“Uuu…”
Satania, whose entire worldview had just collapsed, sat on the long bench in the park, her body trembling uncontrollably as she wept.
It has to be fake…
It has to be fake…
She didn’t trust Red, but she was also too afraid to go to the Priestess for confirmation.
So, all she could do was sit here helplessly, looking like an abandoned pet.
This scene happened to fall into the eyes of Letia, who was passing by.
The girl draped in a solemn black priest’s robe, though she always lived by the motto “find amusement,” found the despair suffusing this moment clearly out of the realm of mere “fun.”
She was going to ignore it as usual and walk around, but after glancing a few times, she still walked over.
Actually, before Letia arrived, someone else—no, some other dog—had beaten her to it.
It was the same Cerberus that had snatched Satania’s bread before.
Right now, the dog, as big as a calf, was bouncing incessantly at her side, as if trying to comfort her.
Letia stood in front of Satania and gently asked,
“Did something happen?”
Hearing Letia’s voice, Satania slowly looked up, but upon seeing her face, she began to cry even harder.
“I… I was betrayed!”
As soon as these words left her mouth, it was Letia who broke out in a cold sweat.
Did Satania find out she’d already sold that bottle of Demon Potion to Otto?
No way?
But even so, Letia suppressed her shock, did her best to keep a calm expression, and feigned ignorance as she asked Satania,
“May I ask… who betrayed you?”
“Uu… I can’t say.”
Even so, Satania stuck to her principles and wasn’t about to reveal the Priestess’s identity to anyone else.
Seeing her unwilling to say, Letia didn’t force the issue, simply patted her shoulder and said, sincerely,
“Try to let it go. In this world, everyone’s out for their own interests. You have to live for yourself, you know?”
Hearing this, Satania wiped the tears from her eyes, and said a little confused,
“Letia, I’ve always wanted to ask: you say stuff like this all the time, but doesn’t it go against your faith? If your Main Deity knew, wouldn’t a bolt of lightning come down and strike you right in the head?”
Letia’s expression froze for a moment.
But she quickly adjusted, crossing her hands devoutly in front of her chest, head slightly raised and eyes closed.
Instantly, her face bloomed with a radiance both sacred and filled with benevolence.
“Of course not, my dear friend. The Main Deity… is merciful. How could something so trivial bring Divine Punishment down on me?”
“Well, I guess that’s true…”
Satania wasn’t crying anymore, but couldn’t help but grumble, “You folks from the Holy Church frequent brothels more than anyone. If your Main Deity saw half the things you people get up to, I’d bet He’d die of anger.”
“How could that be, hahaha~”
Letia brushed it off, putting her hand on Satania’s shoulder and speaking earnestly,
“If you really have been betrayed, why not… act like you don’t know a thing, then find an opportunity to cut ties with them? Even if you didn’t say it, I can tell from your expression—the one who betrayed you must be someone of higher status. If you overreact, you might give them reason to get rid of you even sooner.”
After hearing Letia’s advice, Satania nodded in deep agreement.
People always said she was dumb, but in truth she wasn’t that foolish—she certainly wasn’t reckless enough to charge straight up and confront the Priestess.
If she really did that, who knew if she’d end up tied to a rock at the bottom of a river.
Pretend nothing’s wrong, then slip away when the time is right—that was the smart move.
“And also…”
Letia’s tone changed, her face breaking into a reassuring smile, her voice soothing and gentle.
“If you ever really run into danger you can’t handle… remember, I’ll definitely help you~”
Like performing a magic trick, she produced a Branched Bread wrapped in oil paper from her wide priest robe sleeve, the enticing aroma of wheat wafting from it.
She held it out to Satania.
“Alright, don’t be sad anymore. Have something to eat.”
“Letia, you really are my best ally!”
There was no denying that at the sight of food, all her troubles and worries instantly vanished.
Satania took the bread, eyes brimming with grateful tears.
Just as she was about to take a bite—
“Woof!!”
Quick as lightning, Cerberus, who had been quietly squatting by Satania’s feet and seemed utterly harmless, suddenly sprang up like a loaded spring.
The center head precisely predicted the trajectory of Satania’s mouth, and with a speed faster than the eye could see, snapped the bread right out of midair.
Satania felt her hand suddenly lighten, her vision blurred—and the “friendship” bread had already disappeared into the center mouth of Cerberus.
“Crunch! Crunch! Gulp!”
Three quick bites, neat and tidy—not even a crumb left.
Under Satania’s stunned gaze and Letia’s barely suppressed laughter, the other two heads of Cerberus looked up innocently, as if asking:
“Any more?”
“You dumb mutt!!”
Satania flushed red with anger, yelling in frustration, “Give me back my bread!!”
