Chapter 244: Exposure
“Are you insane?!”
This was the first thing Xia Lian roared after meeting with the Mid-Tier Holy Knight, Kurin. She glared furiously at the twenty-odd Holy Knights, a dozen low-tier professionals (some of whom were players), and seven or eight burly men who were clearly commoners. Pointing at the unlucky man in front of her, she yelled, “Are you all tired of living?! I needed over a hundred Knights to confidently protect a few dozen commoners, and you’re all so ambitious, less than fifty of you, daring to escort over a hundred refugees back to the City, and on the main road at that! And there are even commoners in the escort team! Did your Knightly spirit get fed to the @#%?! Did your brains get filled with #$%?!”
Kurin was so reprimanded that he dared not breathe, his head bowed like a wronged quail. He was unlucky; although not the team leader, he was the only Holy Knight from the Dawn Sect in this group. As the Holy Maiden of the Dawn Sect, Xia Lian found it hard to scold followers of other sects, but she really, really wanted to curse someone right now, so she could only vent on her own Knight…
However, Holy Maiden could not be blamed for being so angry. After all, the composition of the team in front of her was simply too unreasonable. Not only were there too few Holy Knights and low-tier professionals who could serve as combatants, but there were even a few commoners holding pitchforks, hoes, and large iron rods. One might have thought a few guys were going out to farm and brought a bunch of bodyguards.
In Xia Lian’s view, if a team of over a hundred refugees needed to be escorted, the escort personnel should at least have an equal number of Holy Knights. Leaving aside the Knights who are less favored by Mutants due to the faint divine power within them, low-tier professionals and commoners are extremely attractive to those monsters. Therefore, the number of people is directly proportional to the danger coefficient. Acting under such circumstances would inevitably attract a large number of Mutants, and even scattered small groups of monsters would snowball into an increasingly large force. A slight mistake could lead to the danger of total annihilation, and even if they were lucky enough to break through… how many commoners would survive?
Xia Lian, who had been dealing with Mutants for half a month, knew this better than anyone.
So she grabbed the honest man by his collar and lectured him (Kurin was a Dwarf) for five minutes before finally finishing her tirade. Then she tossed the dizzy man onto the ground and turned to flash a gentle, magnanimous smile at the Justice Church Lizardmen Knight beside her: “Now, tell me what exactly happened, alright?”
The latter retreated half a step, his facial scales pale, and whispered, “Uh, Holy Maiden, Tairo’s intention was… that this area is relatively safe now, and we also dealt with dozens of Mutants on the way here, so…”
“Wait a minute!” Xia Lian blinked, instinctively tugging at her ear. “You said you dealt with dozens of Mutants on the way here?”
The other party nodded. “Yes.”
Xia Lian was somewhat astonished. “Just you people?”
The Lizardmen Holy Knight shook his head. “There were also two pure low-tier professional healing teams, but they’ve already returned ahead of schedule…”
“Casualties?”
“Anton sprained his ankle…”
“I didn’t ask you that!”
“Uh, then there were none.”
“What do you mean ‘the area is relatively safe now’?”
“Tairo’s meaning was that, actually, we started as three teams, and our routes were different. Those commoners didn’t all come from one place…”
“And then you all just haphazardly came together?”
“No, it was Tairo’s arrangement.”
“That kid planned your routes in advance?”
“No, it was Tairo’s temporary arrangement.”
“Ah? Where’s Tairo?”
“In the City.”
“You wait a minute… I’m a bit confused.”
“…”
Xia Lian tried to sort things out for a good while but couldn’t make sense of it. Finally, she looked at the sheepish Lizardmen Holy Knight in front of her with a bewildered expression: “Let me be direct. Are you sure you’re not messing with me?”
The latter immediately shook his head. “I wouldn’t dare!”
“Alright, you’re not messing with me. These… these three chaotic teams gathered together because of Tairo’s temporary arrangement, and Tairo is currently in Mida City.” Two veins bulged on Xia Lian’s forehead. She glared, stomped her staff on the ground with a ‘thud’, and asked with a fake smile: “So he’s actually kicked the bucket and is currently buried in the City, and his soul hasn’t returned to Dawn Goddess’s embrace but is instead floating around outside the City like a lonely ghost, guiding you how to fight, is that it?”
