After choosing to leave, they regretted it.

But this just seems out of reach.

A guard came up cautiously and said:

"Your Excellency, last night...last night there seemed to be some movement in this room. I brought people in to check but found nothing. Could it be that the stasis has been lifted once, but this woman has reactivated it?"

The Duke was upset, his eyes rolled around a few times, then he turned around and slapped the guard:

"Why would I ask a useless person like you to talk nonsense? What's the difference between saying nothing and saying nothing? Even if you don't know how to remove it, don't you know how to remove it?!"

The talkative guard covered his red and swollen face and apologized repeatedly:

"I'm sorry, Your Excellency the Duke, I spoke too much..."

Amidst the commotion, the door to the reception room was pushed open, and the blue-haired butler Rufus had just returned from Anlin Plains.

Seeing this scene, he frowned, but still came to Brian and bowed:

"Master, the matter on the Anlin Plains has been completed. The brave Leah was completely deceived. From now on, as long as the orc army launches an attack, they will be wiped out."

Brian's "cooperation" with the demons has a long history.

As the Grand Duke of the human side, he is also highly valued by the demons, and the intelligence he sends and the requests he makes can even reach the hands of the Demon King directly.

This time, in order to cooperate with his grand plan, the Demon King even mobilized the orc army.

However, now that he no longer posed a threat to the Knights, he was caught in a trick played by a half-crippled princess, unable to swallow or spit it out.

Brian let out a long breath, looked at his butler, and said impatiently:

"That idiot Hero Leah is fine! The problem now is the princess and that civilian Hero Aize! Where are my people? Where are my troops!?"

"Master, I just happened to see them when I came back. They have already arrived outside the city."

The Duke's private elite army, totaling more than 2 people.

Brian gritted his teeth and said:

"So what are we waiting for? Send them out immediately and search the nearby mountains and forests thoroughly. We must find the brave Aize!"

"Yes."

Rufus nodded, turned around and prepared to go about his business.

"and many more!"

But he was stopped again.

The butler's expression remained calm as he asked:

"Master, do you have any other instructions?"

"Leave the task of delivering the message to others. All you have to do next is to release this bastard princess from her stasis, no matter the cost!"

If it were just those two documents, forging the signatures would not be difficult, but such forgery would be meaningless.

The document was just a symbol. The core purpose was to destroy Heidi's spirit through coercion, inducement and physical torture, forcing her to have no choice but to cooperate with him.

This is the only way to seize the throne.

So there's really no way to avoid this damn stagnation.

Rufus looked at the princess lying on the ground, sighed, and shook his head.

"Master, this may be a little difficult to handle."

He is indeed proficient in various magics, and is at the genius level, but he is still not qualified to touch the core part of the Brave's Protection.

But Brian no longer cares:

"It's difficult!? Even if it's difficult, you have to do it for me! This is an order!"

After saying that, he kicked Heidi hard again and left the room angrily.

Rufus was left alone, feeling a headache looking at Heidi lying on the ground.

"It's not simply freezing, it's directly stopping one's own time. With this kind of gameplay, ordinary spells won't work, but... hm?"

Only then did he notice something unusual.

Heidi was lying there, with a painful expression and a twisted body, but her posture seemed to have changed from what she had seen yesterday.

"This stagnation was lifted last night? But why...?"

Rufus thought of something, turned around and walked out the door, then grabbed a guard and asked if there was anything unusual last night.

I also learned about the strange noises coming from the living room.

This situation confirmed his judgment and he nodded:

"Could it be that we need other heroes nearby? Tsk, how troublesome! Where can I get another hero to come here..."

----------

The Duke's mighty army paid no attention to the small carriage of Aize and the others, but marched straight towards Tafia.

Aize and the others waited patiently for them to pass before continuing their journey.

Soon, the tall walls of Tafia came into view.

Fortunately, the army seemed to change direction halfway and did not enter the city, nor did it do anything like blockading the city.

The group entered the city smoothly and the carriage stopped at the square on the commercial street.

Alicia pulled out a long shopping list and jumped off the carriage first:

"Ain, I'm going to go shopping first, what are you going to do?"

