Chapter : 62

Yan Yunqing suddenly lashed out. Majina was caught off guard and he actually succeeded for a moment.

But just as Yan Yunqing's palm touched Majina's neck, Majina struck out with a palm of her own, wanting to repel him.

The palm carried a strong wind, the sound of it breaking through the air came rushing.

Yan Yunqing ducked to avoid the palm, then tightened his fingers, grabbing Majina's neck and slamming her to the ground.

He gave her no time to react. His other hand also attacked swiftly, and the strength-enhancing ring on his right hand lit up faintly.

Strength enhancement, activated.

With one hand choking Majina's neck and the other pinching her chin, Yan Yunqing twisted his hands in opposite directions. With a crack, he broke her neck. She didn't even make a sound before she was dead.

The light in Majina's eyes quickly dimmed. Her eyes were wide open, still filled with disbelief.

She probably never imagined that an ordinary guard could instantly kill her, a level forty-two swordsman.

Yan Yunqing shook his hand. Majina had gripped his wrist tightly before she died.

The strength of a level forty-two swordsman was still terrifying, and his wrist ached from the grip.

Yan Yunqing looked around, quickly dragged Majina's body into the bushes, and casually tossed it aside.

Majina was a red-named NPC. Killing a red-named NPC, even outside of an instance, would give Yan Yunqing experience. His experience bar rose by a small section, bringing him close to level thirty-six.

"This is a small elite monster," Yan Yunqing said to himself, "The experience given is really rich."

Most of the guards in the royal palace were yellow-named, indicating that they were in a neutral state.

They would not attack Yan Yunqing unless he was completely discovered, and killing them would not give him experience.

Of course, in a sense, being yellow-named also meant that these people were not bad.

They would turn red-named later only because they belonged to different factions.

As for this palace maid Majina, who was by the Queen's side, the name above her head was so red it was almost dripping blood. It could be said that she had committed numerous evil deeds and could never be in the same faction as Yan Yunqing.

Therefore, she appeared as a red-named NPC from the start. For a player like Yan Yunqing, killing her would grant a corresponding increase in experience.

Yan Yunqing had originally only planned to knock out a palace maid and use her identity to enter the royal palace. When he saw Majina's red name, he instantly changed his mind.

There was no need to be merciful to red-named NPCs.

Besides, even if Yan Yunqing wanted to be merciful, it would depend on whether Majina gave him the chance. What if he held back and was killed in return?

Yan Yunqing never dared to underestimate the red-named NPCs in this world.

Yan Yunqing used his [Roleplay] skill, changing from the appearance of a guard to Majina's. He also casually tossed a few Fire Emblems next to Majina.

Straightening the palace maid's dress on his body, Yan Yunqing felt a little unused to the empty feeling underneath, a flashback to when he first transmigrated and went commando.

Yan Yunqing tugged at the hem of his skirt, trying to get used to this strange feeling.

Then he imitated Majina's posture, crossing his hands in front of his waist and abdomen, his back straight, and walked quickly towards the interior of the royal palace with dignified steps.

He encountered several patrols of guards along the way. Yan Yunqing looked straight ahead, but those guards would stop and nod to him in greeting.

It seemed that this Majina held a high position in the royal palace and was probably someone close to the Queen.

Even the palace maid by the Queen's side was red-named. It seemed that the Queen was not a good person either.

However, Yan Yunqing's target this time was not her. Killing one Feu was already in hell mode for him; he didn't have the energy to deal with a queen as well.

No rush. This debt could be settled slowly.

When the players from Blue Star came online, would he still be afraid of not having a chance to kill the Queen?

For Yan Yunqing, fighting alone required careful consideration of many factors. For the players who weren't afraid of death, as long as you dared to show your health bar, they would kill even a god for you to see.

As Yan Yunqing walked into the royal palace, he kept dropping Fire Emblems in very hidden corners.

With the button-sized volume of the Fire Emblems, they wouldn't attract anyone's attention at night.

Yan Yunqing blended into the interior of the royal palace.

He received even more attention. The moment several palace maids saw him, they immediately straightened their backs and pretended to be very serious.

Majina's identity attracted too much attention. He had to change to an inconspicuous identity again.

Yan Yunqing frowned slightly. A palace maid beside him, who had been observing him with the corner of her eye, suddenly stumbled nervously.

The tray in her hand fell, and several bottles of wine shattered on the ground, splashing a pool of purplish-red liquid, even splashing onto the hem of Yan Yunqing's skirt.

