Chapter 1251
Slave Knight
When Haina was brought back by Lily, she did indeed encounter some trouble.
A unit of Slave Knights had come to block the road. Their voices could be heard from afar, a grand commotion—shouting demands to arrest the troublemakers here.
The clamor on that side immediately made Haina tense.
Since starting school, Haina had been a model student. After entering the workforce, she specialized in arresting those who broke the law… When had it ever been her turn to be the one in trouble, being chased through the city?
While feeling tense, Haina also felt an unprecedentedly abnormal sense of excitement.
But when Lily saw that only about a dozen people had come to arrest them, and they were all only Fourth Tier, she directly burst into laughter.
She directly led the very resistant Haina to appear before the group without dodging or hiding.
—Then, after a few flashes, those Slave Knights were killed on the spot without any ability to resist.
The entire process was clean and swift, without a sound. It was just like the Shadow Demon power Eivass had used in his first Ascension Ritual—the shadows beneath Lily writhed, transforming into spears and blades. As she flashed behind each person, these sharp shadows pierced, cut, and shredded them.
She didn’t even raise her hand the entire time, and not a drop of blood splattered on Lily’s hem. When Lily reappeared from behind Haina, her maid outfit was not even slightly disheveled.
“…Is this really okay, Miss Lily?”
Haina was somewhat confused, being pulled away by Lily, she kept looking back at the bloody scene: “They didn’t completely block the road. If we’d made a move, wouldn’t it cause trouble for Eivass… Do you need me to help clean up the scene? I have some experience with that…”
“What did I just teach you?”
Lily replied indifferently.
The maid’s words carried great pressure, making Haina think of her professor. She instantly fell silent.
…But she nervously dared not answer.
Because Haina truly didn’t know what mistake she had made this time—they hadn’t even discovered her yet. Couldn’t they just avoid them without causing trouble and bypass them? Moreover, Lily hadn’t hidden her abilities at all; wouldn’t it be obvious who did it if they investigated?
Seeing Haina’s continued silence, Lily looked back at her.
“Go back and let Young Master teach you.”
Lily sighed, finally giving up.
Hearing this, Haina roughly knew she had indeed made a mistake. So, she dejectedly followed Lily back.
But unexpectedly… her mood was much better than before. She had just completed her so-called “revenge,” yet her mood had become worse, which made Haina feel a little sad. It was as if she had wasted her feelings and time, doing something meaningless.
Yet now, she inexplicably felt a little better.
Upon returning, Haina saw Eivass lying on the armchair.
He looked very tired and weary, as if he were sick. Haina had never seen Eivass so weak—in her impression, Eivass was always full of energy, as brilliant as the sun. Now he looked like a candle about to burn out, which made her heart clench slightly.
Then, Lily explained the events on the road and Haina’s questions to Eivass.
Haina sat in front of Eivass like a puppy about to be scolded after destroying the house, shrinking back in silence.
Eivass listened, then looked at Haina with a smile: “What, still not convinced?”
—That’s true. Mainly, Lily’s actions were completely opposite to her past education and accumulated experience. She actually didn’t know why she had to do it, she just followed orders and trusted Lily, so she came back.
While not understanding, she still had to work earnestly. When she was still a student doing an internship at the Inspection Bureau, she was sometimes like this.
Haina shrunk her head, but did not speak.
“The reason Lily took you to kill them is very simple…”
Eivass said softly: “You said it well, this level of Path traces can be easily found… just like when I investigated cases in Avalon and found those people from Noble Red. The difference here is that what we needed was to be found.”
Hearing this, Haina looked up at Eivass with some surprise.
Just hearing this sentence, she vaguely understood something.
“Is it… for deterrence?”
“Half right.”
Eivass cuffed with a smile: “It seems you’re not too stupid. Maybe you’ve become a Warrior, and your brain is filled with proliferating muscles.”
“If I’m not mistaken…”
Prodhino, who was beside them, pondered and asked Eivass: “It should be to avoid suspicion.”
“That’s right.”
Eivass nodded: “Now that the Red are close at hand, and their influence has long penetrated all the City-states. Even in Holy Spring City, there are bound to be those who have defected to the Red. Anything that happens here could be a conspiracy by the Red, or part of their plan.
“So many Lords gathered here, if something happens and there’s no investigation, it’s equivalent to the Lords themselves claiming ‘I did this thing.’ If it’s later exposed that this matter is related to the rebels—such as the Sand Throat Cult or the Red—then he will be in trouble.”
“Therefore, if no one claims responsibility for this matter, then it becomes a big deal—it will definitely be thoroughly investigated, and in the end, there will be a result, and then a bitter enmity will be settled. And obviously, the Lords of Holy Spring City have a more diplomatic personality… With so many Lords here, who knows who did this? We can’t investigate everything, right? What if something is really found out if we investigate to the end?
“Compared to that—whether it’s the death of their own Chief Envoy, or causing an earthquake that leads to the collapse of some buildings, these are all minor matters. Unlike the rules where we come from… in Anxi, ‘human life’ is not the most precious resource.”
Eivass said, looking at the cards on the table: “Didn’t you already know this when playing Parlz game before, Haina? In Anxi, the value of slaves is only higher than pomegranates and books… And what the Red said is actually not wrong—to the Lords, everyone in their City-states is, in a sense, their slave.
“Whether it’s ordinary, property-less Free People, beautiful concubines, valiant guards, or those Nobles, officials, Extraordinary… they are all just slaves. To the Lords, this is just a part of their property. And other Lords are the ones equal to them.
“If a cup is knocked over by a colleague, or a decorative item is broken, at most they’ll complain a couple of times. They wouldn’t resort to murder. But if an expired pastry at home is stolen by an unknown petty thief or a vagrant, they would go crazy—because the point isn’t the pastry itself, but how they got in.”
Eivass said softly: “And to the Lords, those rebels are like these ‘petty thieves.’ Their threats bring a sense of instability… Compared to these ‘disgusting rebels,’ it’s not worth making a fuss about a few damaged items belonging to other Lords.”
“Then why kill those who came to investigate the suspects…”
Haina subconsciously retorted, but suddenly realized she had referred to herself as a suspect. She hesitated for a moment before continuing, “They were just… pitiful people acting under duress, right?”
“Indeed, they were acting under duress.”
Eivass nodded. “But not necessarily pitiful people.”
Saying this, he asked: “Do you know why Slave Knights are called ‘Knights’?”
