NOVEL WEB Chapter 340: No Moles Here
Alice was right to guess Sylvia wasn't as tough as she portrayed herself. At the very least, she wasn't at the level where she could shrug off acts of perversion done to her.
In addition, through Sylvia's response, Alice learned that Sylvia didn't harbor any good feelings toward the Demon King and the demons. Moreover, after learning about the matter of "the Demon King investigating Lilith," Sylvia panicked even more than when she had her panties stripped.
Evidently, Lilith didn't have any ongoing partnerships or plans to partner with the demons. Otherwise, Sylvia wouldn't have shown such a panicked reaction. After all, if Lilith truly intended to join hands with the demons, news of the Demon King investigating Lilith should be an act of "betrayal" in Sylvia's eyes.
Yet, at the same time, Sylvia clearly knew that someone was trying to get the demons to intervene in the Rhine Kingdom's succession rights. She also determined that the appearance of the "Demon King" this time was the demons' agreement to intervene in the Rhine Kingdom's royal affairs.
Combining these two factors, it was most likely safe to assume that Lilith wasn't the person impersonating Etoria to initiate contact with the demons. Even so, Lilith had already discovered that someone was trying to tempt the demons into interfering in the Rhine Kingdom's royal affairs. Hence…Lilith was also investigating the person impersonating Etoria.
Of course, Alice couldn't conclude that Lilith was innocent simply by relying on a few words from Sylvia. For all Alice knew, Sylvia could just be playing dumb with her. After all, the person tempting the demons into action was "Prince Etoria." So, to avoid exposing Lilith's true identity, Sylvia might have chosen to play innocent.
"Oh? Are you not the ones who asked for our help?"
Alice still used mana to make her voice sound hoarse when speaking. Although Sylvia could clearly tell this was a magically processed voice, she didn't care that it was a fake one. Instead, she focused all of her attention on the words said by the "Demon King."
Meanwhile, the instant Sylvia heard Alice's words, her expression relaxed slightly. Although Alice wasn't a master at reading facial expressions, she still noticed the change in Sylvia's expression. Not to mention, Sylvia was quite anxious right now, so she didn't do a very good job managing her facial expressions. Hence, even an amateur like Alice could tell the changes in Sylvia's emotions.
From what Alice could tell, Sylvia didn't seem like she was pretending to be innocent. Rather, it would seem that Lilith really wasn't the person trying to invite the demons. Had Lilith been the mastermind, Sylvia should have revealed a nervous and awkward expression the moment Alice "exposed" her rather than looking relieved.
The fact that Sylvia felt relieved showed that she was glad that the demons had yet to find the person trying to partner with them. Meanwhile, without help from people inside the Rhine Kingdom's government, the demons would be incapable of executing a large-scale invasion of the Rhine Kingdom.
However, after sighing in relief, Sylvia quickly revealed a furious expression and said, "Her Highness will never do such a thing! She will never betray the human race! You demons will never have your way!"
In reality, Sylvia had briefly thought of admitting to Alice's claims and pretending that Lilith was the person trying to collude with the demons. Then, they could use this misinformation to mislead the demons and delay, or possibly foil, the demons' plans to invade the Rhine Kingdom.
However, Sylvia dismissed this idea shortly after it appeared in her mind. Even if she acknowledged that Lilith was trying to ally with the demons, there was no way Lilith could provide the demons with any safe invasion routes. In that case, the demons would quickly grow suspicious of Lilith and realize that Lilith might not be the person trying to partner with them. Even if the demons didn't realize they had contacted the wrong person, they would quickly seek other alternatives after realizing that Lilith wasn't sincerely trying to partner with them. So, all in all, pretending that Lilith was trying to partner with the demons wouldn't hinder the demons' plans by much.
In that case, Sylvia decided that she might as well outright deny Alice's claims and make Lilith's stance clear. Doing so would also create a tough image for Lilith.
"How straightforward of you. Are you not afraid I will kill you?" Alice chuckled as she walked up to Sylvia and looked at the gyaru's angry expression. "You are nothing more than an information source to me. Once I get the information I want out of you, how I deal with you entirely depends on my mood. Are you not worried that I will kill you if you speak against me like this?"
"Go ahead and try, then! Let's see how much information you can get out of my mouth!" Sylvia sneered. She had no intention of cowering in the slightest. "I don't mind repeating myself! You demons will never have your way!"
"How brave of you," Alice commented while caressing her chin.
In reality, Alice already got the information she wanted. She had only captured Sylvia to find out whether Lilith was the culprit impersonating Etoria and initiating contact with the demons. However, by the looks of things, not only was Lilith not the culprit, but it would seem that the Rhine Princess was also actively investigating this matter.
In other words, Alice and Lilith shared the same goals—both wanted to prevent the demons from interfering in the Rhine Kingdom's royal affairs.
Of course, Alice also noticed what Sylvia was trying to do. The gyaru thief was most likely behaving bravely because she thought the information she wielded was crucial to the "Demon King." Hence, she wasn't worried she would be killed. Not immediately, at the very least.
However, if all Sylvia could provide was information, it wouldn't be enough to get her out of her current predicament.
In other words, Sylvia's current goal was to buy time. Once she bought enough time, someone would come to find her. Although Sylvia must know that Lilith's forces wouldn't be enough to deal with the Demon King, she must also know that the Hero was on the way to the Rhine Kingdom. Hence, so long as she could buy enough time for the Hero to arrive, the "Demon King" before her would no longer be a threat.
Hah… Nevermind. Alice shook her head. Since she now knew that Sylvia was trying to buy time, she naturally wouldn't allow the gyaru to do so. After looking at the ring on Sylvia's hand, Alice softly chuckled and said, "You are wearing a ring on your left index finger… I didn't think a gyaru like you would still be single."
"...Is it so strange for a gyaru to be single?!" Sylvia cried out angrily, her face blushing a little in embarrassment. "Also, what does this have to do with you!?"
"Nothing. I'm just a little curious about this ring."
When Alice first learned about Sylvia's ring, she was a little curious as to why Sylvia would possess such a powerful defensive item. After all, the ring was capable of stopping spirit magic at the taboo level, albeit briefly.
However, after thinking it over, Alice found that it made sense that Sylvia would have such an item. Sylvia must store a lot of information in her mind. If this information got leaked, it could cause serious problems to Lilith and the Rhine Kingdom. Hence, it made sense that Sylvia would be equipped with such a powerful defensive item.
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Actually, now that Alice thought about it, Sylvia might have other equipment that could be used to boost her combat power. Only, Alice had knocked Sylvia out before the latter could use this equipment.
"But this ring is useless against me," Alice softly said as she looked Sylvia in the eye. Then, before Sylvia could react to her words, she activated Consciousness Transformation and instantly turned the gyaru into her puppet once again.
Of course, Alice wasn't just trying to stop Sylvia from moving this time. Instead, she planned to erase some of Sylvia's memories. Although Alice still didn't know how to read memory codes, she didn't need to understand a person's memories to erase them.
Previously, when Alice entered the room and used Consciousness Transformation on Lilith for the first time, she had taken a glimpse of Sylvia's memory code. Although she couldn't understand the code, it didn't matter. She simply wanted to look at the end of Sylvia's memory code and memorize that part.
Meanwhile, all Alice needed to do now was erase the new memory codes that were added after that part. Once she did that, Sylvia would forget everything that had happened after entering the room. Although Alice had never revealed her face or real voice to Sylvia, her height and hair color might cause Lilith to suspect her. Hence, it was best if she erased Sylvia's memories for precaution's sake.