After returning to her residence, Liana sat on the sofa, silent for a long time.

After they had locked the door, set up a barrier, and confirmed that no one else could hear the news from the room, Loraviel brought a cup of hot tea to help Liana calm her mood a little.

She took out the gem that Vikana had just given them.

“What Vikana just said...” Liana looked at Kasla. “Had you all also suspected him before? Otherwise, you should have been very much at ease with me going to see him.”

“We did indeed suspect Headmaster Vikana, but that’s not the main point.” Kasla shrugged.

“The main point is my safety, right?” Liana said.

“So you knew this yourself, Your Highness?” Kasla rolled her eyes at Liana. “If I hadn’t appeared today, what would you have done?”

“Find a reason to refuse him. In any case, the holy sword is in my hands. Whatever I say, goes,” Liana said.

“That’s true. But if you did that, it would probably arouse his suspicion, right?” Kasla said.

“Then the reason just wasn’t suitable enough. Besides, arousing suspicion is better than having some problem, right?” Liana spread her hands.

Speaking of which, they had to bring up what had just happened.

“Miss Kasla, could you tell what was going on just now? The headmaster just now seemed like a different person,” Liana asked.

“This is the first time I’ve encountered this situation as well. Perhaps it’s related to the demon race?” Kasla wasn’t too sure either.

“Seeing how calm you were, I thought you knew something.”

“Weren’t you also very calm, Your Highness?” Kasla said.

“At that time, one can only calm down and think. When facing a sudden situation, showing a flustered expression won’t change anything.”

And as it turned out, Liana had done the right thing. If she had acted unnaturally at that time, she would surely have been found out by Vikana.

“Then did you think of anything, Your Highness? Or, did you discover anything from this gem?” Kasla asked.

Liana carefully observed the gem. It was a deep black, completely opaque, as if it would devour all light.

“I can’t tell what it is at all...” Liana shook her head. She couldn’t get any clues from it. “Let’s just wait for Mephilia to come back. If it’s really about the holy sword, perhaps she, with her sacred magic, can find some clues.”

“Then why not just use the holy sword?” Kasla asked.

As a witness, she naturally knew that the holy sword was not as fragile as Liana had said. The reason she didn’t take it out was just because she was worried about Vikana.

“To avoid any unnecessary accidents, it’s better to wait for Mephilia to come back. Minoga will also be back then. If it weren’t for causing trouble, I would have wanted to take this gem directly to the King of Lisat. It would be safer there,” Liana said.

Liana had also thought, what if this gem was like a bomb? Wouldn’t it be more dangerous to take it to a crowded place?

But on second thought, a thousand years had «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» passed. If the demonkind still had a weapon of this power, capable of killing several Judges from a distance, then there would be no need to hide it at all.

“What we should be considering now is not the problem of the stone,” Liana said.

“Oh? Then what do you mean, Your Highness?”

“Whether Vikana’s words are trustworthy, that’s what you should be worried about, right?” Sephirena, who had been sitting on the side listening for a long time, spoke up.

“Mm.” Liana nodded and continued, “Do we believe what the ‘real’ Vikana said? Or, is the ‘real’ Vikana the real Vikana?”

This question was very convoluted, but Liana couldn’t just leave it uncertain.

Kasla quickly understood her meaning. “Are you worried, Your Highness, that the ‘Vikana’ who suddenly appeared was just an act he deliberately put on for us?”

The only thing that could be confirmed now was that something was wrong with Vikana. He might have a dual personality.

As for whether the other personality was a demon, it could not yet be determined. None of them had sensed anything demonic from him, nor were there any strange fluctuations when his personality changed.

“Perhaps,” Liana said, taking a sip of hot tea. Will it really be that smooth?

Liana always felt a little uneasy.

“Right now, we have a few paths to choose from.”

“One is that the real Vikana did briefly take over this body, passed on important information to us, and let us find a way to restore the holy sword.”

“The second is what we were just worried about: this was an act he deliberately put on, precisely to make us fall into a trap.”

