Chapter 63: The Golden Retriever’s Backflip and Anna’s Sense of Direction

Anna, who had entered first, hadn’t strayed far, staying nearby to play with a golden retriever.

Upon seeing Eve, she joyfully bounced over.

“Luosha, why did it take you so long to get in?”

“I’ve been playing with Big Yellow for a while now!”

‘Big Yellow?’

Eve paused, hearing the name, then glanced at the golden retriever beside Anna, its tail wagging incessantly, its tongue lolling out.

She mused that Anna must have been referring to it.

“Come on, Big Yellow, give Luosha a show!”

Anna suddenly waved her hand, brimming with excitement.

The golden retriever’s eyes instantly sharpened. It crouched low, then with a tilt of its head and a powerful push from its hind legs, it leaped into the air, performing a perfect and graceful backflip mid-rotation.

Eve: ‘?!’

‘I’ll be damned! This dog is a spirit beast!’

‘It seems even a dog in another world shouldn’t be underestimated!’

‘But seriously, Anna, how can you communicate with a dog? Is that some special ability?’

After a flurry of internal complaints, her profound shock finally subsided. Eve clapped her hands, offering a concise but potent evaluation of the golden retriever’s backflip stunt.

“Awesome!”

Only then did she explain the reason for their delay. “The guards held me up for a bit too long with their inspection. Yulim is right behind me; she should be coming in soon.”

It was truly fortunate that Anna had entered the city before them.

Otherwise, Eve would have genuinely worried that during the inspection, Anna might have foolishly blurted out, “Luosha, isn’t your coffin empty?”

That would have created an utterly awkward situation.

Being unable to enter the city would have been a minor issue, but exposing Wennya’s existence to the public eye would have been disastrous.

Eve wouldn’t bet on being able to recall Wennya to the Hall of Heroic Spirits the instant the coffin was opened without causing any disturbance.

Moreover, carrying an empty coffin yet acting as if she had something to hide would surely make any normal person suspect she had something illicit within.

There was a high chance the guards would have simply confiscated her coffin.

Thankfully, all these potential problems hinged on Anna acting foolishly, and with Anna not present during the main inspection, they were avoided.

What Eve didn’t know, however, was that Anna, with her peculiar foresight, had already committed one such blunder before Eve even realized it.

If Anna hadn’t run back to mention it after entering the city, Eve likely wouldn’t have undergone such a stringent inspection from the guards.

Xielan saw many people with strange attire enter and exit daily; Eve’s appearance was actually quite normal in comparison.

Returning to the present, just as Eve finished speaking, footsteps echoed from behind her.

It was Yulim.

There wasn’t much for the guards to inspect on Yulim. She was already a familiar face, and when it was her turn, she proactively handed her backpack and adventurer’s guild tag to the guard for inspection.

The guard merely glanced at them before waving her through.

Still, seeing Yulim rejoin their trio so quickly, Eve couldn’t help but feel a touch of surprise.

‘Wait, even Yulim was that fast?’

They had barely exchanged two sentences before she emerged.

‘Was I the only one detained for so long?’

This slight imbalance, however, quickly dissipated. After all, compared to herself, a newcomer, Yulim was clearly more likely to receive a green light from the guards.

“Since Yulim is here too, let’s go submit the quest!”

“After we turn in the quest and get paid, we can all go out for a big meal!”

Anna clenched her fist and raised it high, her enthusiasm drawing numerous glances from passersby.

Eve was indifferent to the stares of others, but Yulim’s social anxiety exploded. She hunched her shoulders and pulled her hood even tighter around herself.

Noticing Yulim’s predicament, Eve quickly interjected, “Alright, Anna, let’s just hurry to the Adventurer’s Guild first instead of talking so much.”

Anna nodded at her words. “Mhm!”

“But Luosha, this must be your first time in Xielan, right? I’ll lead the way this time!”

The blue-haired girl patted her chest, displaying a confident expression that seemed to say, ‘Leave everything to me.’

For a moment, Eve actually found Anna quite reliable.

She bestowed her trust. “Then I’ll leave the navigation to you, Anna.”

“Hehe~ just follow my steps closely!”

“Goodbye, Big Yellow! I’ll come back and play with you next time!”

After waving goodbye to the golden retriever, Anna led Eve and Yulim deeper into the city.

Ten minutes later, after yet another turn, they arrived at a small alley that was clearly a dead end.

Anna looked around in confusion, then asked, “Huh? Where’s my big Adventurer’s Guild? Where did it go? Luosha, did you see it?”

‘You’re the one leading the way! How should I know?’

Eve’s mouth twitched slightly. “…No.”

“That’s strange. I distinctly remember it being this way… Could the Adventurer’s Guild have moved while we were gone these past few days?”

Watching the blue-haired girl dart into the alley, peering left and right.

Eve glanced back at Yulim, who was secretly peering into the distance, hesitated for a moment, and then finally posed a profound question. “Anna, I mean… is there a possibility that you’re lost again?”

The blue-haired girl froze.

Then, she smacked her fist into her open palm, her face lighting up with a look of profound realization. “Oh, right! Luosha, you make so much sense! It must be that I’m lost!”

Eve was utterly stunned by this and couldn’t resist retorting, “You’re just going to accept the fact that you’re lost so naturally?”

“Ehehe… because I’m not very good with directions, you see!”

‘Anna, why are you so proud of that?!’

Eve covered her face with her mask.

‘Her brain must have been scrambled to think Anna would be a reliable guide…’

Eve decided to ask the more reliable hooded girl beside her. “Yulim, you must know the way, right?”

To prevent her from refusing, Eve quickly added, “Don’t worry, just walk ahead, and Anna and I will follow behind you. You don’t need to say much.”

Yulim hunched her shoulders, lowered her head, and stared at her toes, her fingers fiddling nervously. She seemed to be agonizing over Eve’s request.

The hooded girl’s head sank even lower.

Eve sighed, feeling that asking someone with Yulim’s extreme personality to act as a trailblazing leader was indeed a bit too demanding.

However, just as Eve was about to give up, she suddenly recalled Yulim’s hunger status from her information panel earlier, and an idea sparked within her.

She leaned down and whispered into Yulim’s ear, like a demon’s insidious suggestion. “Yulim, I know you’re very hungry right now, but you should know, you’re not the only one starving. Think about it, how many times did Anna’s stomach growl on the way back?”

As expected, Yulim trembled all over, seemingly recalling the various scenes from their journey.

To strengthen her resolve, Eve delivered one final blow.

“You wouldn’t want to see Anna stay hungry, would you, Yulim-chan?”

Eve now resembled an evil villain, luring an innocent girl into the abyss, step by step guiding her down a path of no return. (TL Note: Here, it refers to becoming more outgoing.)

Ultimately, Yulim was completely swayed by Eve’s sophisticated rhetoric.

She looked up, as if having made a profound decision, and bravely let out a soft “Mhm.”

The “Mhm” was so faint that if one didn’t listen carefully, they might have thought it was a passing fly.

Fortunately, Eve heard it and immediately broke into a sly, triumphant smile. “Good, then I’m counting on you, Yulim!”