Today was a storm—too much thrill, too much fall and rise, like waves slapping a cliff.

A pervert fixed eyes on me, then kidnapped me; the whole ride whipped up and plunged, and I almost signed my own death warrant with one reckless move.

I never thought someone I’d just met would pull me out like a hand from the clouds.

“I fell in love with you, little Aileaf~”

“Mmph… mmph!”

Aileaf was crushed into Cerqin’s arms, breath squeezed out like a bird in a fist; panic thumped first, then hands fluttered for air.

Littlefolk lives are lives too! If she didn’t let go, Aileaf would suffocate like a candle under a cup.

Aileaf kept patting Cerqin, heart like a drum, and didn’t catch what Cerqin whispered in the rush.

Lucky the storm rose fast and fell fast. Cerqin finally let go, swept a look over the wrecked room like a cat over spilled rice, and praised the dazed Aileaf.

“Aileaf, you’re amazing!”

She couldn’t gauge the blonde she-devil’s true power, but those two guards and the man in black looked solid as iron pillars.

Especially that man in black—the mana surge and aura in that instant pressed in like thunderheads, almost on par with a Holy Maiden.

Conservative guess, Fifth Rank and up. The two guards were at least Fourth Rank.

Dropping them in moments wasn’t something any random passerby could do.

This gentle Littlefolk sister, terrifying as a hidden blade.

“I only poisoned them…”

Aileaf ducked her head, shy as a dew-covered sprout. In a straight fight, it wouldn’t be this easy. She wasn’t built for frontal clashes. She’d slipped in poison, then forced them to take a breath. That was all.

“What do we do with them? Hand them to the city defense?”

Aileaf spoke while another vial appeared from nowhere, glass glinting like a firefly.

“Mm… better not.”

Cerqin remembered what Spring Tide had traded in whispers, and she’d pieced together enough of the golden-haired pervert’s background to taste trouble.

If they tied these people up and dragged them to the city defense, who knew what fresh hornets they’d kick up.

Distance was the wise road.

Aileaf didn’t press. She tucked her tools away at Cerqin’s word and moved quick.

“Then let’s not waste the dose. We should go—my brew’s almost spent. They’ll wake in minutes…”

“Mm-hmm~”

Thunk…

Cerqin reached to pull Aileaf out, and her toe knocked against a stick, slick with damp like a reed by a pond.

“Hold up. A sec.”

She scooped the stick, ignored the wet sheen, nudged the little princess’s leg aside with her foot, then drove the stick in like a thorn.

“Okay. Let’s go…”

A few minutes after they slipped away, the smashed window and broken soundproof ward let the night bite in. Screams burst out like gulls.

A couple passers-by by that shabby, out-of-the-way inn turned their heads, eyes bright as lanterns.

Cerqin followed Aileaf, one ahead, one behind, weaving through alleys like fish through reeds, skirting the main road. Words drifted between them, light as dandelion fluff.

“We should’ve blocked both front and back. Only blocking the front looks like a reward.”

“Who were those people?”

“A nest of perverts~”

Aileaf really wanted to say Cerqin had been pretty pervy too, but the words stuck like rice.

“Heh-heh~ Little Aileaf, you saved me. From now on, I’m yours… ah, no, two folks won’t sign off on that.”

Cerqin rambled with a grin. Aileaf’s soft, timid look made her fingers itch to tease.

“Where are we going?”

“Uh…”

Aileaf paused, head tilted like a sparrow, eyes flicking to Cerqin shadowing her steps.

She’d rushed in just to save this brand-new friend. After hauling her out, she hadn’t thought further… Her heart wanted to weave closer to this pink-haired girl.

But Aileaf was a homebound tinkerer, mostly buried in experiments. Talk didn’t come easy. Silence pooled like a quiet pond.

“Well, it’s still early. Want to visit my lab…”

Courage rose like a small flame. Aileaf kept her head down, voice barely above a hush. It was her first time inviting a stranger home.

Unaware she might be inviting a wolf through the gate.

“Lab?”

Cerqin blinked. The word wasn’t common in the Holy Dragon Empire. It felt like a clean glass in an old tavern.

“I’m an apothecary.”

What she’d used to save Cerqin was her own brew—one of the few bottles meant for offense, a little life-saving thunder in a vial.

“An apothecary… that’s awesome!”

Most cultivators were scholars of magic alone. Anyone who balanced other studies too was, to Cerqin, sharp as a blade.

“It’s nothing~”

Aileaf ducked again, blush like peach skin.

“We’re almost there without noticing. Want to come in and take a look?”

“Of course!”

Maybe she could snag a couple collectibles. Cerqin’s eyes lit up like stars.

After seven twists and eight turns, Cerqin spotted a familiar street—the road you had to take from the bustle to the beastfolk quarter.

Close to both sides, quiet as a courtyard.

Aileaf opened a small door at the alley’s end, led Cerqin into a little building, down a long narrow hall, then swung another door wide. The view bloomed.

A big room full of things—books, bottles and jars, a thick herbal perfume like a green forest, with a faint thread of Aileaf’s scent.

“Little Aileaf, do you hole up here to brew most days~”

Cerqin peered, left then right. The shelves were stacked with volumes on potions and herbs. Behind them sat a tiny bed and a small cabinet.

That little corner didn’t wear the same neatness as the rest. It felt lived-in, like rumpled sheets and warm tea.

Catching Cerqin admiring her nest, Aileaf squeaked “aiya,” cheeks blooming red, pulled Cerqin’s focus back, and introduced stiffly.

“I rarely go out. Most of the time, I study all kinds of potions here…”

She stammered, ninety-something centimeters tall, like a child asking pardon after knocking over a vase.

“I only go out to buy supplies, or when coin runs low.”

Cerqin paused, brow lifting like a curtain.

“So, little Aileaf went out this time because coin ran low, to pitch potions?”

“Mm…”

Then that shop Aileaf had walked into… was she pitching that kind of potion?

Cerqin sniffed a thread of truth and perked up, teasing as she wandered among the glass and cork.

“Do you test your own brews?”

“Uh…”

Aileaf hadn’t hidden her trip into the store that sold restraints. She knew Cerqin was poking fun.

Her face flushed. She stomped softly, a little complaint in the tap, but held her tongue.

She hadn’t tested that one herself. The shop had run a trial for the buyer, and it worked like a charm. That sort of potion wasn’t for self-testing.

“Hehe. Okay, okay, I’ll stop bullying you~”

Cerqin brushed the bracelet on her wrist. After learning the Hand of Space, hunting turned simple as fishing with a net. If the range was right, the catch popped into her palm in a blink.

Even face-to-face, they wouldn’t notice a thing.

It felt like a miracle.

They played in Aileaf’s lab for a while. Dusk pooled, ink and plum over the window.

Cerqin thought she should swing back to the inn, just in case Spring Tide and Silver Luan came home to sleep.

She was about to set a time for tomorrow when Aileaf’s expression—still soft—tightened with a thread of resolve.

“Um… Cerqin, would you like to stay the night?”

“Eh?”

Bold as a firecracker. They’d only met today.

She liked this little beauty. The girl was her lifesaver. But wasn’t this too fast?

Even the Holy Maiden didn’t pin her down the day they met.

Cerqin’s thoughts scattered like sparrows, then snapped back. She nodded, quick as rain.

A gift at the door—she’d hate herself if she let it slip.