“Good morning, Xi Ya.”
“…Good morning.”
Xi Ya staggered to the first floor of the inn and collapsed into a chair with a thud, looking completely drained.
“Xi Ya?”
‘Who’s calling me?’
“Xi Ya?”
“…Ah! Dailina, what is it?”
“Xi Ya, did you not sleep well last night?”
“Mm… let me sleep a bit more…”
Xi Ya’s eyelids felt incredibly heavy; he couldn’t open them at all.
He hadn’t just slept poorly last night—he hadn’t slept at all.
After escaping the clutches of Feili, the Female Sea King, he had forced himself to wait two hours in town before daring to return.
By the time he climbed back into his room and transformed, the sky was almost light.
How was he supposed to sleep?
His body was already weak; injured during the day and staying up all night, he felt half-dead.
Luckily, Duoluolisi’s magic-drained state hadn’t carried over to him; otherwise, he would have already been meeting the Main Goddess Venus.
“Haah~”
Feili came down the stairs yawning, obviously not fully awake either.
“Huh? Feili, did you not sleep well either?”
“I was too excited last night; I couldn’t sleep.”
Feili rubbed her eyes and looked at Xi Ya lying on the chair.
Somewhat puzzled, she said, “Oh? Xi Ya, what’s wrong with you?”
Xi Ya was startled awake by Feili’s voice.
‘You’re the one who caused this and you’re asking me what’s wrong? Who kept me up all night? And you have the nerve to ask?’
The angrier he got, the less he cared about Feili’s attitude toward him yesterday.
He had to let off steam.
“Last night, someone came to my room and told me a ghost story, which kept me awake for a long time. Then, when I finally managed to get to sleep in the dead of night, some lunatic started making all kinds of racket—clanging and banging like they were wrecking the place. Even when I lived in the slums, I’ve never seen anyone that crazy.”
Xi Ya was about to add, “And that lunatic ended up giggling like they were in height,” but he thought better of it.
If Feili hadn’t actually giggled and caught him on that detail, he’d be screwed.
“Is that so? Well, I’m sorry then~”
Feili’s voice seemed a bit shaky.
‘Apologizing? So you admit it, huh?’
Xi Ya rubbed his temples, deliberately showing a resentful expression.
‘When you’re in the right, you can speak boldly. What can Feili do to me? She’s not going to cut me down, is she?’
The air was silent for half a minute.
Xi Ya sensed something off.
He opened his eyes and saw Feili looking perfectly amiable, but a vein was practically popping on her forehead.
She walked past Xi Ya and showed him a glimpse of a sword hilt, her right hand already ready to grasp it.
Xi Ya decisively closed his eyes, tilted his head back, and pretended to be dead asleep on the spot.
‘Cowardice wins.’
‘Already pretending to sleep. Can’t wake me up.’
“Xi Ya, you can’t sleep anymore~ We’re going to meet the Lord.”
“You two go ahead. I’ll catch up on some sleep…”
He was really sleepy now.
“Not happening~”
Xi Ya heard the sound of a sword being drawn and immediately stood up without a moment’s hesitation.
“Okay, let’s go.”
“So Xi Ya isn’t sleepy after all~”
“Yeah, I don’t know what happened, but I suddenly got energized.”
Dailina looked at the two, who seemed so different from yesterday, and found it strange.
‘Did something happen between Xi Ya and Feili?
***
After enjoying breakfast in the Lord’s Mansion’s dining room, the three arrived at the meeting hall.
The breakfast here was simple—basically just toast bread, and the taste was mediocre.
But for someone like Xi Ya, born in the slums, even this was far better than the constant hunger and only drinking that lousy porridge.
Though he was too sleepy to have much appetite.
Anyway, after filling his stomach, he felt a bit more awake.
“Is everyone here? Huh? Why isn’t the Captain of the Guard here?”
The Lord looked around the meeting hall, saw the Captain of the Guard’s seat empty, and turned to ask the Advisor beside him.
“The Captain of the Guard… he said his back is a bit uncomfortable today.”
