Swift and Decisive

The little girl Lux had saved seemed terrified. Her thin body trembled uncontrollably—whether from the blood splattered on her face or some other reason, it was impossible to tell.

"I... I deserved it," she finally managed to answer after a long pause. "I used magic to deceive the lord."

"Really?" Lux reached out and wiped the blood from the girl's face, asking softly, "Then why did you do it?"

"Because... the lord is kind and can't bear to hear of suffering." She closed her eyes, letting tears stream from the corners of her eyes. "If I just said my family was in hardship, I could become a maid at his manor."

"And then your brother could become a guard, and your family would have two fewer mouths to feed, right?" Lux's tone was incredibly gentle. "Then, your family could save a little more money to buy your brother a suit of armor and a horse, even a packhorse, so he could become a knight squire, wouldn't that be it?"

The despairing girl's eyes widened.

"Esteemed young lady, this was all my plan, and it has nothing to do with my family—"

"Of course, it has nothing to do with your family!" Lux raised her voice, speaking loudly enough for everyone to hear. "It doesn't even have much to do with you. Just seven days ago, I was here, and there was no frost then!"

"Did you become a maid seven days ago? Or was the frost in Silvermine City reported to the Imperial Capital seven days ago?!"

At this moment, the girl could no longer hold back her tears.

Wronged, heartbroken, pained, ashamed... all sorts of emotions erupted at once. She finally covered her face, squatted down, and sobbed uncontrollably.

"Right, my respected great-uncle," Lux turned around and looked at Codora, who had just stopped her bleeding. "My respected... Mr. Maggot!"

"You—" This time, Codora was truly furious. "You little brat, you really do have some tricks up your sleeve!"

"That's what I should be saying to you," Lux shook her head. "Scheming to set up so many traps, even going so far as to ruin an innocent young girl, all just to seize a benefit that doesn't belong to you and that you don't even desire. You're the one with the tricks—your family doesn't lack this little bit of money!"

"Of course, I have tricks, because I have to consider the other members of my family!" Codora took two deep breaths, putting distance between himself and Lux as he sneered. "I don't lack this money, but plenty of people do—I'm not like your heartless father, who won't even help his own kin—"

"Father is naturally willing to help his juniors," Lux interrupted Codora for the third time. "But he wouldn't betray His Majesty or Demacia for it!"

"That sounds nice!" Codora snorted. "Unfortunately, such a silver-tongued junior will fall into the hands of a despicable mage today—Eno, make your move. I can guarantee your family's safety and send them out of Demacia!"

Unfortunately, the girl named Eno showed no intention of attacking Lux. She just squatted on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably, her tears almost freezing as they flowed.

"You guys stop standing around!" Seeing Eno's lack of reaction, Codora simply raised his voice and looked at the other nobles around him. "Don't you see? She's targeting all of us!"

Many of the nobility felt a sense of apprehension at his words, and their guards also drew their weapons—however, unlike what Codora expected, they did not step forward to help.

Clearly, Lux's performance had made them uneasy, and they were unwilling to go all-in with Codora.

Just then, Dili, his head wrapped in white bandages, strode forward. He drew his sword with a swift, clean motion and stood in front of Lux, holding his sword horizontally.

"Codora, you're courting disaster!" Dili shouted loudly. "If you want to touch Miss Luxanna, you'll have to step over my dead body!"

"You leech clinging to a woman's skirt, you dare act loyal to me now?" Codora was even more anxious and enraged. "Guards! Dili is colluding with a mage and holding Miss Luxanna hostage! Attack!"

Although they hesitated slightly, these guards loyal to Codora still drew their weapons and raised their shields.

Codora's trusted guards were well-equipped. Though not numerous, Lux only had two escorts by her side—even with Dili, that made only three people.

Then, as these guards moved to surround them, with a whistle from Dili, a tall white horse galloped from a distance. It was clad in horse armor, fully equipped, and even carried a lance commonly used by rangers. It charged into the encirclement before the guards could fully close in.

"Miss, get on!" Dili grabbed the lance with one hand and his sword with the other. "You go first, the city defense garrison is not far from here!"

"Hahaha!" Hearing Dili say this, Codora couldn't help but burst into laughter. "What, trying to pave a path for your son to climb into Lux's bed with your life? Dream on! Today, you will all die here!"

The guards subtly formed a circle. Codora's wrinkled face contorted into a terrifying grimace—although doing this would have significant repercussions, he had no other choice now!

"Really?" Lux smiled faintly. "I don't believe you."

"???"

"Actually, Mr. Dili got one thing wrong—the city defense garrison isn't just nearby, they're already here." Lux casually pulled up the still-crying girl Eno. "By the way, it's not just the city defense garrison, but also the Fearless Vanguard from the nearest outpost."

Almost as soon as Lux finished speaking, the ground began to tremble, and everyone present instantly changed color—dust rose from the official road not far away. At least several hundred cavalry, riding tall horses, were charging towards them!

And at the very front of the cavalry formation was Garen, his greatsword drawn!

Even from hundreds of paces away, Garen's voice rumbled like thunder, echoing in everyone's ears.

"Cunning villains! Who dares touch Lux!"

Garen, who was fifteen this year, already showed a hint of the Power of Demacia. He wore a helmet and armor, leading the charge. Behind him, all the cavalry formed a wedge formation, lances held high, ready to charge!

Their bright Rune Steel Armor reflected the morning sun. The cavalry advanced through the dust, each hoofbeat sounding like a blow to Codora's heart!

Even the guards who were fiercely loyal to Codora could no longer stand with their spears facing Lux. They could only turn around, attempting to protect their master as he fled—at this point, they could only hope the farmland would slightly slow down the cavalry, giving them a few more steps.

