Chapter 155 New York Cleared
Killing the boss with relative ease, Shiro and Yin left the dungeon with a freshly stocked up pile of Mana Stones.
Of course, she didn't just leave without any preparations. Using her phantom path, Shiro made sure that no one could see her exit the dungeon.
Checking her phone, Shiro was bombarded by news of New York being finally cleared of monsters spawned by the totem.
"Finally." Shiro muttered with a smile.
With the clearance of monsters in New York, that meant she could get the rebirth pill from Nan Tian along with the fact that she can take Lyrica and Madison to Winter's Grace.
"Hmm… Maybe I should ask to see if Silvia wants to join them as well." Shiro mused to herself before bringing up Silvia's contact on her phone.
[Shiro: Have you heard the news? New York's been cleared.]
[Silvia: I've just seen it now. What about it?]
[Shiro: Since the factions are now free, me, Lyrica and Madison are heading to the Winter's Grace Branch office. Depending on what happens, I can get you a spot as well if you want to join.]
[Silvia: Sure. Since I'm in your party, I might as well follow. Though don't worry about it if I can't join. The faction doesn't restrict party's right?]
[Shiro: No they don't. Plus, I'm a guest elder so I should have some say in this.]
[Silvia: Honestly, I'm not even surprised that you're a guest elder. Plus, with your capabilities, making you a normal member would be idiotic haha.]
[Shiro: True. So that's settled. I still have some things left to do in this city but it shouldn't take too long. See you tomorrow.]
[Silvia: See you later.]
Putting her phone away, Shiro made a mental list of all the things she needed to do.
'Contact Freya from Winter's Grace and see what we're doing for the faction, get the outfits, meet up with Nan Tian and get the pill.'
"Seems easy enough." She chuckled.
Arriving back at the tent, Shiro frowned when she could see an extra presence in the tent.
Flexing her fingers, she made several ice needles since she could tell the presence is one that was much more powerful than Lyrica and Madison.
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Walking cautiously to the tent, Shiro opened it slightly and was welcomed by the sight of a young man in a hanfu drinking tea.
Lyrica, Madison and Kanae looked over in curiosity but was shocked seeing Shiro's new look. Hair tied into a ponytail and the new black dress gave her a slight gothic lolita feeling. It was the kind of feeling that almost made Lyrica want to be a kind of criminal *cough cough*.
"Shiro-nee!" Kanae cried out in joy and was about to jog over when Yuan Tian overtook her.
"Princess!"
However, before he could even get close, he could see two ice needles pointed at his eyes and several wires wrapped around his body.
'When did they appear!?' He thought in shock.
"Who are you." Shiro frowned and looked past him. Seeing Lyrica, Madison and Kanae still safe and sound, she sighed in relief but didn't let her guard down.
"It's me, The Watcher. I've signed a contract with young miss so that I can follow you." He smiled and bowed slightly.
"He's a butler." Lyrica called out from the background.
"Mn." Nodding her head in acknowledgement, Shiro thawed the ice and retrieved her wires.
"So you're our butler now?" Shiro raised an eyebrow and examined the watcher.
"You look revitalised." She commented.
"Indeed. After signing a contract with the young miss, I gained a physical body and in turn, allowed this old man to return to my prime." He replied with a small laugh.
"Don't call yourself old man. Just address yourself as butler." Lyrica called out from the background.
Yuan Tian made a face of discomfort before sighing.
"This butler understands."
Shiro perked up seeing someone like Yuan Tian being so submissive.
"Lyrica, can you tell me about what happened?" Shiro asked.
"Of course. So basically…"
###
After understanding the situation, Shiro made a face of confusion. For someone like Yuan Tian, signing a slave/ Life and Death contract was going against their way of life. The only reason he wanted to sign a contract with her was due to the fact that she was apparently the best talent he had ever seen.
But for him to sign a contract with Lyrica confused Shiro since she understood that there are most likely people more talented than Lyrica.
