Chapter Ten Bought Something Strange

  "Mr. Javier, what's this?" Raymond asked in puzzlement.

  Javier chuckled and patted his shoulder: "Lord Raymond, I know you're easy-going and don't bother with such trivial matters. So, let me take care of it."

  At this time, seeing the little girl, Bast said happily: "It's you, we meet again."

  "Do I know you?" the girl asked in puzzlement.

  Bastard said: "You haven't seen me before, but I've seen you."

  She was even more confused by her, and the girl simply pulled Raymond's clothes: "Hey, why did you help me?"

  "Hmm, because..." Raymond only then realized that he didn't actually know this little girl and had spoken up to help her without thinking much about it. As for the reason, he couldn't think of one at the moment.

  Seeing Raymond's hesitant look, the girl suddenly took a step back: "Could it be that you're the kind of pervert Mom said only likes little girls? No wonder she didn't want me to casually talk to strange uncles on the road."

  Then she looked at Catwoman with a surprised expression, her mouth agape in an "O" shape: "Oh, no wonder, human and beast..."

  What's going on here? Raymond was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. It's really hard to imagine what kind of mother would instill such strange ideas in her child.

  "By the way, where is your mother?" Raymond asked patiently.

  Mentioning her mother, the girl who was lively just a moment before, dimmed her eyes for a second. But she quickly raised her head and huffed: "What's it to you?"

  "Hey, little girl's quite arrogant, huh." Harlot stroked his whiskers and leaned in, followed by a gnash of his teeth, revealing the standard pirate demeanor: "Quickly answer our boss's question, or do you believe I'll..."

  Before her words had fallen, the girl directly used a "Two Dragons Playing with Pearls" move, two fingers poking into Harlotte's eyes.

  "Waaaah! My dog's eyes!" Harlot howled as he tumbled to the ground.

  "Hard, are you guys trying to sell me off?" The girl glared at the crowd warily: "Let me tell you, 30 gold coins is absolutely not acceptable."

  "Don't worry, we're not interested in human trafficking." Freddy said coldly.

  His gloomy and pale appearance made the girl involuntarily shrink her body. Who knew Freddy added a sentence: "The organs are uncertain."

  This is indeed rare, could it be that this girl is too cute, even Freddy can't help but want to bully her a bit?

  "Mom!" The girl turned around and ran.

  Raymond sighed, grabbed her collar from behind and lifted the girl up facing himself: "Alright, we're not bad people, you..."

  But then there was a rumbling sound, and the girl's stomach made a very clear noise.

  "Are you hungry?"

  Nodding.

  "Strange, didn't you sneak into the kitchen and steal food?"

  The girl patted her large tote bag: "I just packed them up so that I wouldn't be unable to find anything to eat when I'm hungry later, so I haven't eaten yet."

  Simple words, yet revealing the girl's pitiful situation.

  "Alright then, I'll take you out for dinner." Raymond said.

  "Really?" The girl's eyes sparkled with countless stars in an instant, and at this moment, she was like a little kitten being lifted up by the back of its neck.

  "Hehe, Lord Raymond really saved an interesting kid." Javert couldn't help but laugh too.

  "Meow, great! Just in time, young master. I'm also starving." The cat girl cheered up too.

  Although they attended the banquet in the evening, don't think about eating anything in that kind of occasion, let alone those like Bastet waiting outside, at this moment everyone is hungry.

  "Boss, dinner is ready." Javier was in a great mood tonight. He clapped his hands: "Everyone go and eat your fill."

  The hotel manager hastily said: "I'll instruct the chef to prepare it right away, uh..."

  It suddenly occurred to him that the chef had just been fired by himself, and he awkwardly said: "The kitchen should have a lot of cooked food and pastries, I'll bring them over for everyone right away."

  Just then a soldier came running up hastily and whispered something to Javier. A look of joy immediately appeared on Javier's face: "I'll go right away."

  "He happily said to Raymond: 'Great, a noble has come to visit. You guys go eat first, I'll go see him.' With that, he excitedly walked away."

