NOVEL NEXT Chapter 11
Chapter 11: The Matter is Settled
The next morning, Vilyric woke up in the tavern bed.
“Mm… Is it dawn… what time is it?”
As she groggily tossed and turned in bed, the girl couldn’t find the familiar small metal piece, but instead, her hands stumbled upon something somewhat hard yet strangely soft, resembling a gel-like substance.
“Ugh ~ Master, that spot is very sensitive…”
“Uh… eh?”
Vilyric’s eyes flew open, memories flooding her mind like a tidal wave. Only then did she realize that curled up in her arms like a little cat was the golden-haired Little Dragon Daughter, and that the heavy white tail, which was firmly grasped in her hand, lay across her abdomen.
“Ah… this isn’t a dream.”
On the second day after crossing from the game, the brand new other world didn’t vanish into thin air at the first light but instead provided continuous proof of its astonishing reality.
“Xiao Guang, time to wake up, it’s daylight.”
She gently pinched the perky rear of the still-dreaming little dragon girl, gradually recalling why they slept in the same bed and what had transpired after they returned to the tavern last night.
In short, nothing happened.
That’s right, even though not long ago Vilyric was still a male, and felt somewhat awkward about sharing a bed with a girl, it was perfectly normal for Xiao Guang to sleep with her master. She even mentioned nonchalantly, “We’ve done this many times before.”
Thinking back, Vilyric recalled that indeed… in the game, she often rested with this little dragon, and occasionally, after she grew up, even slept on top of Xiao Guang.
But at that time, she merely saw her pet as a pillow or a fluffy mattress. Moreover, the game had a highly sophisticated anti-18x system, so even if one did lift a girl’s skirt, they’d just see a large expanse of white holy light, thus avoiding any too-close encounters.
Yet this was the real world; either she or the Little Dragon Daughter could strip down to nothing at any time, which made it entirely different.
However, upon seeing her pet’s tearful eyes as if about to be abandoned, Vilyric simply couldn’t bear to say “no.” Moreover, there was only one bed in the room, so they compromised and slept together fully clothed.
They had been lying side by side properly before bed, but for some reason, they woke up in this somewhat awkward position.
As it turned out, the Little Dragon Daughter held pure admiration and affection for her master without any untoward intentions. She quickly fell asleep once she cuddled up, leaving Vilyric feeling a bit… disappointed?
Please don’t misunderstand; just like when watching a standard anime, one might unavoidably think some random thoughts, it’s not that Vilyric had any inappropriate feelings for her pet!
Because of this, coupled with the heat and faint fragrance emitted from the girl pressed so close, the male soul still lingering in Vilyric’s heart stirred restlessly, making her fall asleep quite late.
Fortunately, the divine race’s powerful body required little sleep; otherwise, she might have woken up this morning with two panda eyes.
“Mm… good morning, Master ~”
The Little Dragon Daughter rubbed her eyes and affectionately snuggled against Vilyric’s chest, looking very comfortable, completely oblivious to the fact that such behavior is considered inappropriate for females.
Of course, Vilyric didn’t mind.
“Good morning, we should get going. Uncle Lester should be here soon.”
“Yes, I’m ready anytime.”
The two simple-minded girls tidied themselves up and pushed open the room door, navigating the tavern’s wooden spiral staircase to the hall.
At this hour in the morning, most people in the town were still resting or out hunting, working hard, so the bustling tavern from last night was now quite quiet, with only a couple of guests having breakfast.
“Oh! Miss Vilyric, Miss Xiao Guang, good morning! Did you sleep well last night?”
Uncle Lester sat at a table by the window, cutting into an unidentified meat steak in front of him, next to a large glass of milk, waving at the two. Although Vilyric found it strange that he was having hearty meals so early, she decided to stay silent, considering it was the other world.
“It was alright, thank you for letting us have the room.”
“Ah, no problem!”
Lester smiled brightly and nodded. Since he was still eating, he didn’t continue the conversation but focused on finishing his food.
After filling his belly, Lester looked at the two beautiful girls who had been silently observing him from earlier with curiosity.
“Would you two like something to eat? Is the food here unappealing to your tastes?”
“Uh… I’ve already eaten.”
Actually, Lester was right because Vilyric had just realized that the tavern, reliant on the forest for food, didn’t even offer porridge in the morning but only meat, butter, and dark bread. Vilyric wasn’t fond of oily breakfasts, and the dark bread was too hard to swallow—she would have to dip it in water just to get it down. So, she opted not to eat at all.
As for the Little Dragon Daughter, she had little requirement for food, and missing a meal or two wouldn’t affect her; since her master wasn’t eating, she just went along.
However, Vilyric noticed she didn’t feel hungry at all. Ever since she crossed over, her needs, including food and sleep, had significantly decreased compared to her previous human self. In simple terms, they had become optional—something she couldn’t sense in the game. The divine race label only represented stronger attributes and skill potency.
“Well… alright, I won’t force you. Miss Vilyric said you both are travelers from afar. Do you have any plans? Now that the mission is complete, we’re heading back to West Sea City today. If you don’t mind, you can accompany us. While West isn’t a big city, it’s much more bustling than this town.”
