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With Anna now accompanying them, Yulim took the lead, and the trio set off once more.
As expected, it truly had to be this introverted yet incredibly reliable hooded girl. Within mere minutes, she expertly guided them to the city’s Adventurer’s Guild.
She was far more dependable than a certain blue-haired girl.
Yes, Anna, I’m talking about you!
How could you so brazenly snatch Yulim’s backpack and march straight to the receptionist, utterly oblivious?
At the very least, you could have offered Yulim a few words of praise for leading the way!
While Anna was submitting the quest, Eve suddenly found herself overcome with curiosity.
‘If her suspicions were correct, then Anna must have been the one leading their two-person team in the past.’
‘How, then, did they ever manage to find their way back to Xielan?’
‘With Anna’s notorious sense of direction, they must have wandered into countless peculiar places!’
Eve was tempted to ask Yulim about the hardships they endured in the past, but the hooded girl seemed to have already expended all her energy for the day simply by leading them here.
She slumped back in her chair, appearing utterly burnt out, as if she had turned into a pile of pristine white ash.
‘No—Yulim-chan—pull yourself together!’
Seeing Yulim in such a state, Eve no longer had the heart to provoke her further.
Instead, Eve turned her attention to observing the entire Adventurer’s Guild.
Truly befitting a City of Adventure, this guild was far more lavish than Bigmeluo’s.
For instance, they were currently in a waiting area, a place for adventurers to rest and recuperate after completing their quests. Complimentary drinking water was also readily available.
Naturally, not all amenities were free. Dedicated service staff circulated through the waiting area, selling various juices and breads.
After a moment’s thought, Eve rose and approached a staff member, purchasing three loaves of white bread and three bottles of milk.
The price was a bit steep, costing Eve three silver coins.
However, it was still within Eve’s acceptable range. Yet, this method of commerce evoked an unsettling sense of déjà vu within her.
‘It was much like the various vendors found in airports and train stations back in her former world.’
Most customers were either about to embark on a journey or had just returned, driven by sheer hunger. They purchased emergency snacks for convenience and to stave off their immediate pangs.
And just as expected, these ‘food assassins’ mercilessly fleeced them.
‘Is this the work of another [Player] like me…?’
Eve murmured to herself on the way back.
Truth be told, she had yearned to band together with other players, to experience that tearful reunion of ‘fellow countrymen’ meeting in a foreign land. Alas, to this day, Eve had yet to encounter a single player.
Eve personally felt that the sheer size of the map was likely the reason players rarely stumbled upon each other.
Well, it didn’t really matter whether she met other players now or not.
Eve returned to the spot where she had been sitting with Yulim, carrying the bread and milk.
She tore open the wrapper of a loaf of bread and held it before the nose of the hooded girl, who still resembled a pile of ash.
The aroma of the food caused the girl’s nose to twitch. The moment her eyes opened and beheld the white bread, her entire being seemed to regain its vibrancy.
“You must be starving, Yulim. Eat quickly. Consider this a return gesture for the lavish meal you treated me to earlier.”
“Don’t worry, it’s not just for you. I’ve prepared food for Anna too; she can have it when she returns.”
Smiling, Eve tucked the bread into Yulim’s arms.
Yulim gazed blankly at the bread before her, then reached up to rub her eyes. Only after confirming she wasn’t dreaming did she lift her head to look at Eve.
Tears welled in the girl’s dark golden eyes, making it seem as though she was on the verge of crying.
“Tha… Thank you…”
“Luosha… you’re a good person!”
After sincerely bestowing a ‘good person’ card upon Eve, Yulim clutched the bread and began to devour it ravenously.
She barely dared to chew the soft bread, hastily swallowing it lest such delicious food make her yearn for it in the future.
Yulim understood all too well the truth that it is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but difficult to return from luxury to frugality.
Just then, an open bottle of milk entered her field of vision.
“Hey, Yulim, why are you gnawing on bread without anything to drink?”
“Honestly, I thought you were quite clever. Why are you so dazed right now? Aren’t you afraid of choking if you eat like that?”
“Here, there’s also a bottle of milk. It’s for you.”
Yulim stared blankly, following the milk bottle upwards, until her gaze met Eve’s mask, which was missing a corner.
Initially, the familiar aura of malevolence emanating from the other party, coupled with the mask concealing her true face, had given Yulim the impression of a villain approaching them with ulterior motives.
Now, however, Yulim felt she had been entirely too quick to judge based on appearances.
Luosha was clearly a truly benevolent person!
“Look, she even gave me white bread!”
“She must be a good person!”
‘If Eve knew Yulim’s current thoughts, she would undoubtedly marvel at the child’s pure-hearted simplicity.’
‘To think she could be won over by just a piece of bread and a bottle of milk.’
In reality, Eve rested her chin in her hand, silently watching Yulim. The girl resembled a tiny hamster, her cheeks puffed out with bread as she sipped her milk. Beneath her mask, a knowing, aunt-like smile played on Eve’s lips.
However, when only half the bread remained, Yulim suddenly paused, folding the wrapper back into place.
She appeared to be putting the bread away.
Eve, assuming Anna had returned, sat up straight and looked around. However, she saw no sign of that familiar, intelligent blue figure.
Turning back to Yulim beside her, Eve couldn’t help but ask with a hint of confusion: “Yulim, what’s wrong? Is the bread not to your liking?”
Yulim’s hand, poised to put the bread away, stilled. She shook her head, hastily waving her hands. “N-no… that’s not it… the bread is delicious…”
“Then why did you suddenly stop eating?”
Yulim hunched her shoulders, speaking in a very small voice: “This half-loaf of bread… it’s enough for Anna-jie and me to eat for another day…”
“So I want to save it for when we don’t have money later…”
Yulim’s words reminded Eve of the black bread from that morning, broken into crumbs and scattered on a plate.
‘Could it be that even that bread had been saved in a similar manner…?’
Eve asked, puzzled: “Aren’t you adventurers? If you take on a quest, won’t you earn quest rewards? You shouldn’t have to be so frugal…”
Perhaps because she had some food in her stomach, replenishing her expended energy, Yulim regained her courage to speak.
Clutching the bread to her chest, Yulim, for the first time, spoke at length: “While we can take on quests… Anna-jie often gets us lost, so one quest usually means we’ll be out for about a month…”
“And also…”
“Anna-jie only knows how to earn money, not how to save it, which is why I have to understand how to be thrifty…”
Yulim declared with a serious expression.
Though every word spoke of hardship, Eve detected not a single trace of complaint in her tone.
‘Moreover, it almost seemed as if the girl found joy in it?’
You’ve got to see this next! I Wanted to Be a Dragon Proud Sky, But Became the Strongest Medical Saint will keep you on the edge of your seat. Start reading today!
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