Chapter 24: The Girl Who’s Bad at Socializing

After a period of reorganization and repair, the caravan continued its journey toward the Holy City.

The small episode from earlier had cost the head merchant a portion of his income, and he was currently in another carriage, calculating his losses with tears in his eyes.

As for Qin Yu’s side, Yin Feixue continued to rest inside her Bloodwood Coffin, while Luna sat there truly like a doll in her blue-and-white maid outfit, staring at Qin Yu with eyes full of resentment.

“…”

“…”

Qin Yu noticed that the girl whose ID was [Doctor’s Heart] was not very good at socializing.

“Luna, stop scaring her.”

Luna looked puzzled. “What does that have to do with me?”

“You’ve had a look on your face like you want to eat someone this whole time; you’ve scared our new friend into silence.”

Thanks to him teasing Luna, the girl couldn’t help but let out a small smile.

“Should I call you ‘Doctor’s Heart,’ or…?”

“Just call me Xiao Ya.”

The girl was no longer as formal and responded to Qin Yu.

Luna continued to glare at Qin Yu; this guy was actually using her as a conversation starter—how detestable, he really was treating her like a tool.

“Then you can just call me Qin Yu. Between your ID and the starting class you chose, it seems you really aspire to a profession that saves the dying and heals the injured.”

“Mhm…”

Xiao Ya nodded; she was still not very good at communicating with others, only answering when asked.

Since they were essentially playing a game, Qin Yu didn’t ask much about Xiao Ya’s real-life circumstances, turning instead to questions about the game.

“There must have been a lot of people going to the Radiant Sanctuary, right?”

“Yes.”

“After all, things like angels are very attractive; a high population means it’s hard to snag resources, especially for a solo traveler like you…”

“Mhm.”

Qin Yu felt a bit helpless; chatting with someone like this was honestly quite tiring.

“What was your final evaluation rank when you came out of the Radiant Sanctuary?”

“B.”

“Then your aptitude is only 5. It’s a bit better than the minimum C-rank, but it’s still not quite enough…”

Entering his “pro player” state, Qin Yu began to offer guidance to the newcomer.

“With an aptitude of 5, you could potentially become an Evangelist for the Holy See’s Light Faction if you work hard, but that would be the limit…”

An aptitude of 5 was just enough to reach the threshold of an elite unit, but that was still just an elite soldier—incapable of becoming an existence that controls its own fate.

In his previous life, Qin Yu had received an A, with an aptitude of only 6, just one tier away from becoming a Fate-breaker; Xiao Ya was two tiers away, and without some fortuitous encounter, her future was truly bleak.

However, healer-type units didn’t have to fight, so there was at least a certain degree of safety.

With the mindset of a high-level player, Qin Yu considered a lot of things on Xiao Ya’s behalf.

“It’s fine, I only play games occasionally…”

Xiao Ya didn’t think as much as Qin Yu did; she only wanted to experience the feeling of saving lives in the game, as it made her feel a bit better.

She didn’t intend to play very deeply, as she had more important things to do.

“I suppose I overthought it.”

Qin Yu really wanted to say that while this was a game, it was no joke; when game and reality intertwined, no one would be able to stay on the sidelines.

The more one obtained now, the greater the chance of survival then, and the better one could control their own destiny.

On the bumping carriage, Xiao Ya lay down on the straw mat to rest, and Qin Yu didn’t disturb her.

Once they reached the Holy City, Xiao Ya planned to log off and rest for a while; she wasn’t as wealthy as Qin Yu and couldn’t use a gaming pod to play.

Qin Yu also lay down, only to see Luna staring at him with ill intent.

“Standing like that, you’re going to let me see what color your underwear is.”

Luna glared at Qin Yu and then sat down.

“Is it really necessary to be so hostile toward me?” Qin Yu asked helplessly.

Hadn’t he just played the villain once?

Besides, he hadn’t done anything to Luna afterward—at most, he had just held her while he slept.

