"Thank you very much for saving her life. If there is anything I can do for you, please don't hesitate to ask."
Raymond gave a deep bow towards Lyla. He shuddered, thinking about what would have happened if she hadn't come in time.
"Oh? Are you recognising the life debt between me and her?"
Becca asked with a small smile on her face. Raymond grimaced when he heard the words 'life debt'.
"Ah! That…"
It was a very serious matter if one owed a life debt to someone. And recognising the life debt meant that the person in debt had to repay the person they owed, or else they would risk losing their magic.
That's why Raymond was hesitant to recognise the life debt. If Becca asked Jasmine to do something unsavoury, then she would have to comply.
"Fufu~ I was just joking. There's no need to take it so seriously."
Lyla's tinkling laughter rang out as she replied, amused by Raymond's reaction.
"How about showing me around the place? I am new to this city."
Lyla offered, seeing that Raymond was still feeling awkward.
"Sure, but that doesn't count as repayment. So, if you ever need my help, you just need to ask."
As long as she asked for something within his capabilities, he would fulfil her wish. He didn't like the feeling of owing something to someone.
"Ah! Miss Becca, do you have a place to stay? If not, I would recommend this inn."
Raymond suggested, thinking it would be easy to help her if he kept her close. He had no idea that he had just invited a disaster into his house.
"Really?" Lyla asked. "Is it good?"
"Yeah, the rooms are neat and affordable. Jasmine! quickly take her inside and talk with the inn lady."
Raymond quickly instructed Jasmine, who happily led Lyla inside the inn with her.
"Alright! It's pretty late, I will meet you tomorrow at the guild."
Sasha said, looking at the duo of Jasmine and Lyla going inside the inn.
"Mmh, okay. See you tomorrow."
Raymond replied, waving her goodbye.
But Sasha, instead of waving back, gave him a small hug.
"Huh? What was that for?"
"Nothing~ Thanks for catching Mobi."
Sasha replied as she quickly turned around and walked towards the guild's direction.
*******
Raymond entered the inn and saw that Becca was paying for the room.
"Hmm, I can't believe they are offering such a good room for just a few silver coins."
She spoke cheerfully and thanked Raymond for suggesting the inn.
"Ray! Sister Becca is staying in the room next to ours. Isn't that great?"
Jasmine chimed in as she saw her master coming inside.
"Really? That's great."
Raymond replied casually. He didn't care which room she stayed in. As long as she was near, he would be able to find a chance to clear this debt.
Thinking about debt, Raymond glanced at Jasmine.
'She is too weak right now. I need to get her stronger before we leave the Capital.'
Raymond thought inwardly. Before this, he was sure that he would be able to protect her from any danger.
But he realised he had overlooked one critical factor. No matter how strong he was, if Jasmine wasn't strong, then there was always a threat to her life— be it from others or from herself.
While lost in his own thoughts, Raymond was led towards the second floor by Jasmine, with Lyla following them in a hurry.
Lyla was getting tired of putting on an act of a friendly, cheerful girl. She needed to get some alone time as soon as possible.
Even though she appeared calm on the outside her thoughts were in a mess. She hadn't expected to find her target so quickly. She still hadn't made enough preparation to complete her mission.
But she managed to maintain her facade until now and took advantage of the situation. It was only a matter of time before she was done with this mission.
She just needed to gather enough info about Raymond before she carried out his assassination. She couldn't afford to fail this one. Only endless torture at the hands of her half-brother awaited her if she were to fail this time.
Soon they reached their respective rooms. Jasmine was thinking of how to avoid the talk that she was about to have with her master. As if she thought of something her eyes lightened up.
"Sister Becca, let me come with you, I will help you settle down."
Jasmine said as she dragged Lyla with her to the next room.
"Wait! Jas—"
"Ohh! Don't wait for me, Ray. You go to sleep, it might take a while for me here."
-Thud!
With that, she closed the door.
