Imperial Crown.

Chapter 78 "Black Pearl" Mary

In the darkness, the wind was howling.

A blurry figure was slowly approaching the camp.

Otto immediately raised his crossbow and aimed at the figure: "Stop, don't move!"

"I, I have no ill intentions..." The figure stopped and a soft and pleasant voice came.

It turned out to be a woman!
"Come closer and talk," Nancy ordered first.

Otto turned to look at Raven.

"Why are you looking at him? Can't I make the decision?" Nancy said dissatisfiedly.

Seeing that the Baron did not object, Otto followed Nancy's instructions and shouted, "Come over here slowly and put your hands where I can see them!"

The woman raised her hands and walked forward step by step.

Otto held his crossbow, and just as she reached the edge of the fire, he shouted, "Stop!"

Nancy examined the woman. "Take off your hood."

"Yes..." The woman took off her hood as she was told, and her long black hair like satin spread out.

Ottoton was stunned for a moment, while Nancy showed a surprised expression.

This woman is so beautiful.

Her skin was a healthy black, not the pitch-black color of the night, but a delicate black with a hint of oiliness, which looked extremely smooth under the firelight.

Her eyes are as charming as black pearls, her nose is high and her lips are plump.

Although she was wrapped in a thick burqa, with her hands raised high, the strong wind blew the burqa close to her body, fully revealing her proud figure, giving people an impression of being full of vitality and full of wild beauty.

"What's your name?" Nancy's voice softened.

"My name is Mary, and I'm a bounty hunter." The woman's voice was tense and hurried. "My horse was lost, and I'm lost, so I hope to stay here for one night. I only need a small place, and I won't disturb you!"

Otto hesitated: "Boss, what should we do...?"

Raven smiled inwardly, thinking that he was quite clever and knew not to address himself as a baron at this time.

Nancy had already made up her mind: "It's just a place to stay, why not let her in? Let her sleep next to me tonight."

"She's so beautiful, she can't be a bad person!"

Mary's expression brightened, and Raven chuckled.

Hearing Raven's ridicule, Nancy also realized that something was wrong with her.

She just made the mistake that the nobles often make of judging people by their appearance.

Nancy's little brain became active again. She looked Mary up and down and said, "No, it's such a cold night. You're a woman who lost your horse and supplies. Your mental and physical condition is a little too good, isn't it?"

Mary quickly defended herself: "My horse was lost not long ago, and this is my usual resting place, so I didn't stay outside for too long."

Hearing her say this, Nancy still felt something was wrong, but for a moment she couldn't figure out what was wrong.

She looked at Raven for help, but found that he was leaning against the wall and pretending to be asleep, obviously not intending to intervene in the matter.

Nancy felt a surge of pride in her heart.

Don't think I can't do anything without your help!
Her eyes darted around, looking at the crossbow in Otto's hand, the horses huddled aside, and then at Mary. Suddenly, her eyes lit up: "No, you are not telling the truth!"

"Uh...what?" Mary blinked in confusion. "I don't understand what you mean."

"There aren't any large bounty hunter groups on the Bloody Heights." Nancy smiled smugly. "Our horses are tied outside, and we don't have carriages with us, so we can't be mistaken for a caravan. If it's not a caravan, then people's first instinct is that it's just a group of horse thieves."

"But you insist that you are the natural enemy of horse thieves, a bounty hunter!"

"Either you are stupid, but stupid people can't survive this long on the Bloody Heights; or you already knew that we are not horse thieves - you know we are people who came up from below, right!?"

After finishing this analysis, Otto's hands immediately became more stable, with his fingers already on the crossbow.

At the same time, the bodyguards rushed out of the house and surrounded the woman.

Giving Raven a smug look, Nancy crossed her arms and looked at the woman: "Tell me, who are you and what is your purpose?"

"Hold on!" Mary panted nervously, her chest rising and falling. "I'm not a bounty hunter, but my real name is Mary! I'm not a horse thief either. I'm just an ordinary person living in the bloody highlands. Everyone calls me 'Black Pearl'."

"An ordinary person with a nickname?" Nancy asked doubtfully.

"Not that ordinary... I have fighting spirit, a first-level dark warrior." Mary swallowed her saliva: "But I'm neither a horse thief nor a bounty hunter, so it's not wrong to say that I'm an ordinary person, right?"

Nancy didn't dwell on this point, but asked the most crucial question: "How did you catch up with us?"

"I have a little pet." Mary whistled, and then there was a fluttering sound, and a sleek crow came in from the gap in the felt carpet on the roof and stood on her shoulder.

