The little nun’s information was sparse, containing only four unremarkable entries.
However, the names and ability entries were far too familiar, and the level column was particularly glaring.
As Anlis stared at the contents of the [Status Window] in front of her, her smile froze completely.
Thinking she had misread it, she rubbed her eyes hard in disbelief.
When she looked again, the information on the panel remained unchanged.
A cold sweat trickled down her spine, instantly drenching her undergarments and making her entire body shiver.
‘No way!’
‘What?!’
Her face turned deathly pale, and her brain felt as if it had been struck by a heavy blow. She nearly collapsed back onto the bed.
Even if Anlis was truly a complete idiot, she should have realized what was happening just by looking at these familiar entries!
The Corrupt Monarch had disguised herself as a nun and was even trying to act as her savior to get close to her?!
‘How could I have such a nightmare!’
Her knuckles curled uncontrollably as she gripped the corner of her clothes tightly, fear flooding her heart.
She subconsciously glanced at the bedding spread behind her—it had been laid out by the gentle ‘nun’ herself.
The savory aroma of the chicken soup from earlier still lingered at the tip of her nose—it had been personally brewed for her by this considerate girl.
How many people in this world could enjoy such treatment?
Was she touched?
She didn’t dare move!
‘What… what kind of intentions does this [Corrupt Monarch] have?’
‘Does she want to keep toying with me? Does she want to see the ugly state I’m in when my curse flares up from up close? Or is it something else?’
If she didn’t possess a God-tier [Information Acquisition Ability], she would have been kept completely in the dark!
‘No, I can’t panic.’
‘I absolutely cannot expose the fact that I’ve discovered her identity!’
Anlis frantically cautioned herself in her heart.
She instantly brought her ghastly complexion under control, and her panicked expression immediately became void of emotion. This was the only disguise she could manage.
Although it was still full of flaws, her face had turned a sickly, dark hue.
“Young lady, may I ask what your name is?” Just then, Vylian leaned in closer. She seemed to have finally formulated the words she wanted to say.
“Ah! I’m here!”
A faint fragrance of roses wafted toward her, a scent that felt increasingly familiar as it etched itself into her mind. Anlis stiffened in shock and instinctively responded at the top of her lungs.
Vylian was startled by the sudden outburst. She froze for a moment before asking, “What’s wrong?”
‘I blew it! I totally blew it!’
Anlis hurriedly lowered her head, her voice as faint as a mosquito. “I… my name is Anlis Kachi. Just now, I… I was thinking about some personal matters.”
‘What a clumsy excuse!’
The moment she thought about the fact that the nun in front of her was actually the Corrupt Monarch, she felt that any of her actions could become an opportunity for the other party to notice a flaw.
She was walking on thin ice with every step!
‘Did that shout just now expose me? It shouldn’t have… it was just a shout, after all.’
‘She shouldn’t be able to make the connection… sniffle…’
“Anlis Kachi? That’s a very beautiful name.” Vylian’s smile remained gentle. “I am Vylian. It is a pleasure to meet you.”
‘Thinking about personal matters?’
‘What a loser…’
‘She’s probably still breaking down because of the curse.’
In truth, Vylian had also been thinking about her own matters just now.
For instance, how she could join this Hero’s party.
Exchanging names was the first step toward closing the distance between them.
Anlis’s face was tense.
‘Vylian?’
‘Does she have to be so arrogant?! It’s one thing to disguise herself as a Nun of the Sacred Church, but she didn’t even plan to change her name?’
However, come to think of it, Vylian had never mentioned her true name to anyone else before.
“Miss Anlis, may I call you that?”
“Of course you can.”
Anlis felt like her cheeks were about to freeze from the forced smile. She subconsciously shuffled a few steps toward the door.
She wanted to run away, to leave this demon’s cage.
But in the next second, reason forced her to stop.
Running away was too suspicious.
