"All right, I'm going back now," Field said.
"Oh, so soon?" Hilda said unconsciously.
"It's still early, it's only two in the morning, Hilda," Field chuckled.
"Is it?" Hilda blinked, and Britney nodded helplessly beside her.
"Well... okay..." Hilda nodded reluctantly.
She found that time always flew by quickly when she was with Field, and she didn't know why.
She still wanted to hear Field explain how he made such a big profit in such a short time.
But Field could tell that Hilda was reluctant, yet he had no intention of staying.
Nor did he intend to give the weapons he had crafted to Hilda at this time.
He had already given Hilda enough surprises today, and giving her the exclusive weapons was just icing on the cake.
So why not wait a while longer? Once the novelty of this surprise wore off, he could surprise Hilda again.
"I'll be officially assigned as an envoy to the academy tomorrow, and I plan to celebrate by going to the best restaurant in Grillea City for a meal. Will you come?" Field asked.
Britney was taken aback by this sudden invitation.
Inviting her to dinner?
Even some princes of kingdoms couldn't invite Hilda to dinner.
She was about to speak up and dampen Field's enthusiasm when Hilda didn't hesitate at all.
"Sure, I know a great restaurant!" she said immediately.
Britney looked at Hilda speechlessly.
Where was her reserve now, Hilda?
She realized that Field and Hilda's relationship was indeed good, even better than she had imagined.
"We'll go to the restaurant you mentioned then. If it's not good, I'll question your taste," Field said with a grin, raising an eyebrow at Britney.
Britney couldn't help but grit her teeth.
This guy was provoking her again!
"Hilda, I'm a bit tired. Let's go back and rest," Britney said, glaring at Field before turning to Hilda.
Upon hearing this, Hilda nodded and took Britney's hand, saying to Field, "See you tomorrow at noon."
"Okay," Field nodded, then left with Qiqi through the teleportation array.
Seeing Field leave, Britney breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Hilda with a smile. "Hilda, don't you know how to refuse?"
"Why should I refuse?" Hilda looked puzzled.
"Because he..." Britney was about to speak, but then she thought better of it. It seemed that Field and Hilda didn't have anything going on. For now, they just had a good relationship.
After a pause, she said, "As a girl, you should be more reserved."
Hilda laughed. "You don't understand him. If I said I wasn't going, he definitely wouldn't take us with him."
"Why would he do that? He's not a gentleman then," Britney huffed.
"He's never been a gentleman. He's a mercenary," Hilda laughed.
Britney looked at Hilda and finally sighed.
Clearly, Hilda was under Field's spell. She was already speaking up for him.
Then she took Hilda's hand and said, "All right, fine. I can't argue with you. In your eyes, he's the best mercenary in the world, right?"
Hilda's face flushed slightly. Even if she didn't mean it that way, she could tell what Britney was getting at. "Hehe, we really are just good friends, Britney. You have no idea how I haven't had a true friend since you left."
"I've fought alongside him, and he really is a reliable person, even though he can be annoying sometimes... But he really is a good friend."
"Uh huh, I can see that you're taking his side," Britney said sourly. "I feel like a stranger when I'm around you two."
Seeing this, Hilda quickly took Britney's arm and shook it gently. "No way, you're my best friend, Britney!"
With a little coaxing, Britney couldn't help but smile. This lively and adorable girl always brought her joy.
...
Back at the Seafall Inn, Field arrived at the tavern with Qiqi.
Seeing Field and Qiqi looking tired, Evelyn couldn't help but be curious.
"What were you up to? You look exhausted," she remarked.
"Using our brains. Ugh, using your brain is so exhausting..." Field yawned.
"Exhausting meow..." Qiqi added.
"Using your brains?" Evelyn laughed. "You two still have brains?"
"What do you mean? Don't I look like someone who uses his brain?" Field asked.
Evelyn glanced up and down at Field's muscular physique and nodded. "Nope."
Field: "..."
"Just kidding. I use my brain and make tens of millions easily!" Field said.
"Mmm, I believe you." Evelyn nodded with a smile, though her expression suggested otherwise.
"But really, two million!" Qiqi chimed in.
Evelyn was surprised at this. "Really?"
"False. I don't have millions. I just have a token personally awarded by the Lord of Grillea City," Field chuckled, showing off a delicate token.
This surprised Evelyn even more. The Lord of Grillea City was a true big shot!
She didn't think Field would go to the trouble of making a fake token just to fool her. The token bore the emblem of Grillea City, after all.
"How did you manage that?" Evelyn asked, extremely curious.
"Wanna know?" Field grinned.
Evelyn nodded.
Field suddenly leaned in close, almost kissing her. Evelyn's heart skipped a beat, but she didn't back away, meeting Field's gaze with her own.
"If you want to know, find a beautiful night, and I'll tell you then," Field said, reaching out to gently lift her delicate chin, a faint smile playing on his lips.
In Evelyn's eyes, that smile was full of masculine charm.
Blushing, she started to feel flustered.
"I... I don't want to know. Who knows what mischief you'll get up to at night..." Evelyn pushed away his hand, turning her face away as she spoke softly.
Field chuckled. "I won't do anything bad, really. I'll just do something fun."
"I don't believe you..." Evelyn said.
"Actions speak louder than words. Try it, and you'll see if what I said is true," Field smirked, leaning closer to Evelyn again.
