The orchard outside Maisolonge Monastery has had a bountiful harvest.
Exiting the convent on this river island and crossing the white stone bridge leads to equally prosperous fields and villages.
In the Kingdom of Northern Norsenia, land and property are owned not only by local nobles like Linde but also by organizations like the monastery that govern the spiritual world and divine magic.
The town’s production work also requires the involvement of the nuns of Maisolonge, because, in theory, the monastery’s farmland is managed by the people of the surrounding villages and towns as an “offering to the gods.”
The village and town are famous for the ancient yet glorious monastery of Maisolonge, bearing a pleasant but conservative name on the map:
Privet Town.
‘The game designer’s taste is absolutely ridiculous,’ Xue La muttered inwardly, her toes curling in her shoes, wishing she could dig a three-bedroom apartment out of embarrassment.
Anyway, today’s task was to pick the sweet apples in Privet Town.
They were large, plump, and bright red, with crisp and fragrant flesh—perfect for eating raw or making cider!
Moreover… there should be a remnant of Emius’s recipe in Privet Town—Xue La recalled her gaming experience from her previous life.
[Virgina Apple Pie]
[Effect: Upon consumption, grants +88% critical hit damage, +88% HP regeneration, and +8% instant HP recovery for a duration of one day.]
This apple pie gave you strength when eaten!
Xue La thought: putting aside critical hit damage, 88% critical damage was either a developer’s brain fart or a stroke of genius. The HP regeneration and instant recovery essentially boosted frontline sustained combat capability, ensuring that no matter how much the warriors got beaten up, they could quickly recover HP.
If facing a boss with explosive damage output and lacking a healer, eating a Virgina Apple Pie would definitely keep you safe!
But then again…
Xue La no longer had much chance to meet Luo Yi.
She should focus on the future, study divine magic properly, and avoid getting involved with Luo Yi.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to maintain their relationship and continue lazing around as a noble lady freeloader.
But her mother, Lady Catalina of the Lyoncourt family, had burned all bridges!
Xue La hesitated, unsure if she could still see Luo Yi again.
Would he still hate her?
She didn’t dare gamble. She just wanted to switch plans, find a way to stay at the monastery—being a reclusive little nun might at least avoid disaster.
‘I don’t want to be reincarnated as a maid! That cannon-fodder villainess maid destined to die under the Brave’s sword!’
But then why was she still eager to participate in apple picking and dream of making a delicious apple pie?
Maybe she still couldn’t let go of Luo Yi.
That was why she had made that dish earlier: Manticore Sausage.
That legendary dish itself granted 80% poison resistance, plus the extra black truffle seasoning brought the total poison resistance to 100%—in other words.
If Luo Yi encountered poison-type attacks, it would be as natural as eating and drinking. He’d take zero damage.
A glance at the personal panel’s game log showed the damage taken…
It was actually 0!
It might even be seen as a miracle by those unfamiliar with the situation.
Xue La was satisfied with this dish, even earning enough upgrade points from it.
If her mother, Lady Catalina, hadn’t interfered, she could have stayed with Luo Yi, personally cooking various dishes and silently supporting his battles.
But now—she actually didn’t know what she was collecting recipes and cooking for anymore.
Perhaps just because Virgina Apple Pie was pretty and delicious?
Maybe she shouldn’t be so utilitarian and keep treating this second life like a game.
Far from the noisy life on Earth she remembered from her previous life.
Just peacefully enjoying apple picking in Privet Town—maybe that wasn’t so bad?
In fact, Xue La was already doing that.
“Greetings, sisters!”
The farm overseer in charge of the orchard greeted the group from the monastery politely, though his hands fidgeted nervously, fingers interlaced and twisting.
Such little movements naturally didn’t escape the eyes of the head nun—the vice abbess accompanying them, the one with the gold-rimmed glasses.
Her wrinkles deepened as she spoke.
“If something’s wrong, just say it. Before the gods, one must be honest.”
She put on a face as a representative of the gods, speaking with authority.
“Ah, well…”
The overseer looked awkward.
“It’s like this. In recent years, this apple orchard has become harder and harder to manage. Those annoying Klabane Crows are multiplying like pests, and we can’t handle them!”
“This is a problem caused by your lack of piety, and the orchard is suffering because of it.”
The vice abbess pursed her lips, arms crossed in rebuttal.
Klabane Crows weren’t ordinary birds; they were beings influenced by the Demon Realm, somewhere between beasts and monsters. Like monsters, they had organs containing magic and alchemical value (like Count Brian selling the Manticore carcass), but their parts were often small and not worth much. Their danger was also less than common mid-to-large monsters.
