"Only 1300 Source Crystals left..."
Grinya stood on the street corner, the cold winter wind howling past as snowflakes landed on her shoulders, gradually piling up.
She seemed to blend into the snow, appearing completely indifferent to the chill.
Passersby cast curious glances at her, mistaking her stillness for some new kind of performance art.
Lu Xun felt he really needed to upgrade the shop.
In this freezing winter, he had nothing in his backpack except for 100 golden bottles and 100,000 gold coins...
Actually, to be precise, he had 98 golden bottles, as he had used two to bring the Peerless Fencer to level 20.
However, the breakthrough materials required 360 Primogems and three material drops from top-tier bosses.
Primogems were manageable since he could just grind some side quests to earn Source Crystals, but where was he supposed to get top-tier boss materials?
The only boss material in his backpack was a Shapeshifting Banshee scale, and even including that, he was still two short.
Lu Xun had to admit his resources were running low. Relying solely on gacha pulls for resources was becoming outdated and far too unstable.
The level one shop only sold white-tier items, which had become rather useless at this point.
Upgrading the shop required 1000 Prestige, and he only had 400 left.
His Source Crystals were also down to 1300, which could only buy 65 Primogems at most.
"Alright, time to grind the map a bit. Let's see where the nearest side quest is."
Lu Xun opened the map.
"What a coincidence. The closest one is... Deli's candy house?"
As he spoke the name, a strange expression crossed Lu Xun's face.
He remembered this place being used to trigger a hidden quest, didn't he?
A side quest had actually popped up there, and he hadn't even noticed it before.
Maybe he was just getting old. Back when he used to grind gacha game maps, no treasure chest could escape his sight.
Now, with such a large quest icon on the map, he hadn't even sensed it.
Deli's candy house looked the same from the outside as it did a few days ago, though it seemed much more deserted than before.
'Why has the Evil God returned here?' Grinya wondered.
The last time the Evil God was here, he had found clues about the cult. Now that he was back, had he found more?
Although the Evil God openly taking her away to skip class had left her feeling emotionally overwhelmed, what could she do as a vessel living under his roof?
Even the hope of speaking a single word to the Evil God was a luxury.
So, she calmly chose to accept reality.
A philosopher once said that if you cannot change the facts, you might as well lie back and enjoy it.
"Sorry, the shop is closed. Please try another store."
Upon entering the candy house, Grinya saw a listless Deli lying motionless in a chair, staring at the ceiling with a look of despair and misery.
She glanced around the shop and noticed the display cases were empty, without a single candy in sight.
It didn't look like a place doing business at all.
'Miss Deli isn't selling candy anymore?' Grinya was confused.
She remembered Deli's candy house being the most popular shop on this street. Her candy was a favorite among children, and almost every kid in town bought from her.
How could such a successful business just stop selling candy?
"I am not here to buy anything. It seems you have run into some trouble," she suddenly said, her voice moving beyond her control.
The Evil God had stepped in!
It seemed she didn't need to worry about the problem herself.
Deli slowly lowered her head to look at Grinya, but the miserable, hopeless look in her eyes didn't change at all.
"Is it that obvious?"
"A little," Grinya said. "I can resolve your trouble for you. Just make sure the reward is sufficient once it is done."
"You?" Deli eyed her skeptically.
Grinya looked even younger than Deli. Deli couldn't understand where this confidence came from.
Did she think this was a game? Did she think the troubles of adults were so easily solved?
Children were always like this, thinking that the things adults worried about were just trivial matters. They didn't understand how cruel the adult world truly was.
Deli let out two silent, hollow laughs.
Even though she was only a few years older than Grinya, her mental state naturally led her to view Grinya as a child who didn't understand adults.
Perhaps a person's mental age experienced a leap in growth once they started working.
Ever since she began working, Deli felt she had aged many years. Even looking back at her self from last year made her feel like she had been just a child then.
Cursed work had destroyed her youth!
And yet, even though she didn't have to work now, why was she even sadder?
Deli exhaled a heavy breath, deciding to shatter this child's fantasy and make her realize the cruelty of reality.
"Well, I appreciate your kindness. However, you probably won't understand my current predicament. If I told you my shop was robbed by villains and that I've been personally threatened, could you still help me?"
Deli stared at Grinya seriously, trying to use a forceful gaze to drive her away.
This wasn't some schoolyard scuffle; this was a real headache that could even be life-threatening.
If she was smart, she would go back to school immediately and stop asking questions.
"Did you not report it to the authorities?" Grinya asked.
"Report it?"
"Uh... to the Sin Hunting Bureau? That is the correct name, right?"
Deli pursed her lips. The girl seemed not only naive but also a bit scatterbrained.
"I did, but it was useless. The hunters found far too few clues," she said, shaking her head.
"Save your energy. At your age, focusing on your studies is what matters most," she advised again.
However, Grinya acted as if she hadn't heard a word, asking on her own, "Roughly when was your shop robbed? How did they threaten you? Do you remember what they looked like? Why do you think they did it? Could it be a competitor who hired someone to target you?"
Faced with this barrage of questions, Deli froze for a moment before saying angrily, "Are you even listening to me? This isn't something a student like you should be worrying about."
Grinya stared at her silently, her gaze becoming somewhat chilling. "You are being a bit annoying."
Deli was startled by the look in her eyes and shrank back slightly. She felt afraid, wondering how the girl could suddenly project such an overwhelming sense of pressure.
"I didn't see the culprit clearly. I only know she was a very young female mage wearing a vintage-style magic hat. It's said she stole all the candy in the entire city."
"I strongly advise against looking for her," Deli added after a pause.
"Why?"
"Because... her level is very high. Even the people from the Sin Hunting Bureau can't do anything to her. I'm worried that you..." Deli trailed off, but her meaning was clear.
Hearing this, Grinya's expression shifted slightly as she let out a disdainful sneer.
"She is a mage, and I am a mage."
"Why don't you ask if she fears me instead?"
Rate on N.U.
