Chapter 7.

“Gone?”

Molanna clutched the piece of hemp cloth in her hand, her mind going completely blank.

Her gaze frantically swept back and forth through the alley, but she still couldn’t find her clothes.

“That’s not right… they were clearly placed here!”

“Could it be… someone took them?!”

The place where she hid her clothes was clearly well-concealed! 

This kind of alley clearly wouldn’t see half a person enter it even in eight hundred years, and it was even hidden in the deepest corner.

Her transparent pupils trembled frantically, and her brain couldn’t come up with a solution for a long time.

“Calm down, Molanna, calm down.”

The urgent matter now wasn’t panic, but to immediately think of a countermeasure.

If the potion’s effect ended while she still hadn’t found her clothes, and she streaked naked down the main street in this state…

Being arrested as a pervert on the spot would be a small matter, but more importantly was her reputation!

She’d definitely be pointed at and called an exhibitionist from now on!

Should she run home immediately?

That wouldn’t work—the potion’s duration wasn’t enough to last until she got home.

Should she run to some random clothing store and steal a set of clothes?

That wouldn’t work either—too unstable, and if discovered, the outcome wouldn’t be any better.

Should she find a place to hide until there was no one outside, then sneak home?

How would that be different from streaking directly?

After rapidly eliminating these wrong options, Molanna decided—

To immediately return to the opera house to find her master.

That’s right, Master Reyno had worn a windbreaker when going out today, large enough to cover her entire body. 

As long as she immediately went to find her master and confessed her situation, then got her master’s clothes, she could temporarily solve this urgent crisis! 

The opera house was right next door, so there was definitely enough time.

With the Marking Magic in place, she could also know her master’s exact location.

And with her master escorting her home, she wouldn’t have to worry about accidentally exposing herself.

Although her invisibly infiltrating the opera house to spy on her master couldn’t exactly be called Disrespecting her teacher, that was Master Reyno who had accompanied her for so many years!

He definitely wouldn’t be heartless enough to expel her from his tutelage!

Absolutely not!

She gritted her teeth with determination, turned around, and ran toward the opera house.

She had to hurry, or she’d be utterly disgraced.

……

As soon as the performance ended, Reyno followed Kleya out of the private box and headed backstage.

Upon learning that Kleya was Ika’s friend, the staff immediately went into the work room to inquire, and only let the two in after obtaining Ika’s consent.

When Reyno and Kleya entered the work room, Ika had already changed into her daily clothes and was sitting quietly at the dressing table waiting.

The originally revealing and sexy exotic dance costume had now been changed to simple white shirt and black pants, giving off a capable and carefree feeling.

The moment she saw her, Kleya’s eyes overflowed with waves of irrepressible joy. She waved at her, greeting Ika with body language.

“Kleya, you came.” 

Ika’s lips curved into a gentle arc, and after greeting her, she turned her gaze toward Reyno.

“This person is…”

“This is Reyno! I mentioned him to you before, do you remember? Today he came with me to see your performance! He thought you acted wonderfully, so I brought him along to meet you.” 

Kleya’s face was flushed red, looking quite excited.

“Oh, it’s an honor to meet you, Mr. Reyno. I often hear Kleya mention you. You’ve got this girl completely smitten.” 

Ika nodded toward Reyno, her pair of blue eyes showing no emotion.

Ika’s way of speaking offstage was completely different from when she sang or recited lines on stage.

On stage, she appeared charming and flamboyant. But now she was extremely gentle and kind.

“You’re too kind, Miss Ika’s performance was also quite spectacular.”

Reyno politely replied to Ika, but his heart felt a chill, and his brow unconsciously furrowed slightly before relaxing again.

This attitude from her seemed somewhat familiar.

Clearly very polite and enthusiastic, but somehow revealing a subtle sense of distance. As if her words occasionally carried thorns.

Well, she was a star after all, so having some pride was quite normal. He was only able to meet her thanks to Kleya’s connection.

“Hey! Ika, what are you saying!” 

Upon hearing Ika tease her, Kleya nearly let out a sharp shriek.

“I didn’t say anything wrong, did I?”

“When chatting with me, you can’t go three sentences without mentioning Mr. Reyno.” 

