Chapter 21: The Shy Girl

As Field walked along the road, he pulled out the envelope and flipped it over. The address read: 1103 Haila Street, Outer City District, Seaside. The recipient was...

"Vena?" Field blinked.

Just the single name "Vena," without a surname, was somewhat peculiar. No surname typically meant no family. Considering what Mrs. Holan had said about her student needing the spot more, Field speculated that the recipient might not come from a well-off family. However, Field didn't dwell on it much. After all, he was just here to deliver a letter, and such speculations were just part of his professional habit. Mercenaries couldn't rely solely on strength; they needed sharp minds too.

Field quickly found the address. It was a large courtyard, though large didn't necessarily mean luxurious. This particular courtyard had a somewhat humble air about it. The fence was wooden, the two-story square houses arranged in a staggered pattern, constructed of a mixture of wood and stone, with vines similar to ivy climbing up the outer walls, indicating its age.

In the yard, there was a sandbox, where several children in plain clothes were playing. Above the gate hung an iron signboard, somewhat loose and rusty, with a few large characters written on it.

"Rumla Welfare Home?" Field read the signboard, then glanced at the envelope and the address. Everything matched.

"Shall we go in directly, meow?" Quixi asked.

"Mhm," Field nodded and pushed open the gate.

As Field and Quixi entered the courtyard, several children noticed the arrival of strangers and hurriedly dropped their crude wooden toys, rushing back indoors.

Field followed suit but didn't push the door directly; instead, he knocked.

Soon, footsteps could be heard from inside, and Field waited silently for a moment before the door opened.

It was an old lady with silver hair.

"Who are you?" the old lady looked at Field with confusion.

"Hello, I'm from Haidis," Field said, opening his mouth.

The title of "mercenary" wasn't suitable for addressing this obviously ordinary old lady. To many common folk, mercenaries were generally not considered good people. Field had learned this the hard way in his past life, so he opted for a different approach. It wasn't lying since he did come from the Haidis Academy.

"Haidis Academy?" The old lady's face lit up instantly with a smile, whether it was an illusion or not, there was some anticipation in her eyes.

"Child, do you have any business here?" she asked.

"Oh, I'm here to deliver a letter. There's a letter here for someone named [Vena]. Is she here?" Field's tone was very gentle, completely concealing the fierce appearance he had shown when he brutally beat Krahun earlier.

"A white letter?" The old lady smiled even more happily, then turned back and shouted into the house, "Little Vena, there's a letter for you from Haidis Academy!"

Immediately, Field heard a rush of footsteps coming downstairs. But soon, the footsteps turned into a series of clangs.

The old lady was startled, forgetting about the person at the door, she quickly turned back and rushed inside, accompanied by a mixture of concern and blame.

"Oh, be careful, clumsy child, how can granny be at ease letting you go to such a faraway place..." 

"Are you hurt?"

"It's okay, Granny Rumla..."

Field listened attentively and heard clearly. It turned out that this old lady was Rumla, a kind old woman who had adopted so many children.

But another voice caught Field's attention more. It was soft and light, like a kitten's paw scratching his heart, making him itchy with anticipation.

He was eager to see what the owner of that voice looked like.

Soon, he saw... and then it seemed like he didn't.

Before long, a tall girl appeared in front of Field.

She was tall because she was a whole head taller than Quixi.

Quixi was just over one and a half meters tall, and the girl in front of him was probably close to one meter seventy.

However, she wrapped herself up very tightly.

She wore loose trousers, probably hand-woven, with a rough texture and slightly oversized, hanging down to her heels, almost reaching the ground. As a result, Field couldn't see the shape of her legs and could only confirm that they weren't short.

Her upper body was even more tightly wrapped.

It was still summer, not yet autumn, but the girl was wearing a linen hand-knitted sweater, and it was a high-necked one at that.

The neckline was like a vampire wearing a high-necked cloak in movies, but a vampire's high-necked cloak at least opened on both sides, while the girl's sweater's high neck was like an ice cream cone, directly covering half of her small face below her nose.

And the most critical point was that the girl's chestnut-colored short hair was like a round lid, wrapping around the upper half of the girl's face, even covering her eyes.

And that's not all, atop her head sits this round, mushroom-shaped hat.

With the flaxen high-neck sweater below and the chestnut mushroom head plus mushroom hat on top.

Standing at about five foot seven, she stands there looking all sprightly, and for a moment, Field almost thinks there's a big mushroom sprouting in front of him!

What kind of look is this?

Field almost burst into laughter.

Luckily, he's a tough guy and manages to hold it in.

It wouldn't be nice to make fun of someone the first time you meet them.

Although this girl's outfit is plain and her whole body is tightly wrapped up, hiding her figure, Field has a sharp eye for seeing through appearances!

