Chapter 517, Section 516: Aiding, the One Being Targeted
"Honey, you actually really like having your forehead rubbed like this, don't you?"
"Ina, why can you always read my mind?"
"This is the intuition of lovers!"
...
The playful yet gentle words still seem to echo in my ears.
Alama snapped out of the fleeting memory and saw Inanna, who was constantly being teased and cuddled in his arms.
In an instant, the way my daughter turned her head and smiled as she teased Puji overlapped with the image of my wife in my memory.
However, besides being touched, I felt mostly annoyed with that little puji.
He didn't even dare to think about what his wife would think if she came back to life and saw that he had raised their only daughter to this state...
When Alama first learned of Inanna's disappearance, he was shocked, thinking that the demons had found an opportunity to harm Inanna.
This idea is actually quite correct. In response to Inanna, the Demon Clan did send two groups of assassins after the war to replenish the Mushroom Garden with high-quality D-rank personnel.
Using the markings to connect, Alama immediately tried to locate Inanna's position. Initially, he was unlucky and encountered a broken crystal that showed the location was in the north. It wasn't until the second crystal that the location was displayed correctly, pointing to the Puji Dungeon in the south.
However, on his way to Mushroom Capital, he received news that Inanna was safe and sound.
After thinking it over, he decided not to turn back, but instead to see his daughter.
Unexpectedly, after meeting, Inanna took the initiative to express her desire to go to the mountains to communicate with the dwarves.
Alama guessed that this was probably the wish of the mushroom tribes, perhaps they wanted to make contact with the dwarves.
This is not an unacceptable request. Moreover, the kingdom is currently planning to deepen its cooperation with the dwarves and elves and strengthen its alliance, so it would be convenient for Inanna to accompany the delegation.
only……
Seeing that Inanna's hand never stopped touching the pouch even while she was talking to her, Alama pondered for a moment and slowly asked, "You spent more than ten days in the dungeon this time... how was your harvest?"
"Look, I have a new friend!" Inanna said, holding up the Sword Saint who had given up struggling.
“That’s good, but…” Alama hesitated for a moment before saying, “You know that your status is more important now than before, and countless eyes are watching you, some with good intentions and some with bad intentions. I can’t help but worry about you acting alone like this. If there were more reliable protections… for example, having trustworthy people by my side all the time, I would feel much more at ease.”
He paused, then softened his tone: "Among the young people you usually interact with, are there any you feel are particularly reliable and capable of taking on this task?"
“Yes!” Inanna answered without hesitation, “Number Four, Number Ten, and Number Fourteen, they’re amazing! With them around, I dare to go anywhere!”
In fact, Inanna wanted to say that there was nothing to worry about with the boss around, but Lin Jun wouldn't let her say that.
Upon hearing this, Number Four immediately jumped to the table: "That's right, that's right! Anyone who wants to hurt her will have to step over my dead body first!"
Alama remained silent for a moment.
“I mean…humans,” he said, choosing his words carefully, “like your former adjutant Warren. That kid was reliable and cared a lot about you. If you could have someone like that by your side…”
“Warren is indeed reliable, but isn’t he busy training the Puji Legion?” Inanna tapped her chin thoughtfully. “If I absolutely need someone to accompany me… how about Aidin? He’s very skilled in illusion magic!”
Inanna was thinking that Alama was going to arrange a bodyguard for him. Rather than having his father arrange someone he didn't know, it would be better to find someone like Aidin, who was both a member of the Mushroom Garden and an acquaintance with whom he had worked several times.
"Aidin?"
Finally, I dug out a report from a corner of my memory, submitted by the butler Eric a long time ago, about Inanna's condition, which mentioned the name Edin.
A fallen nobleman, a diamond-level illusionist.
But none of that matters.
The important thing is that, if he remembers correctly, this guy is already over forty, not much younger than him!
"Isn't there... a younger candidate?" Alama tried to keep her voice steady.
“Aidin is fine,” Inanna blinked, completely missing the implication. “Father, don’t worry, Aiding’s stamina is definitely up to par!”
She was referring, of course, to the physical strength required for a long journey.
Click—
The solid wood chair armrests cracked under Alama's unconscious grip.
...
Aidin, who was originally preparing to thoroughly test his large-scale illusion device in the far north, suddenly received the mission to accompany the delegation on a visit to the Dwarf Mountain.
This job, which lasted for one or two months, made him quite depressed.
Fortunately, the boss promised to allocate special supplies to support his illusion experiments after his return, which greatly relieved his frustration.
For working people, unexpected business trips are inevitable.
There was just one thing he couldn't understand.
Why did the Duke of Alama, whom he met for the first time, seem to harbor some kind of malice in his eyes, as if he wanted to devour him alive, despite his polite smile?
But something doesn't make sense. I was clearly well-mannered, polite, and even had a decent appearance... Where did I offend this person?
Alama's gaze was like that of a fierce tiger, putting immense psychological pressure on Aidin.
A week later, when the kingdom sent a professional negotiation team and accompanying guards to their positions, the team set off, and Aidin, who had lost weight under the pressure, was finally relieved.
The team will traverse the Scarecrow Abyss and negotiate future cooperation with the elves and dwarves.
Since the Dwarf Mountain is not within the creep area, Sword Saint Puji will escort the party all the way until the return trip, when he will leave the party to explore the Scarecrow Abyss again.
The Sword Saint naturally had no objection to walking a bit further to protect his niece.
Unfortunately, looking at the entire team, there wasn't anyone suitable to practice with.
...
"Your Grace." After Inanna left, Far approached Alama, who was also about to return.
He came to inquire about how to deal with the "Guogu Cult".
He had mentioned this to the Duke the day before Alama arrived.
In his subsequent conversations with the mushroom tribe members, Alama also tried to subtly probe their intentions.
However, the mushroom tribe seemed completely unaware of the matter, as if it had nothing to do with them.
But... just because we don't know now doesn't mean we won't know in the future.
Allowing it to spread Puji worship is certainly not acceptable, but directly defining it as a cult and eradicating it, even if it is truly unrelated to the Mushroom Clan, could still negatively impact relations between the two sides.
The kingdom can no longer exist without Puji; that's the cold reality.
"Arrest the key members, but do not put them on trial or torture them; focus on limiting their spread."
"If anything is found that is related to the 'Hand of the Dead'...?"
"Then kill them!"
There are differences between cults, and the Hand of Demise is clearly the worst kind!
(End of this chapter)
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