Vol 4. Chapter 88: Such an Easy Demon to Handle

“Pipi, please. Just come with me to the Crimson Leaf Empire, okay~?”

Lingluo clasped her hands together and gazed at the purple-haired girl in front of her with eyes full of immense expectation.

Faced with this request from her “master,” Pipi first frowned. After freezing for a moment, she immediately revealed an expression of shock and extreme displeasure.

Then, without another word, the maid outright rebelled. She thrust out an index finger and angrily pointed it straight at Lingluo’s forehead.

“You!! You... dream on! You’re trying to make me work overtime again! No way!”

“Pipi, the situation is special this time. It’s not like I want to go. The Elders gave the order, so there’s nothing I can do.”

“Don’t care!”

Unwilling to listen to Lingluo’s bullshit any longer, the purple-haired girl mercilessly crossed her arms over her chest and turned her head away.

“I’ve already worked my ass off for so long! Now that I’ve finally gotten a vacation, I’m absolutely going to enjoy my life properly. And you still want me to work overtime? Not a chance! I suggest you behave yourself and stop daydreaming!”

“Enmm... then... Pipi, how about you come with me first? I’ll give you compensatory leave afterward?”

“Hah? Compensatory leave?”

The instant she heard those words, Pipi’s brows began twitching violently.

Clearly, the phrase had unconsciously dredged up some unpleasant memories from deep inside the purple-haired girl’s mind. For a moment, a fierce gleam abruptly flashed through Pipi’s dark-purple eyes.

“You rotten woman still have the nerve to mention compensatory leave?! You said the same thing during the birthday celebration at the beginning of the year! And the National Day before that! And the closed-door training before that! Every single time, you make me work first and then say you’ll give me time off later! You’ve fucking dragged it out until now! And you still want to talk about making it up to me?! Like hell I believe you! I want my vacation!”

Pipi roared in exasperation.

A terrifying, invisible pressure instantly erupted from the purple-haired girl and rapidly spread in every direction, enveloping the entire training ground in the blink of an eye.

That immense, suffocating pressure continuously battered Lingluo.

An ordinary person faced with an aura like this would probably have rolled their eyes back and fainted on the spot.

However,

although Lingluo was only at the Mid Fifth Tier, years of hardship and suffering had tempered her willpower to an unimaginable degree. She actually managed to withstand the purple-haired girl’s oppressive aura head-on.

Then the green-haired girl tilted her head and spoke in a voice filled with guilt and pleading.

“I’m sorry, Pipi. Things have just been far too busy lately, so I had no choice but to keep delaying your vacation... Once we come back this time, I promise I’ll let you take your leave. Okay?”

“No!”

Faced with the green-haired girl’s request, Pipi once again rejected her without the slightest hesitation.

“You say that every single time! Don’t think I’m going to help you again this time!”

“Enmmm... fine...”

Hearing that, Lingluo seemed to finally give up on persuading her. She lowered her head weakly and dejectedly.

“In that case, I’ll just go by myself...”

“Hmph. Good. At least you understand.”

Seeing the other woman admit defeat, Pipi even began to feel smug.

She planted both hands on her hips with extraordinary arrogance.

Despite possessing the appearance of an adorable young girl, the moment Pipi struck that pose, her punchability somehow skyrocketed for no apparent reason...

It was as though she naturally came with a built-in taunt...

“Then go by yourself. I’m off to enjoy my vacation...”

With that, Pipi turned around and prepared to leave.

However,

just as the purple-haired girl was about to depart, Lingluo’s slightly melancholy voice slowly drifted into Pipi’s ears.

“Um, Pipi.”

“Hmm? What now?”

“Later, if I don’t make it back alive, the treasury password is 768789. Just go take your payment yourself.”

?!!

Hearing that, Pipi stopped dead in her tracks and turned around with a baffled expression to stare at the green-haired woman behind her.

“What’s that supposed to mean? Why are you suddenly saying something like that?”

“Hmm? That? Just in case.”

“Just in case? In case of what?”

“Well, smart little Pipi should already know, right? I’ve only just become an Imperial Consul. I don’t have enough backing, and there are plenty of people within the empire who want to get rid of me and take my place. This diplomatic mission to the Crimson Leaf Empire would be the perfect opportunity for them to make a move against me. Besides, if I really do obtain the Sacred Dragon Heart later, there’ll definitely be plenty of people who’ll want to steal it from me in secret. Maybe they’ll just murder me for the treasure and chop me up~”

“Uh, that...”

