After choosing to leave, they regretted it.

The princess searched hard for the familiar female voice in her increasingly hazy consciousness, and soon found the answer:

"You are...Uriel Rainford...Hey, what, are you here to see me...laugh at my joke...?"

"How could that be? I'm not that free."

Uriel, whose identity was revealed, said with a hint of sarcasm:

"I just happened to discover this heavily guarded reception room when I sneaked into this mansion to investigate, so I came in to take a look. I didn't expect it to be you."

During the day, after being relieved to confirm that Aize was not dead, Uriel began to review what had happened.

The conclusion is that Duke Brian is very suspicious.

Not to mention that Aize had already reminded her that this person could not be trusted, and in this incident, the timing of his appearance was too coincidental, and it seemed that he had deliberately chosen the time.

So, in order to find out the truth, Uriel sneaked into the lord's mansion where Brian was at night.

In theory, Uriel is a swordsman-type hero, but in reality, she is a standard hexagonal warrior who is very good at stealth and can also use some auxiliary magic.

So, she easily bypassed the sentry.

He also noticed this strange room that was under strict surveillance but no one approached it.

Only then did they discover Heidi lying there.

The red-haired princess exhaled heavily, smiled bitterly, and raised her head slightly with all her strength, and asked:

"I... I've been in stasis... for how long? What's the situation outside? What about the king... the kingdom?"

"No more than half a day. Your country is fine, for now."

"That's good, that's good, that's good..."

Heidi's face, as pale as a corpse, finally showed a little smile amidst the pain.

But what followed was deep despair.

It’s okay now, but what about later?

Aize was killed, Brian rebelled, the three dukes joined forces to force him to abdicate, and he became what he is now, neither human nor ghost, with the demons outside eyeing him covetously.

There is absolutely no future for his own royal family, his own throne, and his own country.

This despair was even more unbearable for Heidi than the physical pain.

Uriel looked coldly at Heidi, who was curled up in a ball and shivering like a worm at the junction of autumn and winter. She didn't feel much sympathy in her heart and even wanted to laugh.

Who told her to order Aize around like a tool in the past? Now she has to bear the consequences.

But business is business, after thinking for a while, she said:

"Heidi Yalter, if you ask me for help now, I won't refuse. But the poison in your body is very strange, and no one can guarantee that it can be cured. What are you going to do?"

Heidi was stunned for a moment, then stretched out her hand with difficulty, grabbed Uriel's boots, and said in an almost pleading tone:

"No... Don't worry about me... Go and inform the Holy City that Duke Brian is colluding with the demons... Make sure they know, let the church and the other heroes know, quickly..."

The pain in my body has far exceeded the limit that humans can bear.

Regardless of her own will, Heidi's vision was flickering, and her consciousness was slowly sinking as if being swallowed by the mud, and she could lose consciousness at any time.

This made Uriel frown.

"Why? Don't you want to escape?"

"I... it's useless to run away. Brian will find me and then do something desperate..."

Brian was obviously prepared for the current situation, but he had not taken any action yet.

This shows that he still hopes to obtain the confession and abdication letter from me.

Once he escapes and realizes that his plan has been exposed and he has lost his bargaining chips, he will definitely act in advance.

Heidi didn't even dare to imagine how much damage a duke who colluded with the demons and had great ambitions could bring to the kingdom.

"Well--"

Her heart contracted violently, and Heidi's consciousness faded in and out of the severe pain.

If it weren't for Uriel, her "ally" who had protected her, she would have entered stasis again long ago.

The princess grew weaker and weaker, and every vibration of her vocal cords turned into extreme pain, resonating throughout her body.

But she still endured it and said with all her strength.

"Please... I'll do anything, but... what happened here must be reported to the church. Please... please... I'll do anything you ask of me after this... please..."

Seeing Uriel as her last lifeline, Heidi's usual dignity and arrogance disappeared without a trace, and she begged without any scruples.

This made Uriel sigh, and she squatted down in front of Heidi, hugging her knees so that she could see her expression.

asked:

"Do you have to wait until this moment to adopt this attitude?"

"……What?"

"You're asking me to help you now, but how much has Aize helped you in the past two years? When did you ever ask him for help? When did you ever thank him after helping you?!"

Actually, Uriel had no conflicts with Heidi, but for Aize, she had to ask this question.

Heidi's breathing became more disordered in an instant. She closed her eyes and shook her head.

"He, Aize, is already dead. What's the point of talking about this now?"

"Um……"

Uriel could have told her that Aize was not dead, but she would have felt very uncomfortable if she did so honestly, so she let her believe it for the time being.