First of all, only a tiny bit of her face is exposed, just the tip of her nose.

The nose is petite and exquisite, with a sharp and three-dimensional profile, indicating that the girl's nose is quite good.

And looking at the nose, you can pretty much tell the condition of a person's skin.

The tip of her nose is fair, with almost invisible pores, proving that the girl's skin is fair and delicate.

As the saying goes, fair skin covers a multitude of sins, with skin this good, this white, she shouldn't look too bad.

Then there's her figure.

Although it's tightly wrapped up and hidden from view, Field can see her feet and hands.

She's wearing ordinary cloth shoes on her feet, probably around size 38.

The shoe size for normal women is generally below size 38.

But for a girl who's about five foot seven, the shoe size should be around size 40, so wearing size 38, her feet could be considered petite.

Then there are her hands, hidden mostly in the oversized sleeves of the sweater, but the exposed part of her fingers is round and delicate, with nails neatly trimmed.

From the thickness of her fingers, Field can tell that the girl isn't fat.

From this, Field can basically conclude.

This girl, with a skin exposure rate of less than 2%, must have a good figure.

Joking aside, at five foot seven, with such long legs, and not fat.

As long as the girl isn't as thin as a stick insect, her figure won't be bad.

As for her looks...

Although her face isn't visible, with this height and figure, looks are just a bonus~

Moreover, her voice sounds so nice.

If sixty points is the passing grade, this girl must be scoring at least seventy.

While Hollan and Evlan are scoring around ninety.

As for Hilda...she's at ninety-nine in Field's rating system.

Why not full marks?

Because the final one percent is judged on inner qualities.

To get full marks, Field would have to delve deep into understanding her inner qualities~

"Hello, are you Miss Mushroom... uh, are you Miss Vina?" Field asked politely.

"Yes... yes..." The girl nodded lightly, her voice very small, possibly due to nervousness, and a bit stuttering. And because of the high-neck sweater, there was a muffled feeling to her voice, but Field could still hear the softness in it, making him really want to pull down her collar and hear her true voice. Of course, Field wouldn't be so rude; he was a civilized mercenary. He referred to this as—Mercenary Gentility, or simply being a gentleman mercenary.

"Here's your mail." With that, Field handed over the two envelopes.

The girl hurriedly reached out to take the envelopes. As she raised her hand, the sleeve of her sweater slid down a bit, revealing her delicate wrist. Confirmed, very fair, not fat, not too thin either!

Field once again marveled at his damn good observational skills in his mind. He was just too damn good! Don't get the wrong idea, having keen observational skills is normal for a mercenary, not some perversion. Therefore, in Field's mind, this earthy mushroom girl's score went up by five points. Not fat, not as thin as a stick insect, plus this height, huh huh. Where's the mushroom girl? Clearly, she's a treasure girl!

But what's in this treasure? Field would have to wait to see the girl's face to find out. Yeah, he's that kind of vulgar yet noble guy. What, where's the nobility? It's in his always gentlemanly and patient treatment of girls.

After handing over the mail, the task was completed, but Field didn't leave immediately. Instead, he smiled and said, "Aren't you going to open it? This is a letter from Mistress Hollan that she entrusted me to deliver to you."

Field could guess what was inside. He was hoping for White's reaction; perhaps under the excitement, he could have a chance to see her face?

Upon hearing this, White nodded gently, then opened the envelope with a mix of excitement and nervousness, as if she had forgotten that Field and Chichi were present.

After opening the envelope, White took out a letter and a badge engraved with the emblem of the Heidi's Academy. She looked at the letter... Field wasn't sure if she could see it, with her hair covering her eyes, but she seemed to. Her hand started to tremble slightly, and then she covered her mouth... the mouth covered by the high-neck sweater.

Faintly, there was a sobbing sound. "How is it?" Grandma Lunla asked anxiously from the side. "I... I can... I can go to Heidi's Academy..." White choked out, finally couldn't help but hug Grandma Lunla, crying loudly, as if the suppressed heart had been released.

Field felt a bit emotional. In his previous life, he had seen many children from the wasteland work hard to get into company colleges. When they were admitted, they cried with joy, embracing their relatives. That emotional scene would even move mercenaries who had experienced the baptism of war.

However, after entering the academy, those children often forgot where they came from and eventually became the company's lackeys, squeezing the people of the wasteland, and eventually becoming his underlings.

He hoped that the mushroom girl in front of him wouldn't forget where she came from like those people. "Okay, the task is complete. I wish you all happiness every day. Goodbye." With that, Field waved his hand and prepared to leave.

However, at this moment, a soft voice came, "Wait... wait..."

Field turned around and asked, "Is there anything else?"

White stood in front of him, her hands clenched together. Because of her crying just now, she hadn't recovered yet. Her small nose twitched, and her chest also trembled, the loose sweater couldn't hide it.

