Her tall frame was wrapped in thick armor. A dozen or so insect-limb-like appendages were folded against her back, and her joints were covered in thick plates that looked like slabs of muscle, with sharp barbs jutting from them.
Only her face, covered in a mask and scales, and the graceful curves of her torso retained even the faintest traces of human features.
Yet the blurry, indistinct face wore an incredibly vivid expression of shock, and the voice that came from it belonged to a young girl. The image was so bizarre that it seemed to belong to some kind of surrealist nightmare.
In truth, Yami Da's own feelings were every bit as surreal. Especially when she pieced together the name of the woman called Xialamier from the shape of the human features beneath those scales.
Oh, right. That woman had called her "Shally."
Hmph. How affectionate.
Perhaps sensing the dangerous, oppressive atmosphere, the monster quickly raised both hands again. "I'm absolutely not an intruder! I'm harmless, I swear, please believe me! I don't even know how I got here!"
The Franmorean who had been cowering in the corner of the platform blurted out, "Could it be that the general gave you her red sachet?"
Tan Tai Jing couldn't help glancing at Herito. He didn't believe for a second that the man had slipped up by accident. He remembered clearly that before his junior brother captured him, Herito had been an elite imperial civil servant. Later, he'd taken up the promising profession of a dead spy. How could someone like that let something slip unconsciously?
Still, that question no longer mattered now that Princess Rainbow Rose was starting to see red.
To be fair, this wasn't Tan Tai Jing's first time dealing with Miss Yami Da Berenkaister. He had long