Ika’s eyes revealed a playful mood.

“Besides, bringing someone else to see my play should be a first for you, right? You even specifically asked me for a second ticket.”

As Ika’s words came out bit by bit, Kleya’s face visibly reddened continuously, her small face looking as if it had been quenched by fire.

If someone touched it now, they might burn two blisters on Reyno.

Just as Reyno was about to speak up and say a few words for Kleya, his head suddenly BUZZED.

“After Hero Reyno came to the opera house with Demon King Kleya, he actually encountered an acquaintance there—bounty hunter Ika.”

“Once the star opera actress and dancer of Haila Opera House, she has now become the most terrifying bounty hunter on the continent.”

“She is extremely skilled with dozens of weapons including spears, hook chains, and daggers, and her beautiful form when killing is like a dance. As long as you’re willing to pay enough money, she can take almost anyone’s head for you.”

“According to rumors, she once infiltrated a noble’s banquet and assassinated an entire noble family in one night.”

“Fortunately, she has no intention of killing the Hero this time. This time she returned to the opera house to search for a treasure she had lost.”

“And Hero Reyno knows that her treasure is on his person.”

“Possessing the bounty hunter’s treasure would undoubtedly provide considerable assistance for all subsequent actions, therefore Hero Reyno chooses…”

“Current mission objective: Never mention Ika’s treasure, keep it for yourself.”

“Mission reward: Earth Dragon Scale”

The moment the mission appeared, Reyno was attracted by the reward

“Earth Dragon Scale.”

You must know, dragon-type creatures on the Haila Continent could be said to be the overlords at the top of the food chain. 

Not only was their subjugation difficulty in the highest tier, but the value of magical materials obtainable from them was also incomparable to other magical beasts.

Reyno’s father in this life had died while subjugating a giant dragon.

And although Earth Dragons belonged to the lower class among dragons, a single scale could still sell for fifty silver coins on the market, and could also be used to craft quite decent armor.

Fifty silver coins—that was already a fortune for the current Reyno.

“Mr. Reyno?”

It wasn’t until Ika reminded him that Reyno pulled his attention back from his reverie.

“Ah, I’m here, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I saw you seemed lost in thought and was a bit worried whether you couldn’t adapt to the backstage smell.” 

Ika smiled kindly, her eyes naturally revealing a hint of charm.

“The cosmetics here use some magical materials, so people who can’t accept magical power might feel dizzy due to the magical power concentration in the backstage air. I heard from Kleya that you don’t know magic, so I was a bit concerned.”

“Ah, that’s not the case. Although I don’t know magic, I do have some tolerance for magical power.”

“Oh my, Ika, you don’t need to worry about him. He’s been like this lately, spacing out from time to time. I don’t know what he’s been thinking about all day.”

Reyno paid no mind to Kleya’s teasing, but began thinking about the mission information the system had announced.

“Ika’s lost treasure?”

“On my person?”

He had brought almost nothing with him this time, purely coming to freeload Kleya’s ticket.

The ‘Bronze Deer Blade Horn’ obtained from the mission was also left directly at home. On his person, there seemed to be only his clothes.

Thinking this way, he casually felt around in his pocket.

In an instant, a flat hard object took shape in the outline of his pants pocket.

That was precisely the wooden comb he had taken from Kleya earlier to get her hair!

After taking Kleya’s hair at that time, he had casually taken the comb with him, completely forgetting that this little thing was still in his pocket.

“By the way, Mr. Reyno.” 

Ika suddenly changed her tone, directing the conversation toward Reyno.

“I heard from Kleya that your father was that famous ‘Special Grade Adventurer’?”

When Ika said this, the vague sense of sting and hostility in her tone became even stronger.

“Ah, that’s right. But he passed away many years ago. It’s better not to mention it.”

“Ah, is that so? I’m sorry.”

Kleya wasn’t stupid either. Seeing that their conversation had become stiff to this degree, she immediately began to change the topic and smooth things over: 

“Alright, alright, let’s not talk about this. How have you been lately?”

Ika also went along with it

“Pretty good, it’s just that one thing has been bothering me…”

“Something bothering you? What happened? Are those young noble masters harassing you again? Or are they spreading new rumors about you?”. 

