X
Rona’s anxious query made Serol shake her head.
“Time, Rona, time.”
“What charge did we arrest Red on?”
Rona pondered for a moment before continuing, “Inciting trouble and disturbing public order, Serol.”
Serol sighed, a hint of helplessness in her tone.
“Exactly. With just that charge, we can’t detain him for long, Rona.”
“But, but we both know Red is definitely involved in shady dealings behind the scenes!”
“However, we currently lack evidence to prove his wrongdoing. Rona, the law isn’t a unilateral decree to be manipulated at will.”
Serol rose to her feet and approached Rona.
“If I could, I’d gladly throw Red straight into prison, but we cannot do that.”
“Red is a cunning individual. We require more conclusive evidence to fully implicate him.”
Rona fell silent for a moment, lowering her head.
“My apologies, Serol. I was too impatient.”
“It’s alright,” Serol said, her gaze fixed on the young woman in knight’s attire before her. Then, abruptly, she continued, “Rona, how long have you been in Karna City?”
“Roughly… two years, perhaps?”
Rona looked up, perplexed, not quite grasping why Serol had suddenly brought this up.
“Indeed, it’s almost two years already. How swiftly time flies.”
A trace of wistfulness entered Serol’s voice.
“Given that, Rona, you must have gained a rather deep understanding of this city, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Karna City’s situation is unique. Sometimes, being too rigid, too insistent on absolute justice, simply won’t protect its citizens.”
“You must also be aware that we can’t fully eradicate the elements lurking in the city’s grey areas, nor can we completely sweep them clean.”
Serol sighed once more, clearly vexed by the persistent issue.
Rona, of course, understood this. During her tenure with Karna City’s guard, she had witnessed similar occurrences countless times.
“Yes… Serol, I understand.”
Yet… she simply couldn’t shake off a feeling of indignation.
Her hands, hanging at her sides, clenched into trembling fists. An unusual expression flickered across Rona’s face.
****
In the dead of night, Xiluo’er lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.
Her mind replayed the conversation she’d had with Red Spider earlier that day.
“But… Red just seems like a petty thug. He doesn’t quite fit the profile of a human-trafficking gangster.”
Earlier, after Xiluo’er posed that question, she watched Red Spider extend a finger and gently wave it before her eyes.
“Kitten Tail, you can’t be so superficial when looking at things.”
“From what I know, Red is far more cunning than he appears on the surface.”
“Rather, that thuggish demeanor is precisely his disguise.”
“You see, the moment you asked me, ‘He just seems like a petty thug,’ his objective was already achieved.”
‘Can’t be too… superficial, huh?’
Pondering this, Xiluo’er’s thoughts drifted to Rona.
‘Are my current perceptions of Rona also a bit too superficial?’
Of course, such questions yielded no immediate answers, and before long, Xiluo’er drifted into a deep sleep, still pondering.
Perhaps it was due to overthinking throughout the day, but as Xiluo’er slept, her head throbbed incessantly, as if… someone was constantly knocking on it.
*Thump-thump*, a dull sound echoed through the silence. Xiluo’er’s eyes shot open.
‘No, someone *was* actually knocking on my head!’
Though she had fallen asleep in the Adventurers’ Guild bed, upon opening her eyes, Xiluo’er saw only darkness before her.
‘Is this… my dream?’
Xiluo’er made this conjecture in her mind.
And the person who was constantly knocking on her head…
Xiluo’er focused her gaze. Before her, a translucent figure, its face contorted with resentment, repeatedly struck her head as if beating a drum.
Without a doubt, this figure was Freya.
After the transmigration, this unreliable deity had quickly fallen into slumber, leaving Xiluo’er to navigate the intricate and chaotic situation alone.
“What are you doing? Can’t you stop barging into other people’s dreams?”
Xiluo’er hastily retreated two steps, evading Freya’s flurry of punches.
“You, you dare to dodge, you devious scoundrel!”
Freya did not cease her actions; instead, she lunged at Xiluo’er with renewed vigor.
‘Is this person truly a deity…?’
Xiluo’er felt that Freya’s current tearful and boisterous demeanor bore no resemblance whatsoever to the concept of a “deity.”
“How dare you lecture me? I haven’t even settled the score with you for turning this body into *this*.”
Freya, seething with indignation, huffed and crossed her arms.
“I’ve already told you, this body’s transformation is *your* fault, not mine, the great deity’s!”
“Do you even know what kind of deity I am? Ignorant human.”
Xiluo’er honestly shook her head. How was she supposed to know such a thing?
Thereupon, Freya proudly puffed out her small chest.
“I, the great deity Freya, am the goddess of [Reproduction], you see.”
“And you, you scoundrel, exploited a loophole in the rules to drag me down—did you ever consider that a human body, as a vessel, simply cannot withstand the stature of a deity?”
“This body being backlash-transformed into a girl by my divine authority [Reproduction] is already a relatively fortunate outcome. If luck hadn’t been on our side, both of us would have been finished!”
At this point, Freya’s demeanor shifted, and she started crying and wailing once more.
“Now, I’ve been forcibly brought here by the rules, my power is less than a tenth of what it was, and I can’t even go back, boohoo, you scoundrel, compensate me…”
‘Oh, dear…’
Xiluo’er awkwardly scratched her head.
‘I just wanted to get the strongest cheat and live a carefree life. Who would’ve thought something like this would happen!’
‘Wait, no, Freya should also be blamed for not explaining things clearly back then, right?’
‘Who lets someone start playing without clearly explaining the rules?’
Xiluo’er failed to realize that a normal person wouldn’t attempt something that defied the game’s rules.
It was like Professor Oak asking you to choose one of three Pokémon, and you, in turn, chose Professor Oak himself.
It was completely playing outside the conventional rules.
Of course, if Professor Oak were replaced by a beautiful goddess like Freya… well, it somehow seemed much more reasonable.
“Um, so why are you in my dream? Have you had enough of your slumber?”
Xiluo’er awkwardly and abruptly changed the subject.
After realizing that becoming a girl was her own doing, she suddenly had no desire to delve deeper into the issue with Freya.
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