Just when Yaxiu was on the verge of being convinced, his guard suddenly snapped back up. "Wait a minute. Could you be a lobbyist sent by Yifalin, Anfiel?"
"Whew, that was close! I was almost swayed by you. You've got quite a silver tongue. What sorcery faction do you study? The Mind Faction? The Dominance Faction? Come to think of it, have you already secretly tainted my thoughts with a miracle? No wonder you approached me—this was premeditated all along!
"Despicable! A Berdette minion who aids and abets evil like you should please show mercy and spare my humble life!"
"...Mr. Yaxiu, you really are an interesting person," Anfiel chuckled with a giggle. "However, I wouldn't recommend that you stay in Mengfeila either."
"Why?"
"Because from the previous two rankings, it's easy to see that you are someone with grand ambitions, Mr. Yaxiu. In the future, you will certainly become a Legendary Sorcerer and engrave your mark deeply upon history and the Void Realm. Berdette cannot advance you a loan on your future. Mengfeila is, after all, only a paradise for ordinary mortals. You are destined to step onto a far greater stage.
"I'll continue to follow your journey through the Book of Gospel," Anfiel cheered, pumping both fists encouragingly. "You're the first person I've known who appears in the Weaving Ceremony. Even though I don't know how long you'll stay here, feel free to come find me if you run into trouble during this time. I'll figure out a way to help you. I look forward to working with you from now on!"
Looking at the red-haired girl's radiant, glowing face, Yaxiu was momentarily entranced.
He recalled his past first encounters with others—
Igola, who had wanted to butcher him as a fat sheep right from their very first meeting;
Harvey, who had spent an entire afternoon telling him all about his bizarre fetishes;
Annan, who had captured him in the wild from the get-go;
Qinna, who had nearly blown a hole through his ear...
And then there was Anfiel, who not only engaged in friendly conversation and offered heartfelt advice, but even cheered him on with a smile as pure as vanilla.
The more he thought about it, the more Yaxiu couldn't help but look away. Anfiel blinked. "Mr. Yaxiu? What's wrong?"
"Nothing. I'm just feeling inexplicably touched," Yaxiu said, sniffling. "I feel like if I keep looking at you, I might start developing unrealistic fantasies about reality—"
"Anfiel, what are you doing here?" a voice suddenly called out from far down the corridor.
Yifalin strode briskly toward the two of them. Noticing Yaxiu staring straight at her with an entirely unvarnished gaze, she couldn't help shielding her vital areas with her hands. "If you keep ravishing me with your eyes like that, I'm going to start charging you. The baseline rate starts at ten million Bei points."
"Ah," Yaxiu exhaled a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Yifalin. Seeing the face of a scumbag has finally restabilized my crumbling worldview."
"Damn you! Believe me, I'll pay Gospel the fine first and beat you half to death after!" Yifalin shook her fist threateningly in sheer annoyance. Since Yaxiu had been persistently rude to her, she had no intention of offering warmth to a cold shoulder. "Anfiel, let's go."
"Yes, Sister."
Yaxiu froze. "You two... are sisters?"
"Yes," Anfiel nodded, quickly adding, "But Mr. Yaxiu, everything I said just now came from the bottom of my heart. I wasn't trying to deceive you... Wait, Mr. Yaxiu, why are you crying?"
Yaxiu covered his mouth, looking at the pair of them with glistening eyes.
"I just couldn't help it when I imagined how you must have been persecuted and humiliated all these years by your half-sister..."
"Anfiel and I are full sisters! Same father, same mother!"
"Impossible! Your hair colors aren't even the same!" A flash of inspiration struck Yaxiu. "Wait, could it be—"
Yifalin cut off his brainstorm. "That's the result of sorcerer miracle interventions! Our parents deliberately screened and selected the best genetic traits for us!"
"Still impossible. Your inner worlds are worlds apart. Anfiel is taller than you, prettier than you, and has a much better personality... Oh, I get it now! Everyone crafts a defective sacrificial piece on their first try to soak up the bad luck, and only makes the real success on the second attempt once they have experience!"
