[12 days of Protection Period]
"What do you think of this, master?" Troy asked, shyly showing her a detailed drawing of a small weapon.
It was similar to a crossbow, but hidden inside one's sleeves. It was perfect for assassination.
Her eyes brightened at the design, "Amazing, Troy!"
"It's nothing, I just take some knowledge from my hometown."
"Well it's nothing if you can't translate it, so don't underestimate your goodness." She told him, but too shy to look him in the eye. "I heard you bought a house?"
Troy received a lot of contribution points for his crossbows and polybolos. Although someone out there owned the patent rights and he had to give up some of his shares, he still earned the majority of the earnings of his own production.
He was now one of the few people with the much sought-after permanent residency.
"Well, yes. I'm paying for the downpayment." Troy mumbled, scratching his chin in embarrassment and a little smugness.
In his culture, owning a house equated to stability, making him very marriage-worthy.
He couldn't help but send the girl in front of him a furtive glance, before joining her in work-related chatters.
They talked for a while before finally working on the draft. Brenda was a weapons maker and she had the skill that could immediately understand the inner workings and mechanics of simple weapons.
Although he didn't know why indigenous people here didn't already make these weapons with these skills, he was happy to contribute.
Anyway, this allowed Brenda to give constructive inputs in the design, making the blind-hit processes Troy was committing a lot more efficient.
Troy gaped and was not stingy with his compliments, turning Brenda red.
Her heart couldn't stop beating at the sight of his sincerely admiring face.
There was always something special about this bubbly man. He was always so… happy and smiling.
His eyes also never lingered on the small scar on the side of her face.
This had never happened before.
In Xeno, to become a desirable but respected woman, you must either be very beautiful with a high noble status, or a beautiful woman with great strength or skill.
Because she was a woman with a man's occupation, coupled with her scar, she was deemed an undesirable woman by everyone.
Her previous lover ended their relationship right after she had this scar.
More importantly, Troy truly admired her for her skills. And this meant more than anything else.
Looking at how things were going for her, Brenda couldn't help but think fate was really mysterious.
Back then, when she got to the Chancery of Appointments, she did not even bother filling up requirements higher than a village.
Who knew… the village that'd pick her would be so good?
The beautiful Betty sauntered from patient to patient, checking on their status. The morning light hit her beautiful face and golden hair, mesmerizing a lot of men.
She changed the cover of the wounded that her busy assistants hadn't done yet, admiring the material as she did so.
It was now using a special plant-based gauze the lord created and applied herself. This was in contrast to the type they had been using more often, which were gauzes made by the factory. The formulation was also by the lord, but they were naturally less effective than the ones made by the lord herself.
However, the lord did give them a couple of rolls of gauze she made herself for emergencies but, otherwise, they use the ones made by the factory.
Do not underestimate the quality of the latter though, it was still much better than what she encountered in the city.
This gauze could not only protect wounds but also had the effect of hastening wound healing.
It was amazing and she, as a healer for many years, had never seen it before.
It was just that she had heard that this particular patient was a close friend of the Lord (or rather, her brother's), and hence had the honor of experiencing the special product.
It was also quite expensive so she was not stingy with her charging.
Fortunately, the people could choose to pay on credit, which was in turn monitored by the system.
This time, she was taking off the gauze on the wound of the handsome young patient. When she took it off, the wound had been completely healed.
"Sister, you're amazing!" The patient's twin said, eyes filled with admiration. "My brother was healed so quickly!"
Betty smiled. "Well, much of it was due to this special gauze."
"The expensive gauze you mentioned before," Luke mumbled. He heard a small bolt cost a dozen silver. Fortunately, Ansel passed by and gave him a bolt otherwise they'd be in debt like many others.
"Well, it is said that cheaper gauze, with lesser effect, will be made commercially available soon." Betty paused and smiled, "Of course, I hope you never have to use it."
Luke was mesmerized by her smile, staring at her with eyes filled with admiration.
She was just his type: pretty and gentle, fit for his strong self. "You're so pretty. Are you single?"
Betty blinked, taken aback by the question, but she let out a chime-like laugh in response. "How old are you?"
Betty smiled and, looking at the other men eavesdropping in curiosity, chose to tell them some facts.
Because she had a decent level, she was also in her level 20 in her late 30s, she looked much younger. Nineteen… was half her age.
Silence ensued in the clinic.
"I couldn't tell!!" Luke exclaimed, his simple mind allowed him to react quickly.
She was the same age as his mother.
Suddenly, he remembered his still missing mother and felt sad.
"Oh my, what's wrong?" Betty asked worriedly. Did she somehow break him?
"You are the same age as my mother." He said shoulders slumped, looking like a sad puppy. "We couldn't find her yet…
"You just look so young…"
Betty's heart softened. "I'm sure she's fine. Having two strong sons like you two, she is probably a strong woman herself."
Luke nodded, while Leo watched on with interest, though also feeling worried for their mum.
Soon, optimistic simple-minded Luke recovered and stared at Betty with admiration. "You really look young though, sister!"
"Well, I entered level 20 in my 20s, so I aged slower at that point."
"You're level 20?!" He gasped, as did everyone else who was listening in.
He was level 4, and he had been so proud of it, too!
And also… "You age slower?"
Betty knew the Lord and her people seemed to lack some common sense here. "The average lifespan of professionals level 10 and below is unlikely to exceed 100.
"But when one reaches 20, people could receive 50 to 100 more years."
The twins looked at each other and then looked at their pitiful level 4.
They thought they were already above average because they were nearing the peak of the level soon. Who knew even the most unassuming woman they met here was at level 20!!
She wasn't even a combat type right?
They really must get stronger! So embarrassing!!