The room's temperature plummeted to freezing as those words echoed.

Ash finally noticed Siegfried's expression. The previous kindness was gone, replaced by a chilling killing intent.

Ash felt his blood freeze at that moment.

"M-My lord, you're really joking."

Ash tried to laugh it off, but his gaze was involuntarily drawn to the two soldiers dragging a bloodied corpse past Siegfried.

Without turning his head, Siegfried looked at the pale-faced soldier before him and once again displayed that extremely cold smile:

"Joking? The last person who said I was joking is already dead."

"I don't understand what you mean," Ash forced himself to remain calm, but even he could hear the tremor in his voice.

"You don't need to understand. You just need to choose whether to end your life yourself or wait for someone else to do it for you."

Siegfried looked at him coldly, still offering no explanation.

Ash's breathing grew heavier, and finally, with eyes red, he shouted in anger:

"Stop joking! I'm a soldier of the kingdom, a soldier of His Highness. Why should you decide my life or death without reason? Who do you think you are!"

A barely noticeable smile appeared on Siegfried's lips.

(Four hours, and he finally broke.)

"It's not me deciding your fate, but your dear colleagues."

Ash's face froze, and at that moment, he thought of many people.

(Could it be them? Impossible, even if they betrayed me, they wouldn't survive.)

"Is it so hard to understand? I simply told each of them: Ash has confessed everything. If you confess now, you might be pardoned. Then, they all confessed, and as for the few who were stubborn..."

Siegfried gestured with his thumb behind him, "As you can see."

Ash stared at Siegfried, dumbfounded, with a look of disbelief, and after a long silence, he asked:

"You knew from the beginning?"

Just as Ash spoke, all the coldness and sarcasm vanished from Siegfried's face, and the speed of the change was astonishing.

(No, I didn't know, but now I do.)

Yes, it was all a ruse. A version of the prisoner's dilemma designed by Siegfried based on the intelligence he had.

Originally, Siegfried planned to use the information from the Wanderer's Handbook to catch all the traitors.

However, the Wanderer's Handbook wasn't omniscient; it could only search for content recorded by other Wanderers. Siegfried searched every soldier, but the results were disappointing.

Unlike the search for Bobo, this time there was no direct information showing who the traitor was.

But fortune favored him, as Siegfried discovered an anomaly in one soldier.

The soldier's record showed he had once been a bodyguard for the Crown Prince Frederick, and his name was Ash.

Siegfried immediately decided to make Ash the first target.

He orchestrated this play, isolating Ash in a dark, enclosed room for a long time, gradually breaking down his psychological defenses.

When the time was right, he let Ash out to witness the bloodied fake corpse, delivering a fatal blow to him on the brink of collapse.

With the added effect of deceit, every word from Siegfried made Ash believe it was true, and as long as Ash showed any flaw, Siegfried, skilled in cold reading, would not miss it.

Once one traitor was uncovered, the rest would be easy to handle.

Siegfried had prepared for the worst.

If Ash was innocent, he would have to detain all the soldiers and interrogate each one day and night.

Such a method, however, would be time-consuming and prone to errors, possibly even causing a mutiny. Kriemhild certainly wouldn't support such an approach.

Fortunately, the plan succeeded on the first try.

In the adjacent room, Roland had heard everything. He walked over with a grim expression.

Siegfried no longer looked at Ash, whose eyes had lost their light, leaving him with just one sentence:

"If you have anything to add, tell Roland. Providing more information might save your life."

With Ash's full confession, a total of ten traitors were uncovered within the 48-man team, all of whom were spies planted by the Crown Prince.

This left not only Roland but even Siegfried astounded.

"This number can't just be called informants, can it? They could have captured Kriemhild directly!"

Siegfried looked at the room full of people, his expression quite complex.

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A soldier replied in a low voice:

"We never intended to harm Her Highness the Princess. The Crown Prince's orders were only twofold: report Her Highness's condition and ensure her safety."

Ash added:

"We originally had over fifty people, but many have fallen in battle over the past six months, leaving only us."

Roland furrowed his brow, pondering for a long time before throwing the question to Siegfried:

"Meilan, what do you think?"

(My lord, I think there's something fishy about this... What do you mean, how should I know your royal family's affairs? I've only known you for less than a day, haven't I?)

Siegfried grumbled inwardly but answered seriously:

"There's something wrong with this matter, and it's hard to see the truth with the limited information we have."

Perhaps the Crown Prince had some humanity left, sending people to protect his sister while also hunting her. It made no sense.

"Separate them from the main force, and don't take them on the encirclement operation the day after tomorrow."

Roland was troubled, unsure how to present this matter to Her Highness.

With 11 traitors in a 48-man team, and considering those who had died, there were over 50 spies following them all along, yet they hadn't discovered a single one.

Thinking of this, he glanced again at Siegfried, who was deep in thought.

From their first meeting in the morning until now, in just a few hours, this man had accurately removed all the moles in the team, pulling them out of a dire situation. Roland was both impressed and somewhat fearful of his skills.

A powerful enemy is not frightening; a powerful and intelligent enemy is the most terrifying.

