“Stupid, stupid, look!”
Liyakade’s petulant words made Field’s lips twitch slightly.
She could clearly feel that something was wrong with Liyakade.
“Yes, that’s right, you’re a fool. Otherwise, why would you mistake Alice for me? And why would you think there are two of me?”
At this moment, Liyakade was still babbling, trying to explain to Field why she called her a fool.
“……… Alice, stay in the carriage and watch Liyakade. I’m going down to see what’s going on.”
Field had also noticed that the carriage had stopped in its tracks.
Perhaps her and Liyakade’s unusual behavior was related to the caravan’s sudden halt?
“I want to go down too.”
“No, you stay inside with Alice.”
Seeing that Field wanted to get out of the carriage, Liyakade actually started to act up, behaving just like a little child.
“No, I want to go down!”
Looking at Liyakade pouting, appearing slightly unhappy, Field fell silent for a moment.
It was rare to see Liyakade acting spoiled like this.
So, Field slowly leaned in, kissed Liyakade’s small face lightly, and caressed her long, silver hair.
“Be good and wait for me in the carriage with Alice, okay? There’s nothing to do outside anyway.”
Liyakade’s pinkish eyes rolled around, not knowing what she was thinking, but she eventually agreed.
“Watch Liyakade.”
Field put on her Gold Silk Mask, instructed Alice once more, and then stepped out of the carriage.
“Mm.”
Alice nodded in response to Field.
However, the moment the carriage door closed, Alice turned to look at Liyakade, only to find that Liyakade had already moved up to her face, looking at her with a coy smile.
“Li, Liyakade!?”
“Alice… it seems like it’s been a long time since we’ve been intimate, hasn’t it?”
“Wha, what? No, no, why?”
Alice was so startled by Liyakade’s sudden proximity that she became incoherent.
It was clearly Liyakade who had shown resistance, which was why they hadn’t been close for a long time, but now, Liyakade was actually initiating contact again, and it was even full of aggression.
“We, we’re in the carriage right now!”
“Exactly because we’re in the carriage, it’ll be even more exciting. By the way, Alice, you have to be a little careful. If you accidentally get the Light Element on me, I might… become very strange.”
After saying that, Liyakade’s cherry lips kissed her without another word.
***
Wearing the Gold Silk Mask, Field discovered after stepping off the carriage that the caravan had indeed stopped its journey.
The people in the caravan had become somewhat strange.
They seemed to be arguing with someone, or perhaps they were entranced by something, becoming dull and wandering around aimlessly.
Of course, there were some people who were normal and sober, just like Field.
They also felt strange and confused about the situation of the others in the caravan.
“Lord Feide, are you alright?”
Natalia, seeing Field step down from the carriage, hurried to her side.
“What happened to the caravan?”
Seeing that Natalia had not become like the others, Field felt a sense of relief.
At least there were normal people here she could work with.
She asked Natalia about the current situation of the caravan.
“Sorry, Lord Feide, I don’t know what happened to the caravan, and neither do those guards.”
Natalia pointed to the guards not far away.
A portion of them had become very strange and even somewhat violent, attacking others.
Fortunately, these strange people were very weak; even if they attacked others, they could not easily cause harm.
The sober guards were trying to control and protect those who had fallen into chaos.
“Some of them suddenly became like they had lost their minds; I don’t know what’s going on.”
“I see…”
Seeing that quite a few sober people had gathered not far away, Field took Natalia with her toward them.
Vidar was among them at this moment.
When he saw that Field was still conscious, he couldn’t help but click his tongue.
His luck was still a bit bad; he hadn’t managed to control the crucial Masked Man.
“Lord Feide.”
The caravan leader greeted Field as she approached.
The leader’s name was Graham.
He had not fallen into chaos, but the lead driver had, causing the carriage to stop, which was how Graham had discovered the anomaly occurring within the caravan.
During her initial negotiations with Graham, Field had used the alias Feide.
Graham only knew that Field was probably the most noble and high-ranking aristocrat in the caravan, but he did not know Field’s true identity.
“Mr. Graham, what is actually happening with the caravan right now? Why have so many people suddenly fallen into this abnormal state?”
“Heh, it must be that there’s a problem with the caravan’s water source.”
Before Graham could speak, a male noble with brown hair spoke up first.
“My wife and child drank the water from the caravan and didn’t last long before becoming like this. I didn’t drink any, so I’m perfectly fine.”
“Others had similar experiences. They are all sober because they didn’t drink the water. The water supply prepared by the caravan must be faulty.”
“Exactly, exactly. My companions who drank the water are the same. There must be something wrong with the caravan’s water.”
“What are you actually trying to achieve by causing this chaos?”
“This… no, there is definitely no problem with the water source our caravan prepared. Everyone, please calm down! I will send people to investigate!”
Faced with the collective accusations of the others in the caravan, Graham appeared somewhat flustered, and beads of sweat seemed to be appearing on his forehead.
***
Just as everyone was confronting Graham, Field clapped her hands lightly, attracting everyone’s attention.
“Everyone, calm down. Didn’t you also drink the caravan’s water yesterday? Wasn’t everyone fine yesterday? Therefore, it is impossible for the water source prepared in advance by the caravan to be problematic.”
Upon hearing these words from Field, the crowd seemed to calm down a bit.
Graham felt his pressure ease and cast a grateful look toward Field.
“Do you mean that someone poisoned it?”
The brown-haired noble asked Field with a slightly serious expression.
“But the caravan’s water source has always been guarded by special security. If someone had poisoned it, they would definitely have been seen by the guards.”
“Yes, you are right.”
Field nodded, then looked at Graham.
“Mr. Graham, where are the guards you previously arranged to protect the water source? Were they poisoned?”
“Two of them were poisoned, and two are sober. I have already sent people to restrain them.”
After speaking, Graham looked in another direction.
“Bring them here.”