Natalia had noticed the unusual change in Liyakade’s eyes and felt even more certain that the girl was hiding some secret.
Although Liyakade and her companions had already rejected and warned her, she still intended to monitor them quietly during the journey.
However, just as Liyakade and the others were about to enter their tent, Field led the two of them toward Natalia.
‘Wait? What—what’s the situation?’
Natalia was startled.
She had only watched their argument with Vidar for a moment and had no intention of approaching them again.
Why were they suddenly coming toward her now?
‘My wariness and behavior toward them shouldn’t be that obvious right now. Could one of them possess magic that can read minds?’
‘No, that shouldn’t be it. If there truly was such magic, my original goal would have been exposed from the start.’
Natalia’s mind raced as she tried to process the situation, ultimately failing to understand why Liyakade and the others were walking toward her.
Nevertheless, she maintained a calm expression, prepared to adapt to whatever happened.
“Miss Natalia, was it?”
Field, wearing her golden mask, spoke slowly.
“Yes. Is there something you need help with?”
Natalia stood up and answered Field with neither arrogance nor humility.
Although she had been rejected by them earlier, she was still a member of the caravan’s guard.
It was perfectly normal for them to seek her out if they had a request.
“I am Feide. Didn’t you say earlier that you wanted to be our personal guard? We might need one now.”
Field did not give her real name but instead used an alias derived from it.
After all, she was a Princess; her true name was known by almost everyone in the Kingdom.
As for why Field suddenly wanted a personal guard, it was due to Vidar’s recent appearance.
Not only did Field feel this way, but both Liyakade and Alice agreed that Vidar had used lies to approach them with ill intent.
This made Field realize that there were still hidden threats within the caravan.
After all, Liyakade’s appearance was far too eye-catching, and Alice was a rare beauty as well.
Therefore, hiring a personal guard seemed necessary.
Field had chosen Natalia for two reasons.
First, Natalia was one of the few women among the caravan guards.
Since Liyakade and the others were also girls, having another woman as a guard felt safer and more reassuring.
Second, Natalia was a Sister and possessed significant strength.
Although the identity of a nun could be faked, Field did not believe anyone would dare to defy the Church in such a manner, let alone join a caravan as a guard with such boldness.
Her Level 35 status also made her a very formidable combatant among the caravan guards.
Compared to Vidar, Natalia was much more pleasing to the eye.
Since Natalia wanted to be their personal guard, Field decided to accept her request.
“Eh? Why—why so sudden?”
Natalia was somewhat lost at the sudden change, unsure of what Field was plotting.
“What? Are you unwilling?”
Field asked softly in return, her tone conveying a sense of indifference.
While she valued Natalia’s status as a nun, her impressive level, and her initial willingness to join them, she didn’t strictly need Natalia.
If Natalia was unwilling, Field would simply spend some gold coins to hire someone else.
“I’m willing! Of course I’m willing. It’s my honor to work for you, Lady Feide, ahaha.”
Seeing the situation, Natalia hastily agreed.
How could she let such a good opportunity slip by?
She couldn’t allow these strange people to actually cause any trouble.
“Then follow us. But before that, let me see your token as a Sister.”
One must always be cautious.
Although it was unlikely anyone would pretend to be a nun, Field still wanted to confirm.
After all, Natalia seemed to have strange motives for approaching them.
If she truly was a Sister, then her goals likely wouldn’t harm Liyakade and the others, which would allow Field to truly relax.
“A token?”
Natalia pulled a necklace from inside her breastplate.
Hanging from the chain was a medium-sized silver crucifix.
“Here it is, Lady Feide.”
As Natalia spoke, she injected Magic Power into the silver crucifix.
A blue glow slowly flowed into the cross, and a faint wisp of white light surged from it.
Snap!
In that moment, Liyakade suddenly took half a step back, snapping a branch beneath her foot.
The sound caused Alice, Field, and Natalia to all look at her simultaneously.
“Why… why is everyone looking at me? Aren’t we supposed to be checking Natalia’s token? Why look at me? I just slipped and stepped on a branch, that’s all.”
Liyakade swallowed hard and hurriedly explained to the three women.
She hadn’t experienced this in the game’s plot, so she hadn’t expected that injecting Magic Power into these Church tokens would produce a trace amount of Light Element.
It had caused a minor stress response while she was unprepared, and unfortunately, there had been a branch right under her foot.
Her accidental stumble had drawn everyone’s attention.
The three women looking at Liyakade each had their own thoughts.
Alice could naturally sense the Light Element within the crucifix, but it was only a tiny amount.
To think that even that would make Liyakade retreat half a step… what did Liyakade see when she looked at Alice, who was overflowing with Light Element?
Natalia felt that something was wrong with Liyakade but couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was.
In any case, she felt that staying alert toward Liyakade was the right course of action.
Field, meanwhile, thought things were going south.
Liyakade’s half-step back wouldn’t just make Natalia suspicious; it would likely make Alice continue to have doubts.
They had finally managed to escape that awkward atmosphere from before; she couldn’t let it revert now.
“Good, it is indeed a token of the Church. I believe you. Follow us.”
Seeing the situation, Field immediately took the initiative to break the stalemate.
She accepted Natalia’s identity and prepared to lead her back to their tent, hoping to move past the topic.
However, Natalia was now almost certain that something was wrong with Liyakade.
Her tone became more probing and sharper.
“Lady Feide, won’t you introduce me to your two companions? For instance… this silver-haired, red-eyed girl.”
After Natalia finished her sentence, the atmosphere seemed to turn cold once again.
Natalia’s primary goal wasn’t just to be their guard, but to uncover what was wrong with them.
Now that the suspicion was right in front of her, she wouldn’t mind sending a message to the Church to have others investigate their identities if they refused to cooperate.
‘This is bad… why is this nun’s intuition so sharp? Is she about to find out? What do I do now…’
Liyakade grew nervous as well, looking toward Field in silence.
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.