"Puck, stop looking!"
Emilia put a hand in front of her and blocked Puck with the other, not wanting him to see the scene in the sky.
In the previous scene, she and Beatrice were hugging Ayanokouji while he was sleeping.
Moreover, it was seen by everyone.
But she actually liked someone like Ayanokouji in the picture.
However, thinking carefully, Emilia had been watching everything from the perspective of the audience from beginning to end, and in the eyes of her other self in the picture, Ayanokouji was almost a perfect person.
If it were her, Emilia wouldn't be able to say no, the person in the picture was herself.
But putting aside her own problems, how should she face Betty when she returned to the mansion?
Puck deftly broke free from Emilia's hand, looked at her flushed and tangled face, and said with a smile:
"Don't worry, Lia. Even though I care about Betty too, in front of my little sister, I will still choose to support you."
"Puck..."
"After all, this is a once-in-a-lifetime event for you, Lia! I feel like someone like Ayanokouji is more suitable for you."
"Puck, shut up!"
❀❀❀
At Roswaal's mansion, Betty covered her face with her hands and swung her legs back and forth like a swing.
"Oh!"
She barked like a puppy.
❰❱SKY SCREEN❰❱
Unbeknownst to them, half a month had passed.
Ryuzu's clone had basically adapted to life in the mansion, but Echidna's clumsiness hadn't improved at all. Ayanokouji had also given up on this, and usually avoided asking her to do anything as much as possible.
During this period, Otto had also learned a lot from Roswaal, and now had the ability to handle many tasks.
The relationship between the inhabitants of the Sanctuary and the residents of Arlam Village had also become more harmonious. After the security and defense duties there were handed over to Garfiel, there was no need to worry.
Ayanokouji also acted as a qualified boyfriend and contractor. He took Emilia and Beatrice on several dates in the area, and even went to the edge of the forest where Emilia had once lived and witnessed the frozen ground in the forest.
After handling various problems, he was also preparing to return to the capital with some troops, not only to deal with the problems in the capital, but also to further report on the extermination of the Great Rabbit by Emilia's camp.
The people he planned to bring this time were Otto, Echidna, and Meili. Ayanokouji didn't choose to let Emilia and Beatrice go with him because he would be involved in many battles this time, it would cause him a lot of trouble.
Actually, there were many things that needed to be solved in this area.
Although the village had been renovated, the production technology inside was still insufficient. After Ayanokouji taught Emilia and the others more advanced technology, he then asked them to teach it to the villagers with patient guidance.
Not only that, he now also needed to prepare to further expand the camp's production line, and had also prepared design drawings for them to be responsible for building new production lines, and also developing the forest needed to be started. Roswaal's previous thinking didn't involve this valuable resource, so it hadn't been developed before, only now can this resource be fully utilized.
After the Sanctuary was liberated, more land could be developed.
Ayanokouji asked them to stay on the grounds of "you still have to deal with things in the area." He also left behind a special magic weapon. This was a prop taken during the crusade against the Witch Cult. It can be used for conversations between people at relatively close distances with all the video calls in the real world. However, this requires magic power support from both sides, so it is impossible to have unlimited conversations every day.
After reaching an agreement with both of them that they should talk to each other once a day at night, Ayanokouji finally took Otto and the others on a trip to the royal capital.
"Brother Ayanokouji finally took me with him this time!" An innocent smile appeared on Meili's face, which made no one think she was an assassin.
"I apologize for letting Meili stay at home all this time. It's time to take you out to play." Ayanokouji gently patted Meili's head.
But in fact, he was also thinking about the assassination organization behind Meili.
Initially, he thought that Meili and Elsa were sent by Roswaal to kill Emilia to test her. However, after investigating, he found that only Elsa had received this commission. Although Melli was Elsa's assistant, it wasn't because of Roswaal's work, but because of a direct order from the leader of the assassination organization, 'Mother'.
From the information obtained from Echidna, Ayanokouji learned about the relationship between the assassination organization and Mother. He might be able to use Meili's hand to contact Mother.
As long as he could talk to the Sin Archbishop, he could get more information about the Witch Cult and start planning to eliminate the Witch Cult.
Besides, Meili was also a very powerful fighter and might be able to play an extraordinary role. This is why Ayanokouji chose to bring her with him.
"And Meili can also see Elsa." He said calmly.
"Mm! I haven't seen Sister Elsa for a long time!" Meili showed a happy smile, but then cautiously looked at Echidna beside her.
Of course Echidna knew Meili's true identity, but now she was acting as Ryuzu's copy and had just arrived at Ayanokouji's camp, so Meili was a little wary of her and didn't fully trust her.
"Don't worry, Meili. She's different from other Ryuzu. You can trust her for now." Ayanokouji said slowly.
"Yes." Meili nodded, and stretched out her hand and looked at Echidna, "Then, you are Meili's friend!"
