Danger is approaching（1）

"What's going on?"

A hint of seriousness crept into Yang Jing's usually cold voice. A well-trained, heavily armed Plum Blossom Inner Guard, equipped with a page from the travel guide, had died silently and without a trace.

"Don't know? The inner guard didn't even manage to send a message before dying."

Siegfried's face was grimmer than ever before. The strangeness of this event was beyond even his comprehension. This feeling, like someone had stabbed him in the back, filled him with gloom. He was used to being the one doing the stabbing.

"Do you know where this inner guard died? A general location will do."

"Roughly… in the slums."

The deceased inner guard was named Caroline. Last night, her mission was to ensure the smooth progress of the royal army's work in the slums.

"The soldiers' mission was indeed completed. Caroline shouldn't have been killed then…" Siegfried fell silent for a moment, then continued to transmit his voice: "Could you please investigate?"

Today was the day to take Count Conston's mansion. Siegfried had too much to do and couldn't allow anything to disrupt the plan.

But he was also too busy. Too many things required his personal attention today, so he could only entrust this dangerous task to Yang Jing.

"Okay."

"Be careful! If you're in danger, transmit your voice immediately and prioritize escape!"

Siegfried added another worried instruction. For him, while the plan was important, Yang Jing, his companion from Earth, was far more important. If necessary, Siegfried would not hesitate to abort the plan and prioritize rescuing Yang Jing.

"Mm."

Yang Jing's emotions didn't fluctuate much; her reply remained brief and cold.

Siegfried ended the transmission, his eyes growing darker and darker.

His intuition told him that whatever killed inner guard Caroline was something he knew, even something he had seen. A suspicion was already forming in his mind.

Suddenly, a ruthless expression appeared on his delicate face. Intense killing intent, accompanied by chilling words, filled the room.

"I'd like to see what kind of thing you are, daring to act up under my nose."

.........

The hall of the "Stallion Banner" tavern was always boisterous, but today it was exceptionally lively, no, perhaps the entire Conston City wouldn't be quiet today.

The reason was simple; just ask anyone in the city.

"Are you serious?"

An adventurer dressed as a ranger looked incredulous.

"If you don't believe me, I'll ask Rodi myself. This guy lives in the slums to save money."

"Hey! Rodi, is what he said true?"

The adventurer named Rodi lifted his flushed face and belched. He had ordered a lot of drinks and food today, almost filling the entire round table.

"Burp, yeah, look for yourselves."

He said, drunkenly taking a bulging money pouch from his waist. It was filled with glittering gold Moen coins, almost overflowing.

"My god…"

"Oh my…"

All the adventurers surrounding Rodi gasped.

The money inside was enough for a family of three to live comfortably in a wealthy residential area for a lifetime. Even a B-level adventurer would need three or four years of hard work to earn this much.

"This… all this is from Her Royal Highness the Princess?"

"Of course… burp, I saw the royal army distributing relief funds to the people in the slums with my own eyes. I live there, and they seemed to consider me a slum dweller too, hehehe burp!"

Rodi hung the money pouch back around his waist and continued: "As expected of our Moen Princess, so beautiful and kind-hearted, burp! I almost want to sign up for the royal army. Huh? Why are you all looking at me like that?"

"Rodi, taking relief funds, that's not moral."

"Yeah, that's ill-gotten gains!"

"As your good brothers, we've decided to share this sin with you!"

"What are you going to do?"

Rodi's eyes widened, his drunkenness mostly gone.

"Brothers, Rodi said he'll pay for everyone's drinks this month!"

"No! I didn't! I never said that!"

"Rodi, I knew you were a good guy!"

"I got his money pouch!"

A thief with a shapely bottom, holding the money pouch high, cheered loudly.

"Yay!"

"Give it back!"

The tavern was in an uproar; the "Stallion Banner" remained boisterous as ever today.

............

Jin Sui Street No. 6, Sunshine Church

Cardinal Anthony, head of the church in Count Conston's territory, was having breakfast with the Saintess, Krinhilde.

