Stepping through the grand city gates of the Western Kingdom, Hegemon and Lily were instantly overwhelmed by the bustle and magnificence of the place. High-rise white stone buildings featured European royal architecture, the quartz-pebbled streets were spotlessly clean, and crowds of people moved back and forth in all kinds of splendid attire. However, everyone's attention was still focused on the two immigrants who had just stepped down from a divine beast.
"Hey, we need to blend in quickly, Hegemon. The glazes of those guards are making the back of my neck prickle," Lily whispered, tugging his sleeve and walking quickly toward the center.
Their first stop was the Adventurers' Guild — a place that was always the economic and information hub of any fantasy world kingdom. Lily quickly used her "Virtual Space" skill to take out some meat and materials from edible magical beasts that she had carefully stored throughout their journey through the forest.
"Hello, we would like to sell these materials and, while we're at it, see if there are any suitable jobs," Lily said with a bright smile as she placed the bags of materials onto the reception counter.
After receiving a relatively plump pouch of gold coins from the transaction, Hegemon looked up at the quest board hanging on the wall. Most of them were requests for hunting high-level magical beasts, exploring dangerous dungeons, or acting as escorts for merchant caravans. He contemplated for a moment, then shook his head and turned to Lily:
"I don't think highly of myself being a long-term adventurer. Hunting magical beasts to make a living is too unstable, and I don't want to display too much power after the commotion outside the city gates."
Lily nodded in agreement, tucking the money pouch into her coat pocket: "I think so too. We should find a stable manual labor job or apply to work in a shop instead."
They left the Guild and began pacing through the commercial streets to look for recruitment notice boards. While intently looking at a poster stuck to a stone wall, Hegemon suddenly turned around to make way for a passing carriage. Due to not paying attention behind him, he accidentally crashed hard into a petite figure walking toward him.
Thud!
"Ah!" A soft, slightly panicked cry rang out.
The figure fell flat onto the ground. It was a young girl, wearing a simple gray hooded cloak to conceal her identity. The collision was so strong that the hood was knocked backward, revealing a brilliant platinum hair delicately tied up and a refined face with jade-blue eyes like sapphires. On her neck was a necklace set with a magic stone bearing a glittering royal family crest.
The surrounding citizens immediately stopped, and bursts of whispering rose up like a disturbed beehive:
"Look... isn't that the Young Lady of the great clan?"
"Is that the Princess of the wealthiest clan, the very clan that has contributed more than half of the national treasury to national defense?!"
"Why is a member of the Noble family traveling incognito alone like that?"
Hearing the gossip, the young girl's face instantly flushed with embarrassment and panic. She hurriedly pulled her hood up to hide her face and scrambled to her feet.
Seeing this, Hegemon quickly extended his hand, his voice full of apology: "I sincerely apologize, I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings. Are you hurt anywhere?"
However, the girl did not touch his hand at all. She cast a wary glance at Hegemon and Lily, then spun around and vanished into the dense crowd at an extremely fast speed—so fast that before Hegemon could utter a second apology, her figure had already disappeared behind the rows of buildings.
"She runs really fast..." Hegemon retracted his hand and muttered.
Time flew by, and soon evening approached. The glow of the sunset painted the roofs of the capital red. Throughout that entire day, the two of them completely failed in their job search. The shops were either already fully staffed or flatly refused them upon learning they were immigrants without official documents from the kingdom.
They stopped by a fountain in the Western Square. Lily sat down dejectedly on the stone edge, complaining to Hegemon: "Oh my goodness, I didn't know the capital could be this harsh. Having money but no job means we'll starve to death sooner or later. It really isn't easy..."
"Don't lose heart, tomorrow we..." Before Hegemon could finish his sentence, his gaze suddenly froze. On the opposite side of the square, the familiar gray cloak from this morning reappeared. The young girl was standing in front of a fruit stall; it seemed she was sneaking out from her family again to play.
Without hesitation, Hegemon stood straight up and strode quickly toward the girl. Lily, utterly bewildered about what was happening, also scrambled to follow behind.
"Excuse me, miss!" Hegemon stopped a short distance away from the girl and bowed politely. "What happened this morning was truly due to my carelessness. I intended to apologize right then, but you ran away too fast. I hope the fall didn't cause you any discomfort."
The young girl turned around with a start. Seeing Hegemon, her blue eyes blinked slightly, and the wariness from this morning seemed to have faded upon seeing his sincere attitude. She smiled faintly, her voice clear like the sound of wind chimes:
"Ah, it's you? It is no problem at all, you don't need to mind it like that. This morning, it was because I went out on my own accord, so I had to run away in a hurry to avoid the eyes of the guard soldiers."
At this moment, Lily finally caught up. She was still entirely engrossed in complaining to Hegemon without paying close attention to who the person in front of them was: "Why did you run so fast, Hegemon? I was talking about employment..."
But the moment Lily lifted her eyes and looked directly at the refined face and the glittering family crest necklace of the girl, her mind instantly put the pieces together. Memories of the citizens' gossip this morning and her knowledge about the Western Kingdom came rushing back. Lily's eyes widened, her face turned as pale as a ghost, and she frantically yanked Hegemon's sleeve, stammering:
"H-Hegemon... Do... do you know who this is? This is the eldest young lady of..."
Seeing Lily's panicked demeanor, the young girl giggled, her manner noble yet very friendly: "You two don't seem to be from around here, do you? Looking at your attire and actions since this morning, I see you are not bad people; the collision was definitely just an accident."
The girl gently smoothed the skirt of her cloak, looking at the two of them with a curious and sympathetic gaze: "It sounds like you two are facing difficulties finding accommodation and work in this capital? If you don't mind, I would like to invite you to my family's 'Noble' Mansion. It is located right on the western side of this Western Kingdom, occupying about one-third of the inner city area."
"One... One-third of the kingdom?!" Lily almost fainted. She was completely shocked by such a natural and generous invitation from a figure of such stature. This young lady's natural behavior, without a shred of timidity toward two strangers like them, was something Lily could not process in time.
"I must return now, the guard soldiers are about to find this place." The young girl nodded slightly in farewell, preparing to walk away.
Hegemon took a step forward and called out loudly after her: "Wait! Could you tell me your name?"
The girl paused, turned her head back, and flashed a radiant smile under the sunset, her hood swaying gently:
"My name is Diana."
With that, her figure quickly blended into the flow of people, leaving Hegemon standing in contemplation and Lily still holding her head in sheer astonishment at this completely unexpected turn of events.