Chapter 75: Be Kinder to Yourself, You Dummy

‘Damn it, how long has it been since they started searching for me in the city?’

Xili had just been helping them defend the city against the Abyss monsters, and she had even taken time during the chaos to help the knights out of a bind. Even if they didn’t feel grateful, they could at least wait a little longer before starting a city-wide manhunt for her.

However, even if she had known things would end up like this, Xili would have made the same choice to help them if she had to do it all over again. There was no other way; once Anvil City was breached, the entire place would be swallowed by the Abyss. No one wanted to see such a massacre happen right before their eyes.

Whether the search was the knights’ own idea, however, was another matter entirely. Xili guessed that the search was likely ordered by Pegum. She suspected that when Pegum had glanced toward her hiding spot earlier, he must have discovered something.

He probably hadn’t wanted to distract himself from the battle at the time. Even if he had sent knights to search her hiding spot immediately, Xili would have left before they arrived, leaving them with nothing but dust. Now that the battlefield was cleared and the Abyss monsters were dealt with, Pegum had likely issued the order to capture her.

‘Why does he want to catch me so badly?’

Besides, she hadn’t even met Pegum yet. Shouldn’t the focus right now be on defending against the Abyss? Why divert defensive forces to hunt her down at a time like this?

She could finally understand why Clayton had been so agitated before. What kind of timing was this to be chasing her? However, Xili had a few ideas as to why Pegum might have ordered her arrest.

It might have something to do with Broll. Broll’s cause of death was leaking secrets, and Pegum would definitely know he was dead. In that case, the person who forced him to talk… No, that conversation had happened within a mental space, and Xili had been very well disguised at the time.

If it wasn’t because of Broll, then it was likely because of her alleged status as an accomplice of the Holy Fire Sect.

‘Tch… I really got screwed over by that blonde woman.’

If that woman hadn’t shown up out of nowhere, spoke in riddles, and then left a trail for the knights to follow instead of vanishing quickly, the knights wouldn’t have focused their attention on Xili. If not for her, none of this would have happened.

Looking back at everything that had occurred today, that woman really was the catalyst. Without her, Xili wouldn’t have been chased by knights, wouldn’t have met Alyosha, wouldn’t have run into Clayton at that specific time, and wouldn’t be encountering searching knights on her way back to the inn now.

It all started with that blonde woman. Xili hoped she wouldn’t run into her again; otherwise, she would definitely settle the score.

As for Pegum, she didn’t know what he was planning. At a time like this, instead of focusing on defensive preparations, he was sending people all over the city to find her. She didn’t know if this was Bator’s decision or if it was a suggestion from Pegum that Bator had approved.

Xili watched the knights questioning pedestrians in the distance. She noticed they were holding something; besides checking appearances, they were using the object to scan the people. Since she was too far away to hear anything, Xili could only guess it was a tool to detect Abyssal energy.

After all, Xili had been fighting Abyss monsters for quite a while. It was only natural for her body to be tainted with the scent of the Abyss. Even if they didn’t know what she looked like, they could narrow down the target by checking for that energy. Even if ordinary citizens had accidentally come into contact with it while fleeing, the knights could simply detain everyone and investigate them one by one.

Xili lifted her arm and sniffed lightly; she didn’t smell anything. However, she couldn’t rule out the possibility that her exhaustion was affecting her sense of smell. If she was detected, she would have to face another pursuit. She really didn’t want to go through what happened at noon all over again.

What should she do?

Thinking about her status as a Cursebearer and her ability to completely eradicate the Abyss, she wondered if she could use fire to lightly “toast” herself. Perhaps that would remove any lingering Abyssal aura.

Although she had been wearing a cloak, her dress had inevitably been exposed during the fight. To be safe, she decided to change. Fortunately, Iris had picked out several dresses for her the other day, so she had spares.

Xili retreated into a side alley. After ensuring no one was inside and that she couldn’t be seen from the street, she took off her cloak and her light dress. She pulled out her dagger, applied a fire enchantment, and carefully moved the burning blade over her body.

Since it was fire she had summoned herself, it wouldn’t cause her any harm. She could toast herself without worry, not even needing to fret about singeing her hair. Although long hair was difficult to manage, she had grown quite fond of it after a few days. It really was beautiful.

After dealing with the Abyssal energy, Xili changed into a long black dress. To avoid detection, she specifically removed her wrist-mounted grappling hooks, messed up her hair, and rubbed some dirt onto her skirt and face.

Once finished, she took a deep breath, lowered her head, hunched her shoulders, and put on a timid expression before walking toward the knights.

“Stop.”

As she approached the group, a knight quickly stepped in front of her. The black-haired girl looked up shyly, her face full of fear.

“Sir… what is it…?”

Her voice was thick with panic and helplessness.

“I… I just wanted to visit my aunt’s house in the city today, but I ran into those monsters and hid. I only just dared to come out now.”

The knight didn’t say a word. He simply held up a crystal-ball-like object and scanned her. After confirming there was no reaction, the stern expression on his face softened significantly.

“No problems here. Go on, and stay safe.”

“Th—thank you, Sir Knight.”

She passed the inspection smoothly. Once she was out of the knights’ sight, Xili immediately dropped the timid act, and her frantic, fearful steps returned to a normal pace.

‘That was a close one.’

She arrived at the inn and was lucky enough to find one vacant room left. After renting it, Xili hurried to the dining area and ordered a stew set. Having been hungry all day, she devoured the meal until only empty plates remained.

She went upstairs, took a long, relaxing hot bath, and dried her hair. As she lay down on the soft, comfortable bed, the exhaustion accumulated throughout the day washed over her like a tide. The young girl closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

Outside the window, moonlight filtered through a gap in the curtains, casting a thin sliver of light onto the floor. The room was silent.

Iris sat by the bed alone for a long time. Then, she suddenly stood up and looked down at Xili’s sleeping face. Xili didn’t seem to be sleeping very well; her brow was furrowed as if she were having a nightmare.

“Honestly, you dummy, Xili.”

Iris reached out and gently touched her sleeping face. “You don’t even know how to be kind to yourself in your dreams. Pushing yourself so hard every single day… how much longer can you hold out? Really, take it easy on yourself.”

Her hand suddenly froze. As if sensing something, she turned her head toward the window.

“Tch… that annoying person is here again.”

She stood up and phased through the wall to go downstairs.

Outside the inn, a blonde figure stood below. Seeing Iris float down from the second floor, the golden-haired woman bowed slightly.

“Lady Iris, you’ve come.”