  It seems that tonight's banquet has had a huge impact, and the nobles have arrived at the inn as soon as everyone returned. This was unthinkable in the past, no wonder Javier didn't even care about eating dinner.

  "Alright, let's go!" After Javier left, Raymond waved his hand and led the crowd to the dining hall.

  "What is this thing, anyway?"

  Pointing at the round thing by the girl's feet, Raymond finally couldn't help but say.

  This was the second time he had seen this thing, when the girl followed them into the dining hall, and like last time, a set of wheels extended from the bottom of it, also following her in, scaring quite a few people along the way.

  When he came in just now, he asked that the girl's name was Ailina. She seemed to be wandering alone outside and asked about her family affairs, but she refused to say anything.

  Ailina was busy stuffing her mouth and replied vaguely: "His name is A Tu."

  "What's that?" Xierne said from beside him, "The thing is strange, and its name sounds ancient."

  Alina nodded: "Yes, this is what Mom made for me as a bodyguard. The name is Suo... it was Uncle who named it, he said this thing looks like A Tu, so he took this name, and later called Ah Called also got used to it."

  "Bodyguard?" Harlot grumbled: "What can this thing do."

  "Watching it move, it looks like a Magical Doll from the Magician's Guild, but this appearance is really..." He shook his head as he spoke.

  "Where's your home? Why did you run out here all alone?" Bast asked.

  "Hmph, Dad and Mom are never home, Grandpa is a weirdo who always tells me to learn magic, I don't like it, so I slipped out." Elina swung her small fist: "It's indeed more fun outside."

  Looking at her disheveled appearance, Raymond couldn't help but chuckle. Kids this age were always so rebellious. But then he thought to himself, hadn't he also left his mother and run away from home? Although it was out of necessity, what was the difference between him and this kid, really?

  Maybe in mom's eyes, I who always think of leaving home am still a child who hasn't grown up...

  At this time, Irina asked: "Who are you again?"

  "I'm Raymond, from the Lovell Merchant Guild, here in Orlate on business."

  But when she heard the name of Lovell Chamber of Commerce, Alina's reaction was surprisingly big: "You... you said Lovell Chamber of Commerce?"

  "To be accurate, the only person who spent money to save you is us. We are actually from Haidington and this time we are his bodyguards." Raymond explained, following with "Have you heard of it?"

  Upon hearing Raymond's explanation, Elina finally felt relieved. She hastily said: "No no, I'm still hearing about this Chamber of Commerce for the first time."

  Although he was puzzled in his heart, after all, the other party was just a 10-year-old kid, so Raymond didn't think much of it.

  At this time, Elina patted her belly and jumped off the chair: "Okay, I'm full, I'm leaving."

  "Huh? Where are you going?" Bast asked in surprise.

  Alina gave her a strange look: "Of course I'm going... uh, anyway I just have to go." It seemed that she actually had nowhere to go.

  "Stay here." Bastar said, holding her arm: "The young master is kind, he will take care of you, and you won't have to go hungry and steal things anymore."

  "Hey..." Seeing Catwoman answer for herself, Raymond couldn't help but laugh and cry.

  Upon hearing Bast's words, Alina's eyes showed a hint of emotion, but she still shook her head and said: "No, I'm still leaving. Alt will protect me."

  "Right." She said, reaching into her large shoulder bag and pulling out two fist-sized objects, handing them to Raymond: "Here you go."

  "What is this?" Raymond took it with confusion.

  These two objects are round, about the size of a child's fist, wrapped in a layer of black bumpy outer shell, with a small protrusion on top.

  "This is what I did." Elina said: "You saved me and invited me to dinner, these two things are given to you as a return gift."

  "Oh, no need, I'm helping you not for this." Raymond wanted to refuse.

  "No way." But Alina said firmly, "Dad taught me that if someone does you a favor, you must repay them. Mom taught me that we should make money with our own work. But everyone looked down on me because I was small, so no one would buy the things I made. Later, when the money I brought from home was spent, I had to steal food."

  As she spoke, she raised her head and said with sparkling eyes: "I know you won't buy my things either, but I've received your kindness, so I can only repay it with my work. This is the pride of us alchemists."

