The Yellow-Haired Villain in Soaring Phoenix's Novels Also Desires Happiness

“...Are you fucking with me?”

Tyron froze for a moment, his eyes widening like brass bells.

Armories? What armories?

A key? What kind of key?

He understood every one of those words separately, but once they were put together and came out of a little brat’s mouth, somehow his brain stopped functioning.

“Do I look like I have time to joke with you?”

Pero snorted coldly.

“There are five armories around Saint Haze Palace. They belong respectively to the City Guard, the Security Force, and the Royal Guard. The best-equipped one is the Royal Guard armory. Coincidentally, it’s also the closest to here. Only a few minutes away...”

“Wait, stop right there!”

Tyron hurriedly cut her off before she continued saying things that, under normal circumstances, would get someone hanged if they spread around. He looked around nervously and lowered his voice.

“What I mean is... how are you going to prove this is real?”

He pointed at the map and key in Pero’s hands.

“This kind of thing is serious business. Don’t tell me you think you can fool me with a piece of paper and some toy you bought from a roadside stall for two Aimier? You know what the Beast of Posis relies on to dominate the western district? Brains! Let me tell you, brat, you can’t fool me!”

“...”

Pero rolled her eyes speechlessly.

“Is this really hard to prove? I already told you it’s only a few minutes away. Just send someone to check.”

“...”

That actually... made some sense.

Tyron thought briefly.

Normally, if someone casually came up and said something like this to him, he would absolutely stuff them in a sack and sink them in the lake. After all, not just anyone could fool the Beast of Posis.

But the problem was... this little brat seemed to be one of Lord Bruce’s people, and that map in the kid’s hand did not look fake either...

Maybe... go take a look?

Thinking that, Tyron casually waved over a few men.

“You lot. Follow the locations on this map and check them out. Don’t make a fuss if you see anything. Report back to me immediately.”

“Yes, Boss.”

The group quickly left.

And quickly returned.

The distance really was short, and the scouting had gone smoothly.

“It really is an armory?”

Hearing the report, Tyron felt himself go numb all over again. Whether from joy or shock, it felt as if his soul were about to peel free of his body and ascend straight into heaven.

“And the guards? There really aren’t any guards?”

“What guards? Don’t forget what all the official soldiers in this city have already turned into.”

Pero reminded him again.

...Right.

The soldiers in this city had already become that kind of nightmare. Who would still be standing around guarding an armory?

“...Then this key...”

“One hundred percent authentic.”

Pero sighed.

“Honestly, you’re so annoyingly cautious. Wasting this much time over such a small thing is making me question your intelligence.”

“Y-Yes... you’re absolutely right.”

Under normal circumstances, if anyone dared question the Beast of Posis’s intelligence, Tyron would absolutely drag them into a very serious debate.

Possibly at the bottom of a lake.

But now...

Anyone who could casually point out the locations of the Kingdom’s armories and produce the keys...

He suddenly felt like the one in danger of being sunk into a lake.

Could it be...

That this was the real big shot?

Tyron’s eyes spun rapidly as he began earnestly considering how best to cling to this new thigh.

Unfortunately, Pero gave him no such opportunity and continued speaking.

“Besides weapons, that armory should also contain activated magic scrolls. The kind that can alter terrain. Any mage can use them. They’d be enough to turn this place into a genuine fortress within half an hour.”

Pero’s fingers brushed over the crude dirt walls with both disdain and amazement.

She remembered that in those flashing fragments of memory, these people had held out for two hours and ten whole minutes.

She genuinely had no idea how they had managed to endure that long with such garbage.

“With terrain reconstruction, magic cannons, and all kinds of military firepower... you should be able to hold this place now, right?”

“Forget holding this place.”

Tyron immediately puffed out his chest, flashing a huge grin.

“With that equipment, I’d dare attack Saint Haze Palace itself!”

“There’s no need to attack Saint Haze Palace for now...”

Watching the suddenly confident Tyron, Pero’s expression turned complicated.

A bunch of gangsters plus the supplies of one armory was already enough to launch an assault on Saint Haze Palace.

Then what about her elder brother Aurier?

How many preparations had he secretly made for that thing over the years?

After all, even this key...

had been given to her by him.

“If elder brother Aurier had succeeded, would that have been good... or bad for this country?”

Pero muttered softly.

“Though... it probably couldn’t have become any worse.”

There was no point thinking about such things.

Because Aurier was already dead.

Now it was her turn to inherit that fate.

“Take it.”

Pero tossed the key to Tyron.

“Hurry and make preparations. And if you still have spare strength, I hope you can gather even more people to help defend this place.”

“Don’t worry.”

Tyron caught the key, grinning like a child clutching candy.

