Chapter 4: The Sharp-Tongued Yexi

“Ard, boss, wake up! If you keep sleeping, Aunt Treya is going to smack your hands!”

Smack my hands? What kind of childish punishment is that?

Wait… child? Ard’s consciousness clawed its way out of a deep, silent darkness. Blinding sunlight stabbed at his eyes, forcing them shut. When he finally managed to pry them open, the freckle-faced boy peering down at him was both a stranger and an achingly familiar sight. It was his childhood friend. The one who was supposed to be dead.

“Boss, are you okay? Did you sleep yourself stupid?” the boy asked, his head cocked in puzzlement as Ard stared, speechless.

“Get lost, you’re the stupid one,” Ard managed to say, his voice thick with emotions he couldn’t begin to process. He suppressed the overwhelming urge to pull the boy into a crushing hug and instead smacked him lightly on the head. “I’m going to work now. You go stall her for me.”

The boy looked at him suspiciously. “You’re not planning on ditching me and running off, are you, boss?”

“Don’t worry,” Ard said, his voice low and intense. “I won’t abandon you guys. Otherwise, why would I have come back?”

His cryptic words only confused the boy further. A light, playful kick from Ard spurred him into action.

“What are you waiting for? If I get punished by Aunt Treya, you’re going down with me.”

The boy dodged nimbly, made a face, and then darted away. He didn’t see the fierce, burning determination that blazed to life in Ard’s eyes.

Once he was gone, Ard looked down at his own hands, his own body, his voice trembling with disbelief. “I did it,” he whispered, his hands shaking. “I really did it! Hahaha, hahahaha!”

Laughter, raw and triumphant, echoed in the quiet clearing. After the wave of euphoria crested, Ard slowly forced himself into a state of calm. Having lived three lives, he finally understood a fundamental truth that transcended worlds: strength was everything. Only the strong had a voice. Only the strong could forge their own destiny. The world wouldn’t favor you just because you were a transmigrator. If he didn’t change, he would forever be a plaything of its cruel indifference.

The experience and knowledge from his past life, watered by the passage of time, quickly took root. In three years, he had forged his body into a weapon, and his skill with a sword had reached a respectable level. Though he was still far from a true master, he was no longer the naive greenhorn who had rushed out only to find he couldn’t even protect himself.

With a newfound strength, Ard began his quest for salvation. Not wanting to worry the villagers or endure another awkward farewell, he had slipped away in secret. He traveled to the city of Pekoin, the home of the Trefle family—the place where the tragic fall of the Halora Kingdom had begun.

And that was how he had stumbled upon Yexi.

However, Ard sighed, his gaze falling upon the silver-haired girl who was now effortlessly dragging the massive Tusk-Bear carcass forward. It seemed he might have interfered where he wasn’t needed.

She had taken a surprising liking to the bear meat. After handing her basket of herbs to Elienla, she had produced a wicked-looking dagger and, with a series of deft, fluid strokes, had skinned and butchered the massive beast. Using the hide as a makeshift sled, she began hauling the meat back as if it weighed nothing at all.

Ard watched, stunned. The speed and precision of her knife work were mesmerizing. This was no ordinary maid. His time with Isaac had sharpened his judgment, and he could sense a terrifying, dormant power coiled within her small frame.

In this world, power was mainly divided into three paths: Ki, Magic, and Blessings.

Magic required aptitude. To use it, one needed an innate affinity for mana to sense its presence in the environment. The cleaning spell Elienla had cast was magic.

Ki was different. Like the internal energy in martial arts novels, anyone could learn to sense the Ki within their body through physical training. The capacity for Ki varied depending on one’s aptitude and race, but it could be increased through training, though not infinitely. Its strength also had bottlenecks that were difficult to overcome. It was said that with enough training, Ki could even be used to manipulate the mana in the air to create miracles rivaling magic, but this indirect method was less flexible than pure magic. The number of mages was far smaller than the number of Ki practitioners, but magic was powerful at all stages of development, whereas Ki required significant skill to be used effectively. Both required time and experience.

Then there was a power that most intelligent beings possessed: Blessings. They were like innate potentials, similar to starting skills in a game, but they were random and could be good or bad. Their usefulness depended on the person. Most people only had one Blessing, with a rare few, favored by the heavens, possessing multiple. There were other, stranger powers, but they were even rarer or had specific conditions.

Yexi’s control over her Ki was exquisite. She coated her small dagger in it, the energy flowing along the blade to perfectly separate the tightly connected hide and meat without any excess Ki leaking out to damage the flesh or the integrity of the pelt. And as she dragged the meat, her steps were steady. Her small frame showed no strain, even when hauling a weight three or four times her own. It was a masterful use of Ki. Ard couldn’t glean much more from it, however. Since Ki was so convenient, many people in this world trained in it for daily life. A chef, for instance, might handle ingredients with a skill rivaling any master warrior. Mages also learned Ki, but mainly to improve their physical condition to handle more mana, not to specialize in it. A half-baked use of Ki in battle was easy to spot. These two maids had clearly received proper training.

