After choosing to leave, they regretted it.

After slamming the table in front of her, she roared:

"How dare you mention that idiot's name?! If he hadn't come up with these unreliable plans, would our losses have been so great? Would I have been injured so badly?!"

It's such a ton of crap.

The same ideas and the same words, when repeated over and over again, lose their original meaning of language for communication and become a simple emotional release.

Christina didn't want to dwell on this topic any further and just smiled contemptuously:

"Lord Aize is a waste. Why don't you dare say this in front of Lady Uriel?"

"you--"

The ruthless exposure of scars left Leah, who had been beaten just a few days ago, speechless.

But having nothing to say doesn't mean she doesn't have a temper. During the few seconds when she was speechless, her anger rose exponentially.

Even his hand was on the holy sword.

"Stop, Xiaoya! How can you draw your sword against your own people before launching an important expedition?"

Rosalyn, who had remained silent, finally stood up and intervened in the situation.

"If we want everyone to unite under the banner of the goddess, we can't rely on violence."

As a hero, Rosaline is outside the decision-making system of the hero team most of the time, and always gives people an unpredictable feeling.

But for some reason, her words always had an unexpected effect on Leah.

Perhaps it is the innate suppression of the goddess priests on the goddess believers.

"I--"

Unable to scold her but unable to hit her either, Leia had to swallow her anger.

But he still refused to admit defeat:

"Anyway, this is an order! Aren't the orcs coming?! Then let them come! Prepare for battle, we will hold our ground here and wait for reinforcements!"

Chris wanted to say something, but Constantine stopped her and shook his head.

"Stop talking, it's useless."

"but……"

"Stop talking. You, get everyone ready to retreat. At the same time, strengthen the vigilance in the orc territory. If you detect any signs of trouble, retreat immediately."

Constantine said this in a low voice.

Under the Holy War Knights, which belong to the church, disobeying the orders of the hero is quite risky.

Even if the hero actually made a mistake in judgment and the church did not pursue the matter for the time being, the account would have been recorded, and who knows when it would be brought up again.

Therefore, the best outcome is to let Leah give up and choose to run away.

This was also Aize's original plan.

But now, the situation is completely different.

Brian's instigation completely eliminated the possibility of Leah backing out. With the option of saving face for everyone gone, there was nothing left to worry about.

If she wants to go on an expedition, let her go alone.

As the de facto pillar of the team after Leia left, Constantine had to bring as many people back alive as possible.

Christina glared at Leah fiercely and nodded:

"Tsk, I get it, what about you?"

"I have some things to do."

Duke Brian's plan must be made known to Aize, so Constantine has to rush to the previous mountain village overnight.

With this thought in mind, he mounted his horse and galloped towards the destination at the fastest speed.

----------

The sky gradually turned white, and the sun gradually appeared at the end of the horizon.

A day in the mountain village always starts very early.

In the light morning mist, the mixed-race farmers have gone out and started working.

And that means it's time to set off.

"Uh... I'm so sleepy—"

Villian, who hadn't slept all night, yawned and leaned on Aize, swaying weakly, as if she would fall down at any moment.

Violet-Anne had been nodding off since about 3 a.m., and no amount of coffee could stop her from nodding off.

When I advised her to go to bed, she would get angry, pinch herself hard and continue working.

This is what happened.

This made Aize sigh:

"We have to travel most of the day today. What are you going to do? Or maybe you should just not go?"

"No! I have to go!"

Villian slapped her face hard. The sound was no different from a slap in the face. Her snow-white cheeks became red and swollen in an instant.

It can be considered that I have temporarily woken up.

Aize shook his head and said nothing more.

The two arrived at the village entrance, where the pink-haired girl, Alicia, was already waiting there, accompanied by a simple covered carriage and the village's coachman.

Seeing the two of them, Alicia hurried over to greet them.

"Good morning~ Uh, Miss Vivian, what's wrong? You look so pale, are you feeling unwell?"

The witch frowned and waved her hand:

"No, I just didn't sleep well. Don't worry."

Aize took out the results of last night's work - a large stack of paper plans, and stuffed it into Alicia's hands in front of her confused and surprised eyes.