The palace maid was shocked and quickly knelt down in front of Yan Yunqing, completely disregarding the broken glass on the ground, "I-I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, Lady Majina! I didn't mean to, I was just too nervous..."

She was incoherent. Yan Yunqing's frown deepened. His expression was displeased as he scolded sharply, "Is this how you do things?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry—sob..." The palace maid couldn't help but whimper, her voice trembling with fear.

Yan Yunqing scanned the faintly watching crowd and put on an angry expression, "Aren't two of you going to come quickly and drag this offender away to be locked up? Truly useless."

His sharp reprimand made all the palace maids on the scene lower their heads, not daring to make a sound.

They all stood there like quails. The palace maid who was being dragged away didn't dare to cry out loud, only covering her mouth and shedding silent tears.

Someone with a good eye came up to clean up the mess. Yan Yunqing took the opportunity to walk out, pretending to go change his clothes.

In reality, he was following the palace maid who was being dragged away from a distance. After following her until she was locked in a dark little room, the two palace maids left.

After confirming that nothing would happen to her for now, Yan Yunqing secretly snuck in and knocked out the palace maid. He scanned the room and found that it happened to be a changing room.

What a coincidence!

Yan Yunqing rummaged around and found a clean palace maid's uniform from a cabinet.

After deactivating his [Roleplay] skill, he changed to a plain face and put on the palace maid's uniform. Now he was a palace maid that no one in this palace knew.

After quickly changing his clothes, Yan Yunqing walked out of the changing room again.

He had only taken a few steps when he bumped into an old palace maid with a harsh face.

Her sharp gaze swept over Yan Yunqing's dress, and she frowned, "What time is it?

The banquet has just begun, why are you still here?"

Yan Yunqing lowered his head, imitating the palace maids he had just seen, and stood like a quail with his head down, "It-it's... someone made Lady Majina unhappy. Lady Majina asked us to escort her back, so I stayed behind... stayed behind..."

Yan Yunqing glanced guiltily in the direction of the changing room. The old palace maid seemed to understand something, and her brows furrowed even deeper, her whole old face looking like a wrinkled chrysanthemum, "I don't care what grievances you had before, today is an important day, and no one is allowed to make any mistakes. Since it was Lady Majina who asked you to escort someone back, I won't pursue your fault for now."

"Now, immediately, get back to your post!"

Yan Yunqing shrank his neck and answered in a low voice, "Yes, ma'am."

After saying that, he quickly bowed and was about to turn and walk towards the banquet hall when the old palace maid behind him suddenly spoke, "Wait."

Yan Yunqing's footsteps paused, and his whole body tensed up, ready to kill in retaliation at any moment.

The old palace maid walked to Yan Yunqing's side in her low-heeled shoes, making a thump, thump, thump sound. Yan Yunqing lowered his head and did not meet her gaze.

She carefully sized up Yan Yunqing and reached out her hand—

The veins on Yan Yunqing's arm, hidden under his long sleeve, bulged out.

He was about to break the neck of this yellow-named old palace maid in front of him just as he had broken Majina's neck, but he didn't expect her hand to only stop at the bow on his chest.

The old palace maid straightened his bow tie, and then smoothed out the somewhat wrinkled hem of his skirt, her voice impatient, "How many times have I told you all before?

Iron your clothes before today. Don't come out to see people in wrinkled clothes. You're embarrassing our Bartovita royal family."

As she muttered, she smoothed out the wrinkles on the hem of Yan Yunqing's skirt. Finally, she clapped her hands, looked Yan Yunqing up and down, and snorted, "You look decent now. Go."

Yan Yunqing relaxed his tense muscles and answered dully, "Yes, ma'am."

He turned around, and under that gaze, Yan Yunqing walked towards the banquet hall.

This time, it was to celebrate the twenty-third prince's birthday. Perhaps while Yan Yunqing was dealing with the old palace maid, the King of Barto had already finished his speech. In any case, by the time he entered the banquet hall, the birthday banquet had already begun.

It was a vast palace, divided into several areas. The main area was for a group of nobles and royalty with prominent backgrounds. In the middle were the female companions and male partners they brought, each dressed to the nines.

On the periphery were minor nobles with insufficient status, holding wine glasses, chatting while keeping an eye on the nobles in the center, planning to find an opportunity to strike up a conversation.

