After choosing to leave, they regretted it.

Some of them were crooked and even stained red, looking like a curse at first glance.

Such a scene appeared in the military camp in broad daylight. It was so abstract that even the knowledgeable Aize subconsciously cried out.

“Who—ah—? Don’t you know how to knock on the door?!”

There was a trembling sound, accompanied by a strange crackling sound, and the figure turned his head.

Then, their eyes met.

"..."

"..."

silence.

"..."

"..."

"Uh, excuse me..."

"Well--"

The figure in the room suddenly jumped to the door at a speed so fast that Aize couldn't see clearly.

Accompanied by a shadow and the sound of breaking wind, the door was closed with a "bang".

Then, I heard a commotion inside, like someone rummaging through drawers.

Completely confused, Aize turned around and was about to say something to Villian when the tightly closed door was suddenly opened again.

The movement was so fast that it even created a small gust of wind, messing up Aize's hair.

"Master, you're back! I heard you wouldn't be back for several days. How come you're back so soon?"

On the other side of the door, his subordinate and apprentice, Christina Karsade, was standing there with a smile on her face.

As always, he was dressed in neat armor.

As always, she has a neat ponytail.

She even wore light makeup as usual.

The female ghost I just saw disappeared without a trace in less than three seconds, just like magic.

Even the messy indoor environment became clean, tidy and bright.

Seriously, how did you do that?

Could this guy's true form actually be a Faceless Man or something like that, but with the ability to transform?

Or were those just hallucinations?

"Yeah, well, I'm back."

It’s better not to think too much about some things - with this thought in mind, Aize responded calmly.

"Did anything happen in Tafia while I was away?"

"Report to the Master! There were some minor issues, but they have all been resolved. Please look over here!"

The blue-haired knight girl pulled Aize inside and pressed her into the main seat.

Then, after going around in circles, he pulled out a huge pile of documents, records, reports, etc. from somewhere and piled them all in front of him.

"These are the records of my work during this period. I have sorted them all out. Please review them, Master!"

"Um……"

A quick look at the titles shows that it covers everything from suppressing bandits and deserters, to maintaining town security, to expanding the Knights Templar, training new recruits, and even exercises.

I haven't had time to see the specific content, but judging from Tafia's current condition, there should be no problem.

So Aize moved them aside directly:

"We'll see later. There's no rush. I believe you can handle these tasks."

“Thank you for your trust, Master!”

The girl saluted vigorously, her movements so fast that her hands made a sound of breaking wind.

His expression should have been serious, but the corners of his mouth kept twisting and twitching, and he couldn't hide his smile at all.

If you look more closely, you will see that not only is his face slightly flushed, but his entire body is trembling slightly.

It's exaggerated to this extent, to be honest it's a bit disgusting.

And looking at it this way, it can be confirmed that her placement play really had a counterproductive effect and made her condition worse.

Forget it, let’s not talk about this annoying thing for now. The important thing is to talk about it, right?

"Do you know why I came back early this time?"

"Report! I don't know!"

The blue-haired girl put her hands behind her back and puffed out her chest, saying this with a smug look on her face.

"Master's thoughts are beyond the comprehension of ordinary people like us!"

"you--"

Aize covered his forehead and rubbed his temples to calm his blood pressure.

"—never mind, get a map."

"Yes!"

The young knight turned around and immediately took out an oversized continent map from the shelf next to her, unfolded it, smoothed it out, and spread it on the table in front of Aize.

After Aize's hand gestured for a while, it landed on a point.

"This is Lilbas, a former imperial fortress city. It controls the Drest Pass, the largest gap in the central mountain range. It's a key strategic location. It was captured by the orc army during a war a few years ago and has been occupied by them ever since."

"Due to the heavy losses suffered by the orc army in Tafia, the defenses here are currently quite weak. If the Empire can recapture this place, not only can it wash away the humiliation of its previous defeat, but it can also serve as a springboard for future preparations to cross the central mountain range and directly attack the demon territory."

"Intelligence indicates that the Empire is currently planning a large-scale counterattack. In my opinion, this is the launch point of the counterattack. Chris, wasn't this once your family's territory? Have you heard any news?"

Earlier, when exchanging information by the lake, Aize had said that he already had an idea about the Empire's expedition and did not need to investigate further.

This is what the number that has a number refers to.