“Well…”
In the face of Uncle Lester’s sincere invitation, to be honest, Vilyric felt somewhat tempted. One of her future plans involved leveraging the connections of this adventurer team to enter their stationed city first, but…
“Sorry, but I’d rather pass. I want to explore on my own.”
To put it simply, Vilyric didn’t want to suddenly become too close with Lester’s team. She had already gotten most of the intel she needed, and further interactions might lead to preconceived notions that could complicate things. Comparatively, she wanted to see this new world with her own eyes.
Moreover, although she didn’t know what the top powers of this world were, Lester’s team was still too weak compared to her and Xiao Guang. Staying together wouldn’t be of much help.
According to what Lester said yesterday, he was already close to the top among the regular adventurers in West Sea City. While there were a few Ink Steel-level folks around, it was mostly at this level—more powerful Earth and Sky-level adventurers could only be found in major cities and the capital of the United Kingdom.
Thus, going to West Sea City didn’t hold much significance for Vilyric. She might as well explore a bit and head straight towards more prosperous areas.
“Is that so? What a pity. Then, part ways here. I will never forget the life-saving grace… but right now, I can’t offer any valuable token of gratitude. If you have the chance, please visit me in West Sea City. By then…”
Vilyric interrupted Uncle Lester’s lengthy speech with a wave of her hand, “No need for pleasantries. I saved you to obtain intel important to me; we’re even… Here, take this as a souvenir.”
The girl reached into the void and pulled out a brown ring, handing it to Lester.
This wasn’t Lester’s first time seeing Vilyric summon items from thin air; she had summoned that holy staff before, so he didn’t appear overly shocked but rather curiously reached out to touch the ring.
Whoosh!
A bright flash of light engulfed Lester’s hand, instantly revealing a large thick diamond-shaped shield, startling him to the point he nearly dropped it.
“Spirit… Spirit Item!?”
“What in the world is a Spirit Item…”
Vilyric facepalmed, exasperated at Lester’s dramatics. Although there weren’t many people around in the morning, his response was still too eye-catching.
In a fluster, Lester managed to turn the shield back into a ring. He could hardly contain his astonishment and immediately wanted to push the item back to Vilyric as if the thing he held was a bomb.
“This form conversion, it’s a power exclusive to Spirit Items, Miss Vilyric! How can you display such an important item in public? Quickly put it away before someone sees it!”
“Alright… no need to be so dramatic; it’s just a small souvenir. Uncle, wasn’t your shield broken? This is something I got by chance; it’s of no use to me, so I thought I’d give it to you.”
After all, she had plenty of similar items.
“But this is a spirit…”
“Stop!”
Vilyric knocked on the table, pretending to be serious, “Spirit… uh, Spirit Items choose their master. As you can see, neither Xiao Guang nor I need a shield, so since fate has brought us together, Uncle, are you looking down upon me by not accepting it?”
“Well… fine.”
Now that she had put it that way, Lester hesitated for a long time but ultimately accepted the ring with care, his face serious as he said, “Miss Vilyric, no need for more words. For this huge favor, if there’s anything you need in the future, as long as it’s within my power, I will do it, no matter the cost!”
“Well… there’s no need for that…”
It really was just a small trinket.
The reason Vilyric gave Lester such a shield was partly to keep it as a memento of the first person she met in this new world. Additionally, she was curious to see if the beings here could use equipment from the game.
Headache, who would have thought just a golden spirit item would make this guy act like he found some divine artifact? It was clear he wanted it! If she’d known it would be this much trouble, she should have given him a purple item instead.
Actually, Vilyric had considered this scenario. After all, when she saw the gear on Lester’s adventurer party, they appeared to be nothing more than rags primarily of green mixed with white, while Lester’s shield was probably at the blue level and had already been damaged.
The reason she gifted the golden spirit item was simply that she had no lower-level shields left; such equipment was useless to her. Most of them were either sold or directly discarded into the warehouse. Only powerful or interesting items would remain on her to trade or gift to other players.
The equipment known as the “Soul Shield of the Black Knight” was one she had randomly procured from minor monsters, which had been sitting around unprocessed, so she just decided to give it to Lester in a bid to clear her inventory.
A miscalculation; were people in this other world really that poor? Or did they lag behind in equipment refining technology?
Speaking of which, Vilyric suddenly recalled that purple treasure-level item from last night, the “Fragment of the Demon God’s Jewel.” Although it didn’t seem useful, she had kept it with the idea of collecting it, as she might have a chance to gather all the fragments and piece together the complete jewel again.
Many hidden tasks and powerful equipment in the game were obtained this way.
She also wondered if that lady had realized her item was taken. I can’t be blamed, right? I gave you the opportunity; you just chose not to take it. Hee hee.
After casually chatting for a bit longer, the master and servant bid farewell to Uncle Lester at the tavern. The uncle said they would ride with the merchant caravan back to West Sea City, while Vilyric planned to head south, following the general direction towards the capital of the United Human Kingdom, which was also the headquarters of the Adventurer’s Guild—City of Courage.
Of course, this was just a general objective; it didn’t mean she had to go there specifically. For now, it was just about taking things one step at a time.
Thus, Vilyric’s adventure in the other world began.