After choosing to leave, they regretted it.

In response, Heidi just smiled:

"How are we supposed to sneak in with something that looks like a door panel? Wouldn't it make the road difficult to walk on?"

"But……"

"It's nothing. A shield is just a shield after all, a tool. Even without it, I'm still a hero and a princess. It's nothing to be bothered by."

The red-haired princess shrugged and said with a smile:

"Put it here, it can be used for something. For example, if there's a hole in the wall somewhere, you can use it to plug the hole. It's no big deal."

Unlike Leah who treasures everything about the hero, Heidi only cares about the identity itself.

These tangible things are of no importance.

"But……"

Seeing Elena hesitate and seem to want to say something, Heidi also became serious:

"No buts, this is an order. I command you to execute it in the name of the royal family, Knight Commander! Now, the action begins, let's set off!"

Chapter 13 Walking Alone at Night

As the night deepened, on the streets that had turned into hell, Heidi led the knights from the safe zone of the palace and headed towards the city's border.

Along the way, encounters never stopped.

The monsters lurking in the darkness used their twisting and flexible bodies to emerge from their hiding places continuously, trying to attack the team.

Of course, with Elena and the knights doing their best to fight back, they were still able to advance smoothly.

Soon, the extremely tall city wall of the royal capital appeared before their eyes.

This wall, along with the city, was built with the possibility of being attacked in mind. Its defenses are even stronger than those of the fortress cities on the border.

But who could have imagined that its fall would begin from within.

The group walked up the stairs and climbed onto the deserted city wall.

Inside the city wall was a strange and suffocating darkness.

On the outside, lights spread like light bands, surrounding the entire city, forming a sharp contrast with the scene inside.

There, is the Duke's army stationed.

It was so dense that it completely strangled the capital's throat, causing the city to slowly suffocate in the plague.

it's time.

Heidi nodded, turned to Elena and the knights who had brought her here, and said:

"Thank you all for the send-off. Now, I'm off."

"Your Highness, you... No, there is no difference."

Worried about her master's safety, Elaina wanted to try to save the situation.

But looking at Heidi's determined eyes, she had to admit that it was useless to say more.

He nodded, placed his hand on his chest, performed the chivalric salute for the last time, and said:

"I wish you a safe journey, Your Highness!"

"Well, see you in a few days!"

After saying that, Heidi did not stay any longer. She carried the bags prepared by her subordinates, climbed to the edge of the city wall, and then jumped down in the darkness.

As a city defense facility, the height of the royal capital's walls is enough to smash an ordinary person into pieces.

But for Heidi, who was good at defense, the impact was not painful at all and she landed smoothly.

After all, you can't walk through the city gate openly.

After landing and looking around to make sure no patrols were passing by, Heidi pulled a crystal-like object from her pocket and placed it horizontally in front of her eyes.

Through the crystal, large patches of glowing lines suddenly appeared on the already dark ground, crisscrossing like a spider web, surrounding the royal capital.

This is a detection spell set up by the magicians in the Duke's army.

Among the detection techniques, this is a simple and crude type that requires a human-sized object to touch in order to trigger, but it is easy to maintain and consumes very little mana.

It is completely sufficient to guard against blood slaves or refugees.

This crystal is a treasure treasured by the royal family and one of the most important relics of Heidi's father.

As long as it is placed in front of people, even people without talent can see the flow of magic through it.

Before, she had always been reluctant to use it, fearing that it would be damaged or lost in battle.

But the situation was extremely critical at the moment and she couldn't care less about these things. Without its help, Heidi had no ability to recognize the spell at all, so she took it out and used it without much hesitation.

Having identified a route that could avoid the spell as much as possible, Heidi used the cover of night to carefully cross the open area and came to the wall of the camp.

According to the daytime reconnaissance, she was now at the junction of the two dukes' military bases, where there was some confusion in defense and personnel.

It is better to break through than other places.

Hiding in the shadows, she cautiously poked her head out and observed the situation in the camp.

At this time, it was already late at night. Except for a few sentries and patrols, most of the soldiers had returned to their tents and fell asleep.

However, these guards were quite lax.

Some people were dozing off against the pillars, while others were gathered in groups of three or four, talking and laughing.

After half a month of siege without any incident, these guys were extremely relaxed and not at all vigilant.

This is in stark contrast to the literal cannibalism situation in the city.

This instantly made Heidi furious.

Of course, I have to endure it now.

Seeing an opportunity when no one was paying attention, she leaped up with all her might, brushed past a dozing sentry on the wall of the camp, and landed on the ground on the other side. With a roll, she hid under a cart that was placed there.