"It's because I want to follow the princess. My intuition told me that I would regret not following you. And in life, this butler had always trusted my intuition. Plus, young miss is a dear friend of princess. As long as I can follow princess, this butler does not mind." Yuan Tian replied.
"Hou, in that case then I wish you can train Lyrica well. Due to my nature and power, I'm not giving her the chance to earn enough experience. Even when I don't help, I am still a safety net that will guarantee her safety. Since you're a seasoned veteran, you should know that this isn't good right." Shiro smiled.
"Of course princess. However, I cannot say that I will train her better since your combat experience seemed to be vastly superior to this butler." Yuan Tian replied as there was a knowing look in his eyes.
During the short moment when Shiro had readied all the wires and the ice needles, he could barely react before his senses warned him of the dangers surrounding him. It was as if he was a fly that had suddenly been ensnared by a spider's web.
"Haha, perhaps." Shiro dismissed it with a laugh.
"Ah by the way you two, New York has been cleared so we'll be making our way to Winter's Grace sooner or later. We'll also go to Aarim's tomorrow to pick up your new outfits." Shiro said, showing them the news on the phone.
"Heh~ I wonder what's the faction going to be like." Madison muttered whilst leaning back.
"Does that mean Shiro-nee is going to leave me?" Kanae frowned in sadness.
"Unfortunately yes. But, if you train hard and keep yourself safe, I'm sure we'll meet in the future." Shiro smiled dotingly.
She wanted to take Kanae but that meant separating her from her mother. And she knew that not growing up with parents could possibly result in some bad trauma's for kids especially in a competitive environment like the factions.
"But how will I find Shiro-nee. The world is so big." Kanae asked.
"Hahaha, it's easy. Do you think that your Shiro-nee will be average in the future? Just search up her name and you'll find her in the future." Madison laughed.
Shiro only smiled since it was indeed a possibility. Plus, she was the guest elder at a faction now so there were bound to be some news.
Kanae only frowned since she knew that it was going to be hard even if she tried to track her down.
"Don't worry about it. Once you get strong enough, I'm sure it would be an easy task for you to find me." Shiro said since she understood Kanae's worries.
"Fine…"
'I should give her a gift before I leave. Something practical.' Shiro thought. One of the better options would be to give her a growth type weapon that can level up besides her. However, she knew the kind of dangers it could bring.
But at the same time, a growth type weapon will help her massively. Especially since she had a pair of katana's in her inventory that she had gotten from the mutated dungeon.
'We'll see.' She thought, setting the problem aside for now.
After talking to the group for a little longer, Shiro decided to leave the tent since she could tell that Yuan Tian wanted to say something.
Waiting on the tree branch, Shiro smiled lightly when Yuan Tian left the tent as well.
"So what did you want to talk to me about?" Shiro asked.
"I was just curious of princess's full power. Since princess has told me that you're not a warrior and instead a mage, I wish to see just how powerful princess was." Yuan Tian said as he kneeled down onto one knee.
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"Hou, I don't see why not. However, our location is a little too open and would draw many eyes. Come with me." Shiro replied and hopped off the branch lightly.
Walking towards the ruins of the slums, Shiro found a spot where no one would interfere. Plus, it was also far enough from the city that it would allow her to run before any guards arrive.
"So you wish to see me at my most powerful?"
"Yes."
"I can only go as powerful as I can afford is that ok?" Shiro asked since she wasn't about to reveal all of her power.
"That is fine. I just wish to peer into princess's strength as a mage." Yuan Tian nodded.
"Then prepare yourself." Shiro said as emotion started to fade from her face.
Stomping down, glacial ice spread out instantly as a chilling killing intent enveloped Yuan Tian.
His body instantly tensed up but noticed that wires were already surrounding him. Not only that, neon blue flames floated around him. Each ball of flame felt like they could freeze him just by being near him.
