After the slave owners went bankrupt, they all wanted to keep me as a mistress.

Chapter 135 What does your arrest of the phantom thief Kimi have to do with Misty, this big cat?

That night, in the room at the far end of the corridor on the third floor of the hotel.

Sophie sat on the edge of the bed, using the dim moonlight streaming in from the window to take out the items from her bag one by one, and then put them back one by one.

Her movements were slow, her fingertips carefully tracing the surface of each item, as if she wanted to etch the quantity and location of these items into her mind through touch.

A few changes of clothes, stiffened from starching, and a bag of dry food wrapped tightly in oil paper—this was her own luggage.

Then there were dozens of bottles of recovery potions, a separate bottle of fifth-tier potion, which was said to be a combat potion that could unleash potential in a short time, and a heavy money bag containing ten thousand gold coins.

Finally, this afternoon, Mu Qiu brought her an exit permit from the temple.

"We're leaving tomorrow morning, let's check our luggage one last time."

She murmured to herself, her voice barely audible in the quiet room.

As her gaze swept over the supplies, Sophie's heart sank lower and lower.

These potions are probably worth 10,000 gold coins, so with that 10,000 gold coins, the total is 20,000.

This was all the resources Mu Qiu had given her.

It looks like a lot, but... she's not going on vacation, she's going to deliver mail.

From the earthen city in the northern border of the Aurian Empire to the war-torn southern kingdom of Doraken, the straight-line distance is more than 50,000 kilometers.

She couldn't cross the heart of the empire in a straight line, as that would easily expose her whereabouts. She had to detour through the eastern border, and considering the winding roads and potential obstacles, the total distance would probably be no less than 80,000 kilometers.

Walking would be a pipe dream; by the time she gets there, the capital city of Dorakeng will likely have already fallen.

The Earth Dragon has good stamina but is too slow, which does not meet the requirements.

The most suitable is the Wasteland Beast, a fourth-tier magical beast that combines endurance and speed, with a speed of 300 to 500 kilometers per hour. Under ideal conditions, it can travel 5,000 to 8,000 kilometers a day.

But this is only an ideal situation; the road ahead is not always smooth.

She had to traverse wastelands, deserts, climb mountains, and trek through forests; one mount could not cover the entire journey, and she would have to change mounts along the way.

The daily rental fee for a fourth-tier magical beast is between fifty and one hundred gold coins, while the deposit is one or two thousand. This is just the cost of one type of mount.

To cross dangerous terrain, she may need to hire a guide or buy a pass.

Sophie wasn't worried about being discovered by Imperial spies.

As the saying goes, in war, the rich are not killed.

Although the Kingdom of Doraken is at war with the Orion Empire, even during wartime, there is nowhere you can't go as long as you're willing to spend the money.

On this continent, there is no problem that gold coins cannot solve; if there is, then exchange them for starstones!

If you offer enough gold coins, even the general's tent in the Orion Empire will open its curtains for you.

Even a mere merchant, if he could produce a staggering ten million gold coins, could gain entry to the palace of the Orion Empire, meet the emperor, and have the opportunity to dine with him.

In fact, if the Orion Empire truly wanted to conquer the Kingdom of Dorakon, it would only take them less than a month to send out a legion of mages.

There are many reasons why the Orion Empire did not send a legion of mages, one of the biggest reasons being that some of the merchants in the Kingdom of Dolaken remained in the capital.

Only after these merchants had fled to the territory of the Orion Empire were the generals at the front able to capture the royal city of Dolaken.

The soldiers on the front lines only need to devote themselves to the battlefield, but there are many things to consider back home!

If a battle is won but no money is made, the general at the front will be held accountable!

If you lose money, that's even worse. Even if you win every battle, you'll still get your head chopped off!

There was once an imperial general who massacred a city, and upon his triumphant return, he was publicly sentenced to death by the emperor of the Orion Empire.

The purpose of war is to make money, and the purpose of expanding territory is to make more money in the future. However, the empire already had the military strength to occupy enemy countries, but because of your order to massacre the city, the empire suffered losses.

If you don't behead them, how will you quell the public's anger?

If you don't behead them, won't the other generals treat the empire's orders even more lightly?

pity……

Sophie sighed silently to herself.

She had neither large sums of gold coins nor starstones.

The Empire's army treats wealthy merchants and penniless adventurers very differently!

She silently did the mental calculations.

This sum of 10,000 gold coins is probably only enough to barely get her to the capital city of Dorakon.

The travel expenses for the return journey must be obtained from that princess whom we have never met.

As for the battle... she looked at the dozens of bottles of low-level recovery potions and sighed again.

For someone of her Gold rank strength, these potions are quite effective, but if she encounters a powerful enemy or gets bogged down in a protracted battle, these supplies might be insufficient.

"I don't know if it will be enough..."

Sophie sighed, and with a thought, she put the potion into the small storage ring, while packing the gold coins and clothes into her bag.

She wasn't afraid of fighting or death; years of being on the run had made her used to them.

What she feared was that if the mission failed, Lina would become that nobleman's plaything, and what she feared even more was that after she left, she would never see Lina again.

At this moment, there was a knock on the door.

