Find Sword Princess Squad

Yaxiu did not immediately answer Igola's question. With his head resting against the seat cushion, Yaxiu watched the liquid-crystal screen on the back of the seat in front of him. A boring urban romance drama was playing. Igola had glanced at it earlier and lost all interest—it was a series of emotional entanglements between a pretty blonde female lead and a malicious red-haired secondary female lead revolving around the male lead, devoid of any artistic merit. While Igola liked understanding the conditions of different kingdoms through entertainment media, he possessed aesthetic discernment. A work had to reflect social phenomena to some degree before he would even deign to watch it at eight times speed. A romantic idol drama like this—which deliberately glossed over socioeconomic relations to highlight fairytale love disputes, relied purely on the leads' looks, and catered to ignorant young girls—failed to spark the slightest interest in him. Only someone like Yaxiu could sit through this sort of show. Even so, Igola was hardly surprised. After all, even while fleeing from the Bloodmad Hunters after breaking out of prison, Yaxiu had stubbornly binged more than half of *100% Sorcerer*. He truly was both ignorant and girlish at heart. "I'm not sure," Yaxiu finally spoke slowly after a long silence, his voice somewhat subdued. "I need to check the situation first before deciding." "Fascinating. So you actually possess the function to 'observe first, decide later'? I assumed your spinal cord was hardwired with only the 'charge' command." Igola snorted. "If you hesitated like this before rushing off to die every single time, perhaps we wouldn't have ended up in this predicament." "If I had," Yaxiu replied, "we'd probably still be sitting in Shattered Lake Prison eating Lalafell and watching the Blood Moon Trial." "Yaxiu makes a good point," Harvey agreed. "While having no brain is an insufferable flaw in the vast majority of people, Yaxiu is evidently one of the very few exceptions." Yaxiu glanced sideways at the necromancer. "I'll take that as a compliment for now." "So, what are you hesitating over?" Igola asked. "Jialesi is the capital of the Starry Kingdom. Its security forces and high-end combat power surpass everywhere else in the realm, with several resident Legends stationed there alone. Normally speaking, we should head toward the fringes of the Starry Kingdom to evade pursuit and then find a way to leave using a Void Gate sorcery spirit, rather than rushing straight toward danger." "As they say, the darkest place is under the lamp, and the most dangerous place is the safest. Maybe Jialesi is better suited for us to lay low..." "Until you can look me in the eye and lie, you'd better confess honestly," Igola said coldly. "All right," Yaxiu sighed. "Truth is, I've always wanted to come to the Starry Kingdom—just like how I want to return to the Gospel Kingdom—but the situation here caught me completely off guard. You two remember Decree No. 51, right?" "Of course," Harvey said. "Those gryphon meteorologists recited Decree No. 51 every time before attacking. I thought it was some death-proclamation ritual unique to the Starry Kingdom. Still, reading out a person's crimes before killing them is quite intriguing. It seems the corpses here will bring me plenty of surprises." "Are you serious?" Igola glared at Harvey. "We're currently being hunted, the entire Starry Kingdom is our enemy, and we could end up trapped at any moment. And you're actually thinking about grave-robbing?" The necromancer's eyes sparkled. Clapping his hands, he clicked his tongue in admiration. "As expected of you. The way you describe it only makes me more excited." The Swindler massaged his forehead. "It seems I can't do anything about this carpe-diem necrophile... What about you, Yaxiu? What's wrong with Decree No. 51?" "You already said it yourself," Yaxiu said. "The entire Starry Kingdom is our enemy." "Because of the Gospel and Senluo, I assumed that the xenophobia toward outsiders in a native kingdom would at most amount to throwing them in prison. As a performance artist who finds going to prison as cozy as going home, I wouldn't mind that sort of treatment. Who knew the Starry Kingdom would be this hostile to outsiders, killing them on sight without leaving a single survivor? Furthermore, Decree No. 51 states that harboring outsiders or conspiring with them is a felony for any Starry citizen. Do you know what that