Krinhilde tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, blew on the Jin Sui oat porridge in her spoon, then ate it, a happy blush on her face.

Anthony watched the stunning girl, his eyes narrowed slightly, and said:

"Saintess, your kindness is a blessing to the people of the kingdom. The Lord must also be pleased to have a devotee like you."

Krinhilde continued to eat her porridge, replying without looking up:

"Mr. Anthony, what are you saying?"

"Hehehe, the Saintess's good deeds have spread throughout the city, and perhaps even the surrounding villages know about them."

Krinhilde seemed not to understand the meaning of the Cardinal's words and continued to eat her oat porridge with a happy expression.

Anthony, despite being ignored, showed no anger, still smiling:

"It's just that I have one question. It seems that every lamb in the slums received the redemption money. That's a considerable sum. Where did you raise such a large amount of charity?"

The white-bearded old cardinal revealed his true intentions. He wasn't concerned about the money itself, but where it came from. Where did Princess Krinhilde receive help during her six-month escape? Why did she manage to escape from the Second Prince?

His intuition told him that the answers to these three questions would all point to the same person, the source of all the incongruities.

He had a letter in his robe pocket, an order from Roderick, containing only a short sentence:

[Find my sister's helper.]

"It was a gift from Mr. Hilton, oh~"

However, Krinhilde replied to the old cardinal's question lightly and almost without hesitation.

Anthony's white beard trembled, and his amiable smile faltered for the first time.

"Hoover… Chamber of Commerce…"

He murmured the name incredulously, an indescribable fear creeping into his heart.

It was impossible for the church to be unaware of the chamber's shady dealings.

Anthony had long discovered Count Conston and the Hoover Chamber of Commerce's slave trade, but he and the entire church had profited handsomely from it. The shrewd and cunning President Hilton had taken care of everything, regularly donating large sums of money to the church under the guise of charity, and occasionally visiting to discuss theology with Cardinal Anthony.

Because of this, the church had turned a blind eye to the Hoover Chamber of Commerce's various illegal activities.

Now, Anthony suddenly recalled that the shrewd President Hilton hadn't appeared before him for over a week. And Hilton's money had all ended up in the Saintess's hands, distributed to the poor.

What did this mean?

Did Mr. Hilton reform and donate all his assets?

Nonsense! It meant that the entire Hoover Chamber of Commerce had been destroyed!

Even more terrifying was that the Hoover Chamber of Commerce had been silently destroyed, and Conston hadn't even reacted!

No! He did react. He had mobilized almost all the available troops in his county to guard his mansion.

Anthony's brain worked at full speed, considering who had such power.

(Did Roland become a Holy Knight? No, even a Holy Knight wouldn't cause Conston to react so drastically. His reaction wasn't self-defense, but rather a desperate struggle… SS-rank?!)

The Cardinal's heart trembled, and cold sweat poured down his forehead.

There were only a few SS-rank individuals in the entire Qilan Continent, and the current Pope of the Sun God Church was one of them.

In the era without heroes, these individuals were the pinnacle of the world. Their personal influence was enough to rival a country.

Their opponent was someone who could stand on equal footing with His Holiness the Pope!

(Merlin, the Wind Flower Elder? His student is the Saintess's companion. No… Wind Flower isn't that kind of person.)

A possibility quickly surfaced in Anthony's mind, but was then dismissed.

The Wind Flower Elder was a notorious scoundrel, the kind of person who would smile amiably and conjure a flower from a corpse, just to see what color it is, even if his student was hacked to pieces.

The old cardinal was completely consumed by mental exhaustion, completely unaware that Krinhilde was looking at him with an ambiguous smile.

This answer was taught to her by Siegfried.

As Siegfried had predicted, this single sentence was enough to make the Sun Church hesitate.

Just then, a hearty laugh came from outside.

"Cardinal Anthony! I'm back! Hahaha, the weather is wonderful today, and the city is bustling with activity."

Field, brimming with youthful vigor, walked into the church, met with the priests' astonished gazes.

Siegfried's second bomb for the church had arrived!