Chapter 257: The Client

Li En frowned; Hela remained a problem, and it seemed he could no longer avoid the issue.

"She is actually a distant relative of the Princess, sent specifically to help, though her identity is a secret. You know, of course, about the so-called rumor of the Second Princess. If she reveals her identity, it will bring many unnecessary misunderstandings and rumors. So, for the stability of the kingdom, please help keep this secret."

"Of course, as a loyal knight, this is my duty and honor. However, how should we treat this 'Her Highness'?"

Did Claire believe it? Probably not, and afterwards she would surely investigate, most likely approaching Dai Niya.

But the attitude in her words was clear: as long as they remained the "Royal Loyalists," then whatever you said on this matter, we would believe it.

The best way to draw people closer is to share a "common secret."

After confirming their attitudes, the two's conversation became much more peaceful.

Li En actually didn't care much that at the moment Laina stood behind him; for the kingdom's loyal knights, even if he said he intended to marry the Princess, they would likely support him without hesitation.

Looking at the tall woman draped in lion skin, carrying the bloodline of the Northern Lizardmen, Li En suddenly thought she was a good candidate.

To prevent the story of the "Princess" and the "Heroine" from playing out again, the easiest way was for a female Heroine to appear, and now the royal family had no princes.

"At least not for now." Li En felt inexplicably guilty, but instead found he looked at Claire before him more favorably.

He would strive to claim the title of Heroine, gaining power and reputation in the process, but he did not wish to be completely bound here by that title.

He had promised Dai Niya to strive to ensure her future landed safely, but he had no intention of being completely tied down himself.

There was another matter Li En could not tell Dai Niya: if he truly became the Heroine and the rumors came true, Dai Niya might truly be unable to marry.

"No rush, let's take it one step at a time. The female candidates this time all seem quite strong."

If it were truly confirmed that he could secure the title, then handing it over to a safe-choice female Heroine seemed acceptable.

The potential of Miss Lana and Hela was no worse than the woman before him.

Li En himself could not obtain the title of Heroine of the Lex from the Hall of Heroic Souls; the kingdom's Heroine title was a different matter entirely.

"Let's take it one step at a time. With my current strength, I'm probably at the bottom level among the successors of Lex. Uh, with Miss Lana there, so I'm second to last?"

Potential is potential; realizing it requires time and resources, as well as a developing environment and luck that is not strangled.

Li En's main task now was to ensure this competition remained relatively benign, gaining sufficient heat and attention while providing these talents with an environment suitable for development and growth.

With Li En's current power, this goal was probably no different from fishing for a whale with a rod; those "talents" could likely crush him with brute hardware, but if viewed as a long-term task within two years, it was a different matter.

"First, try to win over these Heroine candidates; at least establish a good connection."

As two knights from the same faction, they were naturally easy to talk to.

Especially since Li En had the Paladin aura bonus, and Claire, as a candidate, originally intended to curry favor with the examiner; even knowing that a classical Paladin could hardly show favoritism, could a Judge truly remain completely unaffected by favor and aversion?

With mutual needs and both being Order-aligned knights, they were naturally easy to deal with, especially since, in a sense, they were truly of the same kin.

As mentioned before, Claire was not only a Lizardman but also a powerful practitioner of the "False Dragon" path.

And her title was the Red-Haired Demon; obviously, she was also a Lizardman with Red Dragon bloodline.

The kinship of blood was indeed hard to resist; Claire looked at Li En with increasing warmth, even vaguely feeling that if she had a "younger brother," he would be like this.

She became even more enthusiastic, even teaching the "newcomer" some small common knowledge of the circle.

"Every family uses merchant guilds to run their shops; this is a secret within the circle. Most guilds are backed by some ghost noble. Your Sudar family isn't skilled in this area."

If it were yesterday, Li En would have explained a couple of times, saying he actually had no relation to the Sudar family.

But now, it seemed he could only bitterly smile and agree.

While the two chatted, they also watched the "live broadcast" of the underground ruins and commented on the newcomers.

"The big fish haven't entered yet, right? They can't possibly surpass the knights' progress right now."

From what Li En saw so far, the situation was very subtle; the true experts hadn't entered yet. That kingdom's candidate Heroine was actually the most watched.

But this was not solely due to him; mainly, his teammates were considered very powerful within the group.

A combination of a high-level Priest and a Grand Mage was obviously not something ordinary adventurers could equip.