Fiancé
After listening to Leylin’s declaration, Tiff glanced at him with a serious look. It resembled the sharp gaze of a hawk, as if he was trying to pierce through the defense of the divine power to see Leylin’s true form.
“I follow my God’s will!” Tiff disappeared into mid-air after finished his sentence, and everything that had just occurred seemed like an illusion.
‘He has magic abilities similar to a Chosen of my original form, and he’s a high-ranking ranger or thief...’ Something flashed across Leylin’s eyes as he headed back to Gloomwood Castle.
He wasn’t worried in the least about having his identity leaked. After all, his divine powers were enough to keep everyone in the dark. Even if Tiff eventually found out that he was Leylin Faulen, he would be under the impression that Leylin had received favour from his original form and had divine powers bestowed upon him.
‘Well, now that I have Tiff I can launch many of my plans...’ Though it was already confirmed that Leylin would take over all of Beelzebub’s followers, he still needed someone to take over the operation and carry out the work of a commander. It looked like Tiff was very suitable for that position.
Apart from being sufficiently powerful, he had good leadership abilities as well. If the conditions were right in the future, he wanted to nurture Tiff into his first pope.
“Pouring power into the natives, and allowing then to adapt and change into a form that is accepted in the World of Gods... This is a very good issue to pursue.” Leylin had a profound look in his eyes.
Through his short time with Tiff just now, Leylin had already learnt much from the energy that emitted off his body. It had given him a general direction for his plan to induct Magi into the World of Gods.
“This method of forcibly pouring power into a subject should have failed for sure. My success with Tiff was a fluke, and should be considered a rare case.” Given his experiments in various worlds, Leylin was sure of this, “Thus, I’ll still have to observe this specimen, and test how it will change under different circumstances...”
Leylin immediately ducked into an alleyway. When he reappeared, he had already returned to his appearance of a mercenary.
“Well, I guess I can only scare people with my divine form...” Leylin sighed and returned to the inn.
“I, Rafiniya, a high-ranked knight, successor of the way of the knight, pledge my life to fight against evil.”
Before he stepped into the door, the young female knight’s voice could already be heard and that gave Leylin an immediate migraine.
“What’s going on?” He walked in suspiciously before seeing a fully-armoured Rafiniya raising the knight sword in her hand in a pledge.
“Oh! Heavens! Ley you’re finally back!” Old Pam waved his hand at the side and said, “This lady knight here was all ready to fight upon hearing that there were traces of devil worshippers in the castle. No one was able to persuade her....”
Hera, who was standing beside Old Pam, couldn’t help but smile helplessly. As for Yalani, she had already had enough of everyone and escaped to her room.
“Don’t those devil followers run rampant at night? I want to rescue the innocent commoners from the hands of these devils! Ley, let’s do it together, shall we?” Rafiniya spoke righteously, but unfortunately she seemed to have grown more sensible, as she was ready to drag the powerful-looking Leylin along.
“My dear Miss...” Leylin was rendered speechless too, “Look at the time now, please rest soon!”
Honestly speaking, why would he go against his own men? Were Rafiniya to go alone, it would probably end up with him saving her instead of her saving the world. She just might have ended up repenting her choices from within the stomachs of those worshippers.
“Rest? The people of the city are currently suffering from the devastation of devils and you want me to rest?” Rafiniya looked holy and staunchly declared, “None of you shall stop me!”
“Then, do you still remember the rule that all knights need to abide by? To keep their promises?” Leylin sat down, and even had the mood to ask the servants for a pot of red tea and some snacks. After all, he had been so busy the whole night that he ought to have some rest.
“Knight Commandment 54: I must comply with the contract and keep my promises and oaths!” Rafiniya was rather familiar with that.
“Good! So don’t forget, you’re still under Hera for now!” Leylin wiped his lips gracefully with the napkin, “What if your employer decided to leave the castle tomorrow?”
“That’s right! Rafiniya, I’ll be leaving tomorrow to head towards the Dambrath Kingdom!” Hera caught on to Leylin’s acting real quick and continued the show and spoke meekly, “You won’t abandon me and my sister, would you?”
“I-” Rafiniya froze, the two knightly virtues of defending the just and keeping her promises circling her mind. She looked very conflicted.
