Freya was first dragged to a clothing store. Like a dress-up doll, she tried on one outfit after another under Euphemia's constant persuasion.
“This one is cute!”
“This one looks great too!”
“Mmh~ this one is so pretty too!”
Picking and choosing left and right, Euphemia ended up buying all the clothes Freya had just tried on. Seeing this, Freya couldn't help but say, “Won't this be too expensive?”
Euphemia, however, didn't seem to mind at all. “I have plenty of pocket money, and I don't really have anywhere else to spend it anyway. It's fine! Fufu, if you feel bad about it, just wear these pretty clothes for me more often in the future!”
Right after stepping out of the clothing store, Freya was immediately dragged into a jewelry shop. Looking at the dazzling array of accessories before her, she couldn't help but show a curious expression.
Euphemia walked straight over and picked up a pair of earrings. However, after returning to Freya's side and looking her up and down, she realized Freya didn't have pierced ears. She asked, “Fufu, do you mind getting your ears pierced? It might hurt a little bit.”
Freya thought about it and didn't refuse. She certainly wasn't afraid of such minor pain. After all, back at the very beginning, she had been able to grab a stalker's tail with her bare hand even after her palm had been pierced. Compared to that, how painful could getting her ears pierced be?
The jewelry shop had a complete set of tools. After a simple disinfection, the staff quickly pierced her ears. Normally, when getting ears pierced for the first time, one couldn't wear accessories immediately; they had to wait four to five weeks for the wounds to heal completely, otherwise there was a risk of infection.
But Freya didn't need to wait. The very second the staff member put down the tools, the wounds on her ears healed at a speed visible to the naked eye. As long as Freya stood barefoot on the ground, Trace Origin would continuously provide her with recovery effects, and this self-healing was merely a passive ability.
Of course, while the wounds healed, the pierced holes remained. Otherwise, it would have been a real scam.
Seeing this, the staff member couldn't help but show a look of incomprehensible shock. Euphemia, on the other hand, looked entirely unsurprised. She walked right up to Freya with the earrings and said, “Fufu, don't move. Let me put them on for you~”
Freya stood quietly in place. After Euphemia put them on, she carefully inspected her from left to right, then nodded. “Mmh, as expected of my choice. So pretty!”
The earrings were teardrop-shaped with a silver base, each embedded with a tiny emerald at the bottom that perfectly matched Freya's eye color. However, Euphemia remarked, “Though I haven't seen you open your eyes lately.”
Because Freya had been on high-intensity patrols recently, she spent the vast majority of her day in the Heart Perception state, and now was no exception.
Afterward, Euphemia gifted her a light blue hairpin, while Freya picked out a small silver ring with a gilded pattern for herself. However, she didn't plan to wear this ring on her finger, but rather on her toe.
Freya crouched down slightly and gently pinched the second toe of her right foot with her hand, sliding the newly purchased ring onto it. It was a perfect fit. Once it was on, Freya's toes instinctively curled slightly, but quickly relaxed and stretched out under her conscious control. She looked down at her petite foot. Mmh, both alluring and beautiful!
Just like that, the two girls picked and chose in the jewelry shop. By the time they stepped out, it was already close to noon. Euphemia glanced up at the sun's position and said, “Fufu, I'm taking you to eat some super authentic food. Follow me!”
Guided by Euphemia, the two left the bustling street behind and walked into increasingly remote areas. However, the pedestrians around them did not decrease but rather multiplied. All sorts of shouting and hawking filled the air, and Euphemia fixed her gaze on a small roadside stall.
She introduced, “Minced meat scallion pancakes. Don't look down on it just because it looks ordinary; it's actually incredibly delicious. And the scallion pancakes from this stall are among the best I've ever tasted!”
“Minced meat scallion pancake?” Freya also had some impression of this food. Or more accurately, it existed in the memories of the body's original owner. This was a relatively famous local snack in the Kingdom of Tarapaca. The original owner had eaten it a few times; the taste was good, and the price was affordable.
