{Chapter 38} These people are actually professionals ~

Buying paint was so hard, meow...

Misery-filled Kaelis pouted her lips, aimlessly walking through the entire market once again.

She still hadn't seen that sign she'd heard about earlier, making Kaelis wonder if she'd misheard it in the first place.

“If nothing else works, maybe I should just buy painting tools first?”

“But... after buying painting tools, I don't know if I'll have enough money left for paint...”

“Still not enough funds...”

Kaelis sighed miserably.

Although in simulations she had already become a commander capable of leading thousands, in reality, she remained nothing more than an ordinary, down-on-her-luck painter...

“Later, I'll have to find a way to earn some money within the simulation to spend in reality...”

After pondering for a moment, Kaelis silently made her decision. Next time, if possible, she would definitely earn more money during the simulation!

As for now...

“Still, I should keep looking for paint.”

Shaking her head, Kaelis hadn't given up yet. But before continuing her search... there was one thing she needed to do first.

“Growl... growl...”

A soft growing sound came from her stomach, bringing Kaelis back to reality, she hadn't eaten yet.

Seeing a nearby stall selling roasted buns, Kaelis hesitated briefly before slowly stepping forward.

“Boss, one please...”

“We'll take all of them.”

Kaelis hadn't even finished speaking when, from nowhere, a man suddenly appeared beside her.

With a sweeping motion of his hand, he declared he wanted all the roasted buns.

The stall owner was taken aback.

Looking at the pitiful Kaelis, he felt a pang of sympathy, but when he turned to the man, dressed in the unmistakable attire of a street thug, he hesitated. After a brief pause, he gave Kaelis an apologetic smile.

“The next batch will be ready soon.”

“...Alright.”

Kaelis felt helpless. What else could she do? She had simply been too slow to speak.

The next batch will have to do it.

But neither of them expected what happened next, just then, the man frowned.

“You didn't understand? I said, all of them.”

“All?”

The stall owner blinked, then glanced at his flour bucket, which still had about half left. By his experience, that was enough for roughly fifty more buns.

This guy... wanted all of them?

“What else?”

The man's voice was firm, his arms crossed in an impatient stance.

The old man hesitated.

Next to him, Kaelis slightly furrowed her brows.

But after a moment of thought, she said nothing, simply turned around, and quietly sat down nearby.

As she watched the man begin bagging up the buns one by one, she suddenly spoke.

“You haven't paid yet.”

“Uh...”

The man hesitated, but after a moment, he lifted his head, glanced at the stall owner's conflicted expression, gritted his teeth, and pulled out two silver coins from his pocket, slapping them onto the small cart.

“Is this enough?”

“...Uh, more or less...”

The stall owner sounded uncertain, while Kaelis silently observed from the side.

The man's expression twitched slightly, but recalling what his boss had said, he boldly slapped down another silver plate.

“Is this enough now?”

“Enough, enough!”

Now the stall owner finally smiled brightly.

Only after seeing the money collected did Kaelis quietly turn and walk out into a nearby alley.

Seeing Kaelis leave, the man suddenly felt a pang of regret. After hesitating briefly, he reached out again.

“Speaking of which, this week's protection fee... uh....”

Before he could finish, a girl's head suddenly poked out from the alley beside him, her eyes fixed right on them...

Staring~

“Ah…”

“What's wrong?”

The bun seller was busy preparing buns and didn't notice the man's words. The man's face turned awkward, and after a cough, he continued.

“Nothing. Keep working.”

“...Alright...”

The stall owner found it strange, but the man awkwardly retracted his hand, pretending nothing had happened.

Only then did Kaelis pull her head back.

In a corner where he couldn't see, Kaelis narrowed her eyes slightly.

“As expected... he knows about me?”

Kaelis wasn't stupid, especially after arriving in this unfamiliar world, she had always remained vigilant of her surroundings.

Any slight abnormality immediately caught her attention.

With just a simple counter-test, she realized something was off about this man.

But...

Why?

“Have I made enemies with anyone recently?”

