Joan was working hard for the refugees.
While Leah remained by the Hero’s side, at the other end of the command chain, none of the Pu-pus were idling.
With the support of the Hero’s ample mana, the Pu-pu tribe had gradually stabilized.
They had formed a positive cycle similar to the production models of ancient tribes: the Queen would command elite Pu-pus to clear out stray magical beasts, harvest mana crystals, and expand the team.
The construction of Pu Town was a necessary result of the tribe’s expansion.
It provided a main base for all Pu-pus to rest, recuperate, and aggregate supplies.
To Leah, this carried immense significance—it was the first step of her comeback!
But to the Hero and the others…
“Hey, Lady Lily, can I soak in this bath and enjoy a Pu-pu spa?”
Rocky asked with a grin.
“No! Get lost!”
Leah refused flatly without a second thought.
“Lily…” Joan started, hesitating.
“Oh, you can. Go ahead and soak,” Leah agreed immediately, again without thinking.
“?”
“???”
“Why him!”
Rocky wailed.
“Even Pu-pus can’t give handsome guys special treatment!”
Leah, of course, didn’t agree for such a superficial reason.
Her reason for allowing Joan was simple: his soaking would turn that entire pool of water into a “culture medium” brimming with mana.
Naturally, she was happy to let him soak.
She wasn’t just happy to let him soak; she was even willing to step up personally and give the Hero a full-body “massage” service!
To obtain the mana for her comeback, the Pu-pu Queen was capable of doing anything!
“But, Lily,” Joan said bashfully, “I didn’t want to soak. I just wanted to ask if there was a quieter place. I want to talk to my master about something while we wait for the Pu-pu ship…”
“There is! The bathhouse!” Leah responded instantly.
“…”
Joan thought to himself, ‘Is a bath absolutely mandatory today?’
Coaxed and pushed, Joan was driven into the pool.
The Pu-pus around the bath quickly gathered, stacking themselves into a high wall that surrounded Joan and Leah within the “bathhouse.”
“Wait, Master hasn’t come in yet,” Joan said, stunned.
“Just let him talk to you from outside. It doesn’t matter; he can hear you.”
Leah tucked her long hair behind her ear.
Right in front of Joan, she untied her ribbons.
Her white, ethereal dress slid down smoothly, blooming at her feet like a garment of feathers.
The Pu-pu girl’s delicate, fair body was once again reflected in Joan’s eyes.
His breathing suddenly quickened.
“Heave-ho!”
Leah leaped lightly into the water.
A moment later, she floated up comfortably, drifting toward him like a white butterfly on her back.
The pale, pink-tinted curves of her body drew closer and closer to Joan.
“The water feels so good.”
She half-closed her eyes in enjoyment, then suddenly opened them wide to look at Joan with a sweet smile.
“Friend… today, there can only be you and me in this pool~”
Just as she finished, a blue Pu-pu suddenly emerged from the bottom of the water, innocently hoisting Leah up on its head.
“Oh!”
Leah gave a light cry of surprise.
Noticing the Pu-pu beneath her bottom, she couldn’t help but giggle.
“Oh, right… and them~”
Joan’s face turned red.
He suddenly threw all his worries to the back of his mind.
In this monotonous and pure world, only the water, the Pu-pus, and Lily’s cute smile remained.
Unfortunately, Leah’s next sentence pulled him back to the dull and troubling reality.
“Friend~ didn’t you want to talk to Master Jonathan about something~?”
Leah lay atop the blue Pu-pu, propping up her head.
Water dampened her deep pink, smooth hair, which draped over her chest in a charming, hazy veil.
She guessed the Hero wanted to discuss their next move with Master Jonathan.
In this environment, she could conveniently drop a few hints, saving her from having to write another letter to Jonathan later.
After all, the more “mysterious people” appeared, the easier it was to be exposed.
Joan sighed.
“Yeah, I still need to talk to Master about what to do next.”
For some reason, there was a hint of disappointment in his tone.
But soon, Joan gathered his emotions and began to discuss the day’s many troubles and dilemmas with Jonathan, who was stuck outside the Pu-pu wall, hesitating whether to speak first.
He finished recounting each incident.
He voiced every bit of his frustration.
Suddenly, Joan spoke with a trace of bitterness. “Master, I don’t understand.”
“Don’t understand what?”
Jonathan asked from the other side of the wall.
Although he couldn’t see the Hero’s expression, Jonathan could imagine the frustration and loss on the young man’s face.
Joan fell silent for a long time.
“Everything.”
