While I stared bnkly at the message about my debt, the redhead grinned with smug satisfa. “You better watch out,” she said, her voice dripping with mockery. Then, with a wave of her hand, she yanked me out of the void a me hurtling back to the ship.

  No expnation. No apology. Just gone.

  I kly what had happened—but damn it; I wanted her to admit it before I strangled her.

  The ship was cruising along as if I’d never left. Leaning against the railing, I stared at the river below, its steady flow doing little to calm the storm in my chest. That woman—undoubtedly Damon’s boss—clearly had it out for me. Was it because I exploited the game? e on, anyone could do it!

  With a sharp kick to the wooden ph the railing, I tried to shake the frustration. “That! She’s…” My words caught in my throat as I gritted my teeth, my fists balling up instinctively. No swearing. Not now.

  Her i in me meant ohing: I had to tread carefully. They’d fgged me for sure. It didn’t matter, though. My goals had already shifted.

  First, with the help of Duke’s soldiers, I’d support Lisa in her fight against Dmitry. Afterward, I’d ask Katherio join me in expl the Fotten City. That preparation would set me up perfectly for the mai Duke had handed me: Irwen’s decration of war.

  “Let’s do it!” I decred, a grin spreading ay face. Kig the pnk again, I relished the satisfying thud it made beh my high heel.

  The monotonous sailing dragged on for two more hours until Vilge Number Seventeen appeared on the horizon. Leaning on the railings, I watched the bustling activity below as the captain’s booming voice echoed across the deck.

  As the ship approached the port, it suddenly swayed, throwing me off bance. I stumbled, reag desperately for the yard, but my hand missed by inches, and I nded hard on the deck.

  “Son of—gimme that!” the captain barked, shoving his subordinate aside and seizing the helm. With a powerful twist, he corrected the ship’s course. “Quickly, ss!” he shouted in my dire.

  Not wanting to dey them any longer, I scrambled to my feet, dashed to the side, a onto the dock. Waving back at the ship, I expected some aowledgment, but they didn’t even gnce my way as they sailed off without stopping. Well, that’s anticlimactic.

  No matter. Clutg the dot from the Duke, I straightened my posture and strode toward the ter of the vilge, imagining a heroiset framing my silhouette. Wait… what? It’s already su? A quice at the sky firmed it—four hours had passed.

  Like every other elven vilge, this one looked identical to the rest. Magical mps were already glowing faintly, their light casting a warm shimmer over the uniform rows of buildings. Lazy developers—or zy elves? Either way, it seemed someone had copied and pasted the entire vilge design.

  Even the names were uninspired. Vilge Number Seventeen, seriously? Then again, it made sehe imperial officials loved to funt their trol by f everyoo to the same rigid, “proper imperial” standards. Uniform vilges, uniform names, uniform lives.

  Well, except for the building in the ter of the vilge. Every other structure was one or two stories high at most, but the guildhall towered above them, casting a shadow evehe two-story shop beside it.

  Looking around, I noticed some pyers gawking at the massive building, their faces a mix of amazement and surprise. Hah, wait until you see the Tower of Eternity for the first time. Clutg the dot tighter, I pressed forward. The steady stream of pyers heading inside made it easy to blend in, so I let the flow carry me.

  Inside, over twenty ters lihe hall, all packed with workers furiously processing requests. Even with that many, the queues snaked around the spacious room, promising at least an hour’s wait. White ns, evenly spaced throughout, supported the ceiling and doubled as mounts for notice boards overflowing with quest papers.

  tless magical mps cast a soft, yellowish glow over everything, making the chaotic hall feel oddly calming.

  At the far end of the right wall, an inspicuous door caught my eye. Without hesitation, I strode toward it, though the murmur of hundreds of pyers seemed to drown out my fident steps.

  Getting there was another matter. I had to weave through the sea of motionless morons who seemed glued to their spots, refusing to move even an inch.

  Finally, I reached the door, only to find a lone guard standing in front of it, blog my way. Her medium armor g tightly to her frame, but clearly, the devs had been menerous with her design than with mine—no cleavage on hers. Still, she had a mean look, and her haed on the hilt of her silvery sword as I approached.

