It was already late at night.
Katie did not go home. Instead, she stayed with Kuru and Kurumi. Although she was very tempted by Kuru's invitation to become a mercenary, Katie was still somewhat hesitant. That was precisely why she had not immediately returned to the Silver Saint Merchant Guild.
But Katie was still very upset.
Ever since she was little, nothing she did had ever succeeded. It was not because Katie did not work hard, nor because she was not smart. She was simply unlucky. Katie had once spent a long time consulting all sorts of materials and books, and had finally managed to write the report her teacher required. Yet the day after she turned it in, a torrential rainstorm suddenly began. Her teacher's window just happened to be open, and her report just happened to be soaked by the rain—by the time the teacher arrived at school the next day, even Katie's name was illegible.
When Katie was young, she had also learned many skills like other noble young ladies, such as painting, dancing, and even music. She worked hard at every one of them, but something always went wrong at the very end.
Her graduation painting was torn into countless pieces by a stray dog. She accidentally fell and sprained her ankle during her final dance performance. A string snapped in the middle of her violin recital...
For Katie, such things were commonplace.
Sometimes, even while eating, accidents would happen for all kinds of reasons. A stray cat might suddenly leap in from outside halfway through a meal and frighten her into knocking over her plate, or her stomach might suddenly start hurting...
She had always been like this since childhood. Because of that, Katie had long grown accustomed to her miserable life.
She had even