The Wanderer's Archive

Krinhild's radiant smile sent a ripple of excitement through Siegfried.

Were all people from other worlds this beautiful?

[Prompt! You have encountered one of the targets of this stage's mission: Krinhild. Please seize this opportunity to complete the mission.]

Shannon's voice in his head jolted Siegfried out of his daze. She could be his future boss, a beautiful young lady boss at that. He had to make a good impression.

Siegfried put away his weapon, took two steps forward to Krinhild, and flashed his most charming, HRBP-level smile. "Princess Krinhild, I am Siegfried. Your beauty is truly breathtaking."

The girl blushed and extended her hand to Siegfried.

Siegfried immediately understood, gently took Krinhild's slender, white hand, and kissed the back of it.

The movements were so smooth and fluid that it was over before anyone could react.

The 16-year-old princess stood there stunned for several seconds before quickly retracting her hand, hiding it behind her back. Her pretty face flushed crimson, like a ripe peach. She took several steps back, her emerald eyes wide, like a startled deer.

Huh?

Roland's eyes instantly turned red. He drew his knight's sword, leaped from his horse, and positioned himself in front of Krinhild.

"Impudent! You insolent wretch! Do you really think no one can touch you?"

Roland's sword-holding hand trembled with rage. He never expected Siegfried to be so audacious, to openly flirt with the princess in front of dozens of kingdom soldiers.

Why this reaction?

Siegfried was baffled.

[Prompt: The Moon Kingdom does not have the custom of kissing hands. Your actions just now were tantamount to openly sexually harassing a princess.]

"But she…"

[She just wanted to shake your hand. Well, although the time was short, I feel honored to have worked with you. May you rest in peace.]

"Shut up!"

The thirty-odd soldiers around them raised their spears in unison. They had made up their minds: even if they had to die today, they would kill this hateful fellow.

"Your Highness, step back. This man is insidious and deceitful; he might attack you. Soldiers, surround him!"

Roland protected Krinhild while directing the army to encircle Siegfried. This veteran Golden Knight demonstrated his experience.

Siegfried's expression turned cold as the encirclement tightened.

Joining the Princess's faction was unlikely. Time to change plans. After breaking out, use Katarina to lure Princess Krinhild and use that as a stepping stone to join the Second Prince's faction.

Siegfried quickly calculated in his mind while searching for the weakest point to break through.

At the critical moment, Krinhild stepped forward.

"No, I'm fine. I was just startled. Roland, tell the soldiers to stand down. Mr. Meran had no ill intentions."

"But he just now!"

"It's alright. I think Mr. Meran just gave me a special greeting, nothing more. The Light Elves told me so."

Krinhild walked to Roland's side and patted his shoulder to comfort him.

Roland then waved his hand, and the soldiers orderly put away their weapons but did not lift the encirclement.

Siegfried breathed a sigh of relief; he had already prepared for the worst.

"Please forgive my impoliteness, Your Highness. This is the kiss-hand greeting that recently became popular in the Orpheus Empire. I didn't expect it to not be common in Moon."

Siegfried made up a plausible excuse; he didn't even know where the Orpheus Empire was located.

Krinhild covered her mouth and chuckled:

"The Empire's customs are still so open."

This sudden incident, though dangerous, quickly brought the two closer.

After a brief exchange, Krinhild asked seriously:

"Mr. Siegfried, is my friend Katarina really with you?"

Siegfried looked around and saw a Putian scout who had already escaped in the chaos.

He sneered, pointing in the direction of the Putian:

"For that question, it's best to ask that friend directly."

A soldier grabbed Bobo by the scruff of his neck and brought him back. His short, thick limbs flailed in the air to no avail.

"BoBo, what's going on?"

Roland's face was gloomy, and he exerted pressure on Bobo without reservation. He wasn't a simpleton; he had been blinded by his apprentice's actions, but now, having calmed down, he realized that Bobo's story was full of holes.

