The Devil Does Not Need to Be Defeated

Chapter 482: Let’s Get Married First, Okay?

During this time, besides asking Lucy to find experts who could teach him various skills, Shien also asked her to use her influence to keep an eye on the Imperial Capital.

This was naturally because Shien wanted to know if anything had happened to Diere, who had gone to the Empire.

Although Shien had sent Leisha to watch over Diere, instructing her to take Diere and escape immediately if anything happened, and logically, there shouldn’t be any major problems, Shien was still a bit concerned about the situation in the Imperial Capital.

Lucy didn’t refuse Shien’s request.

Because of their past connection, Lucy had always been paying attention to Diere.

Lucy had even asked Shien to take care of Diere, showing how much she cared about her.

Unfortunately, because Diere had Aldia as her mentor, she and Lucy had drifted apart, and Lucy could only watch over Diere from afar.

Lucy already knew that Diere had left the capital and gone to the Empire.

However, she didn’t know Diere’s purpose.

Not only Lucy, but even Shien and the others didn’t know.

Therefore, after learning about Diere’s situation from Shien, Lucy had been sending people to keep an eye on the news from the Imperial Capital.

And…

“There has indeed been some commotion in the Imperial Capital these past two weeks.”

Although slightly displeased by Shien changing the subject, Lucy still answered his question.

“Commotion?” Shien perked up and asked, “What kind of commotion?”

Lucy narrowed her eyes.

“You seem very concerned about Diere.”

Lucy stared intently at Shien, as if trying to see something.

“Ahaha…”

Shien chuckled awkwardly, not knowing how to answer this question.

Could he tell this princess that on the day of their engagement banquet, half a month ago, he had devoured Diere?

This princess would definitely explode, right?

Even though she had said that as royalty, she understood that a capable and influential man might take a concubine or two, it didn’t mean she wouldn’t be jealous.

Moreover, firstly, Diere was a childhood friend of Lucy’s, practically like family, and secondly, the day Shien and Diere slept together was the day of his engagement with Lucy.

Sleeping with her childhood friend on the day of his engagement with his fiancée?

If she didn’t explode, Lucy wouldn’t deserve the title of the most beautiful woman in the human world, but rather, the most saintly.

Therefore, Shien could only stammer, “She’s my teammate, and you were the one who asked me to take care of her, weren’t you?”

Shien’s words didn’t appease Lucy.

Who was Lucy?

Someone blessed by the Goddess of Fate, with exceptional intuition.

Her intuition told her that this matter wasn’t so simple.

Otherwise, why had she been feeling the urge to buy a green hat recently?

Was this a revelation?

It was, right?

So, her revelation was telling her that she needed to wear a green hat?

“Forget it.”

Lucy sighed, silently accepting this metaphorical hat, and said,

“It’s said that a phantom thief has recently appeared in the Imperial Capital.”

These words stunned Shien.

“A phantom thief?”

Shien was surprised.

“Yes, a phantom thief.” Lucy seemed interested in this matter and explained in detail, “This phantom thief appeared very suddenly, and it seems he specifically targets nobles in the capital, never targeting commoners.”

According to the news Lucy received, no one noticed the phantom thief at first.

Initially, only some nobles in the capital claimed that someone seemed to have snuck into their homes in the middle of the night and stolen some inexpensive items.

It wasn’t until one time, when a Marquis’s night patrol accidentally discovered an intruder, a phantom thief in a black robe sneaking into the treasury, that this matter caused a stir.

Gradually, incidents of this phantom thief entering and exiting the homes of various nobles in the capital became more frequent.

Since then, this phantom thief became famous.

“Now, the Imperial royal family has issued a wanted order for this phantom thief and even posted a commission at the Adventurers’ Guild. As long as someone can capture this phantom thief, the reward and bounty will be a total of one million gold coins.”

Lucy continued.

“This has made many adventurers and bounty hunters target this phantom thief, recently acting as guards and patrols at various noble houses, waiting for him to appear and then capture him.”

Unfortunately, this phantom thief seemed to be quite skilled. Several times, he entered and exited noble houses, either only being discovered after the fact, or even if discovered beforehand, he still managed to escape.

Thanks to this, this matter had become a big deal in the Empire, making the citizens increasingly curious about this phantom thief, leading to many exaggerated rumors.

“Because the phantom thief always steals inexpensive items, many people speculate that his target isn’t money or treasures, but some unknown secret treasure.”

