Free Web NovelIt was night, the moon bright and the stars sparse.
In Talin City, inside a century-old renowned restaurant:
Lanterns blazed, colored knots hung everywhere, the fragrance of wine and roasted meat filled the upper floors, and strings and flutes lingered in the air. Beneath the deep-red curtain, exotic dancers with foreign features had fire-red cinnabar dots between their brows. They wore white translucent veils and jewel belts of shimmering colors around their waists, pausing and swaying as they danced.
“Who picked this place for the celebration banquet? This is too decadent!”
“Huh? You don’t like exotic female dancers? Then I’ll switch them for men?”
“Get lost, you!”
Vieya’s face flushed red as she glared at Anna, who was sipping red wine from a goblet. A fierce aura like a mother lion radiated from her entire slime-girl body. freewёbnoνel.com
“A place like this—if my daughter saw it, what would she think? A celebration banquet could be anywhere, and you chose this?”
“Why not be happy? Everyone gained a lot. Isn’t it good to relax in the best restaurant in Talin City?” Anna swirled her wine, the smell of berry wine lingering between her lips and teeth.
She glanced at the slightly angry slime girl, then looked up toward the dancers above, her blue eyes carrying a relaxed smile.
“Compared to fighting monsters and dancing on the edge between life and death, scenes like this—music and dancing—relax me more. When I was still a Hero, whenever my family held a banquet, I was always invited, but... compared to the old days full of social obligations, a free, carefree scene like this is much more relaxing.”
“That’s your reason for renting out the whole restaurant and hiring a bunch of exotic dancers?”
Vieya tapped the table, dong dong dong, staring with bright, accusatory eyes.
“You just got some money and you’re already spending it like this?! Renting the whole place is bad enough—then a whole bunch of... ah—seriously, I don’t even want to lecture you!”
“I thought you’d like it...” Anna put down the wine cup, sounding hurt. “I usually don’t pay much attention to your preferences, so I wanted to treat you with what I consider the best way to relax... after all, you contributed the most this time. Without you, we might have really died trapped down there.”
“You still dare to say that!”
Vieya checked the time, glared at Anna one last time, then stood and left the restaurant to wait at the entrance for her daughter.
The powdery perfume inside had her slime-head spinning; as soon as she stepped out and the night wind hit her, her whole slime brain cleared instantly.
Looking at the brightly lit, bustling street ahead, Vieya pulled her fox-fur scarf tighter around her neck.
This city’s elevation was far higher than Fengxiang Town, and the nighttime temperature was far lower.
Ever since she signed the contract with the Golden City on the nineteenth floor of the dungeon yesterday, she had become the nominal owner of that ancient city.
But what surprised her was that this nearly thirty-square-kilometer Golden City shrank into a three-centimeter miniature model after she signed the contract.
With that, she could simply swallow the model and store it in her stomach, taking it out whenever she needed it.
Uh... she wondered what that mirage demon would think about suddenly having a new neighbor.
Thinking about it, the slime girl lowered her head and touched her small belly, feeling suddenly melancholy. She felt like her habits had been slowly turning slime-like over the years.
But now, she could technically be considered a true young lady of immense wealth.
After all, she had an ancient city made of pure gold inside her stomach—“young lady” was probably an understatement. Fortunately, after shrinking to three centimeters, the model was light—about the weight of a soybean.
Otherwise she’d have to wonder whether she’d break her bed one day...
Just as her thoughts drifted off, shadows swayed on the wooden bridge at the far end of the long street. A few familiar figures appeared—among them, Jasmine was already waving from afar toward her, beautiful eyes filled with excitement.
“Mom—!”
Jasmine ran toward the slime girl, her steps bouncing, the smooth golden hair tied in a low ponytail lively and jumping at her back.
Thump!
Vieya reached out and caught the child who threw herself into her arms, lifting her slightly, holding her up at chest height.
Mother and daughter’s eyes met at the same level. Jasmine was delighted, wrapping her arms around her mother’s neck, feeling her warm body temperature.
“Oh my meow, there are so many people on the street, can’t you stop running around?” the catgirl followed behind with a bitter expression. She did not understand—she was just a cat, so why was she in charge of looking after a child?
Oh, right—because she couldn’t afford to provoke the other two maids.
The days of the lazy fishing Cat King were long gone; now she was just a pitiful little catmaid.
U-meow, how had her life gotten this miserable?
Helcat drooped her ears and dragged along her snack basket, sluggishly walking to her cheap owner with no energy at all.
“Old Ye, I want to eat fish, meow.”
“What, those two bullied you again?” Vieya, holding her daughter with one arm, freed her other hand to rub the catgirl’s furry ears twice.
“U-meow...” Helcat let out a miserable sound.
Vieya wanted to laugh—she hadn’t expected that by taking in two Demon King maids, she’d end up subduing this cowardly, bully-fearing cheap cat as well.
A cat who was once so arrogant was now so obedient it almost felt strange.
“Right, where are the other two?” Vieya withdrew her hand after playing with the cat ears for a while, focusing on the two heavy hitters who had not arrived yet.
“They’re escorting that green-haired human girl, so they might come a bit late, meow.” Helcat twitched her ears and answered honestly.
Vieya nodded thoughtfully, carrying her daughter as she walked back toward the restaurant, reminding, “We’ll wait inside first.”
Once again stepping into the restaurant, the exotic dancers were still dancing tirelessly. However, aside from the strings barely covering anything, they had swapped out their nearly transparent veils for bright red dance skirts.
Was this a seamless switch from adult mode to minor mode?
Vieya stared speechlessly at Anna, who sat alone drinking wine.
She walked over and placed her daughter in the empty seat beside Anna.
“Hello, Teacher Anna.”
Jasmine greeted timidly.
Teacher Anna was a diligent and responsible instructor, but outside of class and ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) magic lessons, Jasmine rarely saw her. And Anna’s merciless wrist during magic training sometimes left psychological shadows.
“It’s little Jasmine. You can’t drink alcohol, so I prepared juice and milk for you. You pick first. Whatever you don’t choose goes to your mother,” Anna said with a smile.
“...” Jasmine thought for a moment, then handed the milk to her mother.
For the past three years, she had managed most of the cooking at home, so she knew her mother’s tastes and preferences perfectly—down to every detail.
Compared to juice, her mother preferred milk and other dairy products.
Every night, Jasmine prepared two cups of milk—one for her mother and one for herself.
Her mother’s cup always had three parts sugar.
And during this dungeon expedition, the one who was the most exhausted, the one who contributed the most, was definitely her mother.
Even though she herself liked milk, and the cat sister at the side was staring hungrily at it...
Jasmine smiled sweetly and whispered:
“Mom, the milk is for you.”
