-- Plop.

In the distant hidden corners that the girl could not see, several hidden figures fell to the ground weakly, twitching their limbs and gradually losing their voice. Soon, a crack opened in the ground where they had fallen, like a mouth, and the remains of these men were "swallowed" into the ground - no one knew that in this barren wilderness there were several people who had died violently.

As for whether the "disappearance" of these people will attract the attention of those around them?

It's simply impossible.

“...... What the hell is going on, why are the assassinations against me so frequent all of a sudden?"

Lilier cautiously glanced at the sleepy girl beside her, and was secretly relieved to see that she didn't notice anything unusual. Anyway, she didn't want this innocent girl to feel too much pressure, Liliet herself was used to this kind of life, but this child would still be afraid, right?

But even Lilier, who had long been accustomed to the days remembered by her assassins, was puzzled by the frequent attacks of the past two days. In order to hide people's eyes, she deliberately did a lot of tricks, and finally left by taking the carriage of the freight caravan, and it stands to reason that her whereabouts were not revealed so quickly.

"Am I getting in the way of those guys?"

This is why only national-level organizations have such a trench, and if they are replaced by other "small" organizations, they may be able to withstand such attrition? If a target cannot be won again or again, few people will be stunned to hit the iron plate, let alone send them to death one after another like this.

is hostile and even hostile to Lilier. Now it's the upper echelons of a big empire. Lilier was quite aware of her existence. Again and again thwarted the plans of the endangered empire to divert its internal contradictions, despite the fact that the two countries are still in a peace agreement. When the empire is really cornered, it will inevitably tear up the agreement first.

Even if the population of the southern kingdom reaches saturation, there is still some room and time for relaxation, but the empire cannot. An empire with a big business can't enforce a ban on government decrees like the Southern Kingdoms. The parliamentary government of that year, because of magic, was knocked down from the altar and disappeared into history, and the aristocratic class that was suppressed was successfully revived. Regaining control of the empire - and one of the characteristics of aristocratic rule is that they are separate, seemingly united, but in fact they have their own evil intentions, and they are scattered.

Even if the reform of the New Deal can effectively change the country's predicament, once their own interests are involved, there is no possibility of understanding. Even if there are one or two aristocratic families who are unwilling to go along with the same stream, they can't make any waves in the big wave.

The frequent assassinations against Lilier over the years have come from the de facto rulers of this sub-empire. Obviously, they have failed again and again. However, they were not at all concerned about the losses of the Assassins (even if a considerable part of them were cultivated by them), and continued to carry out assassination operations at a high frequency. Sometimes, Liliel also doubted that they were calculating. Don't you want to use this to worry yourself too much and your heart rate is haggard to death......

"Uncle, I'll ask you something~"

Lilier opened the curtain and stuffed a few bits into the pocket of the chauffeur who was hurrying. The latter felt the heavy metal in his pocket, and his attitude suddenly became quite enthusiastic.

No one would have a hard time with a little money. Moreover. Now it's a pretty girl who talks to her, even though the coachman himself understands it. This kind of eldest lady who exudes a noble temperament in every gesture can't happen to herself, but overall she's still very happy, isn't it?

Beautiful, good-tempered, generous - the driver was very glad that he had been assigned to this job. At first, he also complained that this time he was responsible for bringing passengers instead of goods, and in the end he would receive less commission, but the accident of taking his car was for the rich and noble.

He also consciously restrained a trace of greed in his heart, usually it is okay to pit those ordinary people, but to play tricks in front of those noble children is tantamount to playing with fire - the nobles are angry, and they want to do something to vent their anger on themselves, and there is nowhere to reason when the time comes.

"Recently, is there anything different about the situation on the Empire's side than usual?"

As she asked the question, Liliet's attention was fixed on the coachman's face, and when she saw that the coachman's cheek twitched unconsciously, but she did not say anything, before he could say anything, Liliet shoved another piece of gold into the other man's pocket.

"Miss, you're a little ...... It makes me feel hot......"

The coachman couldn't help but smile bitterly, and now he found that it seemed that this beautiful errand was not as simple as he imagined - he asked himself if he still had at least a little IQ, and the aristocratic girl in front of him came up and asked a taboo question, combined with her very "knowing" posture, if he still thought that he was a lady who came out to play, then it would be in vain to blind the coachman's eyes that have been honed for more than 20 years.

It's not easy to get money from people of this status...... In other words, the vast majority of people don't want to have anything to do with them.

"If it's too hot, I can help you get rid of this trouble forever, right?"

“......”

The coachman suddenly felt a chill at his wrist, and in shock, he quickly looked at his hands, only to find that they were still on his body...... At that moment just now, he really thought that his hands had been chopped off on the spot!

"Rest assured, I'm not who you think I'm going to be - I'm just going to need to walk around the empire for some 'personal' reasons, so it's worth knowing some of the recent state of the country. ”

"For personal reasons...... If that's the case, then I'd suggest that you'd better come back as soon as possible - if you can, it's good to cancel your trip, you know, it's really not very peaceful over there lately. ”

"Oh? Is something really going on?"

The members of these caravans that traveled north and south were arguably the most well-informed civilians, and they were even better than those tavern shopkeepers who inquired. This conclusion was drawn from the mouth of this experienced coachman. And Liliet can't take it lightly.

