Chapter 231: Sigh, I’ve Been Discovered

Chapter 231: Chapter 231: Sigh, I’ve Been Discovered

Using his Telekinesis, Lance tapped the pink, glowing status icon.

The panel floated silently in mid-air.

No additional explanations or descriptions popped up.

Lance had absolutely no idea what this buff was applied to.

However, one thing was now certain.

There was definitely something wrong with that Literary Girl, Yvette.

It was only after brief physical contact with her on that arched bridge that he’d started having these strange dreams.

Lance leaned back against the pillows on the large bed.

He closed his eyes, forcing his mind to rewind, trying to logically reconstruct the events.

For her to go to such lengths to construct such a realistic dream, she must have some kind of motive.

He had to dissect every minute detail from the last two nights’ dreams to uncover her true goal.

But as he delved deeper into his memories, Lance’s expression grew increasingly unsettled.

He grabbed the nearby blanket and covered the lower half of his body.

’It’s getting a little cold.’

’These dreams are full of too many distractions. They’re just getting in the way of my thinking.’

Those sensations, those pulse-pounding images, and her delicate voice...

Now it was all a tangled mess in his head, severely disrupting his concentration.

’...running down her leg...’

Lance slapped himself to dispel the image.

After some analysis, he first ruled out the possibility that she was experienced at this.

Because in the dream, it was clearly the girl’s first time "playing co-op" with a guy.

When it came to the "hands-on" part, her reactions were hopelessly clumsy.

And from his experience the past two nights, it seemed the environment reset to its real-world state each time he entered the dream. It was like she reset to her default state every night.

It was like...

SLAP!

Lance slapped himself again, breaking his train of thought.

Since the "hands-on" part was all just mindless physical exertion...

Then the moment she revealed her true purpose must have been in the conversations before they "teamed up."

"Damn it..."

Lance slapped his forehead in annoyance.

Now that he thought back, Yvette had seemed to say something at the very beginning.

But there was a problem.

Back then, he’d just been thoroughly worked up by those five Sub-human maids in the luxury suite.

The restless Red Dragon instinct within him had been pent-up with no release.

As a result, he’d been so impatient that he was letting his little head do all the thinking.

He’d completely forgotten whatever it was she had mumbled back then.

Lance threw off the blanket and rolled out of bed.

He quickly put on an Ordinary Linen Shirt and pulled a dark Leather Vest over it.

He needed to go on deck to get some air and let his overheated brain cool down.

Judging from the dreams of the past two nights, she didn’t seem to have any malicious intent.

The only thing that he found a bit jarring was the colored status icon on his panel.

But since the system classified it as a "buff status," it surely wouldn’t have any negative effects on his body.

Lance now just felt waves of embarrassment wash over him.

’If I go back to sleep now, what if I get pulled into the dream again?’

’Should I just go with it? Or not?’

"I’ll take a break for now,"

Lance muttered to himself as he tightened the leather straps of his Land Boots.

He’d just treat it as a short vacation. If he was forcibly pulled in again in a couple of days, it wouldn’t be too late to ask about her motive then.

Pushing open the door to his luxury cabin, Lance followed the corridor out onto the spacious deck.

As the ferry traveled along a wide inland river that cut through the Province, its passage was very smooth.

Lance walked to the metal railing, rested his hands on it, and gazed at the scenery along the banks.

Prosperous towns, built right up to the water’s edge, were scattered pleasingly along both banks of the river.

Shrouded in darkness, the towns glowed with clusters of lights.

Lance discovered that the closer they got to White River City, the higher the level of local Alchemy became.

He’d once heard Adventurers from other regions bragging at the Guild that some wealthy Provinces in the Kingdom’s heartland had even laid down a Magic Energy Train network that spanned their entire territories.

In White River Province, however, the exceptionally developed network of waterways was what made the massive inland ferry industry the primary mode of transportation.

This vast difference in infrastructure drove one fact home for him.

Sure enough, Gray Rock Town, where he had lived for so long, was really just a remote, backwater corner on the map of the Kingdom.

A cool summer evening breeze drifted across the surface of the river.

It carried with it a faint mist and the fresh scent of the plants lining the banks.

The gentle breeze dispelled Lance’s agitation, bringing a pleasant sense of comfort that slowly soothed him.

However, just as Lance closed his eyes to quietly enjoy the evening breeze, a set of light footsteps echoed from the corridor behind him.

Lance turned his head and saw a little girl of about seven or eight, skipping and hopping toward him along the moonlit deck.

