TN: For title, first appeared in Chapter 27.
If walking from Rothschild to Baron Hurst's territory, it would take about half a day's journey, meaning a whole day for a round trip. Since Rothschild was a small village, it had no stables—at most, there was a butcher who raised livestock. However, riding a domestic pig would be inferior to walking in both appearance and speed, so when villagers from Rothschild wanted to go to Baron Hurst's territory, they either got up early to make the journey and return by evening, or prepared money for lodging and left after lunch.
I could use magic to speed up travel, but due to the restrictions of having no master, I needed to use [Spatial Transfer] twice to reach the outskirts of Baron Hurst's territory.
Magic wasn't an unlimited omnipotent skill. Overusing magic in a short period would cause the mind to fall into a [Fatigue] state. Just as pain served as the body's warning system, this [Fatigue] was also a reminder that the user couldn't continue using magic. Of course, it was possible to stubbornly use magic while in the [Fatigue] state. Still, the cost was an all-around decline in magic's damage, effects, and accuracy, with the [Fatigue] consumption gradually increasing.
[Spatial Transfer] was an advanced skill with very severe consumption, but my weakened aspects were carrying capacity and transfer distance—the consumption itself wouldn't increase.
"Wow..."
After transferring to the outskirts of Baron Hurst's territory, I witnessed a genuine, magnificent castle for the first time.
The medieval period was the golden age of castles. Castles weren't uncommon in that era, but with the spread of firearms, castles became unreliable, and eventually, almost no new castles were built.
This type of architecture, which combined functionality with artistry, felt completely different from hearsay compared to seeing it with my own eyes.
The baron's castle was relatively simple. The castle was the baron's private domain, usually housing only the baron and his relatives, guards, and some talents needed by the barony. Other villagers in the baronial territory lived outside the castle, somewhat like villages that developed around the castle as their center.
Baron Hurst's territory wasn't particularly prosperous. The player granted Baron Hurst's territory had the ID Trafalgar, and he was responsible for managing Baron Hurst's territory and the surrounding lands.
A barony didn't just govern the village where the castle was located but also included surrounding territories. Since villages were generally separated by considerable distances and couldn't afford the high costs of installing teleportation crystals, nobles would dispatch trusted vassals to serve as [Governors] in local villages—a position equivalent to village chief. [Governor] wasn't a noble title, so sometimes, when nobles were strapped for cash and urgently needed funds, merchants would approach them to purchase [Governor] positions in order to gain more trade privileges.
Using spatial transfer to jump directly into a large city was, in principle, illegal behavior. If discovered, one had to undergo complex interrogation procedures to ensure they weren't spies sent by enemy nations.
I honestly went through proper procedures and underwent simple questioning by the guards. Most interrogations in baronial territories were just going through the motions since they lacked the ability to inspect storage space anyway.
"Time for covert operations."
Although it might make me look somewhat suspicious, the tavern in Hurst was definitely full of adventurers who had traveled from far away. I'd buy what I needed and immediately head home, hoping not to encounter any strange people...
"Hey there, beautiful, all alone?"
"Want to come have some fun with us?"
Choosing to take the side streets was probably too careless of me... that flag got knocked down way too quickly, didn't it? And why do thugs in a medieval setting still use these same two pickup lines? Couldn't they think of different dialogue?
Not long after entering Hurst, I was intercepted by two street thugs on a rarely traveled alley. Both had roguish faces, with one of them playing with a dagger in his hand—the implication being that I should obediently comply, right?
So I had no choice but to—
"Ahhhhhhhhh!!!"
"Stop! In broad daylight, how dare you..."
Suddenly, a righteous-looking man jumped out from around the corner ahead. His [Charm] value was probably on par with Enrique's, and his sharp, defined features added considerable points to his appearance.
But he froze mid-sentence.
"Who are you?"
"Uh... I heard a girl screaming..."
"I wasn't screaming."
I pointed to the thug lying under my maid dress, foaming at the mouth.
The ones screaming were them.
I had simply used my chains to deliver critical hits to their heads. However, I didn't control my strength well—one attack accidentally hit a shoulder, causing him to scream out. I'm very sorry; next time, I'll make sure you depart peacefully.
"..."
The righteous-looking handsome guy stared blankly at the two thugs lying corpse-like on the ground, then looked at me.
He repeated this three times, then dropped a "Sorry to disturb you" and hurriedly left, just as he had lightly come, waving his sleeves without taking away a single cloud.
[Congratulations! Affection +0]
What a coincidence—another handsome player?
Although dealing with thugs required no mercy, having corpses lying in the middle of the road would inconvenience pedestrians. I conveniently hung the two eye-rolling thugs on the eaves, one on each side. This way, passersby would think they were cute weather dolls.
The other end of the alley happened to be a bakery. Bread was the mainstream staple food in the human world of the Lemoria continent.
This might be somewhat unfair to the bakery's bakers, but I thought my bread-baking skills weren't inferior to theirs, so I didn't buy bread directly; instead, I purchased some wheat flour.
Well-dressed maid attire often achieved good results. The baker's attitude was very friendly—even though I was just a servant, seeing the clean and tidy maid outfit, he might have thought some noble lord was behind me, making the shopping process very efficient.