But as Ard looked at her, he was certain of one thing: this maid absolutely knew how to use Ki for combat. Thinking back, her first reaction to being “saved” wasn’t relief, but cold fury at him for dirtying her clothes. Her every action since had hinted that she could have handled the beast herself, and it didn’t seem like she was bluffing.

Silver hair, he thought, a sudden, startling theory forming in his mind. Could she possibly be…

“Hmph!” Yexi, walking ahead, suddenly stopped and spun around, her golden eyes locking onto him.

“Um, what’s wrong?” Ard asked, blinking in confusion.

Her voice was as calm and sharp as ice. “Although I didn’t say anything, for a man to so blatantly stare at a woman from behind, completely ignoring the heavy load she is carrying… has the outside world degenerated to the point where it’s filled with perverts whose minds are solely focused on how to defile a woman’s body? Please don’t misunderstand,” she added, her voice dripping with venom. “I am in no way referring to my ‘savior’.”

Stare!

Elienla pouted. “That’s a bit harsh, Xi.”

“Is it? To whom? I am merely explaining to our benefactor what a pervert is. I have no intention of offending him.”

Stare!

What a sharp tongue! Ard broke out in a cold sweat. She was clearly calling him a pervert. And it was true, he had been staring, completely engrossed. But he didn’t have those kinds of intentions.

“I apologize,” Ard finally managed, deciding action was his only recourse. “I know what you said is… problematic, and I don’t have a mind full of defiling thoughts. Alright, please stop looking at me like that. It was my fault for defiling—no, for dirtying you with the bear’s blood. And it was my fault for just watching without helping. I admit I was rude. Please, allow me to make it up to you! My lady maid, I beg of you!”

He walked over and took the heavy load from her hands. He tested the weight. Okay, it was heavier than he’d thought. No wonder she was complaining.

“You’re too kind,” Yexi said sweetly, though she made no move to stop him, instead taking the lighter basket from Elienla.

Elienla looked apologetic. “Oh, I’m so sorry, Lord Ard. Should I help too?”

“It’s fine, this is still pretty light,” Ard said, declining her offer. “We should get going. Your master will be worried, right?”

“How very considerate of you. Let’s go,” Yexi chimed in, but made no move to walk. She continued to stare intently at Ard.

Ard’s mouth twitched. She was really unhappy about the staring, wasn’t she? He took the lead and started walking, while Yexi followed at a fixed distance, her expressionless gaze boring into his back like a physical weight.

This is payback, isn’t it? Ard cried silently. Her stare is so piercing. I’m sorry, my cute, sharp-tongued maid, I was wrong.

“That man was analyzing my strength,” Yexi thought, her mind a placid surface hiding dangerous currents. One of the reasons she had shifted the burden was to interrupt his observation. Her intuition screamed that letting him keep watching would be a mistake. The desire to slack off was a very, very small reason. So small it was insignificant.

If he makes any strange moves, I’ll just kill him, she decided, her assassin’s logic cutting through the problem with brutal simplicity. She let no hint of her thoughts show, so Ard had no idea his fate had just been so casually decided. Still, an inexplicable shiver ran down his spine.

The trial by stare finally ended when they reached the city of Pekoin. Not because Yexi had shown mercy, but because she was busy fielding greetings from the townspeople.

“Yo, Xi-chan and Elienla-chan are back safely!”

“Mm,” Yexi grunted.

“Yes, we’re back!” Elienla chirped.

“Here, some fresh fruit from my orchard. Take it back with you.”

“Thank you, Uncle Des. But you’ve been drinking again,” Elienla said with a frown.

“Thanks,” Yexi added, her face a blank mask. “But even if you bribe me, I won’t put in a good word for you with Aunt Raya.”

“Nooo!” Uncle Des cried tragically.

“You’re a new adventurer, young man? Taking that bear meat to sell?” a passerby asked Ard.

Surprised to be addressed, Ard blurted out, “Ah, no. I’m just carrying it for the sharp-tongued maid.”

Oops. The words had slipped out.

Yexi’s head snapped toward him. “!!”

“Sharp-tongued maid? Haha, you mean Xi-chan! It’s true, her bark is worse than her bite, haha!” the man laughed.

“Sharp-tongued maid,” Elienla giggled. “That’s the first time I’ve heard someone call her that.”

STARE!!!

Ard felt a pressure on his back three times stronger than before. But strangely, there was no verbal counterattack. Was she charging up a super move?!

“Haha,” Ard said, trying desperately to change the subject. “This city of yours is so harmonious.”

STARE!!!!!!

Diversion ineffective. Critical hit!