Whew! There’s so many cages! And they take up so much space in interspacial rings. Why am I taking these cages? Because they’re valuable! And free. Mhm. These cages prevent people from using qi, and they’re supposedly heavy and sturdy enough to trap a sky-realm expert, just not one like me. According to one of the prisoners I freed, I’m inside the Rainbow Phoenix Sect’s dungeon. The Rainbow Phoenix Sect is in Feather Country. Where’s that? No clue! None of the prisoners even heard of Kang Country. County? I forget. Anyways, in other words, I’m lost and have no clue how to get to Softie.

“Miss Lucia, what next?”

For some reason, the thousand or so prisoners I freed are treating me as their leader. I don’t know what they did to be imprisoned, but they’re most likely good people! After all, I was teleported into a cage for no reason, and if a good, innocent person like me can be imprisoned unfairly, then these people must be innocent too. The Rainbow Phoenix Sect is taking advantage of their power to bully others, and I can’t let that happen. Only I’m allowed to do that! Mm, but I guess this territory isn’t mine, so I can’t really blame them. It’s settled. “We’re going to conquer the sect!”

“W-with just us?”

“Why not?” Is a thousand people not enough? Mm. Sects are pretty large. I wonder how many people there are in this one? A thousand thousands? Two thousand thousands?

“It should be doable,” someone in the back said. “The higherups of the Rainbow Phoenix Sect all left on an expedition. Someone exterminated one of their branch sects, and they want to put on a show of force.”

“That’s great!” That means all the strong people are gone. I’ll have to thank that person who eliminated that branch sect to present this wonderful opportunity to me. Though, it feels like I’m missing something, but what is it…? Hmm. Hmmmmm. Hmmmmmmm. It’s Ilya, isn’t it? I’m missing her…. That’s not it! There’s definitely something important I’m forgetting! Ah, I know. “Let’s eat lunch first.” That reminds me, what am I going to do once I run out of all the pills Ilya gave me? I won’t be able to eat impurityless food anymore. Well, when the time comes, I’ll figure it out; I don’t need Ilya! …But it’d be nice if she were here.

“Is it wise to follow her?”

“I’m thinking the same thing.”

“There’s something wrong with her head, isn’t there?”

Mm? Who are they talking about? I don’t see any women here except for me. That’s odd. Why aren’t there any women? Wait a minute…, if there aren’t any women…. “Which one of you said there’s something wrong with my head!?” There’s nothing wrong with my head! It’s perfectly proportional and cute and normal. Hmph.

Durandal tapped on my shoulder. “Lucia.”

“Yes, Durandal?”

“Why don’t you eat your lunch here while I lead these people outside?” Durandal pulled out a barrel filled with Ilya’s special chocolate pills.

“…Really?” This is a trick question, isn’t it? Durandal never lets me slack off so easily! He’s a demon who’ll take my food away and force me to fight things without a weapon!

“Yes.” Durandal nodded. There was nothing off about him that seemed like this was a trap…. Did Durandal get replaced while I was cultivating? Or did he really change that much…? If he did, then that’s great! “I need to get accustomed to my newfound strength, and the best way to do that is by fighting.”

…But what’s the catch? “And you’re telling me I don’t have to fight because…?”

“You’ll scare everyone away if you do.”

What!? What do you mean!? “I’m not a scary person! Right, guys?” I turned towards my new underlings, but all of them were looking away from me. “Guys?” …Should I beat them for ignoring me? Mm, no, I shouldn’t. That’d prove Ilya right. I’m not a brute who only knows how to resort to violence! If I were Ilya, how would I get these underlings to side with me…? “Whoever agrees with me gets a free sword!”

“Miss Lucia isn’t scary at all!”

“That’s right! How can someone as beautiful as her be scary?”

“Hah! You see that, Durandal?” This method seems to work. But at this rate, I’ll go broke if I have to keep offering people weapons. Violence is still better. I’ll never run out of violence no matter how much I use it. Anyways, I should give these underlings weapons even if they don’t agree with me. Like professional imprisoners, those Rainbow Sect members took away their prisoners’ stuff and stripped them before locking them away. I wonder why they didn’t take away their underwear though. Underwear is valuable.

“Lucia.”

“Hm?”

Durandal sighed. “You might’ve gotten stronger, but you still don’t pay attention, I see.” He shook his head before smiling at me. My tail twitched. Wait a minute…, that’s his evil smile! It’s the one he has when he finds a new way to torture me! “Since you insist you won’t scare them away, why don’t you come outside with us to train?”

“No!” I refuse! Durandal’s up to no good; I can’t trust him when he speaks like that! “Absolutely not!”

Durandal stared me in the eyes, but I wasn’t going to show weakness! A minute passed. Or maybe it was only a few seconds. I’m not sure. Counting’s tough when I’m concentrating. Anyways, Durandal shrugged after a bit. “If that’s the case, I’ll go with these men then. You can stay here and eat your meal.”

“Agreed! No takebacks!”

Durandal turned around and waved his hand. Swords appeared behind him and flew into the hands of my underlings. “Those of you who wish to fight, come with me. Taking revenge on your captors is best done personally, don’t you agree?” The men raised their swords and followed Durandal out through a doorway.

Whew! They actually left! I really thought Durandal was going to force me to skip lunch. Mm, this is a good thing, …but how come I feel like I was tricked?