Arknights, but the sickly pretty girl starts

Chapter 146: Dignity

"Sister Noah..." Maria pondered for a while. She originally planned to fully affirm her and give her a wave of compliments, but after thinking about it, she finally came to a conclusion.

"She's a very lonely person."

"Eh? I can't tell. Isn't there always a lot of people around her? That Kuro... and your uncle... and now there's the Radiant Knight. How could she get lonely?" Cintrea was a little shocked by this answer. "And she's super rich, isn't she supposed to have parties every day, drink beer and cocktails like water, and have a group of people to dress them up every day? There must be butlers and maids, right?"

"...Actually, there's only Kuro-san at Noya's house." As expected, Maria noticed that Cintrea's impression of Noya was still based on a wealthy person with a conscience. Although she felt Noya's gentleness and tolerance, and knew she was kind to her, she still considered Noya a "rich person." In other words, no different from the board members who gave her instructions. "She doesn't like being dominated, so although her house is large, it's mostly just the two of them. Now that the Linguang family has moved in—it's a bit more popular."

"Rich people have their own quirks..." Honestly, Sintela initially thought Noya was just being cautious about safety. After all, if she hired servants, there was a chance assassins could sneak in, which could lead to some serious consequences. "What if she just really likes being alone? Oh, and that guy named Kuro?"

"That's definitely not the case!" Maria immediately rejected the idea. "You don't know, after we moved in, Sister Noah has smiled a lot more."

"How could I possibly know..." Cintela shook her head helplessly. "So, she enjoys the hustle and bustle, but she's actively keeping her distance from you? Why?"

"I don't know either..." Maria shook her head. "Sister Noah also lived in Lin Guang's house a long time ago."

"I know, but I didn't live there for long," Xinteleya added. "I looked up information, and I think I only lived there for about five years..."

"Well... then Sister Noah and Sister Margaret encountered that accident, and Sister Noah..." Maria, who was still young at the time, certainly could not understand what had happened, but she knew that one of her two sisters was forced to leave home. Later, when Sister Noah came back, she was blind and her legs were crippled. No matter who Maria asked about what had happened, they said they had no answer.

As the youngest sister in the family, her two older sisters spoiled her and didn't want her to know anything. Even when they agreed to let Maria participate in the knight competition, they were only indulging Maria's willfulness.

So it was difficult for Maria to say what she really understood about Noah, but the only thing she was confident of was that Noah really liked being in a lively atmosphere. Before, her company asked Uncle Mainna to come over, and the first requirement was that Uncle Mainna come home on time for dinner every day. This move directly alleviated the serious communication barriers within the Lin Guang family at that time. After Uncle Mainna was finally able to eat with them, Maria clearly felt the warming of the family atmosphere.

When I told Sister Noah the good news, although she only responded through the communication software, I could see that she was very happy.

She obviously likes the strong family atmosphere and the feeling of being among people she cares about, but she intentionally or unintentionally alienates everyone. This is a situation that Maria does not understand and is what she cannot accept the most.

I clearly treat Sister Noah as my own sister, but it seems that there is always a thin wall between me and Sister Noah. Every time I try to break this wall, Sister Noah will take the initiative to withdraw. Even Sister Margaret, who I think has the best relationship with Sister Noah, seems unable to break through this barrier and truly connect with Sister Noah and become a real family.

"That's fine. At least you're here with Noya. You'll definitely stick around if anything happens to her," Hintleya replied somewhat helplessly. "Unlike me, I'm completely rootless, being pressured by five superiors. Five! How can this be possible?"

"Miss Cintrea, who told you to get involved with the Helmetless Alliance..." Maria complained. "Oh... by the way, I have a match today. Ah... can you turn on the TV?"

"I think I didn't forget to pay for the TV..." Xinteleya wasn't sure. She hadn't watched TV in a long time, so even if the TV really had no signal, it would make sense. "You can try it. I'm not restricting you from watching TV anyway."

