After a round of discussion, Euphemia followed Rulu's advice and ordered the defensive fortifications around the camp to be reinforced, with a large number of traps and snares set up around the perimeter. The Suzaku Guard Captain, however, remained skeptical of Rulu's suggestion, believing that the traps and snares would easily be destroyed and rendered useless by the beasts roaming nearby, and would therefore not be of much use.
What surprised the Suzaku Guard Captain, however, was that in the days that followed, the beasts near the camp seemed to vanish into thin air. Whether day or night, no large beasts appeared anywhere near Euphemia's camp, and none came to attack or harass them. At most, a few small, non-aggressive animals wandered close to the camp. The traps and snares they had laid out around the perimeter remained essentially intact and undisturbed.
Though he had no idea how Rulu had managed to keep the beasts from harassing and attacking them, the Suzaku Guard Captain took Rulu at his word. They set up even more traps and snares around the camp to guard against any attack Princess Meiyu might send their way.
The situation on Princess Meiyu's side was the complete opposite of Euphemia's. Her camp was frequently harassed and attacked by Strange beasts from the forest. However, Princess Meiyu's subordinates were all highly capable, and every assault from the forest's beasts was repelled. Her forces suffered no significant losses from the Strange beast attacks.
Days passed one by one, and in the blink of an eye, seven days of the competition had gone by. During this time, Rulu had attempted on several occasions to approach Princess Meiyu's camp in order to gather intelligence. However, the camp was guarded extremely tightly, and Rulu was also wary of the creature capable of manipulating people's minds, making him unwilling to take excessive risks. Every attempt to gather information ended in failure, with nothing to show for it.
Princess Meiyu also frequently sent people to the vicinity of Euphemia's camp to carry out some kind of clandestine operation of unknown purpose. However, the area surrounding Euphemia's camp was riddled with traps and snares, and any careless misstep by Princess Meiyu's operatives would trigger them and get them discovered, forcing them to slink away empty-handed. As a result, every covert operation Princess Meiyu launched against Euphemia ended in failure.
On this particular day — the ninth day of the competition — once tonight passed and one more day went by, the competition would be declared over. If no one had conceded by then, the competition would end in a draw.
During the daytime, Princess Meiyu's side once again sent several people to the vicinity of Euphemia's camp to carry out some kind of operation of unknown purpose. For reasons that were unclear, these individuals got into a conflict with people on Euphemia's side, and a fierce battle broke out between the two groups. Euphemia's people sustained some injuries in the fighting, while the several individuals sent by Princess Meiyu were captured.
The Suzaku Guard Captain subjected the captured individuals to a rigorous interrogation, attempting to extract intelligence about Princess Meiyu from them. However, these people were minor figures who knew relatively little about Princess Meiyu's affairs, and the Suzaku Guard Captain was unable to obtain any useful information from them. Not wanting to push things to an irreparable breaking point, Euphemia chose not to detain them and released them all.
Late that same night, Euphemia found herself feeling restless and ill at ease. She lay on the rough bed in her small cabin, unable to fall asleep no matter how hard she tried. She climbed out of bed, pushed open the cabin door, and stepped outside.
The soldier on duty at the doorway saw Euphemia emerge from the cabin and quickly bowed, saying, "This late at night, Lord Euphemia — where are you heading?"
Euphemia said, "I can't sleep. I wanted to come out for a walk to clear my head. Where is the Suzaku Guard Captain?"
The soldier replied, "The Suzaku Guard Captain is resting. Shall I go and call him for you?"
"No need. Everyone has been working hard these past few days — let him rest."
The soldier said, "Yes, my lord. Wherever you wish to go, I'll accompany you."
Euphemia was about to agree, but at that moment she spotted a familiar figure nearby and said, "It's fine. I'll just take a short walk around here."
With that, Euphemia left the small cabin and walked toward that familiar silhouette.
"Mr. Qin, it's so late — you haven't gone to sleep yet?" Euphemia came up behind the figure and said warmly. The person standing before her was none other than Rulu.
Rulu turned around. When he saw it was Euphemia, a slightly surprised expression crossed his face. "I rested enough during the day, so I'm feeling quite alert right now. Lord Euphemia, what brings you out at this hour?"
Euphemia let out a soft sigh. "Ever since what happened today, I've felt an unease I can't shake — I simply cannot sleep. I keep feeling like something is going to happen tonight."
Rulu nodded, with an expression that suggested he felt the same way. "Indeed. By my estimate, Princess Meiyu will very likely make her move against us tonight, or perhaps tomorrow."
Euphemia gave a start, glancing around anxiously. "If that's truly the case, what do we do?"
A cold, ruthless gleam flashed through Rulu's eyes. "An eye for an eye, blood for blood. If they come for us, we return it tenfold and make them pay for what they've done."
A look of fear came over Euphemia's face. "But doing that will surely leave many people injured — or even dead. If I could, I would truly rather avoid this conflict altogether. Even if... even if it means I have to concede defeat, I would be willing."
Rulu looked at Euphemia with a contemptuous gaze. "That would be the most foolish thing you could do. You need to understand what that choice would cost you. If you lose, you can no longer serve as lord. You will lose everything you have. Your subordinates and the people of your territory will very likely be expelled from the Sanctuary. This isn't a matter that concerns only you — it concerns everyone."
"I never imagined things would come to this." Euphemia's expression grew sorrowful, and she murmured to herself, "I wish I had never become a lord. My sister said that as long as I became a lord, I could stay in the Sanctuary forever, earn the respect of others, and enjoy privileges that ordinary people don't have. But now it seems that's not how things are at all. If I hadn't become a lord, no one would resent or hate me, and none of this would have happened."
A scornful smile appeared on Rulu's face, and he said with a cold, detached tone, "You're wrong about that. Even if you had never become a lord, you would still have been marginalized and targeted by others. You can never imagine how deep the malice some people harbor toward you truly runs. Some people are nothing more than beasts wearing human skin. Even if you have done them no wrong whatsoever, they will still seek to destroy you — to kill you and everyone at your side."