  Seeing her speak with such solemnity, Raymond saw the dignity that belonged to her in this child and couldn't bear to hurt her heart, so he said: "Alright, I'll take it."

  "Are you an alchemist?" Shilnis asked with interest.

  "Of course." Alina smiled brightly: "Mom said I completely inherited her talent, maybe even more than that."

  "Hey, now even a little girl like you dares to call herself an alchemist." Harlot laughed.

  Alina glared at him with a scowl, hummed and turned her head away, Harlot's disdainful reaction just proved what she had said earlier.

  Although Raymond wanted to ask her who her mother was, Alina refused to say. So he said: "What's the use of these two things?"

  Alina suddenly came to life: "This is what I invented, just press this thing on top and throw it out, boom!" She said, making an exaggerated exploding gesture.

  "It's really scary, mom saw it and said it was too dangerous, told me not to do it again. Anyway, when you throw it, you have to be very far away and lie on the ground, otherwise you'll bear the consequences."

  Alina chattered on for half a day, but ultimately didn't make it clear what this thing was used for or where it could be applied. After all, she was too young, and even when introducing her own invention, she got everything mixed up, no wonder nobody wanted to buy it.

  But Raymond didn't really mind, he nodded: "I understand."

  "Alright, here." Elina held out her hand to him.

  "What?" Raymond was taken aback.

  Alyna said: "These two things of mine are worth 50 gold coins. You just paid 30 gold coins for me, and also invited me to dinner, and you're so kind, I'll consider it 40 gold coins."

  "So, find me 10 gold coins as compensation, thank you."

  For a moment, Raymond was at a loss for words, in a way, this kid is even more speechless than Bastar.

  Harold indignantly said: "Isn't this wrong? Isn't this your thank-you gift? That stinky girl actually dares to come back and ask us for money."

  Alyna shook her finger: "Wrong, I sold it to you as a return for your help. Dad said our family motto is that doing business must not suffer losses. So find me the money quickly."

  She's really a strange girl, I wonder who her parents are. But never mind, help people to the end. Raymond thought so and actually found 10 gold coins to return to him.

  Alina took the money, jumping up and down excitedly: "That's great! This is the first product I've ever sold in my life. Mom, I knew I could break your record, hahaha..."

  She said to Raymond, "As the first customer in my life, I declare that from now on, no matter what you buy from me, I'll give you an 80% discount. How's that, is it enough?"

  Looking at the two things in his hand that still had unknown uses, Raymond could only bitterly smile: "Thanks a lot."

  "Alright, I'm really leaving." Elina tightened her backpack, called out to Yuan Tong A Tu, and headed towards the door.

  She took two steps, turned around and looked at everyone with a reluctant gaze: "You are all good people, thank you. Haitingdun, right? I will definitely go see you again in the future, goodbye."

  With a wave of her hand, Alina strode out of the door.

  "Remember to throw it very far away..."

  A moment later, her reminding voice came from outside again.

  "Master, why didn't you keep her?" Looking at the empty doorway, Bastet couldn't help but say: "She's all alone like this, it's so pitiful."

  Raymond patted her head: "She must have her own reasons. Maybe one day she'll really come back to see us, who knows."

  "Mm." Bastard nodded as if he understood and didn't understand at the same time.

  At this time, Javier walked in. He exclaimed in surprise: "Where is that girl?"

  "He ate his fill and ran off." Harlot was still brooding over those 10 gold coins.

  Javier didn't take Irina seriously, so he just said "oh".

  "What was the meeting like?" Raymond asked.

  Javier immediately became excited: "Great, the other party is a high-ranking noble in the city. According to him, many people have already taken notice of us because of the dinner party. In the next few days, maybe many people will come to visit."

  "Ah, I'm starving to death." Javier said, sitting down and picking up the food to start devouring it. He rarely had moments where he was so uncouth, showing just how good his mood was at that moment.

  "Has anyone noticed?"

  For some reason, Raymond had a bad premonition. Thinking about the current state of Orlate City, where undercurrents were surging and being noticed by many people also meant being targeted by many people, whether it was good or bad was really hard to predict.