"Okay." Maria took out the remote control from the crack of the sofa and turned on the TV. Fortunately, the signal could still be received. Soon, the knight competition broadcast appeared in front of the two of them. After being captured by the drone, the methods of both Margaret and Viviana were clearly visible, and the collision between weapons intertwined into a symphony.

Maria took senbei from the bag while watching, while Cintrea beside her was paying attention to some details of the game, such as the level of Margaret's Originium skills, or whether the Candle Knight's fighting style had changed. The level of these two people was a little higher than her, and it would be beneficial for her to learn anything.

Thinking back, I also debuted as an idol knight - if I hadn't been caught fixing matches, I would still be a competitive knight now.

Buzz buzz buzz...

Just when Maria was watching intently, the communicator on Xinteleya's waist rang. Xinteleya looked at Maria, then got up and went to the next room to answer the communicator.

"Maria is under my control. What's wrong?"

"Good job, little Pegasus! I thought you wouldn't be able to do it." Roy's voice was frivolous. "This game will be over soon. I guess there's no way this time. In the next game, we'll need your golden Pegasus."

"...Hmm." Xinteleya's expression was serious. "But aren't we Noya's enemies?"

"Yeah, do you have any questions?"

"But Maria and Noah are like sisters. If we kidnap Maria, isn't that declaring war on Noah?"

"...My little Pegasus, how could you be so naive? The reason we're not enemies with Noah is that she's still the spokesperson for the Chamber of Commerce. Once the competition is over, she won't be," Roy responded. "By then, our positions and hers will have changed—and she's one of our connections. If she doesn't want to leave with dignity, then we'll help her do so."

Chapter 147: Speaking Frankly

"Old man! Have you seen Maria?"

"...Ah? Maria? Isn't she with you?"

At this time in the Old Martin Tavern, Zofia finally discovered that Maria had suddenly disappeared, so she immediately found the old craftsman Koval, but even Koval didn't know where Maria had gone.

They hadn't seen Maria since this morning. After a few people discussed it, they found that Maria seemed to have disappeared after Margaret went to participate in the competition, and the last person who saw Maria should be Margaret herself. So they immediately came to the stadium, waited for Margaret to come out of the stadium, and immediately pulled her aside to ask questions.

"Margaret! Have you seen your sister? I haven't seen her since this morning." Sofia's anxiety was completely beyond words. Seeing her excitement, Margaret hurriedly comforted her.

"Don't worry, don't worry. What happened? I did see her once this morning. She helped me repair my weapon, and then I haven't seen her since." Although Margaret couldn't say she wasn't worried, she remained calm and turned to Noah for confirmation. "Noah, what about you? Have you seen Maria?"

"...I'm not sure either." Noah frowned. "Who has Maria been close to these days?"

"Who knows... Koval doesn't even know where she is, and I'm getting anxious." Zofia was like an ant on the hot pot. "What do you think... could this be a kidnapping?"

"Kidnapping..." Noah also thought of this possibility. If it was really a kidnapping, the purpose was most likely to make Margaret admit defeat in the next game, so they kidnapped Margaret's sister Maria.

Noah couldn't help but frown. It was not a good thing for such a mistake to happen under such circumstances. However, since the intention was to threaten Margaret, Maria should be safe now.

"Anyway, notify Uncle Mainna first, and I will also look for her through my own channels. Don't worry, it may not be a kidnapping. Maybe Maria just ran away somewhere by herself." Noah could only comfort Zofia first. Maria is not a fool. It is impossible for her to follow others casually, so either the opponent's strength can take down Maria in an instant, or Maria ran away to some strange place by herself.

"Yes... Noah, you are right. Anyway, I will go to the place where Maria would go to look for her first. This girl, she disappeared at this time... If I find her, I will definitely scold her!" Noah's words seemed to make Zofia feel more at ease than Margaret's words, so she immediately turned around to find Maria. At this time, Noah also tried to call Maria, but as expected, the phone was turned off.

