Pomelo

Yexi feigned surprise. “It seems to be praising your intelligence. Aren’t you going to thank it?”

“I’ll thank its furry head!” Ard grumbled. “Let’s go, alright.”

Ard went first, using his tools to slowly make his way down the mountain. Yexi, on the other hand, was completely at ease. Places that seemed impossible for Ard to find a foothold, she stood upon with perfect stability, as if she were simply taking a stroll downhill. In her hand, she held the ‘husky-like’ cub by the scruff of its neck.

The cub, dangling by its fate, seemed to have a fear of heights. Perhaps when it had climbed up, the true-hearted pup had never looked back, which was the only reason it had succeeded. Now, with Yexi’s help, it could fully appreciate the altitude it was at. The sight terrified it so much that it covered its eyes with its front paws, its hind legs kicking high in the air, its tail tucked between them, as if curling into a ball would make it safer.

The descent was not long. Even without Yexi’s agility, Ard’s exceptional physical condition and skilled movements were far swifter than any mountaineer from his previous life.

Though the journey was short, the little wolf-pup, still held by Yexi, seemed unaware that they had landed safely. It was understandable, as being in Yexi’s grasp, it couldn’t feel the solid ground beneath it. It remained a fluffy, terrified ball, looking exceptionally cute.

Yexi placed it on the ground. Feeling the earth, the ‘husky’ slowly opened its eyes and let out a long sigh of relief. When it looked back at Yexi and Ard, it saw them leading their drakes, seemingly ready to leave.

The little ‘husky’ sat down, lost in thought.

Ard asked Yexi, “Are you not going to keep it? It seems you’re quite interested in it.”

He had noticed on the mountain that Yexi seemed to be looking after the little creature. She had willingly given it food after its display of cuteness and had brought it safely down the mountain. According to Yexi’s usual personality, she couldn’t care less about strange creatures, whether they were cubs or not, cute or not. Leaving them to their fate would be merciful. If one appeared at mealtime, it would likely end up as a dish.

Yexi glanced at the husky, which was still sitting frozen in place, and said calmly, “I will not force another’s destiny.” She paused, then shot a look at Ard. “Unless he is my mission target.”

Ard’s mouth twitched. He touched his chest; the wound was gone, but the psychological scar remained.

He looked at the cub and suddenly smiled. “But it seems to have made its choice.”

Yexi followed his gaze and saw a cute, handsome little creature dashing toward her. It deftly climbed onto one of the drakes and sat on its head, its tongue lolling out, looking at Yexi with hopeful eyes.

Yexi stroked its little head. “You want to come with us?”

The ‘husky’ nodded its head dumbly.

“Why?” Yexi asked.

The little husky patted its stomach with its paw, then showed its white teeth in a wide grin.

Yexi said, amused, “Because I fed you, you want me to be in charge of your meals from now on? Hmm.” She sized up the cub and asked again, “I don’t mind feeding you, but are you sure you want to follow me? It will be very hard.”

The innocent cub had no idea how hard the “hardship” Yexi spoke of would be. In its mind, there was nothing harder than an empty stomach. So, the little husky nodded its head firmly.

Ard, who was already living a life of hardship, looked at the little husky with pity. This is what it means to be young and naive.

“I see your resolve. In that case, I’ll give you a name. What should I call you?”

Ard suggested, “How about Pomelo? It’s just a nickname. When it’s old enough to speak, it might even give itself a name.”

Yexi wasn’t one to fuss over a name. As long as it had one, it was fine. She had been about to just call the thing ‘Husky’.

And so, Ard’s party gained a husky-colored ‘Pomelo’ that was suspected to be an arctic snow wolf.

…

“You dumbass! Are you all a bunch of Kira monkeys?! You can’t even keep an eye on a single cub!”

Within Quentin’s domain, a black market merchant pointed at an empty cage, roaring at his useless subordinates.

One of them said pitifully, “Boss, we really didn’t expect this wolf cub to be able to steal keys and use them to open the cage! That’s not a wolf cub, even a seven-year-old human child isn’t that smart!”

“Shut the hell up!” The merchant was about to go mad with rage. Heavens knew they must have used up a lifetime of luck to catch this arctic snow wolf—well, probably. They had caught it in the arctic, after all. But because this suspected arctic snow wolf cub was so unusual, with large patches of black fur, it was completely different from the purebred ones.

