Obstruction

Morning sunlight streamed into the room. Li Yan seemed to dream of the pet puppy he had owned as a child in his previous life. When it saw him return, it eagerly licked his little face.

It was a vivid dream, with that moist, warm sensation, as if a puppy really were licking his face.

Li Yan woke from the dream and slowly opened his eyes. A pitiful little face was right before him. She seemed to be trying to wake him the way Xiao Wu and Xiao Xue did.

"Young master, you're awake! Let me help you get dressed and wash your face. You can leave all that work to me."

Little Fool blinked her big eyes and trotted over to the clothes rack, took down Li Yan's clothes, then trotted back to his side and dressed him, copying Xiao Wu and Xiao Xue.

Li Yan yawned lazily as he watched the energetic Little Fool dress him. He reached out and patted her head, then got up and went to the bathroom to wash up. Little Fool trotted after him. She wanted to wash his face and help him rinse his mouth; those were all things a maid should do.

Seeing the eager look on Little Fool's face, Li Yan could only put down his toothbrush and face towel and hand them both to her.

For some reason, Li Yan felt that training Little Fool as a maid wasn't such a bad idea. At least keeping someone who worked was better than keeping someone who ate for free.

After washing up, Li Yan put a hat on Little Fool's head and dressed her in a cloak. He couldn't let her identity as a Demon be exposed through carelessness; he didn't want to get into trouble.

When Li Yan came downstairs at the inn, the coachman was already sitting there. Seeing him, the coachman hurried over. "Young master, breakfast is ready for you."

Li Yan nodded lightly and looked toward where the coachman had been sitting. There was a large table covered with all kinds of breakfast foods: white bread, steamed fish, glutinous rice balls, red-braised pork, roasted pig's trotters, sweet corn congee, milk...

Little Fool swallowed and clutched the hem of Li Yan's clothes. As a maid, she ought to serve Li Yan his meal, just like Sister Xiao Wu and Sister Xiao Xue.

Seeing Little Fool itching to act, Li Yan reached out and pressed a hand on her head. "Eat with me. Don't bother with things you don't know how to do."

Li Yan had stopped her from doing what she had in mind, so Little Fool could only obediently sit beside him while he picked out food for her. Unable to resist the temptation, she ate happily. Li Yan smiled faintly as he watched her wolf down her food with utterly terrible table manners.

Li Yan had originally thought that training a Demon would be very difficult and hard to put into practice. So far, though, it seemed to be going exceptionally smoothly. Perhaps it was also because Little Fool was special.

After a simple breakfast, Li Yan continued his journey. The sights and people along the way filled Little Fool with curiosity. She leaned against the carriage window, her eyes full of curiosity about the world outside: the fruit being sold at a fruit seller's stall, adventurer warriors walking by, young mages holding staffs, and mischievous children running and playing in the street. Little Fool gazed at it all in wonder. Everything in the human world was so wondrous, so beautiful.

"Don't stick your head out. That's dangerous."

Li Yan reached out, grabbed Little Fool by the vulnerable back of her neck, and pressed her back into her seat.

"Young master, the human world really is amazing."

Little Fool spoke with an innocent look on her face. She was especially envious of the bustling street full of people coming and going, and the happy voices and laughter of the children.

"Honestly, you're not little anymore. You're a big girl now. As a maid with a job, you should be working. But since this is your first time out, I'll reward you by letting you look out the window while you work."

Li Yan picked Little Fool up and set her on the carriage seat, making her just tall enough to see the scenery outside while massaging his back.

"Yay! Thank you, young master."

Little Fool happily waved her little fists as she massaged Li Yan's back, turning her little head from time to time to look at the scenery outside the carriage.

After three days of carriage travel, Li Yan lay lazily on the seat. He had already arranged for Little Fool to sit below the seat and massage his feet. With no activity for a long time and several days spent reading the Magic Tome, he had grown so idle that he had begun fantasizing about the high-speed trains and airplanes of his previous life.

In this age when magic was especially prevalent, transportation was still limited to traveling by carriage. There was no technological development, only magic cast according to convention.

Once he returned, Li Yan planned to use the Machine Life theories he had learned over the past few days to build a steel war chariot. That way, he wouldn't have to keep riding in this astonishingly slow carriage, sometimes having to endure its jolting because of the uneven roads.

"Young master, the road ahead is blocked by a mudslide. We can't get through."

The coachman called softly from outside the carriage. When something like this happened, they could only take a detour, which would probably add two or three days to the journey.

Li Yan frowned and stepped out of the carriage. Little Fool trotted eagerly after him and curiously poked her head out to see what was happening outside.

"It's fine. The stretch of road blocked by the mudslide isn't long."

Li Yan took a quick look and instantly activated Space Magic. He appeared beyond the mudslide in an instant, along with the carriage, the coachman, and Little Fool. The coachman touched his head in bewilderment and blinked. Seeing that the problem had been resolved, he climbed back onto the carriage and continued driving toward their destination.