Hera only managed to thank Leylin after they’d managed to send Rafiniya back to her room, “This is all thanks to you, Ley! If not I’m really afraid of what Rafiniya would have done.”
“Don’t mention it, I wanted to leave earlier too. After all, anything that has the least bit of contact with the devils will always be problematic..” Leylin was speaking against his conscience, but it received agreements from both Hera and Old Pam. The horrible image of the devils had long been deeply ingrained into the minds of commoners by the gods.
This was especially true of Hera, Hera who decided to give up on her original plans to rest. There were still many cities they could rest in on the way, and they didn’t necessarily have to stay here and deal with the devils. Even if Leylin hadn’t mentioned it first, Hera had plans of leaving earlier.
“Then, I guess, goodnight everyone! We’re leave here tomorrow, as soon as possible!” Leylin rose to bid them all goodnight, but he was smiling in his heart. Due to his interception, the activities of the devil followers had already been stopped. However, he didn’t have to mention that to them.
......
The next day, a well-supplied mercenary team hit the road. Rafiniya sat alone on Nick and led the way with a sulky expression on her face. Hera and the others were sensible enough to not disturb her.
Hera seemed to have learnt her lesson and did not hire any more mercenaries. She only found a more down-to-earth horsekeeper and a horse carriage. It seemed as if she had placed all of her trust and safety in Leylin.
“After we pass Gloomwood Castle, we will reach the central plains of Dambrath Kingdom, which is also the most important agricultural base. The king has gathered most of the military force here and the security of this place is generally great.”
Honestly, Leylin thought that if the sisters were bold enough, it would be completely safe to continue the journey with just a few servants. But they were evidently shocked by the ogres previously, and would rather raise the commission than leave Leylin’s side.
“But to be able to hire a high-ranked knight and a rank 10 wizard with this price, it’s still considered not bad.” Leylin didn’t have any other opinions. He didn’t feel pressed for time currently. After all, whatever plans he’d left behind were enough to stall those paladins for a long time.
It was definitely impossible for the devil worshippers to face up against paladins, but they could indeed admirably fulfil the task of delaying them without showing any traces of themselves. This was sufficient time for Leylin to reach the Dambrath Kingdom with no worries, and he could even start planning his next step with ease.
Thus, he was currently in a relaxed state and even had the mood to tease Rafiniya. Wasn’t it the duty of a devil to push a pure and resolute person to hell? Though Leylin only held the memories of an Archdevil, he wouldn’t mind giving it a try.
As expected, everything was like what Leylin had predicted. After entering the central plains, the security of the surroundings became much better and they could see little villages along the sides of the roads. There were even standby guards and patrolling militia.
Large-scaled bandit organisations would not be able to survive here. As for ogres and other dangerous beasts? They were wiped out by the king’s men long ago. The only few exceptions that Leylin and gang met were small-scaled bandit groups with fewer than 20 members. Even Old Pam could face them, not to mention Rafiniya.
Days later, the outline of a huge city started showing in the horizon.
“We’re finally here! Dambrath’s capital!” Hera pulled the curtain of the carriage to the side, and excitement filled her eyes. If not for Leylin and the rest, she and her younger sister might have already died on their way here.
“Dambrath Kingdom, it is rumoured that the first generation king killed an evil dragon along with his followers and distributed the earnings from the dragons to the commoners. From then on, he built a city and developed it into a kingdom.”
Rafiniya couldn’t help but show signs of admiration, yet Leylin found it funny. Stories that praised kings like these were nothing out of the ordinary, their sole purpose to make these kings seem more divine and lawful. Well, those civil servants could say anything they wanted, but Leylin would not believe a single world they said.
“Killing an evil dragon? This isn’t even an environment that dragons favour...” But obviously, no one cared nor did they hear Leylin’s grumbles. Even Yalani peeped her head out of the carriage to check out the surroundings, and listened to Rafiniya’s story with glee.
After they’d all reached the capital, Hera brought the horse to an aristocratic area on the east and they arrived in front of a prestigious mansion,
“We were able to reach the capital safely all thanks to you guys! Thank you for all of your protection along the way, my fiancé and I will definitely repay you!” Suddenly, the normally quiet Yalani spoke up, with a trace of arrogance on her face.