"Mr. Ain, these are..."

"Some plans, if effectively executed, can greatly enhance the village's defenses and ensure that ordinary bandits and slave traders will never dare to harass this place again."

As he spoke, he pulled out a few cards:

"Could you please give these to Groot? Or someone else who has influence in the village? There are some things we can do while we're gone."

Alicia's expression was beyond shock.

She flipped through the papers impatiently. The more she read, the more shocked she became, and the more she couldn't hold back her smile.

He raised his head again, looked at Aize, and then looked at Villian, who was so sleepy that she was almost clinging to Aize.

"Mr. Ain... all these things, you and Miss Vivian made them in just one night!?"

"Yep……"

"It was mainly Aize... No, it was Ain who did it. I... I just helped a little, and I was basically dozing off in the second half...zzzz——"

My head wasn't clear enough that I almost let my name slip, but luckily Alicia didn't seem to mind.

Alicia, who was holding this pile of things, couldn't even speak:

"Um, um... Thank you very much! I'll give it to them right away!"

"Ok."

The girl carried these things and trotted into the village. After finishing her instructions, she quickly ran back.

Now that what needs to be done is done, it's time to set off.

After the three of them got into the carriage, it started slowly and swayed along the rugged mountain road towards Tafia.

It is called a carriage, but in fact it is just a shed added to a flatbed truck. It is extremely simple and does not even have seats. It is not used to transport people but more like transporting goods.

But given the conditions, there's nothing to complain about.

Aize was locked in a corner, while Villian leaned on him and closed her eyes, soon falling into a deep sleep and no longer conscious.

I could only feel her heartbeat and faint breathing through our bodies pressed together.

Alicia, who was sitting opposite with her thighs hugged, looked at the two of them with curiosity.

After hesitating for a while, she carefully moved to the other side of Aize that was not occupied by Villian, approached Aize and whispered:

"Ms. Vivian, did you really not sleep all night?"

"Ah."

"Ain too?"

"Yeah, but I'm used to it, so it's okay."

The pink-haired girl blinked, as if she wanted to say something but was too embarrassed to speak.

After hesitating for a while, he asked cautiously:

"Ain... who are you?"

"Um?"

"I heard from Anna that you're a noble from Tafia, living in an incredibly luxurious house. You can command a knight group, you're also very skilled with a sword, and you seem to know everything..."

Alicia bit her lip as she spoke.

"They even went to this extent for us... why is that?"

Aize tilted his head and looked at the mountains and forests outside the car, thinking about how to answer.

Then he smiled:

"Great swordsmanship? But wasn't it still instantly killed by you when you got serious?"

"Well--"

Alicia's expression suddenly turned bitter:

"I'm so sorry about that! It was my fault! I almost did something irreversible!"

"Okay, it's okay. I deserved it, so you don't have to take it too seriously. But, you don't even know my identity, and you're saying you trust me completely. Isn't that a bit rash? What if I have bad intentions?"

"No, absolutely not!"

Alicia cried out subconsciously.

The volume was out of control for a moment, and Villian, who was sleeping, frowned. She turned over while holding Aize's arm and muttered something.

Alicia quickly covered her mouth and lowered the volume, but the determination in her tone remained unchanged:

"Ain is definitely not that kind of person!"

"why?"

"Because Ain helped us and saved so many of our compatriots, how could he be that kind of person!?"

This child seems to have a very simple mindset, and his attitude towards people is a bit black and white.

They are the type of people who are most easily deceived.

The boss behind her work probably took advantage of this to PUA her.

However, Aize is quite envious of people who can trust others without suspicion or reservation.

Thinking of this, he looked at Villian who was leaning against him and had fallen into a deep sleep.

Until now, I still have reservations about her.

This is also considered an occupational disease.

Aize sighed, not wanting to continue this topic, and decided to talk about something lighter:

"Speaking of which, Alicia, you must have been to many places before, right?"

"Yeah, right, what's wrong?"

"I... well, I was a little busy with my work before, so I didn't have much chance to travel. If you don't mind, could you tell me about your past travel experiences?"