Aize looked down at Villian, who was still sleeping on him, and shrugged.

"You guys go ahead. I'll wait here until she wakes up. I have some things to do. You can just go back after you finish shopping. You don't have to wait for us."

The initial goal was just to gather information, but the development of things has obviously exceeded expectations. Perhaps it is time to do something.

Alicia was stunned for a moment, then nodded:

"Okay, see you later!"

"Well, see you later."

He watched Alicia leave, then looked at Villian lying on him, smiled, and said nothing.

A while passed in silence like this.

"Uh... um..."

Villian finally opened her eyes, propped herself up sleepily, and looked around.

Aize nodded at her:

"Good morning."

"...Aize? Um... I fell asleep? Where are we? Where's Alicia?"

"We've already arrived at Tafia. Alicia and the others have gone shopping."

Violet looked at him blankly for a few seconds, thought for a moment, and quickly understood what was going on. She suddenly came to her senses:

"In that case, why didn't you wake me up earlier? Isn't this a waste of time?!"

"There's still time. Besides, you can't work if you're terribly sleepy, right?"

"Really? Stop caring so much..."

Villian sighed, raised her hand and activated her magic power.

The water in the air immediately gathered in front of her, turning into a small mirror like an ice crystal.

Facing it, Villian tidied up her hair and appearance, which were a little messy from sleeping.

The work was quickly completed. She waved her hand to make the mirror disappear, then nodded to Aize and said:

"Let's go, let's go."

"Um!"

The two men stepped out of the carriage and stood on the street of Tafia.

The scenery of the commercial street is not much different from when I left a few days ago. It is still bustling, prosperous, and full of vitality with people coming and going.

Apart from the fact that the Adventurer's Guild had been shut down, there was nothing unusual.

Aize nodded and said to himself:

"Where should we begin our investigation?"

The entire Noble Street, including Sheen's mansion, is now a high-risk area and you definitely can't go there.

Other places where we can get information...

While I was still thinking about the problem, Villian had already held Aize's hand and said with a smile:

"What are you thinking about? I'm definitely going to eat first~"

They stayed up all night and set off before dawn. They were delayed because they encountered a marching group along the way, and they had to wait for a while until Villian fell asleep.

It's already afternoon.

I didn't eat anything during this process, so I was a little hungry.

In the past, Aize would definitely think that this waste of precious time is not advisable, or he would send Villian to dinner alone and start the investigation himself.

But now... I feel like a little lower efficiency is no big deal.

"Okay, that's it."

The two of them casually walked into a roadside restaurant.

Since it was past dinner time, there were few people in the restaurant.

The two of them sat down casually in the corner, and the meal was soon placed in front of them.

While eating, Aize also took the opportunity to describe what he saw along the way.

After hearing this, Villian asked in confusion:

"That Duke Brian, what is he planning to do by sending so many people here? Is he planning to kill you or your Knights?"

Aize shook his head.

"Impossible. Even if there is such an idea, it is definitely not the main purpose."

No matter how much he colluded with the demons in private, on the surface he was still the Duke of Humanity, and the Goddess' Blade was still the church's chosen brave team.

He would ruthlessly use dirty tricks to kill people, but he would never dare to mobilize troops to do it openly.

Besides, given the current situation of the Knights under the Goddess Blade, they don't need so many people even if they really want to take action.

With so many cards prepared, what he wants to play must be bigger than imagined.

"Then who is he..."

"Boss, give me some barbecue and some wine!"

Suddenly, several heavily armed guards walked into the store, placed their helmets on the table, and started shouting.

The waiter in the store did not dare to neglect him and quickly came up and asked cautiously:

"Gentlemen, drinking in broad daylight, aren't you afraid that it will cause trouble during afternoon military affairs?"

"Don't be afraid! What are you afraid of? There's no military service this afternoon, so hurry up and bring the food over! Can I still miss your money?"

"Okay, okay -"

The waiter didn't dare say anything more and turned around to go back to work.

And at this moment, the gaze of the leader of the guards overlapped with Aize's.

The other party almost jumped up from his position:

"You are... Lord Ain!? You're not dead!?"

Aize took a closer look and found that the other person was a captain of the guards under Sheen.