"Margaret, leave this matter to me. I promise to return Maria to you intact." Noah sighed softly and said to Margaret beside him, "Trust me."

"...I want to go too." Margaret raised her sword and was about to set off, but Noah quickly held her back. "You're a famous person now. Wherever you go, there are more than ten thousand pairs of eyes watching you. If you go with us, you'll only alert the enemy."

"...This." Margaret was well aware of this. If their goal was to threaten her into withdrawing from the competition, she would definitely be under close surveillance. It's no exaggeration to say that Margaret was now a huge light bulb. She was the last person to find Maria. "Then... Noah, if you need any help, just tell me."

"Well, believe me, I'm sure." Noah was not trying to comfort Margaret. If it was before, she might have found it a little tricky, but now - Noah stretched out her fingers and tapped a few times in the air like playing the piano. Then she stretched out her hand and casually pulled a hair from Margaret's head and wrapped it around her finger. Under the control of Noya's Originium skills, a Pero relative composed entirely of shadows suddenly emerged from her shadow. It sniffed the hair on Noya's fingers, sniffed everywhere, and then looked in one direction.

Shadow Spell - a spell taught to Noah by Viviana, but Viviana's attainments are much higher than Noah's, but Noah's control over spells is higher than Viviana's. Using shadows to create various things is her specialty.

Seeing this scene, Margaret probably realized that this spell had a tracking effect, so she looked at Kuro beside her and said, "Then... Noah, I'll leave it to you."

"It's okay, I don't need your reminder." Kuro nodded, pushing Noya's wheelchair away, and soon out of Margaret's sight. Margaret stood there for a moment, then, considering that her actions might attract other people's attention, she thought for a moment and simply turned and left. Since they would pay special attention to her, the only thing she could do was to attract their attention.

"Ms. Droste, can I come to your house for a visit?" She turned around and found Viviana, who originally wanted to go home, and expressed her request in the other's puzzled look.

"Eh……?"

-

The shadow dog hid in Noah's shadow and guided Noah. Soon, Kuro and Noah slowly came to a narrow alley from the bustling commercial district. There were old high-rise buildings on both sides. Wildly growing electric wires were entangled between the buildings, like a huge spider web. From Kuro's perspective, someone had already been eyeing them since they came here.

Kuro whispered, "It's the Helmetless Alliance."

"...Really..." Noah frowned and sighed silently, "If that's the case, I probably know who took Maria away."

"Need me?"

"No, not yet. If I'm not mistaken... she wouldn't want to hurt Maria." Noah suddenly relaxed. "All we have to do next is explain our purpose to her and convince her to let us take Maria back."

"I don't think it will go that smoothly." Kuro sighed. "After all, they are members of the No Helmet Alliance. They can't disobey the orders of their superiors."

"I'm also her superior," Noah responded, "and... I don't think joining the No-Horn Alliance necessarily makes you a bad person."

"..." Kuro did not refute, but just sighed silently, "Noah..."

"I know what you mean, but I'm not a powerless little girl..." Noah shook her head. "No matter what, I want to have a good talk. Or rather, it's time to speak frankly."

Chapter 148: Show Mercy

"...Someone is coming? So quickly?" After receiving the news that someone was looking for Maria, Xinteleya fell into deep thought. The other party was able to find this place so quickly, which meant that the other party must have a way to track Maria. In other words, she probably couldn't continue hiding with Maria.

At the reminder of the members of the Helmetless Alliance team, Xinteleya had to stand up from the sofa, pick up the compound bow, and while sorting out her equipment, she gave instructions to Maria.

"If a fight breaks out, just find a chance to run. In this case... even if you run away, I can't be blamed." Cintrea wasn't sure, but it was obviously impossible for her to attack Maria, so she must have let her go by accident. After getting dressed, Cintrea looked at Maria, "And I don't know if it's the Radiant Knight or your aunt... but I'll show some mercy."

