Chapter 55 - 2.16

"..They are cleaned up." Xu Jiaqi let out a relieved sigh as she wasn't fully confident that she was able to muster twelve shots at once, especially knowing that they could dodge or move out of the line of target. If she didn't successfully hit all headshots, they could flee and bring back the dangerous information that is Xu Jiaqi's power.

Then again, she did waste a lot of effort and energy. She had trained herself in using offensive magic as well, but it was aimed towards one target or a couple, not twelve at the same time. She turned towards Zenith, who was still overcame with shock and grasped his hands.

Xu Jiaqi: Time to recharge. Feed me energy!

"Lady...?" Zenith's eyes widened in shock as Xu Jiaqi latched herself onto him. Her small, soft body carried a faint, fresh flowery scent that he whiffed.

"Just stay still for a few moments. Or do you loathe my touch that much?" Xu Jiaqi questioned, holding onto Zenith for dear life, although it was only pretending to be weak so that she could sort her thoughts first.

"Of course not.. I-I  was just, a bit- shocked." Zenith stuttered.

The cold energy started flowing in her body and filled her mana back up. She closed her eyes and let out an ambiguous moan. Since she was tired out, the energy this time seemed to rush in with much more vigor, making her sensitivity spike up and drive her mad.

"...Zen, do you know how fucking useful you are?" Xu Jiaqi gave a thumbs up, looking at the man with satisfied eyes.

Having heard the lady curse, and hearing her words, Zenith interpreted her meaning as something completely different.

Sarcasm.

His lady must've said that to him to poke at how he couldn't contribute to the resolution.

He did not do anything- no, he couldn't do anything in this state that would achieve a perfect victory that his lady accomplished. He was useless! The lady was right. He lowered his head down, feeling frustrated and amazed. The lady was so strong, so why hadn't she spoken out all this time?

Reginald was someone who valued assets, and if he knew that his daughter was this powerful to be able to take out twelve people at once, even though the lady wouldn't be placed as a prized noble daughter... She would've been given suitable work for her power and not just be neglected and left to rot.

The lady's deeds was not something a normal magician could do.

Then again, the thought of his lady coming back to that bastard father of hers also made Zenith pissed.

"Zen? Are you alright? You are spacing out..." Xu Jiaqi looked at the man with worry, snapping her finger in front of his face to attract his attention.

Zenith became flustered and moved backwards, releasing himself from Xu Jiaqi's soft grip on him. His face flushed red, and he immediately apologized. "L-lady Ariel, please excuse me for a bit. I am sorry for my incompetence." He said, and left for the other direction.

He didn't realize that his actions would have been misinterpreted by another as an abandonment, but because of Xu Jiaqi's strong grip on people's emotions, she recognized that the man was just not used to approaches and retracted to hide his chaotic mind.

Unconsciously, she let out a small giggle. After checking that Zenith was headed towards a safe place and that he wouldn't be injured, she contacted her System and became serious.

'The assassins.. Shall we check them out?' Xu Jiaqi headed towards the forest, approaching one of the many corpses that she defeated.

The assassins all wore tight black clothes from head to toe, only exposing their eyes through a narrow slit in the mask they wore. With a tug, Xu Jiaqi removed the mask.

Of course, she couldn't recognize the assassin's identity. They had generic facial features, so there was nothing to pick up from just the appearance.

'It should be Maine's enemies. Or my rival, a fellow Saintess candidate. But why now? This didn't happen in the story, did it?' Xu Jiaqi deduced, theorizing on the culprit.

[In the original story, the Duke sent you off without letting you bring anything because Ariel was completely shocked and broken from the harsh outcome.. She did not speak any words. Being relayed the news of her own death near in the future. Naturally, the Maine Duchy's enemies did not think much about Ariel, who was completely irrelevant. However, since this time, you boarded a decent carriage and even brought a knight from the First Order with you.. They think that you have an agreeable standing in front of Reginald. This should be it, if we take it from the original story's perspective. This might have caused the change, Host.]

'..That does make sense. Damn. I thought that the fight would begin once we reach there, but never mind. It seems like the ones we have to face off are not only the Duke, nor is it the Palla's power, but.. many more.' Xu Jiaqi nodded.

This assassination attempt shouldn't be the only one to come.

Either way, she couldn't just reveal her powers right now since she would be too weak.

'What do we do about the corpses? How do we mask our power..' Xu Jiaqi frowned. If this matter was relayed onto her enemy, and there was no feasible excuse that she could spread in time, then Zenith would be in danger too.

They would target him because in their minds, this knight had the power to defeat twelve people. Xu Jiaqi didn't think that they would immediately point her out as the one with power.

[That.. Hmm.. how about you create a scenario?] The System thought for a while and said.

'By that, you mean?' Xu Jiaqi questioned.

[You fabricate that there was a stray guardian that protected you.. You push all of the achievements off to this nonexistent person, and gather a crowd that can testify for you.]