And to top everything off, a void black trident could be seen just above her head. Enveloped by a deep purple aura that seems to consume everything around it, the trident was by far the most dangerous attack at this moment.
'A single move to turn the area into her domain and shut me down from doing anything. Followed up by a trident that will most definitely kill me in a single blow… Princess isn't even a monster. She's far worse.' Yuan Tian thought to himself.
And this was done in an instant as well! A single moment was all that she needed to turn the entire area into a place that suited her the best. She wasn't even doing any preparations for large scale spells as well!
"Happy?" Shiro chuckled seeing the absolute shock and reverence in Yuan Tian's eyes.
"This butler is content. I am eager to see what you can do once you class up my princess." He replied, lowering his head as if he wasn't even worthy to gaze upon her.
"Mn, just focus on training my friend. Once we arrive at the faction, I don't think I'll be able to go with them as often." Shiro shook her head and retracted everything. The faction was a perfect opportunity for Madison and Lyrica to cultivate their experiences out in the field.
While it was indeed true that they can solo dungeons or fight strong bosses, they needed to work with someone weaker than them. By doing so, they'll be forced to learn situational awareness and make sure they kept tabs on everyone in the party.
Once they learn that, they'll be able to perform much better in a team rather than her supporting them all the way with her magic. Plus, Shiro knew that her case was a little special since there shouldn't be anyone that can support them like this at their level.
Her presence would only cause them to fall into laziness.
"I understand princess."
"Also, we should get you some clothes befitting of a butler. We can't have you wearing a hanfu all the time now can we?" Shiro chuckled slightly.
"Butler clothes?" Yuan Tian furrowed his brows in confusion.
"Oh you'll love them." Shiro grinned.
The next day…
"You lied to me!!!" Yuan Tian cried out in betrayal.
The suit felt uncomfortable for him since he was restricted. Unlike his hanfu that allowed him to have a full range of motion, the suit was basically a prison. Plus, Lyrica had ordered him not to damage it so he could only suffer the pain of being squeezed into a tight suit.
However, the girls had to admit that Yuan Tian looked rather handsome in the suit.
Buying several spare suits for Yuan Tian, the girls talked while waiting for Silvia to arrive. They had arranged the meeting to be in the city centre where they sold clothes.
After a short moment, they could see Silvia walking up in the distance.
"What the hell?!" Was her first reaction upon hearing that The Watcher was turned into Lyrica's butler.
"Don't mind the small details." Shiro replied.
"I don't think that can be called small but whatever." Silvia sighed since she had mentally prepared herself for most things that might happen during her time in the party. The fact that they made a trial mini boss into a butler was justification of her preparation.
Once they arrived at the workshop, Aarim showed them their outfits.
"Here's Lyrica's, Madison's and Silvia's. Also, you're not going to tell me to make one for this guy are you?" Aarim asked.
"No don't worry about him. He's a butler of sorts so he doesn't need to fight." Shiro chuckled seeing Aarim's reaction.
"Phew. Because I'm seriously going to run out of monster cloth at the rate you're going." Aarim rolled her eyes.
Shiro's party was the only party that had managed to make her give out 2 sets of clothes. And even then, it was a surprise if she even gave people 1 set since they're not up for sale. Only those who had her favour would receive one.
Looking at their new outfits, the trio smiled in satisfaction. Lyrica had a sleeveless red and white dress that paired with long gloves and stockings. The dress itself was suited for combat since it didn't limit her body movement at all.
Madison's outfit was similar in design but with small alterations. Instead of sleeveless dress and gloves, her's was just a long-sleeved dress that was coloured a mix of red, dark grey and orange.
As for Silvia, her outfit was more reserved since it didn't show any skin. Coloured white and green, her outfit gave a calming feeling as healer should do.
Now that the trio has gotten their outfits, Shiro could strike that off her checklist.
'Only a few more things to do now.' She thought to herself.