Chapter 18: The Princess’s Departure

It was early morning.

If this were her past life, probably only high school students and office workers in suits would be out and about.

But at this time, the entire Salna Village was already awake.

Many villagers were holding hunting bows, spontaneously forming a hunting party, intending to go out of the village to hunt.

Violet’s appearance naturally attracted the villagers’ attention.

They looked at the girl with the tentacle monster on her head and whispered among themselves.

“My kin, they are all talking about you.”

Violet blinked and cast her gaze towards those villagers, only to find many familiar faces among them.

A large hunting party, and half of the people in it were Nastasia’s followers!

Those followers met Violet’s gaze and waved at her in greeting.

Seeing this, a bold idea was born in Violet’s mind.

She patted the tentacle of Nastasia that was clinging to her hair and asked impatiently:

“How many followers do we have?”

The Lord Evil God counted on her tentacles for a while before giving a vague number.

“Hmm… one hundred and eighty, no, it’s over one hundred and ninety now.”

Hearing Her answer, Violet’s eyes lit up.

You see, Salna Village had a total population of less than five hundred, and it had only been half a month since she arrived here, yet nearly half of the people had become followers.

At this rate, she wouldn’t even need three months of preparation.

She could even set off for Fortuna City now and start making arrangements in advance.

Old Qien was a qualified village chief.

Without him, Salna Village would not have resumed operations in such a short time.

And such a management talent was now their fanatic.

Even if she didn’t force them, the villagers would, through subtle influence, come to accept Nastasia and even become Her followers.

With this in mind, Violet had already arrived under the old tree.

The morning breeze rustled the leaves.

It was in this peaceful atmosphere that she heard a crisp ringing sound.

The ringing sound came from far to near, and seemed to be mixed with the sound of wheels turning and horses’ hooves.

Many villagers who were about to go out hunting paused, quickly put down their hunting bows, and turned back to their houses.

When they came out again, they were carrying large and small bags of packed mountain goods.

“My kin, what are they doing?”

Nastasia curiously looked at the backs of those villagers, her tentacles stretching in their direction.

Obviously, the Lord Evil God also wanted to go over and see.

To satisfy Her curiosity, Violet followed the footsteps of those villagers and walked towards the village entrance.

There, a caravan broke through the morning mist and slowly approached along the small path.

The leading carriage had a flag of unknown meaning hanging from it, and the ringing sound was coming from a bell under the flag.

Although she didn’t know the meaning of the flag, it didn’t stop Violet from recognizing their identity.

—Traveling merchants.

In her past life, players usually called them “hitchhikers.”

In the early stages of the game without teleportation spells, if you wanted to go to the next city, besides hiring guards at a high price, the safest way was to follow these caravans.

As long as you proved your worth, the caravan would be happy to let you hitch a ride.

The villagers who had arrived early were already talking to the merchants, trading their stockpiled mountain goods for daily necessities.

Violet even saw Tia’s figure among them.

She was currently talking to a middle-aged man.

The man was wearing a black suit, and looked less like a merchant and more like a butler.

“Miss Tia, you seem to be more beautiful than the last time we met.”

“Uncle Icarus, you flatter me.”

Tia bowed slightly, her gaze glancing at the carriage behind him.

The carriage was exquisitely patterned, and it was clear that there were people inside, not goods.

Icarus saw her small movement and took a step to the side, blocking her line of sight.

“The chamber of commerce has recently received a new batch of goods. If Miss Tia is interested, why not take a look?”

Tia was about to respond when her peripheral vision caught a familiar black figure.

Her body turned faster than her mind, and she ran straight into Violet.

“Sister Elynne!”

Violet returned a smile and then looked at Icarus with some curiosity.

“And this is?”

“I am the president of the Albatross Chamber of Commerce. A pleasure to meet you.”

Icarus took a step forward and extended a hand in a friendly manner, giving her a light shake.

But his words, to Violet’s ears, caused a huge storm.

In her past life, any player who chose to help the Empire and suppress the revolutionary army knew the name of this chamber of commerce.

It wasn’t that the chamber of commerce was particularly powerful; on the contrary, they were just a small, privately organized chamber of commerce, and by the late game, they were nowhere to be found.

The real reason they were famous was because of their president, the fifth-tier warrior who was dubbed the “Apprentice Mentor.”

As the beginning of the main storyline, players who chose the “Empire line” would directly become cannon fodder, fighting the revolutionary army in Fortuna City.

And the first boss they encountered was the president of the Albatross Chamber of Commerce.

The plot at that time was to hunt down a high-ranking member of the revolutionary army, and this president was the one responsible for covering the retreat.

So the players were slaughtered by him while he shouted “Miss, run quickly!”.

Nearly a thousand players fought for a whole day but couldn’t wear down this boss.

In the end, it was an NPC from the Empire’s side who took him down.

Even before Violet transmigrated, you could still find posts about him on the forums, which showed how popular he was.

Icarus looked at the girl with the octopus hat in front of him and scratched his head in confusion.

“Miss, why are you staring at me?”

Violet came back to her senses and quickly made up a lie.

“You look a lot like an old friend of mine.”

Icarus blew on his mustache but didn’t expose her.

He could feel a strong sense of crisis from the person in front of him, as obvious as a goblin seeing a goblin slayer.

Tia clearly didn’t notice the strange atmosphere between the two.

She circled around Violet twice and asked:

“Sister Elynne, are you feeling better?”

“Yes, don’t worry.”

Violet said, gave Icarus an apologetic smile, and then pulled Tia aside.

Only then did Tia notice the seriousness on her face, like a dying old woman giving her last instructions, and she couldn’t help but become nervous.

Being the straightforward person she was, she didn’t think too much and directly said what was on her mind.

“Sister Elynne, are you going to die?”

Violet was stunned, her face darkened, and she raised her hand to give her a chop on the forehead.

“For some reason, I’m preparing to go to Fortuna City.”

“Then I’m going with you!”

Almost as soon as the words were spoken, Tia replied without hesitation.

“I have already mastered two first-tier spells. I can definitely help you!”

“No.”

As if worried that Tia would press further, Violet reached up to her head and plucked a still-wriggling tentacle from Nastasia.

“My kin… that hurts!”

The Lord Evil God grumbled resentfully and pulled her hair in retaliation.

“When I’m not here, the god’s church needs someone to preside over it, and you are the first branch bishop I recommend to the god.”

Saying this, she handed the tentacle to Tia.

“This is the god’s avatar. If you need to, you can contact me through it.”

Tia, who had witnessed how the god’s avatar was made: “…”

Was this thing really an avatar of an evil god?

Although she was complaining in her heart, she surprisingly didn’t make a fuss.

After taking the tentacle, she opened her arms to Violet.

“Sister Elynne, have a safe trip.”

The girl’s embrace was warm, as if all her emotions were hidden in this hug.

“Don’t worry, I’m an apostle of an evil god, after all.”

Violet patted her back, her expression somewhat complicated.

Although she had only been here for half a month, this enthusiastic and straightforward girl had left a deep impression on her.

Logically speaking, such an NPC, among the appearance-obsessed players, would definitely be popular.

But Violet was sure that this was the first time she had seen the name “Tia.”

In other words, the other’s future was uncertain, and the ending was most likely not good.