Nancy nodded slowly: "So it is this, I was wondering why there are birds in the Bloody Heights at this time of year!"

Mary whistled softly to calm the crow down: "It was with it as my eyes that I was able to discover the group marching ahead of you..."

"You heard their conversation and knew the real boss was behind, so you came back to find him?" Nancy continued. "Yes..." Mary admitted, "I heard them mention that there is a baron here!"

Nancy felt a little unhappy and asked a different question: "Where's your horse?"

"Really let him go."

"why?"

"Because I wanted to gain your trust." Mary's eyes showed a trace of helplessness: "Unexpectedly, you exposed my lies before I even met the Baron."

Nancy's eyes showed a little pride: "Then why did you sacrifice your own horse to gain our trust?"

“This…” Mary’s eyes revealed a trace of genuine pain: “When I said I was a bounty hunter, it wasn’t all a lie.”

"Because Heleti and I have a blood feud..."

"He killed my father!"

"I have been wandering around the Bloody Heights all these years, just looking for someone to cooperate with and kill him!"

Mary's tone began to become a little excited: "Your plan is very bold. Marching in winter and dividing the troops into two groups will both be beyond Heleti's expectations. The chances of success are very high."

"So, I came to you because I want to join your team. I want to chop off Heleti's head with my own hands!"

Hearing these words, Nancy hesitated a little. She looked at Raven for advice, but still got no response.

Men are so unreliable!
This forced Nancy to put herself in the position of a team leader and think about the question: "Why should we trust you?"

"I'm just a first-level dark warrior. I can't cause any trouble under your surveillance." Mary looked at Nancy with a hint of determination and pleading in her eyes. "Besides, you have a map in your hands. If I really take you on a detour, you can kill me at any time."

Nancy was still a little hesitant. It was a bit too hasty to let someone in just because of her sympathy.

"And you need me too!" Mary seemed to have seen Nancy's worry and immediately emphasized her role: "According to the time, you have been out of touch with the army ahead. There is a gap of at least five days. If you can't get there as soon as possible, your plan will definitely fail!"

"As a native of the Bloody Highlands, I know a shortcut that will allow you to go directly to the vicinity of Heleti's 'Scorpion Nest', which can save at least three days!"

This sentence immediately made Nancy a little moved. She poked Raven's shoulder and lowered her voice: "How about letting her stay?"

"Aren't you the one in charge of this matter?" Raven asked back.

Nancy snorted and turned to Mary: "You can join us, but if you do anything out of line, I will kill you immediately!"

As she spoke, she uttered a few syllables and a cluster of flames burned in her palm.

"Magician?" Mary's eyes widened and she nodded repeatedly: "I understand!"

"Okay, that's settled!" Nancy clapped her hands and put out the flame: "Volaf, go get her a set of bedding."

After saying that, he turned around and went back to his seat inside the room, and Mary followed him in carefully.

Not long after, Volav came back with a set of bedding and threw it directly into Mary's arms: "Yours."

Although Mary was indeed very beautiful and Volav was very envious of her, he instinctively felt that this woman who suddenly appeared was not a good person and her purpose was definitely not as simple as she said.

Mary didn't care at all and even thanked Volav.

Just like that, Mary joined Raven's team, and the number of people in the team increased to twenty-one.

The next morning, Nancy assigned a pack horse to Mary.

The group continued on their journey.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye, and it was the fifteenth day since leaving Eagle Town.

On this day, the Bloody Highlands welcomed rare sunny weather. Although there was an occasional breeze, it did not block the view.

Nancy followed behind Raven, with the corners of her mouth turned down.

She kind of regretted letting Mary join them.

Because this "black pearl" attracted more attention than her, although the guards looked at Mary with caution, everyone could see the admiration in their eyes.

Raven was the only one who didn't look, but that didn't make her feel much better.

Because Raven is fair enough, not only does he not look at Mary, he also doesn't care about Nancy.

"What a disgusting guy..." Nancy glanced at Raven's back, then glanced at Mary, not knowing who she was talking about.

At this moment, a shrill scream suddenly came from behind. It was the cry of a horse before death, and along with it came the panicked neighing of many horses.

Nancy suddenly came to her senses. She pulled the reins and tried to turn around, but Mary was much faster than her, even though she was riding a pack horse!

At the same time, Raven turned his horse around and shouted, "Everyone, stay put!"

As he spoke, he rode his horse towards the rear of the team.

……

(End of this chapter)