The Lizardmen immediately panicked. He shivered, then suddenly turned and pointed at a few people who were trying to minimize their presence: “It was these… these few who communicated with us on behalf of Tairo. They said they had a secret channel to contact Tairo…”
“Oh?” Xia Lian raised an eyebrow and immediately turned to look at the group. “Shall we chat?”
A Half-Orc Shaman, Tirio Windfury, who had deeply hidden his merits: “…”
A Human Ranger, Robin Han, who had deeply hidden her merits: “…”
A Dwarf Priest, Shi Lezhi, who had deeply hidden his merits: “…”
A female Elf warrior, Putao, who was meeting her idol: “Holy Maiden! Holy Maiden is looking at me! Ah! Holy Maiden!!”
Shi Lezhi looked at Tirio with a twitching expression. “Your wife’s brain needs fixing.”
The latter gave a wry smile. “I’m used to it, used to it. If she hadn’t been so stubborn back then, she wouldn’t have fallen for me.”
The young (in every sense of the word) Robin Han looked left and right, retreating step by step, ready to find an opening to send a message to Yu Ying…
Then she bumped into a soft embrace.
“Eek!”
The young girl spun around abruptly, only to see Holy Maiden standing gracefully behind her, a smile in her eyes: “Shall we chat?”
“Uh, okay, yes, of course, no problem.” Robin Han chuckled and nodded, a strange sense of relief inexplicably rising in her heart.
“From the touch just now, she should be even smaller than me… Hehehe…”
…
Game time PM 5:19
Mida City North Gate
Mo Tan, Yu Cheng, and a bewildered Tairo were waiting at the City gate.
“Holy Maiden Xia Lian is really coming back soon?” Tairo looked at Mo Tan with some confusion, asking, “But how come I haven’t received any news?”
Mo Tan kept his gaze down, focused on himself: “Wang Yu said so.”
Yu Cheng was a bit flustered, and after a dazed moment, she stammered, “…Uh, yes, Dawn Goddess said so!”
“I see.” Tairo immediately nodded, then stood there solemnly, saying nothing.
The two players beside him, however, began to communicate secretly via friend messages…
‘What should we do! What should we do, Mo Tan! Things are serious! Σ(っ°Д°;)っ’
‘Yes, they are serious…’
‘I was planning to explain everything to Tairo in the next two days, but now there’s no time! I can’t lie in Dawn Goddess’s name when Holy Maiden is around! OTZ!’
‘Yes, there’s no time…’
‘Wuwu, will Holy Maiden hang us up and beat us?! ε(┬┬﹏┬┬)3’
‘Holy crap! She has that kind of hobby?!’
‘Uh, probably not, but I’m so scared! I want to hide like Yu Ying! But it seems we can’t hide!’
‘Don’t mention that shameless assassin. Even if she was afraid of being held accountable, she shouldn’t have just logged off on the spot…’
‘I want to log off on the spot too!!! o(TヘTo)’
‘We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Besides, we didn’t do anything bad. I’ll try to smooth things over later. If all goes well, we shouldn’t get hung up and beaten.’
‘Ah, Holy Maiden is coming ah ah ah ah ヽ(°Д°)o゜’
Vague figures appeared at the edge of their vision; a large team was slowly advancing towards them. However, Tairo, who hadn't welcomed Knights back to the City for several days, was remarkably calm. This wasn't because he was aware of Mo Tan and the others' operations during this time, but simply because the naive Holy Knight thought most of the people were brought back by Xia Lian.
“Holy Maiden is indeed amazing!”
The devout Mid-Tier Holy Knight thought, completely unaware that the other Holy Maiden beside him had already begun to tremble.
In a short while, Xia Lian and a few Knights separated from the team and were the first to enter the City gate.
“Yo! Everyone’s looking quite spirited, huh~” The Elf Holy Maiden greeted them with a cheerful smile, still as boisterous as she had been half a month ago. However, Mo Tan and Yu Cheng both noticed a hint of exhaustion in her eyes, and the two more unfamiliar Knights behind her also appeared quite haggard.
Yu Cheng tugged nervously at Xia Lian’s sleeve. “Holy Maiden, do you want to rest first…”
“Hehe, it’s fine, it’s fine.” Xia Lian habitually patted Yu Cheng’s little head and smiled, “A good bath tonight will fix me right up. Want to join me?”
The latter was instantly stunned. “Eh? T-to… to join, I don’t think that’s necessary!”
