Chapter 69: A Month for a Godslayer

When Eve lowered her hand again, another black-haired “Yulim” appeared before them.

Yulim pulled a mirror from her backpack and handed it to Eve. After seeing her current reflection, Eve attempted to mimic Yulim’s timid demeanor and voice.

She covered her face with both hands, allowing only her eyes to peek through her fingers at the mirror, before letting out a soft, shy whimper.

“Eve: *Whimper~*”

“Yulim:?!”

The real Yulim, still holding the mirror, trembled all over, her cheeks instantly flushing a deep crimson.

‘To see herself making such a delicate, gasping sound…’

‘It truly was mortifying!’

While Yulim’s “CPU” seemed to be overloaded, Eve nodded with profound satisfaction. Compared to the real Yulim, her “Yulim” was virtually indistinguishable from the genuine article, save for the stark contrast in hair color—one white, one black—which stood out conspicuously.

If there was any critique to be made, it was merely an expression of awe.

‘These two skills, used in tandem, were simply too potent.’

One could alter appearances at will, while the other could perfectly mimic and reproduce a target’s demeanor and voice.

Even Eve herself couldn’t recognize her own reflection, let alone Anna.

****

Shedding their disguises, Eve and Yulim each retreated into their sleeping bags, reviewing their plan once more.

“Tomorrow morning, after Anna wakes up, I’ll tell her that Luosha dropped us off at the stables last night and then left on her own. After that, I’ll stay by Anna’s side, posing as you, Yulim.”

Yulim nodded, acknowledging with a soft hum.

Eve continued, “Assuming everything goes smoothly on my end, Yulim, how long do you estimate it will take you to retrieve the Godslayer Sword?”

The moment the question left her lips, Yulim answered almost without hesitation: “One month.”

“Hm? How long?”

“The time… one month… will be enough…”

Eve involuntarily gasped, staring at Yulim in disbelief.

‘She could bring back a divine artifact in just one month?’

‘That was utterly insane!’

Eve swallowed hard. “And that includes travel time…?”

As if sensing her previous explanation had been insufficient, Yulim elaborated on her plan this time: “Sister Anna’s birthday is at the end of next month… so I’ve already factored in the travel time… it will take a maximum of one month.”

‘She had already accounted for travel time? Did that mean obtaining the divine artifact itself would take less than a month?!’

‘It felt as if Yulim was simply going home to fetch some luggage!’

‘No, wait… Yulim was a Dark Elf. The Elven Forest was indeed her home…’

‘Who would have thought that timid Yulim could make such a bold decision!’

After composing herself, Eve nodded. “Alright… I’ll help you keep this secret from Anna for one month. If there are any delays and Anna finds out, I won’t be responsible.”

Yulim looked up, her eyes crinkling as she offered Eve a small smile. “Mhm…”

Eve pursed her lips, then tentatively reached out and gently ruffled Yulim’s hair.

The girl’s body gave a slight tremble, yet she neither flinched nor retreated into her sleeping bag, allowing Eve’s touch with docile obedience.

“Alright, Yulim, if the plan is sound, then go to sleep now and rest up. You still have a long journey ahead, don’t you? I’ll wake you when it’s almost dawn.”

“Don’t worry about me. I’m an undead; I don’t need to rest or sleep.”

“Even though I sleep in a coffin every night, that’s merely a personal hobby.”

Eve’s gentle voice, coupled with the soft strokes on her head, entered Yulim’s ears, sounding much like a kind older sister.

All that remained was a profound sense of peace.

“Th-thank you, Luosha…”

“You’re welcome.”

“Then… good night, Luosha…”

“Mm, good night, Yulim.”

Watching the elven girl close her eyes, it wasn’t long before her breathing gradually settled into a steady rhythm.

Eve withdrew her hand, settling back into a supine position as she gazed at the stable roof.

‘To think, she had ended up staying after all…’

‘Just that morning, she had been contemplating how to bid farewell to Anna and the others.’

