It was two o'clock in the afternoon.
Lan Qingyou, who had slept all morning, slowly woke up.
The moment she opened her eyes, she sprang up from the bed like a coiled spring.
“Why is there a burning smell?”
Lan Qingyou frowned and looked around, but she couldn't find any source of fire.
Could it be a design flaw in the tent?
She couldn't help but wonder. After all, this was her first night sleeping in the tent; it was possible there were hidden dangers she hadn't noticed before.
However, when she looked down at Steel Wool, who was sleeping right next to her, she almost burst out laughing.
A patch of feathers on Steel Wool's normally round and full head was completely charred.
The blackened patch made it look like a little punk who had just gotten a botched pompadour.
“Pfft! Hahaha... Steel Wool, what happened to you? I only took a nap, and you went out and found a stylist named Tony?”
Lan Qingyou laughed uncontrollably.
Hearing Lan Qingyou’s voice, Steel Wool turned its head a full 180 degrees to look at her.
The sight of the large black scorch mark on its forehead, combined with those wise yet innocent yellow eyes, made Lan Qingyou laugh even harder.
She picked Steel Wool up and poured a healing potion over it.
Only then was the punk-like hairstyle fixed.
“How did you end up like this?”
Lan Qingyou asked, stroking Steel Wool's newly regrown feathers.
She had noticed earlier that one of the golems was missing from the tent. Seeing Steel Wool’s state, she didn't need to guess to know why.
Either this little guy had snuck out with its 'toy' to hunt monsters, or there had been some danger and it decided to hog all the experience points without waking her up.
“Ji ji!”
With its charred feathers healed, Steel Wool’s spirits improved significantly. It tugged at Lan Qingyou’s collar with its beak and began to fly outward.
Seeing this, Lan Qingyou cast Lighten on herself and let Steel Wool drag her out.
In her weightless state, Lan Qingyou was like a large handkerchief, and Steel Wool pulled her along effortlessly.
“What... what is going on here?!”
When Steel Wool dragged Lan Qingyou out of the tent, she couldn't help but cry out in shock at the scene before her.
What had been a beautiful landscape of green mountains and clear water was now a mess, looking as if it had been plowed by artillery.
Craters were everywhere, and several nearby trees and bushes were still smoldering.
They emitted thick smoke, making the area look like a fresh battlefield.
In the middle of this 'battlefield' stood a ruined Blade-roller. One of its chainsaw arms was missing, while the other hung precariously by a thread. Its body was scorched black, and both of its wheels were snapped.
Those wheels were made of Cloud-pine Cedar, the toughest material available to The Chariot at the time.
And yet, it had been reduced to this.
“You did all this while driving the Blade-roller?”
Lan Qingyou looked at Steel Wool suspiciously. Steel Wool puffed out its chest and put its wings on its hips, looking very proud of itself.
“Actually, the enemies probably did most of it.”
Crack...
As soon as Lan Qingyou said that, Steel Wool’s proud expression instantly crumbled.
“Fire magic, ice magic, and there are arrows here too. It looks like you ran into a team. Makes sense; most people you encounter outdoors now are in full teams. Was it a gathering squad out on a mission?”
Because people tended to group up, and most monsters outside were now D-grade.
Unless someone had a monstrous talent like Li Huai, going out alone was basically a death wish.
“But for a little guy like you to drive a Blade-roller alone and fight off enemies—and win, by the look of it—is a great achievement. I’ll have Gu Xiaobei send you some beef later!”
Although she had lost a golem in less than a day, Lan Qingyou didn't mind.
On the contrary, even though she wasn't there to see the fight, she could infer the combat strength of the Blade-roller from the state of the battlefield.
This was excellent combat data for both her and The Chariot.
So, she decided to reward Steel Wool.
“Ji!”
At the mention of beef, Steel Wool perked up.
While it liked eating magic rats, they couldn't compare to the chewy goodness of beef.
After taking several photos of the scene, Lan Qingyou sent the images of the destroyed Blade-roller to The Chariot and went back into the tent.
Even though she was awake, it wasn't time to move yet.
At the very least... she had to eat first.
The Chariot: “How did it end up like this?”
Olf was stunned when he saw the ruined Blade-roller.
Hadn't she only been on the road for a day? One golem was already scrapped. But looking at the photos of the battlefield, he felt that losing only one was actually quite acceptable.
He wanted to know exactly what had happened.
Like Lan Qingyou, he hadn't been there, but since he only had photos, his analysis wouldn't be as accurate as hers.
Lan Qingyou then gave a brief summary of the events in the group chat.
The Chariot: “Uh... so those slots were meant to be cockpits for your pet? It’s a good idea, but you should have told me in advance so I could have made some improvements.”
The Tower: “I wasn't sure if a creature could drive it at the time, so I kept it as a backup option. It’s not too late now that we know it works. Anyway, we won't be limited to just these 20 golems in the future.”
The Chariot: “True. I’ll take a look at that Blade-roller first. If it can't be repaired, I'll have to start from scratch.”
The Tower: “Fair enough, you're the professional. However, this battle showed that the Blade-roller is quite sturdy. If you're going to start production, make more. Let's stick to batches of 20, same price as before.”
The Chariot: “Deal.”
High Priestess: “Looking at this, it really looks like a massive battle. An owl really did all this while driving a robot?”
As soon as Lan Qingyou finished her deal with Olf, Vivian and the others chimed in.
They had mostly stayed quiet while the two were discussing business.
The Chariot: “Indeed, I want to know that too.”
Lan Qingyou: “Most of the battle damage was likely caused by the gathering squad. Only a small portion was done by the Blade-roller. My Steel Wool is a high-mobility creature and can't use offensive magic.”
The Fool: “In that case, the Blade-roller’s strength is actually quite impressive.”
Hierophant: “Or maybe the opponents were just terrible.”
Death: “From my personal experience, these battle marks—especially the fire ones—were likely made by someone with a C-grade to B-grade talent.”
...
Li Huai’s words left everyone in the Tarot Villa in a deafening silence.
Rate on N.U.
