The Villain Saint is my secondary account

She tried to turn her head in disbelief, only to find that the bed had somehow become so low that it could cover her face.

This bed board is pressing down!?

No...no, this isn't a bed board, this is...

As Iphie touched the cold cover, her brain seemed to explode.

Only then did she realize that she wasn't hiding under the bed, but inside that dark coffin.

A chilling sensation spread through her body like an invisible wave of water. She dared not look back to see what was behind her, and just desperately tried to crawl out.

There seemed to be something heavy pressing down on the cover.

She felt like a squid caught between two iron plates, being slowly squeezed and deformed until the last bit of air in her chest was painfully forced out of her throat.

Finally, before being completely crushed, the girl, with tears in her eyes, managed to squeeze one arm out of the gap.

A bittersweet smile, a glimmer of hope, appeared on her delicate, tear-streaked face, but then, a pale arm abruptly draped over her outstretched wrist.

Iphie's eyes widened, and then another hand reached out from the darkness and suddenly grabbed her terrified face.

Three, four... and then countless pale hands surged out from behind her, gripping the girl's slender wrists, strangling her delicate neck and soft abdomen, and roughly dragging her back into the darkness.

The girl couldn't even cry for help; the faint candlelight in her vision narrowed into a thin slit in despair and was completely extinguished.

After a short while, the room returned to silence.

The candlelight flickered silently at the four corners of the coffin, as if nothing had ever happened.

About an hour or two later, the dark lid of the coffin slowly opened again, and a fair hand gripped the edge of the coffin. The petite girl's body slowly emerged from the coffin.

Chapter Forty-Four: Different Paths, Same Destination

late at night.

On the upper deck of the cabin, Ella, who had just finished bathing in the sanctuary and returned to her room through the portal, heard a knock on her door.

"dong dong dong"

"Please come in."

“Your Holiness, there is a young nobleman with a girl requesting an audience at the door.”

The Templar Duhart granted permission to enter the room and saw the girl wearing a milky-white nightgown after her bath. For no apparent reason, his face suddenly flushed.

Although Ella was actually dressed very conservatively, the thin clothes that clung to her body accentuated her graceful curves, and the slightly damp silver hair and the water droplets still clinging to her fair and rosy face inexplicably stirred up a lot of fantasies.

"Okay, let him in... wait, why did he leave?"

Ella was slightly puzzled when she saw Duhar slam the door shut and leave the room.

The young nuns Nino and Mia, who were in charge of serving her, also came in through the portal, wrapped Ella in a hooded, fleece-lined nightgown, and then put a veil over her face to conceal her features.

It's December after all, and there's still a chill in the sea at night. But the main thing is, I don't want the guests I'm meeting later to recognize my background.

A moment later, there was another knock on the door, which opened after Ella gave her permission once more.

"I apologize for disturbing you so late at night. I am a guest staying on the same floor as you."

The newcomer was a young man dressed in a neat nobleman's formal robe. Ella noticed the style of the belt at the bottom of his robe, which had several thin silver threads wrapped into a circle, and next to the circle was a pattern resembling a wolverine, which should be the family crest.

The clothes were luxurious but not very distinctive, except for the belt which had a vague identifier. In Ella's memory, this seemed to be the dress style of the nobles of the Tedeh Federal Duchy.

Loren nobles liked to wear their family crests on their chests, and those with high ranks would display them like peacocks spreading their tails, from hat to toe, every part of their bodies eager to show off their status.

However, the nobles of the Federal Duchy of Tedeh, the only parliamentary state on the continent, are different.

Because their parliament is divided into the upper house and the lower house, they often need to consult with representatives of the lower house from the common people on a daily basis.

Therefore, despite enjoying greater wealth and status, the noble members of the House of Lords would adopt a relatively low-key style of dress, making only simple distinctions in their belts.

Silver lines represent the House of Lords, copper lines represent the House of Commons, and gold is considered too flashy and will not appear in their attire.

"Hello, Mr. Congressman."

Ella then smiled and greeted him back.

The noble councilor in front of him paused for a moment, then nodded apologetically and patted the petite girl beside him. "My apologies, I haven't introduced myself yet. It's just that this girl is the one seeking your assistance, so I didn't bother with such formalities."

“Oh, it’s alright, Mr. Congressman,”

Ella nodded. "I have also covered my face, so you don't need to introduce yourself if you don't want to. Calling you 'senator' is just to show respect since your status is revealed."

Despite saying this, Ella was reminded of the room with a coffin that Ye Xiao had seen across the corridor last night.

It's unlikely that there would be two noble councilors from the Duchy of Tedeh on a merchant ship that departed from Loren.

If I'm not mistaken, that coffin belongs to this guy in front of me?

"You're too kind, sir."

The nobleman senator smiled, his tone very kind and gentlemanly, but he didn't introduce himself again. He turned to the girl beside him and said, "Miss, I have found the person for you. Tell me your request."

"Hello... hello,"

The girl spoke in a clear, crisp voice, "My name is Iphie, and I'm a member of an adventure team... Um, we were at the auction house before, but you might not remember..."

Ella scrutinized the girl. She did have some recollection of her; she was a member of the squad number 42 who had mistaken the merman for a human trafficker.

"Hello, hello, what can I do for you?"

“You bought an antique jar from the Eastern Yang Continent at the auction. It… it sounds strange, but it actually contains our companions… so we can exchange it for something. Please allow us to get it back.”

ha?

Ella raised an eyebrow. The jar was about the size of a rice bowl. After getting it, Ella took a closer look and found that it was completely empty. How could someone have hidden inside it?

But seeing Iphie's serious expression, which didn't seem like she was just making things up, Ella asked doubtfully, "I'd like to believe you, but how can you prove it?"