Unfortunately, the movements are still not light enough.

The slight noise almost immediately attracted two guards who were chatting nearby. They came directly to the cart and began searching.

Heidi, who was hiding under the car, could clearly see their boots and of course hear their conversation.

"What was that sound just now?"

"I don't know. It was just that one moment. It might have been a rat."

"Rat?"

"Yeah, don't you know? Even rats can't survive in this blood-plagued city. They're all running for their lives."

It seems that they were too relaxed and did not take the movement too seriously.

Heidi couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and her hand on the hilt of the sword loosened a little.

"Tell me, we've been surrounding the capital for so many days, how much longer do we have to stay here?"

"How would we know? The Duke only ordered us to be careful not to release the blood slaves. You should not interfere with the rest."

"But... yesterday, when I was patrolling the city wall, I could smell the blood even through the high wall. What must it be like in there?"

"Why? You want to go in and take a look?"

"No, no, no, I'm just talking casually..."

……

The trouble was, the two of them didn't leave, but just stood there and started chatting.

This is really unfortunate for Heidi.

A few days ago, the weather in the royal capital was not good, and it rained for several days in a row.

There was a mud pit under the flatbed truck at this moment.

Just by staying here, Heidi's armor, hair, and face were already covered with mud, and the dirty mud and water even penetrated directly into the inside of her clothes through the gaps in the armor.

Her whole body was filled with an unpleasant sticky feeling - this was not a pleasant situation for Heidi, who had been educated in aristocratic etiquette and always pursued a decent image.

There is also a strong musty smell that constantly irritates the nasal cavity and makes people feel nauseous.

But the princess didn't even dare to cover her nose, for fear of making noise and being discovered.

They stayed like this for nearly ten minutes before they finally left.

At this moment, Heidi was so dirty that she looked terrible.

She stuck her head out, confirmed that the other party was far away, and quickly got out. She took cover under the tents and various sundries, and moved slowly and carefully through the camp.

Little by little, approaching the other side of the camp.

"...Tsk, this is so troublesome."

The mud and dirty water that soaked through his clothes inside and out made his body feel unusually heavy.

Even with your footsteps, you will leave some dirty footprints.

But where can I find clean clothes to change into now?

Bear with it.

Fighting back her nausea and discomfort, she began to assess her current situation.

Since we had climbed over the wall and sneaked in, we had already crossed half of the camp, and at first glance, the progress seemed to be going smoothly.

But in fact, the situation is not optimistic.

It was already very late when he set out, so in order to avoid the patrols and sentries that were everywhere, he had to move very carefully and slowly.

If this continues, I won't be able to successfully reach the other side of the camp before dawn.

But once the day breaks, she won't have the confidence to hide until dark again, covered in mud.

Must speed up.

Heidi took out the crystal again, wiped off the mud and water on it with her dirty hands, placed it horizontally in front of her eyes again, and began to choose her next route.

"Detection spell... it seems there is still no such thing."

There are no detection systems installed in most areas inside the camp. After all, with people coming and going, various accidental touches will mess up the warning network, so they are only set up outside.

This was good news for Heidi, as it saved her a lot of effort.

After making sure there was no threat, she began to speed up and move between the covers more desperately.

Several times, we even brushed past the patrol team, which was extremely dangerous.

But perhaps due to good luck, Heidi did not fall over. When a faint white shimmered at the end of the sky, the wall on the other side of the camp was within reach.

There were no sentries or patrols within sight, so it seemed the focus was on the side facing the royal capital—quite reasonable.

Just end it quickly.

With this thought in mind, Heidi took a deep breath, savored the bloodless night breeze for a moment, and then took a step forward.

However, just as she took the third step, a faint light came from where her foot touched the ground.

"Varied--"

boom!!!!!

Realizing that something was wrong, it was too late.

The detection spell was triggered, and the magic power stored in it was instantly released, turning into a violent explosion, which caught Heidi off guard and directly flew away.

"Woo——"

Heidi was knocked to the ground and struggled to get up. Her vision was blurred. The fatigue, mental stress and explosion of the past few days made her vision blurred.

Of course, it recovered quickly in just a second.

For Heidi, a defensive hero, even without a shield, this destructive power is far from enough to hurt her.

However, the primary function of the detection technique has been maximized.

The moment Heidi's vision recovered from its blur, the guards who heard the noise and rushed over from all directions had already surrounded her.

Countless broadswords and spears were raised and pointed directly at her.