The Problem Solver

Later on that day, there was a masked maiden walking down the streets of Pemacreba. If she took off her mask she would surely make heads turn, but just her delicate figure was enough to attract both admiring and lustful gazes.

However, this woman had long grown used to such gazes so she was able to easily ignore them.

She was familiar with the streets of Pemacreba, but not the specific location she was heading so while walking she took out a map to remind herself of the route she had to take.

"Ah!"

Suddenly, a strong gust caused the map to slip out of her fingers, and right as she stretched out her hand to catch it, another hand caught it instead.

That smooth hand was attached to a handsome young man with black hair and a soft expression. His eyes were closed, but she had a feeling that jewels were hidden behind his eyelids.

"Is this yours?"

His soothing voice awoke her from her fascinated state, and she accepted the map that he handed back to her.

"Uh, yes. Thank you."

The woman herself was shocked that she was so enamoured but she was still a cultivator so she quickly got over it.

'But, there's nothing wrong with asking the name of this kind young man, right?'

"Ehem, may I have your-"

Unfortunately, by the time she looked up again, he was gone.

"Huh? When did he... Hah..., if it's meant to be I suppose we'll meet again."

She was used to being on the chased side of love so she didn't even consider looking for him herself. Additionally, the business she had wasn't something that could be put off.

The woman's final destination was a 'fancy' establishment often frequented by men of her sect so it was only natural that this was her first time being there. Of course she didn't want to be here, but she had to meet someone in this place.

'Damn that hateful guy! Making me come all the way here.'

As the woman entered the adult establishment, her face behind the mask grimaced due to the stench of vulgarity and lust in the air. She thought she would seem out of place here, but then she noticed that there were other women who weren't workers here as well as men who weren't customers.

'It's diverse at least.'

"Hey, cutie."

"Join me over here!"

"Damn that girl got curves."

Regardless of whether the debaucherous comments that flew around were for her or not, the woman hastily went up to one of the less bold women.

"Oh, masked darling. How may I help you?"

Her sweet voice gave the woman a strange feeling so without looking at her for too long, she said what she needed to.

"A man under the name of the Stein clan should be waiting for me here."

"Ah, follow me then."

The sweet-sounding woman's face brightened as she adopted a respectful posture and led the masked woman upstairs.

The atmosphere the woman gave off was so natural that it surprised the masked woman. And she was even more surprised when she noticed that the one leading her was only a few cultivation levels below her.

"You, must have been through a lot."

"Haven't we all?"

The masked woman didn't intend to be nosy so she stopped there, but she could only keep her gaze on the smooth exposed back of the one in front of her as the intensity of the scenes she went by only got worse.

"Ahh~. Ahh~!"

"Right there, right there!"

"Harder! Harder!"

The tips of her ears were bright red but since she was already here she refused to run out screaming like a little girl. Instead, she focused all of her shame and embarrassment into her anger at the guy who called her here.

"Here we are."

"...Thank you."

The masked woman almost heaved in relief, but she forcefully held herself together and entered the room.

Far more than the rooms she had passed, this room was luxuriously decorated like the chambers of a king. And the one who tried to act like one was on a couch in front of the spacious bed, with several beauties waiting on him hand and foot.

"Ah, you're finally here Halka."

"Don't call me so familiarly."

"Don't be so stiff, just relax. Have a drink."

The man pointed to the cups of wine on the table in front of him with a carefree smile, but the masked woman didn't even glance at them.

"I'm not here to be friendly with you. I just want to refuse your offer."

Finally, the young man's expression darkened and he slowly sat up in his seat.

"Do you mean to tell me that you came all the way here just to reject me?"

"I wouldn't have come here if you regularly came to the sect, you wastrel."

"Halka!"

As he shouted her name with a low voice, the masked woman was forced to be speechless. She was well aware that she was not his match, but she still bit her lower lip and faced him.

"Halka, I can give pills, gems, artifacts, spells, anything you desire. Even if you asked for a boy toy I could find one for you. And yet you still choose him over me?"

"I'm not choosing either of you. I can take care of myself."

The young man glared at her, and she felt a hand take hold of her neck. She knew this was not just her hallucination, but his mental control. If he simply wanted to, her slender neck would be broken like a twig. However, that didn't damper the fire in her eyes.

The young man considered killing her here, but he wouldn't be able to hide it so he clicked his tongue and gave up.

"Get out of here."

Once her throat was released, the masked woman rubbed it twice before leaving. The veins on her forehead threatened to burst, but she had to endure.

'Just you wait. I'll reach that height too, and then I'll definitely...'

Back in a certain small shop in the city, a well-built young man was taking his time pounding on a piece of metal. With every hit, sparks flashed and he got a step closer to making the finished product.

When the last strike made impact, only a few finishing touches were left for his supreme special-rank artifact. Considering he could make such an artifact with his low cultivation, his skill as a blacksmith couldn't be denied. Unfortunately, few would respect him just for this level of skill.

"Hoh~. That's a nice artifact you making there."

He remembered a time when he would always be happy when someone praised one of his works, but these days it was only a signal of misfortune.

As he expected, when the young man turned around there was a group of three shady-looking men at the door. Among the criminals in the city, they were third-rate at best, but like proper scum they knew how to go after weak prey.

"What do you want?"

"Come on, we've been through this so many times already. Don't tell me you don't know what we're here for."

"..."

Once more, they came to steal the fruit of his labour. He could probably make things easier on himself if he just submitted, but then he would lose his last bit of dignity as her big brother.

"Really? You don't learn do you."

The young man faced them with a flail that was by his feet. It was a blessed special-rank artifact that he wouldn't be able to use to its full potential, but it was better than his bare hands.

This weapon could do some serious damage if it hit the wrong, or right, places, but the group of three casually approached with malicious grins. They could already see him sprawled out on the floor.

"As soon as I get here you're in a bad spot. Your luck isn't very good is it?