The scene changes, and Ayanokouji and the others have arrived in Arlam Village.
He brought Elsa with him, leaving the mansion under the pretext of wanting to take a walk and bringing Emilia along.
Rem worried about Elsa and Ayanokouji, followed them under the excuse that there weren't enough spices in the mansion.
"If you do anything unusual, I will kill you." Rem stood next to Elsa and threatened in a low voice.
Although under Roswaal's orders, she couldn't attack directly, if Elsa made a mistake, Rem wouldn't hesitate.
"What a terrible threat." A thin smile appeared on Elsa's face, not taking Rem's threat seriously at all.
Rem's presence was expected by Ayanokouji, and he also hoped she would follow them to the village. He could use the relationship between Rem and the villagers to get closer to them.
Meanwhile, Emilia quickly walked towards Ayanokouji, her face full of nervousness, and grabbed his sleeve with one hand.
"Ayanokouji, are you letting Elsa follow along?"
Although she had been persuaded earlier and agreed to let Elsa join their camp, Emilia didn't expect Ayanokouji to let her go so quickly.
Even though Elsa seemed to have given up, Emilia still felt a bit strange in her heart. After all, the other side wanted to kill her a few days ago, so it was inevitable that she felt a bit worried.
"By having her follow, we can ensure she doesn't make any small moves." Ayanokouji said.
"Yes." Emilia nodded in understanding.
She was now wearing a white cloak with two pointed ears on the hood that stood up. She looked very cute. This outfit could cause cognitive disruption on the wearer's face.
The reason Emilia wore this cloak was to hide her identity and prevent her identity as a Half-Elf from being recognized.
Although this land belonged to Roswaal's domain, the people there, like most in the kingdom, were very disgusted with Emilia. They thought she had a face resembling the Witch of Envy, a symbol they found unpleasant.
Regarding this, Ayanokouji was also a bit confused. Since Roswaal was Emilia's supporter, he should at least work for his own people and make them Emilia's supporters. It could be said he did nothing.
Perhaps, he had no intention of supporting Emilia at all.
But for now, until Ayanokouji found a better option, he would consider Emilia his training target, like supporting Horikita Suzune, so she could win the throne election.
Of course, all this was not for Emilia's benefit, but because he could benefit from it.
❀❀❀
"Horikita-san, you're mentioned again!"
In a coffee shop, Honami smiled and patted Horikita.
"I…"
Hearing her name mentioned again, Horikita's face turned red with embarrassment and anger. She had slightly adapted to this feeling in class, but after coming to the coffee shop, she was in an unfamiliar environment surrounded by strangers, making her feel embarrassed again.
"Who is this Horikita Suzune? She's been mentioned several times."
"Shh, lower your voice. The girl sitting next to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka is Horikita Suzune."
"Although she doesn't appear in the video, she's mentioned many times…"
Horikita could hear the comments from the people around her, her face turning red, her hands gripping the edge of her short skirt with slight confusion, and her legs in knee-high black socks swinging.
Finally, she raised her head, her gem-like eyes giving a slightly accusing look at Ayanokouji, who was drinking coffee as if nothing had happened.
"This is all your fault! Ayanokouji!"
Ayanokouji only sighed slightly, revealing helplessness in his heart.
❰❱SKY SCREEN❰❱
Ayanokouji knew that if he wanted Emilia to gradually gain an advantage at this stage, he first needed to gain the support of the people in her domain. If her people did not support Emilia, let alone anyone else.
The disgust towards Emilia might have penetrated deeply into the hearts of the local villagers. Changing their minds wouldn't be easy.
However, Ayanokouji already had a certain plan and didn't need to rush to implement it now, and Meili was also an important part of it.
"Sister Rem!"
A familiar childish voice echoed in Ayanokouji's ears. Several cheerful and sweet children ran quickly, surrounding Rem and greeting her enthusiastically.
"Sister, are you also Rem's friend?"
A little girl ran towards Elsa and asked curiously.
Ayanokouji remembered that the child's name was Petra. They were just a group of children. Living in the countryside, they didn't know who Elsa was.
"Be careful..." Emilia wanted to step forward to stop it, but was stopped by Ayanokouji: "In front of children, adults should at least learn to disguise."
Emilia was slightly confused and didn't understand why he was doing this.
"Yes! My name is Elsa."
With a friendly smile on her face, Elsa bent down and quickly mingled with the children.
Ayanokouji's eyes observed the children and finally landed on a girl with long blue and purple hair—Meili.