“If you can bring out the jar… I… I can prove it.”

"Iphie murmured."

Ella then casually conjured a portal, took out the antique jar, and placed it on the table in front of the sofa.

The smooth porcelain surface gleamed under the bright light.

Effie pulled a bag of brownish granules from her bosom. Ella looked at it closely and thought it looked like... dried breadcrumbs?

Then, Iphie stepped forward and poured some breadcrumbs into the jar. Slowly, clear spring water appeared out of thin air in the empty jar.

The jar was quickly filled with water, and a dark shadow appeared at the bottom of the water. It looked like a fish, opening its mouth and smacking its lips as it ate the breadcrumbs.

What the hell is this?

Ella rubbed her chin, she never would have guessed that the jar was used like this.

"So the partner you're talking about is... this fish?"

"To be precise, her name is Koi."

Iphie replied, "She was originally a very large creature, but she was injured and became so small. This jar is both her treasure and her home."

“She was our travel companion at sea, but we were separated after being attacked by a group of pirates. We tracked her down for a long time before we found her again.”

Another pirate attack? Ella was speechless. Did that mean all the items up for auction were stolen from pirate attacks and then sold as loot?

"What pirates?"

At this point, Iphie frowned slightly. "We don't know much about the specific identities of that group of pirates. They have many fleets... but their leader is said to be the pirate leader with the highest bounty in the Magala Sea."

"The bounty is called... 'Edward Teach'."

Edward...

Is it a coincidence?

Ella's gaze then shifted to the noble councilor on the side.

"Oh, I don't really know much about their affairs. I just happened to run into this girl in the hallway and thought I'd help her out."

The noble councilor said when he saw Ella looking at him.

"Alright... but I bought this jar with money. Are you planning to exchange it for gold coins or some other items?"

“We…we might not have enough gold coins,”

Ifi gritted her teeth and took out a piece of parchment from her bosom. It was covered with scribbles that looked like a child's doodle. "But we can trade this for you. It's a treasure map we found in an ancient ruin."

Treasure Map...

Ella was really uninterested; wasn't this all just for fooling kids?

But just as she was thinking this, she suddenly noticed that the pattern on the parchment seemed familiar, as if she had seen it somewhere before.

Hiss... This can't be...

With a thought, Ella left the crow familiar in Ye Xiao's guest room on the lower floor. She turned on the oil lamp on the desk with her beak and observed the papers that Su Xiyun had left behind on the table with her darting eyes.

Sure enough, one of the patterns on the map was very similar to the one on the treasure map in Iphie's hand.

However, these two pictures are not exactly the same; they just look...matched.

Ella could only think of this description, which is why the pattern suddenly felt familiar to her.

"What treasure does this... 'treasure map' point to?"

“We couldn’t decipher the inscriptions in the ruins at the time, but we took some pictures with the Crystal Lens and can make a copy for you.”

As she spoke, Iphie placed a photographic crystal on the table.

The crystal projected light and shadow that shifted in mid-air, revealing strange, tadpole-like characters that Ye Xiao had seen in the ancient tomb of Tianqin Peak but did not recognize.

Is this thing related to the god of life?

"Oh? This is a script used within the clan system of an ancient family,"

Unexpectedly, the nobleman next to him suddenly spoke up, "I do some research on ancient literature in the country, and I recognize some of these characters."

"It roughly means... eternal life... water... the deep sea..."

"...Fountain of Youth?"

Chapter Forty-Five: The Murder Case

Ella eventually agreed to the exchange. After all, she had only bought the antique jar out of pure interest, but the treasure map was a key item that could very well reveal Susie Yun's whereabouts.

But after having her men escort Iphie away with the jar, Ella left the noble councilor behind.

“Thank you for your help, Mr. Congressman. Since you are also a passenger on the ship, there are a few things I might need your help with during the voyage, concerning those ancient scripts. Of course, I will pay you accordingly. What do you think?”

After a moment's hesitation, the young senator replied, "I don't really have anything particularly urgent to do during this voyage. If you need my help, I would be happy to provide it."

Ella raised an eyebrow slightly. This guy clearly had some secrets, but he didn't try to hide them. On the contrary, he was quite open about them, which was quite interesting.

Regardless of the strangeness of his coffin, Ella does need the other party's ability to decipher ancient writing. If there is no conflict between the two parties' positions, cooperation is not out of the question.

"Regarding compensation, what do you need? After all, judging from your status, money shouldn't be a big problem."

"Your Excellency misunderstands. While I am indeed a nobleman of the Federal Duchy of Tedeh,"

The nobleman adjusted his tie. "But due to certain circumstances, I now need financial support. Your reward of gold coins is the best I can do for you."

Oh? A nobleman who needs money?

Ella's lips curved into a smile beneath her veil, and she nodded slightly. "Alright, how shall I address you from now on?"

“My name is Windsor,”

The nobleman gave a simple bow, "Then, Your Excellency may simply address me as Winder."

……

At the dock, Xiao Wei, who had been caught by the guards and driven out of the cabin, and Duo Jian waited for a long time before finally seeing Yi Fei emerge from the merchant ship.

"So, in the end, I traded her the treasure map."

Seeing the jar in Yifei's hands, Xiaowei breathed a sigh of relief, but also felt a little disappointed.

"Don't worry... After all, we don't have much money on us, it's good enough that we can get it back."

Duo Jian sighed, "I was worried that they would think our treasure map was fake, after all, not everyone can tell the authenticity of the contents on a piece of parchment... Fortunately, that young lady seems to have a pretty good eye."

"That's the only reward for a Nightmare difficulty mission."