The Villains Need to Save the World?

lse…You can’t just go out of this city as you wish, especially if you’re out on short numbers…”

The blacksmith uncle hesitated for a moment, but he accepted the gold coins.
He went to the door and put on the “closed” sign and made sure nobody was wandering outside before carefully telling Bella and the others some of the secrets.

“Now, don’t be afraid once I tell you, but the higher-ups wouldn’t even let us spread the news about this.
Actually, for more than a decade…”

According to the blacksmith uncle, the Manasvir Empire had not been peaceful the past decade or so.
Ever since the emperor finished participating in a ceremony to sacrifice a certain god back then, the entire empire’s capital region had been abnormal.
Mysterious beings often appeared to attack the humans, and nobody knew what their origins were, but the bodies of those who were attacked were almost always impossible to find.
They died in horrible ways.

What’s more, there’s no telling what the Manasvir Empire’s emperor was thinking, but the first thing that came to his mind after such serious demon invasions were to block the news instead of seeking the other empires or the Radiant Church for help.
The forces of the Radiant Church were mainly located in the northern part of the Nation of the Knight, Octavia Empire, so they had no knowledge at all of what happened in the Manasvir Empire that was located at the center. 

Over the past decade or so, the demon invasions had already become very severe to the point where the areas outside the large cities were no longer safe.
Quite a few small villages were wiped out by the demons, and some small towns had fallen as well.
Now, besides the few protected satellite cities, the outside areas were all danger zones.

When Bella and the other first arrived at Chapman City, they were told that anyone who did not have the city lord, Grand Duke Gould’s token, would not be allowed to leave the city unattended, and they would be responsible for the consequences.
Bella thought it was a joke at the time, but it seemed now that it was all true.

When the changes first began, the lords of the major guardian cities were still actively sending out troops to suppress it, but they also spent a lot of money hiring many mercenaries to assist in the fight, to little avail.
The mutated demons were extremely effective in combat.
The allied forces were quickly defeated and suffered heavy casualties.
What made the city lords even more disappointed was, not only did the emperor keep silent about their military actions, they received no support of troops or funds either.

Now, the city lords of the major cities simply went about their own business to defend their cities on their own.
They could no longer rely on the emperor.
This was indeed the case.
Only, for several years, the emperor stopped holding rituals for the gods, and he never asked any questions about the four warlords of the empire, allowing them to grow and expand.

Bella was becoming more and more suspicious that something was wrong with the Manasvir Empire’s emperor after the news she received before.
The timelines happened to match up, and the residents of each town had to open up equipment shops to protect themselves.
The city lords were strict on only allowing the residents to move out privately.
If they could not escape, then they would just have to stay here and die.

Kriss looked surprised.
Even she had no idea of this secret.
The Manasvir Empire had always declared to the outside world that their capital was safe and that it was the safest region in the continent.
That false propaganda could be considered a success.
The area where mutated demonic beings appeared was mainly around the regions near the Manasvir Empire’s capital, Macnadix City, but no more appeared after a certain distance.

Olsylvia City was not in that area and they had no knowledge of the presence of mutated demons.
For more than a decade, the other humans of each empire looked out for their own.
They did not investigate deeper into the matter of the Manasvir Empire using mercenaries to act as imperial troops, dispatched to fight outside the nation, and only thought of it as the Manasvir Empire showing off their wealth.

The Nation of the Knight at the north, Octavia Empire, had spent many years defending the north against attacks from demon invasions, and they had no intention of setting foot in the central region.
Nobody knew what the Kristoff Empire to the west was doing in the shadows, but they were not very interested in the matters of the continent.
To the east, the Nation of Arcana, Aldridge Empire, has historically looked down on non-magical professions, and most of them kept to the coast and did not interact with the other inland countries.

The only southern empire with spirit and leisure, Nation of the Sword, Gabriel Empire, had only just won a war against the beastmen invasion with great difficulty these recent months.
The emperor was busy dealing with internal conflicts and balancing the conflict of power between the various factions in the country as well as the distribution of benefits.
Even if they really wanted to interfere in the Manasvir Empire’s affairs, they would be too weak to do so.
At the very least, it was impossible for this period.

No empire would ever imagine that the Manasvir Empire was only a few steps away from collapse and splitting apart.
The chaos in the capital region and the silence of the emperor led the four warlords to mistakenly believe that imperial power was about to collapse, and that the era of a new emperor was to come.
Coupled with gossip about the emperor’s illness and the fact that there were no longer any heirs, this further exacerbated the turmoil and tension.

After leaving the smithy, Bella unconsciously held Kriss’s hand tight.
This place wasn’t safe either.
Just thinking about the fact of the Manasvir Empire’s arrangements for Olsylvia Academy’s students to travel on foot to the capital, Macnadix, wasn’t this a travesty in disguise? If all the roads really were controlled by mutated demonic beings, then if it didn’t lead to their ruin, they would still be helping out the Manasvir Empire in dealing with these mutated demons for free.

“Kriss, let’s just go back and talk to the other girls in the society about this.
Let’s not talk to anyone outside about it.”

“Yeah, anything you say.
Don’t worry, Bella.
I’ll protect you…Nn…”

“What are you saying, silly? I’m a man…a manly lady knight.
I’ll protect you… all of you.”

Bella reached out her other hand to cup Kriss’s mouth gently.
She was going to just say she would protect her, but changed her tune to include everyone when she saw Princess Ariel coming over wearing a cloak, as well as her little sister Lisha, who was dressed in the normal school uniform.
Lisha and Ariel came to tell Bella and the others to head back.

According to Grand Duke Gould of Chapman City’s arrangements, the students of Olsylvia Academy who came to prepare for the intra-academy qualifying competition would stay in the unused barracks in Chapman City, while some of the more important students and mentors were invited to stay overnight at the Grand Duke’s residence.
And, he will also do his best as “host” to arrange them a “welcoming” dinner.

As a grand duke, Bella was naturally invited as well.
Even though she didn’t want to go, many of her girls from the Rose Society will be there.
In order to prevent Kriss from being taken advantage of by them, Bella could only attend.
She brought Demon God Angel and a few strong maids.
Even if Lolita and Euphenisia weren’t around, it still wouldn’t affect Bella’s battle forces.

The “dinner” was held at night time.
It was still early right now, so Bella brought Kriss, Princess Ariel, and her little sister Lisha to continue shopping around the streets of Chapman City, which were filled with equipment shops.
This time, Bella’s shopping had a purpose.
She purchased a large number of small, sturdy, lightweight shields.
Besides Kriss, the other girls still didn’t understand why Bella would buy this equipment, and they were all looking at Bella with strange eyes.

Even though Loli Demon God Angel, who had been behind Bella this whole time, was constantly eating all sorts of snacks, she would turn her head to Chapman City’s walls from time to time, as if she could feel something abnormal appearing.
Bella and the others kept on chatting, so Angel didn’t say anything and continued munching on her snacks, checking out the situation on that side from a distance.

The six-meter-high walls on the outer periphery of Chapman City had been extended from their usual three-meter-high walls due to the mutated demon attacks.
The royal guards defending the city were a bit lax, and the many years of safe experience caused them to lose their caution.
Nobody noticed that strange crawling shadows were starting to climb the walls at the blind spots of the defending soldiers.