He really only held her, doing nothing else; had he tried anything, Yin Feixue would likely have burst out to interrupt.

“Hmph, human. If the day ever comes when I regain my freedom, I will definitely kill you first, followed by that vampire!”

Luna kept making harsh threats, but with her youthful appearance, they didn’t seem very frightening—if anything, she was a bit cute.

“Don’t be so murderous. Be a bit more harmonious, and I’ll give you something interesting.”

Qin Yu remembered he had something he hadn’t used yet and brought it out.

Luna saw Qin Yu hand her a card and didn’t know what he intended to do.

[Would you like to use the Small Skill Draw Card?]

This was a bonus card for purchasing a gaming pod, allowing one to draw a small skill.

If one drew something good, it could establish a huge advantage in the early stages; however, Qin Yu had clearly forgotten about it, preoccupied with exploring the Blood Soul Realm and his massive harvest.

By now, a small skill was basically just icing on the cake.

“Use!”

After choosing to use it, the card dissipated into points of light floating around Qin Yu and Luna; now, they had to choose one point of light from among them.

“Luna, why don’t you pick one for me~”

Luna hesitated; she had originally thought Qin Yu wanted to show her something beautiful, only to have him pull this stunt.

She then grabbed a point of light, which Qin Yu took from her.

[Congratulations! You have drawn the Expert Cooking Skill!]

“…”

Seeing this skill, Qin Yu was dumbfounded; he somewhat regretted letting Luna draw the card for him—this life skill was a bit too much…

Whatever.

After all, he was a “butler”; with an Expert Cooking skill, there would be no problem making meals for Yin Feixue, and it would save money on expensive dishes, which was a good thing.

“So, what skill did you get?”

Luna asked with some curiosity.

“Expert Cooking.”

“Looks like my luck is pretty good. From now on, you’re in charge of the cooking!”

A somewhat smug Luna patted Qin Yu.

Qin Yu noticed that her affinity for him had recovered to a normal value, reaching -10.

The caravan encountered no further attacks along the way, successfully arriving at the Holy City by noon the next day.

The towering white city walls caught Xiao Ya’s eye; this magnificent city was the capital of the Holy See, housing a population of over a million.

In the sky above the city, winged humanoid beings patrolled; they were the Angelic Army sent by the Radiant Sanctuary to protect the Holy See.

With a long cry, a Gryphon Legion whistled overhead, flying into the Holy City.

Additionally, troops in bright silver armor patrolled the perimeter; those were the Church’s Knight Legions.

Seeing these troops, the members of the caravan felt much more at ease.

“Xiao Xue, remember to hide your aura.”

“No need to remind me, servant.”

Yin Feixue withdrew her aura, putting on the air of a noble young lady, and successfully fooled the inspecting soldiers.

However, things hit a bit of a snag with Luna.

Because her body was an automaton and she hadn’t reached Tier 7, she couldn’t hide the fact that she was a doll, leading the soldiers to stop her.

“Apologies, please present the relevant documentation.”

Luna, incensed, wanted to strike out but was forcibly restrained by Qin Yu; starting a fight here would likely lead to them being wanted by the Holy See.

Because automata were products of the Alchemists’ Union, they had to be registered—whether combat-oriented or non-combat—to prevent people from using them for evil.

Buyers who purchased an automaton would also receive a corresponding certificate.

Of course, some alchemists made their own automata and didn’t register them; in those cases, one needed to present an Alchemist’s Badge.

“Officer, please come here for a moment.”

Qin Yu acted very cautiously as he signaled for the officer in charge of the soldiers to come over.

The officer approached warily and saw the badge Qin Yu produced.

“You…”

“Keep it low key, low key…”

The officer gave him a knowing look, then bowed respectfully and let Qin Yu’s group through.

“My apologies for the offense just now. Please, enter!”

The other soldiers were utterly confused, having no idea what kind of madness had suddenly possessed their superior to make his attitude change so drastically…