Chapter 123: Chapter 119 – The Cast

“Allen!” 

Oh, I miss you!

As Ann wanted to jump straight at Allen who returned, she was startled and canceled her intention when she saw that Allen wasn’t alone!

 

“W-why are you with…?!” Ann suddenly held her mouth with her hand as she jerked back several steps and trembled. It was as if she caught her husband cheating. 

It was easy to misunderstand the situation, so Laura who couldn’t see Allen clearly from her current position then gawked around and gave Allen an admonishing look.

But when she saw who were coming, she tilted her head in confusion.

What the heck is the problem?

 

Laura’s thought was correct, since the ones Allen came with were Prince Kiehl, her own brother–Fremont, and a royal knight named Miles that seemed to have been trusted by both the prince and her own brother. Based on what little interaction they had before, Laura viewed Miles as someone who was kind and trustworthy. 

Laura slightly tilted her head, wondering why Ann had made that kind of an exaggerated reaction.  

If Ann had been able to read Laura’s mind, she’d puke blood. The one Laura had been highly assessed in her mind was exactly the one that made her have that kind of reaction from before!

That’s right, Ann screamed exactly when she saw Miles–no, Mila, for the crossdressing woman was still staring at her as if wishing she could make a hole in Ann’s body from her stare!

“We’re here to talk about visiting the Imparie tribe,” Prince Kiehl said with a clearly confused look.

This weird woman couldn’t be thinking that her husband was having an affair with him, a fellow man, right?

The prince’s outrageous thought stemmed from what he had learned from his interaction with the odd saintess, Laura. Since such a Laura was declaring Ann as her best friend, wouldn’t it be natural for him to assume that the two had the same odd personalities and way of thinking? After all, birds of the same feather flock together.

 

Ignoring Ann’s reaction, Debienne said, “Please follow me. It’s not good talking here and I will summon Elder Matthias too.”

They were currently at a hall where other priests could pass by at any moment, and Elder Matthias wasn’t present, so it wasn’t wise to talk right there and right now. 

The group obediently followed Debienne who led them to a room that looked like a private meeting room. 

They encountered Elder Matthias and the priests escorting him on the way to the room.

 

Inside the room, there were no other people than Debienne, Elder Matthias, the young priests who were previously with them, Faye, Allen, Laura, Ann, Kiehl, Miles, Fremont, and of course Birdie. 

Ann looked here and there, scanned each and every one of their faces and thought to herself, ‘Great, most of the cast that makes up the ‘Saving the Kingdom, Snatching the Beauty’ game are actually here. Let see, the villainess–me, the heroine–Laura, and up to three capturable male targets! Can you imagine? It’s like half of the main cast already… If a bomb were to go off at this moment, I guess it’d be game over as the game couldn’t continue without the main cast…’

Luckily, they started the discussion immediately, causing Ann to be unable to trail off her thoughts anymore.

 

It was decided that they would be the ones coming to where the Imparie tribe was currently residing at, in order to request for their help in this matter. It was very surprising to Ann, who had only lived in this world for almost one year, thus having little knowledge over the matter. After all, Ann had thought that the words of the royal family, as the most powerful figure in the kingdom, would never fail to move the people in accordance to what they willed. 

Honestly, if it were the previous king who was the father of the body Ann was occupying, he would surely force the people to submit, threatening with power and authority, not caring of the bloodbath it might cause. 

But the current royal family was pacifist, and would never try to make trouble out of thin air. Anyway, they were the ones who needed the other party to do a favour, so they could at least make the effort and show their goodwill. 

Another aspect to that was because of the Imparie tribe’s aloofness and the mysterious power that they possessed. It was said that in the past, the angered Imparie people even caused calamities with their power and connection to nature, punishing those who had angered them… Of course, this matter couldn’t be verified since it was just hearsays that had been passed down through generations. The Imparie tribe had been living secluded for so long that it was also hard to verify the rumour. That’s why, it’s better for them to play safe.

 

They moved the topic to the discussion on who would be coming over to the Imparie tribe’s territory. 

As the subject of the matter, obviously it was decided from the get-go that Ann would be coming. Birdie, as the mythological bird that connected them to the tribe, would be coming as well–This was the matter that all of them had tacitly agreed on, making the topic flow naturally. Nobody had uttered a word about them coming, but it was taken as a matter of fact.

“Since Ann is going, I will go as well,” Allen said calmly, but there was an air around him that made it seem as if his words were irrefutable.

“The honorable Mythical Bird of Soul Transcendence is coming, so of course I should follow suit. Hmph, without me, how could you people notice such an important thing in the first place?” Elder Matthias said, his words were clearly impossible to refute.

Though the priests were worried since the elder was… well, the elderly, they had no choice but to agree on his decision.

Meanwhile, Ann had a different focus.

Elder Matthias, saying the Mythical Bird of Soul Transcendence is already a mouthful, yet you still add another word–honorable–before it? And Birdie has a name! Little Pinkie Birdie! Even Birdie’s full name is easier to call out rather than her supposed species… I can’t understand the elderly, after all. How can they choose something that’s more difficult when there’s clearly something easier to pick from?

Her brain completely omitted the thought of Elder Matthias revering Birdie so much that it felt like an insolent thing to do, to call Birdie with such an unbefitting nickname.

