Chapter 7: What Happens After the Manticore Dies?

I’m finally free!

Xue La looked at the cute girl in the mirror, her mind full of thoughts about the future.

Waking up from the comfortable feather bed, she was attended by servants.

First a bath, then changing into a beautiful new dress.

Standing in front of the mirror and examining herself—what a delicately carved little doll she was.

It was all her fault for dawdling too long in the cave—mud, dust, and manticore blood…

So dirty!

The current her was proper and clean!

The little girl in the mirror had long blue hair, lovely golden eyes, and a pale face with a hint of rosiness.

She wore a neat light green princess dress, densely embroidered with white lace, like a walking cake.

And…

Xue La smiled and lifted a corner of her dress.

What was revealed was a calf wrapped in white stockings.

What gentleman wouldn’t be moved by the sight?

Xue La certainly was.

This girl, if she didn’t court death, was a promising beauty.

If not for the servant coming to interrupt, Xue La would have taken off those black leather shoes with single strap buckles—she wasn’t satisfied with just looking at the smooth, flawless instep.

She also wanted to see her pink, plump feet—after being washed in hot water and treated with fragrance.

‘I really am a cute little cake, hehe.’

House Linde was a family of middling size, with enough wealth to raise a proper lady…

But they probably didn’t know that she had no grand ambitions in this other world—she only planned to open a restaurant and fulfill her past dream.

Anyway, the Brave Luo Yi had overcome the crisis, so what did she have to fear?

From then on, he and Xue La had nothing more to do with each other.

That was what she thought, until a servant brought news.

Lord Brian was hosting a luncheon to honor the warrior who killed the manticore.

‘Ah, will Luo Yi also attend?’

Xue La was overjoyed; it sounded good.

She sat down full of joy, only to find that the so-called “warrior” was not Luo Yi, but a middle-aged golden-haired uncle.

“Who are you?”

Count Brian Lind could see his daughter’s hesitation.

He probably guessed it.

***

This matter could be traced back to when Xue La had not yet woken up.

Brian listened to Kairos’s words, and although he didn’t lose his temper on the spot, he remained cautious.

After all, Kairos claimed that his son Kai Dong had fought to the death and killed the manticore—what was the evidence?

Brian had not witnessed the scene himself, and he didn’t want to be fooled casually.

The best way was to find witnesses and experts…

So, Brian ostensibly invited Kairos for a meal and also brought his awake daughter.

But in essence, what he wanted was an impromptu court trial.

Who killed the manticore?

Xue La noticed the wrongness of this banquet—with vague memories, she roughly guessed the identity of the golden-haired uncle claiming credit: Sir Kairos, the father of that annoying Kai Dong.

After hearing her father Brian’s brief introduction, she became even more impatient and blurted out, “The manticore wasn’t killed by Kai Dong; it was Luo Yi.”

Kairos’s expression was indescribably ugly.

But Brian posed a second question.

“Who is Luo Yi? Do you have any evidence?”

‘Not?’

Xue La stopped her knife and fork that should have been busy; the steak on the plate instantly lost its appeal.

‘Good deeds have good rewards, evil deeds have evil retribution—can’t such a simple thing be realized?’

It was Luo Yi, as the future Brave, who eliminated the manticore and protected the young lady of House Linde.

‘Was there anyone contesting this fact?’

“Sir Kairos said that you fainted in the cave at that time. So what you saw—is it true?”

Brian said sternly.

He didn’t want to deliberately protect his daughter; after all, as a count, he also needed to appropriately consider the attitudes of his subordinates.

Exactly who killed the manticore was not important, but considering that his territory had suffered an attack by this beast, whether the explanation itself could reassure the people was most important.

If it was Kairos’s son who died bravely, that would not be a bad story at all.

But who was Luo Yi?

Count Brian had not heard of him.

Xue La pursed her lips and quickly recalled the cruel setting of the game world.

Lords never had the duty to remember all their subjects.

They only cared about whether the annual rent was collected on time to maintain their own lavish lives.

‘Where do you think the money comes from to hire servants and buy little dresses and perfume for your daughter?’

It was all from House Linde selling wheat and wool every year, bit by bit, hard-earned savings!

House Linde was not a major noble family that ranked in the Kingdom of Norsenia; this name was mentioned far more times among the merchants and bakeries in the royal capital than in the palace.

Brian was a pragmatic and shrewd ruler!

And the manticore’s invasion shattered all that.

He didn’t want to experience such a disgrace a second time.

If a scandal spread, what would the neighbors think?

“The head of House Linde is a good-for-nothing; he can’t even watch over his own daughter, and she was taken by a manticore?!”

Disgrace, absolute disgrace.

Now the manticore was dead, the disgrace lessened somewhat, but not completely.

If the territory could have a “brave who killed a monster,” perhaps this sense of shame could be reduced.

But his daughter, the apple of Brian’s eye, Xue La Linde, actually denied Kairos’s claim!

She said that a child named Luo Yi was the hero and brave who killed the manticore?

Interesting, but it also put him in a difficult position.

“Miss…”

Kairos tapped the table.

“You were unconscious at the time… perhaps…”

“I saw it very clearly,” Xue La said.

“Kai Dong was bitten to death by the manticore. Luo Yi and I split into two routes, one front and one back, and killed the manticore.”

The girl blinked her golden eyes without changing expression—she lied while giving the first piece of evidence.

“Luo Yi was poisoned by the manticore, so I took him away, holding his feverish body…”

“Ahem!”

Brian interjected.

“Don’t mention this matter to your mother—a proper lady should not associate with low-status serf children.”

“The manticore doesn’t care about a child’s birth; they’re just food,” Xue La retorted.

Brian was taken aback.

‘What was wrong with his daughter?

After experiencing the test of the manticore, she has become… a little mature?

Great, it seems my wife can come back too.’

Xue La was truly the apple of his eye—Brian’s wife even more so, because when their daughter was taken by the manticore, she had a fight with her husband and returned to her parents’ home, declaring that if her daughter wasn’t found, she wouldn’t come back!

It seemed that his daughter was growing more and more like her mother.

Brian didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but as a lord, he had to keep his composure.

But it was hard.

Because Xue La directly pulled out her dagger.

‘Come on, as a game transmigrator, some basic principles must be maintained.

Like always being equipped with a weapon.’

Although she had briefly parted with it while bathing and changing, those servants didn’t dare disobey a noble lady’s orders, and finally obediently returned the dagger to her.

Although it was rusty, there was still a chance to polish and modify it in the future.

‘This is a souvenir of me personally killing the manticore!’

“I used a dagger,” Xue La said.

“Luo Yi, the real brave—used a greatsword…”

She vividly described that thrilling battle.

But the more she said, the uglier Kairos’s expression became, and finally he had to put on an adult’s airs, implying that what did a child know?

However, Brian was not a good-for-nothing; he had his own thoughts.

“I have specially hired a merchant who deals in monster business,” he began.

“The bodies of many monsters can be considered priceless treasures—the manticore is no exception. Its venom can be an important alchemical material, and the membrane from its wings can be used to make good lightweight shields or boots…”

What Brian wanted to do was invite an impartial monster expert to determine the true cause of the manticore’s death.

That corpse was still lying on the open ground outside the manor!

The count would eventually uncover the truth.

And there was another private reason—if they sold the manticore’s corpse for a good price, that precious sum of money would be enough to appease subordinates, compensate the casualties… and might even have leftovers that go into their own pockets.

Killing three birds with one stone.