Would the Lavender Tavern look better with a wind chime hanging by the door? The young man with long, curly brown hair compared the bell in his hand but, considering it was a tavern, he ultimately replaced it with an exquisite golden bell to hang by the entrance.
"Has the Boss finished her entertainment?"
Buck walked into the tavern and began sweeping the floor. A night always left a layer of dust.
A "Closed" sign hung on the door. No matter how lively it was outside, it had nothing to do with the inside of the tavern. The scent of alcohol was slowly beginning to fill this deceptively small interior space as the setup was finalized.
[You'd be better off worrying about installing a door for the back room than this,] the System's flat, electronic voice retorted unkindly.
Their conversation couldn't be heard by anyone else.
Thus, they showed their true colors.
"There's no need for you to be so hostile toward me." Buck tied up his hair, the smile on his face not faltering. But whether his hair was up or down, his silhouette was ambiguously androgynous. "You're the one guiding her. I'm not a threat to your position."
[Your very presence is a mistake. I never allowed you to intervene.]
"There's no need to be so angry." Buck finished cleaning up calmly. "Just think of me as a numb, ignorant piece of data, just like how you explained it to her. You can keep performing your one-man show."
[She's not an idiot. She'll figure out what's wrong with you and then beat you to pieces.]
"Can you just not yap on other people's behalf?"
[--Kzzzt... kzzzt—] The System sounded furious.
"Your temper is still as terrible as ever. But—" The young man suddenly straightened up, his similarly brown eyes glinting. "If her level continues to increase, that pitifully small amount of stats won't mean a thing. Given how much she hates you, you'll be done for sooner or later."
The System was silent for a long time.
[--That's none of your business.]
Buck let out a cold laugh, his expression full of mockery and malice, revealing the soul beneath the data-constructed shell—a soul completely different from his harmless appearance.
"I'll be looking forward to that day. You should have been dead and buried long ago, you scumbag."
—
The girl's movements were swift, carrying a sharp, biting chill.
Ryuguu Miya's initial attacks were like a persistent snake, impossible to shake off. The heavy Spiked Club felt weightless in her slender, pale hands, yet it carried a terrifying force capable of smashing skulls.
Aether leaned backward, narrowly avoiding the chilling air that grazed his cheek—he spotted an opening as the girl leapt into the air and thrust his sword forward. The blade cut the side of Ryuguu Miya's neck.
Aether used Electro, hoping to paralyze her.
But the girl's physical defense was astonishingly high. That bit of Electro was completely negated by her Cryo.
Ryuguu Miya spun her weapon against the ground, using the force to quickly create distance. Even as she did so, she infused her weapon with Cryo. Sharp icicles erupted from the earth, and Aether barely avoided being impaled, hurriedly summoning a Meteorite to block.
"I've seen you use three elements, Traveler. Show me all of them—" Let's see how much EXP you can give me.
After a brief moment of surprise, the girl's green eyes quickly shifted, burning with excitement as if she'd been completely unleashed—a blazing, stubborn fighting spirit. Their clear, extreme translucence reminded Aether inexplicably of someone.
A man who threw himself into battle without regard for his own safety, who even enjoyed it.
In that instant, Ryuguu Miya was the spitting image of that man.
Tartaglia—Childe.
"I don't want to fight you, Miya," Aether said, expressing his reluctance. He had no desire to face another battle-crazed maniac like Childe who turned on a dime mid-fight. Besides, he didn't think Ryuguu Miya was that kind of person either.
"Is it because of my brother?" The girl landed barefoot on the ground, wiped the bead of blood welling from the cut on her neck, rubbed it between her fingers, and revealed an knowing smile. "Don't mind him. This is a challenge I decided on myself. And you were holding back just now."
"—You could have pierced my throat. Really impressive."
"Miya!"
The blond boy looked genuinely angry now, staring sternly at Ryuguu Miya.
But the girl simply hefted her weapon again. A white mist-like Cryo energy appeared in abundance, the ground began to freeze, and formless, irregular icicles and frost spread out for dozens of meters. Just like that time in Higi Village, a power that could easily cause frostbite enveloped the clearing. Ryuguu Miya advised him with an attitude as if they were discussing how to perform a play.
"I know I can't defeat you, so I'll go all out, fighting with my life on the line—but you can just treat me like a Treasure Hoarder or whatever. Just beat me up."
"Why?" Aether was utterly perplexed.
The girl charged at him again. "--To become stronger."
They exchanged another few rounds. This time, Aether used a Crystallize shield from Geo to block one of Miya's heavy blows, then swiftly followed up by using the hilt of his sword to strike at Ryuguu Miya's exposed abdomen, the force clearly intended to take her down in one hit.
She quickly raised her leg to knock his hand away, then swiftly switched to a roundhouse kick that connected solidly with the boy's side. Cryo energy rapidly gathered and then violently exploded, blasting Aether back over ten meters.
