Preparations for the Ice and Snow Festival

Red and green decorations hung from the inn’s signboard.

Although the inn itself wasn’t large, it was filled with a warm and cozy atmosphere, and Arlen decided without hesitation to stay here.

“Two single rooms, miss.

That will be eight silver coins in total.”

The innkeeper girl sat behind the counter, wiping a wooden mug in her hands while greeting Arlen and Ken.

“If you want to bathe, let me know in advance.

Someone will bring hot water up later.”

She set the mug aside, picked up another, and continued wiping.

The small inn was bustling with noise.

From time to time, a few drunks who had drunk too much lay sprawled in deep sleep.

Others were eating the free white bread, clearly planning to loiter there all day.

“Okay.

I want to bathe right now.”

Arlen hadn’t bathed for five consecutive days.

She felt greasy all over and extremely uncomfortable.

To be honest, before the Demon Castle, she hadn’t cared much about these things.

But after getting used to bathing once every day and finding it comfortable, she’d formed a habit.

Now that she hadn’t bathed for days, her whole body felt wrong.

“Ah, alright, miss.

We’ll let you know once the water is ready.

Please wait a moment.”

“Hey.

Old Kurt.

Hurry up and boil the water.”

The innkeeper, who looked tired just a moment ago, suddenly roared in anger.

The abrupt change stunned Arlen and Ken.

Her mood flipped faster than turning pages in a book.

“Miss… forgive my bluntness…

Your clothes… shouldn’t you change them.

There are too many cuts and tears…”

The innkeeper suggested awkwardly.

Only then did Arlen notice.

Her clothes were tattered all over from wounds left by battle.

That alone was fine.

The most alarming part was the stab wound on her lower abdomen.

Although it had been bandaged to stop the bleeding, there was still a large hole in her clothes, surrounded by a wide stain of dried blood.

Ken wasn’t much better either.

After his direct clash with the bandit leader, his clothes were in no better condition than Arlen’s.

The only difference was that, protected by fighting energy, he himself was completely unharmed.

This made Arlen feel a bit resentful again.

Back when her fighting energy was at its peak, it had reached sacred-grade crimson energy.

And now she was reduced to such a sorry state.

“Ken.

Let’s go buy some clothes.

After bathing, we’ll go out and have fun.”

Arlen said decisively.

In truth, Arlen wasn’t poor at all right now.

The dozen or so gold coins she’d taken from Lilith were more than enough to spend freely for several days.

Thinking of this, she felt a faint sense of guilt.

Did this count as stealing.

She shook her head to herself.

That was a month’s wage.

So there was no need to feel guilty.

Besides, she was the Demon King, and I’m the Hero.

That makes it perfectly justified.

Arlen reasoned internally.

Ken stood beside her, staring at her with a puzzled expression.

What’s wrong with Master.

“Master.”

Ken waved his hand in front of Arlen’s face.

Only then did she come back to her senses.

“Ah.

Nothing.

I was just thinking about something random.”

Arlen replied quickly.

Suspicious.

But forget it.

Ken thought.

“Let’s go buy clothes.”

Arlen said.

After wandering the streets for a while, they randomly entered a shop.

Faced with the dense rows of clothing, Arlen’s indecision flared up.

The shop owner kept recommending things enthusiastically at her side, but she couldn’t understand a word.

To be honest, every outfit here looked beautiful.

At least, they all looked beautiful on Arlen.

But she had no idea what to choose.

Ken pretended to look around at the scenery.

Of course, there was no scenery inside the shop.

He was just pretending not to see anything.

Meanwhile, the bald shop owner kept chattering nonstop.

Driven to despair by the shop owner’s enthusiasm, Arlen finally said.

“Fine.

I’ll buy it.

Is that okay.”

She’d originally planned to buy a set of men’s casual clothes just to get by.

But unexpectedly, the shop owner flatly refused to let her.

“Miss.

Trust me.

Try this one.

I guarantee it will look good.

Don’t take those strange clothes.

Wearing those would be an insult to your looks.”

The shop owner entered a state of fanaticism.

Left with no choice, Arlen stiffened her resolve and bought the highly recommended outfit.

A black dress.

Covered in layers of lace and ruffled frills.

The set was extremely thorough.

From head accessories to socks and shoes, even small ornaments were all included.

It did look beautiful.

But Arlen didn’t really like it.

She preferred lighter, more practical clothing.

She packed the new clothes into the box provided by the shop.

Seeing that Arlen was a head shorter than him, Ken wisely picked up the box for her.

Ken simply chose a plain set of clothes.

The shop owner said nothing about it.

He probably took Ken for a servant.

He packed it up without comment.

“Four gold coins.”

The shop owner quoted the price.

“The dress is three gold coins.

That gentleman’s outfit is one gold coin and eighty silver coins.”

Women’s clothes are really expensive.

Arlen thought.

That was a lot of money gone at once.

In fact, it wasn’t that expensive.

It was just that the dress truly was the shop’s treasure.

The shop owner hadn’t lied.

It really suited her perfectly.

He had made it himself.

But the style was so difficult to match that no one had ever been suitable for it.

That was why it hadn’t sold for so long.

Now that he’d finally found the right person, there was no way he’d let her go.

That was why he’d been pushing the dress so hard.

“Here.”

Arlen handed over four gold coins.

“The lady is paying.”

The shop owner teased, sounding a bit incredulous.

“Yes.”

Arlen nodded silently.

Ken’s face turned as red as an apple.

He felt both embarrassed and ashamed.

But before leaving, he’d followed Arlen on impulse and hadn’t brought any money at all.

All he could do was blush in silence.

