Chapter 49: Not Defeated Yet…
Anna moved her lips, wanting to say something.
But after thinking for a long time, she swallowed her words.
She hadn’t failed in life. These setbacks were just small hardships. As long as she defeated the Ice Bear King, everything would get better.
The Ice Bear King had become like a nightmare in her mind. Combined with her recent frustration, and Peiya’s name being mentioned again and again.
The truth no longer mattered.
This had turned into a game to prove something that was almost impossible to prove.
If she could defeat the Ice Bear King, it would mean she had won.
Otherwise… it would only prove that kicking Peiya out had been a completely wrong decision.
Anna clenched her fists so tightly that her nails dug painfully into her skin.
This time, instead of going back to the manor, she carried the clothes and went straight to the base of the “Dawn Guild.”
This place was bought by her as a special guild base. Sometimes, other members stayed here, like Lisa and Stella, who often didn’t want to go back home.
The reason was simple.
The place had everything, resting areas, cooking areas, all fully equipped.
There were even shelves filled with snacks. Whenever they felt like eating, they could just grab something.
For the two of them, the most physical activity in a day was turning over.
And the hardest thinking task… was finding a more comfortable position to lie down.
Right now, Anna looked at the messy shelves.
Snack bags were piled up at the bottom, already covered with a thin layer of dust.
The rest of the room wasn’t any better, dirty and messy everywhere. Even her favorite hair ties were thrown carelessly on the floor.
All her frustration and tiredness finally exploded.
She looked at her teammates lying lazily on the sofa with an almost furious expression and said sharply.
“Lisa, Stella, can you explain why the room became like this when I was gone for just a short time?”
On the sofa, Lisa reacted first. Seeing Anna’s anger, she quickly stood up.
“Anna, there’s nothing valuable on those shelves anyway. Why bother cleaning them? If you really want them cleaned, just hire a servant. I just did my nails today, I can’t do this kind of dirty work.”
Anna looked at Lisa with resentment.
“I paid to recruit you. If not you, then who should do it? Don’t tell me the shelves used to clean themselves?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never cleaned them. Stella, why don’t you do it? You ate so many of my snacks today, you should at least do something in return.”
Stella, still eating snacks on the sofa, replied casually,
“I’m preparing for an exam. Move your hand, you’re pressing on my hair.”
As soon as Lisa heard that, she exploded.
“Yeah right! Don’t think I don’t know, you’re taking a swordsmanship exam. What kind of person prepares for that by lying here all day, eating snacks and reading picture books?”
“I’ve already practiced enough,” Stella said indifferently, fully committed to doing nothing.
“Enough. Both of you, stop arguing.”
Anna interrupted them, clearly annoyed.
She really couldn’t stand these lazy teammates anymore.
Her gaze moved from Lisa, who looked slightly intimidated, to Stella, who still didn’t care at all.
“Stop arguing. To be fair, all three of us will clean together. If anyone slacks off, then don’t bother coming back to the Dawn Guild in the future.”
Seeing that Anna was truly angry, the two of them quickly got up and started cleaning the storage shelves.
If they didn’t clean, it wasn’t a big deal. But once they actually started, all three of them ran into trouble.
At home, none of them ever did chores. They weren’t used to dirty or tiring work, so no one had any experience.
Lisa kept digging through the lower part of the cabinet. Stella picked up a book, pretended to read it seriously, then quietly put it back.
As for Anna, even though she was the loudest before, once she started, everything she touched felt dirty. She kept pulling her hands back without thinking.
After working for a long time, the only change was that a photo frame had been moved. Everything else stayed the same.
Only Lisa, who kept digging through small items, had actually done something useful.
Looking at some moldy snacks at the bottom of a box, Lisa held her breath against the bad smell and used a pencil like a pair of chopsticks to pick them up.
“Anna, you bought this before, right? Why did it get moldy in the cabinet?
And Stella, why is your potion bottle wrapped in a towel?”
As Lisa continued sorting through the messy items, she quickly found her own things too.
“Wait… why is my magic orb in here? I thought I lost it and even bought a new one. Do you know who used to organize this cabinet? I don’t remember it being this messy before. Everything used to be neatly placed in the compartments the next day. Why doesn’t that happen anymore…?”
Stella waved her hand first. “I don’t have time for that. It would just slow down my sword training.”
Lisa then looked at Anna. Anna rolled her eyes and said, “If I knew how to organize, would I need to call you two?”
That means…
Lisa bit her lip. After ruling everyone out, there was only one answer left.
“If it’s not you, not Anna, and not me… there are only four people who usually come here. If it’s not the three of us, then the one who used to organize everything must have been Peiya, right?”
The other two stayed silent. Lisa already knew the answer.
It was probably Peiya who had been organizing everything for them.
But Lisa didn’t want to accept that. Even if Peiya used to help, it shouldn’t be that the whole team looks like it’s about to fall apart just because she left.
They were the strongest guild. Even if Peiya was capable, it shouldn’t mean the three of them can’t do anything.
Unless… all three of them are actually useless.
Obviously, that can’t be true.
Lisa looked around angrily and saw that the two who were shouting the loudest earlier were now doing nothing.
“Hey, why did you both stop? Keep cleaning!”
“I guess I’m not good at this kind of work. Lisa, you do it,” Anna said weakly.
Cleaning… was that even something she understood? The most complicated thing she ever organized was her makeup.
But unlike makeup, everything in this cabinet was messy. There was even random junk they had thrown in and forgotten about.
That made it much harder to organize.
“What about you, Stella? You have hands and feet, so why aren’t you doing anything?” Lisa asked.
“There’s barely anything of mine here. I was just dragged here to work.”
“What do you mean nothing of yours? This sword manual, didn’t Peiya design it for you? Have you even practiced it?”
Lisa threw a book at her. While picking it up, she even wondered if it had always been this thick.
“So thick. I don’t want to read it,” Stella said, weighing the book in her hand. It felt as heavy as a piece of iron.
“Why not? Don’t you have an exam soon? Are you saying you can pass without reading or practicing?”
“That’s right. Since things have come to this, I’ll just say it. Actually, I’ve inherited my family's fortune. Practicing swordsmanship would only ruin my bloodline. So? If you’re jealous, say it now. I have things to do tonight, so I won’t stay with you any longer.”