Chapter 158: However, I refuse!
Loria climbed out of bed and glanced at the clock hanging on the wall.
It was now three o'clock in the early morning.
Because it was raining heavily outside, the air at this time felt extremely cold.
Right after midnight, she conducted a simulation to investigate what Countess was up to behind the scenes.
It's now the busy autumn, and she had learned from the previous practice that the simulator is not all-powerful, so she had to be extra careful.
Loria folded the blanket into tofu blocks, put on a raincoat, wore the hood, and tied the small strings on the rain boots.
After finishing all this, she pushed open the door and walked out, to her surprise, she saw a person outside the door.
"the guildmaster？"
Loria was shocked.
She couldn't see the person's face clearly, but the golden long hair was easy to recognize.
Also, she smelled a faint fragrance, the same smell she always noticed when bathing with the guildmaster.
"Why are you not sleeping so late at night, and why are you dressed like this?"
The guildmaster turned around and his expression didn't reveal much, but the slightly furrowed eyebrows showed the unease in his heart.
She heard a sound.
Getting up in the middle of the night, there must be something happening.
I also wanted to ask you why you came to the corridor in the middle of the night without sleeping?
Loria pouted.
"There is something very important." She said like this.
"Are you going to meet Yukihime or Luciene?"
"..."
It feels like this statement is very attacking.
Loria shook her head. Since she was already cornered, she thought it was better to tell the truth.
"I am going to..."
Loria expressed her intention to go.
The guildmaster immediately said, "I will go with you."
Loria quickly waved her hand and said, "No, no, the guildmaster. If you go, there might be a... risk of exposure. I mean, there will be too many people and the more people there are, the bigger the target is, and the bigger the target, the easier it is to get exposed. Yes, that's what I mean."
Of course, she couldn't say that she was afraid that something bad would happen to the guildmaster.
Countess is not the guildmaster's biological mother, but a stepmother is still a mother. They have a family relationship.
After hesitating for a while, the guildmaster nodded.
"Goodbye."
Loria hurriedly ran away, afraid that the guildmaster might change her mind and chase after her.
According to the simulator, the countess went out late at night to meet the person she had met in the café in the afternoon. They had some arguments, but the countess was not in danger.
Loria hid on the roof of a flat building and saw the countess standing under a roof, several meters away.
Before long, a man came over.
Even though it was raining heavily, Loria could still hear some faint sounds.
"Mrs. Sainsbury, what have you decided?"
The countess moved her right foot back slightly and crossed it over her left foot. She leaned against the slightly damp wall, with a smile on her red lips.
"Sainsbury, it has been a long time since someone called me by that name."
As the youngest daughter of Count Sainsbury, she had almost cut ties with that family after marrying into the Lidilia family.
But after twenty years, someone from that family came back.
Not only did they come, but they also connected with some ambitious people from Count Lidilia's side.
The countess said, "I have thought about it for a long time."
The man whispered, "We need to think carefully about this big matter. But don't worry, madam. We have already prepared ourselves. Even if Count Lidilia has the strength comparable to a C-level adventurer, we have the confidence to subdue him without arousing the attention of others. Even if something unexpected happens, we will never let you be exposed, madam."
Countess："..."
The man continued, "Once this matter succeeds, Miss Tracy will become the new Count Lidilia. Even if we fail, you and Miss Tracy can still continue being the countess and the young lady of the count's family. Madam, once this opportunity is missed, there will be no chance again."
Countess："..."
The man, showing a hint of impatience, rubbed the ground with the sole of his shoe. "Madam, do you really think that you and Miss Tracy can rely on normal means to compete with Adeline for the position of count? It's better for you to dismiss such thoughts right now. You should know how biased Count Lidilia is. As long as Adeline is around, he will never spare a glance at Miss Tracy."
The countess let out a sigh.
It must be said that a sighing young woman is particularly charming.
Loria already knew the result, so she wasn't worried at all. Her attention was only on the countess' expression.