Bang bang——!

The voice was very soft, as if afraid of disturbing others.

Sophie's heart tightened, and she instinctively gripped the golden dagger hidden in her sleeve.

Who could it be so late?

She held her breath, her bare feet touching the cold floor, and moved silently behind the door like a shadow, pressing her ear close to the door, trying to catch any sounds outside.

"Who?"

She asked in a low voice, her throat tightening slightly.

"It's me, Vera the Elf~"

A lazy voice came from outside the door.

It was Miss Vera...

Hearing that familiar voice, Sophie relaxed a little. Although she had only met Miss Vera a few times, the elegant elven girl was obviously more trustworthy than the human noblewoman.

But she also had some doubts.

Miss Vera and she hadn't even spoken a few words alone, so what did she want by coming to see her late at night?

She gently opened the door a crack and saw Vera standing in the hallway outside.

"Miss Vera? What's the matter so late?"

Sophie didn't fully open the door; her years on the run had made her always vigilant.

Even though she and Miss Vera were both Mr. Mu Qiu's slaves, who says that slaves don't compete for affections or engage in open and covert struggles?

Among the workers who work for the boss, there are those who work like scalpers, toiling away all day long, and those who act as labor thieves, speaking up for the boss!

Vera didn't seem to care. She simply raised her hand, a simple storage ring between her slender fingers, and slipped it through the crack in the door.

"I heard you're leaving tomorrow."

Vera spoke softly, her expression casual, and said nonchalantly, "The journey is long, and things aren't peaceful in Dolaken right now. Here are some small items that you might find useful; consider them a personal loan to you."

"You can return it to me when you come back later."

Sophie paused for a moment, looking at the ring offered to her, and didn't reach out to take it.

She and Vera had very little interaction and had barely exchanged a few words.

The other party was Mu Qiu's personal elven maid, whose status was obviously different from that of the newly arrived witch.

Why did she give herself a gift?

Is it a test? An attempt to win someone over? Or is there some other motive?

"Take it."

Vera pushed the ring forward a little further, glancing through the crack in the door at Lina, who was fast asleep on the bed: "Consider it an extra layer of security. After all, if you don't come back, Lina will definitely be very sad, right? If you don't come back within a month, she might just show up in Master's bed and start making those 'sniffling' noises, you know?"

"!!!"

Upon hearing this, Sophie clenched her fists instantly.

hateful!

This vulgar nobleman, does he really have a taste for this?

“Miss Vera… if… if I were willing to do this in Lina’s place, could you…”

"No."

Vera shook her head. Her master had only sent this witch to deliver a message, but had not given her a deadline. What if she ran away with her master's treasures?

These are all the master's property. We need to make this witch feel threatened and let her know that if she tries to escape, Lina will be eaten by her lewd master. Only then will this witch be able to focus on completing her mission.

"Is that so? I understand..."

One month... Is this the deadline he gave her?

"Here, take it. If you don't want it, that's fine. I didn't want to give it to you anyway."

"..."

Sophie took a deep breath.

She could doubt everything, and reject all kindness, but she couldn't reject anything that could increase her chances of coming back alive to see her sister.

For Lina's sake, she could endure humiliation, sign a contract of servitude, and naturally accept this seemingly dubious help.

If I can't come back within a month... then Lina will...

Sophie was silent for a moment, but finally reached out and accepted the ring.

"……Thanks."

She spoke in a low voice, which was somewhat hoarse.

She didn't say anything about repaying the debt in the future, but she remembered this timely kindness.

Miss Vera must have been disgusted by that despicable nobleman's evil act of trying to harm Lina, which is why she helped her!

But no matter what, she will remember this kindness she received today!

Vera watched as she accepted the ring, seemingly having completed her mission, and simply waved her hand, saying, "No need to thank me. Just complete the mission well and come back alive."

After saying that, she turned around and silently disappeared into the darkness of the corridor.

Sophie gently closed the door, pressing her back against the cold door panel as if only in this way could she support her somewhat weak body.

She looked down at the seemingly ordinary storage ring in her palm, her heart pounding in her chest.

After hesitating for a moment, she slowly probed a wisp of her spiritual energy into the ring.

When she sensed the items within the ring's space, her breath caught in her throat.

Inside, a bottle of pure, sixth-tier magic potion lay quietly, along with two alchemical puppets standing silently in the corner.

One body had smooth lines and radiated the unique energy luster of the Mithril tier, while the other was much larger and had a more complex structure, with energy fluctuations that clearly reached the level of a half-step legendary!

There were even five high-grade starstones, and a small stack of gold coins next to them. At a glance, the total amount was definitely over 400,000, and might even reach 500,000!

"This……"

Sophie clenched the storage ring in her hand.

She thought the other party was only lending her tens of thousands of gold coins, but the value of these things is probably over ten million.

This gift... is far too extravagant!

Moreover, Miss Vera is just an elven maid. No matter how much Mu Qiu dotes on her, how could she possibly possess such vast resources?

A sixth-tier magic potion, a near-legendary alchemical puppet, a top-grade starstone, hundreds of thousands of gold coins...

Could this be a resource she secretly accumulated?