Chapter 24: Chronicles of the Mayor's Household

A noble person.

Melina felt a sense of reverence. Although she would never act that way herself, it did not stop her from respecting such individuals.

Walking in the lead, Charlie chuckled and said, "You all saw it, right? Miss Georgia is truly a lovely beauty. I hear she’s still single. Do you think I…"

Before Charlie could finish his sentence, he turned back to find his three succubus employers had all stepped back in unison, looking at him with expressions one might reserve for a piece of human trash.

"Hiss…" Miss Melina covered her mouth with one hand while twirling her umbrella with the other, causing her conspicuous musket to begin spinning at an accelerating speed.

"..." Miss Maria frowned.

The primary employer—and major financier—Miss Sonia, covered her mouth with both hands, yet her eyes twinkled with a mischievous, cunning glee as she shouted, "Human trash! That’s total human trash!"

"I was joking! I was just joking!" Charlie broke into a cold sweat, desperate to dispel the debuff of his own social suicide.

Although the Weeping Peninsula was vast, it was quite small in terms of social circles. Explorers like Charlie were known to almost everyone.

His fellow gatherer buddies standing nearby whistled.

"Isn't this Charlie, the guy who tries to make moves on little girls?" one of them said, his tone dripping with an "Aha!" sentiment.

"Ah, ah, ah, I’m not! Besides, isn't Miss Georgia a Fairy? Don't Fairies look like that once they reach adulthood..."

"I get what you mean!" The local gatherer intuitively grasped the usage of "I get what you mean."

...

Brightfall Town was even more desolate than Hamlet. It featured only one complete building for recreation: a three-story small villa, though in reality, it looked more like two and a half stories. The top floor served as the Mayor's office and residence. The middle floor housed a restaurant, a hostel with sleeping ropes, a shop, and an external trade studio. The ground floor was the Gatherers' Guild.

The chef was a gentleman of the Elf race who moonlighted as a secretary, postman, and caretaker for the Dragon-Turtle carriage.

While ordering, Sonia asked, "So, you hold four jobs simultaneously?"

"Yes, that is correct." The Elf man’s gaze was calm, like a line of poetry.

"Then you must be drawing four salaries?"

"..." The Elf man no longer resembled a line of poetry; he could not help but flash a forced, strained smile.

...

Watching the back of the Elf chef, Melina whispered, "I thought he was going to strangle you." The look the chef had just given was truly terrifying.

Charlie muttered, "If liking a Fairy girl is a crime, then Mr. Mo must be guilty of a capital offense."

If an Elf's surname did not contain the word "Wind," it was invariably a single character.

Maria silently pretended to pull a silver needle from her pocket; it was a "Disposable Poison Detection Kit" she had drawn from the system’s grand wheel.

"What? Don't you have the same question?" Sonia said with complete candor. "If he’s very capable, can’t I just poach him for Hamlet? Besides, Mayor Georgia has already denounced me in the newspapers for ignoring the rules and poaching people, causing the local labor force to dwindle..."

Hearing this, Melina’s expression shifted, and she whispered, "Didn't you say you wanted to befriend Georgia?"

Sonia replied with a grin so devious her eyes narrowed into slits.

She probably had her own calculations.

Melina sighed internally, only to hear someone at the next table shout in approval: "Well said! Miss Georgia is completely wrong! There is a romantic freedom in the labor market. Forcing locals not to work, or forcing them to accept low-wage labor, is entirely the precursor to a crime!"

She turned her head to see a lady with black hair and black eyes, radiating an elegant temperament and wearing a black gauze dress.

Her cheekbones were slightly high, making her look beautiful but somewhat sharp-tongued.

This was the well-known novelist, Ms. Marlin Howard Storm-Eye, author of the *Dragon Princess* series.

One must not develop a favorable impression of her just because she spoke up for Sonia…

"Any official intervention will only lead to bad results!" she shouted with great momentum.

An anarchist. That was Ms. Marlin.

In this world, being a writer was just one identity, often called a "certified contrarian." One could see these people sparking verbal wars almost everywhere, and this moment was no exception.

Mayor Georgia was small and cute, and possessed the actual management skills to work in the fields, naturally accumulating quite a few fans. Especially since she was adorable and actually got things done—at least from what Melina could observe, she had no intention of laying down red carpets in the fields. Ms. Marlin was also beautiful, and a great writer, so she had her own following as well.

Soon, fans on both sides in the restaurant began to bicker over the matter.

Fortunately, it was just a way to pass the time; there was no genuine hatred involved, which was a good thing.

This confrontation became more restrained after the Mayor appeared.

The petite Mayor, hearing the commotion, glared at Ms. Marlin: "You bad person, you're bad-mouthing me again, aren't you!"

Ms. Marlin snorted: "Don't look at me, you little thing; no matter how much you look, you won't have what I have."

She puffed out her chest, which was of an astonishing scale, directly causing the Mayor’s face to turn red with anger, her cheeks puffed out and her fists clenched.

Ms. Marlin’s mouth curled, she pursed her lips, let out a scoff, and stood up to head downstairs. Her figure in the black gauze dress was graceful and curvaceous. She had the capital to be proud; she was at least an F-cup, and only Melina was larger than her here.

