And so, Roxy Migurdia successfully settled into the tavern. She originally wanted to pay for her lodging, but before she could even finish speaking, the landlady interrupted her.
"Little Roxy, just help out by carrying some plates—that's all you need to do. My daughter used to do the same." The landlady looked at Roxy Migurdia with eyes full of maternal affection, seeing the shadow of her own daughter in her.
This was due to how much she missed her daughter. Ever since Lifa got married, she had never come back to visit—it seemed she and her husband had gone to the Asura Kingdom to make a living.
"There are still a lot of my daughter's old clothes here." As she spoke, the landlady opened the wardrobe. It smelled nice inside—thanks to the landlady frequently cleaning it and placing fresh flowers.
Roxy Migurdia quietly watched the landlady, observing as she freely unleashed her motherly love.
For some reason, Roxy Migurdia suddenly thought of her own parents, Rowin and Rokari.
Even though she thought of them, Roxy Migurdia had no desire to return home—to that eerily quiet village.
"Roxy, how about wearing this—does it look good?" The landlady pulled out a standard maid outfit from the wardrobe, complete with matching white thigh-high stockings (white stockings).
"Eh?"
Then the landlady indulged in a long-overdue dress-up session, constantly unlocking new outfits for Roxy Migurdia.
After a while, she finally settled on one.
Though it was still a maid outfit, compared to the very first one, this version better highlighted Roxy Migurdia's adorable face.
The landlady even tied Roxy Migurdia's hair into twin tails.
"So cute." The landlady looked at the currently dazed Roxy Migurdia with a face full of smiles.
It had been a very long time since she experienced this kind of joy. Thanks to Roxy Migurdia.
"Are we done now, landlady?" Roxy Migurdia looked up and asked. This whole time had been pure torment for her.
Though Roxy Migurdia also liked pretty clothes, being forced to play this meaningless dress-up game over and over was extremely uncomfortable.
"Mm! Roxy looks very pretty. Come on, it's about time to open for business." The landlady said as she pulled the twin-tailed Roxy Migurdia, now dressed in a white-stockinged maid outfit, downstairs.
"Aaaah, landlady, what were you doing up there for so long? I'm about to fall asleep." Mayibeia yawned as she heard the sound of footsteps coming down, then looked toward the stairs—her sleepiness instantly vanished.
"Wow, Roxy is so cute! You actually put on little Lifa's old clothes? It suits you surprisingly well!" Mayibeia rushed in front of Roxy Migurdia in an instant and began inspecting her new outfit.
Roxy Migurdia became lost amid the continuous stream of compliments—this was the first time in her 24 years that someone had made her blush with praise.
In the time that followed, adventurers gradually entered the tavern.
"Landlady, the usual—two portions!" An adventurer shouted toward the landlady who was working inside.
"Coming right up!"
When he noticed a girl dressed in the same clothes as little Lifa working there, he suddenly called out in confusion: "Landlady, did little Lifa come back?"
"Are you blind? That's not little Lifa." His companion elbowed him, urging him to look carefully.
He stared hard and finally saw clearly: "Oh, it's not little Lifa. I thought she got divorced or something."
Then the adventurer jokingly said to the landlady: "Landlady! If little Lifa ever gets divorced, remember to call me—I'll definitely marry her!"
At that moment, the landlady suddenly poked her head out and shouted at the joking adventurer: "Even if she got divorced, I wouldn't hand her over to you! Come here, little Roxy—take this food to that jerk."
"Landlady, that's not fair—how am I a jerk?" The adventurer grinned widely.
Roxy Migurdia took the plate and began her tray-carrying duties.
Mayibeia also served them drinks.
At this time, Dan Feng was in his room researching the standard ways to use Cloud-Piercer.
If he used Cloud-Piercer, he could pair it with magic.
"Using wind magic could let me perform Cloud Rider Spear Technique: Dawn Wind and Cloud Rider Spear Technique: Driving Rain—doesn't that mean I could imitate Dan Heng's ultimate technique?" Dan Feng thought.
"But how do I actually pull it off?" Dan Feng pondered this serious question, then silently recited: "Life and death, illusion and reality—all in a single thought."
"Cave Heaven manifests, long dream in one awakening... shatter!" Dan Feng instantly thrust the spear.
...
Hm, nothing happened.
Dan Feng silently put the spear away. "Looks like I still need to study this properly. I'll go downstairs and see if dinner's ready."
When Dan Feng came down to the first floor, the tavern was extremely lively—some were competing in drinking contests, some were shouting loudly, and some were quietly eating and drinking.
Among them was a small girl with water-blue twin tails, dressed in cute clothes, busily moving back and forth.
"Little Roxy, two more cups of wine!"
"O-Okay!" Roxy Migurdia hurriedly ran into the kitchen to fetch the drinks. Mayibeia was also diligently keeping track of the accounts, noting how much these adventurers were spending.
"Little Roxy, could you bring my food over? The landlady just finished it."
Roxy Migurdia ran to the serving window again and carried over the freshly made food from the landlady.
Just then, Roxy Migurdia accidentally tripped over her own foot and began falling toward the ground along with the tray.
This scene happened to catch Dan Feng's eye. He immediately raised his hand and used an amplified version of the basic wind magic Gust. Roxy Migurdia was spared the fall, and the food was blown back into the tray by Dan Feng's wind magic, conveniently delivered right to the adventurer's table.
"Eh? Wind?" Roxy Migurdia noticed she had been lifted by wind and looked around in confusion.
"Don't look—it was me." Dan Feng walked over to Roxy Migurdia and said, then demonstrated his wind magic again.
A gust of wind carried plates precisely to every customer's table.
This was exactly why people called Dan Feng a genius.
His control over mana was so precise it didn't seem human—like a magic tool.
"See? The Cold Dragon Young has such amazing magical talent, yet he insists on being a warrior." An adventurer looked at the food delivered to him and discussed it with his nearby teammates.
"But his talent as a warrior is also insane. If he ever went to the Holy Land of Swords to train and become a swordsman or something, he'd be even more terrifying."
"Eh, true enough. Forget it—we ordinary adventurers just scraping by really can't compare to geniuses." With that, he chugged a huge mouthful of wine.
"Ah? You use magic without chanting?" Roxy Migurdia showed an expression of great shock—this was the first time she had seen someone use magic without chanting.
"Chanting is too troublesome. I usually chant once, remember the flow of my mana, and then I don't need to chant the next time." Dan Feng explained his method.
There wasn't anything particularly special about it—few people could achieve this. Most couldn't even sense the flow of mana in their bodies; they simply memorized the chant and instantly consumed mana unconditionally to cast spells.