Of course, if the ‘Golden Millet Dream’ happened too many times, Joen would definitely notice something was wrong.
So there were only nine chances to enjoy it; other times, she could only knock Joen unconscious and then perform a ‘Water Decoction.’
And considering the ‘Water Decoction,’ the dose of Emerald Dream had to be increased, or else if Joen woke up midway, she would definitely be in for trouble.
Liya had considered using other demon drugs, but the problem was that even Emerald Dream could only knock Joen out for a short while.
She really couldn’t think of any other demon drug that could bear such a responsibility.
‘Don’t tell me the Hero just glug glug glug drinks it down, only to wake up in less than a few dozen seconds and find his innocent, cute, and naive Pupu hard at work by the ancient tree—pulling it into a U shape, pressing it into a V, and finally with a pop, turning it into a Q.’
“You damnable Demon Lord! How dare you possess my Pupu!”
“Sacred Slash!!!”
The image in her mind was torn apart by a dazzling sword light, and Liya couldn’t help but shiver.
“Oh my god! I must not be exposed!”
With the addition of the elf Ailita, disguising themselves became much easier.
Liya no longer had to worry about attracting too much attention.
Ailita’s Elf Speech distorted the light around her, making her appear to others as just a normal “Elemental Sprite.”
Mounting Pika, Liya turned to look back at her motley crew, and a strong sense of déjà vu surged over her, making her want to complain!
Qiong the Monkey, wearing a golden headband on his head and bearing the empty title of “Great Sage Equal to Heaven.”
Ai Bajie, who could eat a grilled fish until his mouth was greasy and wanted to bite anything.
Fei Monk, who silently carried his pack, looked honest, but actually had a ton of little secrets.
Wait, now that I think about it, wouldn’t that leave me with only one role?
Liya’s face stiffened.
She could almost see Ailita chewing on a chicken leg, grinning at Joen, and raising her voice to shout:
“Senior Brother! Senior Brother! Master has been captured by a monster again!”
“…This team composition is really bad luck!”
“Let’s go. We’re heading to the outer city.”
Joen pulled down his hood to cover his brilliant golden hair and strode forward.
Leaving the pristine, almost unreal streets of the inner city and stepping into the commoner district of the outer city, their group was instantly drowned by the clamorous noise.
Dim, old Magic Guide Lamps illuminated the streets.
At the end of the day, vendors who had been busy all day pushed their carts and withdrew from their usual stalls.
The streets thus became narrow and crowded, the roads potholed and uneven, with puddles of wastewater floating with grease.
The air was thick with the smell of cheap spices, sweat, coal smoke, and some kind of fermented food—the smell of life, and also the smell of survival.
Walking along, Joen remembered Lily’s words, “You’re a blind man,” and kept observing carefully.
The hurried passersby mostly had tired faces.
Even spellcasters with War Class medals pinned to their chests seemed exceptionally ordinary here.
They clearly wielded magic and could hold their heads high and live proudly in any border town, yet here in the Empire Capital, they had become wage laborers busy for a few Gold Coins.
Their medals were polished to a shine, but they couldn’t hide the fatigue in the corners of their eyes.
“Move it! Don’t block the way!”
A young girl in exquisite, sexy attire pushed past Joen, brushing against him as she passed.
She wore an imitation Court Nightingale Gown.
It was actually quite pretty, but Joen had seen the real thing, so he could spot many rough details.
The girl was caked with thick makeup, trying to hide the traces of hard work left by time.
She held her head high, her eyes full of pride and confidence, as if by wearing a dress similar to the princess’s, she became the princess of that moment.
But her slightly rough hands and the state of traveling on foot betrayed her true background.
By the roadside, a bearded middle-aged man squatted drunk against a wall, clutching a half-bottle of cheap liquor.
He was as disheveled as a beggar, but his deep blue eyes held stories.
Even so, he still remembered to protect the silver-white Combatant medal on his chest.
The faint sound of water flowed through the night, passing by eaves and endless lives of toil.
Everyone who came to the Empire Capital to make their fortune were “God’s favored ones”—outstanding and well-off from their hometowns.
Perhaps they had talent as precious as gold, but unfortunately, this city possessed a splendor built from a thousand years of national destiny and incense offerings, enough to overshadow all faint glimmers.
“How dirty.”
Ailita covered her ears in disgust, but her other hand kept stuffing fried vegetable balls she’d swiped from a street stall into her mouth.
“But these fried balls aren’t bad.”
“Maybe they were fried in gutter oil.”
Liya smiled mysteriously.
“What’s gutter oil?”
“Well… every day, they scoop out the swill from the sewers, process and purify it, and finally get a layer of clear oil to fry food for you.”
Liya was just making things up, mainly to annoy the elf and gross her out.
As a result, Fei Bi threw up first—because she couldn’t resist accepting Ailita’s handouts.
Joen turned back and gave Fei Bi a strange look, then buried his confusion again.
“Whoa~”
Ailita exclaimed and stuffed another ball into her mouth.
“As expected of you humans. You can always come up with new ways to reuse waste. We elves are different—we only keep the elite.”
“And what about elves? Do you only keep the elite too?” Liya tilted her head and probed.
“The more prosperous we are, the fewer elves we need. Maintaining the World Tree’s development only requires the Sages.”
Ailita shrugged nonchalantly.
“The more advanced magic becomes, the fewer elves are needed.”
“Then what do you do with useless elves?” Liya pretended to be clueless.
In truth, she already knew the answer.
Ailita smiled at Liya, her emerald eyes fixed on her expression, not missing any change.
“Why, feed them Emerald Dream, of course.”
“Emerald Dream? What’s that?” Liya looked puzzled, her disguise flawless.
“A drug that brings beautiful dreams.”
Ailita’s voice carried a hint of temptation.
“If you want to learn, I can teach you~”
“Mm… no thanks.”
Liya resisted the urge to agree.
Something’s off.
This is too smooth.
I feel like this damn elf is fishing.
“What a pity.”
Ailita sighed, as if genuinely disappointed that Liya had refused.
Meanwhile, Joen finally couldn’t hold back.
He turned to Fei Bi and asked:
“Say, I have a little doubt.”
Fei Bi blinked her big eyes, delighted inside.
“Please go ahead, Brave One.”
“I remember when we first met, you said you often sneaked in to clean up after the Second Prince’s banquets, taking the opportunity to eat leftovers.”
“Yeah, that’s right…”
“But you just threw up.”
Joen stared into Fei Bi’s eyes.
Fei Bi’s smile froze.
A chill shot from her soles to her crown.
She was both shocked and bewildered.
‘Damn, is the Hero really this sharp? I thought you were pretty dense about that Pupu!’
“It’s… it’s different after all.”
Fei Bi lowered her head, pretending to be embarrassed, stammering to buy time to think of an excuse.
“At His Highness’s manor, they’re all honored guests, so the leftovers… are also cleaner.”
“Oh.”
Joen nodded vaguely and didn’t press further.
From then on, Fei Bi became fully alert.
She no longer dared to slack off.
She suddenly realized one thing—this Hero: he was clueless about Pupu, but about her, he wasn’t clueless at all!
Following the plan they’d agreed on, Joen arrived at a relatively remote district church.
He found the Bishop in charge of the church, concealed his identity, and donated one thousand Gold Coins to the “Dry River Territory Charity Fundraiser.”
“One thousand” was a suitable amount.
Too little, and he wouldn’t see the details; too much, and Joen couldn’t afford it.
“Now, we wait.”
Joen said in a low voice.
“Let’s see where this money ends up, whose hands it passes through, whether it appears in the church’s basement, or in the rear courtyard of the succubi.”