New Trade

Kellan was the first to reach the finish line, gasping for air with his legs propped up. Following close behind was Ike, from the same village.

Melly's brows were furrowed with concern, her small hands almost tearing the hem of her clothes.

"Let's rest for a bit," Claire said softly.

Hant immediately ordered those who reached the finish line to take a break.

Claire gently pushed Melly and whispered, "Go find your brother."

"Oh, okay!" Melly, realizing what Claire meant, ran over and opened her small, chubby hands to hug Kellan, but he gently pressed down on her head.

"Don't hug me, I'm covered in mud right now."

"Hmph! Mean brother, you won't let Melly hug you anymore," Melly said indignantly, hands on her hips.

Kellan poked her forehead. "How did you get here? And with the Viscount?"

At this, Melly's eyes lit up. She grabbed Kellan's hand and excitedly said, "Melly didn't know Big Brother was the Viscount! He brought me here on the way."

Kellan poked Melly's head again. "You still haven't told me how you got here."

Melly closed her mouth and looked down at her feet, remaining silent.

"Did you sneak out of the house? Didn't tell Mom?"

Melly grew anxious. "I came to bring my big brother some good food!" she said, opening her bamboo basket and taking out the wheat bread and dark-looking roasted meat.

Kellan glanced at it and smiled, then picked it up and put it in his mouth. Although it wasn't as delicious as the food he'd eaten that morning, it was indeed delicious for his family.

After eating a few bites of bread, Kellan put the food back in the basket. "Brother doesn't lack food here. Don't bring anything over anymore, understand?"

"But... but Melly misses brother!" Melly was on the verge of tears. She hadn't seen her brother for just one day and felt like she was dying.

Kellan stroked Melly's head to comfort her. "Brother can go back twice a month. You be good and wait for brother at home, and I'll buy you candy when I come back."

"Oh, oh!" Speaking of candy, Melly suddenly remembered something. She took out the two rainbow candies Claire had given her earlier from her pocket. She took one out and handed it to him. "Here, this is the candy Melly asked Big Brother for. This one is for you."

Kellan took it from Melly's hand and then saw Melly put the other candy back into her pocket. He asked in confusion, "Aren't you going to eat it?"

Melly continued to hide the candy deeper in her pocket, saying casually, "Melly already ate one. This one is for Mom. Melly thinks candy is delicious, but Mom always says candy isn't good and gives the brown sugar she buys to Melly, without trying it herself. This candy will surely change her mind!"

As she spoke, Melly's eyes seemed to recall the wonderful taste of the previous candy, and she excitedly said to Kellan, "Brother, eat it quickly! It's sweet and sour, it's delicious, much better than brown sugar."

Kellan was taken aback. He looked at the candy in his hand and was about to speak.

Melly said again, "Eat it quickly, or Melly will get angry. It's really delicious!"

Kellan put the candy in his pocket and stroked her little head. "Brother just finished training and can't eat anything. I'll eat it tonight."

Melly's little face drooped, but she quickly recovered and cautioned, "Then brother, you must eat it."

"Mhm."

They chatted for a while longer, but rest time was always short.

"You brats, get up now! You've rested long enough!" Hant's stern voice boomed.

At this moment, Claire also leaned over, took Melly's hand, and said to Kellan, "Don't worry, I'll have someone send her home safely."

Kellan immediately stood up and gave a knight's salute. "Thank you, Viscount!"

Claire nodded gently, then took Melly into the carriage with her.

Melly was also very well-behaved. Knowing that her presence would affect her brother's training, she obediently got into the carriage with Claire.

Inside the Viscount's mansion.

"You can play around here freely. I need to go do some experiments. I'll send you home after lunch," Claire said to Melly.

Melly looked around the huge castle, appearing a little timid. Any single room here was larger and incomparably more magnificent than her own home.

However, after Claire left, Melly sat on the sofa for a while and secretly ate several pieces of fruit, which made her feel less nervous. Especially since one of the maids there was an older sister from their village, Melly felt even more at ease.

Moreover, she was an invited guest of Claire's. Therefore, although Regan still looked down on commoners like her, he didn't treat her with the same strictness as he would a maid. He simply told her not to go to the basement or the sixth floor, and then let Melly play around the Viscount's mansion.

Wandering around the Viscount's mansion, Melly followed the scent into the kitchen and met Yuna, who was preparing lunch. After talking for a while, they quickly became good friends.

At night, when the moon hung on the branches, Claire finally came out of the laboratory in the basement.

Flicking the fresh blood from his hands and finding a washbasin to clean it off, Claire's brow remained tightly furrowed.

"It seems that developing a potion that can quickly cultivate Battle Qi isn't that simple. I've killed dozens of experimental white mice, and I still have no clue," Claire sighed.

He glanced at the books he had brought back from the capital and carefully studied the books on Battle Qi. There were potions for recovering Battle Qi and stimulating potential, and their effects were very good. There were even potions that could allow an ordinary person to advance to Bronze Battle Qi within months, but they were too damn expensive. Even selling Claire wouldn't be enough to supply the fifty-seven knights.

Seeing his young master emerge, Regan immediately approached.

"Young Master, dinner is ready. Shall we dine?"

Claire suddenly realized it was already evening and asked, "Was Melly sent home?"

"After inviting Miss Melly for lunch, I had the coachman send her back. She was delivered safely."

"Mhm," Claire nodded and headed towards the dining room.

Not long after sitting at the dining table, a chopsteak drizzled with honey sauce was placed in front of Claire.

Claire casually cut a piece of meat with her knife and fork, then looked at Yuna beside her. She thought that if she ever had time, she should teach Yuna how to cook some Chinese dishes. Otherwise, eating this kind of food every day would eventually lead to depression.

Seeing Claire look at her, Yuna blushed and lowered her head, wondering what she was thinking.

Dinner was quickly finished. After wiping his mouth with a napkin, Claire asked, "What time is it now?"

"Replying to young master, it's ten-thirty."

"Mm." Claire stood up and walked towards the stairs, instructing, "Don't let anyone go up to the sixth floor."

Today was a trading opportunity he had waited a week for. He had initially debated whether to save it for the next trade to make friends, but it seemed better to use it now.

"As you command!" Regan didn't follow, stopping below to direct the maids to start clearing the dining room.

The moon was perfectly positioned above the spire of the rooftop. Claire could see the entire moon through the large, transparent glass.

He also paused his movement of flipping through a book. "It's midnight..."

With a thought, a simple data panel appeared within his line of sight. Looking at the top right corner, his trade points had indeed become 1!

Claire didn't waste any time and directly said, "Start Trade!"

The familiar swirling pattern reappeared, emitting a mysterious aura.

Even though Claire now fully possessed the original owner's magical knowledge, he still couldn't figure out how his cross-world trading worked.

Claire stared at the vortex before him, waiting patiently.

"I hope I can be matched with a better trader this time..."

No inside traitors, give me some votes!