The crystal palace lamps overhead swayed slightly. The lamps, powered by magic, refracted brilliant colors as time changed.

The lavishly dressed nobles clinked their glasses, their laughter rising and falling. Palace maids in uniform shuttled through the crowd, fulfilling every request of the nobles.

There was also a circle of hidden guards. Yan Yunqing's gaze swept over them; their levels were all above fifty.

The closer a guard was to the center, the higher their level. It was impossible for Yan Yunqing to kill them by skipping levels, no matter what.

As expected, the security was tight.

Yan Yunqing scanned the area and found his target in the very center. The red name above his head was also dripping with blood: [Lv.40 Feu].

Tsk, his level is a bit higher than mine. This assassination is indeed not a simple matter.

Yan Yunqing sized up the layout of the banquet hall, holding a tray with a few glasses of red wine on it.

He lowered his presence, slowly walking around, stopping and going. When a noble called him, he would stop to serve them, not attracting the attention of any guards.

Thus, Yan Yunqing slowly circled the banquet hall, dropping a Fire Emblem into every wall lamp. He also installed several 'Firecracker' magic items provided by Lilian.

With all the Fire Emblems installed, Yan Yunqing thoughtfully left an exit for these nobles, of course, an exit closer to the area of the minor nobles on the periphery. As for the high-status nobles and royalty inside, they could only fend for themselves.

The first stage of preparation was complete. The next step was to lure Feu out and kill him in a place with no guards.

Killing Feu was simple. The difficult part was how to lure him out without attracting the attention of the guards.

Based on Yan Yunqing's understanding of Feu, he only needed to disguise himself as a beautiful palace maid, go up and pretend to clumsily bump into Feu to attract his attention.

Then, she would find an excuse to leave the banquet hall, and nine times out of ten, Feu would follow her.

But this would make him more conspicuous, and the guards' attention would be more focused on him.

The palace maids in the royal palace were clearly strictly trained. Such a rash move was very inappropriate.

Perhaps those guards would even guess that he was trying to seduce the fifth prince.

No matter what they thought, their attention would definitely be on him, which would cause him trouble to some extent. With this density of guards, his plan would be difficult to succeed.

Of course, there was another option: have Cornelia cooperate with him to lure Feu out...

Yan Yunqing's peripheral vision fell on the center of attention, on the sea-blue-haired woman with her arm linked with Feu's. He considered whether he should meet up with Cornelia.

"Mr. Magician?" A childish female voice sounded beside Yan Yunqing.

For a moment, Yan Yunqing didn't realize that this "Mr. Magician" was being addressed to him. He subconsciously looked to the side.

Alice?!

Yan Yunqing was shocked, but his face did not show the slightest mistake. He bowed slightly, "Your Highness the Eleventh, what are your orders?"

Alice blinked her big, round eyes. A trace of a smile seemed to flash in her reddish-brown eyes.

She moved closer to Yan Yunqing and lowered her voice, "Mr. Magician, I know it's you."

Yan Yunqing: ...???

Yan Yunqing was stunned, not knowing whether Alice was trying to expose his identity or if she had really recognized him—

No, Alice didn't know he would be at this banquet. How could she suddenly try to expose his identity?

She couldn't possibly try to expose every stranger she met, could she?

Yan Yunqing was suspicious and uncertain, not knowing whether to admit to being this "Mr. Magician." Alice first looked around and tugged at the hem of his skirt, "This is not the place to talk. Follow me."

Yan Yunqing: ...

Yan Yunqing glanced at Cornelia's direction again, beginning to suspect that Cornelia had revealed his purpose to Alice in advance.

That's not very authentic of you, Miss Accomplice.

Helpless, Yan Yunqing followed Alice's footsteps, walking behind her with his head bowed.

Not a single guard thought they looked strange, only assuming that the Eleventh Princess needed a palace maid to help with something.

Alice very smoothly led Yan Yunqing out of the banquet hall door, taking him through several twists and turns to a deserted little corner.

Alice pushed a wall, and a small hidden door in the middle was pushed open. Alice beckoned to Yan Yunqing.

Yan Yunqing looked at his minimap, then at this small hidden door, and was surprised to find that the hidden door was not displayed on the minimap at all.

Alice led Yan Yunqing for a while longer, passed through several secret passages, and entered a spiral staircase that went straight up.

Yan Yunqing was a little tired from walking, but he found that Alice had no intention of stopping.

