Chapter 70

“Ugh! Huh? Hm.”

Just another day in District 15’s Hari.

Merchants who opened their shops early called out loudly to customers, while puppies barked and begged their owners for lunch.

And here, despite the sun being high in the sky, there was a girl still half asleep from a dreamy slumber.

As the girl scratched her head and was about to lie down again, she grimaced at the condition of her damp pillowcase.

She thought she was done for, as the fabric was soaked with what could have been sweat or drool.

Usually, Adella didn’t dream much, but today felt like a long and lingering dream, even if she couldn’t remember it at all.

“Ugh, I wanted to sleep a bit longer…”

After being caught stealing and chased by the guards all dawn, she finally fell asleep just as morning arrived.

Her head wasn’t exactly fresh, but the situation didn’t invite sleeping again either.

Reluctantly, she tossed off her pajamas.

“I was only told to come back before dinner. Hmph!”

Old Gestalt had recently summoned all the Abyss members.

When she asked Alphalion, he said he had no idea whatsoever.

With the instincts of a cat beastfolk, she could unequivocally tell that an interesting mission was coming.

‘Should I go buy some perfume for the first time in a while?’

She tossed her pouch of coins into the air while humming a tune.

On important assignment days, she didn’t wash. It was her unique kind of jinx.

That said, she didn’t want to smell bad when meeting people, so she intended to at least bring some perfume.

Despite being a cat beastfolk who usually didn’t care about others’ opinions, she was once a woman before that.

When she came down to the first floor, the restaurant was already bustling with mercenaries who had come for lunch.

People passed by Adella as she went through the central hall, stealing glances, but no one offered a greeting.

Adella had no desire to become friends with the sweaty mercenaries, so she ignored them just the same.

The streets were crowded with people of various races and species.

Jingling—

Her ears twitched with the sound of coins ringing from here and there, but now was the time to control her thieving urges.

If she stole in broad daylight, she would genuinely lose her hands.

After walking three blocks, she entered what was classified as District 7.

It was a wealthier area than District 15, vibrant with bustling shops.

Her plan to buy just one bottle of perfume was clearly foiled by the sight of the glass bottles she had filled her arms with.

‘Suddenly, I really crave alcohol.’

Having gotten used to the low-quality draft beer in Abyss, her taste buds seemed spoiled.

In times like these, she needed to treat herself periodically with expensive food and drink.

“One tuna baguette sandwich, and um, one sparkling wine, please?”

“…”

The combination of a sandwich and sparkling wine for lunch was quite bizarre, yet the shop owner handed Adella her order without a word.

Then the shopkeeper extended their hand.

“How much?”

“…”

“How much, I said?”

“…”

Still silently staring at Adella with unblinking eyes.

“Ugh, how annoying.”

Adella glanced at the price list and paid without further ado before exiting the shop.

She thought that even if the service was poor, the continuous influx of new customers made for a lack of attentiveness.

It was the first time she felt bad about spending money.

Outside, she uncorked the wine and poured it straight down her throat.

“Ugh, this is disgusting.”

She had tried to buy something that looked like the best in the shop.

‘I should have just spent this money on some draft beer instead.’

Cursing the increasingly harsh society, she returned to her inn.

“Susan, I need one glass and three bottles of beer.”

“Is that you, Adella? Should I bring it to your room?”

“No, just wait, and I’ll take it upstairs myself. How long will it take?”

“…”

Ignoring Adella’s words, Susan walked off to the kitchen.

Adella roughly took a seat at a corner table and irritably bit into the sandwich she had brought earlier.

“Is it just me, or do I not have much presence?”

The annoyance flared up as she seemed to be asking the same questions both here and there.

Not having much presence was probably why she was good at stealing, but it didn’t feel great to be ignored by people.

“Adella, here. Enjoy your meal.”

“Hmph.”

As soon as she entered room 302, she threw off her outerwear and changed back into pajamas.

She poured beer into a frosty glass using cold ice magic.

“Ahhh! This is it.”

The refreshing sensation tickled her throat, and Adella’s tail perked up.

Moreover, she felt a bit drowsy as the alcohol kept flowing in.

She couldn’t guarantee she would wake up again in time for dinner if she fell asleep now, but her eyelids were growing heavier.

“I wonder if someone will come to wake me up…”

She wanted to enjoy this hazy sensation a little longer.

