Volume 3 Chapter 230
by Need_More_SleepVolume 3 + Chapter 230: Warning And Provocation
Xia Yi heard the door to the room being opened, and it seemed like a few people walked in.
At first, she thought it was the Doctor coming to urge her to get up for work, but after rubbing her eyes and opening them, she was quite surprised.
It wasn’t the Doctor at all.
Several big lumps of iron walked into the room.
Those people were wearing silver or brass-colored armor, and judging from the insignias on them, they were clearly knights of the Templar Order.
“Miss Xia Yi, am I correct?” The silver-armored knight captain spoke up.
Xia Yi was startled.
Why would there be people from the Templar Order in Rhine Alchemy’s secret experimental base?
All of a sudden, she remembered something.
In her conversations with the Doctor, there had been mention of the Templar Order.
Because she already knew the secret of the human world—the hybrid experiment—if she dared to escape, to leave Rhine Alchemy’s control, then the Templar Order would be dispatched to treat her as a traitor to humanity and purge her.
So then, could it be that the Templar Order was here…
To deal with her?
No good, my undercover identity has been exposed!
Xia Yi’s little head started running at full speed.
It must be that she let something slip somewhere, letting the Doctor know she was actually a dragon. She even said herself she was an undercover agent.
Even though it had seemed like a joke at the time, thinking about it now, it was absolutely a test.
Precisely because she knew she was a dragon, she deliberately pretended to obey her, kept her in the base, and then called in the Templar Order to encircle her.
Doctor, you’re too despicable!!
Xia Yi had already reached her conclusion—might as well go all the way and strike first!
“Miss Xia Yi, if possible—”
“Shut up!!”
Xia Yi grabbed her pillow and hurled it straight at the silver knight’s helmet.
“Captain?!”
The knights there were all stunned by Xia Yi’s behavior.
“Miss Xia Yi, I only…” The captain of the Templar Order tried to explain.
But Xia Yi jumped straight down, grabbed the edge of the bed, and did something astonishing.
The Templar knights saw this tiny little loli pick up the bed that was several sizes larger than herself and smash it toward the doorway.
The Templar knights were shocked and all retreated.
Xia Yi then grabbed a broom in the corner, ready to recreate a wave of “Broom, bow before me!” when a voice stopped everyone.
“What are you guys doing? Bullying a defenseless young girl like this!?”
Xia Yi lifted her head and saw that the Doctor had arrived too.
“Doctor, it’s clearly us who are being bullied here!” The silver knight captain said indignantly. “We just came to wake Miss Xia Yi up, and she suddenly went berserk, grabbing a pillow—no, this entire bed—and throwing it at us!”
Huh?
Listening to what they said, it didn’t seem like they were here to capture her…
Could it be that she was just too nervous and overthinking it?
“Xia Yi, don’t be nervous. These are knights of the Templar Order. They’re here to escort us,” the Doctor explained. “I saw it was already time for work, but you hadn’t shown up, so I sent them to wake you.”
“Oh…”
Xia Yi withdrew the hand that was reaching for the broom.
Thank goodness—if she had been a bit quicker, she might have ended up knocking down the Templar knights with the broom in the next second.
That would have been hard to clean up.
Then, a flash of inspiration hit her, and she immediately started crying.
When in doubt—fake tears first!
“Waaaah!! These guys scared me half to death!! I thought they were going to do something bad to me… waaaah…”
“Miss Xia Yi, this was all a misunderstanding. We knocked, but you didn’t respond, so we got worried…” The Templar captain said awkwardly.
“Think about it yourselves—if a girl just opened her eyes and saw a bunch of ferocious-looking guys standing there, how could she not be scared?” The Doctor gave them a sharp look.
“It wasn’t me! It was the captain who said to open the door and go in!”
“Yeah, I only followed the captain inside!”
“Captain, you’re way too much of a dense straight man—this one’s all on you!!”
The other knights all threw the captain under the bus together.
“Damn it, you brats… betraying me at a time like this… Don’t let me catch you later…” The Templar captain muttered under his breath.