How could she, at a mere Level 4, truly escape the pursuit of a Level 999 Demon King?
Obviously, it was impossible.
Anlis felt like a prey caught in a spiderweb, firmly controlled by a dense, airtight net.
Disguise was her only way to survive.
Vylian blinked, looking at the other girl’s tense expression with a hint of confusion in her eyes.
‘Never mind, business first.’
“Um, Miss Anlis, I’m quite curious. As a Nun of the Sacred Church, I am exceptionally sensitive to the Holy Light. I feel like there is an aura about you that makes me feel very close to you. May I ask what your [Class] is?”
This was the script Vylian had prepared. As long as the other party picked up the thread, she should be able to smoothly join the group.
Anlis’s expression became very strange.
She stared at the girl, who was about one and a half heads shorter than herself, clicked her tongue, and looked away.
“I… I am the Hero…”
“Wow! That’s amazing! You’re actually the Hero?”
Vylian clapped her hands in an exaggerated manner, her eyes shining with admiration. “I have admired the Hero since I was a child.”
At this moment, she looked exactly like a young girl who had grown up idolizing the Hero.
If any ordinary person were admired by such a beautiful, holy-looking girl, their vanity would surely explode.
But Anlis felt as if she had swallowed a fly.
‘This despicable woman is humiliating me!’
‘Can she really say that without laughing?’
‘Where is the admiration?’
‘Is she admiring the pathetic way I struggled while pinned to the ground?!’
‘Sniffle…’
“Ah, hahaha…” Anlis forced a laugh.
“Is Lady Hero planning to go on an adventure soon?”
“I… I don’t plan to.”
‘That’s a lie.’
‘Endure it.’
Anlis remembered Vylian’s plan very clearly.
The core of it was to prevent an ambitious Hero from growing stronger.
Her current statement was purely a deliberate attempt to show that she had no ambition at all.
“…”
Vylian’s smile stiffened for a moment.
The other girl’s answer was completely unexpected.
‘Shouldn’t she be saying, “Yes, I plan to level up and prepare to defeat the Demon King” right now?’ After all, she had just been taught a lesson by Vylian herself in her Demon King form.
As long as the other party said that, the current Vylian could take the opportunity to propose joining the party.
But what kind of answer was this?
“How can that be? In order to defeat the Demon King, Lady Hero should definitely be going out to level up.”
“Ah, well, isn’t it harvest season? I have to go back and do farm work. I don’t have time to level up.”
“How can Lady Hero be like this? Your mission is to eliminate the Demon King. You should be more proactive. For things like farm work, you can just hire help, right?”
“No, no, no. My family doesn’t have that much money to hire help. I’m just a common farmer. I have to personally harvest the wheat fields and grind the flour acre by acre. Besides that, there’s a mountain of other chores. It’ll probably take me a long time.”
As she spoke, Vylian pressed closer and closer, forcing Anlis to keep backing up.
She didn’t stop until her back hit the doorframe.
Vylian’s expression grew darker and darker.
‘Damn it!’
‘Why isn’t this girl following the script?’
After thinking for a long time without understanding where things had gone wrong, she had no choice but to step forward and grab Anlis’s hand.
“Eek!”
Anlis’s face turned pale when her hand was caught. She didn’t even dare to breathe too loudly.
“Lady Hero, what about your mission?”
‘She’s still testing me!’
“Heh… hehe… let’s just put that aside for now. A mission or whatever is just too far away.”
“…Tch.”
The atmosphere fell silent again.
Vylian was truly out of ideas.
‘Was this girl actually someone with zero ambition all along?’
‘Then is my [Depravity Plan] a bit redundant…’
‘No, that’s not right.’
According to the manga plot, Anlis was clearly a standard hot-blooded idiot.
Now that she had someone to seek revenge against, she should be more motivated than ever.
So why was she showing no drive at all now?
After a brief thought, a flash of inspiration struck Vylian.
‘Wait. Is she… pretending?’