"Actually... Miss Sintela, you could definitely talk to her—with me here, there shouldn't be a fight." Maria was a little worried about Sintela's safety. After all, she hadn't done anything to her, and had even been quite nice to her. She could easily explain that she had just run away to play with Sintela, and maybe even be able to fool her.

But Xinteleya shook her head. "This fight must be fought, or I'll lose my head."

If I don't make some noise, I'm afraid I'll be dead on the street tomorrow.

If the focus of the Platinum Throne of the No-Horned Alliance is on coordination and dispatch, then the focus of the Blue Gold Throne is to be sure of killing anyone in Casimir.

Cintrea didn't think she could hold out against Qing Jin for much longer, so she wanted to let Maria go only after demonstrating she'd given it her all. Only then could she argue with Roy. Whether that would be effective was another matter.

Acting out the whole act was imperative. "Wait until there's a big commotion outside, then run away," Xinteleya instructed before leaving. The Helmetless Alliance soldiers along the way might try to stop you, but I think you can handle them... As for your equipment, it's in the bag at the door."

In order to ensure Maria's safe escape, she even brought Maria's equipment with her.

"Well...see you next time." Bai Jin sat on the edge of the bed, waved to Maria, and then fell backwards. She lived on the fifth floor. As she fell from mid-air, she adjusted her body, grabbed the clothesline beside her, and slid all the way to the rooftop of the next building.

Although she wanted to act, but if the other party's level was much higher than hers... then it would not be acting, but she would have to escape for her life.

She took a deep breath, trying to suppress her heartbeat. Her muscles tensed with tension, but she quickly forced herself to relax. According to the previous reports from the No-Horned Alliance team, the enemy should be approaching the building where she lived. She took out her compound bow and nocked an arrow with a smoke tip. The smoke bomb on this arrow would explode if it touched a hard surface, and the smoke would spread rapidly, quickly obscuring the enemy's vision.

Putting the arrow on the bow, Xinteleya held her breath and waited for the opponent to enter her sniper range.

But when she saw who was coming, she subconsciously loosened her grip...

"Why did Noah come here alone?" She muttered to herself subconsciously, "...What's going on? How am I supposed to do this?"

Even if it was just a show, she didn't want to aim her arrow at Noya, so she changed her target and aimed at Kuro behind her.

——Although he definitely couldn't beat this guy, but compared to attacking Noa, attacking Kuro would at least not make him feel guilty.

The arrow silently detached from the bowstring, hurtling towards Kuro, who was standing beside Noya. The next moment, Cintrea was stunned as the arrow was caught. Like squeezing a fly, Kuro snatched the arrow at a tricky angle. She held it before her, examining it, and upon noticing the smoke arrowhead, she tossed it in another direction. The smoke exploded, but not only did it not obscure Kuro's vision, it completely obscured Cintrea, the sniper.

"Damn it..." Xinteleya smacked her lips. She knew that the bodyguards around Noah were strong, but she didn't expect them to be so strong. Her arrows and bow had been silenced. Theoretically, the sound of her shooting should be very small, but she was still discovered.

She turned around and wanted to escape, but soon, a figure suddenly appeared in front of Xinteleya in the smoke. The whole time from escaping from the smoke to landing in front of Xinteleya was no more than a second - the opponent's explosive power was definitely several times more than hers. As soon as Xinteleya had this thought, she subconsciously protected her face. Sure enough, Kuro kicked out directly and kicked Xinteleya out, and she fell directly into the fourth floor of the building where she lived - fortunately, there was no one living in this house.

"Cough cough cough... Do you have to be so exaggerated..." Xinteleya felt pain all over her body. She never expected that she would be killed instantly.

Logically speaking, I am not a newbie. My level is higher than most competitive knights, and I can even deal with some great knights... But why is it that in front of her, I am like a chick that can be crushed to death with ease?

When she stood up from the ruins, Kuro was still standing on the original rooftop. The moonlight illuminated her position. The mask covered the lower half of her face, but her eyes were frighteningly cold.