The handrails around were high, and the end of the spiral staircase was out of sight. The walls were not hung with bright magic lamps, but with old-fashioned oil lamps.

As Alice walked past, they were lit one by one by fire magic. Yan Yunqing felt as if he and Alice had fallen into a rabbit hole, as if they had entered a dreamy fairy tale space.

"Where are we going?" Yan Yunqing couldn't help but ask.

Alice made a shushing gesture, "There are Father King's hounds in the palace. Their noses are very sensitive. Be careful not to be discovered by them!"

Yan Yunqing shut his mouth, sighing in his heart: Cornelia never told him about this.

He was already starting to think about when would be a good time to escape if the plan failed.

Alice led him to the top of the stairs, pushed open a hidden door, and the narrow view suddenly opened up.

Yan Yunqing looked at the large, ancient-style clock. This... was actually the top of the clock tower in the royal palace.

"Welcome to my secret base!" Alice spread her arms in front of Yan Yunqing and spun around, showing him this clock tower.

The exquisite hem of her skirt lifted into a beautiful arc, "How is it? Looking down from here, isn't it beautiful?"

Yan Yunqing looked in the direction Alice was pointing. The magnificent royal palace was displayed before him. Even though it was already night, the palace was brightly lit with magic lamps everywhere.

Looking down from the highest clock tower, it was like brilliant stars lit up in a magnificent castle, as splendid as magic.

It was indeed breathtakingly beautiful, but under this magnificent shell, who knew how much filth and decay was hidden.

Yan Yunqing met Alice's sparkling eyes and confirmed that she had indeed recognized him. He let out a long sigh, "How did you recognize me?"

Alice tilted her head, "Didn't I say before, I'm very good at reading people."

She pointed to her own reddish-brown eyes, which seemed to flow with flames, "My eyes can see the qi flowing in everyone's body!"

"Qi?" Yan Yunqing was stunned for a moment, then realized: "Is this your talent skill?"

In this world, besides becoming magicians or swordsmen, there was also a group of people who were born with special talent skills.

These talent skills varied. Yan Yunqing's skill was [Advent of the Demon King], Cornelia's was [Wrath of the Sea God], and Lilian's was [Lord of the Forest].

It was difficult to tell the specific effects of these talent skills just by looking at their names.

Just like how Yan Yunqing was currently only using [Advent of the Demon King] as a presence buff to intimidate people.

Yan Yunqing tried to add Alice as his teammate. Perhaps because Alice's favorability towards him was also very high, with the temporary teammate buff added, Alice was also smoothly added to his NPC friend list.

He saw Alice's talent skill—[Eye of Truth].

Yan Yunqing clicked his tongue. Good grief, this name didn't look simple. Could it be a skill that could see through all disguises? That would be a natural counter to his [Roleplay] skill.

"That's right." Alice smiled cutely, but Yan Yunqing didn't think she was some naive little child at all.

"Mr. Magician, the qi on your body is very beautiful, like a sparkling river of stars." Alice was a little short of adjectives, "Anyway, it's very dazzling in a crowd. I noticed you the moment you came in!"

Yan Yunqing: ...My enterprise is half-finished, yet I perish midway. Now that my biggest trump card has been seen through, what else can I do?

Yan Yunqing had already prepared his teleportation skill, ready to TP away at any time.

"Did I scare you?" Alice noticed Yan Yunqing's intention to escape and stuck out her tongue, "Sorry, I was just a little curious, that's why I brought you here, Mr. Magician. I have no ill intentions."

She raised her hands, indicating her sincerity, "Is Mr. Magician here to do something? Is there anything I can help you with?"

Alice asked with great interest, "Hmm, I saw your little movements in the banquet hall, Mr. Magician. Could it be that you're here to assassinate my Father King?"

Yan Yunqing: "...There are so many guards around your Father King. It's impossible for me to succeed in an assassination, right?"

"Ah, is that not it?" Alice was a little disappointed, "I thought an assassin could finally make a move on my Father King. I was even thinking of helping you."

Yan Yunqing: ...

What a filial son, what a filial son. This is simply uproariously filial.

The corner of Yan Yunqing's mouth twitched, "Do you hate your Father King that much?"

Alice was silent for a moment, her loose hair slightly covering half of her face. She thought for a moment: "Actually, it's alright.

I've always believed that hate is the other end of love. Only when I still hold hope for that man will I hate him."