Euphemia walked over excitedly and said, “Boss, I want two!”
Then she looked at Freya. “Fufu, what about you?”
Freya smiled gently. “Just one for me.”
The size of this scallion pancake was like the roujiamo from her previous life. It wasn't very big, but it was more than enough for her appetite.
“Alright~ Please wait a moment, ladies~!” The owner immediately began making them on the spot. During the process, seeing that Freya never opened her eyes, he couldn't help but say, “Sigh, such a pretty young girl, yet at such a young age, she's...”
“Uh...” Euphemia quickly interrupted, “No, she has other reasons.”
The owner looked puzzled. “Other reasons?”
Euphemia didn't explain further but directly changed the subject. “By the way, Boss, about the scallion pancakes I bought elsewhere before—that owner seemed to add extra sugar to them. To be honest, I felt the taste was a bit weird.”
Perhaps this topic was too captivating, as the owner's attention was immediately drawn over. “What? Adding sugar! That is simply an insult to scallion pancakes! I've been making scallion pancakes for twenty years, and I've never heard of such a method! It would be a miracle if that tasted good!”
Just as the two were discussing the sugar addition, another person arrived at the stall. Before this person could speak, the owner said first, “You're back again. Three scallion pancakes again, with the meat cut into larger chunks, right?”
“Yes,” the person nodded and replied in a strong, resonant voice.
It was completely normal for other customers to come and buy things. Freya took a "look" and didn't pay too much attention, standing quietly to the side like a doll.
But suddenly, in her field of vision, she noticed Euphemia's entire body abruptly stiffen. After about two or three seconds, Euphemia suddenly looked at Freya and said, “Oh no, I think I forgot my money? Fufu, can you pay for me first?”
Freya tilted her head slightly, her snow-white hair cascading past her ears, and the earrings she had put on not long ago swayed gently due to gravity.
Forgot her money? But how was that possible? After all, Euphemia had bought her so many things before this, yet when it came to this very cheap local snack, she suddenly had no money?
Although she didn't know what was happening, Freya still cooperatively nodded her little head and said, “Then let's use mine first.”
She took out some money and paid. After Euphemia took the three scallion pancakes handed over by the owner, she pulled Freya's small hand and walked toward the distance, while also saying, “Anyway, I'm sorry. I'll go back right now to get money and pay you back.”
Such abnormal behavior made Freya increasingly puzzled, but she still cooperatively chimed in, “It's fine, it's just a little bit of money. No need to pay me back.”
Only when the two of them had walked a considerable distance away, completely out of sight of the stall, did Euphemia let out a sharp sigh of relief. Changing her previous tone, she said solemnly, “Fufu, in your 【eyes】, what did that new customer look like just now?”
“Don't look back at him! Recall his appearance!”
“Mmh...” Since she had just seen him, she naturally had an impression. Freya said, “I didn't feel anything special. Just an ordinary person wearing a peaked cap?”
Euphemia asked again, “What color was his hair?”
Freya said, “Black, of course.”
In the Kingdom of Tarapaca, the vast majority of people had black or near-black light brown hair, so there was nothing strange about that.
But Euphemia said, “That guy wore a hat that covered most of his hair, with only a tiny bit exposed. But there's no mistake—it's absolutely red!”
Freya, “?”
No one would pay special attention to a complete stranger. If that customer hadn't been wearing a hat and had a rare head of red hair, he might have been quite eye-catching. But since he was wearing a hat with only a tiny bit of hair showing, the vast majority of people would definitely not notice.
But Euphemia was different; her ability to catch details was extremely strong. She said, “And that guy's walking posture and standing posture are different from ordinary people. This kind of habit engraved into the bones is very hard to cover up. He has absolutely undergone training, and in all probability, he's a soldier!”
“Red hair, soldier...” This made it hard not to associate him with something. Freya said, “You mean, he is the boss behind Obsidian, that Rank Five General!?”
