Chapter 96 Chapter 95 Safe Travels
A day of spell-casting training came to an end.
Ji Ma felt that the day had been both long and boring, as if she had spent the whole day reviewing the multiplication table from elementary school.
More importantly, there were mice eyeing her treasure trove while she felt powerless, stuck here studying the multiplication table.
To say she was powerless was an exaggeration; Ji Ma remembered that she seemed to have done something while walking in a dream. But perhaps due to fatigue in the dream, she had fallen asleep, and her memories were still quite hazy.
George noticed Ji Ma’s worries and mistakenly thought she was afraid of being captured by the evil benefactor.
He would offer her comfort every now and then:
“Don’t worry.”
“You will be safe.”
“Don’t be afraid, face it bravely.”
And similar phrases. His repeated reassurances felt a bit awkward, as he couldn’t think of much variety in his comforting words.
Ji Ma’s training with the magical scrolls was remarkably fast, earning her George’s praise:
“You’re learning quickly, almost like an experienced user of magic scrolls revisiting the material, not like a newborn succubus.”
Ji Ma suppressed the worries swirling in her heart and responded, “There are memories about using magical scrolls in my inheritance.” But those memories were sparse, and having memories didn’t mean possessing related skills.
George was still misled; he sighed:
“Initially, my teacher praised me as the fastest learner he had ever taught, even asked if I wanted to consider becoming a mage.”
Ji Ma put down the first-level scroll she had just “learned” to use and asked, “How long did it take you to learn how to use a first-level scroll back then?”
“A week.”
Ji Ma maintained a poker face, remembering that it had taken her about half a year back then.
There was another knock on the door.
“Guest, guest, the boss has a letter for you.”
George stood up, picked up the sword that was on the table, rested it on his shoulder, and went to open the door.
Behind the door stood a black-clad servant. It was the same servant who had led them to meet the boss last time, and whom the boss’s punishment had terrified.
He held a letter in his hand, warily glancing left and right, looking as if the word “thief” was written on his face.
George took the letter and asked, “Where’s the person I wanted?”
“There are no women, but there is a man,” the servant replied, “we’ll bring him tomorrow. Don’t worry; we’ll make it clear to him that she is your woman, and he won’t dare to lay a hand on your woman.”
Upon hearing this, Ji Ma felt very complicated. She didn’t argue, as it was actually the best protection for her.
“Ahem, is there anything else?”
“Nothing else.”
The servant closed the door.
George walked back, holding the letter, and sat at the round table. The alchemical lamp, the size of a human head, emitted a faint orange glow, illuminating the white letter paper.
Ji Ma leaned over and saw the emblem on the wax seal of the letter, a silhouette of a tiger shark, with the wax being red and edged in gold. She remembered that in Shalin City, the law stated that only nobles could have a gold edge.
George used a small knife to break the wax seal, took out the letter, and glanced at it, saying:
“Tomorrow, I won’t be able to accompany you. Stay here and learn how to use the magic scrolls well.”
“I want to go too.”
“No.”
George firmly dismissed her, thwarting Ji Ma’s plan to muddy the waters.
“Then can I have the teleportation scroll?”
“No.” George replied, “Using such an advanced magical scroll right now makes it easy for you to make mistakes; I will only give you the scroll to cast spells when it’s the most dangerous. The best course of action is for me to use it to teleport you away.”
Unintentionally, George also thwarted Ji Ma’s plan to sell the teleportation scroll to make money.
“That won’t do, and that won’t do either.” Ji Ma said angrily, “I’m going to sleep first.”
Saying this, she turned around, her tail raised in anger, and walked towards the large bed. Meanwhile, she silently counted down: five, four, three, two…
“Ji Ma.”
One… a virgin is caught off guard.
Ji Ma’s heart fluttered with joy, and she pretended to be unhappy, puffing up her cheeks and placing her hands on her hips as she turned to look at George.
She saw George holding a magic scroll with worm-eaten edges and saying:
“There’s still some time before bed; let’s continue our lesson.”
“Ah… no way.” Ji Ma said, “I want to sleep. I’m still a child, and I need plenty of sleep while I’m growing. Studying all day is like killing a child’s nature.”
With that, Ji Ma didn’t even bother to take off her clothes and leaped onto the bed, lying facedown and kicking off her slippers with her slender legs clad in white silk.
“Stop messing around, Ji Ma.”
“No, I want to sleep.”
George walked to the bedside, grabbed Ji Ma’s ankle, and pulled her out. Ji Ma kicked at George’s hand in protest, but it was useless. She caught a whiff of peach blossom fragrance.
Originally tired, she broke into a playful laugh, turning on her side to look at George, who was holding her ankle. Her pure, beautiful face revealed small white tiger teeth and a childlike smile, her golden eyes looked enticingly bright.
Ji Ma raised her tail, which curled around his wrist like a soft snake. At the same time, she whispered George’s name, her tail tip brushing against the back of his hand, saying: “George.”
George momentarily froze, his heartbeat quickening. He realized the pose was quite ambiguous, and the girl’s beautiful body was presented before him. In that moment, he truly understood what it meant for a succubus to be breathtakingly beautiful. However, he quickly became alert, beginning to doubt whether Ji Ma had been possessed by something.
“Heh heh heh.” Ji Ma suddenly laughed, “Brave Lord, you wouldn’t be easily enchanted by a fledgling succubus, would you?”
“Did you use Charm on me?” George squinted his eyes.
That was a very dangerous signal.