He was suddenly filled with confusion.
He didn’t understand why the nobles went back on their word after promising so much.
He didn’t understand why the city guards could ignore tragedy, showing absolutely no concern for human lives.
He especially didn’t understand why the refugees, having escaped danger, would rather pray and chant than lend a hand to the Rescue Team.
“I’m supposed to be righteous, right, Master?”
Joan’s speech grew faster.
“But why do I feel like my enemies are increasing, growing far faster than my friends? Do you think… maybe I’m the evil one—”
“Shh,” Jonathan quickly interrupted.
He knew Joan was spiraling into a dead end.
He could only use his own experience to comfort and guide him.
“Joan, the fact that your enemies are increasing has nothing to do with whether you are righteous or evil. It is simply because you are on the side that wants to change things.”
“By nature, most people do not want to change. They are accustomed to maintaining the status quo. The nobles want to profit from national disasters just as they did in the past; the city guards want to be irresponsible and slack off just as they did in the past.”
“As for the refugees… their lives are as thin as paper, and they have never been in control. They have long been used to praying to gods and following authority. How much change can you expect them to make in such a short time?”
“In a place where the darkness is bottomless, justice is a lonely flame. Everywhere you look, there is only hostility.”
“Heave-ho~”
Leah suddenly swam to Joan’s side, pressing tightly against his chest.
She deliberately rubbed against him intimately, wanting to make Joan’s heart race so he would secrete more mana-rich male hormones and sweat.
“But this time, Friend’s enemies are so uniform, just like Lily’s Pu-pus…” she commented, seemingly at random.
Joan froze.
Jonathan, outside the wall, also froze.
Jonathan was the first to react.
He lowered his head in thought.
“Indeed, all these problems erupted too centrally. There must have been a ‘Great Person’ who gave the word. In the Thousand River Territory, those with that kind of power… would only be at the level of the Lord, the Governor, or the Cardinal Archbishop, right?”
“I’ll go catch a City Master and ask, find out who’s behind this,” Joan said, emerging from the water with a splash, his voice suppressed with anger.
“Wait, how do you plan to find out? With a blade?”
Jonathan hurriedly tried to steady the Hero.
“Yes.”
“If you use your blade directly, it might just make them fear you more as the Hero. Instead, they’ll only collude even more closely with the mastermind.”
Jonathan’s headache grew.
This was a very difficult knot to untie.
If the Hero didn’t use his sword, he might never find the real enemy and would be like a headless fly.
But if the Hero did use his sword, it would make the nobles even more wary and exclusionary.
They would instinctively side with the mastermind, acting more covertly and maliciously.
At that moment, Leah suddenly giggled.
She pressed against Joan and tilted her head back.
Her voice was like honey wrapped in soft clouds, innocent and naive.
“Friend! You’re so silly!”
“Don’t laugh at me, Lily. You’re a genius; of course I can’t compare to you,” Joan said helplessly.
“If Friend can’t kill people… then wouldn’t it be fine if someone who *can* kill people went instead… dummy…”
She let go of Joan and turned her back to him, swimming around like a little butterfly.
She had discovered that this posture significantly increased the mana concentration in the pool.
Outside the Pu-pu wall, having seen Leah’s plans a few times and already somewhat catching on to her train of thought, Jonathan was the first to react.
A flash of inspiration struck his mind.
“Right! Demon King Ria!”
“Huh?”
Joan was confused.
Jonathan said urgently, “Joan, you can’t kill people, but Demon King Ria can! And when Demon King Ria kills, everyone will be scared to death! They will have no choice but to rely on you, the only Hero who can defeat Demon King Ria, and cling to your side!”
“But Demon King Ria is already dead,” Joan said, dumbfounded.
“He can also be not dead,” Jonathan said, suddenly enlightened.
“That’s right! If Demon King Ria could be resurrected once, he can certainly be resurrected a second time, or even a third or fourth… he should only stay in the ground when you, the Hero, need him to be dead.”
Leah pricked up her ears to listen.
Using a “Queen Pu-pu” as a floatie, she lay on the Pu-pu’s soft head, kicking her legs in the water as she drifted back and forth comfortably.
‘Not so stupid after all…’
A smile appeared on her face.
Droplets of water fell from the tips of her hair, forming a crystal curtain in the sunlight.
“Lily! You play the part of Demon King Ria!”
Splash—
Leah suddenly slipped from the Pu-pu’s head and fell straight into the water.
She didn’t dare to surface for a long time.
‘The De-De-De-Demon King Ria… Me?’
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