This barbecue meal cost Nelson a total of 50 kingdom silver coins, about one-tenth the price of a green-tier staff.
A common D-rank guild mission typically pays 2 to 5 silver coins, mostly for tasks like clearing out groups of third- or fourth-tier magical beasts or gathering rare herbs.
This one meal from Yvette devoured at least five days’ worth of wages for Nelson’s team.
But Yvette didn’t feel any pity.
Just a noble young master out for fun—when he’s tired and out of money, he’ll naturally return home to inherit the family business.
She had no reason to worry about him.
There was still plenty of barbecue left uneaten.
Though Nelson felt a bit reluctant, he didn’t say much, simply calling the waiter to pack it up.
At Yvette’s request, they set aside the untouched portion.
After saying goodbye to Black Guy A, turning down Buff Guy B, and briefly chatting with Girl C, the girl slyly took the last few pieces of soft cloth from a reluctant Nelson.
Soft cloth is great—it can polish Eleanor’s blade to a gleaming shine.
There’s even a small chance of getting praise from the sword spirit.
Having handed over all his soft cloth, the boy seemed just a tad more likable in Yvette’s eyes.
But that was about it.
She still had something important to do.
Find a hotel!
Yvette’s social skills were surprisingly good, and she quickly found out about the best inn in town.
There was just a slight disagreement—Eleanor didn’t care much about living conditions, as long as the food was good enough.
Yvette, however, insisted that a sword as amazing as her teacher deserved the best service.
Unfortunately, Eleanor didn’t dare transform in public.
As a sword, she could only hang at Yvette’s waist, letting the girl lead her to the town’s finest, the Carrot Inn.
A deluxe room with a large bed for 10 silver coins a night, worth 1,000 steamed buns.
As the pride of a small-town inn, both the decor and service left Yvette and Eleanor in awe.
Being at the border of the Forest of Fate and the kingdom, the town saw a constant stream of adventurers daily, including a few noble-led teams, which was enough to sustain a high-end inn like the Carrot.
Eleanor, clutching a pillow, flopped onto the soft, expansive bed, unable to resist rolling around.
A bed!
A gloriously soft bed, 2.5 meters wide—what a dream, family! No more sleeping in that dark, tattered scabbard!
Eleanor Lillian could finally sleep like a human on a bed!
Woo-hoo!
Compared to the sword spirit, who’d been confined for three years, the girl’s emotions were far more stable, though she’d never slept on such a large, soft bed either.
But there was something more important she needed to do right now.
Silently, she arranged the packed barbecue neatly on the table, then asked the waiter for two cups of tea and some desserts.
Eleanor rolled on the bed a bit longer until the aroma of the barbecue filled the room.
Gulp
Yvette heard the girl’s unmistakable swallow.
Before she could react, a pink-and-white blur leaped from the bed.
Miss Eleanor swiftly took a seat, unceremoniously grabbing skewers and stuffing her mouth.
Under Yvette’s slightly shocked gaze, she polished off the entire table.
Only when the table was bare, littered with skewers, did Eleanor stop eating.
Guessing her teacher might be thirsty, Yvette handed her a pre-cooled cup of tea.
Gulp, gulp, gulp~
“Teacher, are you full?”
“Full. Time to sleep.”
Miss Sword Spirit wore a deeply satisfied, adorable expression as she climbed onto the bed with her shapely, cute little legs.
Eleanor’s thoughts were increasingly hamster-like—perhaps her true form was a hamster.
Eat till full, sleep till rested, repeat: that was her ultimate goal.
Thanks to Yvette’s constant polishing of her blade, Miss Eleanor’s body was spotlessly clean.
Flopping onto the bed, hugging a pillow as big as herself, the girl buried her face in it.
“So soft, so comfy. I just want to melt into this pile of cotton,” Miss Sword Spirit said in a soft, childish voice.
Then~~~
Roll, roll, roll… roll, roll, roll…
“Mmm… too soft! How can it be this soft? Yvette was right—I deserve to enjoy a place like this.”
Flop.
Despite earlier criticizing the inn’s bourgeois vibe inside and out, she was now rolling around, face buried in the pillow, enjoying herself like a non-Newtonian cat.
Sigh, people are always hypocritical.
Swords are no exception.
But the girl resisted temptation, though she was curious to try the soft bed that had ensnared her teacher.
Not yet, though.
Her teacher was clean, but she wasn’t.
Whether Eleanor cared or not, Yvette wouldn’t allow her dirty self near her.
Quietly cleaning up the table’s remnants and telling Eleanor she was going to bathe, Yvette headed to the bathroom.
In the steamy bathroom, the girl sat on one side of the tub, arms wrapped around her knees.
Bathing is something that easily brings a sense of happiness. The swirling steam blurred her vision.
She looked at her reflection in the water, her smooth, pale body, and felt a wave of daze.
Her scars had healed. Just days ago, she’d been covered in wounds, her head foggy with fever.
“I’d have died, wouldn’t I?”
She murmured, recalling.
Without Miss Eleanor, she surely would have died.
Even if the double-headed tiger hadn’t eaten her, her injuries and fever would’ve killed her in the Forest of Fate.
With no treatment, she wouldn’t have survived that rainy night.
But she was alive now—not just alive but living better than she ever had, even before her days as a slave.
A 50-silver-coin barbecue, a 30-silver-coin luxury inn—these were things she couldn’t have dreamed of after her parents left.
Yet here she was, enjoying them, even slaying a sixth-tier magical beast herself.
And all of this was thanks to the girl outside the bathroom door.
“Eleanor Lillian,” the girl whispered.
Miss Eleanor had healed her, shared incredible power with her, acknowledged her as her swordmaster, and cared for her like family.
Yvette struggled to define what she felt for Eleanor right now.
Like a friend, sharing gossip about boys and girls. Like a teacher, lecturing her on her mistakes. Like family, offering care when she was lost and helpless.
What kind of feeling was it…?
Gratitude?
Or… something else.
Sitting alone in the middle of the tub, curled up like a hedgehog, her arms wrapped around her legs.
She gazed at the slightly confused eyes reflected in the water.
She couldn’t quite figure it out.
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