“As for the third...”

“There’s a third?” This surprised Kasla a little.

“Of course,” Liana nodded. “The third is that Vikana, as a demon, is in contact with other demons, knows our habits, and deliberately told the truth, to make us not dare to go to that place, thus wasting the best opportunity.”

Liana couldn’t casually reveal the matter of Princess Nimeris right now.

“There is indeed such a possibility.” Kasla nodded in agreement.

“To deliberately use your cautious psychology to create a safe place... But if he wanted to do that, wouldn’t it be fine to just give a fake address?”

“Whether it’s real or fake, we have to go and see in the end,” Liana said, shaking her head helplessly. This was their current awkward situation. They couldn’t just sit and wait for death.

“But the most important problems to solve now are: how to read this gem, and how to know if the contents of this gem are real.”

“We can only wait for Princess Mephilia to come back.” Although Kasla was a Judge, she couldn’t help much in this regard. If only Ambis were here. Or rather, if only I had been willing to research this thing with her back then.

Mephilia spent a rather long time on her trip back. It was a full three days before she returned from the Lisat Royal Capital.

She entered the door with a smile, but saw a somewhat unhappy Liana. “What’s wrong?”

Mephilia found that almost everyone was present, as if they were waiting for her.

“Your Highness Mephilia, please sit down first. There are some things we need to discuss with you.” After saying this, Loraviel went to close the door.

“Okay.” Mephilia looked at the atmosphere and knew that they had definitely encountered some big trouble. She came to Liana’s side. “I’m ready. you can speak, Liana.”

Liana didn’t waste any time and directly took out the pitch-black gem. “Mephilia, can you see anything in this? Remember, you must use sacred magic to protect yourself.”

“Okay.” Mephilia grasped the gem, closed her eyes. A sacred light slowly manifested from her body, but strangely, it disappeared not long after appearing.

If one observed carefully, one would find that the gem in her hand was slowly eating the sacred light. After eating it, it slowly revealed its original appearance.

“This is?” She opened her eyes.

“Do you know what place this is?” Liana asked.

“The Minagado Territory,” Mephilia said, word by word.

“What?” This surprised Liana a little.

It’s actually the Minagado Territory?

Could it be that this is the reason the Lord of Minagado wants to ally with me?

But their intelligence is a bit too good, isn’t it? To know so quickly that I am the wielder of the holy sword.

Oh no, don’t tell me Minagado isn’t clean either.

Probably not... Besides, according to the legends, the dwarves were the one that forged the holy sword. It wouldn’t be unreasonable for them to have a special connection to it. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

The only thing that could be confirmed now was that this news was most likely true. Besides, Liana was already planning to make a trip there to handle the matter between them and the Venus Dukedom.

It was just that now, after receiving this news, everything had become a bit uncertain.

“What is it?” Mephilia looked at Liana, puzzled. She was completely in the dark right now. After coming back, she had just done as Liana had asked and still didn’t know what had happened.

“I forgot to explain this to you.”

Liana recounted what had happened after Mephilia had left.

“So that’s what happened... Your worries before were not without reason, Liana.” This matter had to be made known to the King of Lisat. “It seems I have to go back again...”

“Leave this to me. You just left the royal capital, Princess Mephilia. If you go back again, it will attract attention if you are seen,” Minoga said at this moment.

“That’s true. But in that case, the original plan will have to be disrupted a little.”

After learning this, they definitely had to prepare a backup plan. Liana and the others were not demons; they didn’t know how demons communicated. If they were caught in a pincer attack, the situation would become very dangerous.

Not to mention a Judge-level demon like Vikana...

“Don’t worry, it will definitely be fine,” Mephilia comforted her with great confidence.

“Of course it will be fine. We will win.” There was no use being discouraged now. They just had to work harder. At least they had a target.

“Minagado, Laurent, Angus, and Darriss... where should we start?” This was also what was giving Liana a headache. No matter where they started, it would put the other territories on alert.

“Then what if we... do them all at once?” Mephilia proposed a bold idea.