With such carefree thoughts, she slipped back into slumber.

* * *

“Ahh!”

“I’ll only help you this time! Hurry down and apologize to the Chief for being late!”

“No! I didn’t go anywhere on purpose today, so I’m feeling wronged!”

“Now!”

At last, Adella, who had overslept until the gathering time, was dragged out by Daniel.

Though she hadn’t technically gone anywhere, she felt wronged as she had tried to adhere to the timetable.

“And you, Unspecified Gender, won’t be assigned to a difficult mission. You’re still a novice and haven’t been in Abyss long. You understand, right?”

This was the order given by Chief Gestalt to the Forest Guardian.

The Forest Guardian, who had appeared like a comet a few days earlier from Arcelia.

Surely, Adella agreed vehemently that they wouldn’t assign such a novice an arduous task.

“Good to have a quick decision. Then, you can go with Adella tonight. It’s a simple bait-and-switch operation, no big deal, right?”

But Adella couldn’t imagine she’d be included in that novice.

‘Ugh, I should have guessed…’

This was always the case.

The Chief had never once trusted her enough to assign her to the kind of honorable missions everyone else was doing.

How lowly must he think of her if she had to team up with a rookie who had been in the guild for less than a few days? Anger boiled within Adella.

She tried to soothe her burning resentment with the remaining beer until the Chief arrived.

“Life is so bitter… even this low-quality beer tastes too sweet…”

Wanting to get a breath of fresh air, Adella opened the window and took a swig from the bottle.

Her gaze drifted toward the full moon nestled alone in the lonely night sky.

‘It’s really bright…’

With such brightness, wouldn’t the moonlight shine even into the darkest alleys of the Empire? She pondered.

Two years ago, after being expelled from the Academy and wandering without direction, Adella had lost the meaning of life.

At that time, the Chief, who had reached out to her, was always a bright lighthouse in her life.

‘How wonderful it would be if that full moon were actually the golden chandelier in our home…’

With such impossible fantasies, she leaned back and collapsed onto her bed.

She wanted to enjoy this comfort and drowsiness to the fullest before the alcohol wore off.

Her tolerance to alcohol made her regretful at times like this.

Bang-!

“Ugh, what a shock!”

However, her plans were abruptly disrupted by an unexpected visitor.

Adella irritably checked the entrance.

With hair as bright as midday sun, pristine white skin, and pointed ears, she recognized the elf and calmed her racing heart once again.

“It’s rude to just barge in like that, without even knocking.”

Just like the shop owner earlier and Susan, now it was an elf…

Adella lamented the increasing number of inconsiderate people.

“By the way, Forest Guardian, what’s your name?”

“Unspecified Gender.”

“Oooh. It’s a name that sticks in the mouth.”

Adella continued to repeat the Forest Guardian’s name.

It was a name that seemed somehow familiar yet nostalgic.

“Why?”

“What’s up?”

“My name, isn’t it odd?”

“Not particularly. It’s rather familiar. Living in Districts for a long time will result in all sorts of ridiculous names, but ‘Forest Guardian’ is certainly not one of them.”

For instance, the name of the shop owner Adella had visited today was difficult to pronounce: ‘Etteugab Cepen,’ and among the nobles, there were names like ‘Emiger Tneicna.’

When it came to different species like Lizardmen, even stranger names tended to emerge.

‘Did they get teased for having their name when they were young?’

Adella speculated internally.

She took her final sip from the glass.

However, the curious Forest Guardian kept pestering Adella.

“Adella.”

“What?”

“Adella.”

“Why do you keep calling me? That’s embarrassing. If you have something to say, just say it!”

Perhaps it was dissatisfaction with being paired together for this mission.

Given the Forest Guardian’s demeanor, the possibility was high.

Maybe that Forest Guardian would storm to confront the Chief, just like the earlier members.

“Huh? Huh? What’s wrong…? Did I do something wrong?”

Opening her eyes, she found the Forest Guardian suddenly right in front of her, peering into her face.

Adella nearly dropped her beer bottle, startled.

With bright twinkling eyes and dewy lips, freshly quenched like morning dew, they sparkled.

The fragrant scent of grass tickled Adella’s nose.

Experiencing the elf’s exquisite beauty, Adella could not calm her racing heart.

“Should I comb your hair?”

“What…?”