Chapter 229

Sheffy once again pulled some distance away from Aimeris.

It wasn’t that Aimeris showed any intention of attacking—Sheffy just felt a chill crawling up her spine whenever she got close.

Especially when Aimeris licked her tongue like that—deeply disturbing.

Anyway, by Sheffy’s own judgment, Aimeris’s authority definitely wasn’t limited to just 【Creation】.

Back when she was still a sphere of light, Aimeris had released a golden light domain that could suppress the magic power of anyone who entered it down to a very low level. Aimeris had said herself at the time that this authority was called 【Reverence】.

And according to the intel that Aunt Ailellek had exchanged with her pierced heart, there was also an authority in the domain of Human God that allowed for instant-casting magic—the true nature of this authority still remained unclear.

*Sigh…* Originally, Sheffy had hoped she could seal one or two more abilities, or just finish this freak off entirely. But unfortunately, today the other party had clearly come prepared. It seemed there wouldn’t be much to gain this time.

Still, hadn’t that unlucky god just now said she wanted to “talk”…?

Sheffy expanded her sensory magic to a radius of ten li.

She sensed Xiarette and the others had already returned to the Northern Territory’s border, their magic signatures close to Belith’s.

It looked like they had regrouped.

Sheffy quietly let out a breath of relief in her heart, and looked up…

——Only to find Aimeris had somehow gotten right back in front of her!

She blinked her wide eyes, full of curiosity and smiling cheerfully.

“Uwah…?! Are you some kind of haunting ghost?! Do you *have* to talk right up in people’s faces?!”

“Hmm? But it’s your fault for being so interesting. Ahh… ran away again. It’s fine, I just didn’t expect one thing.”

“What?”

“【Creation】… it actually had no effect on you.”

Originally, Aimeris’s plan had been flawless.

With a figure like Salnor Yarin coordinating from the Demon King’s castle and Murof Yarin on the border, they would definitely spark conflict between the higher races and the Demon Clan, plunging the Demon Domain into a bloody storm.

But the one flaw in the plan…

Her gaze once again caught sight of those eight black feathers.

Aimeris suppressed the emotion in her eyes—unclear whether it was irritation or delight—as she opened her left hand and slowly looked up at the sky, the pure white clouds overhead.

“I simply don’t understand—when did my plan start to fail?”

“Ohhh, *this* is what you meant by ‘negotiation’? You just wanted to ask that?” Sheffy turned around, gave a few flaps of her wings, and prepared to take off. “Then I have no reason to answer you. It’s a waste of time. Can’t kill you today anyway, so I’m out.”

“You *should* answer my question.”

“Can’t hear you, can’t hear you~ Bye!”

“Otherwise, I’ll just go back to making trouble again.”

“…!”

——*Thud!*

The silver-haired dumpling wrapped in black feathers had already taken off into the sky, but upon hearing those words, she suddenly crashed down and skidded a long way across the snow.

Accompanied by a cute, miserable yelp, her tumble finally came to a stop. Sheffy lay flat in the snow, leaving behind a long streak.

Staring up at the sky.

Right now, she only wanted to curse.

No, to be precise, she wanted to curse a god.

So what you’re saying is, *if I don’t explain to you how I exposed your schemes, you’ll just keep stirring up trouble and disgusting me with it?!*

Heavens above, how could a god this shameless even exist?!

At that moment, a suppressed “krrrk—krrrk” laugh finally burst from Aimeris’s side, as if she was thoroughly enjoying the funny sight of Sheffy’s fall—or maybe celebrating finally winning for once.

**59. The Truth (5K)**

Gods might be shameless, but the wise know when to yield.

Sheffy didn’t care to be a gentleman, but in her past life, she had thoroughly studied *The Art of War*, and knew well the importance of not provoking a lunatic.

This time, Sheffy simply sat down cross-legged in the snow.

