“How much do you plan on paying me?”
Anis asked Shirley this soul-searching question. It was true she was a witch raised by the family, but every mission she undertook was a trade involving her life for the family’s benefit. It wasn’t too much to ask for some compensation.
When that old geezer of a Family Head was around, she could only get a few gold coins as a reward.
Unlike that difficult old man, Shirley…
If she asked for more, Shirley might actually agree.
“In addition to your usual payment, how about I give you one day off to do whatever you want?”
“A day off? Free to do what I want?”
Anis weighed the pros and cons in her mind. She did need to go out and buy some things. The last time she had gone out with Shirley, the girl hadn’t given her a single chance to do so.
“Aren’t you afraid I’ll run away?”
“If you took the opportunity to regain your freedom, Anis, I wouldn’t mind.”
She was obviously lying.
Anis knew all too well that this girl’s obsession with her was so deep, there was no way she would let go so easily.
“Fine, then. I agree. I happen to have some things to buy anyway.”
“Hehe~ Then can I commission you to buy some things for me while you’re at it? I’ll pay in advance, of course!”
“What do you want?”
“I’ll tell you on the day you head out!”
Shirley picked up the medical kit and left. Anis watched her back, her brow furrowing slightly.
As the acting Family Head and a young lady, if she wanted something, she could easily have a servant handle it. Yet she was acting out of character and making Anis run an errand for her?
Was it purely to boss her around? Or… was the errand just an excuse? Was there something she wanted Anis to find out?
According to the description in the book, this period of time seemed to be…
“Meow!”
A cat’s cry interrupted her thoughts. Anis finally realized that Mimi was still trapped in the rolled-up blanket!
“Mimi!”
Anis hurriedly pulled the cat into her arms, stroking its head to comfort it. “It’s okay, it’s okay now…”
‘Master, I’m sorry…’
A girl’s voice echoed in her ears. Anis looked at the cat in her arms, blinking rapidly.
“Mimi was very brave. It’s fine.”
Anis scratched the top of its head, and it took a long time to finally soothe the creature.
“Tomorrow we have to go out on a mission together. Are you scared?”
“Meow~”
Mimi rubbed its face affectionately against her cheek, showing no sign of terror at all.
“That’s good. Let’s get some rest early today.”
***
Early the next morning, Anis made full preparations and headed toward the northern mine with the cat in her arms.
According to the book’s description, there were dozens of staff members at the mine, with over a dozen living there long-term. These were the people Anis wanted to make contact with.
The mine was located deep within a high mountain. Even if she was familiar with every setting in the book and knew every tactic of her enemies, there was still one thing she didn’t know.
The route.
The book wouldn’t clearly describe every single path on the mountain, or else readers would complain about the author padding the word count.
After arriving at the mine, even though Anis had mentally prepared herself, she was still shocked by the sight before her.
Most of the scaffolding supporting the mine shaft had been brutally destroyed, and half of the entrance was completely blocked by fallen stones. There was absolutely no sign of life outside the mine. It sat there as if it had been abandoned.
‘Right, in this book, everything besides the protagonist is focused on suffering.’
In the original story’s ending, besides Anis’s death, most of the Frenst family had fallen into ruin as well. She wasn’t sure what happened to the family after that, but she guessed their ultimate end wouldn’t be much better than the original Anis’s.
That wasn’t good.
‘Whatever, I’ll worry about those things later. First, I’ll gather some information and see if I can find a map or something.’
Anis went to the miners’ dormitory. It was also completely empty. She walked across the messy floor covered in trash and ran her hand over a table cluttered with wine bottles and wrappers.
No dust.
There were also dark water stains on the floor that had been spilled recently. After careful identification, she realized it was blood.
From this, she could deduce that on some late night after the bear came down the mountain, it had headed straight for this place of life to attack the miners.
Anis suddenly thought of Old Peter. Although that miner didn’t live here, he had been on leave recently. Could that be the reason?
After another search around the dormitory, another problem arose: she couldn’t find a map.
‘This is going to be difficult…’
Anis looked at the snow-covered mountain. She had two options now.
The first was to wait for nightfall. The bear might come down again, but fighting at night was extremely dangerous. Even if that thing had only had its defense enhanced by the magic crystal ore, it was still a bear, regardless.
The second option was to take the initiative and search the mountain.
‘…’
Neither path was perfectly safe.
“Meow~”
Just then, the cat in her arms let out a cry. It jumped down, walked ahead, and looked back while wagging its tail.
“Do you want me to follow you?”
“Meow,” Mimi replied.
Anis remembered that Mimi had been a stray in this area for a while. Maybe she knew the way!
“That’s a huge help! Lead the way, Mimi.”
Anis followed behind the cat, watching the little creature sniff around on the ground like a dog. It was strangely cute.
As she followed Mimi, she also thought about the combat styles she possessed. In her previous life, she had lived in a peaceful country and had never received any combat training.
This was her first real battle in two lifetimes. She hoped… everything would go smoothly.
“Meow.”
Mimi sniffed her way to a cave and stood at the entrance, looking up at Anis and letting out a meow.
A thunderous snoring echoed from within the cave. This was the bear’s lair.
‘You sleep when you’re full, and when you wake up, you go down the mountain to terrorize people. What a leisurely life you lead.’
Anis pulled out her wand, trying to think of what magic to use against the bear. Although she didn’t want to admit it, she felt it was hard to concentrate her mind. Her legs were shaking uncontrollably, as if she would collapse to her knees at any second.
As for the hand holding the wand, it was trembling so much she couldn’t even hold it steady, let alone fire a spell at the bear!
When they were capturing Mimi, the magical creature, Shirley had been by her side. Plus, Mimi hadn’t been aggressive, so she hadn’t been that afraid.
But now, she was all alone!
‘Since I am a witch, is there any way to deal with it without taking damage?’
“MEOW!”
Mimi let out a loud cry, and her body began to expand rapidly!
A cat-like magical beast with fur as sharp as steel needles stood at the cave entrance. Just as she was about to roar inside, Anis quickly stepped forward to stop her.
“Wait! I thought of a way to avoid a direct confrontation! It might just work!”
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