In the end, Bai Ye still couldn’t find her original pants. Instead, she left with a pile of dresses the female shopkeeper had given her.

As she was leaving, she’d even said, “At least give me a pair of pants.” But the shopkeeper had coldly turned her down, saying, “This store only sells skirts, not pants.”

“Ugh~ Wasn’t I supposed to be here today to buy clothes for Yilisi? How did I end up changing from pants into a skirt instead?!”

“What’s wrong with that?”

Yilisi stood beside her, grinning.

“I think skirts really suit you, Big Sis Bai Ye. The clothes the shopkeeper gave you look great on you, too.”

“Yilisi...”

Bai Ye sighed helplessly. She hadn’t expected even Yilisi to say that. Was she really that suited to wearing skirts?

She couldn’t quite understand it, but since the shopkeeper had given her the clothes, she couldn’t just throw them away. She stuffed them into her spatial ring.

“The carriage rental places should be open by now. Come on, Yilisi. Let’s hire a carriage and take you back to Nokan Territory.”

“...Mm.”

Yilisi had been looking forward to the day she could go home, but for some reason, she didn’t seem particularly happy now.

Bai Ye didn’t notice the change in Yilisi. She simply took her hand and headed straight for the carriage rental place.

The Holy Radiance Empire had a fairly well-developed transportation system, with dedicated carriage rental places in every city.

You could rent or buy a carriage, and for an additional fee, hire a dedicated driver.

When traveling long distances, most people in the empire chose to rent a carriage. It wasn’t too expensive, either. A trip to somewhere like Nokan Territory, just two or three days away, cost about two silver coins.

If you knew how to drive a carriage and didn’t need to hire a driver, it cost even less.

Bai Ye knew how to drive, so she didn’t need to hire a driver. But that didn’t lower her expenses—instead, she spent a full forty silver coins because she rented a luxury carriage.

Even among carriages, the ones at the rental place came in different grades.

The cheapest carriages were little better than ox carts: two wheels and a flatbed, without even a cabin.

The next grade up had a cabin with seats inside. It wasn’t exactly comfortable, but at least it kept out the wind and rain.

The carriage Bai Ye hired was the finest available. It had an elegant cabin, complete with cushions, seats, blankets, and all sorts of other comforts. Even the wheels and axles had been fitted with shock absorbers to reduce the jolting as much as possible.

Bai Ye hadn’t rented such a carriage out of vanity. She wanted to look after Yilisi and was worried she wouldn’t handle the long, bumpy journey well, so she wanted to make things as comfortable for her as possible.

After all, Yilisi was so delicate. A two- or three-day ride in an ordinary carriage would surely be miserable for her.

“Big Sis Bai Ye, the carriage you hired is a bit...”

Yilisi looked helplessly at the carriage before her, with its ornate gold-patterned decorations and luxurious interior.

She could pretty much guess what Bai Ye had been thinking—probably that she wouldn’t be able to handle the bumps on such a long journey.

But Yilisi didn’t want to keep being treated this way. She liked that Bai Ye cared about her, but that didn’t mean she was okay with Bai Ye spending money recklessly on her behalf.

“What’s wrong? Is there a problem with the carriage I hired?”

“Sigh...” Yilisi let out a soft sigh. “It’s nothing...”

The carriage had already been hired. No matter how much she said, the rental place wasn’t going to give the money back, so Yilisi decided to let it go.

She could always stop Big Sis Bai Ye the next time she spent money... But would there even be a next time?

“Get in, Yilisi. It’s time to take you home.”

“Mm.”

At last, the journey to Nokan Territory began. Bai Ye drove the carriage, taking Yilisi toward the city gates.

The Royal Capital was a vast city, but even its outskirts were enclosed by tall, thick walls. Only a few broad gates, one in each direction, were left open for people to pass through.

When Bai Ye drove up to the city gate, she saw that Black Knights had been stationed there.

Normally, ordinary guards were responsible for defending the city gates, and there weren’t many of them—about seven or eight at each gate.

Even when hunting down criminals and preventing them from escaping, they’d only send a few ordinary knights to reinforce the guards.

As far as Bai Ye could remember, this was the first time Black Knights had been stationed here.

“Stop! Inspection!”

As soon as Bai Ye’s carriage reached the gate, a knight holding a black cavalry lance ordered it to stop.

“Is something the matter, Sir Knight?”

Calling one of her former subordinates “sir” felt a little strange to Bai Ye, but outwardly, she showed no sign of it.

“Is anyone inside the carriage?”

The Black Knight rode around the carriage twice, apparently checking it for anything suspicious.

“Yes, my friend. Her name is Yilisi.”

Bai Ye looked perfectly natural. Though she now looked about sixty percent like her former self, she wasn’t worried in the slightest that one of her old subordinates would recognize her.

After all... hardly any of her subordinates had ever seen what she really looked like.