Kinemia, opening the letter wide, smiled with satisfaction.
‘I did it!’
Idiots! Fools! That dungeon's got mithril just waiting to be found!
"Hehehe, hehehehehehe!"
Right as Kinemia let out a wicked cackle...
"And this. Another letter from Count Duron Hab."
"Again?"
Kinemia pouted.
'I swear, I'll be an adult who knows how to give up gracefully,' she thought, taking the letter.
"But what kind of letters are our young lady exchanging with Count Duron Hab?"
Nanny Vanessa asked.
She found it odd that the two of them, who had absolutely nothing in common, had been writing to each other for so long.
'What kind of letters, you ask...'
Kinemia recalled the (beep-) and (beep---) that Count Duron Hab had sent and smiled brightly.
"I found out the Count writes poetry in his spare time. So, I wrote back telling him how beautiful they were, and he's been sending me poems ever since as a thank you."
She decided to... adjust the truth. If Vanessa knew what was really going on between them, she might faint on the spot.
'I can't worry Vanessa.'
"Oh my! How romantic!"
Vanessa, buying Kinemia's story hook, line, and sinker, smiled and turned away. Kinemia, staring blankly at her back, opened the letter.
Clang!
Something silver and shiny fell to the floor.
Kinemia's face twisted into a scowl when she saw what it was.
It was a razor blade.
"Oh my, young lady. Did you hear something fall just now?"
"Huh? No, I didn't!"
Kinemia quickly slid the razor blade under her foot, hiding it from Vanessa.
Shaking her head, Kinemia added another star to Count Duron Hab's grudge level.
[Duron Hab]
Grudge Level: ★★★★★★★★★★ (10/10 stars)
Danger Level: ★★★★★★★ (7/10 stars)
Well, if I can get mithril for just one star, I'll gladly give it!
"Oh, and young lady."
"Yes?"
Vanessa, looking at the wickedly grinning Kinemia, gently suggested.
"Since he keeps sending you poems, how about we send Count Duron Hab some flowers as a thank you?"
"Yeah, yeah! That's a good idea."
Flowers are good. Kinemia decided to send white chrysanthemums to Count Duron Hab. Big, sturdy ones.
'Ah!'
Suddenly, she realized something.
She had Leon's cursed blood, the kind that held grudges to get what it wanted, flowing through her veins too.
'But it's thrilling!'
'Money is always new, no matter how much you earn!'
'It's never enough, no matter how much you have!'
Kinemia, a total money-grubber at heart, twirled around, clutching the Dungeon Management Bureau's letter, giddy with joy.
"Hehehe, my mithril and my magic stones—"
Meanwhile, Vanessa watched Kinemia, who looked like she was performing some kind of ritual, and pondered for a moment.
'Should I change her dance teacher...'
Surely the teacher's at fault; our girl isn't completely hopeless.
Vanessa, deciding to consult about it first, smiled brightly and said.
"Young lady, shall I prepare some refreshments?"
"Yeah, yeah!"
Hearing Kinemia's answer, she quietly left the room.
'How many years have I taught her, and she's still so stiff.'
Even though she's never been to high society before...
'You never know what might happen in the future.'
Vanessa, thinking of the teachers Leon himself would bring in, turned towards the window as she walked down the hall.
'A butterfly?'
Beyond the window, a black butterfly was fluttering.
It was winter. A black butterfly flying between bare trees with a cool breeze was very out of place.
'A butterfly in this weather...'
How strange. Vanessa stood in front of the window and followed the butterfly with her eyes.
Chapter 8: Kshaan Low
'Finding a guild is really difficult, just like Nanny said.'
Kinemia, floating in a huge tub with a lotus leaf-shaped board, groaned and kicked her feet.
Splash, splash—
It was now the so-called Guild Warring States period.
As dungeons began to make money, all sorts of guilds sprang up, and as the Black Night Guild, which had dominated the early guild scene, disappeared, the center of power was shifting back and forth.
Guilds lacking manpower were scrambling to scout new guild members, and among them, fraudsters were rampant. It was common for them to complete dungeon raid requests, steal magic stones, and run away.
'The mithril dungeon is fine, but the other dungeons are the problem.'
There are no monsters in dungeons with mithril. Monsters are attracted to magic stones, so there are often dungeons like this without monsters.
However, dungeons with magic stones are swarming with monsters, so the power of a guild is needed.
'Well, I don't have any connections to get a good guild introduced.'
If she had connections like that, Leon wouldn't have abandoned her...
'The leader of the Black Night Guild, who is currently in hiding, only appears in the later part of the original story, so I don't even know where he is or what he's doing now.'
She could find the individual members of the Black Night Guild if she wanted to, but they had laid down their swords in the absence of their guild leader, so it would be useless to find them.
Kinemia trudged out of the bathtub. Maids Shane and Ririne, who were waiting with towels, wiped Kinemia's thoughtful body.
"Is something the matter?"
"N-no..."
Shane looked at Ririne and asked with a wink what was wrong, and Ririne shook her head.
"Oh, come to think of it, the messenger you sent has returned, young lady."
"Already?!"
Kinemia's eyes widened at Ririne's words.
"Get me dressed quickly!"
Hurry, hurry, she stomped her feet, and Shane and Ririne smiled and wiped Kinemia's face with fluffy towels.
"Yes, yes. We'll dry you off quickly, so don't rush us so much."
"Did the messenger bring something good?"
"Yeah, yeah!"
As soon as the maids had dried her off, Kinemia quickly went into the dressing room. Then, Shane and Ririne presented the things they had prepared in advance.
"Which dress would you like to wear among these?"
"What about a hat?"
"Accessories?"
"Hair?"
Ughhhhh!
Kinemia spun around in the dressing room with a look as if her eyes were spinning.
"That one, that one! That one and this one!"
When Kinemia roughly pointed at things at random, Shane smiled.
"I'll coordinate it for you."
"Yeah, yeah!"
Answering brightly, she quickly sat down on a chair, and Shane and Ririne, each holding clothes and accessories, approached.
"You sit well on your own now."
"Hey, I've always sat well."
When Kinemia smiled bashfully and waved her hand, Ririne said.
"I heard you fell off the head seat in the conference room the other day."
Gah! Kinemia looked back, mortified.
"Who?! Who's been spreading rumors?!"
"I heard it from Sasha in the kitchen. Sasha heard it from Emma in the bedding chamber."
"I heard it from Gil in the stable. Gil heard it from Theo the gardener."
No, then all the servants know about it!
All the servants know about my embarrassing secret?! Why?!
Kinemia drooped her shoulders like a rabbit with drooping ears.
"You're already 12 years old, and your height and legs are still growing..."
"Right, still growing..."
Ririne and Shane laughed and stopped talking as they tried to comfort her. Then they changed the subject, saying it would be better to half-tie and braid her hair down today.
"...Still growing, what?"
"Look at our young lady's hair; it's like silk."
"So, still growing, what? Why won't you tell me?"
"She's really like a fairy."
Kinemia stared intently at them, but the two just laughed "hohoho" and busily moved their hands.
Why are you stopping talking? Don't tell me it means I'm hopeless? I'm only 12 years old? Of course, it feels like I haven't grown since some point, but there's such a thing as growth potential, right? Isn't there?
"Ohohohoho."
"Hohoho."
Isn't there?! Kinemia received their service with trembling pupils.
"Hey, what were you going to say after 'still growing' earlier?"
"..."
"..."
But until her hair was braided, her clothes were put on, and her corsage was attached, Kinemia did not get an answer.