  I hope it's just my imagination.

  "Those guys are really too arrogant."

  At the same time, in a luxurious mansion within Oran's inner city, a certain room emitted such an angry roar.

  If you're familiar with the noble district of Orlate City, you'll find that this is actually the embassy of the Republic of Ravit in the Kingdom of Gasperd.

  It was naturally Lorlan Vice President who had been holding back his anger at tonight's dinner party.

  He was pacing back and forth in the room, his face filled with angry expressions, spewing out words like "despicable outsider", "shameless thief", "you all deserve to die".

  It's really hard to imagine how an old man like him could have such abundant energy.

  On the side, Deneke sat quietly in his chair, watching Loran vent his anger.

  After a while, Loran took a deep breath and finally calmed down: "No way, we must think of a way to stop those guys. It's said that many nobles have already taken an interest in them, and some people even went to visit Javelle overnight."

  "Besides which they have won the favor of the Prince of Udine and that Bishop Relliana, I will not allow this situation to continue."

  "I think what's most important now is to find a way to put Princess Sofia on the throne." Unfazed by Lorain's anger, Deneke calmly said: "The appearance of Prince Udina and Ririana together worries me. Perhaps he has already made a secret pact with the Krote Empire."

  "That's right." Lorain calmed down slightly: "The Krote Empire actually sent this woman as an envoy, there must be something strange about it."

  "And then there's Reinhard, this 'Crazy Prince' seems to want to take advantage of the opportunity to do something." Deneck added.

  "Now Gasparde is like a gold mine without a gate, everyone wants to take its wealth for themselves. I think the only ones who don't have ulterior motives are probably those barbarians from the grasslands."

  He said, "How is it? Is Princess Sofia still refusing to see anyone?"

  Deneke shook his head: "Since Fagana died, she has been rarely seen."

  Lorand said, "No way, it's not long before Fagana's funeral, and then a new king will be decided. If she continues to hide like this, how can she compete with Udina? We must think of a way to make her stand out as soon as possible. A weak and young king is more beneficial for us to occupy the trade route of Gaspad."

  "But it seems there are also many people who don't like Udina as king," Deneke said.

  He knew he was referring to the assassination at the dinner party, and Lorran sneered, "A clumsy performance, actually trying to point the spearhead at Princess Sofia. However, the purpose of the mastermind behind the scenes is quite interesting."

  Deinake nodded: "This is indeed a noteworthy matter, do I need to go investigate?"

  Lorain thought for a moment, shaking his head: "No, Udina wants to know the truth more than anyone else. We don't need to waste our energy on this. You'd better go and deal with those people from the Lovell Merchant Guild for me."

  Deineck's eyebrows twitched: "You still don't plan on giving up?"

  "Of course, the moment I recall their smug faces at the dinner party, I can barely contain myself. I don't want to see those guys in town again, take care of them for me."

  "But if we take action now, I'm afraid..." Deneke wanted to persuade further.

  "No! I want those outsiders to know what happens when they provoke me!"

  Deinek smiled slightly: "Speaking of outsiders, aren't we also from..."

  "Shut up!" Lorran cut him off harshly: "I've told you before, don't bring up the past again."

  "I don't want to hear nonsense, just do as I say."

  Lorain's arbitrary decision flashed a hint of anger in Deneck's eyes, he lowered his head and tried to hide his expression, humbly saying: "Understood, as you wish, I will go arrange it."

  "Alright." Lorain exhaled: "Deneke, you'd better not forget who made your present possible."

  He said, and turned around and left.

  After Deluo Lan left, Deneke raised his head, and his face was already uncontrollably shrouded in furious anger: "It's you, you arrogant, self-righteous, narrow-minded and stupid guy, I've had enough of you!"

  "But Lovell..."

  Saying that, Deneke let out a long sigh: "To be exact, it was Lovell, that damned kid, who got me to where I am today."

  "Yeah, killing those Lovell Merchant Guild people was indeed a delightful thing, hehehe..."

  In the chilling laughter, Deneke's eyes suddenly turned bright red...