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Chapter 36: A Step Back

Just as Lan returned home after a long absence to carry out some of her necessary activities, Vilyric, located in the underground black market’s Universal Shop, learned the truth about the so-called Radiant Forest and Radiant Source Crystals from that charm-talking maid.

How to put it, it’s a bit funny and also somewhat sentimental. I never expected that even after voluntarily retracting it, the residual warmth of a 10th-tier magic would still cause such earth-shattering changes locally, influencing even the Demon Town to the north of the kingdom.

That was Vilyric’s first time using the barrier-type 10th-tier magic in the real world, so she wasn’t aware it would produce such effects. Truly, it’s no wonder that even deities like Xi Fu Lin would regard it as forbidden spell power.

Wait a second.

If I say that, didn’t I also use it in the Sky City once before, covering an even wider area that directly spanned the entire Sky Island? Could it be that…

Ugh! My head hurts! I don’t know, I don’t know! Whatever happens has nothing to do with me!!!

Acting like an ostrich and ignoring that situation, Vilyric hurriedly left the ridiculous item priced at a staggering 3 million gold coins.

However, after glancing around again, besides the Radiant Source Crystal she just saw, there wasn’t anything particularly eye-catching for the Priestess to notice.

Of course, she wouldn’t buy those elixirs and poisons, nor did she think she’d have any need for such things. If she had to say, she was somewhat interested in the production methods, what’s called alchemy.

Unfortunately, the black market hardly sells formulas and theories for potions; it is, after all, the lifeblood of pharmacists.

As for others selling her energy crystals, she didn’t care; the ores are just sitting there, and people can mine as they wish. Vilyric wouldn’t suffer any losses from it.

Just as the Priestess was planning to stroll around a bit longer and leave the Universal Shop…

“Boom!!!”

Suddenly, like a clap of thunder, a huge noise came from outside!

“Ah!”

Many customers in the shops, maids, and even the little charm-talking girl standing beside Vilyric fell to the ground, stunned and terrified. A lot of people quickly regained their composure and ran towards the door to figure out what had happened.

“Hm?”

Such commotion couldn’t scare the seasoned Priestess; she merely exchanged a curious glance with the little dragon daughter standing beside her, pulled the little charm-talker up from the ground, and turned around.

“Let’s go out and take a look.”

Though Vilyric said this to Xiao Guang, somehow the charm-talking maid who seemed eager for the Priestess to buy her mistook her words and followed them closely.

Not wanting to be too unkind and stop a girl from tagging along, Vilyric decided to let her stay for now.

Upon reaching the entrance of the Universal Shop, Vilyric found that outside was a complete mess, with vendors rolling up their stalls and people fleeing in panic. Not far away, a particularly tall stone building had actually split in half.

The neatly sliced surface slanted upward, cleaving the entire building, with the upper part falling over ten meters, crashing down and kicking up countless dust and screams. The earlier loud noise was evidently the sound of the building hitting the ground.

“Whoa? Who did this? Which group came to stir up trouble?”

Muttering to herself while assessing the power of the attacker, Vilyric initially concluded that it must be at least of legendary level. The cut marks looked like those made by blades or swords.

Of course, regular means couldn’t cause such massive destruction all at once; the other party must have used blade energy, sword energy, or abilities similar to a game’s “dimension cutting.”

Vilyric didn’t have a systematic understanding of such martial techniques, but she figured it must be of legendary caliber since she knew a certain sky-level fighter, Miss Lan, wouldn’t be able to split such a tall building in one strike.

Moreover…

The Priestess hadn’t forgotten that the bald Seventh Master had mentioned this was the Ghost Thieves’ territory. Though that group had lain low, they still maintained control over the area. Anyone acting so brazenly here was most likely up to no good.

“Xiao Guang, let’s get closer and check it out.”

“Okay, Master.”

After taking a couple of steps, Vilyric suddenly remembered something and turned to look at the charm-talking girl with optically pleasing proportions who had been quietly following her, and sighed helplessly.

“Do you really want to follow me so badly?”

“Eh? I… I…”

The girl looked startled and seemed to want to deny it instinctively, but she also appeared reluctant to give up the opportunity, hesitantly caught between her choices, looking quite pitiful.

Ah… Truly, she’s a charm-talker.

Though it seemed a bit troublesome, recalling the miserable state of the magical beast slaves she had seen on the way, Vilyric decided to give her a chance because this little charm-talker was sufficiently proactive.

“Alright, don’t put on that appearance… Here’s the deal, we’re prepared to leave this place right now. If you really want to follow me, come along. I can at least guarantee your safety. The rest we can discuss later, deal?”

Instantly, the little charm-talker’s face lit up with uncontainable delight.

“Really, really! You’re willing to buy…”

Vilyric raised a hand to interrupt the exuberant maid.

“You’ve got it wrong; it’s not buying but taking you away. Please understand the difference between the two.”

