Shortly after, Su Mu led the remaining residents out of the apartment, appearing together at the summit of the hill.
Sylphie spotted Doris and the other two a short distance away. Unable to restrain her emotions any longer, she sprinted toward them, her voice thick with sobs. "Sister Doris! Sister Vera! Sister Shera!"
Hearing the voice, Doris whipped her head around. When she saw Sylphie, she froze, instinctively rubbing her eyes as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing.
In her memory, Sylphie was the most timid and frail of all the children—sickly, extremely introverted, and prone to trembling at the slightest disturbance. When the soldiers had spoken those cruel words earlier, Doris had already resigned herself to the fact that Sylphie was gone. It wasn't until she heard March 7th's voice that a faint glimmer of hope had been born.
And now, the little girl from her memories was running toward her. Though she had grown, the features of her face still bore the unmistakable likeness of years ago.
"Sylphie... is it really you?"
Doris's voice trembled as she took several halting steps toward the girl.
"It's me, Sister Doris, it's me!" Sylphie threw herself into Doris's arms, clutching her waist tightly as tears flooded her eyes once more. "I missed you so much... I thought I'd never see you again..."
Doris pulled Sylphie into a tight embrace. The emotions she had suppressed through years of hiding and endurance finally erupted. Tears streamed down her face, dripping onto Sylphie's hair.
The years of fleeing, the pain of losing their companions, and the uncertainty of the future all dissolved into tears in this moment of reunion, finding their release at last.
Standing nearby, Vera watched the two of them cry in each other's arms, her own eyes growing moist. She quickly turned her head away, wiping her eyes with her sleeve and trying to maintain a facade of indifference. However, the slight trembling of her shoulders betrayed her true feelings.
Shera, meanwhile, was already a sobbing mess. She clutched the hem of her magician's robe with both hands, her vision completely blurred by tears.
It took a long while before the two of them gradually regained their composure.
Vera stepped forward and gently patted Sylphie's back. Her voice was husky, yet she managed to sound her usual cheerful self. "It's good that you're back. It's good you're back. Tell me, have you been okay these past few years?"
Sylphie nodded, then shook her head. Just as she was about to recount her experiences, Vera shifted her gaze to Su Mu and his group, her eyes sharpening with a mix of suspicion and scrutiny.
She walked up to Su Mu, her tone probing. "Are you Sylphie's companions?"
"Yes," Su Mu replied with a slight nod, his voice calm. "I met Sylphie by chance. After learning about her situation, I wanted to help her find you."
"I see..."
Vera raised an eyebrow, her eyes traveling up and down Su Mu's frame.
Over the years, they had witnessed too much of the darkness in human nature. They had been betrayed and hunted; they had long since lost the ability to blindly trust the kindness of others. To them, there was no such thing as a free lunch. For a stranger to help Sylphie without cause—even going as far as to make an enemy of the Kingdom's army—he had to be after something.
The youth before her had a refined temperament and exuded a reassuring aura, worlds apart from the ill-intentioned people they usually encountered. Yet, the more "perfect" he seemed, the more guarded she became. Perhaps this was merely a facade, a mask for a trap already laid in the shadows.
Su Mu seemed to see right through her. He offered a faint smile and spoke plainly. "Don't worry, I'm not helping for free. Allow me to formally introduce myself: I am Su Mu, the Administrator of the Goddess Apartment. My apartment is currently looking for tenants. As long as they are beautiful girls, they are eligible to stay. Sylphie happened to meet the criteria and is now a resident. As the Administrator, it is part of my duty to fulfill a resident's reasonable requests."
"Apartment? Tenants? Like an inn?" Vera frowned, her confusion evident. "But would an innkeeper really go to war with the Kingdom's soldiers just for a guest?"
She still couldn't fully buy his explanation; her inner guard hadn't dropped an inch.
"An ordinary inn wouldn't, of course. But if the guest can provide me with sufficient compensation, that's a different story," Su Mu said with a smile. His gaze swept over Vera, Doris, and Shera as he added playfully, "The reason I set the entry requirement to 'beautiful girls' is simply because seeing beautiful and cute things makes me happy. That happiness, to me, is the best form of payment."
"...What a strange person."
Vera blinked, stunned, before muttering under her breath.
She had expected Su Mu to demand money, power, or something far more untoward—she had even braced herself for the possibility that Sylphie was being used as collateral. She had been ready for any scenario. But Su Mu's answer was so far outside her expectations that she was momentarily at a loss for words.
This young man was indeed eccentric.
"Heh, in my eyes, you meet the requirements for residency as well," Su Mu said, looking at Vera with a smile.
Vera's eyes sparked with a playful, testing light. "Oh? Are you hitting on me? Let me warn you, I'm not exactly a 'decent' person. I'm a thief; I've got plenty of blood on my hands."
She intentionally revealed her identity to see his reaction. If Su Mu flinched or backed away, it would prove his previous words were nothing but lies.
"Coincidentally, I'm not a decent person either," Su Mu replied casually, his tone effortless and unbothered.
"Haha! You really are an interesting guy."
Vera couldn't help but laugh. It was the first time in years she had met someone so much to her liking. The wariness in her heart dissipated quite a bit.
At that moment, Doris approached with Sylphie. She bowed slightly to Su Mu, her posture respectful and her tone sincere. "Thank you, Mr. Su Mu. Sylphie has told me the details. Thank you for saving her, protecting her on the journey to find us, and for stepping in to save us today. We can never truly repay this kindness... I don't know what kind of compensation you seek, but as long as it is within our power, we will not refuse."
Her voice was level, yet carried a hint of grim determination. In her view, Su Mu must have a hidden motive. Rather than waiting for him to speak, she preferred to ask directly.
She had already prepared for the worst. If Su Mu's demands involved Sylphie, she was ready to take Sylphie's place and endure whatever came.
"If you are doing this for Sylphie, I can take her place," Doris said, looking up into Su Mu's eyes with a steady, calm gaze. "By any standard, my body is more attractive than hers. Furthermore... I am still a virgin. Of course, if you specifically prefer someone of Sylphie's type... then I'm sorry. Even if you saved our lives, I cannot agree to that. I will protect her, even if I must bear the shame of being ungrateful."
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Crossover World: Why Are All My Clones Beautiful Girls?
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