When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist

The iron door closed heavily, shutting Droolte's screams behind it.

Banifus and Mizam arrived at a reception room within the castle, and a few servants immediately brought out some wine.

Gulping down a large glass of wine, Banifus plopped into a chair with a look of despondency, "It's all done for, absolutely done for."

"What's done for?" Mizam, Priest to Prince Kongdai, asked with a smile.

"Can you still laugh? We only caught a few of the farmers who followed Saint Son Horn in rebellion. Bishop Constantine isn't a fool; he'll just think we have returned in complete defeat."

"But we have returned in complete defeat, haven't we? Those refugees ran away; isn't that a defeat?" Mizam took a sip of wine, "But defeat doesn't equal failure."

"Sir Mizam, what do you mean?"

"You don't understand this, do you?" Mizam bent down, making Banifus bend down too, and the two began to whisper.

"It's normal if you haven't experienced something similar before; let me teach you.

In warfare, you don't necessarily need to win to gain credit; you have to be able to talk. If you can talk, a defeat can be a victory. If you can't talk, a victory can become a defeat."

"Oh?" Banifus immediately stood up, closed the small study's door, and asked in a low voice, "Can this trick still work now?"

"Why can't it work? Do you not know how? How did you manage to sit in the position of a bishop?" Mizam was stunned.

Though he mastered other matters quickly, Banifus murmured about facing such a large-scale war, "But we should at least have a shred of success, shouldn't we? We didn't even capture a leader."

Concealing his surprise, Mizam supported his chin with the back of his hand, looking mysterious: "We have that."

"We really don't have that."

"We can have it!"

"...Are you saying we should find someone to impersonate?" Banifus covered his mouth, stifling his exclamation, "If that gets exposed, won't it be over for us?"

"Who says so?" Mizam chuckled with satisfaction, "You need to report to Archbishop of Constans, and Archbishop of Constans needs to report to the Pope, and the Pope also needs to answer to the multitude of believers in the Empire.

Otherwise, where is the Church's authority? Where is Miseria's dignity? Especially after the Blue Blood exploded, there's an even greater need for a high-level with short hair.

Everyone's in a hurry, lacking time to verify. As long as we find someone not widely recognized but appears similar, it will suffice."

Standing up and pacing back and forth in the room for a while, Banifus asked suspiciously, "But what if that short-haired side doesn't recognize it?"

"With their high-level captured, who will recognize it?" Mizam spread his hands, "If they don't acknowledge it, it means we've caught the right person. If they do, it means we've caught the right one even more."

"But the problem is, where do we find such a person?" Banifus's voice was still hesitant, "Those we captured are all lowlifes and farmers; one look and it's clear they aren't high-levels with short hair, too fake."

Mizam suddenly pointed outside, towards where Droolte was, "What do you think of him?"

"Him?" Banifus was startled, "He's a Knight."

"I've investigated him. He has a strong build and dignified appearance; grabbing a random commoner instead won't look the part." Opening his pocket, Mizam pulled out a roll of paper and tossed it to Banifus, "His family fell into decline a century ago, and to this day he's alone, without a wife, not fond of women, reclusive, mostly guarding the castle without stepping out.

The most important point is that the Demon's Grandson and his men have visited the Duke's castle multiple times before, and he was the one escorting and guiding them.

He had seen the Demon's Grandson with his own eyes and even talked to him, familiar with these high-level short hairs more than we are and can recount one or two things when questioned."

"But he's the Duke's Knight Commander, responsible for the Duke and the castle's defense. It's his duty to guide and monitor visitors!"

"Then how is he alive while the Duke is dead?" Mizam snorted, "Precisely because he betrayed the Duke, which led to the Duke's capture."

Banifus was dumbfounded.

Mizam pulled out a sheet of paper and began drafting quickly: "Our wise and brave Duke should have quickly defeated the enemy, but alas, the enemy planted a short-haired spy beside the Duke.

This spy is Knight Commander Droolte. Droolte secretly handed a strand of the Duke's curly hair to Demon's Grandson Horn, who used Voodoo Doll magic to curse the Duke to death.

If not for Droolte, how would the Duke have died?

The knights, leaderless, yet still bravely faced the enemy, first being blown into the river by the Devil's Wind, then battling phantoms in the river.

As they were about to be slain, we swiftly arrived; the short hairs, terrified, began retreating prematurely, continually withdrawing to the Forest of Wild Spiders, suffering heavy casualties, leaving Droolte behind to escape.

