Arknightcraft Modpack
Chapter 514: On-the-Spot Recruitment
Even after leading Steven and Centaurea to a guesthouse that looked no different from the surrounding slum buildings, the purple-haired girl still could not determine whether Steven had been bluffing when he said he had interacted with more Infected than she had ever seen.
A wealthy young man who spent money so freely—most people like that would already be considered decent if they did not look at slum dwellers as though they were a different species. Yet he could joke casually with an Infected person like her.
Did someone like that truly exist?
Fortunately, she did not particularly care about the answer.
As long as he paid, that was enough.
"So this is what you think is the best inn around here?" Steven asked, casting a scrutinizing look at the building that the girl—who had introduced herself as Hei Ye—had brought them to. Calling it an inn was somewhat generous. It was, at best, a modest guesthouse. Compared to the surrounding houses, the only noticeable difference was that it appeared slightly cleaner.
"You just don't get it," Hei Ye replied with a somewhat ingratiating smile. "It's like what city folks say about tourism—those fancy-looking places are just tourist traps. The truly good spots are always known only to locals. As the saying goes, good wine fears no deep alley. Trust me, this place is affordable and worth it."
Her smile, however, reminded Steven a little too much of overly enthusiastic salesgirls from his previous world. It did not exactly inspire confidence.
Before he could question her further, the guesthouse door cracked open. Several pairs of eyes peeked out from inside. Then, suddenly, a group of children roughly the same age as the flower-selling girl poured out.
"Big Sister Hei!"
"Big Sister Hei, I'm so hungry! What's for dinner tonight?"
"…"
The swarm of children instantly transformed the building from something barely resembling a guesthouse into what looked more like a kindergarten. Even Centaurea was momentarily startled by the scene.
"So, let me get this straight," Steven said dryly. "Your home doubles as a guesthouse? Keeping the profits in the family, huh?"
He already understood why Hei Ye had brought them here. In simple terms, she wanted to earn a bit more money for her own household.
As for the accommodations, Steven did not have particularly high standards. As long as the place was reasonably clean, he had no special requirements.
"It's all the same, really," Hei Ye said with an unembarrassed grin. "If you're here to 'experience life,' then the entire slum is more or less like this. Anyone who can truly afford proper hotels wouldn't come here in the first place, right?"
Steven stroked his chin and glanced at the cluster of children practically hanging off Hei Ye. It was obvious she was immensely popular among them. Without much deduction, one could guess she was likely living the classic storyline of a lone older sister working hard to support a group of younger siblings.
He personally had no strong opinion about where they stayed.
The key question was Centaurea's.
"What do you think?" he asked.
"I don't mind," Centaurea replied lazily. "I just want to rest for a while. If I can take a shower and then have a nice nap, that would be perfect."
As a tourist, she did not have special demands either. So long as she was with Steven, where they stayed hardly mattered.
Perhaps it was the midday nap habit she had developed on Rhodes Island, but at this hour her eyelids grew irresistibly heavy.
Her entire demeanor softened, like a languid white cat basking in the afternoon. Her drowsiness seemed almost contagious, even the excitable children nearby became noticeably quieter.
"You eat and then go straight to sleep—aren't you worried about gaining weight?" Steven teased.
"If I gain weight, you'll still take care of me," she replied matter-of-factly. "So what's the problem?"
Centaurea casually shot back at Steven, completely unaware that her effortless display of affection was blinding Hei Ye and the surrounding children like a flashbang. Tilting her head, she let out a small yawn.
"So, if you two are satisfied," Hei Ye quickly interjected, "I'll go get someone to boil water for you. You wanted to bathe, right? Would you like dinner provided as well?"
Putting aside the "romantic bullshit" she was being force-fed, business was still business. She had already figured out that while Steven was the one paying, winning over Centaurea meant securing the income.
So after promptly urging the children to tidy up the room and prepare hot water, she turned her attention to the possibility of dinner service. After all, someone like Steven—who practically radiated the words not short on cash—was a rare sight in the slums.
"You really know how to do business," Steven chuckled, looking at the calculating girl before him. "So how are you pricing this? If we add dinner, that'll cost extra, I assume?"
She carried the shrewd air of a streetwise commoner, the kind honed by survival. But Steven did not find it distasteful. To be honest, his own family life in the past had not been much different. If anything, it felt oddly familiar.
"Of course it'll cost extra," Hei Ye replied with a grin. "Boss, you're not going to fuss over a little more, right? Being generous in front of your girlfriend—there's nothing wrong with that."
Hearing no refusal in his tone, she immediately took Centaurea's luggage and led them into the modest but clean guesthouse.
The building had only three floors. Most of the rooms, judging by their furnishings, clearly belonged to the children. Hei Ye guided Steven and Centaurea to a small room on the top floor and set their luggage down inside.
The room was simple, and faint traces of previous child occupants lingered. There was also a strange residual scent in the air—something like medicinal herbs. Steven glanced at the small bed, which had already been swiftly made up with clean sheets by the children, before turning to stop Hei Ye as she prepared to leave.
"The children here… they're Infected too?"
With his status panel acting as a kind of cheat interface, Steven could easily see that Hei Ye's condition was far from optimistic. Even though she wore a constant smile and showed no outward sign of weakness, the Originium crystal on her body told a different story. He had rarely seen cases this severe—even on Rhodes Island.
Setting aside her condition, most of the children here also displayed symptoms of infection. Even the few who were not infected showed various other physical issues.
If she was supporting all of them alone, it was no wonder her hands had not always been entirely clean.
"It's alright, sir," Hei Ye replied after a brief pause. "I'll warn them to limit contact with you. You should know—even for the Infected, as long as the Originium on their bodies hasn't become active, the disease isn't actually contagious."
Compared to her own illness, she seemed more concerned about the children.
"That's not what I meant," Steven said gently. "I mean… I know a medical organization that specializes in treating Oripathy. With so many children here, perhaps you could contact them. It might help with their treatment."
He paused, then added with a smile, "I saw earlier that you're quite skilled. You might even be able to find work there. No matter how you look at it, it's probably more reliable than what you're doing now, right?"
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Hei Ye is Rope by the way, just in case you didn't know, here's how she looks:
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Note: Character Illustration is in this Google Drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iuyfwNVFHzIi9H4rWNT_lAm7jTSiah_M
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Tn: I updated the story daily, but if you want to see more chapter of this story ahead of time, please go to my Patreon.
Latest Chapter: Chapter 617: A Bold Guess[1]
Link: https://www.patreon.com/Thatsnakegirl/posts/arknightcraft-160680628[2]
[1] https://www.patreon.com/Thatsnakegirl/posts/arknightcraft-160680628
[2] https://www.patreon.com/Thatsnakegirl/posts/arknightcraft-160680628