"Ah, it's you!" Roxy Migurdia looked up at the approaching person and realized it was the man who had helped her not long ago. She let out a surprised exclamation.
"So it's His Excellency the Cold Dragon Young. Since you're here to vouch for her, there's no problem. We'll just charge her the entry fee then." The female staff member's face immediately changed—from the previous blank expression to one of infatuation.
She then took out 2 Millis silver coins and handed them to Roxy Migurdia.
"If there's nothing else, I'll be going." Dan Feng said to Roxy Migurdia with the same expressionless face, then turned to leave.
Normally, Dan Feng wouldn't want to get involved in something like this, but when the one facing this issue was a demon girl who looked only fourteen or fifteen years old, the nature of the matter became different.
However, his sleeve was grabbed by a small, fair hand.
"Hm? Is there something else?" Dan Feng slightly lowered his head and looked at Roxy Migurdia in confusion.
Roxy Migurdia held onto Dan Feng's sleeve with one hand, tilted her head to the side, and twirled her water-blue hair with the other.
"Um... thank you for helping me these few times. Could we... get to know each other...?" Roxy Migurdia's voice carried a hint of shyness and timidity, coming out in a soft, gentle tone.
"Um... my name is Roxy Migurdia. I'm from the Migurd race and I'm also a mage." Roxy Migurdia mustered her courage to say these words, because this was the only person she wanted to get to know since arriving in Millishion. Like Aire's parents, he didn't look at her with that kind of prejudiced gaze.
Dan Feng looked at the small girl clutching his sleeve and thought for a moment.
He had helped her, so she probably wanted to thank him and get acquainted.
"Mm, no problem. My name is Dan Feng. I'm a warrior." Dan Feng spoke slowly, his words filled with a steady composure.
"Oh my~ Dan Feng is actually flirting with girls now." A seductive voice rang out from behind Dan Feng.
Dan Feng shivered all over—he had just been elbowed in the waist.
"Mayibeia, what are you doing?" Dan Feng looked at the mischievous horned demon who had just pulled off her prank with an exasperated expression.
"Oh ho ho, this little lady is from the Migurd race, right? Such beautiful water-blue hair." Mayibeia leaned close to Roxy Migurdia's face to examine her carefully, then grabbed a strand of Roxy Migurdia's water-blue hair and sniffed it.
"Mm~ It even has a special fragrance." Mayibeia teased Roxy Migurdia, startling her with the sudden action.
"Ahh, what are you doing?!" Roxy Migurdia quickly stepped back several paces, her face flushed as she looked at Mayibeia. The blush had lingered from when she first spoke to Dan Feng.
"Huh~ Are you seriously backing away like that? So, where in the Demon Continent are you from? I'm from Rikarisu Town." Seeing such a cute little girl only fueled Mayibeia's desire to tease her more.
"I'm from farther north."
"You came from Rikarisu Town, right? Do you know the Sheep's Hoof Inn?"
"I remember that's a clothing store."
"Alright, Mayibeia, stop teasing the little girl." Dan Feng said slowly from the side.
"I'm not a little girl. I'm already 24 years old this year—I've been an adult for 9 years." Roxy Migurdia explained to Dan Feng that she was indeed an adult.
"I'm only 19. So why do you look so small?" Dan Feng's face showed utter bewilderment, which caught the eyes of both women.
Roxy Migurdia was just about to explain when Mayibeia interrupted her.
"Dan Feng, didn't you know that Migurd race members stop growing at around fourteen or fifteen?" Mayibeia covered her mouth and chuckled lightly. Her tone and expression seemed to mock Dan Feng's ignorance.
"There's actually something like that?" Dan Feng felt enlightened today. So some demons had special traits like this.
"So where is Roxy staying tonight?" Mayibeia suddenly asked.
"I still haven't found an inn that will accept me."
The moment the topic came up, Roxy Migurdia showed a pitiful expression. As soon as people saw her water-blue hair, they chased her out.
"You still haven't found a place to stay?! That's perfect—come with me!" The instant Mayibeia heard that Roxy Migurdia hadn't found lodging, she decisively grabbed Roxy Migurdia's hand and ran off.
"Huh? Huh???" Roxy Migurdia looked utterly confused as she was dragged away by Mayibeia.
"This is bad—I'm going to get human-trafficked!" Roxy Migurdia thought inwardly.
"Hey hey, Mayibeia, you're not going to do that again, are you?" Dan Feng quickly chased after them.
...
"The story is like this: little Roxy was captured and subjected to human experiments—extremely cruel experiments! Poor little Roxy suffered so much pain! She barely managed to escape from that terrifying place, but with nowhere to go, she could only lie in a corner of Millishion." Mayibeia spoke while wiping away tears with her hand. Her appearance was truly heartbreaking to behold.
Dan Feng and Roxy Migurdia stood to the side watching Mayibeia's fully committed performance, both unable to stop their mouths from twitching.
They both knew perfectly well that Mayibeia was completely acting—and acting so convincingly that one had to admire her skill.
However, the landlady was deeply moved by Mayibeia's performance.
Her eyes gradually welled up, tears swirling in them, ready to fall at any moment.
"Mayibeia, stop talking! Little Roxy has suffered so much, and now she's come to this demon-hating Millishion—her life must have been incredibly hard, right?" The landlady said with a choked voice, full of sympathy and pity.
As she spoke, the landlady quickly took Roxy Migurdia's hand and carefully examined her.
Roxy Migurdia looked somewhat helplessly at the landlady, a slightly awkward smile on her face.
The landlady paid no mind to this—she simply gazed at Roxy Migurdia with motherly affection, as if looking at her own daughter.
"Back in the day, my daughter was about your age and just as mischievous! Always running around like a boy. But you look so well-behaved and sweet—what a hard time you've had!" The landlady sighed, and finally the tears in her eyes couldn't be held back any longer.
"From now on, settle down here. You can stay in my daughter's room—since she's married, she won't be coming back anyway." The landlady said this while pulling Roxy Migurdia upstairs.
Before leaving, she told Mayibeia to watch the shop.
"Your storytelling ability is top-tier." Dan Feng gave Mayibeia a thumbs-up in genuine admiration.
"Of course. Otherwise, how did I manage to get the landlady to let you stay back then?" Mayibeia's sad expression vanished instantly, replaced only by self-appreciation and pride in her acting skills.
"By the way, how do you know Roxy? I saw you two chatting at the Adventurers' Guild earlier."
"No, we only met today—twice. She was stopped by the knights at the city gate, and I helped her out, that's all."
"Oh~ I see." Mayibeia nodded.
"By the way, where's Galdaruf?"
"He said he discovered a new labyrinth and went to scout the outskirts first."