Chapter 10

“You’ve been going out a lot lately?”

That’s what I want to say.

My loose lips nearly blurted it out again.

I barely swallowed the words that almost leaped out the moment I saw that tall bastard’s face.

“It’s just so fun outside.”

“Well, you were bedridden for a long time.”

Kikal furrowed his brows in mock pity. I marveled silently at the sight.

Wow, I just want to smash that forehead flat.

“Still, you need to be careful. The outside world isn’t like the estate. Not everyone’s friendly toward you, and…”

Safer than this dump where you slip poison into my food, right?

“Even if you’re feeling better these days, your body was sick for so long.”

Kikal’s gaze brimmed with feigned concern.

To my eyes, knowing the truth, it just looked like vile hypocrisy.

“I know.”

But I decided to stab at those eyes later.

Just exposing who ordered the poisoned soup would plunge this little family into chaos, but the time wasn’t right yet.

For now, no matter what anyone said, Kikal was the heir.

If the heir got tangled in a legitimacy scandal and vanished right away, who would take over as the family successor?

That second brother or whatever, the B-rank knight who’s way below Kikal?

Or me, the commoner?

I wasn’t the only one thinking that. It wouldn’t be too late to announce my recovery and splash poison soup in his face once everyone knew I was fine.

More importantly…

“But really, your health’s okay these days, right?”

Kikal asked again, his worry transparent as glass.

Why hasn’t the soup had any effect yet?

I planned to let him stew in confusion for a while—it was almost funny watching his puzzled face.

“Of course! It’s all thanks to your concern, brother.”

I flashed him a sweet smile.

Wasn’t it touching to see his dying little sister regain her health, cheeks flushed with color?

But Kikal just cleared his throat awkwardly and turned away.

Poisoning his own sister? What a trash bastard.

“Well, have a safe outing then.”

Kikal waved dismissively and jogged off to the training grounds.

What, getting antsy because I’m perfectly fine?

I watched his scurrying figure with a smirk, then opened the hunter chat.

How exactly are you gonna “handle” it?

But instead of asking more, I beckoned the knight.

“Today, I want to stroll through the bustling streets in front of the estate. I heard there’s a big market—let’s check that out too.”

“Right away, miss.”

Edith and Millisha, the knights glued to my side, were surprisingly sharp for B-rankers. Made them great escorts.

Plus, B-rank pure dealers? Adorable.

And sometimes, watching them train, I’d see their sword forms glitch into skill activations.

If they had system windows, they wouldn’t mess up their forms—but apparently, no system meant more errors.

That’s the path for Forlang Sword Style Three Forms, B-rank skill.

I could see it clearly. Maybe because Senia de Forlang already knew the skill.

After correcting them a few times, Millisha and Edith looked at me with even more reverence.

“Thank you so much!”

Especially Edith, who’d never trained directly under Senia. Such cute B-rank dealers.

—Clunk!

The carriage was ready in no time, heading to the bustling streets before the castle. The same spot where I’d met Jooian before.

Today, instead of a high-resolution whatever, a grand market sprawled out.

“Oh…”

Probably different from Korean markets, right?

Once the carriage stopped, I slipped the door open before Millisha could, stepping out lightly.

Wearing pants for outings made movement easy.

The best part of House Forlang being low nobility? No frilly, lace-loaded dresses like other noble ladies.

—Thud.

Maybe it was the market’s lively vibe, but my footsteps rang out cheerfully on the ground.

“Miss, allow me to escort you.”

Millisha hurried over, surprised, but I waved her off.

“I’m fine. I’ve been feeling much better lately.”

Besides, the person I wanted to meet was right nearby—no need for escorts.

A familiar face stood at a shop just by where the carriage parked.

Even if we were possessing RP dungeon characters, this was still a dungeon at heart.

Our appearances matched the faces of our hosts.

In other words, no way I wouldn’t recognize Hunter So Yeri, no matter what she wore.

“Oh.”

The flashy mage robe caught my eye first.

Deep crimson with silver embroidery—So Yeri’s favorite style.

Above it, black hair. She used to dye it red, saying S-ranks don’t get split ends and hoarding top-tier dye. What changed after entering the dungeon?