At this moment, Meili wasn't holding the puppy that should have been the Demon Beast, but was staring at Elsa with a blank expression, a bit of surprise in her eyes. She didn't expect Elsa to appear here, and there was a bit of jealousy in her eyes, perhaps because Elsa was so close to the other children.
"Even though she is an assassin, has she lost her sanity after seeing Elsa?"
Ayanokouji looked towards Meili.
Her behavior seemed inappropriate, full of flaws, but Rem and Emilia were currently focused on Elsa and didn't expect there would be an assassin in the village.
Rem then went ahead to a shop to buy something.
Ayanokouji turned and looked at Emilia: "Emilia, play with these children."
"Ah?" Emilia was slightly surprised.
"Even though you're wearing a cloak to hide your identity now, sooner or later you have to communicate with others directly. It's appropriate to take this opportunity to get closer to these children first, and then you can build a good relationship with others in the village." Ayanokouji said.
Emilia also felt it made sense, so she nodded and went to play with Petra.
At this moment, Ayanokouji, Elsa, and Meili were standing on the other side. He had just asked Emilia to play with the children to divert her attention.
"Elsa!"
Meili raised her head and spoke in a slightly reproachful tone.
Elsa's eyebrows twitched slightly at this moment, and she was a bit helpless when the other party called her name. On another occasion, this would be equivalent to revealing her identity directly, but nothing could be done now.
Meili was just a small child whose mind hadn't matured, and she relied heavily on Elsa. When she saw her, she couldn't help but shout her name.
Meili abandoned in the village, hadn't seen Elsa for a long time, and after knowing that Emilia had returned to the mansion safely, she became slightly worried every day.
"This is the first time we've met, Meili." Ayanokouji said casually.
"Who are you and why are you with Elsa?" Meili asked.
"Ayanokouji Kiyotaka." Ayanokouji said slowly, "Elsa's current boss."
"Elsa's new boss?" Meili's eyes were full of doubt.
"Ayanokouji-sama, what do you mean by bringing me here?"
The smile on Elsa's face had completely disappeared, and she looked at him seriously, "Are you threatening me?"
Emilia was now present, Rem not far away, and Meili's own combat power was very weak. She couldn't summon Demon Beast reinforcements in the village, so she didn't realize the danger of the situation at all.
Although Ayanokouji had this consideration, it wasn't his main goal.
"Sorry, no."
Ayanokouji took out candy from his pocket and handed it to Meili, which he had brought back from the mansion.
"This, a gift for our first meeting."
Meili wasn't as cautious as Elsa, so she unwrapped the candy and put it in her mouth.
This step made Elsa even more helpless. Accepting food from a stranger carried the risk of poisoning.
"The purpose of my trip is very simple. I just want to ask Meili if she wants to join us." Ayanokouji said calmly.
Meili's ability was very special and had a very high strategic significance, it could also provide great advantages, so ordinary enemies might underestimate her, and she could also control Elsa better.
And most importantly, Meili was very easy to control.
She was still very young, not mentally mature, and overly reliant on Elsa. This made Ayanokouji guess that her living conditions had not been good since she was young. Meili was an orphan, a wanderer, and possibly living in harsh environments, her dependence on Elsa developed only after meeting her, indicating she lacked care and affection since childhood.
If Ayanokouji took care of her a bit, Meili would surely trust him gradually, and then step by step, she would become an existence comparable to Elsa in her heart.
"You can let Meili enter the mansion as my follower, and I can give her a superior living environment." Ayanokouji said slowly, "But I need your loyalty to me, only to me."
Elsa heard the words "Only me" in Ayanokouji's statement, and her eyes slightly narrowed. Initially, she thought the man was just an ally of Emilia, but now she knew he was more sophisticated than she had imagined, and she felt even more excited.
"I see, Ayanokouji-sama, impressive! If only I had met you sooner."
Ayanokouji looked down at Meili, who was delighted by the sweetness of the candy: "Meili, are you willing to join me?"
"Wherever Elsa is, I will be there!" Meili said without the slightest hesitation.
Such an answer was expected by him.
"Very good." Ayanokouji nodded, then looked to the side, "Then Elsa, you have a mission now…"
He instructed Elsa to erase all traces that might reveal Meili's identity and prepare enough false documents to confirm Meili's identity.
Roswaal was a very cautious person. Suddenly receiving a follower with an unknown background would certainly arouse his suspicion, and he would secretly investigate Meili's identity, so Ayanokouji had Elsa act first.
"…There will be another task later." Ayanokouji said, his tone as calm as a windless sea, "You might have a bit of fun with it."
"Yes, I am very much looking forward to it."
A bright smile appeared on Elsa's face, like a blooming rose, beautiful but dangerous.