  “Halt.” She stopped me with a rude gesture and pulled her sword slightly from its sheath. “Missy, this is a private guild area. Go back to the queue.”

  My stomach ed, the weight of the enormous crowd pressing on my nerves. But I forced myself to smile, pulling every ounce of fake fideo my voice. “No need!” I said, fshing my most charming smile as I presented her with my silver sig ring, the snowfke insignia glinting faintly. “I am Princess Charlie, Baroess of the Empire. Let me through—I o speak with the Guard Captain.”

  The woman’s response wasly what I’d hoped for. She threw her head bad ughed—a sharp, mog sound that made my cheeks burn.

  “Oh, really?” she said, drawing her sword fully and leveling its sharp tip just under my . Her gaze was stony and calg, and her lips curled into a grin. “This is the guild. Even the Emperor himself has to wait in the queue—that’s the w!”

  What? My mind scrambled for a response, but before I could say anything, she tilted her head, her eyes sing me as though I were prey. “Try me, squeak,” she sneered, lig her lips as though sav the frontation.

  [Guild Guard Lv. 20]Type: 2-unon | HP: 343/343I frowned uhe guard’s unfortable stare and shook my head, bag away slowly. “No need for violence.”

  Stupid guard! Was all my work for nothing? Why couldn’t I even skip a queue? Her triumphant grin was like salt in the wound, but I swallowed my anger.

  She wasn’t wrong. The guild was indepe and hated politics, but the Mayor and Guard Captain had offices up there. So, not i. Why is everything out to get me? Why do I faabacks?

  With a sour expression, I trudged to the back of the long queue and moped over the stupid system.

  “Charlie!”

  A familiar voiapped me out of my sulking. What, where? Why? My eyes darted around until I spotted the culprit. “Here!” Katherine waved at me enthusiastically, practically boung with joy. She was roughly halfway through the line.

  Without a sed thought, I darted toward her, pushing past the other pyers without a care for their grumbles.

  As soon as I reached her, Katherine pulled me into a tight embrace. Her arms ed around me, and the tension I’d been carryied away. Damn, why is she so beautiful?

  Still flustered, I gnced up to where her streamer i should have been. No i? “No rec?”

  “Nope! ‘Cause tat’s b!” She gestured wildly to the milling crowds around us. “I killed ‘em in three hours an’ finished ma quest! This worse thain’ streamers’ badge!”

  “Badge?” My ears perked up. “I thought that was difficult.”

  “Wat?” Her eyes widened in mock disbelief, and she pyfully swatted her palm into my hair, ughing as she turned my carefully styled cut into a mess.

  “Hey!” I frowrying to push her hand away, but she held firm. Her grip was much stronger, and in my struggles, she pressed down harder, makiagger.

  “No way! Just ask ‘em an’ ya get it!” she said, still ughing, her voice overflowing with delight.

  Thanks to Katherihe waiting wasn’t b. Half an hour flew by in no time. Naturally, I only squeezed out a few words at a time during our versation, but hey—progress!

  Katheriurned in her quest, and now it was my turn. John, it’s just talking to a clerk. Nothing hard.

  I pced my hands on the rough, white-wood ter, its surface still carrying the faint st of fresh-cut forest, and smiled at the young Elven man sitting behind it.

  “Hello!” I blurted, summoning the Duke’s message and practically tossing it at him. “I o talk with the Guard Captain!”

  He caught the dot effortlessly, his movements smooth and practiced. Does this happen a lot?

  “A minute, please.” Breaking the seal with a calm efficy, he adjusted his gsses and leaned closer to examihe order. His eyes sed the dot with meticulous care. “We will do as ordered, miss.”

  His quill moved across a fresh piece of part i, perfect handwriting, the scratg sound almost soothing. After folding my message ly, he tucked it away somewhere out of sight.

  “Our forces will bolster your fortress, Baroess. However,” he tinued, adjusting his gsses again, “I am pleased to inform you that the Fire Tamer has already beeed. Therefore, I am empowered to deny the request for additional reinforts. Will that be all?”

  I blinked, momentarily at a loss. The Fire Tamer? Already defeated? After Lisa’s desperate request, I’d half-expected this would be a race against time—but this?

