Episode 16
Translator: RaidenTL
Episode 16
♥ SYSTEM: Siene Reve's Favorability -30 ♥
Elysia glanced at the favorability window and answered bluntly.
“Whatever.”
It seemed she'd grown immune, completely unfazed by the drop in favorability.
Siene spun around and hurried away as if fleeing. With a lingering sense of unease, Elysia watched her go before stepping into a clothing shop.
“I'd like to buy some everyday clothes, something plain enough to blend in with a crowd. I'll pay whatever you ask, so just pick something out for me.”
The clerk stared openly at the customer's horribly wrinkled blue skirt, her ridiculously buttoned blouse, and the haphazardly tied ribbon.
Why on earth is such a clean-cut woman dressed like this? Does she have a grudge against the world?
The woman's face was slender, but her strong features gave her an androgynous look. Beneath her dark eyebrows, her large, silver-gray eyes tilted up at the corners, resembling a wolf's.
The combination of a limitless budget and a unique face wandering around in such a state ignited the clerk's artistic soul.
“Does that include a hat and shoes?”
“Hmm, is that necessary?”
“Ma'am, if you don't coordinate your hat and shoes with your dress, you might be seen as peculiar.”
“Ah… is that so?”
Seeing the customer's interest piqued, the clerk excitedly reached for her measuring tools. As Elysia looked around the shop, she added as if she’d just remembered something.
“Oh, and give me a few sets of men's clothes, too. A shirt, a coat, a suit, that sort of thing.”
“Are they a gift?”
“Ah, yes.”
The clerk, who had started by measuring Elysia’s height, asked with a puzzled look.
“I'll need the measurements to get the right fit…”
“Ah~”
She shrugged nonchalantly and replied as if it were obvious.
“Just fit them to my body. They'll fit my older brother, too.”
“Oh, so you're buying for a family member.”
Of course, this "older brother" doesn't exist. I'm the one who'll be wearing them.
The shop offered two options: have the clothes delivered to the dormitory or pick them up in person. The former came with an extra charge, which she paid without a second thought.
Curious about Elysia, who was throwing money around like it sprouted from a magic pot, the clerk kept trying to make conversation, but Elysia cut her off at an appropriate point.
She checked the time: 6:50. With the tinkle of a bell, Elysia left the shop and stood for a moment, watching the bustling evening street.
Just as she was debating whether to kill the awkward amount of time left at a pub, something at the edge of her vision caught her eye.
“…That bastard…”
Elysia narrowed her eyes at a man with a remarkably unremarkable face who was glancing around nervously, his hat pulled down low. It was a face so painfully average it was hard to describe.
It was the most arrogant of the drug addicts from the greenhouse, and he was just stepping into a secluded alley.
Muffling her footsteps, she followed him. The deeper she went into the winding alley, the more chilling the air became. The sounds of men’s slurred voices, their words impossible to understand, the shattering of what sounded like a glass bottle…
Frowning, she continued her pursuit. The man stopped in front of a building, exchanged a few words with two men guarding the entrance, and went inside.
Just as the two guards, who seemed to be blocking just anyone from entering, started to turn their heads in her direction, Elysia ducked behind a wall.
She calmly surveyed the incredibly suspicious building, replaying what she had overheard in her mind.
“How's Alma? Hope he'll cut me a deal this time.”
“You were here last week, and now you're back again? You think we'd let a sucker like you go?”
Alma, Alma… Where had she heard that name? Elysia mentally ransacked her memory as if overturning a desk drawer. Then the scene came back to her—in a garden bursting with the scent of flowers, a male student had pulled Crea and Voluet from his inner pocket and said:
“Hah, it was tough to get. Alma raised the price; I almost couldn't buy any. So, ‘Crea’? Or ‘Voluet’? It's 6088 gold per bag.”
Ha. She let out a disbelieving laugh, and a pixelated system window that didn't belong in this world popped up.
SYSTEM: Congratulations. You have witnessed a crime scene! Apprehending the drug wholesaler will grant +25,000 EXP!
“Congratulations, my ass…”
And not just a retailer, but a wholesaler. Why was she, with a body that would collapse from a single hit, so good at stumbling into major incidents?
She'd stumbled upon a big catch, but she wasn't exactly thrilled. The experience points for the arrest were enormous, but she was indifferent.