The snow was cold, making her feet a little chilly, but she was wearing long socks and high boots—top-tier insulation. No big deal.

“Anything else? Keep going?”

“You’re still asking…?!”

At this point, with every sentence of explanation, Sheffy had the urge to raise her little fists and hammer the head of the person in front of her.

After all, Aimeris was sitting there in a duck-like squat, both hands resting on the snow, tilting her head as she listened to the story. This ancient being, who had lived for tens of thousands of years, still pretending to be a naive child—she really deserved a beating!

She wanted to hit her, but wouldn’t actually do it.

For the same reason as before:

*Remember—don’t provoke a lunatic.*

The sight of Sheffy peacefully conversing with the god behind the Holy Theocracy should have been impossible.

But since both of them had such peculiar temperaments, the two opposing lolis, each representing their own faction, sitting together and chatting in the snow… somehow, it didn’t look *that* out of place.

“…Huh? You’re asking that again? How should I know why your authority didn’t work on me? That Salnor Yarin guy simply doesn’t exist! I just pretended not to notice on the surface and quietly told Belith to go check things out behind the scenes.”

“Belith…? Oh, Belith Harl. She’s your younger sister, yes? She actually believed your words that easily? My 【Creation】 should’ve ensured that she wouldn’t question Salnor’s existence at all.”

“Duh. If my sister doesn’t trust me, who else would she trust? You?”

“Just explain. No insults.”

“Fine.”

This god had seriously underestimated Belith.

Sometimes, even Sheffy herself felt troubled by it—Belith’s level of trust in her was downright outrageous.

Put it this way: if Sheffy told her that a big fish wasn’t actually a big fish but a giraffe, then from that point on, the Demon Clan’s records about big fish would likely be altered by Princess Belith herself to describe a water-dwelling giraffe. Short name: Water Giraffe.

Belith’s trust in Sheffy was unconditional.

It had nothing to do with Belith’s own sense of logic.

If Royal Sister said that Salnor Yarin didn’t exist, that there was something wrong with him, then even if he was standing there talking, Belith would treat him as non-existent, like air.

Waving her hand impatiently, Sheffy tried to simplify the entire sequence of events as much as possible.

“When we were returning home from the Kingdom of Aurus, we passed through the border city *Riedekidu*. Our carriage was stopped by the guards, and we only got through after Belith revealed her identity. At that time, I already felt something was off. Didn’t the soldiers of the Third Corps seem a bit too lax and lazy? The whole town gave me a strange feeling.”

“Oh…? And that’s something worth suspecting? There was no war, and it’s a snowy border town—military negligence is quite normal.”

“Are you stupid? What I meant was, they knew full well that a royal princess was visiting, yet the Third Corps’ commanding officer didn’t show up to greet us. Not even the lord of *Riedekidu* made an appearance—it was like they were dead.”

“Maybe they *were* dead. I know your personality—you hate trouble, so you walked fast and naturally didn’t run into them.”

“Yeah, I hate trouble, sure—but after the carriage left, I secretly went back alone for another look. No one came out to receive me, for real.”

“……”

For the first time, a wry, helpless smile surfaced on Aimeris’s face.

Even as a god, she was left speechless.

*Who’s the lunatic here again…?*

The carriage had already left, and this one still insisted on going back to check the situation?

She looked like a carefree silver-haired dumpling, but was she actually this paranoid?

Propping her elbow on her knee, Sheffy shifted into an even more smug sitting posture, not at all bothered by the fact that she was confronting the mastermind behind her enemies.

“Belith’s investigation found that the lord of *Riedekidu* had been assassinated for unknown reasons a month ago, and the Third Corps still hadn’t reported it.”

“Indeed, Murof Yarin is a cold-blooded fellow. I gave him power, and it seems he was rather enthusiastic about using it to kill.”

“He’s practically lost his mind—grabbing power and immediately going after dissenters… Ugh, stop interrupting! Why do you keep interrupting? Are you even listening?”

