“Master~”
Little Mi opened her small feline mouth and spoke in human words.
This time, Anis definitely heard it correctly. The voice didn’t come from her mind, but from Little Mi’s mouth!
“You can speak?”
Anis was both surprised and overjoyed. She held the cat with both hands, bringing it level with her eyes.
“I’m afraid I can’t maintain it for long… meow~”
Little Mi had just uttered two sentences before reverting to her meowing state. Consequently, she took another bite of the mana crystal ore.
*Crunch, crunch… blegh!*
After the cat dry-heaved, Little Mi said tremulously, “Ugh, meow, it tastes so bad…”
“Do you have to eat a bite just to say one sentence?”
Anis crouched beside the cat with her legs together, her eyes filled with pity. “If it’s that unpleasant, don’t force yourself. Having you by my side is already enough, Little Mi.”
“But I… meow.”
Little Mi reverted to meowing once more. She faced the mana crystal ore again, but this time, before she could even open her mouth to bite, the sensation of dry-heaving struck again!
*Gag!*
“That’s enough, Little Mi.” Anis picked up the cat. “This will make you feel miserable. Let me think of a way to help.”
Anis gazed at the mana crystal ore before her, pondering how to brew it into a potion.
‘First, I need to increase the absorption rate, improve the flavor, and ensure there are no side effects…’
The more she thought about it, the more precautions there were to consider, and the more frustrated she became.
“Whatever, let’s just do step one!”
Anis knelt on one knee and used the tip of her wand to draw a magic circle on the ground.
“Teleportation magic, activate~”
As she chanted the spell, the drawn circle emitted a faint bluish-green light.
This way, as long as she set up another magic circle in her bedroom, she could travel freely between the two locations.
Half an hour later, a soot-covered Anis crawled out of the cave entrance.
“Cough, cough, cough! I didn’t expect getting out to be even harder!”
It was easy to slide down that small, sloped tunnel, but climbing back up was as difficult as reaching the heavens.
She couldn’t use magic to blast the entrance open — that would lead to someone discovering the existence of the entire ore vein!
No matter who found it, the news would eventually reach Sherry’s ears, and she didn’t want that to happen.
“Just bear with it a little longer. You’ll be able to speak soon.”
Anis scratched the cat’s head, listening to her contented purring, then mounted her broom and flew south.
She flew over the territorial border and continued all the way south until she reached a grand town that sat there like a small city.
This area no longer belonged to the Florenst territory, so Anis had to follow the rules.
She tucked away her broom not far from the border checkpoint and proceeded toward the gate on foot.
“Halt!”
Just as she reached the gate, two guards shouted sternly to stop her. “Who are you? Why are you dressed so mysteriously? State your name!”
Witches were not uncommon in this world; many powerful female mages identified as such.
Surely these two guards must have seen a witch before?
Anis furrowed her delicate brows, removed her wide-brimmed triangular hat, and revealed her identity. “Anis Florenst.”
She didn’t need to say anything more, as the surname Florenst was enough to explain everything.
However, after hearing it, the guards did not become polite. Instead, they intensified their questioning. “Anis Florenst? We’ve never heard of such a person. Do you know how severe the punishment is for illegally using a noble surname?”
While the guards were questioning Anis, another voice came from behind them. “What’s going on?”
“Captain, someone’s trying to enter the city using a fake noble surname!”
“A fake noble surname? Where is she from? The north?”
“Yes.”
“Then that’s a big problem.”
The guard captain unrolled a piece of paper in his hand and carefully compared it with Anis. “She doesn’t look like the description?”
Anis watched the situation unfold, seeing that it was more or less what she had expected.
She was just a Cage Witch adopted by the family; it was normal for her to have no reputation outside.
Since being adopted by the family, she had never left the northern territory.
The only reason she could find her way here was that the original book contained a map of this world.
“I really am a member of the Florenst family. How about you take a look at this?”
It wasn’t a big deal. Although she was an adopted Cage Witch, she still possessed items that proved her family ties.
Anis unhurriedly pulled out a medal symbolizing the Florenst family. “What about this?”
“…”
The guard captain looked at the medal, his brow furrowed. “It doesn’t look like a fake?”
“It isn’t a fake!”
Anis placed her hands on her hips. “I have something else that can prove it: the handwriting of Sherry Florenst, the current acting head of the northern territory. If you want to verify it, be my guest.”
She held up the shopping list Sherry had written. In the eyes of an outsider, these materials were just a cluttered mess; it was impossible to tell what the person purchasing them intended to do.
The two territories frequently exchanged letters, and the guard captain stationed at the border occasionally saw Sherry’s handwriting on envelopes.
He soon recognized Sherry’s handwriting and scratched his head in disbelief. “It really does seem to be written by Lady Sherry.”
“I am Sherry’s older sister, but I rarely go out. I’m here to buy things on behalf of her maid this time.”
Anis explained to the other party, “There’s no need to report this to the Lord. I’ll leave as soon as I’m done shopping. Sherry told me to keep as low a profile as possible.”
“Fine, you may pass.”
The guard captain returned the two items. “Speaking of maids, a mysterious intruder whose face couldn’t be seen invaded the territory a while ago. She was wearing a maid uniform.”
“That person fled toward your northern territory. Please keep an eye out.”
“I’ll pass the message to the head of the house. May I see what that person looks like?”
Anis took the wanted poster. Drawn on it was a woman with light purple short hair.
Her loose maid uniform failed to hide the stunning curves of her chest. Anis could say without exaggeration that her size was not inferior to her own at all.
However…
She looked a bit familiar.
‘Could this person be that woman by Sherry’s side?’
“What did she do when she invaded?” Anis continued to gather information.
“She broke into the Lord’s estate and stole a type of precious flower seed.”
Upon receiving the answer, Anis became even more certain that the person on the wanted poster was Cybil.
Given Cybil’s skills, breaking into the royal palace of the capital and escaping unscathed wouldn’t be a problem, so the estate of a lord in such a remote territory would be an easy target.
‘So, the Frost Lily of the Valley planted in the glass greenhouse was stolen.’
Anis was now even more convinced that they were deliberately trying to win her over, and they didn’t want her to know about that girl.
To put it bluntly, their friendliness on the surface was fake; in reality, they still wanted to use her.
‘As expected of you, Sherry.’
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