So what? There's nothing I can do.
A large reward usually meant a difficult opponent. There was no way someone who could be knocked out with a single blow could apprehend a boss-level target. It meant there was no way I could catch them in my current state.
Elysia calmly opened her status window.
Elysia Hemming (LV.1): HP 1,000 | Defense 0 | Attack 3,000
First, she opened her inventory and took out clothes that would raise her defense.
She stared at the black suit set she'd placed on the cold stone ground, then slowly unbuttoned her school blouse and tightly wrapped her chest with bandages from her inventory. A cool breeze made her shiver.
SYSTEM: 'Suit set' equipped. Defense has increased by 800.
The feel of the trousers on her legs was a little awkward. It seemed she'd already gotten used to wearing skirts. Rummaging through her inventory, Elysia pulled out a black fedora and roughly stuffed her hair inside it.
When she checked her reflection in a puddle at her feet, she saw a person who, thanks to her strong features, looked like a boy of about eighteen.
SYSTEM: 'Fedora' equipped. Defense has increased by 200.
SYSTEM: 'Wristwatch' equipped. Defense has increased by 310.
Elysia counted the potions in her inventory, let out a soft sigh, grabbed one last item, and stretched as she muttered to herself.
“Alright, shall we?”
*
The men, who had been shooting the breeze, were startled by the sudden appearance of a young boy before them. The boy, who had approached in an instant without making a sound, gave them a bright smile and asked.
“I need to see someone named Alma.”
“Hahaha! You're still wet behind the ears, kid. Who do you think you're meeting?”
The guard's face turned lecherous as he looked at the boy, who was smiling with his eyes cast down as if embarrassed. He was an androgynous-looking kid, and quite easy on the eyes. The guard grabbed the boy's wrist, pulling him closer, and fondled the inside of his wrist as he murmured.
“Why don't you get on your knees and beg between my legs? You gotta offer something in return, don't you?”
The boy's utterly cold, ash-gray eyes formed a crescent shape, feigning embarrassment as he asked slyly.
“Ah… is there no other way?”
“You think just asking nicely is gonna work? Huh?”
After a moment of silence, the boy let out a smirk and replied, “If it doesn't work, you make it work.”
The instant the gray eyes, half-hidden under the fedora, flashed with a cold light, the man was sent flying by a tremendous force, his face slamming into the wall. Blood gushed from his broken nose, making it hard to breathe.
As the guard clutched his face and collapsed, the boy kicked him hard in the solar plexus. He tapped the fallen man's thigh to confirm he was unconscious, then turned his gaze to the other, stunned guard.
“See? You should've listened when I was being nice.”
The boy muttered in annoyance, wiping the blood of the guard he'd just taken down from his hand.
“You son of a bitch!”
The enraged guard charged at the boy, only to have a hand clamp over his mouth. The grip covering his nose and mouth was so immensely powerful that all he could do was struggle helplessly.
He's so scrawny, where is this strength coming from…!
He couldn't even think of fighting back; all he could do was flail against the hand suffocating him. Elysia slammed the guard, who was stunned by the boy's unexpected strength, against the building's outer wall. The moment his head hit the brick, he went limp, and she let him drop to the ground.
She glanced over the situation, which had been resolved in an instant, and rolled her stiff neck.
Then she bent down, took the guns from the guards' waists, and muttered.
“Thanks for the donation, you low-level punk. I'll be taking these off your hands.”
Now then, shall we do a little exploring? Elysia strolled nonchalantly into the dark building.
Today is just reconnaissance. I'll check out the atmosphere and get out.
Keeping her guard up, she moved forward slowly. The building's gloomy exterior had led her to expect silence, but the inside was surprisingly noisy. People bursting into manic laughter constantly brushed past her.
After confirming that her target wasn't among the gambling and drinking parties in the wide-open hall, Elysia frowned and headed up the stairs.
The building was thick with the smell of alcohol, tobacco smoke, the potent scent of Voluet, and the faint odor of blood.
It was a smell so faint others might not have noticed, but her sensitive nose immediately picked it out from among the countless other stenches and fragrances.
“Agh, my head.”
Her keen senses, now overstimulated, made her head throb as if it were swelling.