Starting with the sentries on the frontier

Chapter 110 Cat Social Interaction

After dropping Zag off at home, Leila continued driving the carriage away.

Zag had to carry the weapons himself, box by box—five weapons in total, which filled two boxes. Even so, it was only because two of them were daggers that they only needed two boxes.

"By Mother Goddess! Zag! What have you brought back?!"

Mrs. Marsh had come out as soon as Zag was unloading the boxes from the car. She didn't recognize Leila, so she could only nod as a greeting and didn't exchange any more pleasantries.

The main reason is that Lyra's temperament is just too intimidating. Don't be fooled by how talkative she is in front of people she knows well; she actually seems like a difficult person to talk to. Her hair is cut very short and combed into a short ponytail at the back of her head—this is usually a men's hairstyle, and even mages rarely do it. Yet Lyra has always maintained this hairstyle in such a simple and straightforward way.

In addition, she was wearing tight trousers and leather boots, and even carried a bow on her back—who knows why a mid-level mage like her always carried a bow!

But in any case, she didn't seem like someone to mess with, the kind who would draw an arrow at the slightest provocation, so Mrs. Marsh didn't dare to talk to her.

Therefore, only after Leila drove the carriage away did she eagerly inquire about the situation from Zag.

As Zag carried the box into the house, he explained evasively, "Miss Ruili of the Cecilius family asked me to help with some magical treatment of these weapons. I've been studying with Madam Rowan lately, haven't I? She heard about this and specifically asked me for help, paying me 100 gold pounds in total!"

"By Mother Goddess! Miss Ruili is such a generous lady!" Mrs. Marsh exclaimed with delight, then added with some concern, "But you've only been learning for a week. Won't you break these things? They look expensive; we probably can't afford to pay for them!"

Zag tried to lie with an extremely confident tone and without changing his expression: "No, it was Lyra from the association's headquarters who just brought me back. My skills are quite good now, and because of this, she invited me to be a contract sentry at the sentry post in East Port. Not only do I get the normal sentry salary, but I also get a 2% commission subsidy. She also said that Mr. Liam can give me more guidance on magical knowledge."

It wasn't entirely a lie; although the process was wrong, the result was correct—Lyra did invite him and was indeed prepared to have Liam continue to teach her.

"By Mother Goddess! Zag, you are truly remarkable now! Your mother is so proud of you!" Mrs. Marsh said excitedly, "Since it's an invitation from the association's headquarters, then go! I will always support you, my son. But you must explain things properly to Ms. Rowan; don't make her angry. She's been very good to you, teaching you a lot of alchemy!"

"Of course, but Mr. Liam and Ms. Rowan studied together at the Golden Palace and know each other, so this matter is not too difficult."

"That's wonderful! I was worried Ms. Rowan would be unhappy about it!"

"She is actually a very understanding lady."

"Of course! Of course!"

Mrs. Marsh said, chuckling as she patted Snowball's head.

In fact, Zag has never mentioned to Mrs. Marsh that Ms. Rowan wanted to sponsor him, otherwise the old lady would probably feel that she was a burden to her son and become depressed.

At least, once I've saved up more money, or found a way to completely cure Mrs. Marsh's strange illness, I can mention to her my plans to study at the Golden Palace.

Then, Zag continued to lie and explain about Snowball, saying, "Snowball went to play with Mara, Miss Ruili's pet cat, a white cat. That's how I got this part-time job from Miss Ruili. It's an opportunity I got through 'cat socializing,' haha."

Snowball nestled in Mrs. Marsh's lap and meowed twice, sounding like it was agreeing with Zag, but in reality, it was complaining: "Stupid dragon, your lying skills are truly at the level of a legendary mage!"

Mrs. Marsh patted Snowball's head again and praised, "Hehehe, Snowball is wonderful! What a remarkable little cat!"

Then she said to Zag, "I know that white cat. I saw it and another calico cat playing in the garden with Snowball this afternoon. I fed them each a creamy fish paste bread, and it seems it wasn't a waste of money. Hehe, I never expected to meet such a noble person because of this. Snowball is simply our lucky cat! It brings us good luck, doesn't it?"

As Mrs. Marsh continued speaking, she started teasing Snowball again, showering it with praise until Snowball was refreshed and even started snoring.

Only Helford, cowering behind Mrs. Marsh, cautiously watched Snowball, wearing a comical pink floral vest.

He still believes that it was his fault that Snowball got angry and ran away.

"Hmph, you stupid dog!"

The next moment, a sarcastic remark from Snowball made Herford breathe a sigh of relief.

He had long observed that the closer Snowball was to someone, the more it liked to make sarcastic remarks—its most trusted friend, Zag, would have Snowball complain about dozens of times every day!

"Awooo————"

Helford gave a low, ingratiating whimper and gently nudged the tip of Snowball's tail, which was dangling from Mrs. Marsh's arms, with his muzzle.

Its tail tip twitched slightly, and Snowball meowed again: "Stupid dog!"

With the cat and dog in the house reconciled, Zag was finally relieved.

Come to think of it, Helford is a human being at heart, so of course he wouldn't hold a grudge against a harpy.

The next day, Zag, carrying the ground oxaden powder and black pine cone paste, hesitated for a while outside Rowan's shop before going in to work.

He hadn't figured out how to tell Rowan about going to be a sentry, and he felt a little bad about it.

But unexpectedly, it was Rowan who brought it up first.

"Liam sent me a letter last night saying that Leila is going to recommend you for the position of sentry at the eastern port?"

Zag nodded somewhat awkwardly: "Uh, yes, that's how it is. Sorry, I haven't figured out how to say it yet."

"Hehe," Rowan chuckled, took a sip of the steaming dragon's blood tea, and said, "Don't worry, as long as you can teach George your accounting methods, you can resign and leave at any time."

"Actually, he has already learned almost everything."

As Zag spoke, he glanced at George, who was huddled behind the counter, trying to make himself a background figure.

This kid is a complete social phobia. Every time Rowan talks to him, he only gets two or three responses out of ten sentences, which is one of the reasons why Rowan is not very satisfied with him.

But the boy had just graduated from church school. He had good handwriting and was meticulous in his work. Apart from being a little bad at math, he was a good employee. That's why Rowan kept him around—of course, it was also because in a place like the Eastern Territory, there really wasn't a better alchemy apprentice.

Divider [ConorÓMurchadha]: ConorÓMurchadha, the most renowned master craftsman, weapon forger, and artist in the Kingdom of Lunaran.