As dawn unfurled its golden hues and avian trills pierced the tranquil morn, Tyler awoke from a dream too vivid to be simply dismissed as an illusion.
Its surreal texture had for a moment lent credence to its occurrence.
Upon awakening, however, Tyler found himself devoid of the rejuvenating satisfaction typically gleaned from a deep slumber.
Instead, he was assailed by lingering fatigue.
He initially attributed this to the discomfort of sleeping on a hard floor, but soon realized he was nestled in a soft, warm cocoon of blankets – a sensation far removed from the harshness of a hard floor.
Turning abruptly to his side, Tyler’s eyes met the sight of a pair of soft, undulating “mounds” of white.
They rose and fell rhythmically with the breaths of a young girl…
(Tyler: …Idiot, would you care to explain this anomaly?)
(Silly Nissen: Eh? Weren’t you the one who used to call me stupid loli?)
(Tyler: I was overly kind to you before. From today, you are the idiot loli.)
(Silly Nissen: Uh, what did I do?)
(Tyler: Why would Emilia sleep with me like this? Why didn’t you wake me? And what happened to the morning alarm service?)
As he spoke, Tyler activated his “Calculation Boost,” depleting some of the restored magic energy.
(Silly Nissen: A-Ah… I just thought… you were so tired yesterday… I wanted to reward you… hehe…) 𝒪𝗏𝒍xt.𝐜𝒐𝓶
(Tyler: Reward me? Why do I feel even more exhausted?)
(Silly Nissen: I… I didn’t expect… Emilia to be so formidable… A young girl of the foxkin… she truly is a warrior goddess…)
(Tyler: What warrior goddess, speak clearly.)
(Silly Nissen: Eh? You don’t remember anything at all?)
At idiot loli’s words, Tyler felt a headache beginning to form.
Fragments of last night’s memory made him subconsciously rub his forehead.
So, it wasn’t a dream, but reality.
(Idiot loli, remember this ??)
·
Seizing the opportunity while Emilia was still asleep, Tyler planned to extricate himself from her embrace.
At that moment, Emilia was clinging onto him like a baby koala, her arms and legs wrapped around Tyler.
He attempted to gently free himself a few times, but failed to escape Emilia’s “entanglement.”
Instead, his movements seemed to stir her from her slumber. Her delicate hand restlessly sought “something”…
In a flash, Tyler abandoned his earlier caution.
(Shadow Step!)
But after trying to use his skill, Tyler abruptly realized his shoes were missing! He couldn’t use his skill!
(Damn, what the hell happened last night!)
Left with no choice, Tyler reached out to stop Emilia’s random movements. At the same time, he swiftly flipped over, pinning Emilia beneath him, then stood up and escaped her embrace.
Surprisingly, despite the commotion, Emilia didn’t wake up. She merely hummed a couple of times before resuming her slumber.
It appeared that Tyler wasn’t the only one who was “exhausted” from the night before.
·
Having freed himself, Tyler first moved Emilia onto the bed and covered her with a blanket, then tidied himself up and got dressed.
He left a note for Emilia and placed breakfast on top of it. Afterward, he exited the room, locked the door (Emilia could open it from inside), and started to prioritize his tasks.
Yesterday, Tyler accomplished three major tasks, but that was yesterday. Starting today, he has new tasks that must be completed.
First is the “Countdown to Confession Death,” with only 22 days remaining, the time was not ample for Tyler, especially in Sunny Town.
With Emilia in front and Avril behind, if Tocchini also returned while he lingered here, this would not be an ideal location for Tyler to pursue his next target.
Secondly, there’s Avril, Tyler didn’t want her to continue staying in Sunny Town. She had already interacted with Emilia, and if their friendship deepened, Tyler’s scheme to “conquer” both of them would eventually be exposed.
Therefore, Tyler set two new objectives for himself. The first was to persuade Avril to leave Sunny Town as quickly as possible; the second was to find a new location for himself, preferably one that could be reached within five days.
.
While contemplating these matters, Tyler had already arrived at Emilia’s home.
En route, he had accomplished his “daily task” of honing his skills, raising “Calculation Boost” to level 11 and “Heart of Focus” to level 8.
Upon entering Emilia’s home, Tyler first dealt with the corpses of Charles and Omar, then repaired Emilia’s damaged house, and even retrieved the note he had left for Avril the previous night.
With this, he had effectively tied up the loose ends from the previous night.
Subsequently, Tyler made his way to the inn where Avril and the divination rabbitkin granny were staying, assuming they would be at breakfast at this early hour.
Indeed, Tyler quickly spotted the two in a stall selling porridge.
.
The stall was bustling with chatter, everyone discussing Mayor Gideon’s sudden demise the previous day. Speculation was rife about who would become the next mayor now that the mayor’s family had been wiped out.
Tyler ordered a bowl of thick porridge and directly sat across from Avril and the divination rabbitkin granny.
“Good morning, Granny Nevina, Avril.”
Tyler’s arrival was met with surprise and joy. After exchanging pleasantries, Tyler began to probe their plans.
“What are you planning to do here in Sunny Town? Is there anything I could help with?”
“I don’t have any particular plans. I’ll just follow wherever Avril goes.”
Tyler knew the divination rabbitkin granny’s plan was to hide from the pursuit of the Scarlet family.
She chose to follow Avril because her divination foretold that Avril was her lucky charm.
After the rabbitkin granny expressed her intentions, both her and Tyler’s gaze fell on Avril, making her somewhat nervous.
“I… I originally planned to come to Sunny Town to learn tailoring skills, but recently, I feel like I might have some… aptitude as a pharmacist? So, I want to… hone this skill… and see.”
During her journey with the rabbitkin granny, Avril had successfully helped many people with her potions, but as they were all improvised remedies, she lacked confidence.
However, in Tyler’s view, Avril already possessed the qualifications to be confident, as her status information had already shown a relevant combat occupation.
Tyler had noticed this when he first met Avril in Sunny Town a few days ago.
━━━━━━━━━
Avril, Female, 16 years old, a villager from Ira Village
Production Occupation: Fruit Farmer – Lv2
Manufacturing Occupation: Tailor – Lv4
Combat Occupation: Priest Apprentice – Lv2
Skills: 1 / 1
━━━━━━━━━
“That’s great, Avril. We should take advantage of our youth and explore our potential, don’t you think, Granny Nevina?”
——『Combat Occupation Skill ‘Deceiver – Lv11’ as been activated and remains in effect…』
Tyler hinted at the rabbitkin granny with his eyes to help him. He keenly noted that Avril’s current “idea” was the best motivation to persuade her to leave Sunny Town.
Success or failure, it all hinged on Tyler’s next few words!