Chapter 1437: I Have Many Twin Sisters
After entering the castle, although the space for movement was limited, they were invited guests. Even if they "got lost" in the castle, it probably wouldn't be too big a problem. However, having this maid following them around was another matter entirely.
This was a notification, not a discussion. The housekeeper finished her instructions and left, leaving the young maid in the lounge. She thoughtfully poured them tea and even asked if they needed any reading material to pass the time.
After waiting half an hour, Xiao Si saw that no one had come to summon them from outside, so she suggested they go for a walk.
"Can we go elsewhere?" Yan Jiayu asked. "Didn't the housekeeper say we could only move around near the small building?"
Xiao Si smiled gently. "The housekeeper is quite strict and follows rules everywhere, but the Queen is a very kind person. She is gentle with everyone and enjoys letting people tour the castle she has decorated."
Since she said so, the two agreed and followed her out of the lounge.
Outside, maids occasionally passed by in pairs, chatting and laughing. When they met, they would greet each other from a distance or exchange a few words. Everyone wore contented and warm smiles on their faces.
The castle was indeed quite large. The main keep in the center was a circular structure composed of six connected towers, with three wings on each side. The entire building resembled a huge parenthesis with a not-too-obvious curve.
In front of the main building were several artificial lakes. Behind it, separated by a garden, stood a few independent small buildings, and beyond those lay the rose garden.
With such a large area, to attend to the master's needs at a moment's notice, the main keep would certainly have kitchens and servant quarters. The place the housekeeper had taken them was actually on the left edge of the main keep, where there was also a kitchen. When Xu Huo and the others came out, they were already preparing meals there.
Xiao Si led them along the edges—some small corridors built specifically for the servants—to prevent them from wandering around the castle and making things look busy and chaotic. The main passages of the castle were reserved for the King, Queen, guards, and others.
However, unlike the small courtyard of the lounge, many places in the main keep were planted with flowers, grass, and trees, and they could even see some mutant plants.
"Those are seeds bought from outsiders. I didn't expect the flowers to bloom so beautifully. The Queen loves them," Xiao Si explained with a smile.
Throughout Gem City, traces of players or the outer districts were scarce. That was why Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu could use props to perform. If this instance had been open for a longer time, these little tricks wouldn't work. The circulation of game products here was only a matter of time, and then the people in the castle might not be so friendly to "outsiders."
"I heard you come from a distant country and can perform incredible magic. Is the outside world always so full of wonders?" Xiao Si asked.
This wasn't an easy question to answer. Although the maid before them had the appearance of a normal person and her words and actions were close to human, she wasn't a real person—she was a prop with human intelligence.
A human-like prop. It was hard to say whether her owner knew about the game, or if her owner was actually a player—the King, or the Queen. This meant that the one controlling Gem City might be a player, the instance holder.
This would greatly increase the difficulty of the instance.
"Every place is different." After exchanging a glance with Xu Huo, Yan Jiayu spoke. "But other places aren't as beautiful as Gem City. This is like an ideal world."
Xiao Si covered her mouth and chuckled softly. "I really like it here too."
Three soldiers jogged past nearby. Xiao Si called out to them to ask what had happened.
"An outsider just arrived outside the castle, claiming to have the most beautiful main keep in the world to offer to the Queen. Unexpectedly, she turned out to be a thief. Another Miss Xiao Si has already caught her and is now taking her to the prison," the soldier replied.
Xiao Si nodded. "Tell Xiao Si to guard the prison personally, to prevent her from escaping again and startling the Queen."
The soldier acknowledged and left. Xiao Si turned back to Xu Huo and the others and said, "A small incident has occurred."
"Are you the only one named Xiao Si in the castle?" Yan Jiayu asked curiously.
"I am one of the multiples. I have many sisters," Xiao Si said. "Although it's a small matter, I still need to go back and check on it personally."
She pointed ahead, indicating they could continue their tour, and added, "Lady Liya should be with the Queen now. She probably won't have time to see you for a while. If you get tired from walking, you can ask a servant to guide you back. In the afternoon, I'll find an opportunity to mention it to Lady Liya."
Xu Huo and the others had no say in the matter. They silently listened and waited for her to leave.
"Still walking?" Yan Jiayu turned to look at Xu Huo. "Multiples. I wonder how many sisters she has. No wonder the people in the castle aren't afraid of players at all."
Although traits and many props couldn't affect the people of Gem City, just relying on speed and strength, players were more than a match for the soldiers. However, the number of soldiers was too large, and killing them without regard for consequences wouldn't bring any benefits. So, most people's first thought was to shake off the Gem City people's entanglement, not massacre the city...
But looking at the current situation, the castle side was clearly a deep pit. When dealing with humanoid props, it was hard to say who would kill whom.
Xu Huo had to think a bit more. Since the King or Queen might be the instance holder and possess advanced props, the lost gem couldn't be that simple.
The King's attitude toward catching the thief had always been strange. Although he publicly offered a reward for the thief, he didn't give the bounty hunters all the information. This ambiguous approach even made people wonder if he really wanted to catch the criminal. Yet, this was one of the clearance tasks, making it seem more like a mandatory, forced task.
The instance's clearance tasks don't entirely follow the holder's will. The game can even modify the details and tasks set by the holder according to the rules, like the Seventeenth Hospital, or the Skinner's instance. The Skinner was originally irritable and bloodthirsty, but his instance setting included recruitment, and it seemed he also had to follow a certain procedure.
Xu Huo also held an instance. If the instance holder didn't want players to clear it, there were many indirect ways to interfere. Assuming there really was an instance holder in the castle, based on the current situation, regardless of the reason, they were interfering with the players' clearance. Whether they could obtain information about the stolen gem from the King was questionable.
"Could it be because the stolen gem is very special?" Yan Jiayu guessed. "Earlier, we thought the stolen gem was very special, and we also suspected it was stolen by someone from Gem City. Maybe the King just doesn't want outsiders to find the gem. Instead, he's deliberately throwing out smoke screens to make us search blindly while he searches privately."
(Chapter End)