Free Web NovelAfter leaving the convent for more than half an hour, Ye Chi finally calmed down. She only felt the golden mark on her chest burning as if aflame.
If not for the hooded cloak she wore—obviously too large for her body and wrapping her up tightly—the light radiating from the Hero’s Seal would have long since drawn others’ attention.
“So annoying, so annoying, so annoying!”
Back when she had first become a monster girl, during the spare moments between desperately leveling in the forest, Ye Chi had already rehearsed in her mind a thousand times what it would be like to encounter old acquaintances.
But when truly facing them, she realized they had gone far, far ahead, while only she herself remained stuck on a day three years past.
“Never thought I’d one day become a remnant of a bygone era. Just like... that once-proud Wolf King who led the pack forward, but ended up as a husky licking its wounds in a corner.” frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
Ye Chi mocked herself bitterly.
Since she could no longer intervene as the Hero she once was, then she would do so as who she was now—the monster girl, Vieya.
“From now on, I’ll be called Vieya.”
After walking for half a day, she was somewhat tired.
Resting for a while, Ye Chi—who now considered herself fully Vieya—set off again.
The searing heat of the Hero’s Seal on her chest gradually cooled, as though it were nothing more than a pale ornament etched across her snow-white skin.
“Damn it, it’ll be hard to get work like this from now on.”
Vieya rubbed at her chest and arrived at the new residence she had painstakingly prepared.
No. 66 Nyx Avenue. A large estate with tall blue-green walls, encircled by a carefully tended garden belt. Quite nice—though a bit wasteful for one person alone. freewebnσvel.cøm
At the gate, Vieya met the servant in charge of the handover.
By the time this servant had shown her all of the residence’s facilities and completed the procedures, dusk had already fallen.
According to today’s plan, Vieya was supposed to go back and deal with the matter of that catgirl, but today she was simply too exhausted.
The moment she allowed herself to relax, fatigue surged like a tide.
Without even eating her daily dinner or drinking her bedtime milk, Vieya collapsed onto the wide bed and sank into deep sleep.
Hoo...
Hoo...
With her shallow breathing, the Hero’s Seal on her chest pulsed rhythmically, emitting a warm golden glow.
Outside, the full moon hung high, and the night wind stirred.
It was a quiet and harmonious night—at least, for Vieya.
What woke her was not the bliss of sleeping until naturally awake, nor the pangs of hunger, but the sound of people quarreling outside.
Bang!
Vieya turned over in bed.
Clack!
She furrowed her brow.
The quarrel outside only grew louder.
“Where did this purple-haired brat come from? Hurry back to wherever you came from. This isn’t your place to be—don’t blame me for not warning you!”
“Hah! You, a catkin without so much as an ID or residency pass, climbing other people’s walls in the dead of night—what are you here for, to steal?!”
“Look at these clothes on me. Do I need to steal? You ignorant little girl, get lost and don’t ruin my fun.”
“What ‘fun’ could someone like you have? Leave at once, or I’ll charge you with obstructing a Hero’s official duty, three crimes compounded into one, and drag you back °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° to the Tribunal immediately!”
“Three crimes compounded, huh! Do you want to test whether my claws are sharp?”
“Threatening a Hero? That’s an extra charge! And besides...”
Sching!
“...my scythe is hardly dull!!”
Outside: blades drawn, tension high.
Inside: Vieya rubbed her forehead and sat up.
She didn’t hurry out to stop them. Instead, she sat on the bed, smoothing the wrinkles in her clothes, then glanced at the clock on the table.
Tick.
Tock.
“Half past twelve. Slept about four hours.”
This world’s method of timekeeping was much the same as the Blue Star she had come from: a twenty-four-hour day, sixty minutes per hour, sixty seconds per minute.
As far as she knew, there were ways to alter the flow of time in certain areas—slowing or speeding it up—but such methods were impractical, at least for her.
The Hero’s Seal could reduce almost 90% of abnormal conditions, and hers was even stronger, nearing a full 100%.
Heroes were born to restrain all kinds of monsters.
Demon Kings included.
So Vieya wasn’t worried at all. Even if that catgirl was Level 800+, she would still be restricted when facing a Hero around Level 500.
What’s more, Vieya was certain Helcat would never reveal her true identity so easily in front of others, as she once had before her.
Sure enough, the deadlock outside soon reached a conclusion.
“Hmm...?”
Why had it suddenly gone quiet outside?
Could something unexpected have happened?
Remembering that her intuition was often unreliable, Vieya finally went to the door.
She opened it.
In an instant, a soft, heavy mass latched onto her legs.
“Uuuh, Master, I thought you had abandoned your loyal little kitty!”
Helcat bawled with tears and snot, even wiping the wet mess all over Vieya’s thighs.
Vieya’s face darkened. She grabbed one of Helcat’s furry ears and yanked it upward, making the catgirl tear up in pain.
Ignoring her pitiful act, Vieya’s voice was cold:
“Stupid cat, you’d better clean up your snot!”
At the side, the young Hero girl hesitated for a moment, then finally retracted her terrifying scythe back into the seal on her palm.
Cautiously, she asked:
“Miss Vieya... is this catkin really your maid?”
