Xiliya temporarily pushed her doubts to the back of her mind and didn’t dwell on the matter right now. Luo Keke was still chattering away about interesting things, and Xiliya listened quietly, chiming in with a word or two from time to time.
“Sigh, trade exports haven’t been going well lately. The main roads outside Camberlan City always got ambushed by the Beastmen Clan when shipping goods out. Even hiring adventurers at a high price to escort didn’t help much.”
“The Northern Border Beastmen are known for their brute strength, after all. It’s more normal that those adventurers couldn’t handle them.” Xiliya glanced at the clock on the wall.
“You’re right~ But my dad originally told me to feel out Madam Masha’s attitude tonight—see if the City Guard could help escort the next shipment. Looks like that’s not happening now.”
Luo Keke seemed to truly treat Xiliya as a friend; she said this without holding anything back. Of course, it was also possible that Luo Keke knew Xiliya had no say in the Camberlan Family, so it didn’t matter.
“Masha wouldn’t bother with something thankless like that.”
Xiliya sneered coldly and glanced at the clock on the wall again. It was about time.
“Sorry, Luo Keke, could I borrow the washroom here?”
“Oh, of course. It’s to the right after you go out the door. Want me to show you?”
“No need,” Xiliya smiled. “I’ll be right back.”
Xiliya remembered it clearly. In her previous life, she had chatted idly with Luo Keke over dinner just like this. Not long after night fully fell, the guards in the estate had rushed in panicked, saying the estate was under attack and telling them to hide.
In her panicked search for a hiding spot, she had run straight into a lone Beastman. Fortunately, the City Guard arrived in time, and she only suffered minor injuries.
The City Guard’s investigation afterward concluded that it was a group of Beastmen who had sneaked into the city to steal, and Xiliya had just been unlucky to encounter one.
Xiliya’s eyes flickered. As for the truth… this time, she could investigate it herself.
…
Entering the pitch-black washroom, Xiliya spotted Ximo waiting there right away. Or rather, she should now be called “Xiliya.”
Ximo had already changed into an exact replica of Xiliya’s outfit—the two identical sets of clothes that Xiliya had deliberately bought while shopping earlier, precisely for this moment.
“You look just like me,” Xiliya touched Ximo’s face, which was identical to her own, and took the black robe from her hand. “Go on, don’t keep Luo Keke waiting too long.”
“Okay!”
Ximo nervously pressed the necklace hanging at her chest. Though she didn’t understand how it worked, she knew this necklace could make her appear and sound exactly like Xiliya, from looks to voice.
All she had to do was go back and keep Luo Keke company, pretending to be Xiliya… This was something she was best at now!
Xiliya hadn’t been gone long before Luo Keke saw “Xiliya” return to the dining room and give her a slightly stiff smile.
“I’m back—sorry, where were we?”
Meanwhile, the real Xiliya had slipped unnoticed into the estate’s warehouse.
This place was called an estate, but West Street couldn’t have anything grand. The Black Currant Chamber had simply bought a large plot of cheap land here. Apart from the small house where Luo Keke had led Xiliya in earlier, the rest was mostly vast warehouses for storing goods.
Because West Street’s security was poor, the estate had some guards posted, but to Xiliya, they were no obstacle at all. After donning the black robe, she easily dodged the ones at the entrance and hid in the estate’s largest warehouse.
The entire warehouse was filled with a faint aroma of wine. Heavy wooden barrels were stacked everywhere, leaving only narrow passages.
Xiliya hid behind a large pile of barrels. The spot was concealed, and she could observe the warehouse through the gaps between them. Then, she patiently waited.
Come to think of it, for the Beastmen Clan to sneak in here to steal, they first had to find a way into the city, right? West Street’s security was bad enough, but did the City Guard at the gates notice nothing?
Xiliya couldn’t help thinking of this question she hadn’t considered in her previous life… Or could it be that someone had deliberately let these Beastmen into the city?
The image of Masha surfaced in her mind. Just then, noises from outside the warehouse interrupted Xiliya’s thoughts.
“Who’s there?”
Before the guard at the door could react further, the sound of a blunt object striking and the guard collapsing rang out. Then, by the faint moonlight, Xiliya saw four or five tall figures with cloths over their faces quietly enter the warehouse.
The group exchanged no words as they quickly searched for valuables and stuffed them into their bags. But this was the Black Currant Chamber’s wine warehouse—there weren’t many portable valuables.
Xiliya stayed silent, simply observing. When there was truly nothing left to take, the Beastmen pried open a wooden crate in the corner and began stuffing bottles of red wine into their bags.
The North was barren; the Beastmen Clan’s tribes surely couldn’t brew wine this good.
“Why are there two people passed out here?”
The guards at the door had finally been discovered, but the Beastmen inside didn’t panic. One of them instead picked up a hammer from the corner and smashed it viciously into row after row of barrels.
A massive racket echoed through the warehouse as wooden planks splintered and red wine spilled everywhere.
Xiliya narrowed her eyes. That terrifying strength—only a Beastman could do something like this.
People outside the warehouse grew more panicked upon hearing the commotion.
“Someone’s there—someone broke into the warehouse! Call the other guards, quick!”
With a “boom,” another barrel shattered. The leading Beastman pulled out a torch and some other fire-starting tools. Xiliya frowned. Strange—these guys, were they here to steal or to cause destruction?
She quietly stepped out from behind her hiding barrels. There was no point in watching further; she already knew what would happen next from her previous life.
This time, she wanted to change the course of events.
The estate grew noisy. Even Ximo and Luo Keke, chatting in the house, sensed something was wrong. The coachman Hans entered the room in a fluster.
“Miss Luo Keke, it seems a group of dangerous people broke into the warehouse to rob things.”
“What?”
Luo Keke’s eyes widened in surprise, while Ximo beside her showed no reaction—even inwardly letting out a little “Woo-hoo!”
As expected, the plot was unfolding just as the System had described. So now, she didn’t need to do anything else—just wait for a Beastman to show up and give her two big slaps, right?
Hehe! It was almost over. This plot task was easy peasy!