(Thankfully, he's not an enemy...)

Roland thought sincerely.

……………………

Night fell.

There were many empty houses in Fengtao Village, usually used by villagers to store goods, and now they were available for the soldiers to stay.

These soldiers, who had been camping in caves or sleeping in trees for the past six months, returned to the embrace of civilization.

They bathed, had a hearty meal, and even received their own beds, thanks to the arrangements made by the villagers.

They knew this treatment was due to the presence of Master Meilan, which elevated Siegfried's image even further in their hearts.

Of course, not every soldier received such treatment. For instance, the eight who, led by the yellow-haired soldier Lem, had robbed the village yesterday were placed in a narrow room with no beds, just floor mats, and they could sleep if they wanted.

Though dissatisfied, they dared not protest. After all, they were at fault, and thanks to Catalina's efforts to cover it up, if it were exposed, Roland, the exemplary knight, would have cut them down without waiting for Kriemhild's order.

Siegfried was sitting at his desk in his room, with four old parchments spread out, illuminated by an oil lamp.

These four sheets were torn from the Wanderer's Handbook, each recording information about the four main figures in the current camp.

They contained information already on record and new intelligence gathered from today's investigations.

"Catalina, a child of a court maid, originally not qualified to become a knight, but due to her exceptional talent and close relationship with the princess, she was chosen as a guardian knight. Currently a Grand Knight... though not very bright and has a weakness in my hands, not much of a concern."

"Roland Pedinan, a commoner from the Pedinan Count's domain, was noticed by the Count due to his talent. After receiving knight training at the Count's estate, he developed a deep relationship with the Count's daughter and has since married into the family and had a son? What a life winner."

Siegfried silently commented while reading Roland's profile.

"Promoted to Gold Knight at the age of 26, the youngest Gold Knight in the kingdom's history, now just one divine ceremony away from becoming a Holy Knight?"

Roland's strength was undeniable. During their confrontation in the day, Siegfried saw no chance of victory.

"Overall assessment at least A-level, conservatively A+. He doesn't seem to like me much, so I should be cautious."

Siegfried picked up the third sheet, which had much less content.

"Darren Silv, a half-elf youth with the highest affinity for wind elements, capable of using sixth-tier intermediate magic at just 15, an unparalleled magical prodigy. That's all, not much information, but he doesn't seem difficult to deal with."

Siegfried picked up the last parchment, which had the most content, densely filling a whole page.

"Princess Kriemhild. It's all about her life events... Hmm?"

Siegfried paused, surprised by a piece of information.

Divine Miracle [Favor of Solis]: Princess Kriemhild is blessed by the Sun God Solis. With this miracle, her affinity for light and fire elements reaches the extreme, and she can communicate with light spirits. Light spirits can discern malice and see through lies.

Siegfried's brows furrowed slightly: "Able to see through lies?"

"I... can't see through him." Kriemhild brushed back a strand of hair that had fallen over her ear, her tone somewhat hesitant.

Roland, shocked, asked incredulously: "Even you can't see through him? You're the Holy Maiden of the Sun."

In Kriemhild's chamber, the master and servant were speaking in hushed tones, naturally about the newly arrived Meilan.

"Shh, keep it down, Lina's already asleep." Kriemhild gestured with her finger to her lips, then pointed to Catalina, who was sprawled out asleep nearby.

"Ahem, apologies." Roland immediately lowered his voice, "But this... this is impossible. I've never heard of anyone who could deceive the light spirits, not even a Hero."

Light spirits are the attendants of the Sun God, invisible to ordinary people. As the Sun God's favored saint, Kriemhild can command the light spirits to some extent.

These light spirits are most useful because they are highly sensitive to lies, malice, and intent to kill, automatically alerting Kriemhild if they detect any. In fact, they were able to organize an escape from the royal city half a year ago because Kriemhild sensed the danger in advance.

However, when facing Siegfried, these infallible lie detectors behaved unusually.

Some flitted around Kriemhild like headless flies, sending meaningless signals, while others remained completely unresponsive. It was as if the person standing before them wasn't human.

Because he wasn't human, they showed no reaction.

This had never happened before, and even Kriemhild was puzzled by it. She shook her head and said:

"At least for now, Mr. Siegfried hasn't shown any hostility, and..." Kriemhild recalled the warm hands that helped her up in the church during the day.

Perhaps wishfully, she believed that someone with such hands couldn't be a bad person.

"Roland, you spent the most time with him today. What do you think of him?"

Roland fell silent at the question, and after a long pause, he hesitantly spoke:

"Your Highness, I'm not sure if I should say this?"

Kriemhild smiled gently at his words: "Roland, you're like a brother to me in private. What is there that you can't say?"

The princess didn't seem to realize what being like a brother meant...

"Then forgive my rudeness.

Master Meilan gives me a very uncomfortable feeling.

Whether facing Bobo in the morning or interrogating the soldiers in the afternoon, he understands human weaknesses too well and can precisely manipulate them. This shouldn't be a method used by the Hero family.

Most importantly, all of this reminds me of another person..."

Roland took a deep breath, his tone unusually serious:

"Your brother, the Second Prince Roderick...