Ryuguu Miya's strength was immense.
Aether rotated his numb wrist, a dull pain throbbing in his side.
He once again found himself doubting the blood relation between Ryuguu Miya and Thoma.
Just as Ryuguu Miya had said, Aether knew he was indeed much stronger than her. He had tried several times to subdue her, but each attempt was ineffective—the commotion was getting too loud. Uninvolved people might come closer and get frostbitten.
He had to end this quickly.
When Ryuguu Miya charged again, Aether angled his sword in an arc, trying to knock the weapon from her hands. But she reacted quickly, using Cryo to freeze her weapon-wielding hand firmly to the grip. He had to pull back his strength to avoid wrenching the girl's arm off.
After another exchange, he seized the chance to gather Anemo energy in his hand and pulled the retreating Ryuguu Miya forward, finally placing his sword against the girl's neck—
The blade pierced skin, just a hair's breadth from cutting deep.
Ryuguu Miya's eyes widened in shock.
That stubborn fighting spirit in her eyes suddenly vanished. She blinked, let go of her weapon, raised her hands, and gave him a tentative look. "So amazing, so amazing—you were on the defensive the whole time. The gap really isn't small at all."
The girl's demeanor made it seem like it had all been just playful fun.
"Stop this game now, Miss Miya. Someone could get hurt."
—
Paimon had long since retreated far outside the icy field. Kettle was with her. Now, she was almost afraid to get too close to anything related to Ryuguu Miya. Kettle just sat there quietly, watching with its tongue lolling out.
"How did they suddenly start fighting…" The little sprite frowned, extremely troubled.
I was startled by the boy's words. The Traveler in the game was always a gentle, relatively warm-hearted young man figure, rarely truly losing his temper.
And the outcome wasn't as bad as I'd imagined before saving.
The worst-case scenario was him killing me, or me killing him. Both could be fixed by reloading a save.
And the EXP had indeed increased by half a level. That's a significant amount. If I could do it again, I'd level up soon.
"I'm sorry—I was too impatient!" A swift 90-degree bow, so fast my face almost hit the sword he hadn't yet put away.
I decided to apologize outright. This attempt was indeed too rude and sudden. If I weren't Thoma's sister, I probably would have dropped a bunch of loot and been forced to reload in disgrace. Plus, the Traveler was currently glaring at me with a "if I were three years old, he'd spank me" kind of ferocity.
Felt like one more misstep and he'd chop me up.
"No… even so, can you please get rid of all this ice first?" Aether's face was scrunched up. The Meteorite he'd summoned earlier had shattered some of the frost on the ground.
I hurried off to clean it up.
This time, I paid attention to controlling my elemental energy.
This large-area Cryo field was the so-called 2-Star Constellation effect, "Tundra"—as the name suggests, it releases a large amount of Cryo energy to create a sheet of ice. The 1-Star effect likely corresponds to that absurdly strong Cryo effect and temperature.
My elemental energy is ridiculously abundant. If left unchecked, I might really be able to create a Dragonspine.
The Constellation panel pulled up by the System showed a somewhat elongated bird shape, like a secretary bird, encircled by a broken ring. It bared its claws and beak, its two wings restrained by the ring, always looking a bit strange.
It felt like it was breaking out of a shell.
"Miya—" The Traveler called me Miya again. Sounded like he wasn't that angry anymore.
"You can't challenge people like this. It's terrible," the blond boy said sternly. "If I were a dangerous person, you'd be dead already."
"I know—" The girl kept cleaning up, nodding with a series of 'mhms,' then turned her head and grinned at him, saying with absolute confidence, "But I know the Traveler would absolutely never kill me."
Aether's face fell again instantly.
[Traveler Favorability: 10]
His favorability's going up even while he's angry.
I chuckled a few more times.
"Where does that confidence come from? What if I slipped up?" He still felt the urge to teach her a lesson. Ryuguu Miya was like a mischievous kid who caused trouble and acted like nothing happened, even her mood had improved greatly, completely overturning all of Aether's previous good impressions of her.
This Ryuguu Miya wasn't just predatory; she was also a real handful.
"—I'll tell Thoma, you know."
I froze solid.
I turned my head. The Traveler was standing there, arms crossed, looking down at me. In that moment, I found him even more intimidating than when he was angry.
"Don't!" I forced a smile, already thinking of ways to make him drop the idea. "Let me treat you to a meal! Please don't tell my brother!"
"Sure enough, using Thoma works—" He seemed to have found my weakness. "Two meals. And you're not allowed to do this kind of thing again."
[Traveler Favorability: 12]
This time, it was my turn to pull a long face.
"Alright, alright. I get it."
***
Ok, its done for this week, i tried to form the sentence a bit different on this chapter, hope it dont make too much difference. anyway, see you next week.