Pillar of Yita

When Xiesta ended the combat with a final elbow strike, knocking down the last Dragon Worshipper, the brief skirmish in the woods came to an end.

The four Dragon Worshippers weren’t of high Level. Miss Maid alone took down two of them, Parker shot one who tried to flee, and Fang Hong and Red Leaf worked together to subdue the remaining one.

Fang Hong dragged the Dragon Worshipper, who had been nearly beaten to death by Red Leaf, to the side and asked a few simple questions, presumably about some information related to the Obelisk within Traveler’s Swamp, but gained little.

All of them were Zealots, utterly obstinate and obtuse, and aside from spewing vicious curses, he could hardly extract any useful information.

Fang Hong could only frown as the man breathed his last.

It was then that Miss Hilveld approached him, and said, ”Don’t lose heart, it’s not all for naught.” She pressed down her skirt and squatted, efficiently flipping over the corpse and rifling through each pocket in turn.

Other than a few meaningless letters, there was nothing else of value.

The body and letters soon turned into specks of light, leaving behind some belongings.

The noble girl disdained such items, picking up the silver coins and copper coins with her slender fingers and tossing them to Fang Hong to handle. He clumsily scrambled to collect them all.

He then asked insincerely, ”Miss Hilveld, won’t you take some of the Spoils of War?”

Miss Hilveld covered her mouth with a laugh, squinting her eyes at this foolish fellow.

This guy was as poor as a ’Ravenhold Adventurer’, a derogatory term used by people in the Royal Capital for those young individuals from the central region of the Kingdom who set out with nothing but zeal. Yet, she found such people somewhat endearing.

Finally, Fang Hong asked, ”So, how can you say it was not all for naught?”

Miss Hilveld thought for a moment: ”I generally understand these people, obstinate and rigid in thought, or thinking there is no need to pretend, but they unwittingly reveal a lot of information.”

”A lot of information?”

”Lying is a delicate art, especially in organizing language. Captain, you should Recall the interrogation process. Did that man not hesitate from the very beginning?”

”Indeed, when I asked him about the Obelisk, that guy didn’t even blink an eyebrow and just kept cursing me.” Fang Hong self-mockingly quipped.

But his brows soon furrowed again, and after a moment, he somewhat realized, ”Wait, are you saying they really didn’t know?”

Miss Hilveld smiled slightly: ”Reflect more?”

Fang Hong shook his head: ”Actually, that’s normal, I had no expectations that they would know anything.”

He thought for a moment and then continued, ”...Fox probably knows much more than these folks, but his Level is too high. That guy left a false identity at the Elpaxin Artisan Association that is even higher than Red Leaf’s Level, his real Level is at least around Level 20. If it weren’t for Parker having that poisoned Dagger, I really wouldn’t dare set such a bold trap.”

Miss Hilveld gently shook her head and told him, ”These are just superficial pieces of information, don’t get distracted by appearances when thinking.”

”Superficial?”

”I remember you are good at analysis, Captain. The discussions about this mission previously were quite brilliant. It’s the same with people. Why don’t they know? Think about it more carefully?”

Fang Hong’s brows locked together again: ”Because they are just underlings? Wait, let me think...” He took out the Zealot’s Mark of Sacrifice and scrutinized it closely.

Because of this Mark, Atira’s brother’s death was undoubtedly related to the Dragon Worshippers, but these people seemed completely clueless about the Obelisk, which seemed beyond simply having a low rank.

Minor characters might have limited knowledge of high-level plans and purposes, but as long as they were involved in related events, they should not be completely ignorant.

Their prior behavior seemed less like deliberate concealment and more like complete ignorance of the plans behind the Obelisk. Could it be that these people were actually not related to Atira’s brother’s death?

”These people, and those Dragon Worshippers who might have killed Kid, are actually two groups?” After a while, Fang Hong reacted, asking with some surprise.

Miss Hilveld shook her head: ”Not necessarily. They are all Dragon Worshippers, all serve Nikopolas, so they can’t be completely unrelated, can they?”

After some thought, Fang Hong summarized, ”So, these are two unrelated plans. What exactly are the Dragon Worshippers arranging in Traveler’s Swamp that requires so much setup?”

Miss Hilveld smiled lightly: ”That’s the answer to another question. But see, we too haven’t come away empty-handed, have we?”

Fang Hong was taken aback, then felt a sense of clarity. He had never considered such a counterintuitive method of reasoning and couldn’t help but marvel at the noble girl: ”In our community, there is a famous saying, ’When an answer is contradictory, it often indicates you have found the key to the problem.’ Miss Hilveld, you are truly amazing.”

He genuinely felt convinced. Previously, it was also Miss Hilveld who, through Parker, reminded him to talk to Fox before taking action.

Without their venomous mouths, there would definitely not have been any valuable information to extract.