"Welcome back, Lord Bai Xia…" The two Heavy Armor Knights knelt on one knee, giving Illy-dono a very solemn bow, and both spoke in unison, with a jarring, mechanical tone, saying these words.
At this moment, not only Ligurit, Bell, and Uncle Ged were looking at Illy-dono in surprise, but Illy-dono herself felt very puzzled. How could they have mistaken her again?
This was the third time! The first two were fine; the Elf King eventually realized his mistake, and the Dragon Maid's incident was a given. However, this time it was the Sky City's guards. Logically, NPCs shouldn't mistake people, right?
She remembered that when Pandora's Actor first appeared, he disguised himself as Emerald Tablet but was seen through by Albedo. However, there were also instances where Pandora disguised himself as Ainz's father to test Sebas and wasn't recognized. This was a bit subtle. Could it be understood that if one wasn't the creator, there was still a possibility of being mistaken?
While Illy-dono was deep in thought, the three of them had been staring at her. Illy-dono snapped back to reality and saw Ligurit giving her a meaningful look, seemingly hinting for her to say something.
"Uh… are you all right? Where are the others?" Illy-dono thought for a long time before speaking these words, which were, of course, said after careful consideration.
"We are well. Most of the other Guardians are still in slumber, with only a few still active. Do you need us to wake them all?" one of the Knights replied.
"Number Two! Is that even a question! Lord Bai Xia has finally returned! Of course, we should wake everyone to welcome her!" the other Knight interjected.
"No, no… there's no need to wake them. I… am just here to look around, no need to disturb everyone," Illy-dono quickly refused.
Good, it seemed not all the guards were awake. However, to be safe, it was better to extract more information before deciding on the next step.
"But Lord Bai Xia…" The Knight who had just suggested waking everyone still wanted to say something, but Illy-dono quickly interrupted him.
"I am not Bai Xia. I am Ellie now. Please just call me Ellie. I only came here with my companions to look around, so there's no need to disturb anyone else." Illy-dono played a little trick.
I'm telling you clearly now! I am not the Bai Xia you speak of, and I've already reminded you. You've misunderstood on your own, so don't blame me if I'm exposed later!
"Understood, Bai Xia… Lady Ellie." The Knight who heard this stopped speaking and continued to bow his head, maintaining his bowing posture.
"Then you may rise now. Please lead us into the city." Illy-dono continued. For now, she would impersonate this player, "Bai Xia."
Subsequently, the two Knights, having received permission, stood up. One of them turned around and struck the floor again with his long-handled halberd, and the city gate slowly opened.
Ligurit gave Illy-dono a look and, with her back to the two Knights, silently gave a thumbs-up, indicating that her handling of the situation was correct.
So, the Knight who had suggested calling people earlier led everyone into the city, while the other remained outside to guard the gate. Here, Illy-dono thought of this player named "Bai Xia" again.
Let's sort this out properly. First, it's confirmed that this Bai Xia is definitely a player (Isn't that obvious!). Initially, based on the Dragon Maid's attitude towards this player Bai Xia, she thought Bai Xia might be one of the first six players who transmigrated.
Then, for some unknown reason, after the Eight Greed Kings incident, she didn't die but survived until the Demon God Turmoil incident, which is why the Elf King, one of the Thirteen Heroes, had met her.
And it's very possible they were even teammates or something, then for unknown reasons, she was sealed in the Evaluation Country.
Based on previous information, the speculation about Bai Xia was like this. However, here, this speculation needs to be re-examined.
This is a city built by the Eight Greed Kings, and the guards of this city respectfully address this Bai Xia as an adult, and even advocate waking everyone to welcome her. This indicates that this Bai Xia must have some kind of special relationship with the Eight Greed Kings.
Otherwise, why would they want such a grand welcome? So, this makes the player's identity even more mysterious. She appeared in the era of the Six Great Gods and was an enemy of the powerful Dragon race at that time. She should have been on the side of the Six Great Gods, right?
Then, in the era of the Eight Greed Kings, she was also involved with them. One must know that the Eight Greed Kings killed Sir Xia Na, the God of Death, who had transmigrated earlier!
