Aurelia’s footsteps wove through the streets and alleys without stopping until she was sure that several small lanes and at least two bustling street corners stood between her and the Central Plaza.
Only then did the unease in her heart slightly subside.
Just as she rounded a corner and stepped onto the edge of the main street leading to the tavern’s back alley, a figure suddenly charged out from another narrow fork in the road.
The person was moving extremely fast, appearing to be either deep in thought or in a desperate hurry.
*Thud!*
With a dull impact accompanied by the girl’s soft cry of pain, the two collided solidly.
Aurelia stumbled from the force, hastily reaching out to grab a nearby wooden rack to steady herself.
But the momentum was too great, and the wooden rack was old and unstable.
With a sharp *crack*, she not only failed to steady herself but was instead pulled down, falling hard onto the rough cobblestone road.
Worse still, her right hand took a nasty wrench when she tried to grab the rack.
A sharp, piercing pain shot through her wrist, making her gasp.
The other party also seemed caught off guard, swaying from the impact, but his lower body was exceptionally stable.
He took only one small step back before quickly regaining his balance.
It was a young man dressed in a gray cloak.
His hood was pulled low, making it impossible to see his face.
In the instant the collision occurred, his body visibly tensed.
His right hand moved with a speed that was almost a blur, pressing toward something under his cloak at his waist—the instinctive defensive or sword-drawing posture of someone highly trained in the face of sudden danger.
However, when he saw that the person who had bumped into him was just a young girl sitting on the ground, clutching her wrist with a pained expression, his sudden, sharp aura quickly dissipated.
He cast a quick glance around to ensure he hadn’t caused a larger commotion or drawn attention before looking down at Aurelia.
Under the shadow of the hood, one could only see a slightly thin jaw and pale, bloodless lips.
Enduring the pain, Aurelia tried to push herself up with her uninjured left hand.
At the same time, she felt a surge of irritation at the stranger’s unapologetic attitude after knocking someone over.
Yet, before she could say anything or wait for a response, the cloaked youth did something completely unexpected.
He seemed suddenly startled by something, or perhaps he had recalled something extremely urgent.
He jerked his head around, his gaze scanning the depths of the narrow fork he had just emerged from with terror.
Immediately after, he muttered a low curse.
His voice was muffled, filled with an irrepressible tension and panic.
He didn’t even spare Aurelia another glance.
Or rather, at this moment, the girl he had knocked down simply didn’t exist in his eyes.
He turned abruptly, intending to dash toward the flow of people on the main street with an exaggerated movement.
But he forgot, or perhaps simply had no time to care, that Aurelia was currently swaying as she tried to stand up using her left hand for support.
She was positioned directly in the path of his escape.
“Wait — !”
Aurelia only had time to voice half a syllable.
*Thud!*
There was another dull impact, heavier and more sudden than the first.
The force of the youth’s sudden turn slammed into the side of Aurelia’s half-risen body.
She felt a massive force strike her from the side, and the little strength she had just gathered instantly shattered.
She was sent sprawling to the side once more.
This time, she couldn’t use her hands to buffer the fall.
Her right shoulder and back hit the cold cobblestones hard, and her vision momentarily went dark from the impact.
‘Hiss… damn! Where did this bastard come from!? Are you blind!? You didn’t see a whole person standing right here??’
Rubbing her right shoulder, Aurelia gritted her teeth and cursed the youth in her heart.
Besides the agonizing pain in her right wrist from the first fall, the impact on her right shoulder and back was also quite severe.
And to think, tonight was her first day on the job.
‘I guess I have no choice but to endure it…’
Back at the attic, she had to grip the rough wall tightly with her left hand as she climbed the slippery, steep stairs.
When she pushed open the creaking wooden door and returned to the small space that was temporarily hers, she practically collapsed onto the bare, hard wooden bed.
‘Absolutely rotten luck…’
She cursed silently in her heart, not just at the bastard in the cloak who had hit her twice, but also at her own luck, at Laurence for not giving her a chance to explain, and at the God who sent her to this world—if such a being even existed.
However, complaining wouldn’t solve anything.
She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, the 20 years of her ordinary previous life and her experiences as an Adventurer Logistics Officer in this life had taught her one thing.
No matter how bad the situation was, deal with what you could first.
There was still some time before her 5:30 PM appointment with Boss Andre. She might as well take this opportunity to get some rest.
Time flowed slowly through the pain and her half-asleep state.
It wasn’t until the sky outside the window turned a deep blue and the faint sound of a bell echoed from the distant docks that Aurelia regained her senses.
She rubbed her aching, heavy head.
“Hiss… why does my head hurt so much? Could this thing have side effects…”
Aurelia lifted her right hand and looked at the ring.
The patterns on it were still faintly pulsing, and she couldn’t take it off even if she tried.
The Disaster Source had been quiet for several days now.
This sense of peace made Aurelia temporarily abandon the thought of potential side effects.
她 flexed her right wrist. It was still swollen and painful, making it impossible to exert force, but her fingers could still manage fine movements.
“Adjust your mindset. Work, work! It’s the first day on the job, do your best!”
She headed down the stairs, crossed the alley, and used her key to open the tavern door.
The smell of beer and spices immediately rushed toward her.
The main hall was still empty and quiet.
The fireplace was cold, and only a few high windows allowed the faint twilight to filter in, casting long shadows on the lightly dusted floor.
There was still some time before opening.
Aurelia wiped away a layer of dust with her hand, turned to the storage room for cleaning tools, and proactively began cleaning the tavern.
Just as she swept the last bit of dust into the dustpan and raised the back of her hand to wipe away sweat, she caught a glimpse of the heavy oak door out of the corner of her eye.
At some point, it had been pushed open just a crack.
