The cicadas of late summer carried the heat, and the weather remained somewhat muggy;
It got dark very late; it was still bright past six o'clock...
The bronze statue in the fountain pool was covered in a mist of water, refracting a colorful halo.
Diana followed behind Mil the entire time, her gaze occasionally stealing glances at his profile:
"Have you been living here all these years?"
"What else?"
"Hmm... Is the wound on your neck healed?"
"It still hurts."
"I'm sorry."
Diana lowered her head in disappointment, a silver hairband inlaid with sapphires held her long hair in a high ponytail, and where the ends of her hair fell, the faint patterns of her armor were subtly visible.
Mil held it in the whole way, but in the end, he couldn't resist and asked:
"You said... you understood my plan, so tell me about it?"
"Let's not talk about that yet... I only understood a part of it, but don't worry, I will follow your arrangements!"
Mil sighed and didn't press further.
A Goblin's lair is divided into an outer lair and an inner lair, which are not connected and are only opened once a week...
Most adventurers usually clear out the outer lair, which is why new lairs appear nearby every time they finish clearing one.
The inner lair is located very deep, and finding it is extremely difficult; not only do you need to find the right direction, but the excavation alone takes several months.
The two arrived at the Adventurers' Association, where Mil and Lilith had arranged to meet.
Lilith had changed into a dark purple, cinched-waist wizard's outfit, with thorn embroidery winding from the neckline to the waist, and the high slit in her skirt revealed her long legs wrapped in black stockings;
As soon as she walked out of the association, she saw Mil approaching her, so she dismissed her disguise and walked forward:
"I've already registered. The name is Mrs. Mil."
"That's a bit too obvious, isn't it?"
Mil frowned, but Lilith shrugged indifferently:
"What's wrong with that? There are tons of people named Mil in the Holy City, besides, Mil is just a shortened version of your name."
After speaking, her gaze shifted to Diana beside her, a faint smile on her lips, and she gracefully curtsied:
"Good afternoon, Your Highness Diana. I apologize, I didn't know you were coming. You aren't here specifically to visit my husband, are you?"
"No, I came for that powerful Goblin."
Mil glanced at Lilith; with her information network, she probably already knew. Mil could only awkwardly clear his throat and say:
"Ahem... Your Highness Diana, our current operation is through the Adventurers' Association, perhaps you could also..."
"It's fine, I registered before. The name is... uh... because, at the time, I was disguised as a man, so I just filled in a random name..."
Diana trailed off halfway through her sentence, finally turning her head away awkwardly:
"I filled in your name... Mil."
At that moment, time seemed to freeze. Lilith's face instantly darkened, and Mil was completely stunned:
"Huh? Alright, alright, one of you is named Mil, and the other is Mrs. Mil, so I'll just leave?"
Afterward, the three entered the noisy Adventurers' Association.
Mil did some disguise and camouflage, Lilith only used disguise;
As for Diana, she simply changed her clothes and put on a helmet.
Yesterday, Mil had told the receptionist that regardless of whether the Iron Lily Adventure Team accepted the mission, he wanted to talk to them, and he even paid a special gift fee for it;
If they were unwilling to accept, he would have to reveal his hand and guarantee their safety in the name of the Church.
However, Diana's appearance made things much easier. If they didn't dare to go, Diana alone could reveal her identity.
Once they entered the cave, in front of low-level monsters, as long as he activated the Demonic God Engraving, everything would be up to Mil...
Of course, Mil didn't intend to design any sacrifices, as that would be difficult to explain to the Church.
So, for this plan, he would give all his teammates a sleeping potion, and when the Hero Goblin appeared, he would activate the potion to knock them all out, then activate the Demonic God Engraving...
After turning that Hero-level Goblin into his familiar, he would let it lie dormant and randomly grab a Goblin to take the blame for it.
Done!
On the sandalwood table in the VIP room, there was iced mead, and a bronze candlestick cast a flickering halo on the parchment map.
The three waited for a while in the VIP room, and the remaining four members of the Iron Lily Adventure Team arrived punctually:
"Mr. Just, hello!"
Isotta brought in a wisp of pine scent as she pushed open the door. Her brown leather armor hugged her tanned skin, and a gruesome scar stretched from her collarbone to her neckline.
She walked forward and actively shook Mil's hand:
"Thank you for the designated mission. In fact, we were already planning to do this!"
But upon hearing this, Mil's eyes widened once again:
"Huh? Uh... I mean, I heard there's a very powerful Goblin there, and I heard even the Holy Knights suffered heavy losses. Aren't you afraid?"
"Of course we are... But our teammates were captured, and we can't just abandon them. We have to rescue them no matter what!"
"But isn't that a bit reckless of you? The Church is also trying to find a way. Aren't you going to wait for the Church to act?"
"No! Our actions this time cannot be known by the Church, because..."
Saying that, Isotta turned to face those behind her and introduced:
"This... is the Tier 5 Black Magician we specially invited—Aserville. With his help, we can become invisible to those monsters."
Aserville stepped forward, sighed, and said:
"You are all adventurers, so I won't hide it. I am a Black Magician... They say kind Black Magicians don't approach the Holy City, but there are exceptions. Please forgive me."
Mil was stunned, feeling that this was somewhat beyond the scope of his plan. The sleeping potion might not work on this guy...
However, after thinking for a while, it made sense for a sacrifice to appear in such an operation:
"Alright... However, this clearing operation has a mission, and everyone needs to listen to my command, no problem, right?"
Everyone nodded, a consensus was reached, and they began to prepare for the night's operation.
Mil set the time for midnight, completing the mission through the Adventurers' Association simply because he wanted to bring Fafner along and also complete the Adventurers' Association's beginner tasks;
But he always felt like this group of people seemed to have misunderstood something?
The Holy Dragon Kingdom Embassy extinguished its lights at around ten o'clock, and by eleven, it was already silent;
With Lilith's help, Mil easily made his way to Fafner's room...
It was late at night, and the moonlight was strong.
The mansion's rose vines climbed all over the white stone exterior walls, and the moonlight cast the shadows of the wrought-iron window frames onto the Persian carpet.
As soon as Mil pushed open the window, Fafner sat up with a start, jumped out of bed, and ran excitedly to the window:
"Mil? Is that you?"
"Shh—!"
Mil was startled by him and quickly cast a soundproofing spell before daring to speak:
"Little rascal, not sleeping in the middle of the night, are you trying to scare me to death?"
"I've been waiting for so long! Usually, the maids are watching, and I didn't dare to ask when you would come again. I almost thought you wouldn't come back, and I've prepared so many things I want to do!"
The moonlight illuminated Fafner's delicate face. As he rushed barefoot to the window, his silver-white hair cascaded like moonlight, still looking like a princess confined in a castle;
A loose mint-green silk sash was tied around his waist, revealing half of his snow-white waistline with his movements, and the dragon scale tattoo on his ankle glowed with a faint blue light.
His silk nightgown slipped, revealing one snow-white shoulder, and he carried a faint fragrance about him;
He grabbed Mil's clothes, directly bringing his face close, his watery eyes filled with anticipation, yet reflecting Mil's helpless expression.
"I don't have time to take you around to play tonight. Tonight there's a mission, the key to making you a man!"