Upon hearing Ika mention something bothering her, Kleya immediately became agitated.

You must know, ever since Ika gradually gained some fame in Haila Royal City, she would be harassed by some nobles almost every period of time, basically all of them paying money for her to perform some sleazy services.

And whenever Ika refused, those guys would spread gossip about her throughout the city, making her life unbearable.

Ika’s sense of distance toward Reyno was so strong, most likely also because of his background, subconsciously categorizing him as the same type of person as those wastrel young masters.

Who knew, Ika shook her head and continued.

“It’s not that. I’ve long gotten used to those things, they’re not enough to bother my heart.”

“It’s… the comb my mother left me has gone missing.”

As soon as Ika said this, Reyno’s brow immediately tightened.

Indeed, as the system said, what she lost was the comb.

“Ah? A comb?”

“Mm, I searched the entire opera house but couldn’t find it. It was probably swept away as trash by the cleaning staff.”

Ika smiled bitterly and sighed.

Kleya obviously hadn’t connected it to the comb from the potion shop that morning.

Reyno wasn’t surprised—without the system’s reminder, he wouldn’t have been able to imagine such a coincidence either.

“Ah…”

Seeing Ika’s bitter expression, Kleya also felt somewhat sad.

Based on their expressions and words, Reyno could roughly guess that Ika’s mother was most likely no longer alive.

And the significance of that comb to Ika was now self-evident.

“To get the mission reward, I have to privately keep her mother’s memento…”

Thinking this, Reyno smiled helplessly, then slowly took out the comb from his pocket, pretending not to know and asking.

“Miss Ika, is your comb the handleless type or the long-handled type?”

Seeing Reyno, who had been silent for a while, speak up, Kleya was immediately attracted.

“Sigh… isn’t this the one from my shop…” 

She was slightly stunned, muttering to herself, when Ika beside her suddenly cried out in surprise.

She first contacted her pupils, then suddenly stood up, the bitter expression that had been on her face completely disappeared, replaced by utter astonishment.

“This… this is my comb!”

“Mr. Reyno, where did you find this?”

“Ah? I found this by chance in Kleya’s potion shop. The craftsmanship looked quite exquisite, so I casually brought it with me.” 

Reyno tried his best to appear surprised. 

“I didn’t expect such a coincidence.”

“Uh… Mr. Reyno, this comb is really very important to me. If you could return it to me, I could—”

Looking at the comb in Reyno’s hand, Ika appeared extremely anxious and flustered, as if afraid that he would deliberately tease her by not returning it, or use it to make demands and threaten her.

“That’s not necessary.”

Reyno shook his head and extended the comb in his hand toward Ika.

“This was originally your belonging.”

At this moment, Ika, who had been about to say something more, suddenly froze, as if her throat had gotten stuck.

“It was originally yours, and besides, this comb wasn’t something I paid to acquire.” 

Reyno said while patting Kleya’s shoulder beside him.

“If you want to thank someone, thank Kleya. She’s the one who somehow acquired this thing.”

Ika suddenly felt somewhat at a loss, only feeling as if her throat was somewhat choked up, unable to speak.

Kleya beside her immediately reacted as well, looking at Reyno next to her with a subtle smile

“That’s just how he is. A complete soft heart!”

“Ika, if you really want to give him some reward, you can give it to me and I’ll keep it safe for him. He’s taken plenty of advantage at my place!”

Ika burst into laughter, then looked gratefully toward Reyno

“Thank you.”

Reyno didn’t say much else, only responded with a smile.

“Even knowing that privately keeping Ika’s treasure could bring him enormous benefits, Reyno still chose to return it to Ika.”

“Was it a momentary oversight? Consideration of old feelings? Or was it to gain even greater benefits?”

“Perhaps someday in the future, Hero Reyno will pay a price for this.”

“Mission failed, this mission reward has been nullified.”

Listening to the system’s broadcast in his mind, although Reyno felt somewhat regretful, he instead felt at peace.

It was like this in his previous life, and it was like this in this life too.

After all, he was a Hero.

But next, one sentence from the system made him involuntarily widen his eyes—

“Hidden mission completed.”

“Unique title ‘Hero’ has been upgraded.”