“I see. He’s been working hard lately. Let him rest well.”
Xi Ya was stunned by what he heard below.
‘Back is a bit uncomfortable?’
‘Is it really just a bit uncomfortable?’
‘Given the noise last night, if I were told today to attend the Captain of the Guard’s funeral, I wouldn’t be surprised at all.’
‘I have to admit, that Captain of the Guard is tough. Sturdy body. No wonder he’s the captain.’
Xi Ya sneaked a glance at Feili.
Feili sat there fiddling with a button on her school uniform, acting as if nothing had happened.
‘And she has the nerve to play around?’
‘Do you know you almost killed the Lord’s capable general?’
“Thank you to the three from Thorn Academy for assisting in clearing the monsters in the ancient ruins. Those monsters attacked the town repeatedly, causing us great losses. Your timely help has relieved the town of a major worry. I will report your performance to the academy truthfully.”
The Lord took the academy’s commission form from the Advisor and stamped it.
“Additionally, I have prepared a small token for you. I hope you will accept it.”
Xi Ya had been listening drowsily, but at those words, he perked up.
‘Money?’
‘Then I’m not sleepy at all.’
“You are too kind, Lord,” Dailina quickly waved her hand.
“Clearing the monsters was a mission assigned by the academy. We were just completing the task to earn credits. The Lord doesn’t need to prepare additional rewards for us.”
‘Don’t refuse!’
Xi Ya screamed internally.
He was desperately short on money.
‘Crawling out of the slums to study in the capital, tuition and living expenses all depend on scholarships. The sound of that money bag hitting the table—just from the noise, you can tell it’s heavy. At least it should cover three months of living expenses, right?’
He looked at Feili.
‘Feili probably doesn’t want to refuse either, right? She was also a commoner…’
Then he saw Feili also waving her hand.
‘Wait a minute.’
Xi Ya suddenly remembered that Feili had been adopted by Count Granville.
Like other nobles, she lived in the Count’s Mansion, wore custom-made uniforms, and had a carriage to take her around.
‘So after all that, he was the only real pauper?’
“Miss Dailina, you’re too serious. The academy’s commission is one thing; the town’s thanks are another. You risked your lives to help us. If you don’t accept even this small gesture, how can I, as Lord, face anyone in the future?”
The Lord smiled and shook his head, pushing three money bags toward them.
Dailina was still hesitating, but Feili had already reached out and picked up a money bag, weighing it in her hand, a slight smirk forming at the corner of her mouth.
“Then thank you very much, Lord.”
Xi Ya inwardly kowtowed to Feili.
‘As expected of a reborn one, you know how to accept money.’
Dailina saw that Feili had accepted, so she couldn’t keep refusing.
Xi Ya also unceremoniously took the money bag.
The heavy weight in his hand brought him a wave of satisfaction.
Then he weighed it and found that all three money bags felt the same weight.
‘Hiss~’
‘Why do I feel a bit guilty taking this much?’
Xi Ya began recalling his “achievements” over the past two days and realized he seemed to be the most useless one.
Entered the ruins—got injured by monsters—received treatment from Dailina—ventured deeper—got injured by deeper monsters—received treatment from Dailina…
He kept repeating this cycle, and in the end, he fell and got seriously injured, only to receive treatment from Dailina again.
‘Good grief.’
‘This is more than just slacking off—he’s a pure burden.’
‘How does he have the audacity to take this much?’
‘Xi Ya is just a carried winner!’
But then again, the three of them had only cleared the monsters on the upper floors of the ruins.
And last night, after transforming, he had cleared the entire ruins inside and out, even eliminating the huge threat of the magic bugs.
Also, the Demon God who was the culprit behind releasing the monsters—he had taken it away.
If not for him, this town would really be done for.
Xi Ya’s grip on the money bag tightened, and his gaze grew resolute.
‘Who is the real MVP?’
‘Xi Ya—he contributed the most.’
‘He is the MVP!’
‘At this rate, it seems like he even got too little?’