When her brother painted that beautiful vision of the future, the girl’s eyes sparkled with starlight.
“Once we make money, we won’t have to wear patched-up clothes anymore, right?” she asked, full of longing.
“Patches? Pfft!”
The boy laughed as if he’d heard the funniest joke ever.
He exaggeratedly tugged at his collar, leaned in, and lowered his voice.
“Look at these clothes Lord Lage gave us. Four-leaf brand. You know how much this one piece costs? Nine silver coins! This is what high society calls class!”
The girl flinched, shrinking her neck, even her movements becoming much smaller.
Out of the corner of her eye, she caught her “cautious” reflection in the window and suddenly let out a giggle.
“So expensive. No wonder those noble ladies are always so ladylike and elegant. If I were wearing such pricey clothes, I’d be careful too.”
Just then, the food arrived.
The boy peeked at the neighboring table, then copied their posture, picking up the knife and fork to slowly cut his steak.
“This is nothing,” he bragged in a low voice about the crystalline world he’d heard about from hearsay.
“You know why these clothes rip so easily?”
He stabbed a piece of the tender meat and fed it to his sister.
The girl, used to this, gently bit down.
The rich, thick sauce with its layered flavors burst in her mouth.
“Mmm… so good~”
Her brown eyes lit up as she chewed noisily.
“It’s because these fashion clothes were never meant to be washed. They weren’t designed to be durable at all. Once they get dirty, you just throw them away.”
The boy’s tone carried a smug pride, as if he were sharing in that glory.
“Huh? That’s such a waste. Such an expensive dress, only to be worn a few times.”
The girl’s heart ached.
Outside the floor-to-ceiling window, the thug guarding the main entrance of the Brotherhood headquarters suddenly made a gesture.
Upon seeing this, the burly man sitting at the table next to the siblings immediately stood up and said bluntly to them, “Tess, Liam, Lord Lage is free now. Come with us right away.”
“Huh?”
The brother, Liam, whose tone had been so confident just moments before, suddenly weakened.
Flustered, he stammered, “But… but we haven’t finished eating yet.”
It hadn’t seemed like much a moment ago, but now the aroma hit his nostrils, and Liam swallowed hard.
His sister Tess said nothing; she just kept her head down and focused on eating while he stalled for time.
“Wait for you?”
The burly man’s voice was icy.
“You mean, you want our chief to wait for you?”
Liam panicked and quickly pulled up his sister Tess, who still had half a strip of beef hanging from her mouth.
With a fawning, ingratiating smile, he said, “No, no… that’s not what I meant. We’re on our way, right now.”
After the group left the restaurant, Joen was still racking his brain over how to covertly track them.
His strength was speed, but eavesdropping required staying near the target for a long time.
Relying solely on “speed” wouldn’t cut it.
He suddenly regretted not learning more stealth magic.
Liya saw right through Joen’s anxiety and dilemma.
She poked his knuckle and volunteered, “Friend~ friend~ do you trust Lily?”
Joen instantly understood.
Maliya wanted to sneak in alone.
His heart clenched with worry.
“Of course I trust Lily, but…”
“Then leave it to Lily! Lily can do it!”
Liya gave a thumbs-up and winked her right eye confidently.
In Joen’s eyes, she looked absolutely adorable.
That only made him more reluctant to let Lily take the risk.
The next moment, an idea struck Liya.
She controlled her liquid-body form, actively separating a small piece and pressing it into Joen’s hand.
For some reason, that separated tissue automatically morphed into a perfectly round peach heart shape.
A phrase inexplicably surfaced in Liya’s mind:
Even blowing bubbles takes the shape of loving you.
This curse… enough already.
She had to actively reassure Joen: “Well… if you’re really worried, friend can wait outside. Once this jelly signal starts bouncing, come in and get Lily.”
“Okay.”
With this “special communication method,” Joen finally felt a lot more at ease.
But Liya’s next sentence left Joen speechless.
“Friend, see that vent? Remember your technique from stone skipping. Aim carefully and throw me into the hole.”
Liya used her artillery range estimation trick to roughly calculate how much speed she’d need to fly over.
“You sure?”
“Sure.”
“Alright.”
Though still worried, Joen chose to trust his teammate’s judgment.
He thought for a few seconds and adjusted his posture.
To make it easier for Lily to slip in, he deliberately positioned her head first.
Whoosh—
A faint sound of piercing air.
Liya felt a huge gust of wind blowing in her face.
Before she could collect herself—
Plop—
She had already plunged headfirst into some tiny hole, with only half her calves still kicking wildly outside.
She quickly morphed her body, flowing into the narrow vent as a soft liquid, bypassing the thug-guarded main entrance.
The stealth capability of a liquid form went without saying.
Even without the hero’s super speed, she could rely on the naturally unremarkable nature of fluid to keep following the siblings closely.
Sometimes she flowed along the wall as a trickle of water, sometimes she defied gravity by clinging to the ceiling.
Before long, Liya had tailed the siblings into Xiao Lage’s reception room.
“Quite the talent, quite the talent indeed! No wonder you could come up with such a great idea!”
Lage grabbed Liam’s hand and lavished him with random praise.
Even someone like Liam, who considered himself shameless, was flattered beyond belief, fidgeting on pins and needles, feeling embarrassed.
“Lord Lage, you, you, you… you have such sharp discernment!”
Liam was ecstatic.
In all his life, it was the first time a big shot had personally acknowledged his worth.
His shoulders trembled slightly, and he couldn’t help starting to feel a bit giddy.
“All the clergy of the Old City Church heard about your brilliant idea and specifically invested one thousand gold coins in you on behalf of the church. You better do a good job and produce good results.”
Lage said with a cheerful smile.
“One thousand gold coins?!”
Liam felt as if a huge surprise had fallen from the sky, smashing him to pieces.
It took him a long time to piece together his sense of “self” again.
Hearing this, Liya was the first to piece it together.
So that’s why the gold coins were being delivered to the Black Green Gang.
They’re using the gang to launder money.
After all, the money was invested in the church’s name.
As for how many gold coins the actual investee received and what accounts were actually kept on the investee’s side—sorry, it’s an external church matter.
They know nothing.
If you want to check, be our guest.
“Th-this… this is too discerning, too discerning!”
Liam’s lips turned white and trembled uncontrollably.
Too many surprises, to the point where he started to feel like he was dreaming and scared.
But the enormous profit and the hope of turning his life around were right before his eyes.
Even knowing it might be a trap, he was willing to jump in and try.
Besides, he hadn’t seen any danger yet.
His sister Tess kept gently tugging at his sleeve, but he didn’t notice.
“It’s not over yet.”
Lage unhurriedly continued to dangle the bait:
“I’ve helped your sister get into a full-board aristocratic magic school. Send her there for a few months, and I guarantee she’ll learn magic. Not that fake kind of magic, but real magic that can let your descendants turn their fortunes around.”
“Magic?!”
Liam was astonished.
“Full-board?”
Tess suddenly clutched her brother’s sleeve tightly, her expression becoming unusually tense.