team members became serious. At this moment, they looked like the world-renowned adamantite-ranked adventurer team.
“The request regarding Eight Fingers needs to be put on hold for the time being. Currently, all of the Eight Fingers leaders except for the one on the surface, Hilma, have disappeared, and the Eight Fingers' forces have also shrunk across the board. In addition, with so many nobles suddenly disappearing and other kingdom troops wandering around, I have a feeling that some unknown darkness has quietly infiltrated the kingdom.”
Saying this, Princess Lana stood up and looked at the Wild Rose team members with a serious expression and continued.
"Therefore, I would like to ask everyone to go to various parts of the kingdom to begin investigating. Also, this is the greatest assistance I can offer you for this mission."
As she spoke, Princess Lana glanced at Climb, who had returned to stand behind her. Then, under the puzzled gazes of the Blue Roses, Climb turned and walked to a cabinet not far away, taking out a box from inside and placing it on the table.
"Princess, what is this?"
Gagaran looked at the box on the table in front of her with a hint of doubt, asking Princess Lana. She didn't think there was any treasure inside. After all, while it wasn't entirely useless to them, it wasn't that useful either.
After all, as a renowned adamantite-ranked adventurer team, they could proudly say they weren't short of money.
"Climb."
Princess Lana didn't answer Gagaran's question, but instead looked at Climb and said something. Climb, understanding, opened the box, and thumb-sized beads appeared before everyone's eyes.
"This is..."
Ibiruei, the magic caster of the Blue Roses team, immediately noticed something was wrong. She reached out, took a bead from the box, and began to examine it carefully. The jelly-like texture and the magical aura it contained made Ibiruei's expression strange.
"Princess Lana, if I'm not mistaken, this should be a Slime?"
When she said the word "Slime," Ibiruei's tone was obviously uncertain. After all, this was the first time she had seen such a small Slime, and the magical aura it contained was not something a mere Slime could possess.
"That's right, this is indeed a Slime."
Facing Ibiruei's question, Princess Lana nodded with a smile, then picked up a bead and placed it in front of the Blue Roses. With a light tap of Princess Lana's fingertip on the bead, the bead in her hand automatically floated up and then merged into the ground.
"What is this?"
At this moment, Ibiruei on the opposite side seemed to have noticed something as well. She controlled the magic power within her body and injected a trace into the bead in her hand. The next second, Ibiruei's body instantly disappeared from its original location and appeared in the ground where the previous bead had merged.
"Is this the legendary [Spatial Teleportation] magic?"
"Yes, these beads are things inherited by the royal family from ancient times. Each one can be used as a spatial coordinate, and it can allow the magical aura of the recorder within to possess the ability to move at will."
As she spoke, Lana closed the box and handed it to the members of the Blue Roses team. The members of the Blue Roses team looked at the box in front of them with surprise. They didn't expect Princess Lana to even take out such a thing for this mission.
But in reality, this was not something inherited by the royal family from ancient times. In fact, it was just the smallest model clone that Lu Minghao had casually created last night using the Slime's unique [Asexual Reproduction] talent.
As for the use, it was to slowly erode and contaminate everything around after merging into the earth. In general, it was something Lu Minghao made to accelerate the world's transformation into his shape. These things were equivalent to small Lu Minghao.
Although they had no consciousness or soul, and only had a [Spatial Teleportation] ability, they could accelerate the process of transforming the world. After all, as long as these things were integrated into the whole world, when Lu Minghao's power permeated every corner of the world, who could say that this world was not Lu Minghao's shape.
Of course, this was just a small step in Lu Minghao's plan, and it was also a preparation for the final plan.
"I didn't expect the royal family to have such a thing. But Princess Lana, is it really okay to give this to us?"
On the opposite side, Ibiruei reluctantly returned the bead in her hand to the box. For a magic caster like her who craved knowledge, these beads that could use [Spatial Teleportation] were completely like putting a delicious meal in front of a starving ghost.
But it was precisely because of this that Ibiruei knew how precious this thing was. Honestly, Ibiruei felt that it would be normal for other kingdoms to start a war directly after knowing that the Re-Estize Kingdom had this thing.
"Don't worry, in fact, this thing is not as precious as you think. At most, it can only record the magical aura of ten people. It's not that useful to the kingdom. Moreover, I'm giving the things to everyone in Blue Roses, so I definitely won't worry about it."
On the opposite side, Princess Lana looked at each member of the Blue Roses present with trust and sincerity in her eyes. Her top-notch acting skills made the members of the Blue Roses unable to see Princess Lana's true nature at all. At this moment, each of them only felt incomparably moved.
But in reality, Princess Lana really didn't think this thing was that precious. After all, she had personally watched Lu Minghao casually create a pile of them last night. Her bed in her room was still full of them, and most importantly, Lu Minghao had specially left a special clone before leaving.
As long as she fed that special clone food and magic power, Princess Lana could take out a pile of these beads at any time.
"Well, then please rest assured, Princess, about this mission!"
On the opposite side, Lakyus, the captain of the Blue Roses, firmly guaranteed with her beautiful face. Then, she led the members of the Blue Roses team away from here and began to carry out the mission Princess Lana had given them.
"The seeds have been planted, and the mission entrusted by Master has been perfectly completed."
After the members of the Blue Roses team left, the twisted smile on Princess Lana's face was no longer concealed. She turned her head and looked at the royal capital outside the window, muttering to herself. Behind her, Climb guarded Lana as if he hadn't heard Lana's words at all, like a loyal dog.
"By the way, Climb, let's continue what we didn't finish last night."
The next second, Princess Lana stood up and looked at Climb behind her with anticipation in her twisted smile. Lu Minghao's sudden appearance last night interrupted them just as they were about to begin.
"Yes, Princess."
On the opposite side, Climb nodded obediently and followed behind Lana. If you looked closely, you would find a black dog leash tied to Climb's neck at some point, and the end of the dog leash was in Princess Lana's hand.
When Princess Lana returned to the room with Climb, the maid who was originally guarding outside Princess Lana's door began to flicker her eyes as she looked at the closed door. Then, she turned and walked away, seemingly wanting to report some news to someone.
However, when she had just taken a few steps, she suddenly stopped, her body began to tremble uncontrollably, and a look of despair and fear appeared on her delicate face. On the opposite side, the originally normal corridor had turned into a constantly wriggling blood-red fleshy passage, with blue pupils staring at her.
The next second, the passage returned to its normal appearance, and the maid had disappeared.
At the same time, in Princess Lana's dim room, she was sitting on a chair, looking at Climb, who was prostrating in front of her like a puppy, meticulously licking her feet, with a sweet smile on her lips.
"Why did you reward him!?"
At the same time, Lu Minghao, the scumbag master who was secretly peeping at his subordinates in a certain manor in the royal capital, was looking at the scene in front of him with an angry expression, which made Yuri and Yusha on the side look confused.
I don't know if it was an illusion, but they always felt that their master seemed to be very envious?
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