“That’s why I’m saying, if something really does happen to me, I can’t exactly treat you unfairly after everything you’ve done for me. Just leave some of those Origin Stone Coins and treasures for Vika and the others. You can take everything else if you want. It’s just... when that happens, those will be the only things I can give you as payment. No matter what, if I fail to survive long enough to become the Imperial Sovereign, that’s about all I’ll be able to do.”

“Uh...”

As she spoke, Lingluo gave a relieved smile and waved her hand as though she did not care in the slightest.

“But Pipi, you don’t need to worry. The Adventurers’ Association is actually pretty reliable this time. They assigned me a full ten powerful Fifth-Tier personal guards. Sure, most of them are old, weak, sick, disabled, or completely inexperienced, but at a glance, they definitely look like the reliable type. Also, several families specially assigned mercenary groups to me. Although those soldiers look vicious and ill-intentioned, like they might suddenly draw their swords and cut me down at any moment, I’m sure they’re all good people... Anyway, there basically shouldn’t be any problems during this trip. Pipi, you can go enjoy your vacation without worrying~”

After saying that, Lingluo slowly stood up, picked up the clothes scattered nearby, and began walking toward the entrance of the training ground, leaving the purple-haired girl standing there alone in a daze.

“...”

After hearing Lingluo’s words, Pipi simply froze where she stood and fell into a strange silence.

The purple-haired girl, who had just been eagerly preparing to go enjoy herself, instantly lost all of her previous carefree ease.

A powerful sense of unease abruptly surged into her heart...

What if...

What if... that woman really died?

Wouldn’t all the effort she had put in until now be completely wasted?

Those Origin Stone Coins in the treasury?!

What fucking use would taking those be to her?!

Those things weren’t her goal at all!

Her goal was to control a great empire!

To make her younger sisters look at her in admiration!

To make Mother proud of her!

Not to take some worthless money!

“Fuck!”

The moment she imagined the possibility of everything she had done going to waste, Pipi couldn’t help cursing inwardly.

She wanted to properly enjoy her vacation, but with Lingluo in this kind of situation, there was no way she would be able to relax and enjoy herself anyway...

Fuck!

Why is this woman such a useless piece of trash?!

Why is she so damn weak?!

...

After an intense internal struggle and weighing the pros and cons, Pipi ultimately chose to give up on her original vacation plans.

Forget it.

I’ll take my vacation after I safely escort this woman back...

With that thought, Pipi turned around with a look of disdain and stared at that emerald-green figure—her current contract partner.

“Hey!!”

The purple-haired girl spoke coldly.

“Is the Crimson Leaf Empire fun?”

“Hmm?”

Hearing the voice from behind her, Lingluo froze slightly before turning back with a somewhat “confused” look and meeting Pipi’s beautiful dark-purple eyes.

“It is the number-one empire on the continent, after all. I’m sure it’ll be pretty interesting. ...But Pipi, why are you suddenly asking?”

“It’s nothing. I was just thinking that my vacation is pretty long anyway, so I might as well spend a little of it traveling around the Crimson Leaf Empire. Staying in Saint Lomari every single day is boring.”

“Eh?”

Hearing this, Lingluo blinked in disbelief.

Then, an expression of unconcealed delight suddenly appeared on the girl’s beautiful face.

Lingluo excitedly spun around and rushed straight in front of the purple-haired girl.

“Pipi! Does this mean you’re willing to come with me to the Crimson Leaf Empire? I knew it... Pipi really is worried about me~”

!?

Because Lingluo had suddenly gotten so close, Pipi’s cheeks reddened slightly.

However, after freezing for a moment, the purple-haired girl disdainfully turned her head away and snorted.

“Hmph. Who’s worried about you? Don’t flatter yourself. I just want to spend my vacation somewhere else, that’s all. It just so happens that we’re going the same way.”

With that,

Pipi stopped paying attention to Lingluo. Pouting, she decisively turned away and transformed into a streak of dark-purple lightning, disappearing directly from the training ground...

...

After the purple-haired girl vanished without a trace, Lingluo slowly lowered her clasped hands and thoughtfully looked around the training ground, where dust still drifted through the air.

After a moment of silence, the corners of Lingluo’s lips slowly rose.

A helpless yet indulgent smile appeared on the girl’s face.

Seriously...

“What an easy demon to handle~”