Chapter 9: There’s Nothing Money Can’t Solve

Chapter 9: There’s Nothing Money Can’t Solve

“Awake? From now on, you’re my servant, and you have to listen to me, got it?”

Seeing Yake finally wake up, Aierjisi got off Yake. Now that she had successfully revived him, there was no need to stay on top of him any longer. With Aierjisi off of him, Yake stood up from the ground, no longer weighed down.

“I get it, wait? That fire dragon, it’s actually dead.”

Yake was quite surprised to see the fire dragon that had scared away Karito’s elite team was now dead.

“Isn’t that obvious? If I wanted to save you, I had to kill that pesky fire dragon first!”

Aierjisi shot Yake an exasperated look. Since she had specifically saved him, it was obvious she had to deal with that troublesome fire dragon first.

“You did it all by yourself?”

Yake, completely unaware of Aierjisi’s powers, looked at her in disbelief. This little girl single-handedly took down that giant fire dragon? It seemed utterly absurd to him.

“Of course! Please, it’s just a fire dragon, not exactly a big deal. Besides, that dragon wasn’t particularly tough to handle.”

Aierjisi glared at Yake; it was just a lone fire dragon after all—killing it had been a piece of cake for her!

“Alright, I admit my ignorance. Please forgive me, Princess.”

Realizing he had underestimated her, Yake quickly apologized to Aierjisi.

“Hey. Enough with the ‘Princess’ already. With the Blood Clan gone, calling me that just hurts. Just call me Aier. Oh, by the way, I don’t think I’ve asked for your name yet.”

Aierjisi was now somewhat averse to being called Princess. With the Blood Clan gone, what was she even a princess of?

“I’m Yake, Yake Boland.”

At that moment, Yake remembered he hadn’t yet introduced himself to Aierjisi.

“Yake… got it. I’ll remember that. From now on, you’re Yake.”

Aierjisi noted Yake’s full name. Two-syllable names were definitely easier to remember.

“Now that our contract is established, let’s go! I want to see the outside world!”

“Wait a minute, Aier. Let me check if that fire dragon left anything behind.”

Yake pulled out his dissection knife and approached the fire dragon’s corpse to see if he could scavenge any treasures.

“This dragon is quite impressive; it has plenty of treasures inside! It would be great if I could drag the whole thing out!”

Having looked into the dragon’s body, Yake was marveling at how it was bursting with loot. If possible, he would love to haul the entire dragon out. Unfortunately, this was a ruin, and there was simply no way to bring a carriage in to haul it out.

“What’s so difficult about taking this dragon out?”

Aierjisi snapped her fingers impatiently, causing a blue magic circle to appear above the dragon. With a casual flick of her fingers, the magic circle engulfed the dragon.

“Alright, let’s go! I’ve stored the dragon’s corpse in another space. When I need it, I’ll just pull it out again.”

After tidying up the dragon’s remains, Aierjisi walked outside impatiently. As for Yake, he was gaining a whole new perspective on this little princess’s capabilities. His curiosity about her true strength was only growing.

“What are you doing just standing there? Hurry up and move!”

When she turned around and saw Yake still dawdling, Aierjisi urged him to hurry.

“Oh, right! I’m coming!”

Prompted by Aierjisi, Yake quickly caught up with her. Their route was quite complicated, and initially, Yake thought about guiding her. But unexpectedly, she seemed to know the fastest way out.

“Aier, I can’t believe you know which way to go!”

“Of course! You think I’m like you all, rushing in without a plan? I used these vines to map out the entire ruin and picked the quickest route out.”

“These vines are your handiwork too?”

Seeing the vines along the way, Yake was astonished that they were also the little princess’s creation.

“Of course! Controlling vines is no big deal. Now, let’s go! You know where the nearest town is, right?”

“Of course.”

After all, Chester Town, near this ruin, was Yake’s hometown where he had lived his whole life.

Under Yake’s lead, Aierjisi quickly arrived at the nearby small town.

“Yake? Is that you? You’re alive! I heard from Karito and the others that you stayed behind to face the fire dragon. We all thought you died! I can’t believe you made it back, that’s amazing!”

The guard at the entrance, seeing Yake return safe and sound, thought he might be seeing a ghost in broad daylight.

“Sort of. A lot happened inside the ruins.”

“As long as you’re safe, that’s what matters. Hurry on in! Uh, and who’s this little lady?”

Just as the guard was about to let Yake in, he noticed Aierjisi standing beside him.

“This is Miss Aier, whom I encountered in the ruins. Thanks to her help, I was able to escape the fire dragon.”

“Oh, I see. But according to the rules, first-time visitors to Chester Town need to show identification.”

As he said this, the guard’s demeanor shifted to one of sharp scrutiny. Despite Aierjisi looking harmless, rules were rules.

“Uh-oh.”

Yake was in a bit of a pickle. After all, if Aierjisi was indeed the little princess of the Blood Clan, she must be over 300 years old at the very least! Where was he going to get her an ID?

“Hey man, we’re fellow townsfolk. Cut me some slack, will ya?”

With no other options, Yake stepped forward, grabbing the guard’s hand to plead.

“Again with that, huh? You really leave me no choice. Just this once, alright? Go on in.”

The guard sighed and, with a resigned smile, opened the gate, allowing Aierjisi and Yake to enter the town.

“That guard seems pretty easy to deal with.”

Seeing how easily the guard let her through, Aierjisi thought he was rather easygoing.

“Heh, not at all. Those guards are all about the money.”

While pleading with the guard, Yake had discreetly slipped two gold coins into his palm. For guards like that, two gold coins were a pretty decent paycheck—enough for a big night out at the tavern.

Normally, Yake wouldn’t dream of parting with two gold coins for a guy like that, but now it was different. That red dragon was in their possession. Once they sold it, he’d be rolling in riches. Two gold coins were nothing compared to that.