The little girl wore a hood that had two fluffy decorative pom-poms hanging from the sides, which swung back and forth as she ran.

A somewhat worn canvas bag was slung over her shoulder. In the middle of her happy run, the little girl seemed to notice Lance and immediately performed a perfect face-plant right in front of him, falling solidly onto the deck.

Lance couldn’t help but chuckle at the comical sight. The girl wasn’t fragile, though; she didn’t cry or make a fuss.

She scrambled to her feet, but the button on her small canvas bag had popped open in the fall, sending its contents scattering across the deck with a CLATTER.

In the dim light, Lance could see the contents: charcoal pencils, half a bag of candy, and some colorful little stones perfect for skipping.

Lance strode over and stopped beside the little girl.

"Are you okay?"

He crouched down and looked at the little girl’s dust-covered hands. With a mere thought, he activated his ring and cast a Ringless Spell: [Cleaning Skill].

A gentle breeze swept past, and in an instant, the dust on the little girl’s palms and clothes was whisked away, leaving them perfectly clean.

The magical sight immediately made the little girl’s eyes light up.

"That’s just like the Spell Bazzer does!"

The girl let out a cheer, then immediately remembered her fallen treasures and began scrambling on the deck to pick them up.

She paused as she picked up a piece of fruit candy.

The waxed paper wrapper had torn wide open in the fall, and the sticky candy inside was now covered in grit from the deck.

The little girl stared at the clearly inedible candy, frowning in thought for a moment.

Then she did something that made Lance’s jaw drop.

She vigorously rubbed the dusty candy on her coat a couple of times, then held it out to Lance, tilting her head up with a sweet smile.

"Mister, to thank you for helping me, please take this candy."

Lance stared at the candy, then at the little girl’s expectant expression, feeling completely exasperated.

"I literally just watched that fall on the ground..."

Lance called her out mercilessly.

’This kid looks so cute, but she’s got a bit of a mean streak.’

’She obviously saw it was dirty and didn’t want to waste it, so she’s just taking the opportunity to pass it off as a gift.’

"Aw, you caught me."

"Well, I guess I’ll have to save this candy for Bazzer then."

The little girl sighed, stuffing the candy back into the deepest corner of her pocket with a look of mock regret.

’Lance mentally offered a half-second of silent mourning for this Bazzer person. Judging by the casual way she used his name, he was almost certainly her father.’

"It’s so late. Why are you running around on the deck by yourself?"

Lance stood up, looked at the empty deck around them, and asked, "The wind on the river is strong at night, and it would be very dangerous if you fell in."

The little girl pouted, clearly displeased with the question.

"Bazzer’s asleep, and when he is, he does this! KHHH... PSSHHH!"

She opened her mouth, raised her hands over her head, and began circling Lance like a little penguin, all while making exaggerated snoring noises.

Lance got the picture. The kid simply couldn’t sleep because of her dad’s snoring, so she’d snuck out of the cabin to play while he was fast asleep.

"Come on, I’ll take you back to your cabin."

Lance held out his hand, gesturing for the little girl to take it.

Maybe the fall had hurt more than she let on, because the little girl had lost her playful spirit. She obediently reached out and took Lance’s hand.

"Remember, you should never run around out here by yourself at night. There could be Demons hiding in the river, and sometimes they crawl up onto the deck after dark to hunt for food.

And if a bad person finds you, they might stuff you in a sack and carry you off."

Lance led her back toward the cabins, casually trying to scare her a little.

Of course, Lance was just making that up. This kind of ship was equipped with Techniques to detect approaching Demons long ago.

The little girl suddenly stopped, raising her head to look at Lance confidently with her big, bright eyes.

"You’re not a bad person. You’re fibbing."

"Lilia!"

Just then, an anxious voice came from the corner of the stairs at the other end of the deck.

A moment later, a panting, middle-aged man in his thirties came running out.

The man had a neatly-trimmed, reddish-brown beard, but his hair was messy as if he’d just woken up.

He wore a peculiar leather vest sewn with dozens of pockets of all sizes. They bulged with inkwells, thick notebooks, and a host of measuring tools Lance didn’t recognize.

Seeing his daughter standing there holding a strange young man’s hand, the man let out a long sigh of relief.

He walked over quickly, took his daughter’s hand, and pulled Lilia protectively behind him.

"Thank you so much. This child is a light sleeper and always likes to run around on the ship while I’m fast asleep."