Alexander's group of four walked the familiar path to Maplewood Village. Along the way, the little chatterbox Sylvia kept talking, making the trip more lively. She was excited to watch the plays and buy pastries and tarts at the village festival.
Their accompanying servant was Denis, a young man in his twenties. He wore his usual tunic uniform and carried a large basket filled with gifts the family had prepared for Healer Agnes. This consisted of medicinal herbs and other healing materials she could use to treat patients.
The guard accompanying them was Bertram, a tall and sturdy middle-aged man wearing leather armor with a sword strapped to his waist. In the navigator, his light dot was also yellow-orange, but closer to orange than Sylvia's, almost matching the orange dot of the head guard, Lucas. This indicated he was one of the strongest people in their manor.
Upon arriving in the village, they first headed to Healer Agnes's clinic. It was lunchtime, and with the festival ongoing, she didn't have much to do. When they entered, she was instantly elated and welcomed them warmly.
Alexander and the others hurriedly bowed to show respect and greet the healer.
"How have you been, my dear Alexander? I've heard you've already started your cultivation," Healer Agnes said.
"Indeed, Mistress Agnes. Thanks to you, I can now cultivate," Alexander replied with a smile.
"Oh, no need to thank me. I did nothing to fix your condition," Healer Agnes waved off Alexander's compliments.
She then turned her gaze to the little girl beside Alexander.
The little girl immediately ran toward her and jumped to hug her.
"How have you been, Grandma Agnes?" Sylvia asked.
"I'm doing fine," Healer Agnes replied, then asked, "How about you? Have you been mischievous lately?"
Sylvia proudly replied, "You bet."
Healer Agnes laughed heartily at this.
Afterward, she invited them for lunch, to which they were not allowed to decline. She served roasted goose, vegetables, fruits, and some pastries.
Noticing the food, Alexander was inwardly delighted, as he wouldn't have to worry about completing the task of "Eating a Healthy Meal." He guessed that Healer Agnes must have paid attention to his recent diet. He also noticed some of Sylvia's favorite pastries. The old healer clearly cared for them a lot and treated them as her own grandchildren.
After lunch, they gave Healer Agnes the gifts they had prepared. She gladly accepted the basket filled with herbs and healing materials. In the past, people often gifted her gold and jewelry, but she always rejected them. Although she accepted money as payment for her medical services, she never overcharged and refused extra payments. She even treated sick people from very poor families for free. To the people of Maplewood Village and the neighboring villages, she was considered a living saint.
After that, they bid their farewells and went on to enjoy the festival.
"Brother, I heard there's a carnival today. Want to go there first before the play starts?" Sylvia asked.
"Sure," Alexander responded.
"This time, you need to win me something from the carnival. Last year we went empty-handed because you were so lousy," Sylvia said with a hint of annoyance.
"Of course I'll win—wait, what!" Alexander began to boast, but then he remembered that he and the previous Alexander shared a trait: they were terrible at carnival games.
Suddenly, a notification sound rang.
'Ding'
[ System Notice: Special Mission Started: 'Win a Prize'
Difficulty : D rank
Details: Play in the carnival to win a prize
Success Rewards: 50 EXP and 5 GP (Greatness Points)
Failure Punishments: Electrification ]
"Crap, did I just shoot myself in the foot?" Alexander muttered.
"What?" Sylvia asked, glaring at him.
"Nothing, I just asked where the carnival was," Alexander said, making an excuse.
Along the way, Alexander asked Sarah mentally.
"Sarah, what does the punishment 'Electrification' mean?" Alexander inquired.
"What else could it mean? Of course, it's to be electrified," Sarah replied.
"Crap, how strong would the electrification be?" Alexander asked again.
"Strong enough," Sarah responded.
"What do you mean 'strong enough'?" Alexander asked angrily.
"Don't worry, User. You probably won't die. Probably," Sarah replied mockingly.
"Fuck, I'm doomed," Alexander cursed.
*****
At the carnival, they went around playing games, but unfortunately, Alexander was really lousy and kept losing.
This made Sylvia pout and glare at Alexander fiercely the entire time.
Alexander was already bracing himself for Sylvia's admonishments and the electrification punishment. He just hoped he could make it through the day alive.
Suddenly, they stopped at one of the carnival booths. Inside, a fat game attendant was laughing heartily while holding some cups and a little ball. Across from him, a man was frowning, having just lost a game and feeling irritated by the attendant's mockery and taunting.
They were playing a familiar carnival game. The attendant would cover a ball on the table with a cup, then shuffle the cups around. To win, you had to guess which cup held the ball at least three times in a row. The higher your streak, the better the prize.
Suddenly, Alexander had a brilliant idea. He asked his group to stop and watch the man play.
As Alexander observed, the game attendant initially shuffled the cups slowly, allowing the man to win two rounds. Then, the attendant increased the speed and flicked the ball between cups, adding to the confusion in the third round, causing the man to lose again.
