The So-called Dihua

Five minutes passed.

During this time, Sophie briefly explained to An Ye what they had encountered nearby, and the reason her group had appeared here.

“That’s pretty much what happened. Please believe us, we really have no malicious intent.”

After speaking, Sophie didn’t forget to re-emphasize her side’s attitude.

Although An Ye sounded like a young girl, Sophie wasn’t naive enough to think that someone who dared to travel alone was simple.

To avoid conflict, Vic had already played the “bad cop,” so she had to play the “good cop” now, trying to let this matter pass.

But Sophie understood it wouldn’t be that smooth.

After all, the other person was just fine here, and the three of them had barged in on their own and even initiated a threat.

If An Ye insisted on pursuing the matter, she wasn’t unwilling to offer some compensation.

Of course, it all depended on An Ye’s reaction.

She hoped she would be easy to talk to.

Sophie waited quietly for An Ye’s reply.

Feeling the silent atmosphere around her, her throat moved slightly as she swallowed, and she couldn’t help but feel a little nervous.

On An Ye’s side, after hearing Sophie’s account, she almost immediately connected it to the gel she was burning.

It seemed their horses had gone on strike because of her.

Looking at it this way, the blame seemed to be on her.

And according to Sophie’s description, the reward for their request was quite large.

They had been busy for over half a month for it, and were just on the last leg of the journey.

Putting herself in their shoes, An Ye thought if her own half-month’s salary suddenly disappeared, and she had to pay a hefty penalty on top of that, her temper probably wouldn’t be very good either.

She could now understand the attitude of that spiky-haired guy named Vic.

But the headache was, understanding was one thing, An Ye absolutely could not tell them about this.

Right now, they thought they were the ones in the wrong, and were apologizing to avoid unnecessary conflict.

But once An Ye said their horses’ strike was related to her, the situation would reverse.

It would become her owing them.

In that case, let alone whether she could afford to compensate their losses, she’d be lucky if they didn’t draw their swords.

Sigh… what a mess.

“If, An, you feel an apology isn’t enough, we can help you with one thing within our ability as compensation. Or, we have plenty of supplies in our carriage. I see you don’t have any luggage, I can share some water and food with you.”

Because of the hood’s concealment, Sophie couldn’t see An Ye’s expression.

She could only interpret her silence as dissatisfaction and immediately proposed a compensation plan.

“No… it’s not necessary. I already said it’s fine. But there is one thing. If possible, I’d like you to take me to that Kexel Town. Of course, this isn’t compensation. It’s a request. I will pay you.”

Hearing Sophie, An Ye instinctively started to shake her head and wave her hands to refuse, but she quickly pulled her hands back in.

In Sophie’s eyes, An Ye’s flustered movement and slightly anxious voice, although she couldn’t see the face behind the hood, made her feel like this was a very cute girl.

She just didn’t know why she was here alone.

But everyone has secrets, just like how she was hiding her face.

If An Ye didn’t want to say, Sophie wouldn’t ask.

It was for the best that this misunderstanding could end peacefully.

She didn’t want to stir up more trouble.

Besides, going to Kexel Town was on the way anyway.

It was only about a two-day journey from here.

Bringing one more person was no problem.

“No problem. But there’s no need for payment. Our carriage can easily take one more person.”

Gah, my conscience hurts.

An Ye quickly averted her gaze from Sophie.

No matter what, she had to pay.

If she not only hindered their request but also freeloaded, she really wouldn’t be able to sleep for a long time.

The request payment would be a small compensation, and she’d find a way to make up for their losses after they reached the destination.

“No, no, I have to pay. But having said that, I don’t have any money on me right now. Will this work?”

First, a deposit.

An Ye unequipped the coat from her cosmetic slot, then took out the only presentable longsword from her inventory and handed it to Sophie.

As expected of something from a starter pack.

Although it was just initial equipment, the quality was definitely not a problem.

Sophie felt she had never seen a longsword of such high quality, but her attention right now was not on the sword.

‘What beautiful hands. The skin is just like jade, without a single flaw. How…’

“Hey, hey, Sophie, I never agreed to take this suspicious per… mmph mmph…”

It wasn’t until the sound of Vic’s mouth being covered by Snow came from behind that Sophie finally snapped back to reality.

