Dragon City.
A cozy little home someone had bought for herself, whose mortgage she still had to pay off by working for the Swordbearers.
The room was small, about fifteen square meters, but neatly kept. The walls and floor were pale blue, giving it a comfortable feel.
A solid wooden desk and a swivel chair stood in the center of the room, with several books and a small desk lamp neatly arranged on the desktop. To the left stood a white bookcase, roughly three meters tall, with five shelves, each neatly packed with books.
Most of the books were hardbound editions, their black, white, red, and other colored spines arranged in a pleasing order. Beside the bookcase stood a white wardrobe with its doors shut, a small potted succulent resting on top.
On the other side of the wardrobe was a large window, its pale yellow curtains half drawn. Through the gap, a sky that was not quite blue could be seen outside.
Beneath the window sat a white sofa and a small coffee table, with an open magazine lying on the table. Five or six boxes of books were neatly lined up against the wall, each stuffed full.
Yue Chen sat at the desk with a thick, heavy book in her hands, her head lowered as she read intently. After a while, she frowned, set the book down, and gently rubbed between her brows. She looked tired, letting out a long sigh as she stared blankly ahead.
"Reading is so hard. Before I came back to Dragon City, I was practically illiterate-I only knew a few characters. Now I have to read articles that only exist in print and haven't been uploaded to those information sources, and I can barely understand what they mean."
She rubbed between her brows