“What? You’re going to kidnap me?! No way! The shop…”

Seeing the little charm-talker anxiously looking around, Vilyric couldn’t help but go blank. Yet, she patiently explained.

“This isn’t kidnapping; you might not know, but the laws of the United Kingdom prohibit slave trading, and I don’t intend to force you. As for the shop, I said, I will assure your safety. That’s all I have to say. I’m in a hurry, so decide quickly.”

“I…”

Her shock gradually turned to disbelief, and the little charm-talker lowered her head in silence.

“Is that so… Fine, I have received your answer.”

With a resigned chuckle, the black-haired girl turned around and stepped out the shop door without looking back.

“Wait… Customer, are you sure you don’t want to reconsider? My price really isn’t that high…”

Unconsciously, the charm-talking maid followed them a few steps but hesitated at the door. Although she cast a pitiful look at the backs of the two girls, this time, Vilyric didn’t turn back.

The Priestess could tell this little charm-talker had momentarily felt a flutter of hope but ultimately rejected it. She wanted to leave, but through trading, as a slave.

Perhaps the fear branded into her heart since childhood made her shrink back, or she thought Vilyric was just making empty promises, but more likely, she simply didn’t want to take risks. She wanted a stable life, even as a slave.

Born as a slave, her courage had long been ground away by years of servitude, or perhaps since birth, her environment conditioned this little charm-talker to feel she was a lowly being, merely looking for a good master in Vilyric.

Honestly, whether to buy or take wasn’t a concern for Vilyric. Under normal circumstances, considering the Universal Shop actually raised this charm-talker, she would’ve followed the process and paid, but someone was in a hurry to join the commotion.

Vilyric didn’t want a slave; she was willing to take her in out of a sense of pity and given that the little charm-talker had actively expressed herself repeatedly, thinking this child might be different.

A bit regrettable, but unsurprising—after all, there wasn’t much difference.

In the end, the Priestess didn’t even know the little charm-talker’s name. Perhaps she had been raised as a slave by humans since childhood and never even had a name to represent her existence.

And such a girl was merely an insignificant reflection of the countless magical beasts persecuted and enslaved by humans.

“Ugh, this is somewhat annoying. Looks like once we’re out, I’ll have to contact Liliya to sort this mess out…”

Since she saw it, she couldn’t simply turn a blind eye. Though the Demon Town wasn’t reliable, Miss Queen was. However, some people might have to work overtime again.

As for the parts that violence could solve directly… like the organization called the Ghost Thieves or some unenlightened folks, Vilyric could handle those matters.

You could say she was already on it.

“How surprising, Master! Even when you saw a lovely girl pleading for you to take her in, you could leave so decisively. Did your aesthetic standards get higher?”

The two girls walked against the fleeing crowd as Xiao Guang’s surprised voice echoed in Vilyric’s ears.

She turned her head and met her pet’s brilliant golden vertical eyes, feeling somewhat exasperated.

“Hey, when did I establish myself as someone who can’t move on when seeing beautiful girls?”

Xiao Guang said nothing, her lips curling into a rarely seen smile as she replied in all seriousness, “Isn’t it? Since coming to this world, the number of girls around you has been increasing. It’s only been a little over a year, and we can’t even mention that human queen Liliya, not to mention Leila, Renée, Aileen, and that Tilysha. And then there’s Xi Fu Lin, who seems particularly close to you. There are even more, so many that it’s hard to keep track, tsk tsk.”

“Ahem… Well, this is just coincidence! There’s no fundamental connection between them being pretty girls and our interactions. Xiao Guang, you’ve been with me the longest; how could you misunderstand that?”

“Ehh…”

Uh-oh, I got looked at with a strange gaze by my own pet.

But how can I say this? Vilyric believed she had indeed never allowed looks to genuinely affect her standards of dealing with others. While she might feel an initial high favorability towards cute girls, it didn’t mean she would actively approach them.

In the end, though she once had male memories, Vilyric didn’t actually harbor overly ambiguous thoughts about those girls. Even with Liliya, she merely regarded her as a very good friend.

Vilyric herself didn’t quite understand why the number of girls around her inexplicably increased. After all, she was still a woman now and made a conscious effort to control it…

Though they chatted casually, the two girls didn’t slow their steps. They quickly navigated through the frightened and chaotic crowd and arrived near the fallen high building.

At this moment, it had been some time since the unknown powerful figure had slashed the building and caused the huge noise. There was hardly any movement near the impact point anymore.

Many unfortunate individuals had undoubtedly been affected by the sudden collapse, crushed under fallen debris and turned to mush, leaving the ground around the impact site covered in a sea of blood and gore, utterly unbearable to witness.

This could truly be called a disaster from the heavens.

To be careful, after confirming none of the unfortunate souls were acquaintances—like a certain character with bangs and that girl named Aileen—they continued forward, reaching the base of the cleaved high building where the dust had begun to settle.