She tore her gaze away from An Ye’s hands, hesitated for a moment, but still reached out and took the longsword.

This confirmed their relationship as employer and employee.

With this relationship, there would be less distance between them, and the rest of the journey wouldn’t be as difficult.

At the same time, it was a signal that the incident just now was over.

“Well then, since An is our employer now, let’s leave this place quickly. As I said before, I don’t know what happened, but there isn’t even a single animal here. For safety’s sake, it’s better to leave early.”

“O… Okay.”

It was the first time she had met humans in this other world.

Although there was a small misunderstanding at first, the result was pretty good.

An Ye walked over to the campfire, smothering the flames with the surrounding dirt while thinking about her future plans.

First, regarding Sophie’s group, their attitude was friendly for now, but she couldn’t trust them easily.

All in all, she had only known them for about fifteen minutes.

She couldn’t let go of her necessary vigilance.

Her mana must be kept at a state where she could use [Dragonification] at any time.

She couldn’t use the gel to make a fire on the road anymore.

If possible, she should try to level up a bit, and at the same time, get more information about this world from them.

That way, she would have more confidence when she reached the town.

Then, when they actually arrived in town, if she really did make them fail their request, she would stay with them a little longer and compensate them before leaving.

If not, she would part ways with them then and there.

Oh, and one more thing, if any materials dropped on the way, she could try to see if she could exchange them for some money from them.

That would make things much more convenient later.

An Ye finalized her plan in her mind.

Just as the campfire was extinguished, she turned to look at the three waiting nearby.

“…An, don’t you need to pack any luggage?”

That last sentence was really just a courtesy, and to show her own sincerity.

Sophie truly hadn’t expected An Ye to really have no luggage.

Could it be that she kept all her things on her?

But how much space could be under that cloak?

Being able to pull that longsword out from under the cloak was already ridiculous enough.

How could she possibly fit anything else?

And, she had to know, this place was a considerable distance from the nearest town.

Even if she really did have things under her cloak, she couldn’t have walked all the way here, unless…

She was like them, originally traveling by carriage, but she was alone.

When the horse was frightened and bolted, she couldn’t hold it back by herself, and all her supplies ran off with the horse.

The more she thought, the more Sophie felt this was possible.

She recalled An Ye’s hand when she passed her the sword, her flustered tone of voice…

No matter how she looked at it, she didn’t seem like a girl who would be here.

She was more like a young lady from somewhere.

If that was the case, then it was normal that she couldn’t hold back the horse.

And when she handed over the sword, didn’t she say she had no money on her and could only use the sword as payment?

Case closed!

Countless clues and details now connected in Sophie’s mind.

She felt she understood everything.

An must be the child of a rich merchant, perhaps forced to flee alone due to some feud or conflict.

This also explained why she had to hide her face, why she was carrying a super high-quality longsword, and yet had hands like that.

Then, while passing through here, the horse lost control.

She suddenly lost all her living supplies.

Alone and helpless, she couldn’t go far and could only light a campfire here.

Having clarified the entire timeline of events, Sophie thought about how she, Vic, and Snow had suddenly run over, fully armed, to check her ‘camp’, and even shot an arrow to threaten her.

‘How scared must she have been?’

And even so, she was still willing to pay for a ride.

No, she insisted on paying.

What a good child.

Uwah… oh no, the guilt is surging.

The more Sophie looked at the small An Ye before her, the worse she felt.

Although she couldn’t help her much with her own strength, she could at least get her safely to Kexel Town.

“Sophie, let’s get moving.”

While Sophie was still immersed in her own world, Vic, who had grown impatient, called out from behind to remind her.

Hearing this, Sophie came back to her senses, extended her right hand to An Ye, and said in the gentlest voice possible.

“Let’s get going.”

Er… what’s with her?

An Ye had witnessed all the changes in Sophie’s expression just now, so she knew she must have imagined some strange and fantastic things.

As for what exactly, An Ye couldn’t possibly know, but it probably wasn’t anything bad.

After thinking about it, since the other party had come up with a reasonable identity for her on their own, An Ye couldn’t be bothered to say anything.

It was best to just let nature take its course.

In any case, her time with them definitely wouldn’t be too long.

If something bad really happened, she’d just run.

And so, in Sophie’s eyes, An Ye stood in place and hesitated for a moment, then cautiously took her outstretched right hand.