After the slave owners went bankrupt, they all wanted to keep me as a mistress.

Sophie suddenly thought of something.

Speaking of which, Miss Vera is an elf, so could she have become a slave in this noble family hundreds of years ago, and the slavery was passed down from generation to generation to Mu Qiu?

Hmm... in that case, it's possible to accumulate that many resources!

But this is probably all of Miss Vera's possessions, isn't it?

Why would she lend her so many resources?

Sophie's rational mind told her that this was unreasonable, but at this moment, these supplies were undoubtedly a lifeline for her.

She gripped the ring tightly and carefully tucked it into the innermost pocket of her bag.

Regardless, she remembered this favor!

If she comes back alive, she must take Miss Vera away from here, away from that lowly nobleman!

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, Sophie quietly got up.

She took one last look at Lina, who was fast asleep on the bed next to her. The girl's sleeping face was peaceful, with a sweet smile on her lips. But when she saw her white hair, Sophie's heart felt like it was being clenched.

"Lina... I will protect you! Wait for me, I'll be back in a month at most!"

Sophie forced herself to look away, took a deep breath, dressed, picked up the luggage she had packed the night before, opened the door quietly, and slipped out like a cat without making a sound.

The corridor was deserted; the entire hotel was still asleep.

Instead of leaving through the main entrance, she went to a quiet corner in the hotel's backyard to do a final check of her belongings and make sure everything was in order.

Sophie squatted down, placed her bag on the ground, opened it again, and ran her fingers over the rough fabric of her clothes, touching the packaging of the dry rations and the small bag of ten thousand gold coins.

Although there was enough space in her storage ring, there was no need to put the gold coins in it. After all, the storage ring itself was quite valuable, and with her Gold Rank strength, revealing that she had a storage ring would inevitably cause some trouble.

Finally, her fingers touched another storage ring that Vera had lent her.

She probed the contents with her mental energy again, carefully taking stock of the borrowed supplies.

His gaze swept over the bottle of sixth-tier magic potion and finally settled on the two alchemical puppets.

Miss Vera's plan was indeed thorough; with these two puppets assisting her, her safety on this trip would be greatly enhanced.

Coincidentally, there are also spells in abyssal magic that involve manipulating puppets...

She instinctively reached out and took out a mithril-grade alchemical doll, preparing to establish a connection with it before setting off.

However, when her fingertips brushed against the base of the doll, she felt an uneven texture.

Ok?

This sensation...is there something underneath?

Sophie's heart skipped a beat. She moved closer and, in the increasingly bright morning light, carefully examined the base of the doll.

On the inconspicuous edge of the base, a line of small, general text was clearly engraved:

[Presented to Mr. Muqiu]

Her fingers froze in mid-air.

A gift for Mr. Muqiu?

Were these alchemical dolls given to Mu Qiu by someone else? Is the ownership clearly Mu Qiu's?

Then... why did Miss Vera say that someone lent it to her?

There's only one truth—Miss Vera is lying!

These alchemical dolls do not belong to Vera at all.

What about the other potions? And what about those starstones?

Sophie's body trembled slightly.

Did Miss Vera steal something from her master for her?

But if that happens, wouldn't Miss Vera be in trouble once her master finds out?

Or……

Is it the master?

Did the master instruct Miss Vera to do this?

But why is that?

He clearly gave her only those low-level magic potions and 10,000 gold coins as travel expenses in front of her, so why did he secretly give her so many precious treasures?

Sophie's mind flashed back to Mu Qiu's always somewhat nonchalant face, the way he tapped the table urging her to sign the contract, the matter-of-fact expression on his face when he took out those low-level potions, and the condescending tone in his voice when he said, "Your strength is too weak"...

Are all of these just disguises?

He deliberately mocked her, but secretly gave her these treasures, using Vera as a front, as if afraid she would find out.

This realization made Sophie feel dizzy.

If these treasures really came from Mu Qiu, then why would he do this?

"call--!"

Sophie shook her head, stopping the thoughts swirling in her mind.

I'll understand the truth of this matter when I get back.

Now that she has this huge sum of money... perhaps she'll be able to complete her mission and return in less than a month!

……

Shortly after Sophie left, an unusual visitor arrived in the hotel lobby.