'Being considered a friend by a little kid.' Echidna complained in her heart, and couldn't help but think of Tyhpon, who was very similar to Meili in front of her.
"Dona, are you going to refuse a handshake from a little kid! That means you are a bad person! Are you going to be Typhon's enemy?" As soon as she thought about this, Typhon's voice rang out from Echidona's mind.
'What a double standard between good and evil.' Echidna said in her heart, she still had to continue to play her role well, then she took Meili's hand.
Meili's face smiled happily: "Meili has another friend!"
As far as Ayanokouji knew, Meili's concept of friends was a bit special. It can be used to refer to 'targets that can be killed directly without making them feel sick' at a certain time.
After almost a day of running, Ayanokouji and the others were very close to the royal capital. However, it was already very late, and there was almost no light visible outside, they decided to find an open place first to rest and camp for a while, and camp there. After all, they still had mountainous areas to climb, it was a bit dangerous to drive at night tomorrow before continuing.
But at this moment, the dragon carriage suddenly stopped. Echidna's original balance was very bad, and now she almost lost her balance and fell.
"As the Witch of Greed, I actually..."
And Ayanokouji protected Meili, he knew from the feeling of braking that something unexpected must have happened.
"Ayanokouji-sama!" Otto's slightly anxious voice came from the front.
Ayanokouji brought Meili and Echidna, who were about to faint, out of the dragon carriage. He saw a group of people blocking his way. Looking at these costumes, it was clear that they were bandits, about thirty in number.
"Strangely, we met a robber!" Otto said in panic. Over the years of doing business, he had also encountered some bandits and robbers, and he had narrowly escaped death being there.
However, Ayanokouji wasn't surprised by such a sight.
"This isn't necessarily a simple robbery." He said calmly.
Before he returned to the Royal Capital, he wrote a letter to Rom, telling her the date he would return to the Royal Capital. He also specifically mentioned in the letter that only he and his personal maid were coming this time, and Emilia and the others with strong combat abilities would not go together.
If anyone was hostile to him, this was the best opportunity to kill.
And this time they also met bandits by chance.
Although he wasn't 100% sure, it was most likely that these people were ordered to kill him.
Because this place is close to the royal capital, it is easy to be found by knights or guards. Average bandits would choose a more distant and secluded place, and it is unlikely to appear in this location.
But who exactly sent this force.
Ayanokouji didn't know, but he would soon find out.
"Hey, that's right! There is indeed a big fish!" The man who led said with a smile.
The people wearing bandit costumes had fierce faces and held weapons. They were undoubtedly a dangerous group.
Listening to the other party's words, Ayanokouji already knew who had ordered them to come here.
However, he was worried that he wouldn't be able to get anything from them if he asked them directly, so Ayanokouji decided to talk to them.
"Excuse me, gentlemen, can you let us go?" He asked, and at the same time he stretched out his hand to stop Meili who was about to move. Otto was so frightened that he hid behind Ayanokouji like a girl.
"Sorry, but we've been waiting here for this adventure for quite a while!" The leader said, the smile on his face became more obvious, and at the moment his eyes fell on Ayanokouji's face, as if confirming his appearance, "Although we have no hostility towards you, this place is close to the royal capital, and we don't want to kill if possible – but sorry, because of some special problems, at least you have to die."
"Have I offended my enemy? You should know who I am, right?" Ayanokouji narrowed his eyes and said, "Do you know what will happen if you attack me?"
"I know that you, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, are now a famous person in the royal capital – but the status of the person who gave us the order is no lower than yours. As long as you are killed, all our previous crimes can be erased." The man said.
'Does he have a high status in the royal capital? Can he also erase the crimes committed by prisoners?' Ayanokouji sharply caught this information, so he could further narrow down his scope: "Since I am going to die, at least tell me clearly who I have hurt."
Although he said this, there was no fear of death on his expressionless face, which made the bandits feel a little strange in their hearts. However, the other party only had a few people, and except for one, they weren't very useful at first glance. Besides the coachman, there were two little girls, who were no match for their group.
This was definitely a bluff.
The bandit leader still had a confident smile on his face: "Sorry, we don't know either. After all, we only contacted his subordinates."
"Aren't you worried about being wiped out?" Ayanokouji asked.
"It doesn't matter. After we finish the job, we can leave immediately. Even if the employer has ill intentions, the spoils we get from you and the commission from the employer will be enough." The waist with the cloth bag made a crisp sound inside, and there was no doubt that the bag contained holy gold coins.
"So it is." Ayanokouji shook his head, "So you don't know anything, so it's useless."
"What are you talking about?"
"Are they bandits in this era? They don't look any better than they did four hundred years ago."
At this moment, Echidna tilted her head in confusion, and reached out to touch the place where she had just been hit. The bandits' faces tensed as if they had seen something terrifying.