“Knock knock knock, knock knock knock—!”
The urgent knocking at the door suddenly rang out, and Keti was startled on the spot, her petite body beginning to tremble uncontrollably, and she quickly took two steps back in the opposite direction of the door.
Who, who could it be?
The first thing that came to Keti’s mind was those beautiful girls—
Alice, Layla, and Sylvia…
Her former teammates.
They knew the location of this little workshop, and she didn’t know many people in the imperial capital to begin with.
Besides, who else would take the initiative to come find her except her former teammates?
Keti really couldn’t think of anyone else…
Could it be that…they…they regretted it?
Or maybe they thought it was too pitiful to just drive her away, so they wanted to call her back to the base?
Hiss—
Even if that were the case, at this very moment, with her complicated feelings, she couldn’t say for sure whether she was willing to go back with them or not.
But what was obvious was…
Now was definitely not the right time for a reunion!
Ugh…
If, if they found out she had turned herself into a girl, the image she had in her former teammates’ hearts would probably collapse completely!
No, absolutely not—!
So, after a moment, Keti made a choice…
To play dead right where she stood!
Cough cough cough…
Faced with the urgent knocking, Keti already pictured in her mind the scene of the blond twin-tailed loli, Miss Alice, furiously banging on the door and shouting,
“Keti, open up!”
She immediately held her breath, not daring to even make a sound, trying to pretend there was no one in the quiet room, staring wide-eyed at the door that seemed ready to burst open, her heart thumping uncontrollably!
Her blood pressure was soaring—!
Just as Keti felt like she was about to pass out from holding her breath, a rough, loud woman’s voice at the door rescued her.
She heard what seemed to be the landlady, shouting at the door:
“Hey, you little alchemist! Stop pretending you’re not home, I just heard noises from inside! Open up now!”
Keti let out a sigh of relief.
Phew…thank goodness…
So it was just the landlady, not her former teammates.
That was a relief, since she wasn’t very familiar with the landlady—she’d only met her a couple of times when renting the place…
Given the awkward situation, Keti hesitated for a moment.
Continuing to play dead here didn’t seem like a good idea—anyone who didn’t know might think she was up to something shady.
Plus, she really wasn’t that familiar with the landlady.
So, the silver-haired girl took a deep breath and quietly walked to the door, opening it.
As soon as the door opened, the landlady frowned and squeezed her plump body inside, forcing Keti to step back two paces.
Then, looking awkward, Keti stood there like she was being punished.
Seeing that the one who opened the door was a girl, the landlady was stunned for a moment.
After a pause, she frowned in confusion and asked directly: “Who are you? Where’s that Keti kid?”
“………”
The silver-haired girl awkwardly licked her lips.
Uh…she hadn’t thought of an excuse yet.
What, what should she say…crap…
At this critical moment, Keti’s already weak social skills failed her even more, especially since she hadn’t adapted to the changes in her new body.
The beautiful silver-haired girl…completely froze!
“Um…I, uh…ah—”
She stammered for a long time, and the landlady seemed to lose patience with the flustered, blushing girl.
Instead, she found her even more suspicious.
After a moment, she sneered and cut Keti off:
“Alright, no need to explain. I bet you’re just another one of that brat’s new little girlfriends, huh? Heh, that kid really has some skills—this is the fourth one already!”
Kg, og…
Realizing the landlady had seriously misunderstood her identity, Keti looked a bit embarrassed, but given the situation, maybe a misunderstanding was better.
Still, her image in the landlady’s eyes seemed a bit ridiculous.
Why did it sound like she was some kind of playboy?
Granted, her three former teammates really were dazzling beauties, but she’d never done anything with them beyond being teammates and companions.
Even with Alice, her childhood friend, if she accidentally touched her, Alice would blush and yell at her…
The other two would immediately give her weird, resentful looks!
Thinking about it, they were all genius beauties.
How could they possibly like someone like her?
“Hmph, hey, why isn’t that brat here? Tell him for me: he has three days left. If he doesn’t pay all the overdue rent in three days, I’ll sell that thing he pawned to me for cash! Seriously, keeping so many women around but can’t pay rent?!”
“Huh?!”
Hearing the landlady’s words, Keti snapped out of it and quickly shook her head!
……!
No way—!
Ugh, after the landlady finished speaking, Keti finally remembered that she’d pawned something to the landlady before.
It was a Pearl Bracelet her mom had given her when she left the village, meant to be a gift for Alice in the future…
It wasn’t worth much, really, but the landlady didn’t know its value, so Keti had been able to use it as a security deposit.
Cough…
But now things were different.
If she had that bracelet, she could use it to prove her identity!
Well…although showing up as a girl in front of her parents would be a bit problematic, at least she could use the bracelet as proof.
Anyway, at least after returning to the village, her parents would take her in.
She could make up an excuse, say she was a friend of Keti’s, and then figure things out from there.
The most important thing was to get home first—otherwise, where else could she go…
“Hmm? What do you mean, no?”
The landlady’s gaze turned more and more displeased, and Keti quickly coughed twice and waved her hand, saying: “Um, I…no, I mean, he’ll pay the rest of the rent. Please don’t sell that bracelet—it’s very important to Keti!”
“Hmph, he’d better. Anyway, he only has three days left. Pay up the three thousand Denar, or I’ll sell the bracelet. He’d better hurry and get the money. I don’t like feeling sorry for people. Also, move everything out of here. I won’t be renting this place next year.”
“…………”
Hearing the amount of rent left, Keti couldn’t help but twitch her lips.
She…owed that much?
The girl looked troubled on the spot, but the landlady was clearly not open to negotiation.
After saying her piece, she left directly, leaving Keti standing there in a daze.
Denar was the official currency of the Lider Empire.
Three thousand Denar—that was no small sum, especially for a poor girl like her now.
It was a sky-high price.
And in three days, she had to move out.
Even this temporary hiding place would be gone…
What…how was she supposed to scrape together that kind of money?
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