“ What’s going on? ”
Watching the “ accident ” outside the window, Masha frowned and stood up, preparing to go out and check.
This was naturally the script she had arranged. In the face of a sudden incident in the city, she, as the acting City Lord, would make a timely appearance, sternly stop the conflict, and earn the support and cheers of the surrounding “ citizens. ”
Yes, that was how the script was supposed to unfold. But Masha had just stepped out of the restaurant and hadn’t even opened her mouth when she heard a neat sound of footsteps approaching.
“ What’s the situation? Why is everyone gathered here? ”
A stern voice cut in, and a column of City Guard soldiers marched over with an intimidating presence, surrounding the scene. The leading Xiliya swept a stern gaze around.
Seeing so many City Guard members present, Fish Eye, who had been arrogant moments before, couldn’t help but shrink his neck… This wasn’t what they had agreed on. Why had so many City Guard soldiers shown up?
“ Oh my, Aunt Masha, Lady Selina, what a coincidence. I didn’t expect to run into you here. ”
Seeing Xiliya suddenly appear with a team of City Guard soldiers, Masha’s expression stiffened a bit. “ Xiliya… what are you doing here? ”
“ Routine patrol, ” Xiliya replied matter-of-factly. “ I’m the City Guard Captain, aren’t I? I didn’t expect to encounter someone causing trouble on the street during today’s patrol. ”
Xiliya knew what Masha had brought Selina out for, so the best way to counter it was to fight magic with magic. If she intercepted halfway, wouldn’t Masha explode?
A flash of surprise also passed through Selina’s eyes. She watched the scene before her with great interest; she hadn’t expected Xiliya to show up here.
There were plenty of eyewitnesses on site, and it was that little thug named Fish Eye who had deliberately provoked the incident. The details of the matter were quickly questioned and clarified — nothing more than Fish Eye deliberately stopping a passerby outside the restaurant window to pick a fight and then escalating it.
The plot was originally supposed to develop with Masha “ coincidentally ” dining in the restaurant and stepping forward to resolve it, but now someone had intercepted it.
After questioning the matter clearly, Xiliya waved her hand. “ Causing trouble on the street and disturbing public order — take him away! ”
Immediately, two guards stepped forward to seize Fish Eye. Xiliya rubbed her chin and sized him up for a long time. “ Why do I feel like you look familiar… Right, I think I’ve seen you in the City Guard’s files before. ”
“ The famous little thug from West Street, Fish Eye, right? You’ve harassed quite a few people, haven’t you — perfect, we’ll review all of it this time. ”
Xiliya’s smile was icy cold, which made Fish Eye even more panicked.
This… this… this wasn’t what they had agreed on! Hadn’t Madam Masha said she would only symbolically punish him a few times, and even if it reached the City Guards, nothing much would happen?
Fish Eye hadn’t been too afraid of the City Guards to begin with. As a small-time thug, he’d dealt with them plenty of times, especially since Masha’s reward was generous enough.
But now, looking at Xiliya’s cold smile, Fish Eye instinctively felt that he might really be in trouble this time.
Xiliya leaned close to Fish Eye and spoke in a voice only the two of them could hear. “ Looks like you still haven’t figured out who’s in charge of the City Guards now… You didn’t really think Masha could protect you, did you? ”
“ Take him away! ”
Xiliya shouted loudly, and the two guards prepared to drag Fish Eye off. Completely panicked now, Fish Eye’s eyes scanned the surroundings. When he spotted Masha, his eyes lit up like she was a lifeline.
“ Madam Masha… Madam Masha, save me! This isn’t what we agreed on! The City Guards won’t do anything to me, right… ”
Masha naturally didn’t respond to him. Only after Fish Eye was dragged away did she force a smile at Selina, her face a bit unsightly.
“ The little thugs on West Street do need to be properly managed. He even dared to spout nonsense after being caught by the City Guards… ”
Selina simply shook her head, signaling that Masha didn’t need to explain. She truly didn’t care about these petty schemes in the power struggles; in the Imperial Capital, she had seen far darker fights for power.
Selina merely gave Xiliya a thoughtful glance. This young lady, not yet of age, was even more scheming than she had thought. It seemed reliable to hand Camberlan City over to her.
“ Aunt Masha, Lady Selina, then I won’t disturb you any longer. ”
The City Guard soldiers Xiliya had brought stood in a straight line behind her, saluting the two respectfully. Xiliya’s prestige in the City Guards was on full display at this moment.
Xiliya was indeed in a hurry to get back to her little maid. After all, to avoid missing Masha’s show, she hadn’t brought Ximo along.
Watching Xiliya’s departing back, Masha could only grit her teeth and suppress her dissatisfaction.
No matter. Once Selina left, it would be your turn for a good show. Masha refused to believe Xiliya could see through her schemes every time!
—
At this time, Ximo was in her own room, studying that handheld suitcase.
Ximo casually drew a dagger and instinctively twirled a knife flower. The blade’s cold gleam flashed in the room.
As expected, ever since she had been injured last time, Ximo’s control over this body had grown increasingly proficient. That sensation of fragmented memories faintly emerging had resurfaced.
Ximo strongly suspected something had gone wrong with her transmigration. The scattered memories in her mind definitely weren’t leftover data from this body’s undeleleted storage that she, the account overtaker, had accessed — the familiar instincts and memories made her feel there was more to it.
So Ximo planned to ask that customer service rep named System properly once the first volume’s plot ended, to figure out exactly what was going on.
Ximo crossed her arms over her chest as she looked at the contents of the handheld suitcase. She wasn’t studying it this time to probe her memories; she was doing it to complete the System’s daily task.
She had only realized earlier, when the System warned that this daily task was about to time out, that she hadn’t completed the daily tasks for the past couple of days.
The awkward part was that the people who could usually help her complete the daily tasks weren’t in the residence right now.
Annaer was out shopping, and neither Masha nor Xiliya was around. Her usual method for completing daily tasks was to deliberately make a small mistake in front of Masha or Annaer and wait for punishment. As for Xiliya… Ximo could only say she was still a bit afraid of Xiliya’s punishments. Unless necessary, she absolutely avoided seeking her out.
With none of them around now, Ximo felt she couldn’t just wait around. Luckily, she could try seeing if she could complete this daily task on her own.
The previous plot task had made Ximo realize one thing: this crappy System’s task judgment criteria had loopholes to exploit — for example, last time, even though she felt she had pleased Selina, as long as Selina didn’t think so, the System wouldn’t count it as a success.
So after pondering it, she discovered that this daily task… seemed exploitable too.