After our investigation, Droolte's true identity turned out to be Demon's Grandson Horn's uncle, Horn's assistant, and following day's Demon Emperor Segal Hos Gallar. Even Demon's Grandson Horn had to kneel before him every day..."

"Wait, wait, wait, I have a few questions." Banifus held his forehead.

Stopping his pen, Mizam looked up, "Please, go ahead."

"Why do we need to whitewash the Duke's identity? Now that the Blue Blood scandal has come to light, wouldn't it be better to blame him to quell the common people's anger?

Secondly, why the convoluted schemes? Is there a particular purpose in that?

Finally, didn't Segal escape with the help of the Guild of Mercantile? How did he end up here again?"

Putting down his pen, Mizam began to leisurely explain to Banifus: "Firstly, we absolutely must not acknowledge the existence of the Blue Blood Orphanage. All related evidence must be destroyed, and those aware of it must be silenced.

The Duke was collaborating with the Church to sell Blue Blood wine. If the Duke is unclean, then aren't Horn and the others' actions justified? How then would we position ourselves?

Secondly, we need the Duke to be innocent in this matter, but his character must be stained, seen as deserving of his fate, to facilitate our takeover of the Duke's assets, preventing relatives from taking advantage.

Maintaining the convoluted schemes is to suggest his orientation is abnormal, violating doctrines, deserving of being used and killed.

Meanwhile, he supposedly had an affair with Demon Son Horn's uncle, a curious rumor that people love to gossip about, shifting the common people's attention away from Blue Blood.

Thirdly, Segal escaped, but no one knows. We need someone substantial and credible; otherwise, how can small fry be dealt with?

We add the middle name Hos for him, making it similar to his nephew's name, so the uninformed would think we captured Horn.

Even if exposed, we can say, we never claimed he was Horn. Do you have any other questions?"

Looking at Mizam's serene smile, Banifus felt a chill: "No, no more questions.

.........

"Demon King Segal the next day?"

Tossing aside the letter in disbelief, Prince Kongdai gazed at the forest of wild spiders before him, where dozens of jumping spiders and seven or eight cow spiders lay dead.

The remaining giant spiders were still entangled with the infantry, seemingly infinite.

"Where did these spiders come from?" Prince Kongdai wiped the disgusting slime from his sword.

A person dressed like a scholar, in a blue-edged cloak, replied: "It's said the giant spiders have been living in the mountain caves and have gradually appeared over the last hundred years, with few naturalists documenting them."

This scholar was hired by Prince Kongdai from the Salin Scholar Association, serving as his usual advisor.

Prince Kongdai shook his head, having attempted a forced breakthrough, but it was difficult to traverse the forest and hard to form a charge formation.

The most annoying were the webs the attacking giant spiders spewed, tangling the horses' hooves and legs, causing no real damage but necessitating them to dismount often to clear the webs.

Knowing there were swamps and mountains after the woods, Prince Kongdai felt a rare exhaustion.

Had I known it was this troublesome, I shouldn't have gone to Xiaochi City; I should have personally suppressed this group of vagabonds.

"Forget it, let's go back." Turning his horse around, Prince Kongdai said listlessly, "No need to waste time here. Go ask the Church how the guardian monsters of this Blue Blood Monastery were diverted."

"As you command, Your Highness."

After the scholar left, Bo Ao Lie rode up: "Your Highness, are we heading to Joan of Arc Castle now?"

"Yes." Prince Kongdai said without turning his head, "We'll first go to Joan of Arc Castle to replenish supplies, then I'll decide on leaving a couple of decree-linked guards, while the rest accompany me to Feiliu Castle to meet the Archbishop of Constans."

"Understood." Bo Ao Lie nodded, but his breath suddenly quickened, "Your Highness, about Leia Kingdom, do you intend to..."

"Don't ask what you shouldn't." Prince Kongdai's voice was devoid of emotion, but Bo Ao Lie tensed completely.

"As, as you command, my lord."

Prince Kongdai and Bo Ao Lie, along with the Extraordinary Knights, walked back in silence, but halfway through, Prince Kongdai stopped.

He turned back, looking at the mountains beyond the wild spider forest, brow furrowed: "What is that sound? What are they shouting?"

Bo Ao Lie turned his ear and heard vague shouting echoed among the mountains, unsure of who was screaming.

A winter wind swept past the wild spider forest before them, all the trees rustling, yet in the sound, the distant voice grew clearer.

Prince Kongdai straightened his posture.

It sounded like one person shouting, or many people shouting together.

"Resist, listen—"

"Purge injustice—for peace—"