Then, before they could get far, another army blocked their path from another direction.

The blue banner of the Fearless Vanguard stood tall, the emblem of the winged sword fluttering in the wind.

Beneath the banner, Tiana, the Vice Marshal of the Fearless Vanguard and a Crown Guard, slowly approached on her warhorse.

The usually stern lady couldn't help but show a slight smile—this child Lux had indeed grown a lot, and it was worth her making this trip specifically for her.

The situation had reversed dramatically in an instant.

It wasn't until Tiana and Garen appeared that the other nobles truly realized that, from beginning to end, everything in Silvermine City had been under Lux's control.

Recalling her "sudden illness" from before, an uncontrollable chill spread from the depths of everyone's hearts.

Was... was this truly a twelve-year-old girl?

Codora finally realized that the tide had turned and could only surrender dejectedly. Struggling further was meaningless. By giving up resistance now, he might be able to preserve a sliver of his noble dignity.

Even the appearance of dignity.

Dili, who had been prepared for battle, stared dumbfounded at the changing situation, feeling as if he had entered a circus and was playing the clown.

But... that didn't matter anymore.

Even though Lux didn't really need him, and he hadn't played any substantial role, at least he had chosen the right side and performed quite well.

At least better than those idiots who hedged their bets.

Especially when Tiana came to his side, nodded at him, and praised him, "Not bad."

Heh heh, when it's time to settle the score later, I'll be the one in charge of confiscating property and collecting debts!

As long as he could skim off a little from it, he could go to the Demacian Imperial Capital and establish himself there!

However, just as he thought he was about to become Lux's right-hand man, the order Lux gave made his back twinge.

"Led by Codora Crown Guard, a group of people have falsely reported disasters and concealed taxes. They are unforgivable to the country and their families."

"Immediately strip Codora Crown Guard of his surname. Specific crimes will be handled according to the law of the land and publicly executed."

"The rest will be punished according to the degree of conspiracy and the amount of taxes, with Kuren compiling the records."

"Civilians who were unaware of the inner workings will have their past three years of land taxes cleared and will no longer be pursued."

"Furthermore, Silvermine City is close to the northern border and often faces military affairs and disasters. To prevent such incidents from happening again, four Disaster Patrol Knights will be established. Regardless of their origin, they must be knowledgeable in agriculture, manage disaster reports, advise on the seasons, and assist in farming. Their status will be equivalent to knights under the Crown Guard family."

After announcing all of this, Lux led the white horse to Dili and then smiled as she introduced him to Tiana.

"Mr. Dili's skills are quite impressive. Aunt, you must find him a good position in the army!"

Hearing this, Dili was finally dumbfounded.

Although he quickly reacted and put on a show of being deeply grateful, his heart was almost crying out in despair—he had worked so hard to climb this far, unwilling to fight on the battlefield again, and yet he had somehow climbed his way back into the army!

Unfortunately, no matter how he looked at it, Lux had treated him quite well. Faced with Lux's recommendation, even if he was unwilling a thousand times over, he could only thank her profusely at this moment.

After he finished expressing his gratitude and turned to leave, Codora on the other side was also securely tied up—though the old man was extremely dejected, he burst into laughter when he saw Dili.

"You've got some skills, Dili. Your ability to read people is still top-notch!" Codora's laughter was filled with uncontrollable joy. "Too bad you still have to go back to the army! You thought you could latch onto someone powerful? Don't dream! You—and your bratty son—have no chance!"

"Mr. Codora." Dili, whose mood was already terrible, walked over to Codora and lowered his voice, scoffing dismissively. "I might latch onto someone powerful, but you've clearly misunderstood some things. I never asked Gao Kan to pursue your idiotic granddaughter—she's not worth my precious son's attention. In fact, he put a lot of effort into getting away from that idiot!"

"...What did you say?!"

"Thanks to you locking her up," Dili smacked his lips. "Gao Kan also asked me to thank you for this matter—people always say Gao Kan and I are like father and son. I think you and your granddaughter are the ones who are truly like grandfather and grandson!"

His smile froze on his face. At this moment, suffering successive blows and losing the only source of his joy, Codora finally became enraged, could no longer hold on, rolled his eyes, and fell backward, fainting on the spot.

The other nobles were not much better off.

Many of them trembled uncontrollably, some even losing control of their sphincters, forcing the city guards to send people to escort them away.

"I used to hold you when I was a child!"

"I was the one who introduced Peter and Ogesha!"

"I really didn't know Codora was colluding with mages!"

"Wuwuwu, I didn't even get any money!"

"..."

"..."

As the center of the entire storm, Lux had no interest in the infighting among these nobles.

After dealing with almost everything, she took out a clean handkerchief from her waist and handed it to the little girl, Eno.

"Wipe your face."

Eno took the handkerchief and wiped her face—but the tears on the handkerchief quickly froze, clearly showing she was struggling to control her Magic Power.

Seeing this, the Magic Seekers strode forward and directly shackled Eno with Nullstone chains.

"Don't be nervous." Lux, unconcerned, took the handkerchief from Eno's hand and leaned close to her ear. "I'll visit you in prison after a while... Your mother's soup is very delicious, just a little salty—don't worry, I haven't told anyone. They're fine."

After speaking, Lux waved to her, winked her left eye, and then flashed a big smile.

(๑≧ㅂ•́)و✧

Throughout the entire process, Lux had not used any magic.

But Eno felt as if she had seen light.

"Thank you, Miss Luxanna..."

Today is a recommended update, so I'm updating early!

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