“Some even say that he’s a righteous thief, deliberately stealing from nobles with bad reputations to punish them.”

“Some even say that the phantom thief’s target isn’t money, but people.”

“Because of this, some bards are even planning to write romantic stories about this phantom thief.”

“Therefore, this matter has become quite a big deal in the Imperial Capital.”

Lucy’s explanation made Shien ponder.

He was only interested in one thing.

“Could this phantom thief be Diere?”

Shien murmured.

“I don’t know.” Lucy said, “However, it’s not impossible.”

Then, the question was,

“That girl suddenly becoming a phantom thief, stealing things from the nobles in the Imperial Capital, what is she trying to do?”

Shien couldn’t understand.

“How would I know?” Lucy said with exasperation. “You only told me about this after Diere left. How could I possibly know what she’s planning to do?”

Speaking of this, Lucy was angry.

Knowing that someone in the Imperial Capital was threatening Diere’s safety, Shien actually let her go alone. This was really inappropriate.

If possible, she really wanted to lecture Shien about this.

But she also knew that this was Diere’s own decision.

And since it was Diere’s decision, it was probably difficult to stop her.

Lucy naturally knew how stubborn and headstrong Diere was.

Fortunately, Shien still knew to send someone to watch over Diere. Otherwise, Lucy would have intervened herself.

Therefore, Lucy still said with some annoyance, “Didn’t you say she went to the Empire to look for something? Perhaps that thing is in those noble houses?”

…That wasn’t impossible.

At least, Shien didn’t believe that Diere would do anything meaningless.

“Then she should be fine now, right?”

Shien was only concerned about this.

Lucy answered quickly.

“Currently, this phantom thief hasn’t been caught by anyone, and no one has been able to find any clues related to him.” Lucy shrugged. “Therefore, if this phantom thief is Diere, then she hasn’t encountered any trouble yet.”

The premise was that this phantom thief was Diere.

Shien was somewhat relieved.

“If that girl is the phantom thief, then I have to praise her.” Shien said, “Being able to freely enter and exit the houses of various nobles in the Imperial Capital, treating their guards like they’re nothing, and not being caught, I didn’t expect her to be so capable.”

With Diere’s strength, moving freely in a capital city like that of the Empire was quite difficult.

But she did it.

This made Shien admire her.

“You might find it interesting, but if Master finds out about this, it might be troublesome.”

Lucy sighed.

The only daughter of the Elvenbein family actually went to their rival country’s capital to be a thief. If Aldia found out, it was hard to imagine his reaction.

The Elvenbein family would definitely be furious.

This was a disgrace to their noble knight lineage.

Moreover, if this matter was exposed, the Empire would definitely demand an explanation from the Kingdom, and the Elvenbein family would be in big trouble.

Of course, this had nothing to do with Shien.

Shien was only concerned about Diere’s safety.

And since Diere was doing better than expected, the rest had nothing to do with him.

Shien nodded.

“It’s good that she’s fine. I’ll wait for her for another half a month.”

Half of the one-month period Shien had agreed with Diere had passed.

If Diere didn’t return by then, Shien would fulfill his promise and go to the Empire.

At that time, Harvis would also go with him.

Lucy seemed to guess Shien’s thoughts.

“You said you would take me out to play. You’re not planning to take me to the Imperial Capital, are you?”

Lucy was very suspicious.

“Are you sure it’s for fun, not to cause trouble?”

Lucy felt that this trip wouldn’t be just for fun, but something much more exciting, and potentially dangerous.

Especially for her, as the Kingdom’s treasure, going to the Empire’s capital would be risky.

Shien also knew that taking Lucy to the Imperial Capital wouldn’t be for fun, but for causing trouble.

“Let me think about it.” Shien said, “Anyway, there’s still half a month left. I’ll take you out to have some fun first, then we can go to the Empire.”

Lucy finally smiled.

“You promised.” Lucy said quickly, “Don’t lie to me. If you dare to lie to me, I’ll…”

“You’ll do what?” Shien looked at Lucy, a playful smirk on his face. “Break off the engagement? Do you dare?”

Lucy wilted.

Did she dare?

Of course, she didn’t.

Breaking off the engagement would be worse than death.

Lucy felt indignant.

Always threatening her with breaking off the engagement, was it that fun?

If he had the guts, they could just get married first, right?