After that, the others withdrew. When Xia Yi finished washing up, changed clothes, and put on Rhine Alchemy’s white coat, she finally came out.
“Doctor, Assistant Xia Yi reporting in!”
“Assistant Xia Yi, your first day on the job and you’re already late! I must seriously criticize you—this will cost you your pay!”
“Bleh~”
Xia Yi stuck out her tongue.
The Templars waited elsewhere.
“Doctor, where are we going?” Xia Yi asked.
“We’re leaving the base temporarily,” the Doctor explained. “I’ve received an assignment—going on a business trip to assist the Templar Order.”
“What kind of assignment?”
“To help them explore ruins. The Templars ran into difficulties during an archaeological dig… I swear, a bunch of knights are so obsessed with archaeology—why don’t they just rename themselves the Temple Archaeological Society.”
The Templar Order?
Archaeology?
Xia Yi seemed to recall something. Back when she was still the Sword Saint of mankind, it seemed the Knight King had ended many wars with neighboring countries, focusing all power on excavating ancient ruins. For that, they even caused internal strife…
But at that time, the Sword Saint wasn’t a Templar knight, so she hadn’t cared much.
Looks like the Templar Order was still persisting with that.
“Do I have to go too?”
“Yes, come with me,” the Doctor fired a map cannon, “Going alone is too boring. The Templar Order has terrible taste. A bunch of iron blocks, people who love staying in their iron shells all day—most of them must be sick.”
Xia Yi felt a little uncomfortable. Why was the Doctor including her in the attack too?
“Doctor, can I not go?”
She wanted to stay here and continue gathering more intel. Why waste time outside with the Templars?
“Unfortunately, that’s not possible. If I refuse, those old geezers will poison me to death,” the Doctor sighed. “Those old things are so annoying. Using alchemy to live longer than normal people, already at the age they should be dropping dead in a shower of coins, yet still clinging on…”
Listening to the Doctor’s complaints, Xia Yi felt she didn’t seem to get along well with her own family.
Almost sounded a bit… filial-piety problematic.
“Are you two ready?” The Templar captain came up to them. “If so, let’s depart as soon as possible. Doctor, our Order awaits your assistance.”
“Let’s go.”
The Doctor led Xia Yi out of Rhine Alchemy’s secret base, from underground to the surface.
Then they boarded a monster-drawn carriage, speeding toward the ruins of ancient human civilization.
“By the way, Xia Yi, how were you able to smash those knights with a bed?” the Doctor asked casually.
“Well…” Xia Yi hesitated for a moment. “I have a bit of a morning temper. Plus, they barged in without permission, and I was scared, so I just lifted the bed and threw it.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes! According to expert research, in extreme anger, a person can punch through fifty meters of steel plate!”
Xia Yi started spouting nonsense.
“So tossing a bed isn’t over the top, right?”
The Doctor seemed like she was only asking casually, without intending to dig further. “Xia Yi, when we reach the ancient ruins, make sure to stay close to me. Don’t wander off.”
“Is it dangerous?”
“Generally speaking, the insides of these ruins often contain some incredible existences. This time, the Templar Order encountered a monster while exploring.”
“Why would there be something alive in the ruins? After so long, shouldn’t everything be dead?”
“No one knows why,” the Doctor smiled. “But there’s an interesting theory.”
“What theory?”
“That ruin is like a sealed box. As long as it’s unopened, everything inside that little world is stagnant, unobservable from the outside. But once opened, with outside elements flowing in, that stagnant world is forced into activity again.”
“What a mysterious theory, but there’s no basis. Might as well call it time magic…”
“True, but it’s interesting nonetheless.”
The Doctor and Xia Yi chatted on the monster carriage to pass the time.
A long time passed before they reached their destination.
…
The monster carriage arrived at a remote area rarely visited by people.
Xia Yi followed the Doctor off the carriage, where they were warmly welcomed by the Templars.
“Hello, Miss Claire, I am the Grand Knight Commander, the Fearless Knight, in charge of this exploration.”
A high-ranking Templar knight politely greeted the Doctor.