"Sigh~ this girl…"
Raymond shook his head at her antics. If she thought she could avoid getting scolded then there was another thing coming for her.
'Just wait, I will definitely pay you back for everything that happened today.'
Raymond thought as he remembered his embarrassing moments from the day due to his outfit.
*******
'Urghh, why did she come here?'
Lyla groaned in her head. She just wanted some alone time to sort out her thoughts, was that too much to ask?
"Whaa~ this room is just like ours!"
Jasmine exclaimed seeing the interiors of the room.
'Still, I can try to get some information from her.'
Lyla thought as she proceeded to take out her things from her spatial ring.
"Say, How did your fiancé manage to survive after falling that deep?"
Lyla asked in a curious tone. Jasmine had lied to Lyla that Ray was her fiancé. Since he didn't want his noble status to be made public, she decided to go with this lie.
Lyla who knew about their relationship played along since she didn't want to expose her identity.
"Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to say anything demeaning but he seems to be a Martial Minor. It should have been impossible for him to survive with his strength."
Lyla added seeing the frown on Jasmine's face.
"It's because he is strong."
Jasmine said proudly, puffing her chest.
"Huh? What?"
Lyla replied, puzzled. She had a nagging feeling in her mind when she heard from Allen how he was beaten by Raymond.
Now listening to Jasmine her doubts only increased further.
"Yeah, I can't tell you how, but he is very strong."
"Uh? Is that so?"
Lyla said half-heartedly. Her mind was still coming up with numerous scenarios where Raymond could have survived falling into a 50 meter deep crevice.
No matter how she thought about it, she couldn't come up with a scenario where a Martial Minor would be able to escape from that situation without any help.
But looking at Jasmine's proud face, she couldn't tell if she was lying about his strength.
'Was it that girl?'
Lyla guessed thinking about Sasha, who was a Martial Greatsage. It wouldn't have been difficult for her to rescue Raymond.
When someone reaches a Martial Grandmaster realm they would be able to form wings with their mana and fly for a short while. Considering Sasha was two whole realms higher than that, it was possible for her to save Raymond.
Thankfully, she hadn't jumped to finish off Raymond as soon as she saw him. There were too many variables to consider here. She needed to stall for time and find out more about Raymond.
Lyla had suppressed her cultivation down to the Martial Sage realm, so she still had a surprise factor in this matter.
As long as she didn't reveal her real cultivation level, she could catch Raymond or whoever was protecting him off guard.
After deliberating over the current situation for a while, Lyla decided to get herself closer to Raymond and gain his trust. That was the best course of action as of now.
"Alright! Thanks, Jasmine."
Lyla chirped after settling down in her room.
"Haha, sister Becca, I am the one who should be thanking you!"
Jasmine said with a smile as she had used helping her as an excuse to get away from her master.
"Yeah, right! You said you were new to the city right? There are so many things you need to see…"
Just like a chatterbox Jasmine started talking about Capital City and its specialties without stopping. By the time she stopped, it was already dark outside.
Lyla who knew almost every corner of the Capital like the back of her hand was bored out of her mind listening to Jasmine.
"Ah! It's already so late. Let's meet tomorrow, I can't wait to show you around the city."
Jasmine said excitedly as she got up from her seat to head out.
"Goodnight, sister Becca."
"Yeah, Goodnight."
Lyla replied with a smile which soon disappeared as Jasmine went to her room.
'Hmm? How did I get along with her so easily?'
Lyla thought. Although she found Jasmine annoying and only entertained her for the sake of her mission. Halfway through her ramblings about the city, Lyla had unknowingly started to get less and less annoyed with Jasmine.
By the time she left for her room, Lyla was unsure if she was annoyed or intrigued by the idea of roaming the Capital with Jasmine.
Jasmine's cheerfulness seemed to have rubbed off on Lyla as she went to sleep that night with a small smile on her usually expressionless face.