“Tsk tsk, that’s a real shame.” Xia Lian pouted, then turned to Tairo with a serious expression. “You’ve truly worked hard during this time.”
Tairo immediately stood up straight and performed a common Dawn Sect etiquette: “It’s my duty.”
Yu Cheng, whose psychological resilience was rather average, immediately started to break out in a cold sweat.
“Mmm~ You’re being humble, truly too humble.” Xia Lian patted Tairo’s shoulder hard and said with a smile, “All your friends told me everything.”
Tairo was stunned. “My friends?”
Xia Lian raised an eyebrow. “The Knights also spoke highly of your adaptability and leadership.”
Tairo was stunned again. “Adaptability? Leadership?”
Xia Lian continued to praise, “Yes, at first, I was startled to hear that you even started sending commoners out with the rescue teams. I didn’t expect there to be no casualties, and the search and rescue efficiency increased significantly.”
Tairo froze instantly. “Com… commoners?”
“Yes.” Xia Lian nodded, then glanced at the Dwarf Holy Knight beside her. “Isn’t that right, Kurin?”
“Exactly, exactly, Holy Maiden is right.” Kurin looked at Tairo, this senior, with immense admiration, his voice full of respect: “Tairo’s secret methods are truly amazing. Last time when we encountered dozens of monsters near Hanji Village, we thought we were going to be martyred. Thanks to your arrangements, we successfully rendezvoused with the other two teams. Not only did no one, including the commoners, encounter any danger, but we also cleared out so many Mutants…”
“Hold on!” Tairo interrupted him, disoriented. His perfectly proportioned square face flashed with ‘bewilderment,’ ‘confusion,’ ‘puzzlement,’ ‘disbelief,’ ‘shock,’ and other emotions, like a scrolling screen. After a good while, he finally asked, “When did you go to Hanji Village?”
Kurin was stunned. “The day before yesterday.”
Tairo pondered for a while. “The day before yesterday, shouldn’t your team have gone to Yingniao Town?”
“Uh, Sir…” Kurin was even more stunned. He paused, and after repeatedly confirming that he hadn’t been drinking, he whispered, “We already went to Yingniao Town before. The surviving commoners there were rescued long ago. At that time, it was you who told Fandi and Luo Ya to divert their team on the way back to the City. Oh, and two of the Yingniao Town residents even acted with us today…”
Tairo now suddenly began to wonder if he was going crazy. He did a 180° turn on the spot, then knelt down with a ‘click,’ muttering the name of the Dawn Goddess and praying for over two minutes before standing up again, shaking his head and saying, “No, no, it’s all wrong… And how could you let commoners act with you?! What if you encountered danger?! Where has your Knightly spirit gone?!”
Kurin stood frozen as if struck by lightning, then tugged at his big beard and whispered, extremely wronged, “Didn’t you tell Holy Maiden to tell everyone to act this way…”
Tairo: “Huh?!”
Yu Cheng quickly hid behind Mo Tan, burying her head deeply… I mean, she lowered her head deeply.
Kurin nodded furiously. “Yes, yes.”
Tairo’s face was pale. “Then the order to go to Hanji Village the day before yesterday was…”
Kurin scratched his bald head. “It was Old Man… it was Black Vatican who relayed it on your behalf, Sir. Weren’t you busy at City Hall that day and couldn’t leave?”
Tairo: “…”
“Heh heh~” Xia Lian looked meaningfully at the two young people in front of her. “Is that so?”
Yu Cheng: “…”
Mo Tan: “…”
“Alright, go arrange the commoners first, then dismiss everyone.” Xia Lian waved away the several Holy Knights behind her, including the bewildered Dwarf Holy Knight Kurin, then looked at Tairo with a beaming smile: “So, the ‘secret channels’ and ‘on-the-spot arrangements’ those little ones mentioned really have nothing to do with you, then?”
Tairo’s face gradually turned from pale to ashen. He glared fiercely at Mo Tan, then looked with a somewhat complex expression at Holy Maiden Wang Yu, whom he had followed since leaving Light Capital, and slowly nodded: “It should have nothing to do with me, but Holy Maiden Wang Yu, she…”
“If it has nothing to do with you, then shut up~” Xia Lian shot him a glance, then looked kindly at Yu Cheng and Mo Tan, revealing a smile completely devoid of malice…
“You two… care to explain?”
Chapter 241: End