Chapter 28: The Elusive Black Card

Larry rubbed his nose, speaking awkwardly. “That was all in a past life.”

Ellis retorted indignantly, “Can you guarantee your old man won’t pull the same stunt in *this* life?!”

Larry’s gaze swept over Ellis’s beautiful figure. Her stunning face, usually divine, was now flushed crimson with anger, making her appear exceptionally adorable.

“I imagine such a thing couldn’t possibly happen this time,” he said instinctively.

“Hmm?”

Larry, realizing his blunder, quickly clarified, “Ah, what I mean is, in this life, our two families share a bond closer than kin. Such an outrageous act would be unthinkable.”

“Are you certain you won’t try to talk to me about this again?”

“Well…”

Larry averted his gaze.

“You scoundrel! Go find yourself a girlfriend right now!”

Ellis’s furious roar echoed across the heavens.

Larry was momentarily stunned, but he quickly regained his composure. Gripping Ellis’s shoulders, he glared at her and shouted, “Hey, are you being reasonable?! Don’t dump all the blame on me for not having a girlfriend! In the end, didn’t *you* also fail to find a boyfriend?! At least I have some dating experience; you’ve been a ‘single dog’ from start to finish, haven’t you?! If you just had a boyfriend, my dad wouldn’t even suspect such a relationship between us!”

“Ah, this…”

Ellis was momentarily flustered, muttering, “You know, everything is difficult at the beginning. Some things get easier after the first time, but that very first time is incredibly hard…”

Larry: ()

“To put it simply, you’re afraid to approach girls, aren’t you?”

Ellis: “…That’s right! So what! I’m a ‘single dog,’ and I’m proud!”

Seeing Ellis’s righteous indignation, Larry wore a look of disdain. “Honestly, you’re just a sore loser, yet you still have the nerve to mock me.”

‘This scoundrel!’

Ellis began to scheme wickedly in her mind. ‘Perhaps one day, when he’s not paying attention, I should slip some aphrodisiac into his food, then abduct one of his little fangirls and throw her directly onto his bed. Given Larry’s responsible nature, he’d be forced to accept it, whether he wanted to or not.’

‘What a brilliant idea! Why didn’t I think of it before?’

“Hey, what sordid, despicable trick are you cooking up in your head now?”

As close friends for many years, Larry only needed a glance at the shifting expressions on Ellis’s face to roughly guess the kind of things she was contemplating.

‘This guy’s intuition is truly sharp.’

Ellis equivocated, “Nothing, really. I was just… hehe.”

Just as Ellis was frantically concocting a way to deal with Larry, a knock suddenly echoed from outside the door.

“Ellis, Larry, are you two ready yet? I’ve finished packing.”

Meixia’s voice was like sweet dew after a long drought.

Ellis quickly responded, “We’re ready! We’ll be right out. Hurry up, Larry, stop dawdling!”

Larry: ( )

‘This woman definitely has something up her sleeve!’

Afterward, as planned, Larry disguised himself as Daisy and went to other areas to attract the attention of the Royal Army.

Meixia and Ellis, however, promptly reported him to the authorities after he had been gone for a while.

As expected, the Royal Army quickly mobilized, searching the area where Larry had been active. Larry, ‘quite accidentally,’ allowed some of his movements to be discovered by them.

Meixia and Ellis successfully claimed the bounty, a full 50,000 Kamo. While Ellis, who spent money like water, didn’t consider it much, getting something for free always brought immense joy.

For the next month, Meixia and Ellis resided in Sergo Highlands, waiting patiently for their target.

News of their presence there was also spread through the Adventurer’s Guild quest board.

To minimize uncertainties, Larry deliberately set the bounty for the black card very low: 100 Kamo.

This was the minimum bounty required for a quest posting.

It was an amount so paltry that even swindlers who relied on trickery to claim bounties wouldn’t be tempted.

Even Ellis’s black card, in terms of its material value alone, was worth over a hundred times that bounty.

This drastically narrowed down the pool of people who would accept the quest, to the point where, arguably, no one except Daisy would bother to claim it.

“But why? Why have we waited an entire month and still haven’t heard anything?!”

In a guesthouse in the town of Sergo Highlands, Ellis bit her small hand, crying out in confusion.

Meixia speculated, “After all, Daisy and her companions are being hunted. They probably wouldn’t risk going to the Adventurer’s Guild, where there are too many people and loose tongues.”

“I’ve already considered that,” Ellis said, looking glum. “That’s why I specifically had others spread the word. Logically, everyone in this small town should know about us, these ‘generous fools.’ Daisy, even if she avoids crowds, can’t completely cut herself off. Especially for daily necessities, she’d have to come to town to resupply. Sergo Highlands only has this one place for complete living supplies.”

Meixia was at a loss for words.

As Ellis pondered where her plan might have a loophole, a knock suddenly sounded at the door.

“Excuse me, are Miss Ellis and Miss Meixia staying inside? I’m here to complete the bounty quest.”

“Coming!”

Finally, after a long wait, there was news. Ellis excitedly rushed to the door and opened it, finding a rather disheveled man.

Upon seeing Ellis, his face filled with astonishment. He unconsciously licked his somewhat chapped lips, then lowered his head in self-consciousness.

“Here is the black card you wanted. May I have the quest token?”

To claim a bounty at the Adventurer’s Guild, one needed the quest giver’s token.

“I’ll inspect the item first. If there are no issues, then of course.”

The man’s body odor made Ellis frown slightly. Moreover, his timid and cowardly demeanor didn’t seem to fit someone close to Daisy.

‘Even after significantly reducing the amount, are there still people trying to falsely claim the bounty?’

Ellis had already given up hope on the man’s words. And indeed, her suspicions were confirmed: the so-called black card was merely a wooden replica, painted black to resemble the original.

Ellis initially intended to dismiss the man immediately, but then a thought struck her: given this man’s demeanor, could he truly be the one who crafted such a finely detailed wooden black card?

Although the black card was a fake, the highly realistic patterns and the expensive paint used didn’t seem like something this man could have produced.

“Have you worked as a carpenter before?”

The man shook his head blankly. “No.”

Ellis’s fingers gently rubbed the black card. When they brushed against the lower edge of the card, her fingers paused. Then she asked, “Who gave you this black card?”

The man appeared flustered, quickly saying, “I just found it.”

Ellis scoffed, threatening, “Tell me the truth, and you’ll get the quest token. Otherwise…”

The man’s face immediately fell. He whispered, “A man gave it to me. He was wearing a cloak, and I couldn’t see his face. He told me if I gave this to you, I could get a hundred Kamo.”

Ellis tossed the quest token to the man. “It’s the real deal. Go claim your bounty.”

The man had assumed the matter was over, so this sudden turn of events was unexpected.

He joyfully snatched the quest token and dashed out, as if fearing Ellis would change her mind.

Closing the door, Ellis returned to the room and sat down.

Meixia asked excitedly, “Is there news of Daisy?”

“Yes, and that woman is even calmer than I imagined.”

Ellis picked up the wooden black card. With a gentle squeeze, the fake card instantly cracked, and a small note dropped out.

“After waiting a whole month, we finally know their location.”