Then, the black-haired hero snorted coldly, grabbed Heidi's collar and lifted her up from the ground, and asked in an extremely cold voice:

"What? You used him for two years, and he even died in the end because he was involved in your affairs. Don't you have any explanation at all?!"

Heidi, sweating profusely, forced an ugly smile:

"I... am like this. What else can I do? They, my father, my mother, my brothers and my sisters, they all abandoned me and died like that... What should I do? Besides using others... what else can I do?"

Uriel shook her head, anger gradually building up:

"That's your business, Princess. No matter how hard, tiring, or difficult it is, it's your business! Why should Aize pay for your problems? What does this have to do with him?"

Uriel, who was already losing control of herself, pressed the already weak Heidi against the wall, causing a loud noise.

This is dangerous for infiltration.

But Uriel didn't care.

"You've suffered, you've been tired, you've had it hard, you've been alone, yes. But what about Aize? Does he have it easier than you? Even now, you keep saying your country, your throne, but don't forget who has truly shouldered the royal responsibilities for the past two years? Are you worthy?!"

"Uh……"

Heidi's expression became more and more painful, and her consciousness kept jumping between wakefulness and coma.

I don't know how much she actually heard.

As Uriel's noise grew louder, heavy footsteps were heard outside the living room.

Don't stay here for long.

Uriel let go of her hand, letting Heidi fall back to the ground, and turned around to hide in the shadows.

But the moment she turned around, Heidi grabbed Uriel's boots with all her might:

"Please... please... report this to the church..."

At this time, the princess' eyes were already vacant and her voice was as thin as a thread.

It is difficult to say whether she was still conscious at this time, or was just acting on her remaining instincts.

But no matter what, Uriel couldn't stay any longer.

"I reject."

She shook off Heidi's hand in disgust, left these words expressionlessly, and then disappeared into the dark night.

As her "companions" left, the helpless Heidi's passive stagnation skill of the Brave Blessing was reactivated.

In the moment before time stopped, Aize's appearance appeared in the remaining consciousness.

Out of some unknown emotion, a drop of liquid slowly flowed down the corner of her eye.

Then, it came to a stop.

Almost at the same time, the door of the living room was kicked open, and a group of fully armed guards rushed in. The lights in the room were turned on, and the darkness was instantly dispelled.

"There was some movement here just now, search for me!!"

Not only the living room, but the guards of the entire mansion were activated and mobilized to search every suspicious corner inside and outside.

Too late.

Uriel had already escaped and was hiding in the shadow of a large tree outside the courtyard wall, observing the commotion in the courtyard.

He also clenched his fists.

I was so emotional that I almost caused trouble, and in the end all my efforts were in vain and I didn't find anything.

What a shame.

She looked up at the moon and sighed.

We still have to find Aize first.

Yuriel was indeed not going to help Heidi report the intelligence she had just received to the Holy City, but there was no problem in passing it on to Aize.

As for how to deal with Aize, that is not up to him.

But where is he?

Chapter 102 A knife hidden in a smile

It was late at night, and the Knights' camp on the Anlin Plain was now silent.

Except for the knights who were on guard and patrol, the rest of the personnel had fallen asleep.

Under the faint moonlight, the spacious and dark Anlin Plain looked like an infinitely extending sea with no end in sight, giving people an inexplicable sense of nothingness.

Constantine, who was on duty, stood on the watchtower of the camp, breathing the fresh night breeze, but he was in a very irritable mood.

The retreat order from the Holy City has been coming for several days.

News of unusual activity by the orc army was also confirmed.

Both externally and internally, the situation of the Knights was deteriorating rapidly, and it had reached a point where they had no choice but to retreat.

Although he had asked his men to make all preparations for escape a few days ago, Leah, who was nominally the supreme commander of the Knights, had been slow to give the order.

It is a bit inaccurate to say that no order was given.

To be precise, ever since Leah was beaten up by Uriel, she has been isolated in her tent and has never even shown her face.

From any perspective, the Knights Templar have fallen into a state of paralysis.

Of course, from the day Aize ran away, all this seemed to be destined.

Just as I was worrying, I heard footsteps not far below.

"Hey, mercenary, it's time to change guard."

The blue-haired young knight, Christina, climbed up the ladder to the watchtower and yawned loudly. Dark circles were clearly visible, and she looked a little listless.

This was not common in her, and Constantine was a little puzzled:

"What? Didn't you fall asleep?"

"Yeah, I've been flipping through my homemade 'Quotes of the Brave Aize', so I haven't slept much."

The hooded knight said in silence:

"You...did you still make that kind of stuff?"

"Yeah... Uh-huh..."

Chris yawned again, then looked at Constantine with a strange expression: