Chapter 30: This Is a Punishment~
When the words “Dawn” were mentioned, Peiya clearly panicked.
Of all things, she had pulled out that notebook.
This is bad… really bad.
Her embarrassing past is about to be exposed!
But Elise only held the corner of the notebook and didn’t seem to want to ask more.
“I’m quite familiar with this guild. It’s fine, I just asked casually. You don’t have to explain everything to me. I was just curious. But I really like what’s written in this notebook. Can I borrow it?”
Elise flipped through a few pages, and after just a quick look, she was already amazed.
The notes were extremely detailed, where the boss lives, what it looks like, how it attacks, even its usual attack patterns.
Even the royal library didn’t have many notes this detailed.
This was basically a complete guide to clearing bosses.
It was hard to imagine how Peiya managed to gather all this information. Even someone like Elise, who had plenty of real combat experience, couldn’t easily describe a boss so accurately.
Usually, this kind of work was done by support staff who focused on calculations and records.
But even with that explanation, Peiya’s ability still felt unbelievable.
Elise knew very well that her own support staff could not do something like this.
Peiya was strong in every way.
As for who founded the Dawn Guild, Elise of course knew. It was her “dear” sister, Anna.
Judging by how worn the notebook was, it had been used for a long time.
And knowing her sister’s personality, Elise could roughly guess what had happened in the past.
She wasn’t the kind of person who would reopen someone else’s wounds.
Instead, she found the contents interesting and wanted to keep the notebook.
“If you like it, you can take it. I worked with them for a while before, but… now I’m basically unemployed, just waiting to see which guild might accept me.”
Peiya gave a self-mocking smile and continued packing her things.
“With your ability, wouldn’t it be easy for you to join any guild?” Elise asked.
She had been observing Peiya these past few days. Her ability was at least on par with the top support members of leading guilds, maybe even better.
“Well...” Peiya scratched her neck. “I did think about joining another guild before, but I never had time to deal with it. If you ever want to fight a boss, just call me before the battle. I’ll help.”
“It’s fine, I don’t plan to fight any bosses recently. You can focus on your own things first. Wait, that box looks heavy. Let me carry it.”
Elise stepped forward and bent down to pick up the box.
But Peiya quickly grabbed it first and hugged it tightly.
“I can’t let you do that. You already came all this way to help me. If I make you carry things too, I’ll never be able to repay you.”
“Then don’t repay me. Just owe me for now.”
“Huh? That works?”
“Of course. When you have time, come to my house and spend a day with me. That will settle everything you owe.”
Elise smiled meaningfully, her expression full of quiet happiness.
“I…I only offer skills, not myself.”
“Hm? Did I say anything like that? Or are you the one thinking about it first? Otherwise, why would you jump to that idea?”
Oh no… she got tricked.
“N-no, absolutely not! You misunderstood me! It’s your wording that was unclear!”
Elise shook her head.
“I was just following your logic. The choice is yours. Give me the box, this time is free.”
“What about next time?” Peiya couldn’t help asking.
“Free.”
“And the time after that? And after that?”
“Still free.”
Peiya was left speechless.
“Then wouldn’t that mean I’m just taking advantage of you for free? How would that still count as owing you a favor?”
“I want to help you. Or you can help me too, let me take advantage of you once.”
For a moment, Peiya’s eyes showed panic. She clearly noticed something strange in those words.
“Y-you… what do you want me to do? We already agreed, I only offer skills, not myself.”
Elise gently spun the notebook in her hand, then placed it back on the table. She looked straight into Peiya’s eyes and said seriously,
“I haven’t decided yet. I’ll tell you when I think of something.”
Peiya hesitated and looked up. Didn’t that mean Elise could just make up anything later?
“Then I feel even less safe trusting you. Who knows what kind of weird request you’ll come up with. Let me say this first, I’m an upright person with strong morals. You can ask me to help with things, but don’t expect anything else.”
Elise couldn’t help but laugh.
“What are you thinking about? I wouldn’t make unreasonable requests. Don’t worry. If you really want to repay me…”
She paused for a moment, then continued,
“How about in a few days, when I’m free, I take you to get some new clothes? By the way, what kind of clothes do you like?”
Hearing that, Peiya finally looked down at her own outfit. It was a bit old.
When was the last time she bought new clothes?
Uh…
She couldn’t even remember.
“Do I look like someone who knows how to match clothes? Since you suggested it, just choose what you like. You have better taste than me, I’ll listen to you.”
This time, Peiya wisely chose to go along with it.
She also took the chance to secretly glance at Elise. Elise’s outfit looked elegant and well-matched.
Elise wore a light blue dress. The skirt moved softly, with white patterns along the edges. A white ribbon hung from her waist, making it look even slimmer.
The mix of blue and white felt like the last snow of spring melting away, taking the cold feeling with it.
Looking at Elise, who was as beautiful as a fairy, Peiya actually started to feel a little excited about how Elise might dress her up.
As for handing herself over completely… of course, that was impossible.
Her real goal was actually to make things difficult for Elise. After all, dressing someone up must be tiring, right? So this was her little “punishment.”
So…
This time, she wins!
Elise took out a pen and paper and quietly wrote down this task.
“Then it’s settled. When the time comes, leave everything to me. I promise you’ll be satisfied.”
Peiya didn’t realize the deeper meaning in those words. She thought she had successfully avoided trouble and smiled happily.
“Okay, I’m counting on you!”
After the short chat, Elise lowered her head and started organizing Peiya’s belongings. There weren’t many big items, but there were quite a lot of small ones.
The box was full of all kinds of things.
There were many items, but everything was neatly arranged.
Peiya had said these were all things she had researched and created before, so they must be kept carefully.
As Elise carefully sorted small bottles, one light-blue glowing liquid caught her attention.
“What is this? It feels like it has some kind of space power.”
Peiya crawled out from under the bed. When she saw the little star mark on the label, she explained,
“That’s a tracking potion. Perfect! I made a few extra, so I’ll give you some. If you run into danger in the wild, this can help you escape and return to your original location. Or, if you use it together with an agility potion, you can quickly get away from difficult enemies or space magic.”
“…?”
A question mark almost appeared above Elise’s head. She froze for a moment.
Wait.
She needed a second to process that.
Elise replayed Peiya’s words in her mind, and the shock didn’t fade at all.
“Are you serious? This can work like a teleportation stone?”
Right now, Elise really wanted to understand this clearly. If what Peiya said was true, then the value of this potion was unimaginable.
Maybe in some situations it wasn’t as powerful as a teleportation stone, but every adventurer wanted those, even large guilds needed to stockpile them.
This kind of item was essential for adventures.
Once you enter a monster’s territory, many normal magic methods can be disturbed. Having one more way to save your life is extremely important.
Just being comparable to a teleportation stone already made it incredible.
At this moment, Elise felt that she had underestimated Peiya before.
Or rather…
Only now was she truly starting to understand her.