Chapter 110: Domain of Chaos, Bandit Group

At a small town on the edge of the Luban Duchy, Amelia’s party arrived unhurriedly, entering its bounds.

The date was already December 5th.

Winter had arrived, and the weather had turned considerably colder. Many people were bundled up in padded jackets, and staying warm had become the top priority for most.

A light snow had fallen the previous night, but it was so little and so brief that it had melted by dawn. Amelia didn’t see a single flake; she only knew it had snowed because someone mentioned it.

Inside the carriage, Amelia wore a long black dress. The dress wasn’t particularly thick, but underneath she wore a thermal top and thermal tights from the Sylanti Empire, ensuring she didn’t feel the cold.

Her wavy, light-golden hair cascaded down, adorned with a black ribbon bow.

Though she’d been awake for a while, Amelia still felt a touch languid and couldn’t help stretching her arms to loosen up. Just then, the carriage’s curtain swayed open slightly from the carriage’s movement, letting a gust of cold wind slip through. It landed on her neck, making her shrink back slightly.

“Eileen, are you there? Eileen.”

“Your Majesty, I’m here.”

The curtain was pushed fully aside, and Eileen entered the carriage.

She was still dressed in her black-and-white maid outfit, black stockings held by garters under her skirt. Her long silver-white hair draped down, topped with a white Katyusha headpiece—the very picture of a maid.

Although Eileen no longer needed to play the role of a maid, she was still rather fond of such attire, so she chose to continue dressing this way.

Seeing Eileen enter, Amelia instinctively reached a hand under Eileen’s skirt and squeezed her thigh.

“Mm, good, you wore the thermal tights,” Amelia said with a satisfied nod.

The weather was getting colder and colder, and Amelia couldn’t just look after her own warmth. She had to care for her people’s well-being too. So yesterday, when she discovered that Eileen was wearing only her maid outfit without any thermal clothing, she ordered her to wear the thermal tights.

However, thermal tops and tights were in limited supply and couldn’t be given to everyone, so most people had to make do with thick padded jackets.

Unbothered by Amelia’s touch, Eileen said, “Your Majesty, we have entered Black Earth Town. This is the edge of the Luban Duchy. Once we leave from here, we can reach the Domain of Chaos.”

“Let’s rest briefly in town, then depart,” Amelia said, a complicated look in her eyes.

Back in October, she had schemed desperately to leave her homeland, never expecting that at the start of December she’d be returning to that very place. Truly, life was unpredictable.

But this return was different. She was no longer the fleeing, disgraced Queen of the Fallen Kingdom. She was the leader of the Silent Throne, commanding a force that could not be underestimated. She even had the Luban Duchy as her backing.

Everything would get better.

After entering the town, Amelia bought some newspapers to catch up on recent events.

Amelia, hailing from the information age, knew the importance of intel. Whenever she had access to a source of information, she rarely missed the chance. Buying newspapers upon entering a town had become her standard routine.

After scanning the papers, Amelia learned that Verna had stabilized her regime and, as Grand Duchess, was now receiving envoys from various nations.

Having just ascended to the position, envoys from different countries would naturally come to meet her and discuss various inter-state affairs.

From the reports, Verna seemed to be handling these matters in an orderly fashion. She acted neither humble nor arrogant before envoys from other kingdoms and even empires, carrying herself with considerable poise.

Not dwelling too much on Verna’s situation, Amelia checked other news.

Her eyes swept over several papers before she spotted a piece of information that caught her attention.

According to the newspapers, security in the Luban Duchy’s border regions had greatly improved. Bandits who normally frequented such areas had all vanished. Previously, these regions had always been hotbeds of bandit activity.

So why had the bandits disappeared?

The answer was easy to guess: they had gone to the Domain of Chaos.

Compared to a full-fledged state like the Luban Duchy, a place like the Domain of Chaos held far more loot for bandits to plunder. There were no armies in the Domain of Chaos to hunt them down.

The three kingdoms occupying the Domain couldn’t be bothered to deal with bandits, so long as they didn’t provoke them.

Reading this, Amelia’s expression chilled slightly.

“Hmph, bandits, is it? These insects, I must purge them.”

Amelia already had an idea.

She remained seated in the carriage and had Eileen summon Harold.

Wearing a thick padded coat, Harold quickly came to the carriage. After Eileen lifted the curtain, he stood there respectfully.

“Your Majesty, what are your orders?”

“Harold, investigate which bandit groups have left the Luban Duchy and entered the Domain of Chaos. Gather their information, especially their current locations.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Having received his orders, Harold hurried off to arrange the reconnaissance.

Their party was large—over two hundred strong. Dispersed, they could gather information quite efficiently.

While Harold set about his investigation, Amelia pondered her next moves.

She had left some people behind in the Luban Duchy under Ives’s command, tasked with later transporting and protecting the supplies Verna had pledged. Another portion had been disguised as an adventure party, remaining active within the Duchy to send regular reports back to Amelia.

Because of this, only around two hundred people had accompanied her back to the Domain of Chaos.

Apart from a large group being too conspicuous, the main reason she hadn’t brought everyone was a simple lack of space. The Domain was now awash with chaos. Even upon returning, she wouldn’t necessarily find a suitable place to settle immediately. Taking too many people along would only hinder their mobility.

She needed to find a proper base of operations first.

“If I’m to choose a base in the Domain of Chaos, where should it be?” Amelia asked, as if musing to herself.

Hearing this, the bullet comments predictably grew lively. One by one, the viewers offered their opinions.

They didn’t know Amelia could see the comments, but because the comments were real-time, they could communicate with each other, naturally leading to a discussion.

Watching the viewers’ chatter, Amelia quickly zeroed in on a target.

Not long after, Harold returned.