Well, not bad, add five more points. Eighty points now, keep it up, girl.

"Are you... are you a senior at Heidi's Academy?" White asked.

"More or less." Field replied casually.

"Thank you..." she said.

"Rather than thanking me, you should thank Mistress Hollan; she values you very much," Field waved his hand, smiling.

Although he didn't understand, good words are always said. But White didn't respond, which made Field puzzled. Did he say something wrong? It shouldn't be, from his speculation, Hollan did value White a lot. Otherwise, she wouldn't have sent him to deliver the letter, and even sent the badge, indicating that the internal admission quota had been confirmed.

Shouldn't she be happy?

The next moment, White took a step forward and handed the envelope and badge to Field.

Field's heart skipped a beat and he didn't take it.

Don't do this, sis, you don't want me to take the things back, do you?

That would mean giving up the opportunity to enter Heidi's Academy, and Hollan would definitely be affected. As mentioned earlier, humans are creatures that live on emotions. If Hollan is affected by this, then Field, who needs Hollan's help, will definitely be affected. Although Field thought Hollan shouldn't be the kind of person who would easily change her mind, if Hollan was depressed for a long time because of this, it wouldn't be appropriate for Field to go to her for help.

In short, Field didn't want that kind of thing to happen.

However, fearing what might happen, White's trembling voice slowly came, "Could... could you please return these... to Mistress Hollan?"

Field wiped his face, then asked, "Why? Don't you want to go to Heidi's Academy?"

"I... I want... but..."

"I can't leave Grandma Lunla..." she almost sobbed.

"Oh, silly child!" Before Field could speak, Grandma Lunla hurried over.

She first apologized to Field, then pulled Vina back under the eaves, where they spoke quietly. But Field, with his keen hearing, heard everything clearly.

"You've always wanted to go to Heidi's Academy, haven't you?"

"Isn't this your dream?"

"Now you can go, why don't you want to?"

"But..." Vina sobbed softly, her voice small even when crying.

"You and your sisters need taking care of... I can't leave you all..."

At this, Grandma Lunla fell silent. After a while, she said, "Although I can't set up stalls at the market anymore, I can still knit clothes, and the orphanage can support us..."

"No..." Vina said, though her voice was soft, her tone was firm.

"Knitting sweaters won't support the sisters... Grandma Lunla, I'm not going to school..."

"I don't want to go to school..."

"Can't you let me stay here to take care of you all..."

"I don't want to go to school..." she said, her voice becoming even more choked up.

Field could hear the reluctance in her voice. Was it that she didn't want to, or couldn't...

"Little Vina..." Grandma Lunla looked at the crying Vina, unable to hold back anymore, and stroked her cheek, tears streaming down her wrinkled face.

"Am I holding you back, dear..."

Her old hand brushed her hair aside, revealing a small patch of fair skin.

But Field wasn't in the mood to appreciate it; he just instinctively took out a cigarette, lit it, took a deep drag, and exhaled the smoke slowly, watching it dissipate in the wind.

Why did things like this always happen wherever he went? It was like that in his previous life, and it was like that now. No wonder old Chris said his temperament would never allow him to become a legendary mercenary in this lifetime... Because legendary mercenaries don't meddle in other people's business.

At that moment, he noticed several pairs of eyes.

Turning his head, he saw the children from earlier looking at him through the window.

All girls, not too thin, but not healthy plump either, probably just enough to eat occasionally supplemented with a meal or two of oil and water.

Thinking back to Vina's fair skin, it was more likely to be a sickly pallor, like paper.

But Grandma Lunla was really thin, her hands like dry branches.

The situation at the orphanage was really bad.

Field could guess that it was probably similar to the wasteland.

Favoring boys over girls, most of the adopted children were boys, and the remaining girls had to stay in the orphanage.

Looking around the orphanage, it was just these few children, an old woman, and a girl. There wasn't a single boy or anyone capable of helping with work.

Clearly, the entire burden of the orphanage was on Vina's shoulders.

Field's cigarette burned quickly, exhaling a large puff of smoke. He didn't like this feeling, as if he had returned to that crappy world!

But then he thought of something and his mouth suddenly lifted, excitement gleaming in his eyes.

No, two worlds are not the same!

In that wasteland world, no matter how tough you were, you'd be toast with one shot.

So guys who meddled in other people's business would never become legendary mercenaries.

But!

This world is different.

In this world, might makes right. When personal strength reaches its peak, it can crush all obstacles!

Even being legendary is not the end!

So why should he accept the rules of the previous life?

Moreover, that old Chris was just a old fraudster. He never spoke the truth!

Thinking of this, Field's mood suddenly became beautiful again.

Sorry, world, you're not crappy, you're really awesome!