(Chapter 15) More Poor
Fortunately, this "shopping trip" only lasted for half a day. After having lunch, Louise bid farewell to Anna and left in a good mood.
"It feels a bit anticlimactic..." Looking at the gift box in her hands, which contained the formal evening gown, Anna felt an inexplicable sense of disappointnt.
"She gave such a nice dress, I have to prepare a return gift next ti."
Louise was well aware that Anna didn't have the money to buy gifts.
And honestly, this dress probably wouldn’t be of much use. She was just a fallen noble, and ever since graduating from the academy, she had been practically cut off from any events where she could actually wear sothing like this.
Wait, if she could get promoted to an E-rank knight, she might actually have a chance.
That Strength Enhancent Potion was indeed crucial.
Anna decided that she must run a simulation as soon as she got ho. Even though she didn’t really like using the simulator since its outcos were always too bizarre, she couldn't ignore it now.
But thinking about it carefully, once she redeed everything in the Achievent Store, she wouldn’t need to run simulations anymore, right?
Though, no matter how she looked at it, clearing out the entire Achievent Store would probably take tens of thousands of simulations.
As this thought crossed her mind, Anna suddenly felt all the hairs on her body stand on end.
…?
A shiver ran through her as she abruptly stopped in her tracks, instinctively turning around.
However, she was still in the comrcial district, and when she looked back, all she could see were the townsfolk and tourists going about their business. There was no sign of any suspicious person.
"No way, no way! Is soone already following ?"
Her counter-surveillance skills were indeed terrible, but that gaze from earlier, it had been far too obvious, filled with unmistakable malice. There was no way it had belonged to just so curious bystander.
At that thought, Anna quickened her pace toward ho.
Since she couldn’t be sure if she had actually shaken off her stalker, the mont she stepped inside her house, she imdiately slamd the door shut and locked it.
Then, raising her hand, she chanted:
"Lock!"
A faint glow shimred over the door. This was a small spell she had learned at the knight academy. It allowed her to reinforce a door or window with magic, making it so that only specified people could open it. It also significantly strengthened the structure, anyone trying to break in would need a heavy hamr to even make a dent.
If soone actually did try smashing her door down, she would definitely notice right away.
Anna then used the sa magic on every window in her house, making sure to shut them all and draw the curtains.
"Phew… this should be safe enough."
Feeling a little more secure, Anna finally began removing her armor.
That was terrifying. Could that stalker be the sa person trying to sell her off to a brothel?
That malicious gaze… It was the first ti Anna had ever felt such undisguised, intense hostility from another human being.
Leaning against the wall to calm herself, she glanced at the neatly rewrapped gift box in her hands. After a mont of hesitation, she opened it again.
Staring at the elegant evening gown inside, Anna couldn't shake the strange feeling it gave her.
Oddly enough, she hadn’t felt this sense of déjà vu back at the boutique.
Slowly, she put on the dress and walked to the mirror.
"Ah… so I can look this beautiful." Her tone was emotionless, but her flickering gaze betrayed a deeper thought.
For so reason, she felt like she had seen this image before.
"It kind of looks like sothing my mother used to wear… but also not quite." Anna stared blankly at her reflection, as if fleeting fragnts of mory were flashing through her mind.
"…Maybe I’m just imagining it."
Taking off the dress, she carefully hung it in her wardrobe. Among her few plain linen shirts and trousers, the gown stood out in a stark contrast.
"Hah…" Letting out a long sigh, Anna collapsed onto the sofa. "I'll take care of my armor later. First, let’s check the simulation…"
This ti, she had to find so clues about her stalker.
Calling the simulator, she started the process:
[Simulation Start]
[Day 0: After making all necessary precautions and setting up a few alert spells, you went to sleep.]
That was exactly what she would have done. But that wasn’t the important part, she needed to see what happened next.
[Day 1: Even though you were aware of being followed, you still chose to go to work.]
[You remained alert during patrol, keeping an eye out for any stalkers, but you didn’t notice anyone following you.]
[As you returned to the Border knight order’s headquarters to report, you once again felt that sa malicious gaze. This ti, you pretended not to notice and continued walking.]
Oh! The first day already brought developnt!?
[Just as you were nearing the Border knight order’s headquarters, the malicious presence suddenly disappeared.]
So that bastard was afraid of the knight order? Only daring to strike when she was alone… damn it!
[Before heading ho, Louise invited you to her house for dinner, but feeling cautious, you declined, promising to accept next ti.]
[You hurried ho as quickly as possible and ended the day.]
‘Co on, simulation-, figure sothing out! I need a ga plan!’
[Day 2: Even though it was your day off, you still went to work. You briefly sensed the sa malicious gaze again, but it disappeared quickly.]
[However, nothing else happened today.]
[Day 3: You realized that just letting yourself be followed wasn’t a solution, so you went to Louise’s house.]
Oh? Asking Louise for help?
[You explained your current situation to Louise, who suggested that you move in with her temporarily.]
[After careful consideration, you agreed to Louise’s proposal and were given a guest room in her house.]
[You didn’t go to work that day. Nothing happened.]
…You just moved in with her? Is that really a good idea?
‘I have a feeling Louise is going to pull sothing very unexpected.’
[Day 4: You experienced, for the first ti, the luxurious treatnt of being dressed by a group of maids. You also had your armor properly put on by them. Louise generously gifted you a horse.]
…A horse. Just like that.
That’s the power of being a noble’s daughter, huh?
A standard warhorse, if not of purebred lineage, would cost anywhere from 100 to 800 gold coins depending on its pedigree.
And a purebred Rianweid Warhorse? That could go for 1,000 gold coins—which was 1,000 months’ worth of her salary… in other words, 83 years of work.
As a human with a normal lifespan, she wasn’t even sure if she could live that long!
And that was just for a local Rianweid breed. If it were a Snowfield Warhorse, the signature mount of the Northern Star kingdom’s elite Dragon Slayers Cavalry, the price would shoot up to 3,000–5,000 gold coins.
The more she thought about it, the more her own poverty hit her like a ton of bricks…
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