  “I… see. Thank you,” I managed, biting back my frustration. Arguing would be pointless. I learhat the hard way with the angel-managers.

  “Could you at least post a quest to help defend us?” I asked, f a polite smile.

  “Naturally,” the clerk replied with a small nod. “We need your…”

  It took me twenty minutes just to post a quest. Bureaucracy at its fi. That meant there was a new hero—and it was Dmitry. Same as in my previous life. Nothing ged. Per usual.

  “Wat now?” Katherine’s voice jolted me from my spiraling thoughts.

  Wait… her voice? When have I left the guild? I blinked and realized I was standing just outside, o her waiting form. “You said somethin’ ‘bout Lisa?” she asked, her excitement bubbling over.

  Lisa. That pirl. “I did, didn’t I?” My voice wavered, sadness creeping in. “What we even do now? Dmitry is strong. Very strong.”

  “Tat’s jus’ na?ve, Charlie!” she scolded, giving me a firm pat on the back. Her touch sent pleasant shivers through my skin, making it even harder to focus. “Ya know ‘tat!”

  Quickly stepping away before I started purring, I sighed. Dmitry’s gamepy videos were legendary, and no one could argue against his skill. Sure, there was an endless debate about whether supp demons was ethical, but his expertise? Uionable.

  Still, Lisa needed help. One day of leveling could wait in exge for her friendship. “Let’s go there anyway,” I said, determination hardening my voice.

  “Walkin’...” Katherine groaned, patting her exposed thighs—thank you, devs—before adding with a dramatic sigh, “Tat’s tedious! Slow!”

  Blushing, I averted my gaze and tried to focus on where we were. Lately, I’d been so unfocused, more reactive than deliberate. Where was my level-headed, analytical warrior? Instead of strategizing, I was thinking about why I wasn’t level-headed anymore. Charlie, get it together!

  Looking around, I realized we were still standing outside the guild, amid the stant stream of pyers. NPCs had set up their stalls here, hawking wares like bread and tris, while a few pyers tried their luck selling wolf pelts. Nearby, horse-drawn carts rattled along the stone-paved road.

  Wait. A thought struck me. “Hey, Katherine, let’s catch a ride there!”

  “A ride? Like no walkin’?” Her eyes sparkled with excitement as she grabbed my shoulders. “Do ya hav’ a quest?”

  What is she doing? My stupid body wasn’t equipped to hahis level of tact. Blood rushed to my cheeks as I shook my head. “Oh,” she said, defted, her shoulders slumping. “Teasin’ like ‘tat…”

  “No teasing,” I blurted. “We just ask for a ride.”

  “Ask?” she echoed, her eyes b into mine. Feeling self-scious, I grabbed her hand and led her down the bustling main street. Pyers like her still don’t know… NPCs were almost alive. Here, hitchhiking was an actual possibility. In our world, catg a ride like this was a thing of the past, but here?

  Sadly, hitchhiking turned out to be harder than I’d expected. Almost no one wao travel toward the barren nds crawling with fire monsters.

  After what felt like a huries, though, one farmer finally agreed. His cart was nothing special—ky and haphazardly ogether with sharp points stig out everywhere—but hey, don’t look a whiskey itleneck.

  We squeezed into the cart, dodging sacks of wheat and other smelly goods that shifted wildly as the farmer cracked his whip. A fellow whip user. Respect.

  Katherine, meanwhile, gri me like we’d just wotery. “Wau, ‘tis like real!” she repeated gleefully, over and over, until I silenced her with a pointed look.

  The evening wind stung our cheeks as the cart wobbled through the tryside. The stars above glittered like tiny beas in the vast, dark sky. Moments like this were where the game truly shone—riding uhe stars on a creaky cart, with Katherine beside me, heading toward a fight with a dangerous enemy.

  “Katherine—”

  “Just Kit, please.”

  No, no. Don’t ask that. ge of subject… “Okay, Kit. What do you want to select when you hit level ten?”

  She tilted her head thoughtfully, resting it against a sack. “Dunno. I was—”

  Suddenly, the cart jolted violently. I lost my band crashed into a protruding nail, losing ten hit points. Before I could curse the driver, a deep howl pierced the night.

  “Wulfs are atta’!” Katherine shouted, already reag for her on.