Chapter 168: Niuniu Returns 3

Kent had actually wanted Niuniu to stay inside the dimensional space for quite some time.

If she kept wandering around outside, there was no telling what kind of trouble she might cause next—and sooner or later, that trouble would probably drag him into it.

Kent valued his own life far too much to take that kind of risk.

Because of the soul contract between them, whenever Niuniu disappeared for long stretches of time, Kent could never truly relax. He was always worried that something might happen to her and somehow affect him as well.

So when Niuniu announced that she intended to cultivate inside the dimensional space from now on, Kent immediately felt a tremendous weight lift from his shoulders.

He nodded readily.

“Fine by me. But what are we supposed to do with this little one?”

“Obviously, you take care of her.”

Niuniu pointed at herself in disbelief.

“Surely you don’t expect someone as small as me to raise a baby?”

Kent silently cursed her in his heart.

Someone capable of carrying an infant through spatial teleportation had the nerve to use her size as an excuse?

Still, Kent was genuinely curious about how angels grew.

After a moment’s thought, he reluctantly nodded.

Then another problem occurred to him.

“What exactly does she eat?”

He looked down at the winged infant.

“And I can’t exactly take her outside looking like this, can I? Those wings are impossible to hide.”

Niuniu sighed impatiently.

“I already told you. Don’t be fooled by how small she is today. By tomorrow, she’ll already be much bigger.”

“As for what she eats... just figure something out.”

With that, Niuniu turned around and flew straight toward the castle, leaving Kent standing there with the baby in his arms.

Kent stared after her speechlessly.

After thinking it over, he decided that keeping the little angel inside the dimensional space was still the safest option.

He carried her into one of the rooms and settled her down as best he could.

Then he hurried back to Muan City and began buying everything he could think of that an infant might need.

By the time Kent returned to the dimensional space, exhausted and thoroughly frazzled, the scene before him left him completely stunned.

The puppet was taking care of the baby.

Somehow, it had already produced a proper cradle.

There was even steaming fresh milk and soft bread prepared nearby.

Kent slowly looked down at the things in his own arms.

A cradle.

Baby clothes.

Diapers.

And an assortment of other infant supplies.

For a long moment, he simply stood there in silence.

Then his face twisted.

He had swallowed his pride and personally gone out to buy all of this.

One could only imagine the pressure on a half-grown young man standing inside a baby-goods shop, carefully selecting diapers and infant supplies while everyone around him stared.

And now?

The puppet had apparently handled everything before he even returned.

Kent felt deeply wronged.

He dumped the things he had bought into the room, turned around, and immediately headed back to Muan City.

This time, he went home and transferred Big Nose from the secret room into the dimensional space as well.

At this point, Kent had completely lost the mood to wander around comparing prices for magical materials.

Instead, he simply visited several of the larger shops and purchased a batch of low-rank magic cores, refined iron, magical beast blood, and other basic materials.

He intended to begin refining magical weapons.

Kent had already done some research on the local market.

He discovered that the most sought-after goods in the Underdark were magical weapons.

They were also among the scarcest.

There was a simple reason for that.

In the darkness of the Underdark, magical weapons could also serve as emergency sources of light.

Using them merely for illumination was certainly extravagant, but in a dangerous situation, that extra light could easily mean the difference between life and death.

Outside of the occasional magical weapon produced by master dwarven smiths or released each year by the dark elves, most inhabitants of the Underdark relied on refined-iron weapons forged by dwarves.

Such weapons were durable and reliable.

But when facing magical beasts, especially powerful ones, ordinary refined iron often failed to provide enough killing power.

Against high-rank magical beasts in particular, only true magical weapons could deliver the kind of damage needed to decide a battle.

For that reason, every time a magical weapon appeared on the market, it immediately attracted attention from all sides.

Kent had only just returned to his shop with his newly purchased materials when a childish voice suddenly rang out.

“Daddy! Daddy! You’re back!”

Kent froze.

The soft, milky voice nearly made him stumble.

There was only one creature who would call him that.

Who else could it be but that round little piglet—

Pike.

“Pike, be good.”

The moment Kent heard that childish voice, he knew exactly who it was.

To be honest, he had always been rather fond of Pike.

The little fellow was soft, round, and pink, and for some reason gave Kent a strange sense of familiarity.

Even though Pike was not actually a piglet, Kent had long since started thinking of her as one.

A plump little piglet who just happened to know how to talk.

“Daddy, Pike isn’t called Pike anymore!”

