Changes

“Whoever wrote these clickbait headlines really missed their calling as a tabloid journalist,” Irene couldn't help but sigh. With her current powerful mental strength, scanning through the newspaper's contents took only a blink of an eye.

After confirming there was no other useful information, Irene casually stored the newspaper in her storage ring. She scanned her surroundings, and seeing that no one was paying attention to her, her gaze quickly locked back onto Kailolo, who had run off not too far away and was still calling out to sell her papers.

She was very curious to know what had happened during all these years.

To Irene, this little girl she had just crossed paths with seemed like the perfect starting point.

With unhurried steps, she walked up behind Kailolo and reached out to gently tap the girl on the shoulder.

She hadn't expected this sudden tap to give the girl such a fright.

Kailolo shivered and jumped, nearly dropping the newspapers in her hands once more. Fortunately, with her previous experience, her small hands reacted quickly this time, gripping them tightly to prevent a repeat of earlier.

She turned her head in slight fear. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw it was the beautiful older sister who had helped her pick up her papers earlier. Hurriedly turning around, her small hands anxiously gripped the edges of the newspapers as she asked in a small, helpless voice, “B-Big sister... Is... is there anything else you need?”

In Kailolo's deeply ingrained, traditional mindset, the person before her was a noble mage, as different from a "lowborn" like herself as heaven and earth.

She was terrified that this noble mage would cause trouble for her because of what had just happened.

Back in the human kingdoms, she had seen more than once how someone who accidentally offended a mage was instantly severely injured, or even killed on the spot, by a terrifying spell.

Although she had rarely seen such things happen since coming to the Black Dragon Empire—

as there were Black Knights specifically tasked with patrolling, who would always arrive at the scene immediately whenever a public brawl broke out and quickly subdue the aggressor in no time—

Kailolo still couldn't help but feel incredibly nervous.

Her frail, small body involuntarily shuddered, and she instinctively took half a step back.

“Don't be afraid.” Irene curled her lips into a sweet, sisterly smile. Reaching out, she patted Kailolo's head and said, “I mean you no harm.”

As she spoke, she extended her other hand. Resting in her palm was a glittering gold coin.

Kailolo's gaze fell upon the coin in Irene's hand, her small eyes reflecting its dazzling luster.

This was her very first time seeing a gold coin from such a close distance. Before, she wouldn't have even dared to imagine what a gold coin looked like.

Now that she was seeing one, she only felt that the patterns on the gold coin were incredibly beautiful and eye-catching.

But she quickly snapped out of it, realizing she was being somewhat impolite. Hurriedly pulling her gaze away from the gold coin, she shook her head slightly and slipped away from Irene's hand.

Looking up, she summoned her courage and raised the newspapers in her small hands. “You see, I still need to sell these newspapers. If you don't need anything else... I... I...”

Her voice grew softer and softer. For some reason, as she looked into Irene's eyes, the courage she had just summoned vanished in an instant.

Finding this quite amusing, Irene offered the gold coin forward and smiled. “I'll buy all of your newspapers. Is one gold coin enough?”

“...Ah?!”

Kailolo was stunned. Once she processed what was said, her head shook like a rattle, and she couldn't even speak properly.

“No, no, no...”

“Oh?” Irene knitted her brows slightly, pretending to be a little annoyed. “Greedy little one, is one gold coin not enough?”

“No, no, no... That's not it!” Kailolo stopped shaking her head, a panicked look on her face. Trying her best to calm her racing little heart, she couldn't help but steal another glance at the gold coin in Irene's hand before firmly averting her eyes and looking up to meet Irene's gaze. “...This is way too much!”

With that, she lowered her head, flipping through and counting the newspapers with her small hands. Then, biting her lip, she pondered very seriously. She seemed a bit hesitant, but after a brief pause, she looked up and said in a firm tone, “There are twenty-one newspapers left in total. You only need to give me twenty copper thumbs.”

Just as Kailolo finished speaking, she felt the weight in her hands lighten. Looking down, she realized the newspapers were gone, replaced by a heavy gold coin resting in her open palm.

She looked up in bewilderment, only to see that the newspapers had somehow ended up in the other girl's hands. With a faint flash of light from the storage ring on Irene's finger, the papers vanished completely.

This sudden, forceful transaction completely baffled Kailolo, a child who had never seen the ways of the world.

She had never held such a massive sum of money in her life, and now she felt as if the gold coin was burning a hole in her palm.

“Don't be nervous, little one.” Irene flashed a mischievous, successful grin. Like a devil escaped from Baator, she coaxed, “This gold coin isn't just to buy your newspapers, you know.”

Hearing this, Kailolo's eyes widened slightly. She wanted to refuse, but she no longer had the chance.

Irene had already familiarly taken her small hand in hers and was unhurriedly leading her toward a tavern not far away called Fantasyland.

She murmured softly, “As a mage, I've spent the last several decades cooped up indoors, completely engrossed in studying magic. Now that I've made some breakthroughs, I wanted to step outside and have a look, but I never expected the outside world to have changed so much.”

With that, Irene pushed open the tavern's wooden door and scanned the interior. It seemed the inside of the tavern hadn't changed much over the past fifty years.

Walking into the tavern, she chose a random seat by the window and sat down, gesturing for Kailolo to sit as well.

Just then, the tavern owner walked over with a drinks menu.

He squinted slightly with a professional smile, his appearance no longer as youthful as it had been fifty years ago.

Although the shop remained the same, humans, as a short-lived race, could not resist the ravages of time before reaching the Legendary Rank.

Now, the owner was no longer as handsome as he once was. His forehead bore wrinkles left by the passing years, and his black-and-white uniform paired with the white hair at his temples gave him a somewhat distinguished air.

As he handed the menu to Irene, he seemed to notice something. The tavern owner's squinted eyes suddenly went wide, lifting the wrinkles on his forehead high as he stared at the young girl in utter disbelief.

His mouth opened slightly as if he wanted to say something, but upon seeing Irene make a shushing gesture, he quickly pretended nothing had happened, though his demeanor became noticeably more respectful.

Taking the menu, she ordered a bottle of Water of Life for herself and a glass of freshly squeezed juice for Kailolo, then handed the menu back to the owner.

Turning her gaze to look out the glass window at the streets, which had transformed drastically compared to fifty years ago, she spoke with a touch of nostalgia:

“Time really flies...”

Then, she withdrew her gaze and looked at Kailolo, who sat obediently in her chair with her head lowered, too nervous to speak. She said:

“Tell me what has happened in the Eastern Continent over the years. Hmm... Let's start from fifty years ago. Tell me as much as you know. Consider that gold coin payment for the information.”