The scene changes. After Emilia and Rem eliminated the remaining Demon Beasts in the village, they hurried to the forest. Ayanokouji left a very clear trail along the way, so their direction was evident.
"Rem, look!"
Emilia pointed to an open space. She saw several children lying in the open area and quickly followed Rem to check on them.
"They were all bitten by Demon Beasts, and they might even be cursed..." Rem said anxiously, then squatted down beside the children. "I can't dispel the curse, but even if I'm not sure it will help, for psychological comfort, I should immediately use healing magic."
"Meili isn't here... I'll leave this to you. I'll go find Ayanokouji immediately!" Emilia said with a serious expression, her eyes becoming very determined.
She thought Ayanokouji was there trying his best to save Meili, so she hurried as fast as she could to reinforce him.
"Alright, leave this to me! Please be careful, Emilia-sama!" Rem said promptly.
She was also very concerned about his safety. Just now, that man had rushed to save the children without regard for his own safety.
Emilia immediately ran towards the location marked by Ayanokouji. Then, she heard the roars of Demon Beasts, passed through the trees, and finally reached the location where Ayanokouji was.
At this moment, Ayanokouji was lying on the ground with his back covered in blood, and the surrounding ground was stained with blood seeping into the soil, along with the broken limbs and ruined intestines of the Demon Beasts.
"Even though they're Demon Beasts, their intestines taste pretty good."
Elsa holding a short knife, was covered in blood, as if she had bathed in it, but it wasn't her own; it belonged to the Demon Beasts she had killed, and all the ruins here were her masterpiece.
"Ayanokouji!"
Emilia didn't care why Elsa was here now, but judging from the current situation, Elsa was protecting Ayanokouji.
She rushed to his side, realizing at that moment that Ayanokouji maintained this strange posture because there was a girl with a frightened look beneath him – Meili.
'Is Ayanokouji trying to protect Meili?'
Thinking this, Emilia bit her lip tightly and stared at the remaining Demon Beasts around her.
"I will never, ever forgive you!"
She raised her hand, and countless large ice cones appeared from the sky, piercing towards the Demon Beasts' bodies.
Although Emilia was kind-hearted, she would never endanger the people around her.
The ice cones fell from the sky, piercing the bodies of the Demon Beasts. Blood flowers bloomed in the already dead forest, and many of the remaining Demon Beasts turned and fled.
"Wow, this method is so boring." Elsa said with a smile.
Emilia ignored her. Although Elsa was a famous assassin who had wanted to kill her not long ago, she was now nominally part of their own camp, and in her eyes, Elsa was genuinely protecting Ayanokouji.
"Ayanokouji, Ayanokouji! How are you?!"
"I'm fine... Where are the children? How is Meili?" Ayanokouji asked with difficulty.
"They've been saved by Rem, and no one is hurt... Although it seems they've been cursed, it will be easily lifted if Betty is summoned later." Emilia said quickly. "Meili is also fine."
"Brother Ayanokouji!" Meili asked anxiously from the side, reaching out and holding Ayanokouji's fingers tightly.
"It's okay." Ayanokouji nodded.
"Ayanokouji, don't talk for now and have a good rest. Even though there are no fatal injuries, your wounds aren't light. I'll give you rough treatment first, then let's head back to the village!" Emilia said with concern.
Ayanokouji turned slightly, his eyes fixed on Emilia. At this moment, her face was full of anxiety and worry, and she was taking care of him. He knew that his plan had succeeded.
All the scenes earlier were carried out together by the three of them. The goal was to make it look like they were risking their lives to save those children, to gain the trust of others in Emilia's camp, and Emilia's trust in Ayanokouji would surely reach a higher level.
'As long as they let down their guard against me, then I can control the entire group little by little.'
The scene changes. At this moment, the children and Ayanokouji had been brought back to the village. Now the children had woken up one by one. They didn't suffer any real trauma, while Ayanokouji, who had sustained several serious injuries, was still being treated.
"Brother Ayanokouji!"
The children all ran towards Ayanokouji. They heard about how he had rushed into the forest to save them.
"Ayanokouji-sama, your actions were too reckless!" Rem said beside him, but there was a smile on her face.
After seeing his actions, she became wary of him now accompanying Emilia using healing magic on Ayanokouji.
All around them, the space suddenly distorted, a whirlpool-like portal slowly opened, and a petite girl with long cream-colored hair jumped out of it – Beatrice. Then Ram, Roswaal, and the others also followed.
"How are you, Rem?"
Ram ran anxiously to Rem's side and asked.
