Volume 8, Chapter 16 – Punishment

The nervousness and anxiety emanating from Mary, who was sitting beside her, made Yisi let out a light breath and say in a deliberately relaxed tone.

“Did Fran make this dress herself? It’s the first time I’ve seen clothing like this.”

Of course, “first time” here meant the first time in this other world. It was worth mentioning that the qipao Fran was wearing was very different from the qipao she knew. The style Fran was currently wearing was more like a design that would appear in an anime, intended to attract attention, very risqué.

Not expecting Yisi to ask a question completely unrelated to the punishment at such a moment, Fran, who had already mentally accepted the flogging, first jolted, then timidly looked up.

“Y… Yes. But I only tried to imitate it after seeing it elsewhere. It’s said to be the attire of a country outside the continent.”

“A country outside the continent? Are there other countries outside the continent?”

Hearing this for the first time, Yisi tilted her head. Although she had thought that there might be other continents in this world, she had never seen any historical records of them, not even in the library of the Ymir Church.

Resting her hands on her qipao-clad thighs, Fran cleared her throat.

“This… I’ve only heard it through the grapevine ¹ Chinese idiom; Literally, it means “to hear on the road and speak on the path.” Figuratively, it means to get information from an unreliable source, through hearsay, or as a rumor. . Maybe it’s actually the attire of some small southern country. After all, the entire continent is surrounded by the Sea of Thunderstorms. That’s already the edge of the world.”

The Sea of Thunderstorms?

Laxy had mentioned it a long time ago, but she hadn’t asked what it was at the time. Yisi subconsciously asked.

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“What is the Sea of Thunderstorms?”

“Miss Yisi doesn’t know about the Sea of Thunderstorms? That is the edge of the world. If a seafarer sees a continuous, endless stretch of dark clouds, they should immediately turn back, because that is the symbol of the Sea of Thunderstorms. No one has ever seen a ship emerge from it. It’s full of storms and lightning. Even dragons are daunted by it.”

“The edge of the world…”

A sudden urge to try it out welled up inside her. There was no such thing as the end of the world back on Earth, so when she heard the words “edge of the world,” Yisi’s curiosity was naturally piqued.

Given the average strength of the people in this other world, the reason the Sea of Thunderstorms was called the edge of the world was perhaps not because it truly was the edge, but because no one could cross it to reach the other side of the continent. Yisi found it hard to believe that this was a world with a flat earth and a dome-like sky.

As she pondered such things, Yisi changed the subject.

“By the way, did Fran come to see me for something today? I saw you at the auction house yesterday. To be able to sell a bottle of Margaret for five platinum coins, you’ve done very well.”

“You were at the auction house last night too?!”

“Mm, but I was sitting in the back.”

“I see…” Fran slightly retracted her leaning upper body, her previous excitement gradually subsiding. She said embarrassedly, “Actually, auctioning the Margaret wine was just a side thing. We wanted to buy a batch of high-quality weapons, but we lacked connections in the Royal Capital, so we could only try our luck at the auction house to see if we could find a craftsman who knew how to forge weapons and happened to be short on money. O-of course, I’ve already written this part of the budget in the plan I submitted to you last time. You can review it at any time.”

A budget for weapons?

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Was there such a thing?

While a storm brewed in her heart, Yisi tried her best to maintain a calm exterior, secretly glancing at Camilla beside her—Camilla’s expression showed no fluctuation. In other words, Fran had indeed written about the weapons in the plan, but because she had been too lazy to read it carefully, she had skipped over it.

Mmm…

Since it was already written in the report, asking “why do you need to buy a batch of weapons” would make her seem ignorant. Fortunately, the answer to such a question could be figured out with a little thought. It was definitely to improve the strength of the merchant guild. Yisi pressed on.

“So, have you found a suitable blacksmith yet?”

Taking over the conversation, Shinku lowered her head.

“No…”

“Although there were many blacksmiths at the auction yesterday, their attention was all on that sword called Durandal. They weren’t willing to cooperate with us to forge magic weapons more suitable for ordinary guards.”

“What’s even more hateful is that after someone bought Durandal, they openly declared that as long as the blacksmiths cooperated with him, he would temporarily lend Durandal to them. This made all the skilled craftsmen go over to his side. Fran and I visited several blacksmiths this morning, but we were turned away at the door.”

Shinku clicked her tongue in dissatisfaction, but then, as if she had remembered something, she suddenly changed the subject. She first glanced at the door, twitched her cat ears to make sure no one was eavesdropping outside, then sat up straight and said quietly.

“Miss Yisi, we recently caught an imperial spy who was trying to gather information about you.”

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“Gathering information about me? An imperial spy?”

“Yes. We didn’t notice him at first. He came to Margaret’s door and happened to run into me while I was cleaning. He asked if I knew a person named Yisi and asked many questions about you. I thought he was an acquaintance of yours at first, but then I discovered he was a running dog of the Empire, so I had Clementine follow him, and then we tied him up and locked him in the tavern’s basement.”

“How did Shinku know he was from the Empire?”

“Before Miss Yisi and your friends saved us, we were pursued by imperial soldiers because of our status as the Fallen. I know their movements and accents very well. An ordinary imperial citizen wouldn’t have that kind of aura.”

“I see…”

But why would people from the Empire be gathering information about me?

After she voiced her question, Shinku and Fran both shook their heads.

“We don’t know either. No matter what methods of torture we use, he won’t say a single word. He’s like a dead man.”

“…What do you think, Camilla?”

“If they had something to ask of Onee-sama, and since Onee-sama has not deliberately hidden her identity as a Cardinal, they should have come to you directly and made things clear. But now they are secretly gathering information about you. I don’t think they want to cooperate with you.”

Are they trying to find out where I came from? Or are they trying to find my relatives and use them to threaten me into doing things?

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A sudden wave of irritation washed over her, and Yisi frowned.

“I understand. I’ll find a way to get a capable helper for Margaret later. That way, you won’t have to worry about the people from the Empire causing you trouble.”

“We’re worried about you, Miss Yisi…” Fran said with concern. “The Empire’s strength is unfathomable. Even if you are very strong, you can’t fight a country alone. We came to you to tell you that if possible, it would be best not to go near the Empire.”

“Mm, thank you. Are Shinku and Fran staying here tonight?”

As Yisi stood up, preparing to end the conversation, Camilla reminded her in a low voice.

“Onee-sama, you’ve forgotten one thing.”

Yisi blinked in confusion.

“What is it?”

First glancing at Shinku and Fran, Camilla turned to Yisi and curved her lips into a slight smile.

“The punishment.”