His hand had already stroked her waist gently.
Evelyn's eyes flashed with panic.
"How about it?" Field's voice came from beside her, his warm breath tickling her earlobe, making her ears tingle and her cheeks flush.
She raised her head, looking at Field's face, so close to hers. His rugged features bore a gentle smile, but underneath that, there was a bold confidence and recklessness.
Their bodies were pressed together, and Evelyn could feel Field's strong chest and his powerful heartbeat.
"I... I..." Evelyn's eyes seemed to swirl, and in the end, she was like a startled rabbit, placing her hands on Field's chest and pushing him away.
"I... I'm not ready yet..." she stammered.
"It's okay," although Field was a
bit disappointed, he still smiled. "I'll wait for you."
At his words, Evelyn's panicked heart suddenly calmed down, and then she suddenly gathered her courage, reaching out to grab Field's collar and pulling him closer.
Field didn't expect the innkeeper to suddenly be so bold. Caught off guard, he leaned forward, almost tipping over, and then Evelyn's fiery red lips kissed him.
Looking at the innkeeper in front of him, with her eyes closed tightly, Field suddenly felt that she was really cute.
Qiqi blinked beside them.
Learning, meow!
After a moment, Evelyn pushed Field away, her face red. "Consider that a down payment!"
Field licked his lips, as if savoring the taste, then chuckled, "Mmm, that down payment was really sweet~"
Evelyn was too embarrassed to face Field, despite her usual confident demeanor. But when it came to this moment, she was no different from a little girl.
Teased by Field like this, and thinking about her bold actions just now...
Evelyn couldn't bring herself to face Field anymore and hurriedly fled to the kitchen.
Field laughed heartily, taking Qiqi with him upstairs.
The life of a mercenary was full of fun.
Back in the room, Field and Qiqi took a bath and then snuggled into bed. Field was ready to sleep, but Qiqi seemed restless. She nestled into Field's arms, lying on his chest with her tail swaying back and forth, her eyes full of anticipation.
"Qiqi wants to eat big chunks of meat~" she said.
Field chuckled at her words, reaching out to embrace Qiqi's waist and planting a kiss on her.
Due to their playful antics with the innkeeper earlier, Field couldn't resist getting a bit naughty as he kissed her, which made Qiqi quite satisfied. However, she soon felt something poking her belly and squirmed a bit, looking back.
"Wow, there's a snake, meow!" she exclaimed.
Field was taken aback. "That's not a snake!"
"What is it, meow?" Qiqi asked curiously.
With a mischievous twinkle in his eye, Field grinned. "That's... a cat toy."
"A fun one, meow?" Qiqi's ears perked up.
"Hehe, definitely fun."
"I want to play with it, meow!"
"Okay, I'll teach you..."
Under Field's guidance, Qiqi sometimes used her little paws and sometimes her mouth to play with Field's cat toy.
...
Morning came, and Field felt refreshed and energized.
Qiqi's learning ability was impressive indeed.
"Field~" As Field woke up, so did Qiqi, nuzzling affectionately against Field's chin.
After last night's playtime, Qiqi had become even more attached to Field.
This made Field somewhat excited. Once Qiqi reached the Gold rank, he could unlock the true gameplay of the cat toy. Heh heh~
"Alright, let's get up. Today's a good day!" Field gently patted Qiqi's bottom and said.
Indeed, today he could directly hand the recommended personnel list for external assignments to Hollan, thus officially becoming the external personnel of Heartis he had been longing for.
Qiqi's quota was also secured, but it had to wait a bit. Today, Evelyn had to attend a meeting between innkeeper guild owners, and she would receive the quota later in the afternoon. After that, Qiqi would also become an official external personnel of Heartis.
Then, Field would have lunch with the little swans.
For dinner, he would arrange to meet with Mentor Hollan again. The reason would still be his official status as external personnel. Mentor Hollan wouldn't refuse, and then they could have a deeper conversation. Heh heh heh...
Oops, can't heh too much. This chapter is getting a bit too cheeky, and too much of it might be too much for the censors to handle.
Feeling great, Field prepared to take on a few tasks. After all, his main profession was a mercenary, and he couldn't afford to take too many days off without accepting tasks.
First, he found Evelyn and accepted two Platinum-level tasks.
Then, he went to Orin's blacksmith shop and accepted a free task to obtain ore materials.
Finally, he went to the Steel Tavern to find Raymond and accept a task.
Raymond had obviously heard about Field's big achievements in Grillea City, even catching the attention of the lord. He hadn't misjudged him.
So, he gave Field four golden tasks.
They were all high-paying commissions with minimal effort!
Next, Field set off for Grillea City.
Don't misunderstand; this wasn't for ceremonial purposes. He needed to complete a task.
He had accepted a delivery task from Raymond, and it involved transporting a live creature—a young earth dragon tied up in a bundle.
This guy, though still young, was two meters tall and over five meters long, resembling a giant lizard, but more ferocious.
This big guy was bound by heavy chains and dared to growl at Field even through the cage. It was truly a beast with some dragon bloodline.
As it was an uncontracted magical beast, it couldn't use teleportation arrays, so Field had to transport it along the transportation route to the arena in Grillea City, where different battles took place every day.
There were battles between humans, humans against magical beasts, humans against other races, and even other races against magical beasts... In short, it was extremely violent and bloody, but also beloved by the people.