The next morning, Maggie came down the stairs and saw Lady Greta sitting upright at the dining table, the candlelight flickering in front of her, making her face appear even more beautiful.
"Oh, Your Highness, you have such boundless energy."
Greta looked surprised when she saw Maggie walk down the steps, as if she hadn't expected Maggie to wake up so early.
"Perhaps it's because the city lord mentioned yesterday that there would be a monster hunting competition today, and I was so excited that I got up so early."
Maggie turned her head to look at Greta, her tone gentle and smiling.
"It seems that today's demon-hunting competition must be interesting enough to live up to Her Highness's expectations."
Greta covered her mouth and chuckled softly. As Maggie walked to the dining table, she gently placed a glass of milk down.
Maggie glanced at the cup in front of her; like hers, it was filled with milk.
After breakfast, people were already waiting outside. Nesser and Perkin walked towards Maggie at the same time and stood behind her without saying a word.
"Your Highness, if you don't mind, I'd like to bring two personal attendants with me, wouldn't you?"
Maggie turned her head and said with a smile.
"How could I mind? Her Highness's safety is the most important thing."
Greta waved her hand.
Maggie remained silent the entire way. She knew that today's demon-hunting competition was a trap, but she also had her own purposes.
As luck would have it, Lord Greta also provided her with an opportunity to move around easily.
Otherwise, Maggie wouldn't have agreed so easily.
Outside the city, there was a large dense forest, where many noble ladies and gentlemen were already standing in the camp, chatting with each other.
Outside the tent were several horses that looked rather unusual, likely of a breed with a special bloodline.
With Maggie's arrival, the young men and women fell silent, their gazes fixed on her, mostly with respect, and a few with curiosity.
After all, even excluding the fact that Maggie is the Holy Maiden of Light, she is still the daughter of the Zefnia family. Regardless of her identity, she would be much more noble than the minor nobles in this small town.
"The dense forest is near the banks of the Lös River, and legend has it that mermaids roam here. If Your Highness is curious, you can take a walk along the river later and see if you will be pleasantly surprised."
Greta leaned closer to Maggie with a mysterious expression and pointed to the riverbank not far away.
The Lös River is a very large river, almost running through the entire Kingdom of Saint Na. It wouldn't be a lie to say that mermaids can be found there, but the area covered is a bit too wide.
Maggie inwardly grumbled and complained, but outwardly she still pretended to be surprised.
"Then I really need to take a closer look."
Seeing a mermaid is probably hopeless, but taking this opportunity, it's still possible to find the tomb of a false god nearby.
Thinking of this, Maggie suddenly turned her head to look at Perkin and sized him up.
"To be honest, my servant hasn't experienced much combat. Perhaps he could give this competition a try."
Maggie asked Greta with great interest.
"Oh? If Your Highness is so interested, how could I refuse? But I am merely Your Highness's attendant. Perhaps you should let us have the lead and not let us take first place so easily."
Greta's eyes lit up with joy, and she readily agreed.
Maggie also knew that having fewer guards around her made it easier to take action against her, and Greta couldn't possibly refuse this request.
"The city lord is joking; his strength is not necessarily greater than these people."
Maggie smiled. Her purpose was simply to get Perkin to find the tomb of the false god; she had no interest in the competition.
Furthermore, since this place can be used as a hunting ground, it means that there are basically no high-level monsters. Otherwise, if these pampered young masters and ladies were to get injured, their entertainment would turn into a tragedy.
Therefore, the idea of training Perkin is not a valid assumption.
"May I?"
After speaking with Lord Greta, Maggie glanced sideways at Perkin.
"Um."
Perkin slowly raised his head, his distinctive snake-like eyes locking onto Maggie once again, and softly responded.
but.....
Maggie discovered another incongruous aspect about Perkin.
She remembered that in the original comics, Perkin rarely looked directly at anyone, only when faced with danger or insurmountable difficulties would he look at the other person.
Moreover, in this situation, the opponent will ultimately only face one fate: death.
Only when facing her, Perkin would always stare straight at her, giving her a strange feeling that he was being treated like prey, ready to pounce and kill her at any moment, even though there was no murderous intent in his eyes.
She guessed that it was probably because his snake eyes were so unusual that he had this strange illusion.
Maggie thought, she hadn't mistreated this guy, so she couldn't just try to assassinate him now, could she?
"Sister! I want to go too!"
Nesser glanced at Perkins, then at Maggie, pursed his lips for a moment, and then spoke in a crisp voice.
"Hmm? Okay."
Maggie was taken aback by the call, and looked down at Nesser, who was only up to Perkin's waist. After a slight hesitation, she agreed to his request.
In truth, it wouldn't be convenient for her to bring these two along, but since Nesser is willing to go and have fun, then let's give it a try.
"I'm sure I can get first place!"
Upon receiving a positive answer, Nesser immediately became cheerful and lively, shining like a little sun, even brighter than the sun in the sky.
"I trust you."
Maggie's feelings for Nesser can be summed up in one word: doting.
Once everything was ready, Maggie watched Perkin and Nesser disappear into the dense forest before turning to the paladin beside her and speaking.
"Go, follow Nesser, and protect him."
The main reason they weren't told to follow Perkin was that he used dark magic, which would make it too easy for him to reveal his identity.
"This... Your Highness..."
The paladin clearly hadn't expected to receive such an order. He was supposed to protect the saintess, but instead he ended up protecting the servants behind her. Anyone would hesitate if they heard that.
“It’s safe here, no one will threaten me, but if something happens to Nesser, I will be heartbroken for a long time.”
Maggie is a master at playing the emotional card; once she softens her tone, almost no one can refuse her requests.
We should be extremely grateful to the original owner for leaving behind this face.
"All right."
The paladins hesitated for half a second, but seeing that Nesser's figure was about to disappear completely, they gritted their teeth and followed him.
"Her Highness really... loves this servant very much."
Greta's expression was somewhat strange as she spoke.
She probably couldn't believe it either, that Maggie would voluntarily reduce the number of people protecting her. Now there are only three nuns and five paladins left, less than half the number from before.
"Yes, I treat him like a younger brother."
Maggie didn't deny it; given how much importance she showed, it would have been strange if she hadn't.
The river in the distance seemed to be flowing more swiftly than before, with the water surging down from upstream turning into waves that crashed against the bank and splashed water.
If you look closely, you can see several patches of blood-red bursting open at the bottom of the water, which are quickly washed away.
The river occasionally carries the fishy smell and a faint scent of blood.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com