Chapter 23: A Midnight Encounter

“Come here, Xiluo’er.”

Eve’s words froze Xiluo’er in place.

‘Oh no,’ she thought. ‘I haven’t even come up with an excuse yet, and now I’ve really been caught!’

What should she do now? Turn around and run immediately?

That wouldn’t work. She wasn’t confident she could escape Eve’s attack range quickly, especially from such a short distance.

Xiluo’er was well aware of Eve’s capabilities as a hero. If she had time to prepare, she might stand a chance. But in this situation, she had no hope of winning.

‘Perhaps I should just be sensible… and beg for mercy?’ she pondered. ‘While that would be difficult to explain to the Chaos Cult, at least it would buy me another week of life, wouldn’t it?’

Aside from being a mole for a short while, she hadn’t formed any deep-seated enmity with Eve. Surely, Eve wouldn’t be too harsh on her… right?

Xiluo’er wasn’t entirely sure herself. Although Eve was much friendlier to her now than she was to “Xiluo,” Xiluo’er was acutely aware of Eve’s ruthlessness when facing an enemy.

Thus, Xiluo’er dragged her feet, inching towards the bed.

“Um, Sister Eve…”

Just as she was formulating a ‘I confess’ opening in her mind, and before she could say anything, Xiluo’er felt her head being pulled into Eve’s embrace.

Xiluo’er’s heart leaped, and she instinctively squeezed her eyes shut.

‘My life is over!’

From the way Eve was holding her, it seemed she didn’t even want to give Xiluo’er a chance to argue, intending to snap her neck in an instant.

However, after a few seconds of anticipation, the imagined twist of her neck never came.

Xiluo’er merely felt her body lighten as Eve lifted her entirely onto the bed.

“Go back to sleep.”

Eve’s soft voice reached her ears, and Xiluo’er felt a blanket being pulled over her.

‘Hmm? She didn’t attack me?’

Although she didn’t understand why, after slightly opening her eyes and seeing Eve’s somewhat concerned gaze, Xiluo’er decided to keep quiet.

It didn’t matter what Eve misunderstood. She could think whatever she liked, as long as she wasn’t going to chew her up and swallow her.

Watching Xiluo’er tightly close her eyes in her arms, Eve sighed inwardly.

‘This poor child.’

It seemed Xiluo’er had suffered from insomnia the night before, and now she had secretly snuck out again. She must be homesick.

After all, she was still just a teenager, drifting alone for so long. It was natural to miss home.

Eve recalled her own past, when she had just been separated from her sister and hadn’t yet been taken in by the Adventurer’s Guild. She, too, had been like Xiluo’er, unable to sleep at night, longing for home and family. Now, she deeply understood Xiluo’er’s feelings.

There was just one thing Eve didn’t understand. When she had hugged Xiluo’er earlier, why did the little one suddenly grasp her clothes so tightly?

It was as if she were afraid of something, but Eve wasn’t a monster; she wouldn’t chew her up and eat her.

****

Moving through the city’s shadows, Xiluo’er agilely hopped off a low wall and couldn’t help but let out a massive yawn.

Hidden beneath her black cloak and plain mask were her prominent dark circles.

She was so sleepy!

After the little mishap last night, Xiluo’er had intended to obediently listen to Eve and get some good sleep. However, she had overlooked a crucial detail.

Eve’s sleeping habits were simply abysmal.

Forced to be held like an octopus hugging a pillow all night, Xiluo’er hadn’t slept a wink.

Counting the torment from Freya the night before, her current state was truly terrible.

Yet, even so, she still had to go out.

Xiluo’er needed to visit the black market to check on Red Spider’s recent gains.

Before they parted ways at the black market last time, Red Spider had offered to help Xiluo’er look for clues regarding the missing persons case. Xiluo’er had initially been worried about not having any reward to offer Red Spider, only for Red Spider to propose helping her for free.

This immediately put Xiluo’er on guard, as Red Spider’s relationship with her in the original story wasn’t this good. If they were merely using each other, Red Spider wouldn’t be so kind as to help her for free.

Honestly, if Red Spider had asked for some compensation, Xiluo’er would have felt more at ease.

How did that saying go? Free things often come with a higher price…

However, Red Spider had simply waved her hand, saying, “The commission I’m investigating happens to overlap a little with this missing persons case you care about. Helping you investigate is just a side task, it’s no big deal.”

“If you really feel bad about it, just consider it a favor you owe me~”

To be honest, Xiluo’er didn’t want to owe anyone a favor, but she was truly penniless at the moment. Speaking of which, didn’t the Chaos Cult provide any mission funds?

‘Oh, the Chaos Cult’s mission is to infiltrate Eve’s side, not to investigate missing persons cases,’ she realized. ‘Never mind then.’

Turning a corner, Xiluo’er gracefully scaled the high wall of a narrow alley.

Two more alleys ahead, and she would reach the entrance to the black market.

She wondered where Kana City got so many alleys. Xiluo’er felt that if someone were to commit some mischief in the deeper alleys, people on the main street wouldn’t even notice.

As if to confirm Xiluo’er’s thoughts, the next second, she heard a small shriek from not far away.

Following the source of the sound, Xiluo’er saw a girl being cornered against a wall by two scruffy-looking men at the end of an alley, not far from the black market.

What was happening was self-evident.

“I, I really don’t have any money on me.”

From a distance, Xiluo’er vaguely heard the girl’s voice, trembling with fear.

“It’s fine if you don’t have money, you can use something else to compensate, hehe…”

Moving a short distance closer, the voice of one of the men became much clearer.

“R-really? As long as you let me go, I’ll do anything…”

“Anything? Really anything?”

“Really, anything—I’ll do anything.”

Beneath her mask, Xiluo’er frowned.

It was true, as Rona had said, the neglected corners of Kana City were prone to breeding such dark, difficult-to-clean trash.

“Alright then, you come with us, help us with a small favor, and then we’ll let you go.”

“I-it’s a deal, then. It’s not some strange favor, is it?”

While Xiluo’er was still hesitating, the girl had already been cornered by the two thugs with no escape route.

As one of the men’s hands was about to reach for the girl’s shoulder, Xiluo’er couldn’t help but feel a little worried.

‘Why does this girl seem excessively naive?’ she thought.

Anyone with a bit of common sense could see the ill intentions of these two. Yet, she still dared to follow them?

However, Xiluo’er quickly noticed something else.

This girl’s voice… it was very familiar. She felt like she had heard it somewhere before.

‘Do I actually know someone this innocent?’