Logically, they should be enemies, right? And according to Illy-dono's speculation, the Eight Greed Kings should have been a bunch of elementary school students, otherwise, they wouldn't have all annihilated each other in an internal struggle. So, who exactly is this player named Bai Xia?
She was able to navigate between these two groups across two time periods and successfully survive until now, although she is still in a sealed state. Illy-dono felt that someone with such abilities is definitely not a good person. She must be a ruthless individual or someone very skilled at scheming, otherwise, she wouldn't have survived for so long!
Information about such a character should be conveyed to Ainz's father as soon as possible so that he can be careful! However… did she miss something even more important?
Uh… what was it?
While Illy-dono was still racking her brain over this player named Bai Xia, Bell tugged at the distracted Illy-dono. Only then did Illy-dono notice that her group had already followed the Knight into the city.
Then, on one side of the street, many young women dressed in various maid outfits all knelt and bowed to her. It seemed that the "few people" the Knight mentioned earlier referred to these maidens responsible for environmental hygiene?
Illy-dono then looked around at the environment. Although it was a city that had existed for several hundred years, the streets were indeed very clean. They were probably maintained by these maidens!
Looking at the many modern-style buildings along the roadside, such as residences and convenience stores, Illy-dono truly felt that this was indeed a city created by players! It was full of modern vibes.
However, after Illy-dono activated her senses, she found that apart from her group, there were no living creatures nearby. In other words, those two Knights and these maids… weren't even living beings. Could they be automatons like Shizu? No wonder she couldn't detect the aura fluctuations of those two Knights at the main gate earlier.
It was indeed a bit regrettable to say that. Such a large city without a single living person was truly a waste. While Illy-dono was lamenting this, Bell tugged at Illy-dono again, probably wanting Illy-dono to respond to the Dragon Maids who were still kneeling and bowing!
So, Illy-dono waved her hand at them rather helplessly, and then Illy-dono instantly regretted it, because the maids rushed towards Illy-dono with happy expressions.
That's right, they rushed over. Ligurit very wisely moved far away. Bell and Uncle Ged, who were utterly bewildered, were directly knocked flying by these Dragon Maids. Bell was fine, but poor Uncle Ged was even stepped on several times by the Dragon Maids who rushed over from behind after being hit.
"It's Lord Bai Xia! It's really Lord Bai Xia! Lord Bai Xia is indeed still here! The miniature Lord Bai Xia is so cute, so small and adorable." This group of Dragon Maids swarmed over, pulling at Illy-dono and saying a lot of things that made Illy-dono very depressed… "You… you all stop it!" Illy-dono, unable to bear it any longer, finally lost her temper. Her hair was all messed up by them.
Really… these automaton Dragon Maids felt even worse than Shalltear's Vampire Brides! In comparison, her own artificial Dragon Maids were better. Although they would treat her as a dress-up doll, at least they wouldn't rush to hug her like this.
The Dragon Maids, hearing this delicate shout, first froze, then all stopped their actions. It seemed to have an effect.
Although she was mistaken for the so-called Lord Bai Xia, they were still willing to listen once she spoke. It seemed that this Bai Xia indeed held a significant position among the Eight Greed Kings, even their created Dragon Maids listened to Bai Xia so intently.
"Ah ah ah!!! Lord Bai Xia scolded us, a long-awaited scolding!!" Then this group of automatons, whose pervertedness was no less than Shalltear's, swarmed over again.
One by one, they rubbed against Illy-dono with excited expressions… Seeing their excitement… Illy-dono didn't know how to deal with it. Scolding them would only make them happier, and directly using Illy-dono's iron fist to punish them might cause problems. To avoid further complications… she would… endure it!
So… before the Heavy Armor Knight spoke to drive away those Dragon Maids, Illy-dono could only patiently endure being "molested" by these Dragon Maids.
"Enough, all of you! This is Lady Ellie now! You need to pay attention!" the Heavy Armor Knight corrected.