Thus, Klabane Crows were considered a transitional form, as scholars in the Royal Capital had finally determined.
But while that was the official word, was their danger really small?
According to the overseer, these birds were worse than ordinary crows—cunning and harmful. Not only did they enjoy stealing crops, but they also flocked together, attacking the weak for fun, using their wings to bully creatures on the ground.
Like humans—to teach these thieving birds a lesson, the overseer had tried organizing people to catch them and destroy nests, but the result was that the Klabane Crows retaliated like thugs: using sharp claws and beaks, or even turning their backs and dropping stinky crow dung on people from above as mockery.
So these nasty little things weren’t as dangerous as the Manticore that had suddenly appeared and caused a commotion at the festival, but the actual economic damage was quite significant!
The reactions among the nuns to the monster infestation affecting this year’s harvest varied.
According to church scripture, monster infestations could be seen as part of the clash between light and dark, good and evil in the world—a way to sift out the brave from the cowardly, the righteous from the vile—but on the other hand, dealing with such infestations was the church’s duty to spread the holy light.
Thus, the vice abbess chose to condemn, pointing out the overseer’s fault as “normal.”
But not necessarily correct.
Xue La’s thoughts were more straightforward—she wanted to help, regardless of moral issues.
Since she’d decided to enjoy life in the other world, less blame was better than more!
“How do you plan to help?”
The abbess asked impatiently.
“It’s a shame; I was hoping to try making Virgina Apple Pie…”
That was exactly what Xue La wanted—in her short time at the monastery, she had taken over the kitchen and conquered the taste buds and stomachs of the nuns and sisters.
Including the apple pie recipe, hidden away high in the Maisolonge Monastery, with the vice abbess holding the key.
“Good ingredients are the foundation of a delicious dish.”
Xue La spoke up.
“If this continues, with the Klabane Crows running rampant, soon there won’t be good apples left to make the pie!”
“But you—”
Xue La cut off the old woman’s hesitation.
“I have my ways.”
The blue-haired, golden-eyed girl smiled.
She bent down, casually picked up a stone from the ground, and then threw it straight at a distant fruit tree.
A leaf fell, the cut smooth and clean.
Xue La had already allocated her skill points into her panel!
Since the divine magic panel was temporarily locked for some reason, she might as well broaden her thinking and learn other skills, right?
She didn’t want to waste—or rather, those “unallocated skill points” just looked uncomfortable to her.
That was too unbecoming of her veteran gamer status from her previous life!
Xue La hadn’t learned much. She’d earned a bit from making Manticore Sausage, and a bit more from cooking in the monastery kitchen for a few days.
She invested in two skills: [Hidden Weapon Throwing] and [Gale Step] .
There wasn’t much to say about these two skills. They weren’t as immediately effective as Backstab, but they were essential survival support skills for the Assassin profession. The former allowed ranged attacks to increase survival probability, engaging enemies from a hundred meters away; the latter was a quick charge and escape skill.
Moreover, these skills were prerequisites for [Shadow Sneak] and [Dagger Storm] .
So Xue La had to learn them well!
Now was the time to show off.
And dealing with small fry like Klabane Crows was obviously less risky than taking on a Manticore, while the rewards were decent—eliminating one Klabane Crow earned about 25-75 EXP, roughly the same as Xue La cooking a plain dish with no quality bonus.
Time to grind some experience…
With a higher level, she would have a chance to learn more powerful skills.
Like Shadow Sneak, a passive skill that automatically conceals an elite assassin’s figure in darkness, granting extremely high evasion and damage reduction, and not weakening over time—this passive only diminished with light intensity!
Such a vicious skill? Anyone playing an Assassin class who didn’t laugh must be clinically depressed.
Facing such an elite assassin would probably make enemies curse their luck.
***
Luo Yi finally climbed the endless stairs and crashed into the leader of the Shadow Thieves.
Ke Lun looked astonished.
“How could you… still be alive?”
But the seasoned Black Market Emperor quickly rationalized it.
“Those execution devices were old and decrepit. They didn’t poison you to death?”
Ke Lun sneered.
“Then let me take your dog’s life myself!”
The goat-like man snapped his fingers, and a strange light flickered from the ring on his hand.
Just like the inferior second-hand magic orb, Ke Lun also had a seemingly useless ring.
Its only ability was to extinguish all light sources in the room.
For an elite assassin like him, Shadow Sneak was his greatest reliance!