Since the goal is to reclaim our own territory, asking Chris directly would definitely be much more convenient and faster than going around in circles to collect information.

That's why he hurried back, wanting to get some information from his adjutant.

"..."

However, the blue-haired girl, who always answered questions without hesitation, did not respond to this question.

"...Chris?"

After waiting for a few seconds, Aize, who was leaning on the table and examining the map, raised his head in confusion.

However, he was surprised to find that the smiles on his subordinates' faces were frozen there, and were becoming more and more forced as time went by.

Even the trembling of his body became more and more intense as he got older, and large drops of cold sweat became visible to the naked eye.

"Ah...ah...an expedition?"

The girl, who seemed to have Parkinson's disease, finally spoke in a trembling voice.

"No, I haven't heard of it at all~"

Chapter 14: The Masterpiece of Miss Witch

For two years, Aize engaged in overt and covert intrigues with various forces, which led to his development of a series of abilities.

For example, during a conversation, you can judge a person's current mood, whether he or she is lying, etc. through subtle changes in his or her eyes and expressions.

Using this train of thought, let's look at Christina at this moment, and we can see...

Well, actually, I don’t need this ability.

His face was pale, his eyes were wandering, his lips were trembling, his hands were clenched and unclenched, and he kept rubbing them on his trouser legs.

Not to mention the constant flow of cold sweat, even in just a short while, a puddle of water had accumulated at the feet.

...Looking at why it's still a bit bad.

In short, based on this reaction, anyone with eyes can see that there is definitely a problem.

Aize slowly stood up, frowned and gave her a questioning look.

The latter immediately turned his head away and refused to look at Aize no matter what.

"...You, haven't heard anything about the expedition?"

"No! Not at all!"

Even though her body has become like this, the knight girl is still very stubborn.

"Besides the expedition, haven't you heard of any other related, unusual news?"

"No! Nothing!"

Okay, now it is certain that she must have known about this for a long time.

But why did you hide it? Why did you panic like this when asked?

If it happened to someone else, Aize would immediately suspect that the other person was a traitor.

But this is Chris, and the possibility of this guy betraying... only exists in mathematical concepts.

But apart from that, the reason for concealing this matter and the reason for being so panicked... the only thing Aize could think of seemed to be the discord in the family relationship.

Chris has already been abandoned by her family, so she definitely has no good feelings towards her family, and may even hate them.

Therefore, even if he knew about this, he didn't want to help them, and he didn't even want Aize to help them.

Although this goes against the principles of intelligence communication, there are reasons for it, and Aize doesn't want to pursue it further.

So be it.

Anyway, even if it wasn't because of family matters, it was probably because of some other trivial reasons. After thinking about it, Aize decided not to expose her.

Anyway, it's just a small matter, she can't do anything bad, right?

No way, no way, no way?

"Cough-cough-"

Aize cleared his throat.

"It doesn't matter if you haven't heard of it. I plan to intervene slightly in the Empire's expedition this time. I'll have to trouble you to communicate with me then."

Chris was stunned for a moment, obviously not expecting Aize to skip over this topic so easily.

But after realizing this, her panic increased instead of decreasing:

"...Um, why would Master want to get involved in something like this? Those guys from the Empire are so arrogant and overbearing...uh, they're not polite to Master either... Anyway, this expedition...uh, isn't that difficult, so let them go."

That's right.

Previously, in order to attack Tafia, most of the orc garrison of Lilbas were withdrawn, and then they were completely defeated under the command of Aize.

Therefore, there are only a very small number of regular orc troops in the city of Lilbas now, plus some temporarily mobilized tribal miscellaneous troops.

In the face of the Empire's legion array, they were vulnerable.

There is no sign of reinforcement from other demon armies for the time being.

As long as the imperial army moves fast enough, it will be able to recapture it easily.

In fact, if Aize had not left the church, he would have probably used the church's influence to organize this expedition ahead of the empire a month ago.

All in all, in this battle, the real advantage for humans is on my side.

But these are ideal scenarios.

What Aize was wary of was not the demons, but Rosaline, who was the reinforcement of the church.

This guy's motives and purposes are as erratic and difficult to understand as usual.

However, this guy's methods and abilities are becoming more and more terrifying and weird.

Aize didn't know why she got involved in the expedition, but he had to stop her from taking the opportunity to cause trouble.