Hey, hey! You stood by and watched me being molested by these Dragon Maids for a long time, and when you finally spoke, it was just to correct this? Illy-dono didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Afterward, the Heavy Armor Knight tacitly allowed the Dragon Maids to "do whatever they wanted" to Illy-dono for about five minutes before driving them away and continuing to lead Illy-dono.
"Are you alright, Lady Ellie?" Bell was also very aware of her surroundings and didn't call her Illy-dono anymore. Sometimes, this simple-minded girl was quite attentive to details, of course, only sometimes.
"Do I look alright…" Illy-dono helplessly straightened her clothes, which had been messed up by the Dragon Maids. Bell also lovingly took out the comb she kept in her embrace and began to tidy Illy-dono's hair. The Knight also wisely waited by the side until Illy-dono was finished tidying up before continuing forward.
"You're quite popular, aren't you, Lord Bai Xia?" Ligurit, who had been hiding on the side watching the show, now came over, smiling and teasing Illy-dono.
"…" Illy-dono couldn't explain directly, so she could only shrug her shoulders and spread her hands, indicating her helplessness. Ligurit knew that Illy-dono was still trying to impersonate Bai Xia.
Although being exposed would probably make things difficult to handle later, if she wasn't exposed, perhaps Little Sister Illy-dono could take her to that place, Ligurit thought, as she also had her own plans.
Continuing forward, it seemed that the place this Knight wanted to take Illy-dono was the magnificent palace located in the very center of the city, which had a strong sense of presence.
After all, that enormous palace was already visible when they first entered the barrier and saw the Sky City. It was obvious that it must be the Eight Greed Kings' palace. She wondered what awaited them inside?
Hopefully, no more Dragon Maids.
Along the way, they continuously saw many automaton maids, just like before, who all stopped their work and bowed to Illy-dono. This time, Illy-dono learned her lesson and simply ignored them. If she acknowledged them again, she would definitely be molested once more. At this rate, how long would it take to reach the central palace?
Yes… this Sky City was indeed very large, its area probably exceeding E-Rantel. Walking straight from the city gate to that palace, at their current walking speed, would take at least half an hour. So, they couldn't delay any longer. In fact, more importantly, Illy-dono didn't want to deal with those perverted maids anymore.
Throughout the journey, Illy-dono had been contemplating the issue of this Bai Xia, but no matter how she thought about it, she felt that this person should be a dangerous individual, at least for Nazarick.
After all, it was still unclear whether she was friend or foe. From the information currently available, Bai Xia's stance was very ambiguous. First, she was connected to the Six Great Gods, being an enemy of the Dragon race in that era.
She should have assisted the Six Great Gods in fighting against the Dragon race. Then, in the era of the Eight Greed Kings, she became involved with them. Illy-dono felt that Sir Xia Na, the God of Death, died somewhat unjustly.
They were former teammates, after all, weren't they? This Bai Xia actually sided with the Eight Greed Kings, or was there some story behind it?
And then… during the internal strife of the Eight Greed Kings, this person actually survived. It seemed her strength was quite considerable. Huh? What if this was the case??
Illy-dono suddenly had an idea. What if Bai Xia and Sir Xia Na, the God of Death, had a very good relationship? Then, when the Eight Greed Kings transmigrated, they killed the Dragon race.
Then, while conquering the world, they also killed Sir Xia Na. So, Bai Xia, eager for revenge, knew that she couldn't fight against the Eight Greed Kings alone. She directly joined them, then sowed discord and instigated them to start internal strife. When only one person was left from the internal strife, this Bai Xia would then step out and personally eliminate the last of the Eight Greed Kings! Thus completing her revenge.
Uh… although this idea was a bit far-fetched, it could reasonably explain why she, a person originally connected to the Six Great Gods, suddenly had a good relationship with the Eight Greed Kings.
At least a very intimate relationship, as could be seen from the Dragon Maids who had just molested her. However, this theory was just a hypothesis.
And it felt like there were still some weak points, but given the current information, she could only temporarily believe this. After walking for a long time, they finally arrived in front of the magnificent palace. However, after reaching the main entrance of the palace, Illy-dono saw something in front of the palace gate, and her previous deductions about Lord Bai Xia were overturned once again.
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