With a delighted squeal, the little creature sprang straight into Kent’s arms.

“Pike is called Xiangxin now. Mommy said Pike is a girl, so a girl can’t have an ugly name.”

Kent nearly jumped in surprise.

Only then did he notice that Xiangxin was wearing a tiny crimson vest.

One glance was enough for him to tell that it had been made from the hide of a high-rank fire-element magical beast.

That alone was extravagant enough.

But what shocked Kent even more was that Xiangxin now apparently understood that she was a girl.

Kent had no idea what Darkya had done while he was away—or how she had managed to raise this little “piglet” into such a state.

He gently rubbed Xiangxin’s ears and asked in a soft voice, “Xiangxin, who brought you here? And have you been doing well while I was gone?”

“Hmph! She has been doing wonderfully. I’m the one who’s had a miserable time.”

A cold snort filled with endless resentment sounded beside Kent’s ear.

Kent looked up.

His eyelid immediately twitched.

Darkya’s outfit today was far too provocative.

She wore a fitted suit of leather armor decorated with pieces of metal, the combination giving her a wild and dangerously alluring appearance.

And dark elves were already naturally beautiful to begin with.

Hearing the resentment dripping from her voice, Kent immediately replied in annoyance, “Watch how you say things. Anyone overhearing you might think I actually did something terrible to you.”

“You still have the nerve to say that?”

Darkya practically exploded.

“Tell me, then. What exactly did you do back at the volcano?”

Kent’s gaze unconsciously drifted toward the prominent curves beneath her leather armor.

Then he quickly looked away.

“I didn’t do it on purpose.”

Unfortunately, even Kent himself thought that excuse sounded terribly weak.

“Hmph!”

Darkya bit her lip.

“I don’t care whether you meant to or not.”

“You’re taking responsibility.”

Kent froze.

“What?”

For a moment, he thought he had heard her incorrectly.

Then he hurriedly defended himself.

“Why do I have to take responsibility?”

“And besides, only you and I know what happened. Nobody else knows anything about it.”

“There’s me too!”

Xiangxin immediately chimed in from Kent’s arms, her childish voice crisp and innocent.

Kent went silent.

Darkya glared at him through gritted teeth.

“What do you think the elven race is?”

“Anyway, you have two choices.”

“Either you take responsibility...”

“Or there’s one other solution.”

Kent’s eyes immediately lit up.

“There’s another way?”

He leaned forward eagerly.

“What is it?”

Darkya smiled coldly.

“You die.”

Kent’s expression froze.

“A dead man doesn’t need to take responsibility.”

Darkya was truly furious.

Among her own people, countless men had pursued her, yet she had never considered any of them worthy of her attention.

And somehow, in the end, a human had gotten the advantage.

Admittedly, this particular human was exceptionally talented.

Even so, Darkya still felt as though she had suffered a tremendous loss.

And now that she had personally come looking for him, Kent actually seemed reluctant to accept responsibility.

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became.

Without realizing it, her voice grew louder and louder.

People passing by the shop began slowing their steps.

Those who knew Kent stared.

Those who did not know him stared as well.

Some looked envious.

Some looked furious.

Others merely watched with cold amusement.

Before long, a dark elf patrol could be seen approaching from down the street.

Apparently, some overly enthusiastic passerby had already reported the disturbance.

Kent glanced toward the patrol.

The dark elf guards looked into the shop, took in the scene between Kent and Darkya, and then quietly turned around and walked away.

Kent’s mouth twitched.

He looked back at Darkya.

Seeing the genuinely aggrieved expression on her face, his temper rose as well.

“Fine!”

“I’ll take responsibility!”

Xiangxin immediately wriggled happily in Kent’s arms.

Then she raised her little head and declared in her soft, childish voice,

“Daddy has to take responsibility for me too!”

“You little troublemaker, I’m not your daddy, and she’s not your mommy either. You’re—”

Kent felt thoroughly embarrassed by the way the little “piglet” kept calling him Daddy.

Honestly, anyone would probably feel awkward if a chubby little creature that looked like a piglet kept addressing them like that.

So Kent decided it was time to correct Xiangxin and teach her to call him something else.

Unfortunately, he never got the chance to finish.

Xiangxin suddenly lifted her head and stared at him with her enormous eyes.

In the blink of an eye, those bright eyes filled with tears.

Her little mouth trembled as she asked in a soft, wounded voice,

“Daddy doesn’t want me anymore?”

The tears gathered even more quickly.

“Daddy doesn’t like me anymore?”