“Just call me Doctor,” the Doctor replied.
“Many thanks, Doctor. And this is…?”
“My assistant.”
“I see.”
The Fearless Knight led the Doctor and Xia Yi toward the ruins.
Xia Yi noticed that quite a number of Templars were already stationed here, many of them injured and receiving treatment.
If someone didn’t know better, they’d think a battle had taken place.
So archaeology was such a dangerous profession after all.
Along the way, the Fearless Knight explained the current situation to the Doctor.
Xia Yi listened from the side. The gist was that they had found something powerful here, but the path deeper in was blocked. Unless they dealt with that monster, they couldn’t proceed.
At the ruins’ entrance, the Templars had built a camp.
In the camp, the Fearless Knight brought out a drawing.
“Doctor, we’ve already explored the surface layer of the ancient human ruins. This is the surface map we drew. Please look—”
He pointed to one spot. Below that, the map ended.
“This is the only passage leading deeper. But a slow-moving, unkillable monster blocks the way.”
“Unkillable?”
“Yes. By conventional means—whether sheer force, magic, or holy arts—we can’t truly harm it. It’s practically an immortal monster.”
“So you want me to use alchemy to get rid of that immortal monster and open the path deeper?”
“Yes.” The Fearless Knight nodded.
“Even one of the four great knights of the Templar Order, the Fearless Knight himself, thinks it’s impossible to get past. Seems like it really is a tricky foe…” The Doctor grew thoughtful.
Once the information was sorted, the Doctor was ready to set out—better to finish quickly and return.
“Doctor, please wait a bit. This time, there will be a knight even stronger than me accompanying us, but they haven’t arrived yet.”
“Oh?”
The Doctor wasn’t surprised, as if she had already known.
Not long after, a knight clad in golden armor arrived at the ruins’ camp.
When that golden knight appeared, all the others saluted—the treatment was even higher than for the Fearless Knight.
“Xia Yi?”
From beneath the golden armor came a familiar voice.
“Tia!” Xia Yi said in delight.
She hadn’t recognized her at first glance, only because the Knight Princess had changed into a brand-new golden armor—obviously an upgraded version.
But Xia Yi’s way of addressing her drew everyone’s attention.
After all, she had directly called the Knight Princess by name.
“Ah… Knight Princess, hello.” Xia Yi awkwardly corrected herself.
With others watching, she had to mind her form of address.
“Xia Yi, what are you doing here?” the Knight Princess asked curiously.
“I came with the Doctor, on a mission.”
“The Doctor…?”
The Knight Princess looked at the Doctor, her tone changing, a clear sense of distance.
“…Hello, Doctor. We have met again.”
“Hello, Knight Princess, what a coincidence.”
The Doctor smiled.
“So, you and Xia Yi actually know each other? How novel~”
The Knight Princess didn’t seem to get along with the Doctor.
Understandable.
Xia Yi figured with the Knight Princess’s upright nature, there was no way she could get along with the Doctor, that bad person.
“Xia Yi… come here.”
The Knight Princess pulled Xia Yi aside, whispering.
“Xia Yi, were you tricked by the Doctor?”
“Tricked?”
“I know it’s not good to speak ill of others, but the Doctor is a person with a terrible record. I even arrested her once… Never trust her outward words. She’s very dangerous. You’d best stay away from her,” the Knight Princess warned.
“Don’t whisper in secret and leave me out. That hurts my feelings, Knight Princess~”
The Doctor came over with a grin, squeezing herself between the two.
“If you’ve got bad things to say, just say them right in front of me. I don’t mind.”
“Doctor, Xia Yi is my friend. You’d better not force her to do anything excessive,” the Knight Princess said coldly.
Hearing the warning, the Doctor didn’t look threatened at all—on the contrary, her smile grew even happier.
She even grabbed Xia Yi’s wrist outright, practically provoking, and said cheerfully.
“Knight Princess, how did you know my favorite thing is to force Xia Yi to do… this and that with me~?”
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[Author’s Note: A special late-night bonus chapter, 4k words! Today’s Swiss Roll continues with extra updates!
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