"I understand everything you said, and I understand it even better than you. A few days ago, Adeline was willing to sacrifice himself to remove the foreign object from her body. His attitude was obvious."
"So..."
The man's eyes lit up; it was finally going to happen.
"I know what you're expecting, but I refuse," the countess suddenly raised her head. "I tore up the note you gave me when I left the cafe. I've been thinking for a long time about how to tell you. You were sent by my father. It's a joyous thing to receive news from family, but I never expected you all to ask me to plot against Count Lidilia."
The man quickly explained, "This isn't a plot..."
The countess interrupted him, "Maybe you have forgotten one thing. Count Sainsbury is my relative, but so is Count Lidilia. I won't plot against him for you."
The man urgently said, "Madam, there are different degrees of closeness in family relationships. Count Lidilia doesn't even consider you important. Why do you need to protect him?"
The countess immediately furrowed her brow, "I didn't want to speak so bluntly originally, but since you said that, there's no need for me to hide anymore. You said Count Lidilia doesn't consider me important, well, did Count Sainsbury ever consider me important? He forced me to marry him against my will. In all the years I've been here, has he visited me even once?"
It's the man's turn to stay silent now.
The countess sneered, "There's something else. Many people talk behind my back and call me stupid, but I'm not. At least not as stupid as you think. Do you really think I would believe those nonsense you said? If my husband really died, you would never let Tracy take his place as the count. After all, at that time, we would just be a mother and daughter without anyone to rely on. To you, we would be like fish to be slaughtered."
These words directly hit the man's heart.
He changed from his previous kind-hearted demeanor and his face became terrifying.
"I call you 'Madam' out of respect for your relationship with Count Sainsbury. If you insist on being stubborn, don't blame me for being impolite. I don't know if you're afraid of death, but you must be afraid for your precious daughter to die. Maybe it won't be just death, Miss Tracy is famous for her beauty. It would be such a waste to kill her directly."
A mysterious smile appeared on his face.
Surprisingly, the countess didn't show any signs of panic.
Afraid?
Afraid!
But because she was afraid, she prepared fully before leaving home.
"Are you planning to retaliate against me now? I have long been prepared for your desperate measures. Before leaving, I specifically told Tracy that if I haven't returned by tomorrow morning, she should inform his father that I went to meet someone from my hometown. I even left a letter in my room. With Count Lidilia's abilities, he will quickly investigate here."
The threatening words greatly irritated the man.
But despite his irritation, the countess truly had him under her control.
[Let me go now, or you will face the wrath of Count Lidilia and the empire.]
It is absolutely prohibited for one count to seize another count's property, so the empire will surely intervene.
This was not what he wanted to see.
"Is the madam completely severing ties with the Sainsbury family?"
"I am only concerned about myself and my daughter."
"You gave up such a good opportunity for your daughter, madam... sigh, nevermind, since you don't want to fight, I won't force you either."
The man waved his hand.
"I believe madam knows how to handle the situation afterwards, I don't need to teach you. Go on, madam, we won't see each other tonight."
The countess turned her head and walked away.
After she was out of the man's sight, she walked faster and faster, so fast that she accidentally tripped and her shoe came off.
The man was still standing in the same spot.
The first plan failed, so he had to find another way.
"It's not time to leave yet!"
Suddenly, a cold voice came.
The man's face changed suddenly and he saw a little girl in front of him through the faint light.
It should be a little girl, who didn't look very tall in the dark, just barely taller than his shoulders.
"Little sis..."
"Who are you calling little?!"
Loria responded with a punch from her iron fist.
This punch had a full 108 units of strength!
Caught off guard, the man was punched by Loria and floated off the wet alley.
By the time he finally stopped due to friction with the ground, Loria was already waiting for him at the intersection.
"Who are you?"
"This is what I should ask you."
Loria looked down at the man's back, which was already bloody and blurred.
The man was silent for a few seconds.
After a few seconds, another face suddenly appeared on his face, two faces overlapped, sometimes fused, sometimes torn apart, extremely horrifying.
"Oh my gosh."