Faced with the Golden Knight's undisguised killing intent, Bobo instantly shrunk into a ball, but still argued: "Sir, what are you doing? Have I done anything wrong?"

"If you haven't done anything wrong, why did you run so far?"

"I… I needed to relieve myself!"

BoBo's plan was simple: just deny that he proposed the plan to attack the village and put all the blame on Katarina, then he could escape punishment. He only proposed the plan; Katarina was the one who carried it out. Wasn't it only natural for her to take full responsibility now that things had gone wrong?

What Bobo never imagined was that Siegfried wasn't there to investigate the attack on the village.

Looking at the stubborn dwarf, Siegfried calmly walked forward, leaned close to Bobo's face, and smiled.

"Shorty, guess where Katarina and her team went?"

BoBo's expression froze.

"Here's a hint: I know who you are, I know who your master is, I know your meeting place, I know your contact code, I know everything about you."

His dark eyes stared directly at the Putian scout, and Bobo could see his own pale face reflected in those black onyx eyes.

"Come on, guess what Katarina is doing right now?"

The young man's smile was icy.

(Impossible… how is this possible! How could an outsider know?)

BoBo's secret service for the Second Prince was top secret. He always left special marks in specific locations to convey information to his contact person and never appeared in person to anyone. Only the Second Prince Roderick himself and a close female bodyguard knew his identity.

How was he exposed? Bobo couldn't understand it no matter how hard he racked his brains.

He gritted his teeth, intending to continue playing dumb, but at that moment, a series of urgent hoofbeats came from afar.

Katarina rode a white horse, leaving her team far behind. She waved her hand and shouted from her horse, and even from the sound alone, one could feel how excited the female knight was.

"Your Highness! Teacher! I have something very important to report!"

"It seems everyone's here."

The mission was to join either prince's faction and gain their trust. It seemed like two tasks, but they could actually be done as one. Joining a faction meant gaining trust, and gaining trust certainly meant joining a faction.

Siegfried had devised a plan to showcase his abilities and quickly gain trust. Although there were several unexpected incidents along the way, it went smoothly.

He looked around at everyone present, clasped his hands together, and smiled. "Everyone, it's not convenient to stand and talk. Let's go to the village and sit down."

...............

When this large group of people appeared in Fentao Village, the villagers were startled. They all thought that the bandits from yesterday had brought more people to seek revenge. But when they saw Siegfried at the head of the group, they were relieved. A few daring villagers even followed to watch the excitement.

On the way back, Katarina recounted everything she had done.

Following Siegfried's instructions, Katarina had led her people to Bobo's meeting point that morning and left a special code. The message was: "Ambush the Princess's forces here in two days."

Without any surprises, a group of people would arrive at Siegfried's designated location in two days. However, they wouldn't see the princess; they would only see Roland and his great sword.

This was a counter-ambush operation. If successful, the soldiers could obtain sufficient emergency supplies from these pursuers. Most importantly, the relentless pursuit for half a year would finally end.

Siegfried easily dismantled the pursuit operation that had almost driven the Princess's faction to a dead end in just one day. Katarina's expression was radiant as she described Siegfried's intelligence and strength; she couldn't help but want to deify Siegfried.

Incidentally, the knight lady didn't mention a word about the robbery of the village yesterday, only saying that she happened to meet Mr. Meran while passing through the village.

"Mr. Siegfried, how did you discover that Bobo was a spy?"

Krinhild was curious about Siegfried's source of information.

Siegfried had already prepared a lie; although there were some loopholes, with the bonus of [Deceitful Talk], these loopholes were nothing.

However, before he could speak, Katarina answered for him.

"Of course it's [Eagle Eye], Mr. Meran's ancestral miracle. I saw with my own eyes that Mr. Meran just stared at my face and read my memories. Catching a small spy is a piece of cake for Mr. Meran."

Krinhild suddenly understood. She had heard of the Eagle Eye miracle; the history of heroes was a required course for royals like her.

