Volume 3, Chapter 16 – Antonio City

A blue light shone from within the transparent stele. Although it wasn’t obvious, Yisi could feel a strange magic power enter her body from the palm of her hand. This strange magic was also pulling at her own, attempting to draw it out of her body.

Naturally, Yisi’s magic was not affected in the slightest. On the contrary, the strange magic was surrounded, devoured, and assimilated by Yisi’s magic, quickly disappearing.

After its magic was devoured, the blue light from the stele rapidly dimmed, failing to display anything.

The soldiers at the side looked at each other in confusion.

“What happened?”

“Has it been used for too long and broken down?”

“How is that possible! This is a high-grade stele directly connected to the ley lines. There are only two in the entire Hermion domain.”

After a fruitless debate, the soldier had Yisi remove her hand and try again.

Just like before, a faint blue light appeared on the stele, and a weak stream of magic entered Yisi’s palm, trying to pull at her own magic.

The reason the stele went dim before was because I assimilated its magic , Yisi apologized silently in her heart. She tried her best to control her own magic, willing it not to resist. But even so, Yisi’s magic was like a mountain, showing no sign of being pulled out.

Hmm…

It was time to accept the fact that the stele was much, much weaker than she was.

Yisi felt the urge to facepalm.

Of course, if the stele couldn’t appraise her abilities, the outcome would be troublesome. Yisi had no choice but to output her own magic. To Yisi, 1 level was equivalent to 10 points of magic power. Her publicly displayed level was 10, which meant 100 points of magic.

With a flow that wouldn’t break the stele, Yisi injected her magic into it bit by bit, and the stele finally displayed her level.

Rеαԁ oո ΚαtReaⅾіոgСafе

The soldier beside her breathed a sigh of relief and turned his head to shout at his companion.

“Yisi, Level 10, Human Race.”

“T-This little girl is already level 10? I remember Clementine was only level 6 at this age. What kind of genius is she…”

“I’ve just had a few lucky encounters. May I go through now?”

“You may. But to reach level 10 at such a young age, I think Lord Suta would be very interested in you. Don’t miss the chance for a promotion and wealth, okay?”

“Thank you for the advice.”

With an attitude that wouldn’t be seen as arrogant, Yisi smiled and nodded at the soldier. After waiting for Mary and the carriage to pass as well, she finally arrived inside the city.

“Tiffany, you can come out now. It’s a good thing those soldiers didn’t check the bottom of the carriage.”

With the sound of squelching slime, Tiffany emerged from the carriage in her human form. The moment she saw the sunlight, she raised a hand to cover her eyes.

“So bright.”

“Let’s get down and talk. It’s a rare chance to be in a city; it would be a waste to just sit in the carriage. By the way, there’s something I want to confirm. Can you stand in the sunlight for a long time, Tiffany? Will you dry out or anything like that?”

The ‘Imitate’ skill didn’t mean Tiffany had truly become human; only her appearance had changed. Although Tiffany could wear clothes or hold a cup in her human form, if she were hit by something unexpected, she would immediately reveal her slime nature.

For example, Tiffany couldn’t lift Mary’s shield; forcing it would just crush her into a puddle of liquid. Also, if an arrow passed through her chest, it would easily come out her back without leaving a single drop of blood. Therefore, if they weren’t careful, Tiffany’s identity as a slime could easily be exposed.

Yisi’s words made Tiffany shake her head.

“Dry out.”

Rеаⅾ on КаtRеаdіոɡСαfe

She probably meant she would dry out if she stayed in the sun too long. An expected answer.

“But as long as you rehydrate in time, it should be fine, right?”

“Mm.”

“I see. If you need it, you can always ask me or Camilla for water. Well, I can only summon things like ice, though.”

Most of the magic she had learned was powerful offensive magic. Summoning water was certainly not a problem for her, but the consequence would be causing a flash flood. She couldn’t control the power of her magic very well yet.

After all, a normal player wouldn’t waste skill points on low-level skills unless they were just playing around.

Camilla crossed her arms, looking down at Tiffany with her height advantage.

“That’s right. Onee-sama is not your property, so don’t cling to her all the time. Also, don’t get too carried away just because Onee-sama agrees to your request for magic power in broad daylight.”

“Jealousy.”

Tiffany fearlessly spat out the two words that even Yisi wouldn’t dare to say, then immediately grabbed the corner of Yisi’s clothes and hid behind her.

