After about five minutes of bargaining, Ariel and Mailun finally reached an agreement: the former could pretend to see nothing and allow the latter into the Mist, while the latter agreed to let Ariel meet his Father.
Just like Suna, what Ariel wanted now was all sorts of historical information about demons in Deya City.
After all, this city was built around the Mist, and having the help of a local authority would save her a lot of trouble.
To defeat a BOSS, the first step was to devise a proper strategy.
Ariel was sure that Truth, this Blood Demon of royal rank, had left behind many traces over five hundred long years.
Perhaps her weakness was hidden within those tiny clues…
“That maid is pretty shrewd—she doesn’t want Gold Coins, but instead is after my Father’s connections.”
Watching Ariel’s departing figure, Mailun frowned slightly.
He didn’t know what the maid wanted with his Father, but knowing how his Father handled matters, Ariel definitely wouldn’t get the better of him, so he could rest assured.
He had originally wanted to try winning over the maid with his own charm instead of using his Father’s name, but recalling how Truth and Suna had both turned out, he felt a little anxious.
On top of that, this maid looked at everyone with a cold, distant glare, as if she couldn’t be bothered with him at all—and there were those rumors about her liking to burn people with Fire Magic…
Forget it. Anyway, he could now enter the Dungeon, and with the guarantee from the Mist Employee, there probably wouldn’t be any problems.
Then, Mailun and his three companions tried entering the Novice Tutorial, and found no obstacles.
The four of them smoothly walked into the Dungeon, which made Mailun grin and say to the teammates behind him:
“We’re an average level-18 squad taking on a Dungeon with a level cap below 15. Aren’t we about to wipe the floor with everything?!”
“Maybe we’ll be the first team to clear the Dungeon, haha!”
“It really does come down to social skills. Who would’ve thought you could bypass the level cap just by pleasing a Mist Employee? The Mist Dungeon is nothing special after all!” ……
“So those four noobs actually managed to get into the Dungeon?”
On a small path in the Mist, Ariel was heading toward the core area, replaying the rules of the Mist Dungeon in her mind.
From what she knew, there didn’t seem to be any mechanism inside the Dungeon to check levels, so those four noobs should be fine, right?
But she was still a little uneasy. What if there was some hidden mechanism in the Mist specifically to punish adventurers who exceeded the level limit?
“Whatever, it’s not like I’ll be the one getting hurt if something happens to those four.” Ariel shrugged.
Besides, even if Truth found out, it didn’t matter. She’d just insist those four sneaked in while she wasn’t looking.
Hopefully, they’d just blow up the demon’s Dungeon for her.
Before long, Ariel stepped into the core area of the Mist. Other than the thick fog, what first caught her eye was a medium-sized wooden house.
The house’s frame had only just been finished—it looked like it had just been built.
“That demon actually built a house here. Looks like this is its permanent lair.”
Ariel moved forward to inspect the cabin more closely, and in the next second, with a loud “bang,” Truth flung open the door and walked out, startling Ariel.
“You’re a little slow—hurry up next time.”
As she spoke, Truth very naturally lifted Ariel’s short skirt. Ariel didn’t even react in time; by the time she did, Truth had already let the skirt fall and nodded:
“Not bad, you listened. You didn’t secretly put your panties back on behind my back.”
“Huh?”
“All right, here’s your task.” Truth pulled out a slip of paper and handed it to Ariel:
“Go to Deya City and buy me all these pieces of furniture. I want to decorate my little cabin. And on the back—see those two names? These two have been acting up lately, daring to oppose my followers’ proposals. I want you to get rid of them.”
Not long ago, Tia had sent word that two Nobles were refusing to support her proposals to have Deya City develop around the Mist.
Both their territories bordered the Mist, and Tia just happened to need to requisition part of their land to build a large plaza for adventurers to team up, trade, and rest.
This would concentrate the main activity area of both local and visiting adventurers outside the city, greatly relieving the population pressure within the city.
The only obstacle was that the two Nobles thought the compensation Tia offered was too little.
After all, with the Saintess and the Church exerting pressure, Deya City was set to develop around the Mist. So, shouldn’t land near the Mist rise in value too?
If they were compensated at the original land price, they’d lose out. If not double the compensation, then at least triple, right?
Actually, neither of them ever expected to get triple compensation. It was just negotiation tactics—start high to lay the groundwork for future talks.
Their real expectation was about 1.5 times the original compensation—not too much, not too little.
They’d also noticed that the High Priest Tia was still inexperienced in city governance, so they began to put pressure on her:
“If you can’t even properly resolve something as important as land compensation, how will you persuade everyone in the future?”
Tia felt they had a point, so she sent word through the Mist, hoping to ask the long-absent Holy Maiden what to do.
After all, Deya City’s Treasury was basically empty. Over the years, a bunch of parasites had squandered almost all the Gold Coins.
If they had to pay the original price, they could barely manage if they gritted their teeth, but unfortunately the two Nobles wouldn’t accept that.
So, should they just kill these two, or go through the motions? With Hermit’s usual ruthlessness, it’d probably be straight-up murder, Tia thought.
Truth’s answer was:
“Settle this by tomorrow.”…
In the core area, looking at the list of luxury items like “Velvet Carpet” and “Silver Tableware” on the note, and the two names on the back, Ariel sighed.
Who would’ve thought that a dignified Seventh-Rank Mage would end up running errands…
But where there’s a policy from above, there’s a countermeasure below.
She was pampered too, and had plenty of ways to get the errand done comfortably.
The only problem was how to handle this little “clean-up” task:
“Um, how exactly should I take care of these two local Nobles—should I do it quietly, or…?”
“Quietly? No, no, no—make it a big show! Just don’t let it get traced back to you. That’s all. Oh, and when you leave, watch your step, don’t step on my new Little Pet.”
Step on a Little Pet?
Ariel reflexively glanced down. On the lush green grass, there was a faint hint of white.
She brushed the grass aside, and saw a White Snake lying lifelessly at her feet.
And…
It looked like it was crying?
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