A luxurious carriage stopped on the street in front of the entrance to Saint Dormer Community, drawing sidelong glances from passersby.
Four purebred stallions pulled the carriage, their coats as smooth as silk without a single stray hair.
Golden tassels hung from the four edges of the carriage roof, with silver bells dangling from each corner.
The black lacquered shell, repeatedly coated with a paste of whetstone powder and raw lacquer, was inlaid with elegant mother-of-pearl paintings.
Ashley swept her gaze over it. There were four Sheep-Head People in total: two driving the carriage and two standing on the rear crossbar, flanking her front and back to prevent escape.
This offensive “invitation” was tantamount to coercion, which irritated her greatly, but thinking of the extra money she could make, she endured it.
Although she held the two BUG abilities “Twilight Eternal Extinction” and “Lost Paradise,” they were unfortunately one-time use, so she lacked full confidence.
Ashley sat in the carriage with her eyes closed, resting her mind. In her thoughts surfaced the scene of her first encounter with the Little Doctor at Red Rock Outpost.
She spoke in an emotionless tone, treated patients with emotionless little hands, and when dropped to the ground, lay still like an abandoned doll without a cry or movement—a strange loli.
Only the Great Raven brought light to her vacant eyes.
But she met me.
So, not only would she not get the Great Raven, but she would also lose her Little Flower~ Hehe.
Ashley laughed heartlessly.
However, after laughing, she sank into an inexplicable melancholy, just wanting this matter to end quickly.
The carriage drove out of the city gates toward the Mistkadei Mountains.
The area featured fertile sandy soil ideal for grape cultivation, with vast oak forests that provided the oak for wine barrels to enhance flavor.
For this operation, Ashley went alone, without even bringing Sasha.
The Blue-Haired Loli leaned on the window frame, watching the passing scenery recede behind her.
She wore a Japanese-style maid outfit: a maid headband, a small kosode pleated dress paired with a lace apron, black stockings that accentuated her graceful leg lines, and dainty white boat shoes. Her small hands and feet contrasted cutely with the loose clothing.
The Scripps Family had her appear at the banquet as a maid—not to party, but to serve the guests.
The carriage arrived at the winery entrance, where the transport switched to a hanging basket carried by a flying Cadaver.
The winery spanned a vast area, making even carriage commutes inconvenient.
As the basket rose into the air, Ashley saw the oak forests blanketing the hillsides, with wild boars roaming through them in family groups—a prime hunting spot.
From above, the flatlands around the slopes were covered in dense, uniform vineyards like flannel, interspersed with bare, freshly propagated vine cuttings and dotted with deep blue lakes like sapphire gems scattered on long-pile fabric.
Simple, pure-wood longhouses dotted the landscape, with workers occasionally hauling raw materials and barrels.
After about half an hour of flight, they reached the main building of Mistkadei Winery: an arched hall in the style of a church mass room.
Peering through the doorway, two rows of towering pillars stretched straight ahead like ranks of soldiers, their tops interlacing into layered perspective arches that exuded a solemn, majestic aura.
Thick candles as big as arms hung high up, clustered in staggered heights of over a dozen, their intermingling flames illuminating the hall as bright as day.
The massive pillars were adorned with scarlet tapestries embroidered with gold thread, draping on all sides with golden borders, resembling scripture scrolls.
The floor was carpeted in matching style but deeper in hue; stepping on it felt soft and sinking, as if plunging into a dark red marsh.
The banquet appeared about to begin. Maids hurried through the hall, some lifting their skirts to dash into the side chamber; others hefted silver trays piled with soft, bizarre blood-red muscles dripping with fluid—unclear if blood or juice; some carried stacks of napkins, deftly laying them on seats; others held colorful flowers, inserting them into tall-necked vases spaced at intervals…
“You’re Ashley, right?” An elderly maid with deep law lines stood before the Blue-Haired Loli, eyeing her sternly and rebuking, “You’re late! Follow me, quick!”
Goddamn late? Obedience training?
Ashley remained composed. From the mandated maid outfit to the immediate scolding, this PUA tactic might work on ignorant little idiots, but its intent was too obvious to her.
“Coming~”
Ashley lifted her skirt and followed the head maid behind the screen in the side chamber.
“Time’s tight, no time for full training. I’ll just urgently teach you some polite phrases.”
The head maid was nearly 1.8 meters tall, her high bun adding to her imposing presence.
“Now, follow my movements.”
She clasped her hands together over her lower right abdomen, bowed slightly, and said in an unquestionable tone:
“Come on, say it with feeling—’Yes, Master.'”
“Shut up, you sow!”
Ashley whipped her!
The head maid immediately rolled on the ground, screaming frantically:
“Yes! Master! Yes! Master!…”
Ashley stepped on her back and inquired, discovering a full obedience training regimen awaiting her: subsequent tripping (literally), toilet scrubbing, baseless scoldings, wringing scalding towels, and more.
“How surprising. They think this is their lair and can toy with me at will?”
Ashley’s impression of the Blood Nobles plummeted—they were a family mired in petty shit, piss, and farts, with the whole clan banking on a little girl’s Fig. What freaks.
Though the Blood Nobles ate people and drank blood, compared to the Jenkins Family, their inhumanity wasn’t on the same level.
Are they just a bunch of posers?
Still, she respected their ancient wisdom passed down for a millennium. Arrogance was the real obstacle to survival—for her too.
After a surge of emotions, Ashley calmed and had the head maid lead her to the lounge at the end of the side chamber.
Seeing the Little Doctor again felt uncannily similar.
The little loli sat like a doll on a chair, feet dangling off the ground, arms raised and locked to the high chair back, staring blankly at the floor.
Her chestnut-brown long hair was woven at the tips into jagged, feather-like bird-neck styles. She wore a white patient gown, her tiny feet exposed like two cool, soft white mochi balls.
Spotting Ashley, the little loli’s dull eyes slowly lit with surprise. Excitedly, she said:
“Sis, did you come to sell me the Great Raven?”
Still hung up on my Great Raven?
“No.”
Ashley shook her head.
“Oh, not then…”
Yinsu Helin sighed, her little head drooping.
Ashley thought for a moment. Some things were better clarified.
“Sorry, I killed your fiancé.”
“Someone I’d never met—how could he be a fiancé?” Yinsu Helin kicked her little feet. “If you feel guilty, just sell me the Great Raven.”
“Not selling.”
Ashley touched her nose and continued:
“Your elders are convinced I’m your good friend and forced me to remove your… they call it the Holy Grail; I usually call it the Fig.”
Yinsu Helin touched her soft, tender little belly. As a doctor, she knew exactly what it was.
“If you feel guilty, then…”
“Not selling.”
“I hate you.”
“You’re… that obsessed with the Great Raven?” Ashley asked, utterly baffled. “You don’t even care about your Fig?”
“Yinyin wants the Great Raven, but you won’t let her have it! Yinyin doesn’t want her Fig taken, but Daddy and Grandpa insist! What’s the difference between you all? You’re all bullying Yinyin! You never care about Yinyin’s opinion! Never! Waaah—!”
The little loli’s heartstrings were unwittingly plucked by her words. She bawled, face scrunching up, big teardrops rolling down her cheeks, pooling into a quivering droplet at her chin tip.