The newcomer was dressed in a pure white temple robe, with a five-stripe earth emblem embroidered on the corners of his robe. He appeared to be around forty years old and had a solemn expression.

His appearance immediately attracted the attention of the few guests and waiters scattered in the hall.

"Those are... the Temple Knights of the Earth God Temple?"

“Three, four, five… five horizontal bars! This is… a fifth-tier Temple Knight of the Orichalcum level!”

The middle-aged man walked straight to the counter and nodded slightly to the somewhat nervous innkeeper: "I am Lor, and I have come to visit Lord Mu Qiu, who is staying here, on the orders of Her Majesty the Holy Maiden. Please announce my arrival."

"Yes, yes! Sir, please have a seat!"

The innkeeper dared not neglect him. He invited Lor to sit down and quickly signaled a waiter to go upstairs to inform him.

At this moment, Mu Qiugang, Vera, and Fiona had just finished breakfast and were discussing their upcoming itinerary in their room.

Upon hearing the waiter's report, Mu Qiu raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Hmm? People from the temple? Why is Fia suddenly looking for me? Isn't it time for us to leave Earth City yet?"

"Could it be something to do with the dungeons again?"

Vera leaned lazily against the window, pursing her lips. "Who knows? Maybe our Saintess wants to use the Confession Cave to serve her master. But a Saintess as pure on the surface as her probably wouldn't directly say she wants to serve her master. Instead, she plans to stay at the other end of the Confession Cave and have her master stuff crab sticks made of crab meat into the cave from one side and feed them to the Saintess..."

"After the feeding was over, Miss Saint discovered that there was no crab in the crab sticks that her master had given her."

"That kind of thing could never happen!"

Mu Qiu rolled his eyes and gave Vera's pert buttocks a slap in annoyance.

"Mmm~!"

The silver-haired elf suddenly let out a strange hum.

Mu Qiu ignored her strange noises, patted Fiona on the shoulder again, and said, "Let's go. Since the people from the temple want to see us, let's go see them."

Upon arriving at the lobby on the first floor, the temple envoy immediately bowed to Mu Qiu, performing the proper etiquette: "Lord Mu Qiu, good day. Please forgive me for disturbing your rest."

"It doesn't matter."

Mu Qiu waved his hand and asked, "Is there something you need from me?"

“I am a Temple Knight, Lor.”

The middle-aged man introduced himself in a neither humble nor arrogant tone: "I have come here on the orders of Her Majesty the Holy Maiden to convey a sincere invitation to you."

"Oh? Miss Saintess invited me?"

Mu Qiu sat down on a bench in the lobby, crossed his legs, pointed to another bench on his right, with a trash can between the two benches, gesturing for the other person to sit down as well, and said, "Just say it, what is it?"

Lor did not sit down, but remained standing with his head bowed. After the auction, he had heard from other legendary professionals that Mu Qiu was a descendant of a saint, which made him dare not be negligent towards Mu Qiu in the slightest.

What is his status and position that he deserves to sit on the same level as the descendants of saints?

He felt that, given his status, he should stay in that trash can to show respect for the descendants of the saint.

"It's like this, I wonder if you've ever heard of the legendary thief, the phantom thief Kimi?"

Ok?

Kaitou Kimi?

Upon hearing these four words, Mu Qiu's brows twitched slightly.

Isn't this the mangy cat he traded with yesterday?

What happened to the big cat?

"I've heard a thing or two about it, what's wrong?"

"The auction house was robbed the night before last, reportedly by the legendary thief, the phantom thief Kimi."

Lor continued, "The Holy Maiden wishes to discuss this matter with you, and to apprehend this legendary thief. If it is convenient for you today, the Holy Maiden will be waiting for you in the garden of the temple's backyard this afternoon."

Oh, she hasn't been caught yet.

Mu Qiu nodded, then he was relieved.

Speaking of which, the name "Harder Auction House" sounds a bit familiar, doesn't it?

Vera suddenly spoke up: "Master, Had... could he be the one who lost to us at the Fortune Club that day?"

"It looks like him?"

Mu Qiu also remembered and asked with some surprise, "That guy is still in Earth City?"

Lor lowered his head, inwardly sweating for Had.

So, Had Had had offended this descendant of the saint?

Then this operation is likely to fail...

"Alright, go back and tell Fei... tell Miss Saintess to wait for me in the garden."