The paladins exchanged glances, and seeing that Her Highness had disembarked from the carriage and followed the man into the village, they had no choice but to follow as well.
The village dwarves didn't seem surprised by Maggie's appearance, and the village chief even showed a very welcoming attitude.
"It is truly an honor for our village that Her Highness has graced us with her presence."
The dwarf village chief had a white beard and a kind face. He was only about as tall as Maggie's shoulder. If it weren't for their sturdy build, Maggie would have mistaken them for human children.
Aside from being a little shorter, their appearance is not much different from that of humans.
"It was I who invited Her Highness to stay in the village for a couple of days. Village Chief, please don't find it troublesome."
The man in the leather jacket crossed his arms and shouted loudly to the village chief from a short distance away.
"I know, I know! You brat! Would I say anything out of line to the Holy Maiden? You don't need to worry about me!"
The village chief's face darkened instantly, and he turned to the man, laughing and cursing.
"Who knew you? I do remember you from before..."
The man had no intention of giving the village chief any face and was about to tell him embarrassing stories, but of course, he was interrupted without hesitation by the village chief.
"Stop, stop, stop! Don't make me lose face in front of Her Highness the Holy Maiden, you brat, I'm really scared of you."
The village chief looked helpless and waved his hand at the man, as if to say, "Stop talking, it's impolite to say anything more."
Maggie watched the man interact with the dwarf village chief with such familiarity that the dwarves in the village couldn't help but chuckle. Even the paladin and nun behind her couldn't help but secretly laugh.
It seems this man either grew up in the village or is very familiar with this place.
Maggie made a silent judgment in her mind.
Seeing this, the man wisely refrained from continuing and instead changed the subject.
"Village chief, arrange a few rooms for Her Highness the Holy Maiden and her people. Her Highness will be staying here for two days, so don't be stingy."
The village chief was speechless, and his expression seemed to suggest he wanted to swear, but with Maggie still around, he could only swallow his words and gesture for the man to leave.
"You don't need to tell me! Just leave and stop bothering me."
The man shrugged, realizing he had achieved his goal, and didn't linger any longer.
Before leaving, he merely raised an eyebrow at Maggie and secretly mouthed something.
Maggie's expression remained unchanged, but she clearly understood what the man wanted to say to her: "Come see me tonight."
Such ambiguous words might have made Maggie think he was being a pervert if it were anyone else, but on his incredibly upright face, no romantic thoughts could arise.
Maggie silently withdrew her gaze and waited for the village chief to send someone to arrange rooms for them.
Even though the room was rather low, the paladins all had to bend over when they entered, except for her.
Because she's too short now...
The moment Maggie stepped into the house, tears welled up in her eyes.
She will definitely sleep well from now on and grow tall. She will never suffer such humiliation. How can she be about the same height as a dwarf? It's too depressing.
"Your Highness, this..."
The paladin responsible for protecting Maggie was somewhat embarrassed, glancing at the dwarf village chief before hesitating to speak.
"It's alright, I have a personal attendant who can protect me."
Maggie could see through his thoughts. She had even encountered two assassination attempts in the palace before, and the paladins had failed to protect her, which was a serious dereliction of duty. Now, in this strange village, she needed to be even more vigilant.
It would be quite dangerous to let her stay in a room alone so hastily.
However, as a saintess, Maggie needs her own space and absolutely cannot live with a man.
The paladin hesitated because he had taken this into consideration, but it would be disrespectful to tell the village chief that he was worried about her safety, so he could only hint at it tactfully.
Maggie's words absolved them of responsibility, allowing her to take charge of the rest herself.
“Alright, Your Highness, I will send people to protect you outside your house.”
The paladin breathed a sigh of relief, left those words, and departed.
Maggie watched him leave and muttered to herself that she didn't actually need someone to protect her outside. She still had to sneak out occasionally, and it would be troublesome if someone was at the door.
...
As night fell, Maggie thought she would have to climb out the window to leave, but to her surprise, the man appeared right outside her window. His huge, dark figure stood there, startling Maggie.
Maggie calmed herself, reached out and pushed open the window, stared at the man expressionlessly, and asked in a low voice.
Is that Gillian?
She had guessed the man's identity that afternoon, but after racking her brains, Maggie could only think of Gillian, a blood hunter, who had some connection with her. So, this man probably knew Gillian, and was more likely sent by her.
"Hmm? The president is right, Her Highness the Saintess is indeed very clever."
A look of surprise flashed across the man's eyes, which quickly turned into a sigh of relief. Although he was praising Maggie, he seemed to admire Gillian more than he praised her.
"Wasn't it Gillian who had you tell Perkin to give her the signal that Lilia attacked me last time?"
Maggie continued to guess calmly, though she used declarative sentences instead of guesses. The clues in her mind were connected, making it easy for her to arrive at the correct conclusion.
"!"
This time, the man stopped talking and looked at Maggie with a strange expression, as if he were looking at a monster.
It's normal to guess that Gillian sent him to deliver the intelligence, since the Blood Hunter Guild isn't very complicated and there are almost no disloyal members from top to bottom.
But all he told Maggie's personal attendant was that "a high-ranking vampire will attack the saintess tonight," and that was all.
I never imagined that Maggie would even know who the vampire who attacked her was.
This is simply unreasonable.
Even he and the chairman only learned that the female vampire who made the move was named Lilia after they went to the vampire's lair.
"Ahem, Her Highness is right."
The man recovered from his shock and cleared his throat to cover up his embarrassment before continuing.
Thank you.
Maggie glanced at the man up and down, but unfortunately couldn't guess who he was. He was probably a character not mentioned in the comics, otherwise she would definitely remember him.
"name."
She didn't intend to feign politeness with the Blood Hunter Guild members. Pretending was tiring enough as it was. Anyway, given Gillian's personality, she had saved her once, and unless there was an absolute conflict of interest, she definitely wouldn't turn against her.
Now that Gillian is the president of the Blood Hunters, she has secured this cooperation.
"Jasper, an A-rank hunter from the Blood Hunter Guild."
Jasper also mentioned his rank, which was higher than Maggie had expected. It seemed that the Blood Hunter Guild only had Gillian as an S-rank hunter.
I didn't know she was the president before, but now I suddenly understand why she was able to get the title of S-class ace hunter even though the strength she displayed that day wasn't extremely high.
Because in the comics, the leader of the Blood Hunter Guild is a very mysterious figure.
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