But Cerberus didn’t care in the slightest—after wolfing down the food, it dashed away at lightning speed, leaving Satania to chase after it in a fit of rage.
Letia stayed behind, watching Satania’s figure disappear into the distance, and in the end, couldn’t hold back a peal of laughter.
After laughing for a while, she turned back and spoke to Red, who had been hiding in the shadows.
“Hey… Red, how long are you planning on watching? She’s already long gone, you know.”
Hearing Letia’s words, Red slowly stepped out from the darkness.
He had come here to confirm Tos’s suspicions, and after seeing Satania’s reaction, he’d pretty much confirmed that the masked thief was indeed that green-haired girl.
But seeing her get bamboozled into this sorry state… for some reason, he couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for her.
Even knowing she was an enemy, he still couldn’t help feeling a sliver of sympathy.
“So, that devastated look on her face just now—that was your doing?”
“I didn’t even say anything, okay?”
Red let out a sigh.
At this point… going to the Succubus Parlor for a little roleplay and then conning her into a mess like this—he really couldn’t bring himself to confess.
But even without him saying it, Letia could tell most of what happened just from his expression.
Still, as always, Letia was lazy by nature, and had no interest in pursuing the matter further.
More importantly, she hadn’t forgotten her real reason for coming out today.
“By the way, Red!”
As if suddenly remembering something important, she put her hands behind her back, leaned forward, and tilted her head, gazing at Red with her sparkling eyes full of sincerity.
“Do you have time right now?”
The moment Red saw that perfect, sweet smile on Letia’s face—like she’d practiced it a thousand times—his guard shot up to maximum.
“I guess… I do have a little time…”
He carefully chose his words, eyes scanning Letia up and down, his tone full of suspicion.
“But what are you up to?”
“Oh, it’s nothing really… I just need to go to the Gilded Chamber of Commerce to buy some things, so I wanted to bring you along,” Letia said, then playfully winked.
“How about it? In a sense, you could call it a date with a girl. Doesn’t that make your heart flutter, even a little?”
Red answered with a deadpan face.
“Inviting me is just an excuse, you really just want me to carry your bags, right?”
No one comes knocking for nothing—Red wasn’t about to believe that Letia just wanted to let him enjoy some “date.”
Besides!
With Letia’s figure, and with how she acted more like a bro than the bros, shopping with her was basically no different than shopping with Tos.
“I’m not gonna—”
Just as Red, brimming with manly resolve, was about to refuse, Letia interrupted.
A photo of legs in white stockings.
“Deal.”
Dignity meant nothing next to white stockings.
Besides, if Letia was good at anything, it was photography—every picture he’d ever gotten from her was good enough for a collection.
***
The two of them, one tall and one short, walked for nearly half an hour before finally entering the Gilded Chamber of Commerce.
Because Red’s Blood-Hunting Spiders were only sold here, even though the Gilded Chamber of Commerce was an outside company, in less than two months they’d completely cornered the market in Nightbright Town.
A huge variety of merchants had joined in, and the scale of the place was way bigger than the chamber he’d gone to with Litt.
Just this one building had six floors.
So, after looking at the store’s map, Red still had no idea where to go.
Red came here often enough, but, well, guys always just shopped at a few familiar places—he’d never actually browsed the place properly.
As for the women’s goods floor that Letia was heading to, he ignored that completely.
“What are you planning to buy?”
Just to be safe, Red decided to ask.
Once bitten, twice shy, after all.
Letia was happily admiring the dazzling entrance display, but turned back at his question, counting off on her fingers.
“Some skincare serums, body lotion, and some nice-smelling shower gel…”
She sighed suddenly, her voice full of genuine envy and… was that nostalgia?
“Sometimes I really envy you rough guys—you just wash your face with water and you’re done, saves you so much trouble.”
Finally she spread her hands and let out a sigh, “You don’t understand girls at all.”
“To keep this face and body looking good, girls have to work so hard—jars and bottles everywhere, not a single one can be missing… Oh, right, I also need to buy some makeup.”
“Uh…”
Red’s face was full of that classic male confusion after hearing her long list.
After hesitating a few seconds, he asked, soulfully, “Wait, so skincare products and makeup are actually two different things?”
“Sigh~”
Letia sighed, standing on tiptoes to pat Red on the shoulder.
With heartfelt earnestness, she said, “What did you think? You’d better learn properly from your sis Letia, or someday when you finally get a girlfriend, you won’t even know where to put things.”
“I do know where to put them, okay.”
But as soon as Red said this, Letia looked at him, eyes full of mischief.
“I mean you wouldn’t know where to apply the skincare products or the makeup—you know, where to rub and where to put it… What were you thinking?”
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.