"Damn you! Anfiel, don't hold me back! I'm going to beat him to death! He dared to call me a damned midget again!"
"Sister, Mr. Yaxiu didn't call you short... Right, didn't you have something to discuss with me? Let's hurry and go!"
Watching Anfiel hurry away while holding Yifalin back, Yaxiu was about to resume his work when he faintly caught Igola's name in the distance.
Just now, merely mentioning that Yifalin was shorter than Anfiel had set off that damned midget's fuse. Igola, on the other hand, had landed a blatant, critical blow on Yifalin during lunch. There was no telling how she planned to deal with the swindler.
Feeling a bit concerned, Yaxiu summoned his Substitute to carry him on its back as he followed. After all, he was currently laden with the punitive weights Yifalin had forced upon him; running on his own feet would be utterly exhausting.
Incidentally, the reason Yaxiu hadn't simply had his Substitute do his chores for him was that Yifalin had long since patched that loophole. All of her job requirements stipulated 'manual labor by living persons,' on the grounds that 'only sentient beings can provide the most suitable service.'
Yaxiu and the others could at most use sorcery spirits and miracles to enhance their own physical bodies, but they were forbidden from having sorcery spirits or miracles perform the work directly. Otherwise, it would be ruled as 'low-quality completion of labor' leading to 'exploitation of Berdette,' which was strictly prohibited.
Although the sight of him riding on his Substitute's back turned heads without fail, the servants along the corridor spared Yaxiu only a brief glance before immediately returning to their duties. Their earnest dedication was as though they were carefully polishing ancient artifacts like the Alliance of the Angels or the Power of the Dragon Father. Even for routine cleaning, they showed not the slightest hint of boredom, appearing to genuinely love their work.
*Work diligently, play hard, enjoy comfortable holidays, and live a carefree life, is that it...?* Countless thoughts flitted through Yaxiu's mind.
Yifalin and Anfiel hadn't gone to any secluded chamber; instead, they had made their way to the second-floor courtyard garden. Yaxiu trailed at a distance. Fortunately, the garden was dense and lush, practically resembling a labyrinth, so Yaxiu was not worried about being spotted.
Hiding behind a hedge, Yaxiu heard the rustle of someone sitting down. Then, Yifalin spoke:
"This is my sister, Anfiel. And this is Igola Bogin, companion to the necromancer."
"A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Bogin."
"Just call me Igola. It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Anfiel."
Yifalin said, "Bogin, didn't you say earlier that the reason you refuse to accept my recruitment is because you are unwilling to sign any contract with me?"
"Indeed," Igola replied. "Your family's angelic ancestor left behind a treasured legacy regarding contracts. I hardly flatter myself that my shallow understanding could compete with an angel's designs. I am no Harvey; traps laid by an angel nine hundred years ago still carry plenty of deterrent power for me."
"Therefore, I am offering you another, far better choice," Yifalin said. "This is my sister, Anfiel Berdette."
Yaxiu blinked in confusion from behind the hedge. *Didn't she already introduce her just now? Has this midget gone senile?*
"Her child will be the next family head of Berdette, the master of Mengfeila.
"As long as you can make her fall in love with you, Berdette will invest in you with all our might. We will not only help you dissolve your contract with Annan, but we will even propel you onto the stage of the Weaving Ceremony to seize the wish of the Omniscient Weaver!
"We can even find a way to bring Annan under our control, placing the inheritance of the Doran family at our disposal! Aren't you afraid of the Dominance Faction? But what if the Dominance Faction were to serve you instead? What if you, too, could... take command of our Berdette family's dominance miracles?
"Igola Bogin, this is the transaction I offer you, and this is the price tag I have set for your worth." Yifalin's voice at this moment sounded more alluring than any sales consultant's. "I wonder: does this arouse your desire for an impulsive purchase?"
Chapter 388