"Kuro, that's enough." Seeing Kuro about to kick her again, Noya quickly stopped him. "If you keep going like this, Sintela will be crippled."

"...Ahem..." Cintela thought to herself, "I'm almost there now. I feel like my internal organs are about to shift." The force of that kick was definitely comparable to the impact of a truck. The fact that she was still standing was a sign of mercy. "Don't be so ruthless... I didn't mean to hit you..."

"But you targeted Noa." Kuro's answer was cold and blunt, "So I'm personally unhappy."

"...Alright, I admit defeat. I surrender." This situation was definitely force majeure, right? Sintreya raised her hands and dropped her compound bow to the ground, indicating she would not resist any further. "Would you mind?"

Noah said helplessly to Kuro, "I didn't even intend to let you do it..."

"Like I said, this was my personal behavior," Kuro responded, "and I've shown some mercy."

"...Let me correct you. It's about showing mercy." Xinteleya muttered, "Maria should have already escaped... Can we reconcile, Boss Noya?"

Chapter 149: Radiant Knight and Candle Knight

"So, Lord Yao Knight came to my house just to attract the attention of that group of people?"

"You could say that. Even if they weren't spying on me, just thinking about those tabloid reporters is enough to give me a headache. As the saying goes, if you want to cover something up, you need to find something more interesting to them. That way, they'll divert their attention, right?"

"...You've diverted attention, but my scandals are probably going to skyrocket these days." Viviana was silent for a moment, anticipating how shocking it would be for the reporters to bring the Knight home. Well, even in the world of shock, this move was truly shocking, and it was indeed a bit hard to describe. But since she had already agreed, it was difficult to say more. Viviana sighed, picked up the glass beside her and took a sip of water. "Okay, since you're also covering for Noah..."

"Do you like Noah that much?"

"puff--"

Well, Viviana had underestimated Margaret's openness. After she said this, she felt as if part of her soul had been spurted out along with the shock. It took her a while to come back to her senses, and then she looked at Margaret's serious face in shock. Well, as expected of a Brilliant Knight, if he was so open and honest, Viviana felt that she might not be being honest enough.

"...You, don't you mind?" Viviana thought, no matter how she looked at it, Margaret was clearly in love with Noah. From her eyes, actions, to words, she always exuded a preference for Noah. But it was precisely because of this that Viviana, after confirming Margaret's feelings during the previous battle, had decided to withdraw. After all, compared to Margaret, she was still a little lacking.

It was originally a secret crush, and she still gets along with her as a close friend. However, it is precisely because of this identity that Viviana can know what kind of existence Margaret is to Noah. Although Noah has never said that he likes Margaret, and has not even said more ambiguous words, some things really can't be deceived. Viviana's intuition is still quite accurate.

"As for whether I mind or not..." Margaret scratched her head awkwardly, "I guess I do mind, but I also know Noah is very attractive, so I can accept having a rival in love."

"Well... don't mind me, I'm going to give up." Viviana sighed, "You're more suitable to be by her side... That's what I think."

How can a candle flame compete with the scorching sun?

Viviana thought that someone like Noah deserved a better knight to fight for him. And Knight Yao just fit that bill, and he was also attracted to Noah...

What a match made in heaven, a talented man and a beautiful woman... there is no room for interference at all.

The more Viviana thought about it, the angrier she became. If it was just that her abilities were not enough, it would be fine, but after finally feeling that there was a treasure in the world worth her coming down from the tower, she discovered that the treasure already had an owner, and she couldn't defeat the guardian.

Everyone would feel frustrated, right?

Viviana complained, but she also knew that she didn't understand this world very well, and she was indeed too naive when facing Margaret who had returned from her wandering life.

Whether in terms of strength or rank as a knight, he was far behind Margaret, that was the fact.

"Why?" Margaret blinked. "Why are you planning to give up?"

"……what?"

Viviana blinked, "Are you...kidding me?"

"No?" Margaret was also confused. "I was just asking why you wanted to quit."

"...Don't you like Noah?"