A figure leaned against the doorframe—a man who looked to be in his 40s, or perhaps older.
His hair was a grayish-white streaked with silver, neatly parted down the middle.
His face was lean and refined, yet kept very clean and tidy.
He wore a set of simple but high-quality black casual clothes with a brown leather vest thrown loosely over them.
His arms were crossed over his chest, giving him a somewhat lazy appearance.
‘When did he get here? And… who is he? A customer?’
She quickly adjusted her expression, put down the dustpan and broom, and offered a slightly reserved and puzzled smile.
“Good evening, sir. The tavern isn’t officially open for business yet. If you need a meal or a drink, you might have to wait a moment. Or… are you waiting for Boss Andre?”
Her voice was steady and her manners were polite, maintaining the image of a diligent newcomer who was working hard despite her injuries.
However, the gray-haired man slightly parted his mouth, looking as if he had discovered some kind of treasure.
“That fellow Andre certainly knows how to pick them.”
He finally spoke, his articulation clear, carrying a vibrancy that seemed out of place for his age.
“Working so hard even while injured? Is he paying you a very high wage?”
“Huh? A day’s… I haven’t asked yet. Today is my first day…”
‘Hiss! That’s right! I forgot to ask how much the daily wage is! I just took the money and ran. What if that money was an advance for several days, or even 10 or 20 days worth of work!?’
Hearing Aurelia’s words, the gray-haired man covered his mouth and suddenly let out a snort of laughter.
“Haha… Interesting, truly interesting!”
He lowered his hand, his mouth curling into an even wider smile.
The grin washed away some of the weariness on his face, making him look more like an old mischief.
“You dared to take the job without even asking about the pay, and you’re working this hard while carrying injuries. Little girl, are you so desperate for money that you’ve lost your mind, or do you simply think that brat Andre looks like an honest man who won’t cheat you?”
Aurelia hesitated for a moment, looking up at the man who was a full head taller than her, trying to defend herself.
But after thinking it over, she finally spoke in a low voice.
“I… I need this job. Mr. Andre gave me an opportunity when I needed it and even gave me an advance. I’m very grateful. As for the pay… I believe Mr. Andre will follow the rules.”
The gray-haired man raised an eyebrow, appearing satisfied with her reaction.
“Rules? That brat does indeed follow the rules when he works.”
Then, he looked at Aurelia again, adopting the tone of an elder giving a lecture.
“But you certainly are thick-headed, little girl. Plenty of silly girls like you get scammed every year. You’re just lucky you ran into us.”
Aurelia gave a dry laugh, twirling her black hair with her fingertips, looking a bit at a loss.
“Ahaha… Thank you, sir. I—I understand.”
Just then, the heavy oak door of the tavern was slammed open from the outside.
The door panel collided solidly with the bridge of the nose of the man who was leaning defenselessly against the wall behind it.
“Hmm…?”
The person who pushed the door open was none other than a puzzled-looking Andre.
He stopped in his tracks, his gaze sweeping over the man’s hand clutching his face and his slightly reddened nose, then looked at Aurelia, who was standing there in a daze in her simple dress.
Finally, his gaze returned to the man.
“…Why are you here?”
Andre’s speaking speed was slightly faster than usual, and he rarely led with a question rather than a direct instruction.
He let go of the door handle, pulling it shut behind him, and asked in a flat tone, “Got hit?”
“No kidding!”
The man lowered his hand, the tip of his nose sporting a red patch.
He hissed and winced as he inhaled, glaring at Andre.
His voice sounded a bit nasal because of his stuffed nose.
“Can’t you use your eyes when you walk through a door, kid? You almost collapsed my noble bridge! Do you have any idea how much effort it takes to maintain a face that is so handsome despite being weathered by time?”
He grumbled, but his words… sounded incredibly vain and were laced with a teasing undertone.
Andre remained indifferent to the complaints, simply stating, “I didn’t expect you to be leaning so close to the door.”
He paused, glanced at the closed windows, and added, “Besides, you usually don’t use the front entrance.”
“I was in a good mood today and wanted to see the view from the front door. Is that a crime?”
The man rubbed his nose, his gaze shifting to Aurelia, who was trying her best to shrink into the background. He instantly perked up again.
“Besides, if I hadn’t used the front door, would I have discovered this interesting little thing you picked up? Working herself to death for you without even asking about the pay, and trying so hard despite her injuries… tsk, tsk…”
Andre’s gaze shifted back to Aurelia.
At that moment, she was looking down, holding a broom, and aimlessly sweeping a small pile of dust back and forth.
“What is your name?”
“Eh?”
Aurelia was startled, only then realizing she had never mentioned her name.
“I am Aurelia. I don’t have a surname.”
However, the gray-haired man looked as if he had heard something incredibly amusing.
His face, which had been scrunched up from the pain in his nose, instantly smoothed out as his gaze darted back and forth between Andre and Aurelia.
“Wait, wait, wait — “
He raised one hand in a “stop” gesture while the other still clutched his nose, but his expression was completely overtaken by amusement.
“You brat… you dared to pick someone up and give her an advance without even knowing her name? You even gave her the key to the tavern?”
His voice trembled as he suppressed his laughter, his gaze moving between Andre’s frowning face and Aurelia’s awkward expression.
“And you, little girl, you didn’t even fully understand the pay or the specific duties, yet you’re working your heart out while covered in injuries? Hahahaha!”
The more he spoke, the more he wanted to laugh.
Finally, he let go of his nose and burst into a boisterous laugh, shaking his head.
“Brilliant! Simply brilliant! I was wondering why this seemed so entertaining! After all that, it turns out you two are… one was brave enough to pick her up, and the other was brave enough to follow!”