Trading Manga for the God of Frost Sword!

As the last descendant of the Ice Clan, Mei Beilu was supposed to be a cool and aloof ice queen, the legendary emotionless beauty?

Of course not. In truth, both the ice filling the room and her current pose as she held the 'God of Frost Sword' were all carefully arranged by Mei Beilu before Yoru Machi and the others entered.

There had been such a commotion outside earlier, and Yoru Machi and the others had not lowered their voices. Even while staying in her room, Mei Beilu naturally knew that the so-called "heroes" had come to their village and intended to borrow the God of Frost Sword from her.

She was the last descendant of the Ice Clan. Now that the "heroes" had come knocking, if she still kept up her usual lazy shut-in lifestyle, would she not be looked down upon by them?

Thus, in order to preserve the Ice Clan's lofty image, everything Yoru Machi and the others saw before them had actually been deliberately arranged by Mei Beilu.

Don't ask why she had turned her entire room into ice. The room had been too messy before, and Mei Beilu simply had no time to clean it, so she could only cover everything with ice.

Like this, she could both conceal her shut-in tendencies and show off her grandeur. There was nothing wrong with that.

It was just that for the next few days, she might have to secretly stay outside. Even as a member of the Ice Clan, she did not enjoy sleeping in such a frozen environment.

"Are you Mei Beilu Reibel, the last descendant of the Ice Clan who guards the 'God of Frost Sword'?

"We are heroes who heard that your village was in trouble and intend to slay the Demon Flame Dragon. We would now like to borrow the divine artifact in your possession, the 'God of Frost Sword', to defeat the Demon Flame Dragon. Would you be willing to lend it to us?"

It had to be said that Mei Beilu's carefully staged scene did have some effect. When Yoru Machi and the others entered, they saw Mei Beilu sitting with her chin resting on her knees and truly felt that she carried herself with tremendous grandeur.

Although, according to Yoru Machi's senses, Mei Beilu's Magic Power did not seem particularly impressive—perhaps even far weaker than Cui's—it was still possible that she was some hidden expert.

"Did you bring the Fluffy Flowers from Mount Malgide?"

In order to maintain her persona, Mei Beilu slowly raised her head and looked at the three of them with an icy, vacant gaze.

In truth, Mei Beilu had no interest whatsoever in the so-called Fluffy Flowers, nor did she know what they were even used for. But handing over the God of Frost Sword required this prerequisite from the Ice Clan, so she was merely following the prescribed procedure.

Though Mei Beilu looked like a cool and beautiful young girl at first glance, she was actually the sort of shut-in with a pet-like personality who easily got carried away.

Mei Beilu's current shut-in disposition was largely thanks to her mother.

When Mei Beilu was nine, her mother abandoned her and eloped with a younger man, even writing down the Ice Clan's secrets in books and selling them.

Mei Beilu's mother had also taught her, "Live as a parasite, die without working. Keep mooching off your ancestors—rely entirely on the God of Frost Sword."

That was why Mei Beilu had remained a parasite in the village by relying on the God of Frost Sword. Her only job was guarding it and waiting for heroes to come borrow the sword.

Naturally, Mei Beilu was quite satisfied with and fond of such work. After all, she could spend every day idling away and waiting to die. As for when the heroes would come, she neither knew nor cared.

Anyway, even once heroes came to her door, she only needed to carry out her "job" step by step.

"We didn't find any Fluffy Flowers, but we brought some other things to substitute for them. We hope you'll lend us the God of Frost Sword."

When Mei Beilu heard that Yoru Machi and the others had not brought the Fluffy Flowers but still wanted to take the God of Frost Sword from her, she had initially intended to throw them out.

Although she was lazy and gluttonous, she still had professional integrity when it came to her one and only job.

Besides, she was always the one who mooched off others. Now someone else wanted to mooch off her instead, so naturally Mei Beilu was unwilling to agree.

"Don't be so quick to refuse, Miss Mei Beilu. Although I don't know what the Fluffy Flowers mean to you, the items we brought as replacements are no ordinary goods. You could even say they are one of a kind in this world."

As Yoru Machi spoke, he extended a hand behind him. At the same time, Shimada Yousuke understood immediately and used magic to transform a blank white-covered book into one with exquisite illustrations and vivid colors.

"I heard that Miss Mei Beilu is a shut-in... an artistic young lady who dislikes going outside. I used to be the same way, so I know what people like us enjoy.

"The thing in my hand is called a 'Manga Book'. It is quite an interesting form of entertainment. Miss Mei Beilu, why not take a look?"

Looking at the Manga Book tossed before her, Mei Beilu initially wanted to pretend she did not care. However, the beautiful illustration on its cover quickly captured her attention.

Thinking that there was no harm in merely taking a look, Mei Beilu finally reached out slowly and opened the book...

And once she started reading, she could not stop. It felt as if a door to a whole new world had opened before her. Before this, Mei Beilu had truly never imagined that such interesting books existed in the world!

In the past, Mei Beilu spent most of her time shut inside her house sleeping, truly wasting away her days.

It was not that she did not want to do anything else. There were simply too few forms of entertainment in this world, and Mei Beilu did not want to do anything that would tire her out. Thus, sleeping was all that remained.

But the appearance of this Manga Book today completely refreshed Mei Beilu's understanding, letting her know that even lying around could be incredibly enjoyable.

Using Manga Books as trade goods had been discussed by Yoru Machi and Shimada Yousuke outside beforehand. As fellow shut-ins, they naturally knew what their kind wanted.

As for recreating Manga Books in this world, it was no difficult task for Shimada Yousuke. He only needed the Memory Spirit to reproduce all of his memories related to manga onto the pages.

Since their original goal had been to resolve Mei Beilu's inner conflict, Yoru Machi had Shimada Yousuke choose a comedy manga.

Seeing Mei Beilu's pained expression as she held back her laughter to preserve her lofty image, he knew this was practically in the bag.

Very quickly, Mei Beilu skimmed through the manga's several dozen pages. Yet the plot had stopped right at its climax, leaving her utterly hooked.

"Well, Miss Mei Beilu? The sincerity we've shown should be more than sufficient, right? Books like this are absolutely unique in the entire world.

"As long as you lend us the God of Frost Sword, in addition to the continuation of that manga, we can provide you with ten more different Manga Books."