 

In the end, after a discussion with not much debate, it was decided that the members going to face the Imparie tribe would be Ann, Laura, Elder Matthias, Birdie, Allen, Prince Kiehl, Fremont, and even Miles.

At this point, Ann wasn’t too surprised by the outcome of this discussion… She had somehow expected the end result to be like this.

“Can I really not come along?” Faye asked as she fidgeted, clearly anxious and worried for Ann.

Everyone turned to look at little Faye.

‘Aye, she’s this small, how can she tag along to some place where danger might lurk?’ Fremont thought.

‘Dang, in the short time Ann’s here, she managed to get such a cute little girl as her loyal follower? What have I done for more than a decade living here?’ Laura started to have a crisis.

‘Just what the heck had this woman done to make such a little girl to be so devoted to her she’s willing to face danger? Did she curse this girl?!’ Mila started to have speculations in her mind.

‘My Faye can’t be this cute! Kyaaaa! Fayeeeee! I picked up a gem!! Little Fayeee!’ Ann was fangirling in her mind, despite it not showing on her face. 

 

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“It is indeed important for this girl to be present, just in case we’d need her. After all, she is a good singer and such rituals would often have some incantation being sung,” Elder Matthias said and then added, “But…”

“We have discussed this possibility,” Prince Kiehl was expecting, so he didn’t look surprised a bit as he continued, “But it’s too dangerous if we were to bring a child like her.”

When he saw that Faye was about to object and the elder frowning, Prince Kiehl raised one hand to signal that he wasn’t finished speaking yet. 

“However, we have accounted for the possibility that her presence might be needed. So, we’re thinking of bringing her over around halfway or so and let her stay in the nearby place, so if the situation is alright and her presence is needed, we can easily bring her over.”

Say that earlier, duh! 

Ann wanted to smack Prince Kiehl if only he wasn’t the prince and if only they were on good terms.

I’m sure he did it on purpose! He can just go straight to the conclusion rather than delaying and doing this! He’s really…!

Well, that’s why even when I was playing the game, I liked my hubby the most, hehe! But I guess some people like that kind of character. 

Ann stole a glance at Laura.

Which one does she like, I wonder? Could it be someone who’s not among the male capturable target’s list? 

After my situation is resolved, I’d better lend a hand to Laura’s love matter!

Ann’s mind wandered off to matters that weren’t as important as the current one at hand, as usual.

But perhaps it was one of the ways she used to cope with the pressure and the stress due to the current problem.

 

“Is Faye going to stay alone, then? Is it alright?” Ann unconsciously raised her hand and asked in concern when the others noticed her.

“Mhm. She’ll be fine,” Allen was the first one to comfort her.

Prince Kiehl gave a sidelong glance at Allen, not believing what he just heard.

Since when does this fellow become able to care for others’ feelings and comfort them?

He was expecting Allen to give out the fact only, explaining their plan with Faye. Surprisingly, his trusted friend stopped at that.

Sigh, I guess that means I should be the one to explain the rest.

Prince Kiehl became resigned to his fate as he added, “Based on trusted sources, the Imparie tribe is located in a forest that’s the nearest to the Doussier family’s territory.”

“Doussier? You mean Viscount Jonas and Viscountess Vanessa? Them, again?” Ann blinked, she couldn’t believe that the world was actually so small, it was those people again!

“Yes. Their territory is located north from the Schwartzen territory. They are occupying a somewhat rural area that borders the vast forests. The Imparie tribe lives exactly somewhere deep in the vast forests,” Allen explained.

This is how Allen should be doing things!

But wait, he can spew that lengthy explanation? 

Prince Kiehl was amazed once again by Allen’s change. It seemed that if they couldn’t help his current missus to stay, he would rage or remain as an unhappy bachelor forever. 

Prince Kiehl became more determined in helping the success of their plan.

If this method doesn’t work, I’ll have to search for other methods again. I just hope that we have enough time for that. But it would be nice if this method would work. It will save us a lot of trouble. 

 

“What a coincidence…,” Ann expressed her amazement before turning to ask, “But is it okay for Faye to stay there?”

“I believe it will be fine. We just need to wait for their answer. I’m sure it will be positive, though,” Prince Kiehl confidently answered.

“How are you so sure… What if they refuse?” Ann asked.

“We’ll think of it later, then. Better not waste our time on the thing that isn’t certain yet,” Prince Allen brushed his hand casually. 

“Oh…,” Ann could only go along with them.

Then, she felt as if she was having goosebumps and turned another way, only to see Mila with the expression that seemed to say menacingly ‘I’m watching you!’

This person will also come along, will I be alright and still in one piece after several days being with her? And I should be the only one to know her real identity too… Yikes!

Ann couldn’t imagine how this trip to the Imparie tribe would be…

 

After that, they went off to prepare to go to the Imparie tribe’s location. 

During that time, the Doussier family’s answer arrived to Prince Kiehl. 

They agreed to lend a hand. 

 

And thus, Ann and the others embarked on this decisive journey nervously.

“Chirp!”

Safe for Birdie who seemed to be happy-go-lucky almost all the time.

 

What will be waiting for them in this journey? Will everything be alright? Will this finally be the end of their quest of banishing the real villainess for good?