Euphemia nodded. “Very likely. And since his appearance is different in your perspective compared to my normal perspective, this means he likely has some kind of extraordinary item on him that can interfere with your perception abilities! At the very least, the War Pathway itself definitely doesn't have this kind of interference capability!”
Freya's mind spun rapidly. This meant the opponent was extremely clear about the capabilities of the Earth Pathway. Before coming to this city to cause trouble, he had prepared an extraordinary item in advance to prevent himself from being easily discovered by people of the Earth Pathway.
Add to that the conversation at the scallion pancake stall just now. The owner was a very talkative person, and from his demeanor, that customer was definitely not buying scallion pancakes for the first time.
But minced meat scallion pancakes were a local snack of the Kingdom of Tarapaca. Only locals would frequently come to eat them.
Freya said, “You mean, that Obsidian boss, the Rank Five General, is highly likely a soldier from our own Kingdom of Tarapaca?”
Euphemia said, “No doubt about it! And in the Kingdom of Tarapaca, most people in the military belong to the Law Pathway. Very, very few walk the War Pathway. Furthermore, a Rank Five strength in the military is truly enough to hold the military rank of 【General】.”
This directly overturned Freya's earliest speculation that the Obsidian boss might be a spy sent by a neighboring country to intentionally cause destruction. Thus, Freya said, “But why would he, as a citizen of this country, cause a disaster on his own nation's land?”
Euphemia curled her lip. “Tsk, who knows. Maybe he's just a psychopath.”
Right after, she added, “Anyway, I'll ask my grandfather and have the old man ask his friends in the military. A Rank Five War Pathway General—just based on this point alone, it shouldn't be hard to find out that guy's true identity!”
As she spoke, Euphemia opened her satchel, took out a notebook and a pen, and began writing a letter right then and there. After describing the general situation in words as concise as possible, she tore the sheet of paper from the notebook and folded it a few times.
Then, Euphemia looked around and pulled Freya toward a nearby public restroom. However, once they reached the entrance, Freya refused to go in no matter what. It was too dirty.
Euphemia had no choice but to go in by herself. As a result... in less than half a minute, she came running out again while pinching her nose. “Never mind, let's find somewhere else.”
She needed to use a spirituality crystal to draw an occult array on the ground to summon a special 【spirit world messenger】 to help send the letter quickly. Looking at the environment inside the restroom, she couldn't bring herself to do it.
In short, the two of them changed locations, finding a quiet little corner. Euphemia pinched the spirituality crystal with her fingers, crouched down, and began drawing in the corner.
A moment later, a complex array with a radius of about one meter took shape beneath her hand. Euphemia quickly muttered, “In my name, I summon the messenger belonging to Euphemia M. Holmes! Fulfill our pact and come to my side~!”
Then, the entire array emitted a faint white light. Immediately after, a translucent little white dove flew out of the array. It flapped its wings, looked around, and actually flew straight toward Freya, landing on her shoulder and rubbing its little head against her cheek.
Freya, “?”
Euphemia, “?”
Question marks appeared above both of their heads at the same time. However, Euphemia quickly said, “It looks like... it seems to really like you. Maybe because you're of the Earth Pathway?”
The Earth Pathway could be said to be the gentlest of all pathways, especially since Freya walked the Path of Life. To small animals, her current self was like a little sun—warm and smelling incredibly good. It was simply too endearing.
Euphemia helplessly walked over to the 'little dove' and handed over the letter in her hand. “Anyway, it's very urgent. Please deliver this to my grandfather.”
The little dove rubbed against Freya once more before reluctantly picking up the envelope in its beak. Flapping its wings a couple of times, it vanished into thin air before them.
Euphemia pulled out the Invisibility Cloak and said, “Alright, now we just have to wait for a reply. But this is also a golden opportunity. We can track that General right now and see if we can find his other strongholds.”
...
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