Chapter 74: A Night of Wandering and a Taste of Malice

After half a day of aimless searching, night had completely fallen. By this point, Eve’s only thought was how incredibly popular Anna truly was. She seemed to know almost everyone by name, and sometimes, warm-hearted locals would even pull them aside for a chat.

Yet, despite this extensive networking, they had made absolutely no progress.

Glancing at the darkening sky, Anna turned back to Eve.

“Let’s stop here for today. Tomorrow, we’ll comb through the entire northern district. Perhaps then we’ll find some clues about Roly!”

The blue-haired girl showed no signs of discouragement; instead, she seemed invigorated.

Eve nodded, then blinked her dark golden eyes at Anna, silently awaiting her plans for dinner.

Anna, without a moment’s hesitation, licked her lips and exclaimed with excitement: “Yulim, let’s go to the Delicacy Bakery! I wonder if they have any leftover bread or slightly burnt cakes!”

“If not, we can just grab two of their signature sandwiches for dinner!”

“I haven’t had Sister Lanya’s sandwiches in ages! I’m absolutely starving for them!”

“Let’s go!”

Eve remained silent, dutifully trailing behind Anna.

‘Keeping quiet was the best way to maintain her persona.’

Even after wandering with Anna for quite some time, they still hadn’t found the bakery. It seemed they were lost again.

This time, however, was different from when they searched for the Adventurer’s Guild. Though Anna was leading the way, she had no reservations.

With Roly absent, she didn’t feel the need to save face or stubbornly insist on leading in front of Yulim.

She simply approached a passerby, chatted enthusiastically for a moment, and the person readily pointed them toward the bakery.

Her familiar demeanor suggested she was quite accustomed to such interactions.

After thanking the passerby, Anna happily ran back to Eve.

“Yulim, I know which way to go now! Come on! Let’s go this way!”

Eve had no time to react before Anna grabbed her hand and dashed forward.

An ordinary lesser undead might have crumbled in Anna’s grip, but Eve was different.

As Anna ran, she noticed something felt off with the hand she was holding.

She looked down, utterly bewildered by what she clutched.

“Huh… Yulim, why are you wearing thick winter gloves? Is it really that cold lately?”

Eve nodded, then pulled her cloak tighter under Anna’s gaze.

She subtly turned her face and gave two tiny coughs, feigning a delicate, fragile appearance.

Seeing Eve’s frail demeanor, Anna grew concerned. “Yulim, do you have a cold? Remember to drink plenty of hot water!”

“If you feel truly unwell, I’ll take you to the apothecary to see if Kamil still has any cold remedies…”

Eve quickly shook her head. “No, no, I’m fine… It’s just that I stayed up a bit late waiting for Sister Anna to wake up the past couple of nights… so I’m a little sensitive to the cold right now…”

‘Yes, this reason is absolutely flawless!’

Eve had promptly donned her gloves as soon as dusk began to fall.

During the day, she could rely on the sun to generate some warmth, but expecting a little undead like her to maintain a human’s body temperature at night? That was simply preposterous!

Thus, Eve had anticipated this situation well in advance, preparing both countermeasures and a suitable excuse.

She shrewdly leveraged human guilt to overshadow this minor inconsistency.

Upon hearing this, Anna’s focus shifted to the fact that Yulim was suffering from the cold because Anna herself had been drunk and slept for days. She scratched her head sheepishly. “Oh, is that it…”

“You really could have woken me up earlier. You don’t have to wait until I wake up on my own.”

Hearing this, Eve shook her head. “Because Sister Anna needs her rest too…”

Anna turned and tapped Eve’s hood. “Silly Yulim, just listen to me. Next time, just wake me up directly! Shake me awake like Luosha would if she thought I was being useless.”

“Wouldn’t that be rude…”

“Hehe, it’s fine! Tomorrow morning, Yulim, feel free to wake me up!”

Seeing Anna pat her chest, brimming with a “bring it on” spirit, Eve outwardly lowered her head timidly, appearing too scared to act.

In reality, however, Eve’s mind was utterly ecstatic!

‘You said it yourself, Anna! Don’t blame me for being impolite tomorrow morning!’

If not for maintaining her persona, Eve would likely have already revealed a sinister grin.

Just then, Anna suddenly shivered, pulling Eve behind her as she warily scanned their surroundings.

“Hiss… strange, Yulim, do you feel an inexplicable malice? Are we being watched by someone?”

Eve was slightly startled. She hadn’t expected Anna to be so perceptive. Hiding behind her, Eve resolved to be more careful in the future.

Since the malice had vanished as quickly as it appeared, Anna couldn’t pinpoint its source. She eventually gave up, leading Eve to the bakery.

The bakery indeed had leftover bread, but after purchasing some, Anna still bought two more sandwiches and pulled Eve to a seat inside the shop.

Noticing Eve’s faint gaze, Anna chuckled twice and tucked one of the sandwiches into Eve’s arms. “It’s fine, Yulim! The commission we earned this time is enough for us to feast for half a month!”

“When we run out of money, we’ll just take on another commission!”

“We earn money to spend it, right? What’s the point of constantly saving every little thing?”

With that, Anna tore open her sandwich wrapper and took a huge, wolfish bite. As she chewed, an expression of pure contentment spread across the blue-haired girl’s face. “Mmm~ Sister Lanya truly is the best,” she mumbled indistinctly. “Her cooking is amazing as always!”

Swallowing her mouthful, Anna flashed Eve a wide, bright smile, radiating infectious cheer. “Yulim, just think how long we walked this afternoon! We deserve a good treat, don’t we? Eat up!”

“We won’t waste the bread; we’ll save it for breakfast tomorrow morning!”

With Anna having made her case so emphatically, Eve could only nod and begin to eat the sandwich in her hands.

Seeing Eve also enjoying the delicious food, Anna smiled and prepared to continue eating her own.

Just then, a voice reached their ears.

“Are you the two Adamant-ranked adventurers who completed my wife’s commission?”

Anna, who had just opened her mouth and was about to take another bite of her sandwich, abruptly halted her movement. She looked up, her expression a mix of confusion and adorable bewilderment as she stared at the newcomers.

A couple had entered the bakery unnoticed. Their haughty, nose-in-the-air aristocratic aura made Eve subtly frown.

‘Are they here to cause trouble?’