‘Fate truly worked in mysterious ways.’

With a sigh, Eve turned her head again to look at the sleeping Yulim.

‘Truth be told, she was still quite worried about Yulim.’

‘She had a persistent feeling that Yulim was walking into a multitude of precarious situations…’

Yet, it was Yulim’s own decision, and Yulim couldn’t possibly be unaware of the various risks inherent in the plan. Thus, Eve concluded that instead of fretting over Yulim, it would be more productive to consider how she could flawlessly conceal her own identity.

Aside from the disguise and stealth techniques Yulim had taught her, Eve knew none of Yulim’s other skills.

If, within this month, Anna were to take on a monster-hunting quest, Eve, as a mere Level 20 undead, would be relegated to the sidelines, utterly helpless.

Furthermore, she wouldn’t be able to carry her coffin during this period. Should danger arise, she wouldn’t be able to use Wennya to teleport to the absolute safety of the newbie village.

The mere thought of it painted her future in grim shades.

‘No!’

‘She had to find a way to prevent such a scenario!’

Eve shook her head, searching for a solution to this predicament.

Gazing at the crude stable roof, as the midnight chill seeped through the gaps in the covering into the small space, Eve’s eyes suddenly lit up.

‘Actually, if she thought about it carefully, wasn’t the reason Anna took on quests simply because they lacked money?’

‘If they had an endless supply of money, Anna wouldn’t need to accept quests at all!’

‘And as for money, she happened to be quite wealthy herself!’

‘As long as she didn’t throw coins around in the streets, even if they spent money every day as they had tonight, covering her and Anna’s expenses for a month would be no problem at all! In fact, it would be more than enough!’

The only potential issue was how to make the appearance of this money seem reasonable to Anna.

After all, Yulim had mentioned that almost all the money they earned from quests was held by Anna, with Yulim herself only possessing a dozen copper coins for emergencies.

‘Once she was disguised as Yulim, she couldn’t simply pull out a handful of gold coins in front of Anna, could she?’

While she could use Luosha’s identity to leave a pouch of gold coins, that would only work if Anna was willing to spend them.

If Anna felt too guilty to accept such a large sum and steadfastly refused to spend it, insisting on returning it, then it would be no different from a wasted effort.

Therefore, making the money’s appearance seem logical was crucial.

Unfortunately, despite much deliberation, Eve couldn’t immediately conjure a suitable method.

It wasn’t until the night receded and dawn broke that Eve, having not slept a wink, finally conceived a plan.

However, time was pressing; she needed to wake Yulim first.

If Anna woke up before Yulim, the entire plan would be ruined.

Sitting up, Eve initiated her three-step wake-up routine, starting by reaching out and poking Yulim’s cheek.

Before she could even complete the first step, and before Eve could speak, the highly sensitive Yulim startled awake on her own.

Seeing Yulim awaken, Eve sheepishly withdrew her hand, then recomposed her smile and greeted her. “Good morning, Yulim.”

After a moment of disorientation, Yulim fully awoke. She sat up and softly murmured, “M-morning… Luosha…”

“How did you rest last night?”

“Mm… just like usual…”

“Is that so? Good… I don’t know when Anna will wake up, so I called you a bit early. You don’t mind, do you?”

Yulim shook her head. “It’s alright. A little early… is correct.”

As the girl spoke, she had already risen. Eve watched Yulim pack her belongings.

Then, Yulim shed her cloak and handed it, along with her backpack, to Eve.

This was the first time Eve had seen Yulim without her hood.

She was utterly adorable. Her skin was as pure as snow, her long silver hair cascaded to her waist, and her pointed elven ears were tinged with a delicate blush, twitching softly now and then. A silver-grey dress perfectly accentuated her petite, youthful figure.

Eve had intended to offer a few compliments, but then she saw the girl had already covered her flushed cheeks with her hands.

‘She probably would have turned into a literal steam princess if Eve had praised her any further…’