"By your command!"
The knight rose swiftly, her single hand sweeping her cloak aside to reveal the silver armor beneath.
With a sharp ring, her long sword cleared its scabbard.
"Knights, follow me!"
No sooner had she spoken than her figure charged into the grain shop, heading straight for the second floor.
At the same time, several knights suddenly ran over from behind.
They approached Kevin and whispered something in his ear.
The others did not notice this, but Lola did.
She frowned slightly and, while adjusting her glasses, glanced back at Kevin's face.
A look of deep thought was clearly visible on him, as if the report from the knight had made him hesitate.
Lola shifted her focus and looked back at Kevin.
"Sir Kevin, you look troubled. Is something the matter? What did that knight say to you?"
Kevin's brow furrowed even deeper at her words, and Lola's question drew everyone's attention to him.
Luo Li heard it too, but she did not look back.
She remained staring calmly ahead, but her heart had already sunk to the bottom.
Yesterday, she had dealt with the issue at the barracks, which involved the Cromwell family. Today, the grain crisis... was it the Cromwell family again?
Was this family testing her limits?
Was Kevin behind this? Or was it the individual actions of his family members?
Such frequent incidents could not be entirely accidental; they felt deliberate.
She didn't speak because she didn't want to strain the relationship between the knights and the Saintess at this stage.
Even though she possessed immense combat power now, the Heavenly Punishment Knight was still the top combatant of the Kingdom of the Moon and one of its symbols.
If the Saintess, the civil leader, and the Heavenly Punishment Knight, the military leader, were to clash, it would be a direct blow to the public's trust in the entire Kingdom of the Moon.
That was the last thing she wanted to see.
As for Kevin, he was in an agony of conflict.
Why did they have to come to him with this?
The news just now didn't involve his direct family members.
However, what made it awkward was that the person seeking him was the head of a small family that was a vassal to the Cromwell family.
The head of the Gohr family.
After a long silence, Kevin let out a long sigh.
Regardless of the situation, he could not hide the truth in this setting.
"Your Highness, a knight just reported that the head of the Gohr family, Burton Gohr, is requesting an audience outside the East Gate."
Burton Gohr?
"Your Highness, Burton Gohr is the current head of the Gohr family. They are one of the thirty-three minor noble families and are vassals to the Cromwell family. Their primary industries are alcohol, grain processing, and sales. Their merchant guild operates across the northern and central regions of the Kingdom of the Moon, with some reach into the Church and connections to the Snow Country."
Quite a large family, then?
Their business reached all the way to the Church and the Snow Country, yet they still felt the need to chase such petty profits.
Luo Li let out a long sigh, listening to the sounds of fighting from the second floor of the grain shop, and gave an order.
"Bring him here."
"Yes."
Lola nodded and gave an instruction to a nearby knight, who hurried off.
Meanwhile, the battle on the second floor seemed to have reached its peak.
Suddenly, a shout rang out!
"Combat Art — Gale Slash!!"
Simultaneously, Luo Li heard Hilda's clear, sharp voice:
"Combat Art — Full Moon Slash!!"
BOOM!
With a massive explosion, a large hole was blasted through the roof of the second floor.
A man dressed in brown robes was sent flying out, his face deathly pale.
He flew all the way from the right side of the street to the roof of a building on the left.
With a loud crash, he was embedded into the wall.
A second later, two figures leaped from the roof simultaneously. One appeared to be holding a man, while the other was Hilda, looking valiant in her silver armor.
The two sides pursued and fled, landing on the ground at the same time.
Inside the grain shop, others still seemed to be fighting.
The sounds of shouting, commands, and screams never stopped.
Watching this, the silver haired girl's expression turned terrifyingly grim.
Yet, a smile actually curled on her lips.
"Good, very good. Not only resisting arrest, but daring to clash head-on with the knights in broad daylight, right in front of me."
Since arriving in this world, this was the first time she had been so enraged.
She had reached the point where she was laughing out of sheer anger.
Fortunately, she had followed Hilda's suggestion and hadn't forced her way in earlier.
Otherwise, the one in trouble right now might have been her.
Thinking of this, she turned her cold gaze toward Kevin.
"Sir Kevin, what are you waiting for? Now that these criminals have the audacity to resist arrest in broad daylight, as the Heavenly Punishment Knight, shouldn't you lead by example and uphold the laws of the Kingdom of the Moon?"
At this, Kevin's face instantly turned pale.
"I... I obey your decree."
In that moment, Kevin knew in his heart that Her Highness was already very dissatisfied with him.
Yet even now, his mind was filled with confusion.
He didn't know why this situation had occurred today, let alone why the Gohr family would suddenly hike grain prices.
Most importantly, why did Burton Gohr report to him upon arrival instead of the Saintess?
At the very least, he should have gone to Bishop Lola.
Although he currently commanded all the knights as the commander-in-chief, the knights at the gate should have known better.
In this setting, it was absolutely not his place to speak.
Bishop Lola, the Saintess's chief advisor, was here. The Saintess herself was here.
Even if a report was to be made, it shouldn't have been to him.
Kevin drew the long sword from his waist.
On the shining blade, he saw the reflection of his own troubled face.
He suddenly seemed to understand something.
Someone was plotting against him!
It was a series of plans, from the barracks incident yesterday to the grain shop incident today.
Though they seemed unrelated, the fact that both involved the Cromwell family made it clear.
This was a deliberate trap designed to drive a wedge between him and the Saintess.
With a flash of clarity, he realized their goal, but he also knew... he was likely powerless to resist.
This dark undercurrent was being pushed by people within his own family.
Though he was the family head, he couldn't monitor everyone's actions.
In this moment, he was being forced to choose a side.
Would he choose his family, or the Temple?
If he chose the Temple now, the entire Cromwell family would likely face a great purge.