"We also got the news from the guards at the place where the goods were dropped off the last time...... According to them. It seems that the empire is engaged in a great purge during this time, and quite a few people have their heads cut off. Or tied to the stake. Because we usually give them a lot of benefits, so we luckily got some reminders, and now we don't dare to be stationed in the city openly, but choose to unload and deliver outside the city gate. ”

Large-scale...... Purge action?

Lilia frowned, she didn't shy away from killing, but she couldn't accept the act of using a butcher's knife at civilians with impunity. Some of the situation in the empire in recent years, she can also understand it in the royal capital, but it is never possible to intuitively feel the suffocating depression and terror.

And from the voice of this coachman. But it was not difficult for Liliel to hear the hint of heartfelt fear.

"The last time it happened to be my turn to go into the city to inform the Chamber of Commerce to unload the goods, so I happened to pass by and saw a public trial...... It is inconceivable that the barbaric act of executing the death penalty on the spot without any justification after the reading of the indictment is unimaginable, and that a ...... will occur within the territory of an empire known for its long civilization."

Well. In fact, the southern kingdom was quite chaotic in the early years, but after the hard work of the previous generation of kings, it has already been greatly improved. And this coachman, apparently, did not pass earlier. The life of the barren and chaotic southern kingdom is now quite proud of the stability of its homeland.

"Could it be the scene of the execution...... Isn't it cruel?"

"Not really, anyway. We, the coachmen of the caravan, have been able to work for so many years and are still alive. We have always had to go through one or two robber attacks -- we have seen the kind of scenes of disembowelment and head blossoming in the middle of the fight, and we still have some resistance to blood. Seriously. Hanging and burning at the stake, the visual impact, is not so strong. ”

When the coachman said this, his face also changed slightly, and the emotions revealed did not match the endurance he just said, and he was clearly panicked.

"Seriously, just the words of burning at the stake and hanging...... It's not a cruel death sentence, and it doesn't scare an old driver like me. What really made me panic and didn't sleep for three days were the onlookers - you can't believe it if you haven't seen it with your own eyes, they are even crazier than the aristocratic lords in the audience of the gladiatorial arena!"

As if recalling a nightmare, beads of sweat oozed from the driver's forehead.

"It wasn't like watching an execution ceremony at all, it was ...... Yes, it was like some kind of festival was going on! Crazy, those people were completely crazy, I didn't dare to ask passers-by for even half a word!"

The coachman began to breathe heavily, and Liliel steadied himself to prevent his hand from slipping and losing control of the horse. After waking up, the coachman also clenched the reins in his hand with palpitations: "Let the eldest lady smile...... It's just that, when I think back to that time, I really feel like I fell into an ice cave in winter. ”

"It's not your fault, if it were me, I'm afraid it would be even worse than you, right?"

The coachman did not regard Liliet's answer as a polite remark - in his opinion, the suffocating atmosphere of terror was no longer something that could be changed by one's own abilities, even if this noble lady did not look like a vase shelf, after all, she was also a pampered eldest lady, and it was normal that she could not stand that atmosphere.

"Really, Miss, even if you have something to do, let's talk about it after a while. You also know that the relationship between our country and the empire has not been very good in recent times, and this is what if...... It's not under my crow's mouth - we big men are nothing more than a rotten life, and if we want to kill, we have to listen to the respect, but if something really happens to you, Miss, it's better to keep that 'last resort'......"

"I understand the reason...... Well, I'm going to have to think about what you're talking about, but I can't do it, so I'll have to postpone it for now......" Liliye thought about it as she pulled out another piece of gold and stuffed it into the coachman's pocket, "Thank you for your kindness, it's a little bit of heart." ”

......

Would Lilière really give up because of what the coachman had described?

She could roughly guess what kind of chaotic situation the empire was in today's empire, and it was thanks to this that the tragedy of the destruction of a city caused by Xia's rampage did not attract large-scale public attention. Right now, the terrible "Flame Demon" wandering in the territory of the empire has not yet caused a second disaster, and before the situation becomes irreparable, Liliye must get ahead of the imperial party and rescue Xia first!

After all, Natsu, who has lost his reason and consciousness, is mentally defenseless. Once it is breached on the physical level, the forbidden knowledge and technology she has mastered will fall into the hands of the enemy, and it will definitely cause a serious situation far more terrible than the destruction of one or two cities. Others don't know how terrible the power held by Xia is, and Liliye, who once fought alongside her, still doesn't understand?

"We're ...... now Are you going to enter the territory of the Empire?"

"Oh, are you awake?"

The girl braced herself up a little tiredly, and nodded to Lilier: "Well, I woke up just now—who made that uncle so loud." ”

Originally, the girl was in a light sleep, and the coachman, who was a little out of control, didn't pay attention to his voice at all, so the girl was naturally woken up by it.

"Is the village of the succubi actually in the territory of the empire?"

"No, although it used to be like that, after the old party of the empire carved out a base area, the village of the succubus is no longer under the control of the empire. Of course, since we're taking a caravan, we can't change it since their route is like that, can we?"

Speaking of this, Liliye was also helpless - she chose to travel with the car in order to avoid people's eyes, but she still couldn't hide it from the eyes and ears of the Empire, so that now she has to "pass" through the territory of the Empire. In order to avoid the innocent caravan being implicated, Lilier also had to be vigilant and always pay attention to the surroundings of the convoy.

"What's wrong?

Liliel noticed that the girl's face seemed to be a little too white—it was evidently a pale of the loss of blood.

"When I heard the uncle's words, I was just a little touched...... Because at that time, I was almost burned at the stake, ah......" (To be continued.) )