"But I've long been disappointed in him." Alice spread her hands, "So I don't really hate him, but I do really want him to die."

Alice took two steps forward, leaned on a stone pillar and looked down at the magnificent palace. She pulled Yan Yunqing to sit on the edge.

"The high and mighty king can neither see nor hear the wails of the common people, living his golden life as if in a dream."

"How disgusting."

Alice said, "In the fifty years since he came to power, the Skane frontline has faced countless defense crises.

Yet, he still refuses to listen or look. He even suppresses the Sawyer family by delaying military funds because their reputation has been growing in recent years."

"If it weren't for the Sawyer family producing an Adrien Sawyer, the Skane border would have been breached long ago."

Alice said calmly, "Or rather, twenty-three years ago, the Skane border was indeed breached once. The losses from that incident, even after twenty-three years of recovery, Bartovita still hasn't bounced back from."

Twenty-three years ago was the time of the third large-scale Demonic Beast Tide riot in the new Ailman era.

"After I entered Sigret Academy, I started looking into this matter, and I finally came to a conclusion—"

"If it weren't for that man's relentless suppression of the Sawyer family and the Sawyer army, then with the young but already renowned genius, Little General Adrien Sawyer, and my elder brother Lancelot, they would have had a chance to suppress the demonic beasts before they broke through the defense line."

Lancelot, the only son of the King of Barto and the former queen.

He was the first prince of Bartovita, and he had been the center of attention since birth. From a young age, he also showed talent that met everyone's expectations.

He was a genius swordsman who became famous even earlier than Adrien. He was gentle and elegant, with unparalleled talent. He was the highly anticipated next King of Barto.

If he hadn't died in battle during the Demonic Beast Tide riot twenty-three years ago, perhaps his achievements would be even greater than Adrien's now.

Unfortunately, he died too young. People today only remember the genius Adrien, not the genius Lancelot.

Alice smiled, "The tragedy of twenty-three years ago happened once, but he still hasn't changed. It's as if he thinks those demonic beasts will never set foot in the capital, will never threaten his life.

He continues to suppress the Sawyer family, forcing them to come here to personally ask for military funds under the pretext of my twenty-third younger brother's birthday."

"And what's the result? That man doesn't mention anything about military funds. Instead, he wants me to marry over to balance the power between the royal family and the Sawyers."

Alice was truly helpless: "Actually, I don't mind. Being in the royal family, it's very difficult for me to have a say in such matters. But that little general from the Sawyer family clearly has no such intention."

"I really don't know what that man is thinking. Perhaps if an assassin kills him and a new king takes his place, this country can become a little better?"

In front of Yan Yunqing, Alice vented her unhappiness to her heart's content, speaking harsh words, but Yan Yunqing heard a bit of childish innocence in them.

Is this little princess a little too trusting of her talent skill? Does she not suspect at all that the skill could be wrong, and that he's actually a bad person?

Yan Yunqing gradually relaxed. He realized that Alice just wanted to find someone to talk to, not to expose him. So, he also switched to a chatty mode. Anyway, the banquet was still long, and he had enough time to turn this little princess, although her stance seemed to be vague from the beginning.

"Then do you think that after he dies, the next King of Barto will be you?"

Alice was stunned and hesitated: "Probably... probably not? Bartovita has never had a queen. If he dies, the next King of Barto will probably be my second royal brother, Felton."

"He has the strongest maternal family support, he's the eldest son of the current queen, the oldest, and his talent is also decent. He's currently the most powerful heir."

Alice was conflicted, "He does seem like a nice person... but I always feel that the qi on him is not right... tsk, if I had to choose, it would be best for William to become the next King of Barto."

"I grew up with William. I know all his secrets. Although he is a bit dishonest at times, he is truly kind. It might be better for this country if he becomes the King of Barto."

Alice never mentioned herself taking the throne. She seemed to subconsciously exclude herself.

Even when Yan Yunqing raised the possibility, she denied it on the grounds that there had never been such a case in Bartovita.

Yan Yunqing reached out and rubbed Alice's head, "I think, no matter who takes the throne, Felton or William, this country will still not change. It will either maintain the status quo or get worse."

In order to play "Demon King," Yan Yunqing had read countless historical materials and was too familiar with the evolution of a country.

To save a country that was rotten from the root, only a leader with a truly awakened forward-thinking consciousness, not a ruler, could take the throne.

Putting Felton aside for now, William, whom Alice was most optimistic about, was obviously not this leader.