Kaelis pondered for a moment, then suddenly had an epiphany.

“Oh... that street thug, right?”

Thinking it through, the only person she'd recently angered was that particular street thug.

He had already noticed her strength, knew he couldn't confront her directly, but still felt angry, so he'd sent people to deliberately steal things from her, just to irritate her...

Kaelis pursed her lips.

“Acting like a child.”

Slightly frowning, Kaelis turned to walk into the alley, intending to shake him off.

But after only a few steps, she suddenly paused.

“But even if I run, they'll probably still follow. If I don't deal with this properly, it'll be troublesome...”

Kaelis frowned, then suddenly froze.

Her crimson lips curled upward into a smile.

She stopped evading, turned around, and began taking active steps.

However, she didn't go looking for trouble with them. Instead, she actively turned and began buying things from large stores.

Just as she predicted, each time she was about to pay, these people rushed ahead and bought whatever she wanted.

But Kaelis remained calm, silently watching them pay and take the items before calmly heading to the next shop.

Back and forth, the street thugs gradually began noticing something was off.

They gathered together, watching the girl who suddenly stopped by the roadside to rest and draw in her notebook, slightly furrowing their brows.

“Boss, do you think we've been found out?”

Some subordinates voiced their concerns.

Has the target noticed them? Otherwise, why would she be acting like this?

The man also pondered their questions.

After a long silence, he suddenly recalled,

Whenever he had been tailing Kaelis, she had always reminded them to pay...

“So... she's trying to drain our funds?”

The man sneezed, a mocking expression appeared on his face.

Their backers were none other than Cassie, they had enough capital to buy one-third of the entire market!

The total amount they'd spent so far was barely three gold plates.

Compared to their vast financial reserves, Kaelis's plan seemed utterly laughable!

And just as the man was smugly convinced he had seen through Kaelis's plan, a sudden commotion erupted in the market.

Curious, they poked their heads out, only to see numerous shop owners frantically fleeing.

As they ran, they shouted loudly.

"Wolves! Wolves are coming!"

“Huh? Wolves?”

The thugs were stunned.

Although there were indeed pet vendors in the market who sold wolves, those were just small pups, nothing particularly scary, right?

They were confused, but then they saw it,

A giant wolf, as large as a horse, was now wandering through the streets!

“!”

The thugs stared in shock. Then, the wolves suddenly turned their heads towards them!

“Wo—!”

A loud, piercing howl rang out like a war drum, reaching the heavens!

In the next instant, they began charging straight towards them!

Their massive size alone was enough to instill panic.

Already chaotic, the crowd now became even more disordered.

Screaming, they began fleeing.

A group of people dressed in white robes moved through the chaos, trying to maintain order and prevent trampling.

Wolves were naturally terrifying, let alone these huge ones, larger than horses.

Even standing still, they exuded an oppressive aura. When running, their terrifying momentum was enough to shatter the courage of ordinary people.

Although the thugs were arrogant, that arrogance stemmed from the belief they wouldn't die. Faced with wild beasts that didn't care about laws or rules, they had no courage to fight back. Instinctively, they turned and tried to blend into the fleeing crowd!

Quickly, they brushed past the white-robed figures maintaining order.

Shoulders bumped, but they didn't dare linger, only focused on escaping.

But soon, the noise of the crowd gradually calmed down.

Turning back, the giant wolves had inexplicably disappeared!

Yet the white-robed people, who had just moments ago been calming the crowd to prevent stampedes, had now gathered in a corner.

Dressed in white robes, wearing hawk hoods on their heads, they were now holding exactly the items the thugs had just been tricked by Kaelis into buying!

In just one fleeting moment, all their belongings had been taken?

But they hadn't even noticed?!

“When?!”

All the thugs froze in shock.

But the white-robed figures offered no answer.

Instead, they simply turned sideways, following Kaelis as she stood up...

Kaelis raised a finger, gazing at the stunned and furious thugs, and gently placed her finger against her lips with a smile.

“Shh~”

Above the sky, a hawk circled...