“No.” Ji Ma replied, “I just wanted to tease you.”
“Are you Ji Ma? The Ji Ma who came to Shalin City with me?”
“Yes.”
George released Ji Ma’s ankle, saying: “I thought you had some kind of problem just now.”
Damn, that virgin! I try to show off a bit, and he still says I have a problem; no wonder he’s single for life.
Ji Ma looked sad and said: “Do I look like I have a problem?”
“No, that was actually very… beautiful, almost mature.” George said, “I thought perhaps some harlot had taken over your body. Uh, I can’t think of any other words to describe it; I’ve never seen another succubus, please don’t take offense. I always thought you were still a child.”
Today, I was trying to show off a bit, and George called me a whore.
Ji Ma silently noted this down in her heart against George.
“Brave Lord, remember that charming others is a succubus’s nature.” Ji Ma said half-jokingly, “Don’t let yourself fall for it.”
George still wore a poker face and said, “Alright, when do we start practicing using the magic scrolls?”
The smile on Ji Ma’s face instantly froze.
That night, Ji Ma learned a lot of knowledge she already knew and went to bed exhausted. She reflected on her earlier “impromptu performance.” The good news was that the innocent persona she had crafted in front of George had deeply ingrained itself in his heart. Her desire was also fully gathered.
The bad news was that due to her impulsiveness, there was now a crack in her persona.
This was a result of impulsiveness.
Earlier, why did I suddenly want to show off? Upon careful reflection, I felt a bit proud and wanted to showcase my beauty, so in a moment of impulse, I tempted George. It seems that the hunting nature of a succubus deeply ingrained in me had influenced my actions. Heh, selling myself every day brings positive reinforcement; it’s strange if I’m not affected.
Ji Ma yawned widely, feeling neither surprise nor anger, no longer caring about the existence of male dignity, having gotten used to it.
As long as she didn’t end up in bed with George, everything would be fine.
She lay on her side, her body coiling into a half-circle, her smooth tail forming the other half-circle up to her head.
She slept very soundly.
The next day.
In the early morning, Ji Ma got up very early, rare for her not to have a nightmare, feeling refreshed.
She fulfilled her duties as a servant, serving George early in the morning.
Ji Ma knelt on the ground, her tail softly resting on the floor, her head lowered. She held with both hands a heavy object.
It was a piece of greave, and this greave was quite thick. Typically, ordinary full-body armor is about one to two millimeters thick, like tin sheets. However, the armor worn by extraordinary individuals like George could be described as steel shell. The processing difficulty was several levels higher than that of ordinary full-body armor. Common craftsmen lacked the strength for cold forging.
George was already dressed in a thick armed robe, resembling a heavy cotton coat. It served as a buffer, and in some parts of the armored coat, there was a layer of chainmail for protection in places that the full-body armor couldn’t cover. This armed robe had a cut on the shoulder caused by Chamberlain’s flaming sword.
Ji Ma opened the greave and fitted it onto George’s calf, tightening the belt firmly. Next came the skirt armor, and so on.
Ji Ma’s gaze fell on George’s breastplate, which was raised and had several dents. At this moment, George was wearing an ordinary breastplate bought with points to conceal his identity. Ji Ma remembered he always carried that breastplate adorned with an enamel sun, which must be an extraordinary item.
“Do you still need to hide your identity?”
“No.” George said, “I’ve discussed it with the boss.”
“Then why are you still using this plain breastplate?”
Although Ji Ma didn’t understand what “plain” meant, George roughly inferred its meaning from context.
“Because I still don’t want to fight for the gang while wearing that honorable breastplate.” George said proudly, “And it’s just Chamberlain; I don’t need to abandon my honor for him.”
“Does that mean if I hadn’t held you back, you were confident you could have killed Chamberlain last time?”
“He escaped quickly; it’s difficult to kill him,” George assessed. “But injuring him and making him rest for a few days, I’m very confident.”
But unfortunately, this time the enemy you face isn’t just Chamberlain. There’s also the most talented and youngest demon king—me! I can’t wait to see this proud guy take a hard blow.
Ji Ma thought fiercely in her heart.
With her hands, she brought over a small helmet, helping George put it on, then handed him a bucket helmet. The bucket helmet fit perfectly over the small helmet, aligning well with it, and the viewing hole of the bucket helmet fell right in front of George’s eyes.
Now fully equipped, George laid his hands open, pressed them against his heart, and silently prayed, saying: “Ji Ma, please bless me.”
“Safe travels.”
George nodded, expressing his gratitude.
He stood up just as footsteps resonated in the corridor.
The door opened, and the servant brought in a timid-looking middle-aged man with red hair. He had a horse-like face, with pockmarks and messy red hair, and upon seeing George, who looked like a deity, he shrank back in fear.
The servant said: “He’s here.”
George nodded and asked, “Have you been briefed on everything? Do you remember it all?”
“I will take good care of that girl; I will never harm her.”
The red-faced middle-aged man vowed.
“Thank you for your hard work; I will give you a tip.”
After George said this, he swung the massive sword onto his shoulder and strode out the door.
Before leaving, the servant warned: “Put in some effort.”
The middle-aged man nodded eagerly, and once the door closed, he turned to Ji Ma with a smile, saying: “Good morning, little girl.”
Just as Ji Ma was about to return the greeting, she noticed that the man’s right hand had somehow produced a gold coin. He quickly moved his fingers, causing the coin to roll over his knuckles.
At that moment, all fear and dread had vanished from his face.