“I am. I’ve discovered I rather enjoy listening to you speak.”

“Hiss… Then I’m definitely at a loss for talking to you.”

Anyway—

After that, Sheffy had explained the abnormality of Salnor Yarin to Xiarette and the others, as well as the fact that the First Corps never had any “chief of staff” to begin with.

Ailellek’s trip to *Riedekidu* hadn’t been coincidence—it was on Sheffy’s instructions to uncover the truth.

“I originally intended for Salnor to mobilize the Demon King’s First Corps and have them appear at the Northern Border alongside the Third Corps. If even the Royal Guard of the Demon King’s Castle showed up at the Northern Territory, the higher races would definitely be unable to sit still.” Aimeris spoke these words of regret with an amused tone, devoid of actual disappointment. “Too bad—the Demon King and Queen didn’t trust him either.”

“【True Mirror Still Water】.”

“Hmm?”

“Lmao, you really didn’t stand a chance. That authority of yours couldn’t even deceive my mother.”

The Demon Queen Herilet possessed eyes similar to Sheffy’s.

While Sheffy could see through lies, Herilet could see through good and evil.

During the court’s deliberations over quelling the rebellion, Herilet had already perceived the malice deep in Salnor’s heart using 【True Mirror Still Water】.

But she didn’t expose it.

After all, the hall was filled with Demon Clan nobility. If word got out that some force could manipulate their perception, it would absolutely incite panic.

Even Herilet herself had yet to fully understand what was happening.

——But she still chose to entrust the entire matter to Sheffy to handle.

This child—sure, she stirred up trouble, but she was also immensely capable. Herilet had no reason to feel uneasy about leaving the mess in her hands.

And that was exactly why, in the Demon King’s Grand Hall, the position of commander of the punitive force had ended up being entrusted to Sheffy.

The more Aimeris listened, the more amused she became.

“Hehe… So that’s how it was. On the surface, it looked like Salnor was being set aside to avoid suspicion, making it seem like the royal family was just appointing one of their own to solidify power. But in reality… she had already seen through Salnor’s abnormalities. 【True Mirror Still Water】, huh… Tieer really left the Demon Clan with a lot of troublesome things. So then… that little brat Ailellek going to the border city was also just a diversion?”

“Heh, not bad—you’re actually pretty smart.”

Exactly.

At first, Sheffy had indeed planned to send Ailellek to scout the border city. But Livra had stopped it.

She believed that since the enemy had remained dormant in the border city even after assassinating the lord, it was likely just bait—probably waiting for something. There was definitely an ambush.

If they *had* to go, it should only be a fake clone or something of the sort, because they had no idea what the enemy’s trump card was. That kind of arrogance had to be backed by something.

The fact that the one who went to the border city was only Ailellek’s doppelgänger—only Sheffy and Livra knew the truth.

After all, before they had a full grasp of the situation, the fewer who knew, the better.

Later, when that sky-shattering 【Firmament】 came down from above, Sheffy had arranged for Livra to accompany Xiarette and the others for one purpose: to ensure that the only person in the know would push those two fools—Xiarette and the Fire Lizard—to break the seal with everything they had.

It wasn’t that she was deliberately hiding things from Xiarette and Timani; it was just that the two of them were simply too dim. Time was of the essence in battle, and explaining everything to them would take way too long.

She figured Livra would probably have them shout a few times, see if Auntie’s doppelgänger was still around or not.

Since the one sealed by 【Firmament】 had only been Ailellek’s clone, the so-called “First Princess sealed by the rebels” had never actually happened in the first place.

“I had Auntie’s doppelgänger leave behind laughter before vanishing, just so you’d all mistakenly believe she was truly trapped.”

“And the purpose?”

“Obviously—*to buy time*.”

“……”

Sheffy let out a relaxed little laugh.

As if something in her heart had finally settled.

She looked toward the distant end of the sky.

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