The difference in talent between the Elf and Fairy races was evident.

Charlie was drooling, which was quite undignified.

Incidentally, Sonia was also staring and whistling, failing to notice the gradually chilling gaze of Melina…

"Hiss, it's a bit cold. That shouldn't be right, given today's temperature." Sonia glanced out the window.

The food was soon served.

Sonia was not short of money, so she ordered everything that was best in the area. The beast-meat cream mushroom gratin was the local specialty and the most expensive delicacy. The raw materials were precious; one had to strictly select the caps of giant mushrooms with a diameter exceeding fifty centimeters to make it.

The thick cap was sliced open, and the interior was hollowed out to create space for the rice.

Fine honey was poured inside to lubricate it, followed by an ultra-concentrated radish cream soup—almost solidified in consistency—then raw rice, more honey and cream soup, and a large amount of sliced, shredded beast meat. Finally, the cap was replaced, and the entire mushroom was placed in a baking oven.

When it was brought out and the lid opened, the aroma could attract even a clockwork cat.

Because the ingredients were so expensive, four such meals cost two gold Leis.

It was a dish that even the Mayor dared not treat as a daily luxury.

Beyond the fact that it was delicious, Melina also felt it was a magnet for hostility. Everyone in the restaurant and shop was stealing glances at their table from time to time.

The Elf chef was grinning from ear to ear due to the turnover, pushing a small service cart over to offer them complimentary desserts.

"Is this your secret recipe?" Sonia tried to strike up a rapport with the chef.

"Yes, my ancestors were explorers on the Weeping Peninsula. By my generation..." The Elf’s story was as long and tedious as a lecture, so Melina tuned it out.

So, thanks, Mel-Mel.

"Then do you have any thoughts of developing your career in Hamlet?" Sonia asked. "I'm very close with Mayor Leon!"

That was certainly true.

Melina thought to herself: Sister Sonia, at her young age, already had a fine adopted son like Mayor Leon...

It couldn't be helped; the senior was simply too wealthy. Once one is wealthy, all sorts of adopted sons and daughters come knocking.

Melina noticed that Mayor Georgia’s expression had turned sour.

"Aha, I’ve been kicking around Brightfall Town for a long time..."

"Little Mel, do you think it's a good idea for me to hire him as our family chef?" Sonia suddenly turned the topic to Melina.

Melina quite naturally put on a scrutinizing look as she examined the Elf chef, tasted the mushroom rice, and then nodded: "Very good."

She understood the trick the senior was pulling.

The goal was actually to buy a horse’s bones for a thousand gold pieces.

Mr. Chef, unfortunately, you are the horse's bones... Melina glanced at the Fairy Mayor, who was the "千里马" (steed capable of traveling a thousand miles) that the senior actually wanted to recruit.

"Uh, I really..." Due to the large order, the chef didn't flip out, but his expression was inevitably somewhat unpleasant.

Because Sonia’s tone was exactly like that of a nouveau riche among the nouveau riche—it had the ugly face of a wealthy bumpkin saying, "As long as my family likes it, I'll just buy you."

But Sonia’s next sentence completely changed his perspective:

"Mr. Mo, how about two hundred gold Leis a month? You only need to cook three meals a day, morning, noon, and night. Of course, the taste should cater to Little Mel... If she wants you to learn any style of cuisine, you learn it; if you truly can't do it, just tell me. Furthermore, the accommodation has a private bathroom and shower. Aside from cooking hours, you are free to do whatever you want."

That was equivalent to twenty thousand a month, with meals and housing provided, and a very free schedule—just cooking.

With such compensation, let alone Mr. Mo, even the Mayor’s eyes widened, looking tempted.

Being a mayor in this godforsaken place, not having to subsidize the town out of her own pocket was already considered decent!

It was evident that the Mayor’s household finances were quite tight...

Adhering to the "since we're already here" philosophy, Sonia held a small recruitment fair on the spot.

Hamlet lacked talent, and in fact, it also lacked space for development.

While the entire Pure White Forest provided a massive amount of output, the problem was that it blocked the path of civilization.

...

Melina escorted Maria to collect geological samples nearby.

"Brightfall Town was once a small church town. The people who lived here believed that the waterfall and the lake connected to the Promised Land."

Maria collected magical factors from the local soil using a test tube.

She let out a long, satisfied sigh: "The concept of divinity is blurred in this world. We can view this as a world where gods exist, but no god declares themselves a god. Look, the magical factors here are quite interesting. The magical factors left behind by gods can last for tens of millions of years and still retain a hallucinogenic effect."

Searching for revelations, recording geology and ecology—this was why there were so many scholars from the Royal Capital on the Weeping Peninsula, despite it being an extremely desolate place.

While Maria was collecting samples, Melina discovered something.

Along the edge of the lake, in the dilapidated bank overgrown with weeds and thorns, Melina’s extraordinary vision captured the unnaturally tilted reeds. She entered a combat-ready state, her body covered in electrical charges composed of potent magical factors.

When she crossed the rough wooden bridge with extreme vigilance, drove away a large swarm of resting light-bugs with a wave of her umbrella, and pushed aside the reeds, a dragon scale emerged within her field of vision.

It was deep blue, with edges that were abnormally sharp, reminiscent of a scimitar.