However, she was even more surprised by her best friend's state. Her best friend had always been tougher than men since she was young. At 14, she could subdue a wild boar with her bare hands, and at 19, she was promoted to a great knight, two years earlier than Roland, a once-in-a-century genius.

Such Katarina now acted like a starstruck girl, fervently admiring Siegfried.

She's fallen for him? That was too fast.

The princess was amazed.

On the other hand, Siegfried was dumbfounded.

Eagle Eye? What's Eagle Eye? The X-ray vision skill in the Berserker Creed?

"Right, Mr. Meran, you can actually see what we're all thinking right now." Katarina suddenly threw the topic to Siegfried, her sea-blue eyes full of anticipation.

"......That's right."

"I knew it, Your Highness, see?"

Damn it, another non-existent skill…

The group left the soldiers in the village square and walked noisily into the village's reception hall. The reception hall was actually the harvest church's hall temporarily remodeled, as it was the most respectable place in Fentao Village. It wouldn't do to have a princess of a kingdom visit the village chief's house.

A long table was set up in the church, laden with roast duck, roast chicken, roast fish, roast suckling pig, and ale. When the village chief heard that the first princess of the Moon Kingdom had arrived, he was so shocked that he immediately mobilized all the villagers to prepare these things as quickly as possible.

For a rural village, this feast was extremely luxurious. You couldn't say the dishes were monotonous, as such a remote village couldn't produce any court chefs.

"Remember to pay after you've eaten. If you don't have enough, you can put it on credit." Siegfried glanced at Roland, who was already swallowing his saliva, and added indifferently.

Everyone present, including Krinhild, felt a little embarrassed.

It was ridiculous. Let alone these fleeing royals, even if Qianlong came, he would have to pay.

At the entrance, Xiaotuova, carrying a whole roast lamb almost as big as herself, stumbled in.

Siegfried was about to help, but a pair of slender hands were quicker than him, supporting the girl who was about to fall.

Krinhild took the roast lamb from the girl, showing an impeccable smile:

"Little sister, thank you for your hospitality. Please tell the kitchen to distribute the remaining dishes to the soldiers in the square; we have enough here."

Xiaotuova had never seen someone as beautiful as Krinhild before, and she was a little flustered, her little face turning red.

Siegfried patted her head.

"Thank you, go ahead. Tell everyone that Her Highness the Princess will pay." He emphasized the words "will pay."

"Yes, sir, brother… Hero!" Xiaotuova stood at attention, as if she had received a great mission.

Now, only five people were in the large hall. Siegfried, Krinhild, Roland, and Katarina were sitting around the long table. Bobo, beaten black and blue by the soldiers, stood aside, watching the four people eat and drink.

"Mr. Siegfried, I, on behalf of the Moon Kingdom, thank you for your help."

Krinhild hadn't eaten such a feast in a long time, but years of etiquette training didn't make her behave like the two hungry knights, who were eating without any image.

She first bowed to Siegfried, then picked up her fork and elegantly swept away the food in front of her, at a speed that was no slower than the two knights.

Siegfried looked at these three gluttons and frankly, he didn't want to choose Krinhild's faction anymore.

The purpose of this stage's mission was to allow him to better complete the historical revision, that is, to recover the four regions, end the internal strife, and unify the kingdom. But relying on the rabble of the Princess's faction, it was likely that they would all go their separate ways. Siegfried had a rather absurd feeling of joining the army in 1949.

"How many people do you have left?" Siegfried asked when they were almost finished eating.

"Besides the soldiers here, there are a dozen more guarding the Wind Cave. In total, there are only 48 people left."

Katarina's expression was downcast. Half a year ago, when they charged out of the royal city, they had nearly a thousand troops. She had watched her comrades fall and leave, and the team had become smaller and smaller, walking into a desperate situation.

Siegfried's face darkened.

He wasn't worried because there were too few people; on the contrary,

The remaining number of people,

was too many.

"You… you actually still have 48 people?"