And the black merchant had run into a big problem: he couldn’t sell the cub. He had advertised it as an arctic snow wolf, but no one believed him. No matter how much he tried to persuade them, the nobles and officials would either politely decline or just kick him out. Some rich young ladies had taken a fancy to its cuteness and wanted to buy it, but the price they offered wasn’t even enough to cover a fraction of his costs. The preparations for the trip to the arctic had been a considerable expense.

The merchant couldn’t bear to part with this precious little thing, but he had given up on making money from it. So he had come to this remote region of Hanlock, hoping to use the fact that few people here knew about arctic snow wolves to pass this cub off as a gift in exchange for the operating rights to a mine. And now, all his efforts had come to nothing.

The merchant laughed, a bitter, broken sound. “Hahaha, hahahaha.”

His behavior frightened his subordinates. They quickly tried to console him.

“Boss, don’t be like this. We couldn’t sell that thing in several countries anyway.”

“That’s right, that’s right. As long as there’s life, there’s hope.”

“Boss, you have to calm down! If you go crazy, we’ll all be living on a shoestring!”

The merchant, panting heavily, slowly calmed down. He said, dejectedly, “Forget it, sigh. When I was lucky enough to get this cub, I thought it was a sign from the heavens that I would make it big. In the end, it was all for nothing. In fact, because of this cub, I neglected my original business. It’s good that it’s gone. Finally, I won’t think about it anymore. Let’s go.”

One of his subordinates asked, “Boss, where are we going?”

“Back to the Sky Kingdom! Back to our old business!”

“Yeah!”

The subordinates cheered. They had long grown tired of these aimless wanderings between countries. To see their boss regain his drive and return to their normal business activities, they felt losing the cub was worth it.

“What are you two laughing at?!” The boss looked at the two who had lost the cub, who still had the nerve to smile. He roared, “You there! You’ve lost two months’ salary! All the chores in the company, the laundry, cooking, and sweeping, are all yours from now on!”

“Ah!” they both cried out in unison.

…

Ard, now dressed in fine clothes, arrived at Quentin’s capital city. This time, he was not in disguise. Instead, he had found clothes befitting a noble. Yexi was also dressed as a maid, holding the lazy Pomelo in her arms, following closely behind him. Their small party strode into the city with an air of arrogant confidence, like an unruly son of a wealthy family.

The attitude of the guards at the city gate changed instantly. They were respectful and even eagerly asked if they needed an escort to the inner city, for a price, of course.

Ard generously paid the escort fee, and two of the city guards respectfully escorted him and Yexi toward the inner city. Ard clearly saw that the ruffians in the outer city would actively avoid the two guards. It seemed that even here, there were rules to be followed. Although Yexi’s beauty was still striking, no one dared to approach them.

And so, they entered the inner city safely and went directly to the residence where Rhode was staying. After announcing their arrival, Ard and Yexi were granted a meeting with Roco.

Roco smiled. “So this is your true appearance. Please, have a seat.”

Ard sat down and looked around. “Where’s Rhode?”

Roco said, amused, “I’ve sent him to do some practical work. I imagine my little brother is still racking his brain over what to do. Heh, some things are not as simple as they sound.”

Ard nodded, then said calmly, “Then I’ll get straight to the point. Why were you following us?”

Roco shrugged. “Because my brother trusts you, but I am not so easily convinced. I wanted to see if your actions matched your words. But I later discovered it was a foolish thing to do.” He turned his gaze to Yexi. “Such a beautiful maid. Your beauty is even more outstanding than I imagined.”

Yexi stood behind Ard, her expression neutral. “You flatter me.”

Roco looked at Ard and smiled faintly. “To have such an excellent maid, it is truly enviable. Is your family background really so ordinary?”

“There are some things I do not need to explain to you, my lord. And I am telling the truth. To have earned Yexi’s loyalty is my own achievement and has nothing to do with my family.” Ard paused. “And my family background and identity have nothing to do with our cooperation, do they? Aren’t you prying a little too much?”

“I can’t help it. In this position, one must always try to see through to the bottom of everyone, especially a strategist like you, Lord Ard. It would be foolish to be sold out and still be counting the money for the one who sold you.” Roco smiled. “But, as you said, for now, we are partners. Please forgive my presumptuousness in having you followed.”

Ard also chuckled. “No need. As long as the misunderstanding is cleared up, I am at ease.”