“Before, people wouldn’t follow me because they thought I wasn’t reliable. Now if anyone says I’m unreliable...” He laughed darkly. “I’ll point a magic cannon at their forehead and ask again!”

“Hopefully...”

Pero walked past Tyron and headed toward the other side.

“Huh? Saint Haze Palace is that way!”

Tyron looked confused. He had assumed this big shot’s goal was the same as Mr. Bruce’s.

“I am going to Saint Haze Palace, but do you think I’m as brainless as you are? Charging in from the front with these tiny arms and legs? If I run into enemies, I’m dead.”

Pero waved a hand without turning back.

“I’m taking a side route.”

“A side route... oh, as expected of a big shot. You even prepared that.”

Tyron scratched his head, about to shower her with compliments, before suddenly realizing something.

Wait.

No, hold on.

Lord Bruce charging through the front gate was one thing, but this big shot could open armories and had prepared a secret route too.

And that route led directly into Saint Haze Palace.

This was fucking...

“Hiss...”

Tyron sucked in a cold breath, and the reverence in his gaze toward Pero deepened even further.

This thigh...

was thick as hell!

...

...

“So the Hall of Rituals has already become like this?”

Sneaking around all the way, Pero copied Muen’s methods and used a strand of black flame to conceal her presence before finally arriving at the Hall of Rituals.

She had not participated in the Saintess worship ceremony, so she had never imagined that the Hall of Rituals, once magnificent enough to rival a grand cathedral, had now been completely reduced to ruins.

“Maybe this is where everything started.”

Pero looked around and muttered to herself, but did not pay it too much attention.

After all, she was only passing through.

“Is anyone there?”

But before she had even taken two steps, she heard a faint cry for help.

“Hallucination?”

Pero listened carefully for a moment, then shook her head and prepared to leave.

“Is anyone there... save me...”

“No, someone really is calling for help.”

A sharp light flashed through Pero’s eyes.

“And why does this voice sound so familiar?”

Without time to think about where she had heard it before, Pero followed the cries while lowering her body and listening carefully.

Her hearing had always been excellent. It did not take long before she located the source.

It was beneath a pile of rubble. It looked as though a wall had collapsed, but something had °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° propped part of it up, leaving behind a hollow space underneath.

Poking her head around, Pero squeezed through the narrow gaps in the ruins with her slender frame. She lit a candle, quickly illuminating the prison-like space.

“S-Someone finally came to save me!”

Before Pero could even properly observe her surroundings, a bloated figure suddenly lunged toward her, startling her badly.

“You’re... Bishop Kore?”

By the candlelight, Pero recognized the man’s face and realized it had not been her imagination after all.

The one crying for help really was an acquaintance.

Though not exactly the pleasant kind.

“Huh? You are...?”

Hearing Pero call his name directly, Bishop Kore froze briefly as well. He studied her face for a long while before suddenly realizing who she was.

“Oh! You’re the younger sibling of that seriously ill girl named Aviva!”

As he spoke, even Bishop Kore’s expression became somewhat awkward.

Strictly speaking, before Mr. Bruce arrived, he and that seriously ill girl—or rather, her family—had indeed shared a rather unpleasant history.

Well, his asking price back then had been a bit high.

“So it’s you. No wonder you looked so familiar. Ah, seeing your beautiful face feels like a spring breeze washing over me. Even all the pain in my body has disappeared. Truly miraculous.”

Bishop Kore forced out a friendly smile.

Unfortunately, his current appearance was truly difficult to compliment. Even that smile looked distinctly unappealing.

“How did you end up like this?”

Pero’s expression turned strange.

At this moment, Bishop Kore no longer had even a trace of the lofty appearance Pero remembered. He was filthy from head to toe, his hair disheveled, his priestly robes covered in dust. More importantly, both hands were shackled in black restraints.

He looked exactly like...

a prisoner.

“Ah, this?”

Bishop Kore vigorously shook his sleeves to hide the shackles while still maintaining a kindly smile.

“Just a little toy. I’m only fooling around. Nothing serious, nothing serious.”

“You like this...”

Pero raised a brow.

“You wouldn’t happen to be too scared to ask me for help because you’re worried I’ll take revenge on you now that you’re chained up, would you?”

“Wha—no, absolutely not!”

Bishop Kore shook his head furiously and denied it outright.

“I definitely don’t mean that. I simply don’t want to delay your important business. You should leave first and just leave me here alone.”

“That doesn’t sound very good.”

Pero looked around.

“It’s cramped here, dark, and looks like it could collapse at any moment. There are even dead bodies too...”

“Good! Extremely good! Wonderful!”

Bishop Kore shouted energetically.

“It’s cool and quiet here, and everyone inside is talented! They all speak so nicely too! Don’t let the fact that they’re dead fool you—we got along wonderfully before they died! I absolutely do not want to leave them so soon!”