When the man left, Alexander strode in confidently.
He said to Sylvia, "Watch me win."
The fat game attendant laughed even more. "Hey kid, let's see where your confidence is coming from."
"Of course, it's from true skills," Alexander bragged as he sat across from the attendant.
The game began, and as usual, the attendant baited Alexander in the first two rounds. It was so easy that even a small child could figure out where the ball was. The third round would mark the start of the attendant's misery.
In the third round, the man was surprised when Alexander found the ball. Though surprised, he wasn't worried.
He chuckled and said, "Kid, you do have some skills. Let's see if you can handle the next round."
In the fourth round, Alexander still found the ball, which made the attendant stop smiling and focus intently on the game.
Fifth, sixth, seventh—Alexander continued to succeed.
Alexander was just laughing; the game attendant in front of him was completely helpless. His frown was deep, and his forehead was dripping with sweat. He couldn't figure out how Alexander always found the ball.
This continued up to the ninth victory. Then Alexander waved his hand, indicating for them to stop; he was ready to claim his prize.
The game attendant sighed in relief, grateful that Alexander wasn't ruthless enough to continue winning even more rounds.
Alexander stopped because he could already get the prize Sylvia wanted. He noticed her eyes sparkling at a cute plush rabbit. The prizes for the tenth and subsequent wins were trinkets and accessories, and he knew Sylvia wasn't interested in those.
Sylvia was thrilled when she got the plush rabbit. The toy was big, about a third of her height. She loved it so much that she named it Sir Edward the Rabbit.
Denis and Bertram were shocked; they couldn't help but wonder if the Young Master had cheated. Knowing how lousy he usually was, they expected him to fail again. They even considered playing the game themselves to win a prize for the little lady. However, Sylvia insisted that the prize must be won by Alexander, or else she wouldn't accept it.
Ironically, they were right to be suspicious; Alexander did indeed cheat. When Alexander saw the man playing earlier, he decided to use the map from the Map and Navigator App. He zoomed into the cups, and sure enough, his map could penetrate the cups and reveal the ball's location. He used the scanning and 3D representation capabilities of the map to cheat in the game.
Even the game attendant wouldn't have guessed that Alexander could see through the cups. The cups were made of thick, soul sense insulating material, making it nearly impossible for soul sense to penetrate them. Only those with a strong soul sense could do so, but who among those with strong soul sense would be bored enough to mess with him?
'Ding'
[ Special Mission Completed: 'Win a Prize'
Rewards Received: 50 EXP and 5 GP (Greatness Points) ]
After winning the game, both Sylvia and Alexander exited the booth happily. Sylvia finally received a toy won by her brother at the carnival, while Alexander was pleased to have completed the mission and avoided the electrification.
Alexander knew he had won by cheating, but he simply thought to himself, "A win is a win."
*****
After the carnival, they visited the food stalls, picking up snacks along the way. They bought honey cakes, tarts, and apple pies, placing everything in a large basket carried by Denis. The poor young man couldn't even complain.
Sylvia hurried along because her favorite part of the festival was about to start: the plays at the center of the village. She loved the adventurous stories they told. From a young age, she had a spirit for adventure, always nagging her father to take her on his hunting trips and often sneaking out to the village for fun. Completely unlike other young ladies from noble households, this worried her mother. However, Sylvia was very smart and talented in spirit cultivation, which made her father more lenient with some of her requests. He allowed her to visit nearby villages, assigning guards to accompany her, much to Sylvia's annoyance. Nevertheless, the villages were relatively safe, as the residents deeply respected their lord.
Meanwhile, Alexander frequently checked the Map and Navigator app, tinkering with it mentally. He was surprised that the map recorded their path from the Manor even when not activated, providing a record of his previous locations that might be useful in the future. He also checked the power levels of the people around him using the navigator, noting that most villagers were yellow-green to yellow, with only a few at yellow-orange. The most surprising discovery was that when he checked Healer Agnes's light dot earlier upon arriving in the village, her light dot was actually orange. This suggested she might be quite strong, possibly even the strongest person in the village.
As they made their way to the center of the village, they noticed villagers gathering around a horse-drawn caravan. A commotion was unfolding, attracting people eager to witness the drama.
They went around to ask the people what was happening. And from what they heard, there was actually a young noble kid with two of his guards harassing the people inside the caravan; they were insisting that some young lady come out to meet their young master.
Hearing all this, Alexander felt a strange sense of foreboding.
"Crap, isn't this the start of some trouble in those novels?" he thought to himself.
He wanted to leave and avoid the trouble, but a small, strong hand pulled him into the crowd. Before he could react, Sylvia had already led him to the center, right behind the young master and his guards.
"Holy shit, just when I was about to escape, this little girl pulls me right into the middle," Alexander could only complain mentally.