[Congratulations! You have successfully poached Atia Knight and raised her affection to ninety. The reward has been sent to your inventory. Please check it.]
Another prompt box popped up in front of Eileen’s eyes.
Good lord.
Could she even use the affection rewards and the system’s built-in inventory?
In the game, every time she raised a character’s affection, the system would give some kind of reward. Except for the few main heroines, the rewards were usually just classic fashionable little trash. Atia was no exception.
Just some copper coins and a few beginner healing potions.
But given her current financial situation, even these rewards were enough to let her last a few more days.
Still, this amount of money was far from enough to repay the Light Society’s high-interest loan or serve as travel fare to another city.
She had to go work…
E-rank adventurers could only accept very few commissions. Most of them were things like gathering herbs or running errands—exhausting odd jobs that didn’t pay well at all.
But she had no choice but to do them now…
She really didn’t want to go curry favor with men. That was pure physiological disgust.
“Atia, from today onward we’re friends, right? I’m planning to head over to the guild to see if there’s any work. Want to come along?”
Eileen asked.
“Um… If you’re doing this to repay the money, Miss Eileen, I still have some savings. Why don’t you take it first and pay back the principal? As for the interest, I can talk to Sister Gillian and see if she can reduce it a little for you…”
Atia said cautiously.
What a good kid!
Eileen was deeply moved.
Atia was already so poor that she couldn’t bear to buy herself a new set of clothes, yet she was still willing to take out her remaining savings to help her repay the debt…
She really… I’m going to cry!
“It’s fine. I can earn money.”
To be honest, there was a moment where Eileen really wanted to take all of this silly child’s money. But she immediately suppressed the thought with her conscience.
She would probably be parting ways with Atia soon anyway. She might as well leave a slightly better impression in Atia’s heart…
“B-but you really owe quite a lot…”
“Isn’t it just ten silver coins?”
Ten silver coins weren’t considered a huge amount to ordinary citizens, but they weren’t a small sum either. With her income level, it was probably about a month’s wages.
She wasn’t unfamiliar with high-interest loans. Only one or two weeks had passed since she borrowed the money. No matter how outrageous the compound interest was, how much could it have possibly grown?
“The interest plus principal has already reached thirty silver coins.”
“……”
Eileen had still underestimated how black-hearted the Light Society was.
How long had it even been? And the interest had already ballooned this much?
This was straight-up robbery!
Damn it. Worst case, she just wouldn’t pay it back!
If she couldn’t beat them, couldn’t she at least run?
She just had to save up enough money and slip away as soon as possible!
“It’s fine. Small problem. Come on, let’s go earn some money.”
Eileen forced herself to stay calm and pulled Atia toward the Adventurer’s Guild.
The Adventurer’s Guild in a small city had never been a lively place.
After all, fewer people meant less demand. On top of that, the principality had always maintained strict defenses against magical beasts, so there were rarely any subjugation commissions.
But today, the Adventurer’s Guild directly gave Eileen a huge surprise.
The guild hall was already packed with people. Even outside the guild, quite a few citizens and adventurers had gathered.
Did the New Year come early or what?
“Why are there so many people today?”
Eileen muttered casually.
Atia, who was standing beside her, gave her a strange look. “Miss Eileen, did you forget that the S-rank adventurer is coming to the guild today?”
“What?”
Eileen looked completely lost.
She was just a bottom-tier adventurer who spent every day running around for a living. Where would she find the time to pay attention to these kinds of things?
S-rank adventurers were the highest rank. In her impression, the entire Navora Principality had never produced even one. Only the neighboring Kingdom of Kater had a few.
“It’s Kate Connor! The one known as Navora’s first S-rank adventurer and the youngest S-rank adventurer recognized worldwide!”
Kate Connor?
When she heard that name, Eileen’s heartbeat skipped for a moment.
Wasn’t this one of the important romancable female characters she had encountered early in the game?
Back then, she had spent a full two days grinding to max out this hard nut’s affection. After getting the item, she had immediately and unilaterally ended the lover relationship without even saying goodbye before heading off to another country.
But she clearly remembered that when she left, Kate had still only been A-rank. When did she become S-rank?
“Miss Kate is also quite pitiful. For the past five years she’s been tormented by love…”
“What do you mean?”
Eileen asked.
Kate was the typical hardworking type whose mind only contained thoughts of improving her own strength. She basically had no room for any romantic feelings. That was also the core reason why it had taken Eileen a full two days to raise Kate’s affection in the first place.
How could someone like that be tormented by love?
“These are all just rumors I heard before. Just treat it as entertainment.”
Atia cleared her throat and continued, “Apparently, five years ago there was someone who made Miss Kate fall deeply in love. The reason she was able to become the youngest S-rank adventurer is also because of that person’s encouragement, which allowed her to persevere until now.
But one day, that person suddenly vanished from the face of the earth. They even took away the heirloom Miss Kate’s mother left her. Miss Kate searched for a full five years but never found her. Even now, that person is still a thorn in Miss Kate’s heart.
I also heard someone say that Miss Kate once offered a bounty of fifty gold coins to find that person. She even declared that once she found them, she would tear that person into a thousand pieces.
I wonder who that scumbag is. They didn’t even know how to cherish someone as outstanding as Miss Kate. It’s really too hateful!”
Atia was getting more and more worked up as she spoke, but the more Eileen listened, the more something felt off.
Why did it sound like the person Kate was looking for… was her?
“Miss Eileen, why are you sweating?”
Atia noticed the large beads of sweat on Eileen’s forehead and considerately took out a handkerchief to wipe them away.
“It’s probably… because there are too many people in the hall today. It’s too hot.”
“Is it?”
Atia tilted her head.
The temperature inside was clearly about the same as outside…
“Atia, what year is it in the national calendar right now?”
Eileen still held on to a sliver of hope.
In her understanding, a New Game+ should have kept her equipment, items, and level while starting over from the beginning, right?
Her equipment, items, and level hadn’t been kept—that was one thing. But why wasn’t the plot starting over from the beginning either?
“It’s National Calendar Year 35.”
Atia answered, “Five years ago was exactly Year 30. A-rank and S-rank are the dividing line for adventurers. Some people spend their entire lives unable to climb from A-rank, yet Miss Kate only took five years. She’s really amazing!
If that scumbag hadn’t left Miss Kate back then, who knows how strong Miss Kate would be now.”
After hearing this, Eileen felt like dying.
Kate had indeed become amazing.
But she was the one who was about to suffer terribly!
Right now she was just a powerless bottom-tier adventurer. If she still had the items Kate had given her back then, she might be able to beg for forgiveness. But now she didn’t even have a single hair left.
If Kate caught her, she would probably either end up cosplaying Louis XVI or receiving the Shang Yang special…
“Atia, from now on, don’t call me Eileen anymore. Call me Lina.”
Eileen put on her hood and spoke to Atia with a serious expression.
“Ohoho, are you planning to change your name on the spot because you don’t intend to pay back the money?”
Before Atia could even reply, a teasing voice came from behind them.