Finally out of the shop, the two headed straight back to the inn.

They both planned to take a bath.

Along the way, they barely paid attention to the lively scenery, hurrying back instead.

By the time they returned, it was almost dinner time.

They each went back to their rooms and bathed with the hot water that had been delivered.

Arlen tied her long hair up into a large bun to keep it from getting wet.

She sat quietly in the wooden tub, enjoying the warmth of the water.

Steam filled the small room, making everything hazy.

A faint blush finally appeared on Arlen’s overly pale face.

Wrapped in warmth, her whole body relaxed.

Strange sounds escaped her lips unconsciously.

“Mmm… mm…”

She seemed to be enjoying it greatly.

After a long, long time, Arlen felt it was enough.

She carefully washed her body, then rinsed her hair with a wooden basin.

She prepared to get up, dry herself, and put on clothes.

When she’d undressed earlier, she hadn’t paid attention.

Now, while drying herself, she noticed the scars on her body.

The shallow cuts from swords had already scabbed over.

Even the wound in her abdomen from the bandit leader had scabbed.

But the scar there was swollen, showing signs of inflammation.

That was bad.

Without herbs to reduce inflammation, the wound could become infected.

If it worsened, it wouldn’t just be pain.

She could even die from infection.

But there were no herbs available right now.

Arlen gritted her teeth, tore off a fresh bandage, and wrapped herself again.

“Mm… hss—”

Pain surged through her body.

It felt as if salt had been poured onto the wound.

Tears welled up in Arlen’s eyes from the pain.

After wrapping it, it seemed to hurt less than before.

She changed into the newly bought clothes.

She didn’t know how she looked in them yet.

Judging by the body’s original owner, they should suit her well.

Arlen imagined.

Following her own sense of aesthetics, she let down her silver hair that had been braided.

She tied it with two ribbons she always carried, forming bow-shaped decorations.

She looked down at her body.

Since her chest wasn’t very large, she could still see her feet.

A black Gothic-style long dress covered in layers of frills.

It was very beautiful.

She tugged lightly at the fabric.

It was thick and well-made.

Just as the shop owner had said, it truly was the shop’s treasure.

The fabric alone must have cost at least one gold coin.

Because of its thickness, it seemed suitable even for winter festivals like the Ice and Snow Festival.

Under the long skirt were pumpkin pants as lining, paired with warm cotton long socks.

It felt quite comfortable.

Before heading out, she tidied her clothes and made sure nothing was amiss.

Then she opened the door, carrying her original knight’s cloak.

She slowly went downstairs.

“Miss.

Are you looking for someone.”

The attendant guarding the registration desk by the stairs asked.

Because the outfit was so elegant and gorgeous, she seemed to have been mistaken for some noble young lady.

“Ah, no, no.

Could you please wash this outfit for me.

I’ll need it tomorrow morning.”

Arlen replied.

She handed the neatly folded battle robe to the attendant.

Seeing the many knife marks and the large bloodstain on it, the attendant was startled.

This was far too extreme.

Had she gone grave robbing or something.

But thinking further, it felt scary.

Better not ask too many questions.

So he replied.

“No problem.

I’ll bring it to you tomorrow morning.”

The attendant answered politely.

“Thank you very much.”

Arlen lifted her skirt and gave a small bow.

Wait.

That’s wrong.

That bow was something only women would do.

Arlen was shocked.

This was terrifying.

Now even her behavior was changing.

This outfit had subtly given her a mental suggestion, causing her to make such a gesture unconsciously.

Realizing this was bad, she hurried down to the first floor.

Leaving behind the attendant, who sat at the counter in confusion, scratching his head.

In the end, the attendant decided not to think about it.

After putting the clothes away, he sat there spacing out.

Bang.

She pushed open the door leading to the first floor.

The previously noisy common room fell silent instantly.

All eyes turned toward Arlen.

A bad feeling washed over her at once.

Her forehead felt slightly warm.

Her eyes grew a bit sore.

Her social anxiety flared up.

Among those staring was Ken, who had been watching others play cards.

So beautiful.

Everyone present was stunned.

Although people dressed in their finest clothes during the Ice and Snow Festival,

this level was something they had never seen before.

Ken froze for a moment, then quickly regained his composure.

“Master.”

He asked in confusion.

“Mm…”

Arlen replied awkwardly.

Is it really such a big deal to change clothes.

“What are they doing.

Seems pretty interesting.”

After confirming it was Arlen, Ken asked casually, pointing toward the group playing cards.

Several burly men sat around a table playing cards.

Some silver coins were piled on the table as stakes.

They were clearly gambling.

This kid isn’t interested in that, is he.

Arlen thought nervously.

No.

I have to straighten him out.

“Oh.

They’re selling their souls and money.

You absolutely mustn’t play with them.

Come out for a walk with me instead.”

Without another word, Arlen grabbed Ken and dragged him outside.

Ken looked completely confused.

Scratching his head, he decided to believe her.

After hearing that sentence, everyone inside immediately withdrew their gazes.

Each returned to what they were doing.

“Kenxi.

It’s your turn.”

A bearded man said.

“Oh, oh.”

The two quickly left the inn.

Ignoring everyone inside.

“Master.

You look really beautiful right now.”

Ken said awkwardly, trying to find a topic.

“Ah, thank you.”

Arlen smiled.

Wait.

This feeling of accepting praise isn’t right either.

Arlen started panicking again.

“Snow.

It’s snowing again.”

Ken shouted.

“Yes.”

Goose-feather-like snowflakes drifted down gently.

On the night of the Ice and Snow Festival.

It had begun.