Chapter 42: Luban Duchy

After leaving Rhine City and continuing north, the remaining territory had nothing to do with the Bargas Kingdom, Akti Kingdom, or Beren Kingdom anymore.

The nearest was the Luban Duchy.

The Luban Duchy was backed by the Yakia Kingdom, and according to the bullet comments, the Yakia Kingdom had not intervened in the slightest in the matter of the Three Great Kingdoms invading the Steele Kingdom.

Furthermore, the Yakia Kingdom’s relationship with the Bargas Kingdom, Akti Kingdom, and Beren Kingdom was not good, which also led to the Luban Duchy, backed by the Yakia Kingdom, having poor relations with those three kingdoms.

The Ford Kingdom also had poor relations with the Three Great Kingdoms.

The Ford Kingdom and the Yakia Kingdom supported each other, advancing and retreating together. With the support of several duchies, they were not afraid of the other kingdoms.

So once Amelia entered the Luban Duchy, the pursuit from the Three Great Kingdoms would find it difficult to affect them. After all, the three kingdoms’ reach could not extend into the territory of the Luban Duchy.

Two days later, Amelia and Eileen entered the mountains within the borders of the Luban Duchy and encountered a band of thieves. After successfully dealing with the bandits, they swapped their carriage for one with a canopy, which better concealed the presence of the Mana Crystal Cannon.

It was worth mentioning that bandits were particularly prevalent in the Luban Duchy. Even though the major nobles frequently cleared out bandits across the regions, the bandits seemed to spawn endlessly, as if self-generating, impossible to exterminate completely.

After dealing with the bandits, aside from acquiring some spoils of war, Amelia and Eileen also saw news related to themselves in a Luban Morning Post.

The newspaper reported news about Rhine City, stating that two people from the criminal organization, Iris, had seized Rhine City’s Mana Crystal Cannon, killed thousands of soldiers from the Three Great Kingdoms, and then left ostentatiously.

These two individuals both had the appearance of silver-haired young girls.

When Amelia saw this report, she was quite speechless. Although she had killed quite a few people with the Mana Crystal Cannon at the time, it was only a few hundred at most, wasn’t it? This report actually claimed she had killed thousands?

However, news reports had always exaggerated things to capture attention. Thinking this, she no longer cared.

After that, Amelia and Eileen continued their journey north. Two more days passed, and they entered a sparsely populated small town.

By this time, Eileen had already used the Hair Dye obtained from the bandits. It was an Alchemy product that dyed her head of silver hair a water-blue color.

However, this Hair Dye was only enough for one person. So their purpose in coming to this town was to buy a bit more Hair Dye, allowing Amelia to also change her appearance.

After all, the previous newspaper had reported that the Mana Crystal Cannon in Rhine City had been obtained by two silver-haired young girls.

Although people with silver hair weren’t exactly rare in this world, to avoid accidents, they both thought it was necessary to alter their looks.

If Amelia simply reverted to her original blonde hair, she might not be associated with the silver-haired girl who took the Mana Crystal Cannon. But being linked to the missing Queen of the Steele Kingdom would be even worse.

So, the necessary disguises had to be made.

“Clip-clop…”

The carriage slowly came to a stop in a corner of the small town.

An Alchemy Shop wasn’t far away. After stopping the carriage, Eileen went to buy some things and returned to the carriage in no time.

“Miss Lia, here.”

“Mm.”

Amelia took the Hair Dye and applied it to her hair. Instantly, her long hair turned a water-blue shade. It had to be said, this Hair Dye made with Alchemy Techniques was truly convenient.

Besides the Hair Dye, Eileen also bought water-blue Color Contacts. However, these were for herself. Wearing them concealed her originally ruby-like eyes.

As for Amelia, her original eye color was water-blue, which matched the water-blue long hair very well, so there was no need to conceal them.

After their disguises, the two of them looked somewhat like sisters.

Amelia took out a Mirror and looked at her reflection, a helpless expression appearing on her face. “I don’t know why my hair curls so easily. I clearly straightened it before, but it’s become curly again.”

Eileen looked at Amelia’s hair. Whether curly or straight, she thought it was all quite beautiful.

“Since the disguise is complete, let’s find an Inn and take a bath. How long has it been since I last bathed? I can’t even remember.” Amelia sighed again.

[Ten days, I’ve kept track for you.]

[The Steele Kingdom fell on September 7th. Today is September 16th. It’s indeed been ten days.]

The bullet comments very thoughtfully provided Amelia with the answer.

Seeing those answers, Amelia’s face darkened. The thought that she hadn’t bathed in ten days, hadn’t even simply wiped her body down, made her feel extremely uncomfortable all over.

It wasn’t just a bathing issue. The clothes she had been wearing for who knows how long also needed to be changed by now.

“Eileen, let’s go to the Inn!”

“Yes, Miss Lia.”

Eileen stepped out of the carriage compartment, drove the carriage into motion.

They first went to buy some clean clothes to change into, then arrived at an Inn. There, they enjoyed a wonderful bath and changed into their newly purchased clothes.

The Luban Duchy was a country with a very strong artistic atmosphere, also known as the Country of Art. Therefore, the clothing here tended towards splendor, extensively using elements like lace, tulle, scalloped edges, ribbons, bows, multi-layered cake cuts, pleating, and shirring.

Thus, even commoners’ clothing appeared rather eye-catching.

Amelia put on a pure white lace slip dress, revealing her rounded shoulders, delicate collarbones, and slender arms.

The hem of the skirt only reached her thighs, puffed out by a petticoat, looking cute and voluminous. Her legs were revealed, clad in white thigh-high stockings that looked quite taut, her Absolute Domain faintly visible. Her feet were adorned with lustrous white high heels.

Smoothing her slightly wavy, water-blue long hair, Amelia said helplessly, “Eileen, didn’t you buy something a bit too luxurious? I know Luban Duchy’s clothing tends towards splendor, but this can’t be what ordinary commoners wear, right?”

“But I feel that Miss Lia suits dressing up like a Young Lady,” Eileen replied.

“Why didn’t you buy this kind of skirt for yourself?”

“Such attire is inconvenient for combat, and I need to protect Miss Lia.”

“That won’t do. Since you bought several sets of this kind of skirt, put one on and let me see.”

Amelia decisively took action, stripping off Eileen’s lightweight clothes.

Faced with Amelia’s actions, Eileen looked utterly helpless, instinctively wanting to resist, yet she didn’t dare use force against Amelia.

Thus, not long after, those lightweight clothes were removed by Amelia, and a dress similar in style to what Amelia was wearing was put onto Eileen.