"Hi, Sir. We're mercenaries from Seth City. My name is Dennis."
After Dennis introduced himself, the mercenaries around him also began to introduce themselves.
The young man next to the middle-aged man bowed slightly and said, "I'm Roy."
A girl around 20 years old behind him bowed and said, "I'm Judy."
The little girl introduced herself while staring at the food. However, she almost drooled when she opened her mouth.
"I'm Wendy."
Pan Liang said with a smile, "My name is Pan Liang, and I'm just a familiar. This is my contract owner, Shirley."
"Come and take your seats."
The middle-aged man sat down opposite Pan Liang despite his fear.
The hungry little girl obediently took her seat as well.
Shirley had heard of the mercenaries from Seth City, but she had never come into contact with them before. Now that she met these people, she could ask for directions.
After Pan Liang nodded, the mercenaries started eating crazily as if they had not eaten in years.
Initially, he thought that the large bowl of pickled vegetables would be enough for everyone. Who knew they even took the gravy on the bottom of the bowl until nothing was left.
Shirley was not any better.
After finishing the meal, the three girls cleaned the place. Since Shirley did not do the cooking, it was naturally her turn to do the cleaning.
Dennis rubbed his stomach and said in satisfaction, "Thank you for your hospitality.
"I can't eat your meal for free. I have some news that you should be interested in."
As far as Dennis remembered, such a meal would probably cost thousands of gold coins.
In this world, all kinds of spices were costly. Many ordinary families would only use a bit of them to cook a meal during the New Year.
Without caring too much about Dennis' words, Pan Liang signaled for him to continue.
"A few of us found a small spiritual spring in a valley ahead. However, there are some monsters guarding that place. With the ability of the four of us, we can't enter at all.
"Originally, we planned to return to Seth City to look for other mercenaries to help. However, we bumped into you here and even ate the food you prepared. I think we can try and enter that place with you."
Pan Liang thought for a moment and said, "What's the use of that spiritual spring?"
"The effect of the spiritual spring is very great. It can improve one's physique and rank.
"Although I can't see through your rank, I think you'll also need this kind of thing."
After learning the use of the spiritual spring, Pan Liang hesitated for an instant before nodding in agreement.
He might not need the spiritual spring, but Shirley did. He made the decision without being bothered about her view.
After Shirley finished cleaning everything, Pan Liang told her about it, and she happily agreed.
"The spiritual spring is great. Even a small spiritual spring can probably help me level up by three to four levels."
Pan Liang nodded. "Alright. Since you agree, we'll go there tomorrow morning."
The next morning, they got up early and set off in the direction of the spiritual spring. However, Pan Liang felt that something was wrong with Roy, who was following behind the carriage.
Shirley was still the one driving the carriage. The two female mercenaries were sitting together with Pan Liang in the carriage.
Roy secretly asked Dennis at the back, "Dennis, do you feel that these two people are somewhat like what the rumors have been circulating?"
Dennis nodded and said, "Did you just realize it? They're the legendary Princess Shirley and her SSS-rank familiar."
"Sure enough, it's these two people. I can't believe I didn't notice their background."
Dennis put his hand on his forehead and said, "Last night, these two people introduced themselves to each other. Only now did you come to your senses, huh?"
Roy was a little embarrassed after hearing what Dennis said. Then, he shifted his jealous gaze to Pan Liang who was in the carriage.
"I've wooed Judy for so long, but I can't even touch her. Now, Pan Liang has just met her and they're already sitting together. I'm so pissed."
Technically, they were not sitting together at this moment because Pan Liang was lying down. Judy was sitting next to Pan Liang, and Wendy was sitting opposite her.
Fortunately, they were not far from the spiritual spring. Otherwise, no one knew what Roy would do.
Soon, they arrived at the valley where the spring was situated. Seeing Judy get off the carriage, Roy let out a sigh of relief.
Along the way, Pan Liang chatted happily with those girls, especially Judy. This made Roy glum.
After they got off, Pan Liang remained in the carriage. He closed his eyes and went to sleep instead.
He had not slept the whole of last night as he was watching them. At this moment, he was a little sleepy.
Fortunately, he could temporarily cut off his connection with the avatar and let it follow Shirley to protect her.
Roy saw that Pan Liang was sleeping, so he asked Shirley, "Is your familiar not coming along with you?"
Shirley looked at him and responded, "He's a lazy familiar. I'll carry him on my back. It won't affect my magic usage."
Then, they watched Shirley take out a gorgeous magic staff.
When Wendy saw the magic staff, she could not help but exclaim, "Wow! This magic staff is too beautiful. I really want a magic staff like this."
Wendy and Judy were both mages, so it was normal for them to wish for a beautiful and powerful magic staff.
Dennis looked at the magic staff from behind and sighed. "Sure enough, you're a princess. Ordinary people like us can't even compare with a princess with the lowest status."
Nevertheless, Roy did not think so.
He thought to himself, 'Princess Shirley's familiar is trashy. If we get rid of Princess Shirley, this magic staff can be sold for at least 100,000 gold coins.'
After that, Roy looked at Shirley with a different gaze. The moment Roy changed his mind, Pan Liang felt the malice in him.
However, he was asleep right now. He poked Shirley's back and remained motionless again.
Although he was asleep, the little poodle could sense the malice. The poodle turned around and bared its teeth at Roy, but it became obedient after Shirley gave it a kick.
It acted like a normal poodle without Pan Liang's control. What Pan Liang instructed the poodle to do was to attack when Shirley was in danger.
He also taught the Sword Control Technique to the poodle. He believed that the Sword Control Technique would manage to deal with all kinds of monsters in this area.
After walking for a while, Shirley saw some monsters guarding the entrance of the valley and said, "Are these monsters in front the ones stopping you from entering?"
Wendy moved forward and pointed to a giant white ape in front of them before she said, "It's that ape."