The next day. The morning chill seeped through the cracks in the wooden planks.
*Knock, knock, knock.*
A series of knocks, not hurried but exceptionally clear, broke the silence of the attic.
In the dim room, a pair of silver-white wolf ears suddenly twitched, capturing the source of the sound with the precision of radar.
Feng Qin — or rather, the current Ailiya — transitioned from a deep sleep to a state of wakefulness almost instantly.
She opened her eyes; there was no trace of morning grogginess in her ice-blue pupils, only the cold light of instinctive alertness.
Only after confirming there was no ill intent outside the door did she slowly sit up. Her voice was cold. “Who is it?”
“Mm-hmm, it’s me, little Ailiya.”
Boss Sise’s voice came from outside the door, carrying the unique laziness and gentleness of a mature woman; she sounded like she was in a good mood.
Ailiya frowned and glanced at the system time in the corner of her vision.
5:30 AM.
“Manager Sise, it isn’t working hours yet, is it?” she asked, getting out of bed and tidying her slightly messy maid skirt.
Sise seemed to chuckle outside the door.
“Well… it is a bit early, and it’s nothing major. I just wanted to ask you to head to the market to buy some supplies. You know, business has been so good lately that we’re running low on drinks and ingredients, and I happen to have some urgent matters to attend to.”
Pausing for a moment, the boss added in a tone like she was coaxing a child, “Don’t worry, I won’t make you go for nothing. Consider it extra overtime. I’ll give you 5 silver coins for the errand when you get back. How does that sound?”
‘5 silver coins.’
Ailiya quickly calculated the value in her head. ‘That’s equivalent to the rewards of killing twenty low-level slimes, and it’s completely risk-free. The value-to-effort ratio is extremely high.’
“Wait a moment, I’ll be right out,” she replied.
***
The morning market was as clamorous as a boiling pot of stew.
Cries of street vendors, haggling, and the rumbling of wheels over stone-paved roads intertwined.
Ailiya pushed a two-wheeled wooden cart piled as high as a small mountain, her steps steady.
Beside her, a human maid named Bella was panting as she held onto the handle, her forehead covered in fine beads of sweat.
“*Huff… huff…* Ailiya, is everything bought? My god, I’m exhausted…”
Bella complained, glancing enviously at Ailiya, whose expression hadn’t changed and whose heart rate remained steady.
They were both girls with slender arms and legs, so how did this silver wolf have the strength of an ox?
Ailiya stabilized the heavy wheelbarrow with one hand and unfolded the crumpled list with the other, her gaze quickly scanning it.
“One item left.”
Her slender finger tapped the bottom of the list. “Refined crystal and waterproof glue for repairing wine barrels. The general store was out of stock, so we have to go to the workshop on the West city side.”
“Huh? We still have to go to the workshop?” Bella let out a groan. “That’s a detour across half the district…”
“A shortcut.”
Ailiya was brief. She turned the cart and veered into a deep, narrow alleyway between two buildings.
Passing through this alley would save 20 minutes of travel.
The alley was dimly lit, with discarded wooden crates and moldy trash piled on both sides, making it feel like a different world from the bustle outside.
As they went deeper, the surrounding noise gradually faded.
Ailiya’s silver-white wolf ears twitched imperceptibly backward, and her steady breathing slowed instantly.
It was the sensation of being locked onto by a greasy gaze, like being watched by a rat in a gutter.
Relying on the keen hearing of the wolfkin, three voices, deliberately lowered, drifted into her ears with the breeze.
“Hey, Boss Walker, are you sure you saw that god of slaughter, Balke, leave?” a raspy voice asked.
Walker replied, “Absolutely! He left the city with that bitch Sise. Apparently, they went to get some high-grade goods and won’t be back for at least half a day.”
“Hehe, no wonder you were in such a hurry to have us follow these two lone little maids, Boss…”
“Boss, look closely. That silver wolf tribe girl pushing the cart is a premium catch! That figure, those legs… *Tsk, tsk.* Usually, with that jinx Balke around the tavern, we wouldn’t dare move, but now…”
Lecherous laughter echoed in the shadows, making one feel nauseous.
“In this shitty alley, no one will come to save them even if they scream their heads off.”
“Besides, I saw it at the market earlier. When that maid paid the bill, her coin purse was bulging. There’s at least dozens of silver coins, and I even heard the clinking of gold coins.”
“Rob them first, then have our way with them?”
“Of course! When we’re done, we’ll just toss them into a dry well and take the money to head somewhere else. We’ll be far away from here, so why would we fear Balke?”
Bella was completely unaware of the approaching danger, still wiping her sweat and complaining about the smell in the alley.
Ailiya came to a halt.
She lowered her head slightly, her bangs obscuring her eyes and masking her expression.
But her hand had silently moved away from the cart handle, sliding toward the outside of her thigh beneath her maid skirt, where a sharp short dagger was strapped.
In her previously calm ice-blue eyes, the excitement and killing intent of a top-tier player were now surging.
‘Red-named mobs.’
‘And they’re low-level experience packs that delivered themselves to my door — no stats, no mechanics, just big talkers.’
‘Excellent.’ Ailiya’s mouth curled into a cold arc, the expression of a hunter seeing their prey fall into a trap.
‘I’ve been suppressed in this crappy world for so long; I was just looking for a place to vent all this frustration.’
‘So, it should be perfectly reasonable to use a few pieces of trash NPCs for a damage test, right?’
In the shadows ahead, three thugs wielding rusty daggers and short clubs stepped out with sneers, completely blocking the path.
“Yo, two beautiful young ladies, this road is closed —” The scar-faced thug at the head hadn’t even finished his sentence.
However, at this critical moment.
An extremely flamboyant, piercing, and incredibly punchable voice suddenly rang out from atop the wall at the other end of the alley.
“Ha! This young master said there were strange sounds over here, and I was right!”
“In broad daylight, under the watchful eyes of heaven, someone actually dares to bully… uh, bully maids in front of me?!”
This sudden disruption caused the tension, which had been stretched to the limit, to instantly freeze.
The thugs were stunned.
Ailiya’s hand gripping the dagger also stiffened, and her surging killing intent vanished without a trace.
She looked up expressionlessly.
Atop the high wall of the alley, Leo was perched in an extremely inelegant posture.
He held half an apple in his hand and was staring over with wide eyes.
With a vigorous roar, Leo leaped down.
“Get back — from this young master!”
One had to admit, his posture in the air did have a bit of aristocratic flair; his golden hair fluttered in the morning breeze, and the morning sun behind him cast a holy golden glow over him.
If things followed the script, he should have landed steadily, kicking up a stylish cloud of dust and intimidating everyone present.
But…
He not like that!!!