Vylian suddenly recalled a plot point from the original story.
It seemed that in the original work, the hero Anlis had gone through immense hardship to eliminate a Corrupted force lurking deep within the Viscount’s territory, seizing a large amount of gold coins from it.
But that brutal battle had inflicted incalculable trauma on the people of the Viscount’s territory.
So the hero Anlis waved her hand and distributed all the gold coins to the afflicted citizens to help them rebuild their homes.
Vylian naturally understood that the original story designed this “gain wealth then scatter it” plot mainly because the author couldn’t control the future development of a hero who possessed a massive fortune.
This approach allowed readers to feel the hero’s sense of achievement in acquiring wealth, highlighted the protagonist’s kind and selfless character, and brought the pacing of the story back under the author’s control.
It was a win-win-win.
Could it be that the group from last night was that Corrupted force lurking in the Viscount’s territory, the one that would later bring disaster?
Now it had conveniently fallen into her lap.
Having just arrived in this world, Vylian hadn’t yet accumulated any capital—she was essentially starting from scratch.
And now she had suddenly become a rich woman who could throw gold coins in people’s faces.
“Good, Kakaki, you’ve done well. You’re practically my pillar of support. I feel the Blessing on you isn’t strong enough yet, so I’ll grant you some more power.”
For such a loyal subject, Vylian wouldn’t be stingy.
Feeling the surge of power within her again, Wubika Kachi knelt once more in excitement.
“Thank you, Your Majesty. Thank you for your generosity.”
“All right, get up. Anyone can say pretty words like that. The most important thing is actually accomplishing something.”
“I understand. I will not fail Your Majesty’s expectations.”
Wubika Kachi nodded respectfully, slowly rose from the ground, and still couldn’t hide the joy on her face.
Looking at her, Vylian suddenly remembered something.
“By the way, do you have any unique insights on the Cripple the Hero Plan?”
Although Vylian had her own ideas, pooling wisdom certainly wouldn’t hurt.
She might even gain a different perspective.
“My opinion? Of course it’s locking the target in a room they can never escape, keeping them under your watch forever, and instilling the idea every day that the outside world is too dangerous, and the only one they can rely on is me.”
Wubika Kachi thought for a moment and blurted out her conclusion.
She didn’t stop there; she went on to describe the specific implementation methods in a torrent of words.
First, absolutely never do anything that seems random or would make the target suspicious. Make them feel that all your actions are justified.
To that end, you could deliberately stage a scene…
Listening, Vylian felt it was a bit dark.
That kind of dark room wasn’t really suited for her.
It seemed Wubika Kachi was a complete radical.
And her own approach—gradually infiltrating every aspect of daily life, subtly influencing the other’s character—was definitely a moderate one.
Pfft, no—‘moderate’ was the right word.
With that, there wasn’t much more to discuss. Kakaki decided to head back, and on the way, she happened to see Anlis and casually greeted her.
“Hero, I’ll be going now.”
“Okay, take care, Sister Mary.”
Anlis did her best to suppress her emotions, forcing a warm smile and responding gently.
After watching Wubika Kachi’s figure fade into the distance, she finally let out a sigh of relief, but then came Vylian’s familiar voice from behind.
“Anlis, you’ve been practicing for so long; you should take a break. Balancing work and rest is important, you know.”
“Then… I’ll rest for a few minutes.”
“A few minutes isn’t enough.” Vylian muttered in protest. “You should rest as long as you’ve practiced sword art. If the time isn’t equal, how is that a balance between work and rest?”
Since when did that count as balancing work and rest?
Who in their right mind has study time equal to break time?
“You’re right. Then I’ll rest a bit longer. I’ve worked really hard today, after all.”
‘Hmm, I’ll just go along with what she wants.’
‘Chickening out. Totally chickening out.’
In a daze, Anlis suddenly had a vision.
If she didn’t know Vylian was the Demon King, and if her power as the Hero hadn’t awakened, what would she be like right now?
‘Surely, I would have brushed off Vylian’s words, stubbornly continued sword practice, even proudly thought that was the resilient demeanor befitting a hero, and then—enraged—Vylian would punch me into a bloody mist.’
But then she thought again: maybe there was another possibility—that the Demon King would rack her brains and use every means possible just to make her rest properly.
Not like now, where she could only cowardly compromise?
At that thought, a hint of curiosity arose in Anlis’s heart. She wanted to test where Vylian’s bottom line actually was.
“Anlis, you looked at Sister Mary’s Status Panel just now, didn’t you?”
But before Anlis, who was sitting in a Chair resting, could finish planning how to test Vylian’s boundaries, Vylian suddenly popped a tricky question.
In an instant, Anlis froze. A wave of panic spread, cold sweat broke out on her back, and even her breathing seemed to stop.
“Huh?”
Thinking Anlis hadn’t heard clearly, Vylian repeated herself: “Could you please tell me what Sister Mary’s panel looks like?”
‘Sister Mary’s panel?’
‘What does it look like?’
‘No!’
‘Another test!’
‘And so insidious!’
She had just opened the panel and it showed real data, not like this Demon King in front of her, who could see disguised information.
Who knows if Wubika Kachi was actually in a disguised state?
Making something up—impossible.
How could she accurately fabricate the content of Wubika Kachi’s disguise?
But if she told the truth—that Sister Mary was actually Wubika Kachi, a Corrupted Disaster—how would she explain her own calmness just now?
And what would be the consequences?
Would Vylian deduce from this that she already knew the Demon King’s identity?
It was a Trap!
A perfect chain of traps!
Together with last night’s events, it formed a complete Death Spiral.
Like a rope hanging from a beam, strangling Anlis’s throat.
She couldn’t think of any way to escape this disaster!
For the first time, she felt that this powerful ability to see through deception might not be a good thing after all.
“Hmm? Why aren’t you saying anything? That shouldn’t be a difficult question for you. Or is it…”
“No… I just happened to not pull up her panel.” Anlis forcibly suppressed her inner panic, keeping her voice as steady as possible, and deliberately made her gaze appear calm and unruffled.
“Sister Mary is the kindest Nun in the Holy Order. Many people in the Village have been helped by her. It simply never crossed my mind to check her panel.”
That was the only excuse she could give.
To put this off for now.
Although the next time she saw Wubika Kachi, Vylian would probably test her again and ask her to pull up the panel.
At least it would buy her time to think.
“Is that so?”
Vylian turned her head slightly, her gaze aimlessly falling on a nearby wooden stake. After a moment, it settled back on Anlis’s face.
“But… that’s hardly a difficult question. Why did you hesitate for so long? It was as if you were thinking about something.”
Suddenly, Anlis felt as if a loud, pounding music was playing in her ears. Her heartbeat raced along with it, and even her palms began to tremble uncontrollably.
‘What is this!’