But if he chose his family, how could he face the oath he took when he was chosen as the Heavenly Punishment Knight?
At this thought, the sword in Kevin's hand began to tremble uncontrollably.
Luo Li appeared indifferent, but her gaze never left Kevin.
Since both incidents involved the Cromwell family, there were only two explanations.
One was that Kevin was actively provoking her. The other was that someone was deliberately manipulating the Cromwell family to sow discord between them.
Seeing the conflict on Kevin's face, Luo Li had reason to believe it was the latter.
Someone was pushing this from the shadows, driving the Cromwell family to commit these errors to sabotage her relationship with Kevin.
From Kevin's expression, he had likely noticed it too.
Was he making his choice?
Would he choose his family or his country?
The others seemed to notice the tension as well.
But while they were caught in this dilemma, the battle ahead reached its conclusion.
Regardless, Hilda was a Guardian Knight, a title that made her far stronger than others of her level.
Though the fight was intense, it ended very quickly.
CLANG!
As the sound of clashing metal echoed through the street, the weapons in the criminals' hands fell to the ground.
Hilda's face was cold as she pressed her long sword against her opponent's neck.
"It's over!"
With her clear shout, the sword in Kevin's hand suddenly paused.
He instinctively looked up, his eyes meeting those crimson pupils.
In an instant, he lowered his head in guilt.
At that moment, he failed to see the trace of disappointment that flickered in the girl's eyes.
Has he still not made his choice?
It seemed she would have to be more cautious in how she handled Kevin in the future.
However, Luo Li didn't blame him.
Anyone faced with such a choice would struggle. Those with absolute loyalty to the state were rare.
As long as one was human, they would have selfish desires; those with the quality of a 'Holy One' were far too few.
She turned her attention back to the front.
With the main battle over, the remaining minor skirmishes ended quickly as well.
The knights beside Hilda swarmed forward, confiscating weapons and binding the resistors.
Everyone who had fought back was tied up and dragged over.
"Hilda has fulfilled her mission. A total of forty-three thugs, five merchants, nineteen servants, and one... noble have been captured."
There was a noble among them?
The girl's gaze swept through the crowd until she found him.
It was unavoidable; a noble felt entirely different from a nouveau riche. That aura could be identified at a single glance.
The ones who had resisted had a certain ruthlessness about them, their eyes filled with a touch of malice.
Those who spent their lives on the edge were usually like that.
The servants and merchants were quite similar, always wearing friendly faces to greet people.
They carried a sense of kindness, as those without it usually failed in business.
Among them, only one youth stood out. His face was filled with panic, yet the pride deep in his eyes made him instantly recognizable.
Even his clothing was different, especially the badge on his chest.
It was wheat and armor.
Without a doubt, that was a badge exclusive to nobility, one that only family members entitled to represent their house could wear.
"Your Highness, that is the badge of the Gohr family."
In the entire Kingdom of the Moon, two of the thirty-three minor noble families had been removed, leaving thirty-one. There were seven intermediate families and two elite families. Of the four major noble families, only three remained.
Other scattered minor nobles were no longer considered true families; they were fallen houses, commonly known as the humble-born.
Since Luo Li began dealing with the nobility, three families had effectively been destroyed.
The de facto rulers of Seaview City, one of the four major noble families: the Garnet family. Along with them, two families under their wing—the slave-trading Rowan family and the Campbell family—were also gone.
These three families were essentially extinct.
As for the incident in Moonrise City, the Borgia family had only disappeared from that city. The Borgia family in other regions continued to live as usual.
The head of the Borgia family had shifted all blame to the branch families, taking only a small responsibility for 'poor judgment of character,' paying a fine, and accepting a minor demotion.
After all, the Borgia family's business spanned the entire Kingdom of the Moon, and almost all nobles seemed to have some connection to them.
Under such circumstances, as long as the other nobles didn't want to die, they would do everything in their power to protect and mediate for them.
Against such a massive tide, even Luo Li couldn't continue the investigation. If she forced the issue, it might trigger a backlash from the nobility nationwide, which would be disastrous for the development of the Kingdom of the Moon.
Once that happened, it might take decades to recover. Weeds are never destroyed by fire; they grow again when the spring breeze blows.
She hadn't pursued the Borgia family further for the sake of current stability, but now, it seemed these nobles were becoming restless again.
"What is Burton's rank?"
"Replying to Your Highness, he holds the rank of a second-class Count."
Luo Li nodded and glanced back.
Based on the time, Burton should have arrived by now.
Sure enough, when she looked back, an old man was running toward them from a distance, gasping for breath with an anxious look on his face.
Following Luo Li's gaze, the others looked over as well.
Among those who were bound, the youth suddenly shouted, "Father! Save me!!"
Father? So this was Burton Gohr's son?
Luo Li looked at Burton's wrinkled face and his elderly, panting body, then back at the boy who was barely sixteen or seventeen.
"Based on his age, that should be Count Burton's youngest son, Ben."
Luo Li nodded without a word, simply watching Burton as he panted his way to her.
He first glanced at his young son kneeling on the ground, then turned to look at Kevin's grim face.
Only then did he step forward, wiping sweat from his forehead, and bowed low.
"I, second-class Count Burton Gohr, greet the Saintess. May Your Highness be blessed with peace."
He looked up, his face full of anxiety.
"Your Highness, I..."
Luo Li had no intention of listening.
"No need to speak. I know what you want to say. Hilda."
"Present!"
Hilda bowed, awaiting orders.
"Execute those who dared to resist on the spot. Hang their heads in the Central Square for ten days as a warning to others."
"As for the merchants and servants, take them back for strict interrogation and deal with them according to the law."
Since you don't want to live properly, don't blame me for being ruthless!
"The noble shall be treated the same!"
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