means?" "It means," Igola said, "if you want to meet her without tarnishing her record, your only option is to pick your favorite criminal route from kidnapping, holding hostage, or abduction." Yaxiu stared blankly for a second, then clapped the Swindler on the shoulder. "The best choice I ever made in my life was forcing you to be my prison break accomplice! Oh right, that works too!" "Glad to be of service." Igola brushed Yaxiu's hand away. "Earning your appreciation is truly my just deserts." "Still, that's a last resort when all else fails," Yaxiu said. "If I deem the circumstances unfavorable, then without disturbing her life, I'll use criminal means to meet her once." "And if circumstances allow?" "Take her with me," Yaxiu said, spreading his hands, "or stay behind myself." Igola and Harvey froze slightly. They turned to look at the cult leader, confirming he was serious. "I thought you only wanted to go back to the Gospel Kingdom and sponge off Lisi for the rest of your life," Harvey remarked. Yaxiu clicked his tongue. "Why do you make me sound like some scumbag father leeching off his daughter?" "Aren't you?" Igola asked. "Of course not! I just want to go back and keep Lisi company. But she's grown up now, so it's not like she can keep sleeping in the same bed with me. Isn't it completely reasonable for her to clear out a room for me in the imperial palace?" Yaxiu said. "I never intended to have my daughter support me—I only want to continue raising the Yisu Empress." Harvey looked at Yaxiu and said solemnly, "Being shameless is a flaw for most people, but you are one of the very few exceptions." Igola asked, "To you, is this woman you want to see even more important than Lisi?" "You can't compare them like that. If I can take her with me, settling down in the Gospel Kingdom is definitely my first choice. Alternatively, if I stay behind, I'll find a way to establish a permanent Void Gate connecting to Gospel so I can regularly visit Lisi," Yaxiu explained. "Lisi is my family; I can give her all my love and devotion. But I have to be with her, because she is the partner who will accompany me to the end of my life." "To be fair," Harvey raised a hand, "if you die before me—and given our current situation, the odds are pretty high—not only will I accompany you to the end of your life, but I will also single-handedly manage your entire journey after death." "And your point is?" Resigned to the necromancer's interruption, Yaxiu said helplessly, "Do you want to be my partner too?" "Once you die, you will be reborn at the necromancer's hands, making him not just your life partner, but also your second mother," Igola mocked. "You should respectfully call him Mother Harvey." "Well then, Aunt Bogin and Mother Harvey, my current plan is to head to Jialesi first to see if there's any chance of clearing our identities, or if there's any chance she'll come with me," Yaxiu said. "Once I get a read on the situation, I'll decide how to meet her." "The only issue is that we have to take immense risks. After all, we'll have to hide while scouting within the capital of the Starry Kingdom. If we're exposed, we could face a siege by Legends and Sanctuaries. What's more, this has nothing to do with you two—it's purely my personal business." Yaxiu looked at them. "If you don't want to risk your lives for something like this, I completely understand." "Harvey, are you interested?" Igola rested his cheek on his left hand. "Risking our lives wandering around Jialesi just to see what kind of person managed to infatuate Yaxiu to the point of complete obsession?" "Isn't that obvious?" Harvey replied. "Not just me—the coffin in my spatial ring is already vibrating. Even Alice is curious." Seeing them join his "Find Sword Princess Squad" without the slightest hesitation, Yaxiu felt touched, yet couldn't help feeling a bit worried. "If we really do meet, I hope you'll watch your words and actions, and act a little more normal. "She's a law-abiding citizen with no criminal record. Don't go blurting things out that expose you as dangerous elements and perverts. If she ends up hating you, it'll be a massive headache... I don't want to get caught in the crossfire between my friends and my partner." "Like not mentioning how you used to be tangled up with Annan and Qinna?" Harvey asked. "Nor mentioning your tangled, mutually destructive, and complicated relationship with Silver Lantern?" Igola asked. Yaxiu blinked, then nodded vigorously. "Exactly!"