Camilla raised an eyebrow.

“What did you say?”

“Jealousy. Camilla, jealousy.”

“It seems you still don’t know who Onee-sama pays the most attention to. I admit that Onee-sama’s charm will attract many people, but a third party like you—no, a fourth party—should recognize reality and obediently line up behind me. Mary, show this girl her place.”

Mary, who was driving the carriage, jumped.

Rеаⅾ оո KαtRеαԁіոɡСаfе

“Eh? Why me?”

“You like Onee-sama too, don’t you?”

Under Camilla’s burning gaze, Mary’s purple eyes darted to the side. She hunched her shoulders and hid her face behind her long chestnut hair.

“Master is the one who gave me… life. Of course I like her very much, but for someone like me to say I… like… her, it’s too presumptuous.”

“Alright, alright, Mary and Tiffany are just kids. Camilla, you’re being too serious. And I don’t remember any ‘third party’ or ‘fourth party’ settings.”

Yisi first patted Mary’s head, then placed her hand on Tiffany’s, who had fresh green twin-tails.

Although Mary and Tiffany were also cute, Camilla’s cuteness was a step above. Besides, Mary and Tiffany weren’t in her “strike zone,” so there was no talk of third or fourth parties.

Of course, Yisi had no intention of saying this out loud right now. If Camilla knew her true feelings, she would definitely sneak into her bed at night, and then she would be the criminal.

Camilla pouted.

“Onee-sama, you’re too lenient with them.”

“Aren’t cute girls meant to be spoiled? Innocent and lively expressions are how they should be.”

Honestly, if she wasn’t so young herself, she would have wanted to adopt Mary as her daughter.

“But speaking of which, as expected of the heart of the Hermion domain, Antonio City’s streets are not only wide and bright, but also paved with rare flagstones. The surrounding houses are mostly three-story stone structures. Well, the lifeless atmosphere is another story.”

Even though it was already spring, there were few pedestrians on the streets. Even the ones she occasionally saw were in a hurry. The residential houses and shops on both sides had their doors and windows shut tight. Slaves and the homeless huddled in deep alleys, and the entire city gave off a feeling of being afraid of something.

“They’re not trying to make us feel unwelcome, are they?”

Reαԁ οո KatRеaԁiոɡСаfе

Yisi shrugged and made a lighthearted joke.

“Hey~~ Yisi-chan, wait for me~~”

A rather unpleasant voice came from behind. Yisi put a hand to her forehead.

“Here we go again. I was planning on staying at the Flame Conquerors’ guild, but the thought of having to deal with a guy like that every day is really bad for my stomach.”

Clementine, with his fiery red greatsword on his back, and Ainos, in his red armor, caught up to Yisi.

“F-Finally caught up to you, Yisi-chan, huff—huff—”

“Don’t use an intimate suffix like ‘-chan’, or I’ll make sure you never see Mary and Tiffany again.”

Yisi’s threat made Clementine freeze on the spot like a rusty toy.

“Uh, alright, alright. Then Little Yisi, is that okay? When I heard from this guy Ainos that Little Yisi was planning to pay to stay at the guild, I gave him a good scolding. It’s my honor that Little Yisi is willing to stay at the guild. I should be the one paying you.”

“Guild Leader, if you keep talking like that, Miss Yisi will really ignore you, you know?”

Ainos nudged Clementine with his elbow. Clementine quickly changed his attitude, his previous frivolity vanishing, replaced by a gentlemanly atmosphere. He first took a deep breath, then bowed, extending a hand in a white glove towards Yisi.

“Miss Yisi, I insist that you stay at my guild. As you can see, there have been some problems in the city recently. To repay your kindness in saving Ainos, if you wouldn’t mind, I implore you to stay at the headquarters of the Flame Conquerors. I will guarantee everyone’s safety.”

“Do ‘some problems’ refer to the Calamity?”

“Yes, but there are other reasons that are not suitable to be discussed here. Walls have ears. If Miss Yisi doesn’t mind, let’s go back to my place and talk.”

“I see…” Yisi didn’t really care what was happening in the city, as long as she didn’t have to stay in an unhygienic inn where the sheets were changed once every two months. She deliberately put on a look of reluctant acceptance, raised her right hand, and placed it on Clementine’s outstretched hand. “…Alright. I accept your invitation.”