In a country as bandit-infested as the Luban Duchy, residents were highly concerned about the movement of bandits, as it directly related to their lives and property.

So Harold didn’t have to spend too much effort to learn the whereabouts of nearby groups.

“Near the edge of the Domain, on a mountain, there’s a group called the Storm Bandits lurking there, is that so? Then let’s go deal with them. We can replenish some of our supplies while we’re at it.”

Once Harold had finished his report, Amelia made her decision.

Though she would soon receive a steady stream of supplies from Verna, the transport would take time. Besides, they hadn’t even decided where to receive them yet. So, she still needed to obtain some supplies on her own.

With the decision made, Amelia’s group sprang into action, swiftly leaving Black Earth Town.

Half an hour later, they officially re-entered the Domain of Chaos!

Storm Mountain hadn’t originally been called that. But ever since the Storm Bandits occupied it a month ago, it had become known as Storm Mountain.

In winter, the mountain wasn’t pleasant to look at. The trees had shed all their leaves, leaving bare branches. Black bark met black soil, making the entire mountain seem deeply dark, with only the howling cold wind passing through.

Midway up the slope, the bandits had set up their camp. Even during the day, a bonfire crackled, radiating heat to keep everyone from freezing too badly.

[I just remembered, wasn’t the Storm Bandit Group mentioned in the Original Plot?]

[So I’m not the only one who found the name familiar? I got déjà vu when Amelia mentioned the Storm Bandits earlier and did some digging.]

[I’ve already looked it up.]

[What’s the deal? Does a third-rate bandit group like the Storm Bandits actually have some significance?]

[In the future, when Eileen returned to the Domain of Chaos and spoke with some lords formerly of the Steele Kingdom, this bandit group was mentioned by one lord during their conversation.]

[The exact line was: “Hope? What hope do I have left? The kingdom toppled, order crumbled, even my daughter was murdered by a bandit group called the Storm Bandits. What remains for me? Nothing. Go look for hope somewhere else.”]

Amelia was on her way to Storm Mountain.

As she moved, she noticed the bullet comments suddenly becoming active and couldn’t resist reading them. After scanning through several, she quickly understood the situation, feeling a jolt of surprise.

The Storm Bandits she was about to deal with had actually appeared in the Original Plot? Even if it was merely a passing mention, the implications were noteworthy.

‘Judging by the comments, in the future, Eileen seemingly tried to unite former Steele Kingdom elements for revenge and approached a lord. But that lord, her daughter already dead, had a heart of ashes and refused.’

Amelia now grasped the scenario.

She didn’t know when exactly these events were supposed to occur—the viewers couldn’t provide that—but regardless, as long as she wiped out the Storm Bandits now, that lord’s daughter wouldn’t be harmed… well, assuming she wasn’t already too late.

The carriage soon arrived before the Storm Bandits’ camp. By this time, the bandits were already prepared.

Amelia’s group’s approach had clearly not gone unnoticed. When they reached the camp, they had effectively already entered the bandit’s encirclement.

“Well now, how interesting. People actually dare to approach our camp so brazenly. Don’t they know who we are?”

A gravelly voice spoke. A burly man with a full beard, wearing a padded coat, strode out of the camp with a dozen or so bandits, appearing before the group.

This was the leader of the Storm Bandits, Ed Macduff.

Despite his flippant words, Ed was inwardly quite cautious as he observed what looked like a merchant caravan.

These people had come straight for the Storm Bandits’ camp. It was entirely possible they were targeting them specifically. He had to be careful.

Under Ed’s watch, the curtain of one carriage was drawn open, revealing a young girl with wavy, light-golden hair.

When he saw her, Ed’s expression faltered for a moment. She was simply too beautiful. Just looking at her made his throat bob involuntarily.

But the words that followed made a chill colder than ice race down his spine.

“Confirmed. They are the Storm Bandits. Kill them all. Leave no one alive.”

The girl’s tone held no ferocity. It even sounded soft and gentle. Yet the content was colder than the winter wind.

“Swish!”

Almost the instant Amelia’s voice faded, Eileen leaped from the carriage, landing directly beside Ed. She swung her sword.

The Storm Bandits were just an ordinary bandit group. Their leader, Ed, was at best a Trainee Apostle. Against a High-Rank Apostle like Eileen, he couldn’t muster the slightest resistance.

By the time Eileen landed, Ed’s head had also landed, rolling twice on the ground.

Everything happened too fast, so quickly that the other bandits couldn’t even react.

When they finally did, every single one of them paled in horror. How could their leader, Ed, be killed so effortlessly? Just how terrifying was that attacker?

Not daring to think any further, their hearts pounded with panic as they scrambled to flee in all directions.

Amelia’s soldiers moved at that moment too, streaming out in pursuit of the escaping bandits.

As for Eileen, she returned to Amelia’s side to guard her.

Amelia stepped down from the carriage. The cold wind blew past, ruffling her hair and dress.

She looked toward the camp ahead and said softly, “Eileen, let’s go take a look inside. We might be able to obtain some supplies.”

Eileen nodded.

Of course, aside from the two of them, a few others followed along.

The camp was something the Storm Bandits had built only a month ago. There was nothing particularly special about it. It was all laid out plainly.

Living quarters and supply storage were clearly defined.

But beyond that, Amelia also discovered a place used for holding prisoners.

When a bandit group went out plundering, naturally they would occasionally capture people. Why they were brought back was obvious.

Seeing the gruesome sight and the coppery scent of blood wafting from a wooden hut, Amelia spoke softly. “Eileen.”

“I’m here.”

“Go and see to it. Make sure not a single bandit escapes. I’m afraid the others might not be able to stop them all.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

After confirming the surroundings were safe and that Nicole was still with Amelia, Eileen turned and left.