Loria quickly stepped back.
The data feedback from Insightful Perception had a huge change at this moment, it seemed that this person indeed had a big problem.
She took out a large sword, but then put it back because she felt uneasy, and took out a statue of a goddess instead.
It had been agreed to make all the heretics submit to the feet of the goddess, and this time Loria lovingly grabbed the head of the goddess and launched an attack with her foot.
"Eat my sword."
Fearlessly, Loria rushed forward.
The man's guard was clearly lacking, and he was easily killed by her relying on Kitty's Pace.
Using the Coagulated Blood Blade for close-range cuts, Loria gained the upper hand.
She dodged the man's attack, then pushed the statue of the goddess forward. In an instant, the goddess's feet landed heavily on the man's stomach.
"Ah~"
Even though the man's mouth didn't even open, there was a scream coming from the rain curtain.
"Effective!"
Loria was glad that she brought the statue of the goddess. This guy was obviously a pagan, and using the statue was doubly effective against him.
She became powerful and launched a fierce attack like a storm.
One foot, two feet, three feet...
With each step, the man's cries grew weaker until he vanished completely.
Buzz.
Loria seemed to see a ghostly figure separate from the man, then shatter into pieces.
She gently set down the goddess statue and silently watched the man lying on the ground.
After a while, the man slowly regained consciousness and looked around confusedly. "Where am I... How did I get here? I..."
Finally, his gaze fell upon Loria.
"Who are you? What do you want from me? Why did you bring me here?"
Loria grabbed his collar tightly and said, "Acting?"
It doesn't look like acting.
But it's possible that this person is really good at acting.
"How did you get here? You know more than I do."
The man was so scared that he couldn't say a word. His body trembled, then suddenly stopped trembling.
"I remember now, I was originally going to see Count Norton!"
Oh, isn't that the person who secretly joined Hidden Leader?
Loria's eyes became sharp.
"Do you remember anything else?"
"I..." The man furrowed his brow, trying hard to remember. "I entered the room and saw a woman with a covered face. She glanced at me and then... I think I stopped here. Ah, it hurts, so painful. It's killing me."
He belatedly felt a scorching pain on his back, as if it was being burned by fire. The pain was almost overwhelming, causing him to black out and collapse to the ground.
Loria had some guesses in her mind.
The woman with the covered face was probably an assassin sent by the Hidden Leader.
This man was controlled by someone while on his way to Count Norton's house, and then he got himself into a mess, like secretly persuading Countess to plot against Count Lidilia.
The control method probably involves using the power of Weaver.
It's hard to say whether this person is from Count Sainsbury's family or not.
Whether this matter has any impact on the big picture, it doesn't matter. It's neither good nor bad.
Loria lifted the man up, knowing that they couldn't just let a stranger like him go freely at this moment.
"No matter what situation you're in right now, you better cooperate with me, otherwise don't blame me for being unfriendly."
Loria threatened sternly.
She was getting ready to ask for Coleridge's help.
But just as she was leaving, the guildmaster arrived. Before the guildmaster could ask about the situation, Count Lidilia showed up.
The sound of fighting was still loud.
The sound of rain could only deceive ordinary people who were fast asleep, but it couldn't deceive the guildmaster and Count Lidilia.
Loria could only give a simple explanation. During the explanation, she purposely didn't mention that the countess had been out tonight, only mentioning that she found it strange when passing by the café in the afternoon.
"Those darn non-believers."
Count Lidilia became angry, but luckily she didn't act on her anger.
Three people worked together to bring the man to Coleridge for examination. They were busy until evening, and Count Lidilia said he would contact the members of the Royal Knights as soon as possible to handle the situation.
"I need to go home and take a nice bath."
Loria stretched and walked into the pouring rain.
Judging from this situation, it seems that there will be a flood this year.
Before the flood arrived, Loria's heart was already filled with enormous waves. The contents of the simulation unexpectedly changed.
She saw a red cat girl standing at the corner of the street, which the simulation didn't mention.