Or did she dye it to avoid recognition?

Probably the latter.

“Hmm.”

Golden eyes sparkled beneath the black locks. She’d clearly spotted something fun.

Curious So Yeri had a ton of quirky emotion skills thanks to that curiosity.

“This one… and this.”

As I approached, her eyes gleamed while picking items.

That’s the effect of Appraisal (B).

Pretending not to notice, I glanced around the shop’s wares.

“Pick something quick if you’re buying.”

The merchant seemed annoyed.

Fair enough—fussy browsers who don’t buy would piss anyone off.

But I knew better.

This merchant was about to grin ear to ear.

“…I’ll take everything in between too. Bag it all up.”

The merchant’s eyes widened at So Yeri’s words.

“P-pardon?”

“All of them. I want everything.”

So Yeri smiled prettily.

Yeah, So Yeri doesn’t hold back on shopping sprees.

She buys whatever catches her eye!

“R-right away!”

The merchant beamed instantly, pulling out a large paper bag.

As he carefully packed, So Yeri turned to me.

“Anything you want, miss?”

I expected a blunt “Wanna buy something?” but her tone was soft.

The familiar face with unfamiliar speech nearly made me burst out laughing.

“No, just browsing.”

I managed a dainty noble-lady smile.

“Browsing?”

So Yeri tilted her head, genuinely baffled.

The real So Yeri would’ve slapped my back and dragged me off yelling “Let’s go!”

Was ‘Clona Eisen’ naturally this quiet?

“Yes. I was too sick to come out for a while.”

I noticed Millisha and Edith’s faces fall.

Wait, why are you two looking so sad?

“Oh my.”

So Yeri’s mouth parted slightly—way more pitiful than the knights’ reactions.

“That must hurt.”

Her trembling fingertips brushed my shoulder.

Wait, why is she acting like this?

Not So Yeri’s usual style at all.

Of course. There was a reason for the out-of-character behavior.

I swallowed my laughter.

“Looks like we have some time… Shall I show you around, miss?”

The So Yeri before me—no, Clona Eisen—and the real So Yeri were showing split personalities via hunter chat.

“Sure.”

I nodded, holding back a grin.

Then Millisha and Edith approached cautiously from behind.

“Miss.”

They looked ready to dissuade me.

Understandable— their charge was about to follow a total stranger.

But splitting from So Yeri now would be a problem.

I gave my cute B-rank girls a soft smile.

“Just for a bit. It’s been so long since I got out.”

I added an excited lilt.

Not from the market, but from meeting So Yeri—but the knights wouldn’t know that.

“Understood.”

Millisha and Edith backed off with troubled expressions.

Since it was my skill window, I saw twin swords appear over their heads. Target: So Yeri, naturally.

I swallowed a laugh while checking the system.

Aigoo, so cute.

I could see So Yeri barely holding back her laugh.

The real her would’ve cackled wildly.

She never minced words, always expressive within polite bounds.

I could almost hear her giggling.

But right now, she was Clona Eisen, mage tower lord.

Apparently a sweet, gentle one at that.

“The market’s a bit noisy, but…”

She continued, finally suppressing her laugh.

“If any trashy punks bother you, I’ll handle them. Don’t worry.”

I froze at that.

So Yeri froze too.

“Oops.”

She covered her mouth lightly, smiling awkwardly.

“What a pain.”

Hey, that just slipped too, didn’t it?

Good thing it was quiet—penalty crisis averted.

This journey(?) was gonna be anything but easy.

The eye behind the monocle gleamed as it watched the chat.

Jooian couldn’t tear his gaze from Shin Jae-heon’s message for a long while.

The words felt oddly sticky on his tongue.

“You’re right, Hunter-nim Shin Jae-heon.”

He murmured lowly.

“It’s bothering me too.”

If someone targeted a teammate from the same hunter party, it was bound to grate.

Especially lowlifes who resorted to poison because they lacked skill.

But those words lingered strangely.

“It’s bothering me.”

As Jooian rolled them in his mouth—

“Holy one.”

He turned at the call. The golden chain linked to his monocle glinted.