It was because Ram used Clairvoyance ability to see what was happening in the village that she immediately contacted Roswaal and pleaded to come here.
"We're all fine, the Demon Beasts have been driven away... The villagers who were injured have been healed, and the other children seem to be cursed."
Rem said to Ram, while she couldn't help but turn around and direct her gaze at Ayanokouji.
"Ayanokouji-sama was seriously injured while protecting the children. Emilia-sama and I are treating him, and it will take time...."
"Was he injured while protecting the children?" Ram turned and her eyes focused on Ayanokouji.
She didn't expect that the other party, who looked so indifferent, would take such a risk to save the children.
"Really, you clearly have no abilities, but you still do dangerous things like this, you're completely overestimating your capabilities!"
Beatrice folded her hands in front of her chest, looking at him with a very arrogant expression, but there was a hint of concern in her eyes.
"I told you you're foolish, but I didn't expect you to be this foolish. But for the sake of signing a temporary contract with you, I'll help you a bit."
Beatrice raised her hand and cast healing magic on him. In an instant, all the wounds on Ayanokouji's body were healed.
In terms of healing magic, it was clear that Beatrice was far above Emilia and Rem.
"You're healed, and the curse on you has also been lifted. Really, you're just causing trouble for Betty. You clearly have no such abilities, but you still risk your life." Beatrice looked proud. "If others knew that Betty's contractor died without any explanation, Betty would be embarrassed! I'll go check on the others, and I'll teach you a lesson later!"
After that, Beatrice went to see the children to check on their situation and remove their curses.
'You really left the mansion. Although you seem arrogant, are you actually a very kind character?' Ayanokouji thought to himself.
Although Beatrice seemed to have a very ordinary relationship with others besides Puck, not ready to contribute to the throne struggle, judging from her current performance, she truly had tremendous utilizable value.
Ayanokouji slowly looked around. After being attacked by Demon Beasts, this village was in a state of disrepair. As a result, many people were injured, and many families were even torn apart.
"There are still remnants of Demon Beasts in the forest, right?" Roswaal asked, looking around, with a hint of doubt in his eyes.
"Yes, Roswaal-sama, and I saw the barrier at the edge of the forest has been destroyed." Rem said slowly, "I don't know if it's man-made or for other reasons."
The barrier in the village was actually ordered by Ayanokouji to be secretly destroyed by Elsa. However, because he desperately saved the children in this incident and was seriously injured, no one suspected him.
"I will eliminate the other Demon Beasts, and Ram will assist Rem in settling here." Roswaal said slowly, then used flying magic to go to the forest.
After Roswaal left, other villagers came to Ayanokouji one after another. The village chief stood in front, and the children's families stood beside him. They all heard about how he had bravely rushed into the forest and saved their children.
"Thank you so much, Ayanokouji-sama... You are the hero of our village!" The village chief said respectfully to Ayanokouji, "Although the village has been destroyed... But whatever Ayanokouji-sama needs, we will do our best."
Ayanokouji shook his head: "I am not the true hero. All this is Emilia's doing."
He released Emilia's body.
The somewhat scratched magical cloak lost its visual blocking effect, and Emilia's face appeared before everyone.
"Ayanokouji!"
The sudden movement made Emilia panic. Even though she was wearing the cloak on her body now, it had no effect.
After everyone saw Emilia's beautiful face, they did not have any pity for her, but fear and disgust appeared on their faces for a moment.
"That Half-Elf..."
Although they were residents of Roswaal, the villagers still regarded Emilia, who bore a resemblance to Satella, as an unpleasant symbol.
Some even blamed Emilia for the Demon Beast invasion.
"You may have a bad prejudice against Emilia, but you must have seen how she fought desperately to protect you, and it was on her orders that I went out to save those children." Ayanokouji said slowly.
Although Emilia was so afraid of verbal slander and hostile looks from others, this was a step that had to be taken, especially since she needed the support of her own people, which was crucial to compete with the other candidates.
"Ayanokouji..." Emilia was slightly confused.
She never asked him to save the children. It was his own action, yet he directly praised her.
Ayanokouji continued, "If it weren't for Emilia, this could have been a disaster. These children, including myself, would have been in danger. This must be acknowledged."
Hearing his words, the villagers looked at each other. Although they were very afraid of Emilia, in their eyes, everything Ayanokouji said was true, and they all would have been killed by the Demon Beasts.
Petra and the other children also ran towards Emilia, gently holding her hands.
"Thank you, thank you, Sister Emilia!"
Children have the simplest thoughts; their values and views of the world are not yet mature. They did not resent Emilia's identity, especially since she was considered their playmate not long ago.