Soon, they dragged out three intact bodies, along with several partially digested heads, some scattered bones, and a few skeletons.

Luo Wei herself pulled out one of the heads. She thought she had found a survivor and grabbed the shoulders, pulling hard. But the person's head came off, landing right in her arms. She stood there, stunned, holding a round skull.

In both her lives combined, she had never done anything like this before!

It took her a while to calm herself down through mental preparation before she could continue examining the remaining bodies.

Troy glanced at her several times, his feelings towards her growing increasingly complex.

He had thought she would either run away screaming or freeze in terror when faced with such a situation. He never expected her to persevere.

Soon, all the bodies and skeletons were retrieved, with Luo Wei arranging them in a row, as if compelled by her obsessive-compulsive tendencies.

Only the three intact bodies were still alive - two men and one woman, all breathing very faintly.

Luo Wei instructed Troy to turn them over and drain the mud to prevent their airways from being blocked and suffocating.

She herself took a handkerchief and carefully cleaned their mouths and noses. When she got to the woman, she suddenly felt a sense of familiarity.

"Could it be..."

She quickly wiped the woman's face clean with the handkerchief and stared at her intently.

There was no mistaking it; the face matched perfectly with her memory. This was the female knight who had sponsored her to study at Siria Magic Academy.

The pulse under her palm grew weaker, indicating the woman's fading life.

Luo Wei struggled internally. This was the only person who knew her true identity.

She had wondered before what would happen if the people Axina sent out found the female knight. She never expected to encounter her like this.

If she died...

Dark thoughts surged through her mind. Luo Wei pressed her hand firmly on the female knight's chest, her eyes dark and lightless beneath her long lashes.

If she were to abandon someone who had once helped her for such a reason, how would she be any different from that detestable, cold-blooded man? He wasn't a good person himself, so he assumed she was just like him. How ridiculous. She was nothing like that.

Luo Wei performed CPR with a blank expression. When she felt it was enough, she leaned down and pinched the female knight's nose.

"What- what are you doing?!" Troy turned his head to see her kissing the woman. His pupils dilated in shock and disbelief, letting out a reality-shattering roar.

"I'm saving her," Luo Wei explained briefly before continuing to breathe into the female knight's mouth.

After repeating this two or three times, as she leaned down to breathe again, she felt air flowing out from the other's mouth.

Luo Wei paused and looked up, meeting a pair of shocked deep brown eyes.

"You're awake," she said, slowly releasing her grip on the other's nose. She checked the pulse again and moved her eyes away nonchalantly. "Don't misunderstand. I was just saving you."

"Your heartbeat has recovered. You should be out of danger now."

The woman had already come to her senses, the shock quickly fading from her face.

"Thank you for saving me. I thought I was done for," she said gratefully, looking at her savior. After a few seconds, she hesitated and asked, "Are you... Luo Wei?"

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It had only been half a month since their last meeting, and the woman had a deep impression of this stunningly beautiful young girl who looked like an elf.

Moreover, she had personally written a letter of recommendation for her to attend Siria Magic Academy and had given her ten gold coins for travel expenses.

Luo Wei's mind raced, considering how to respond to being recognized. She quickly made a decision.

"Yes, it's me," she didn't deny her identity as she helped the female knight sit up. "I never expected to see you here. How did you encounter the monster?"

The female knight's face filled with sorrow. "I was originally on my way to Siria Magic Academy. When passing through here, I sensed the presence of a monster in the mountains and thought I could quickly deal with it. I never imagined it would be so powerful, devouring us all."

"By the way, how did you manage to defeat it?" she asked.

Luo Wei stepped aside, revealing Troy behind her. "I don't have such abilities. It was my guard, Troy, who killed it."

"He also rescued you all from the monster's stomach."

"Your guard?" The female knight's eyes widened slightly, seemingly surprised that a lone fugitive girl would have a guard.

But what kind of guard could kill a monster that her entire knight squad couldn't defeat?

The female knight looked at Troy, her gaze lingering on his mask before moving down to the hilt of his sword.

She was startled as soon as she saw it, immediately recognizing it as a magical material that only magic swordsmen could use. Low-level swordsmen couldn't withstand such powerful magical circulation.

Didn't Luo Wei say she was an orphan who escaped from a fishing village? How could she have a magic swordsman as a guard?

At this moment, the female knight was plunged into deep confusion.

Troy had been quietly listening nearby. When Luo Wei referred to him as her guard, he didn't react.

After all, he had taken Luo Wei's money and was indeed acting as a guard now.

"I apologize, Troy isn't very talkative," Luo Wei said, noticing the female knight staring at Troy. Fearing she might inquire about Troy's background, Luo Wei quickly changed the subject. "There are two more people alive on the ground. They might be your companions. Would you like to check on them?"

When the original owner met the knight squad, everyone except the female knight wore helmets and masks, and they didn't speak to her. Therefore, she didn't recognize the others.

Hearing "companions," the female knight immediately looked at the ground and excitedly rushed over. "It's them! Robert and Vincent. They were so badly injured trying to protect me."

She looked around, her gaze falling on the skeletons, tears welling up in her eyes. "The others... are they all dead?"

Luo Wei nodded solemnly.

The female knight took a deep breath, wiped away her tears, and looked at Luo Wei. "I'm sorry. For certain reasons, I didn't tell you my name before."

"Let me introduce myself properly. My name is Lilien Rosetti, and I am the Crown Princess of the Grand Duchy of Kinoko. We were passing through here with my knight squad when we unfortunately encountered this disaster. I hope I can ask for your help to take us to Siria."

"The Rosetti family always repays kindness. I will certainly reward you for this!"

Luo Wei was slightly surprised. "So you're a princess?"

Lilien nodded. "Yes, when I met you before, I was secretly patrolling the border with my knight squad."

The location of the fishing village was right between the Grand Duchy of Kinoko and the Principality of Tetia, in a disputed territory claimed by both sides.

A look of understanding flashed in Luo Wei's eyes. No wonder the other knights didn't dare to call her name.

Moreover, female knights were as rare as female nobles. With Lilien being escorted by a group of knights at that time, her identity should have been easy to guess.

She had been blinded by a single leaf, overly trusting the original owner's memories.

Coming back to her senses, Luo Wei hurriedly said to Lilien, "You saved me back then. Now it's my turn to repay you. Even if you hadn't asked, I would certainly help you."

Lilien's face showed gratitude, but inwardly she felt a bit strange.

According to etiquette, since she had revealed her name, Luo Wei should have stated her surname as well. Why did she overlook this?

By now, Lilien no longer believed that Luo Wei was just an "orphan who fled from a fishing village pursued by pirates" as she had claimed.

Just looking at how she wasn't very surprised upon learning of her identity, and how she spoke to her naturally, neither servile nor overbearing, indicated that she must have another identity, and one of no low status.

In fact, when Lilien first saw Luo Wei, she thought her appearance wasn't something a small fishing village could produce. Now, discovering she had a magic swordsman as a guard, she was even more certain of her suspicions.

Perhaps Luo Wei, like herself earlier, had chosen to disguise her identity for some reason.

Thinking this, Lilien felt reassured.

Her initial choice had indeed not been wrong.

TBC