My Anime Shopping Tree & My Cold Prodigy Wife!
Episode :53

Chapter : 105

Before it could recover or attempt any secondary defense, Lloyd acted again. A single, even thicker strand of steel, almost cable-like, shot from his hand, imbued with focused kinetic force. It struck the weakened trunk like a battering ram, punching clean through the damaged wood. The Treant groaned once more, then slowly, majestically, began to topple, crashing into the murky water with a tremendous splash. One down.

Fang was already moving, lightning gathering again, targeting the second Treant whose vines still struggled uselessly against Lloyd's wires. Chirp-SLICE! Another devastating impact. Lloyd followed up with a kinetic steel 'punch'. The second Sentinel crashed down.

The third Treant, sensing its imminent demise, seemed to panic. It thrashed its bound vines violently, and Lloyd felt a different energy signature spike – not vines, but a desperate release of its core power, attempting a localized energy drain pulse.

Not happening, Lloyd thought grimly. Before the pulse could fully manifest, Fang was on it. A final, furious Thousand Chirp Strike tore into its heartwood. Lloyd added one more kinetic steel impact for good measure. The third Treant collapsed into the fen.

Silence returned, broken only by the drip of water and the buzzing of insects. Three Sentinels down. The immediate threat neutralized. But Lloyd knew better than to relax. This was an ambush cluster. Where there were three, there were likely more.

He extended his Void sense further, sweeping the surrounding mire. There… two more, deeper in, pretending to be cypress knees. And… five… no, six… clustered near that patch of glowing fungi. And another couple hidden in the canopy overhead. Seventeen in total. A significant infestation.

Alright, Lloyd strategized quickly. Systematic extermination. Bind, strike, punch. Conserve Fang’s energy where possible, use my kinetics more. Maintain wire control.

The next hour was a grim, efficient process. Lloyd flushed out the hidden Sentinels, using himself as bait or directing Fang to provoke them. As soon as the vines lashed out, his pre-positioned or rapidly deployed steel wires bound them fast. Then came the one-two punch: Fang’s lightning strike to weaken the core, followed by Lloyd’s kinetically propelled steel slugs or rods to shatter the trunk. They worked in perfect sync, predator and master, lightning and steel, clearing the infestation tree by methodical tree. Fang took down nine, Lloyd finished eight using primarily his Void power after Fang delivered the initial weakening blow, carefully managing their combined energy expenditure.

Finally, the last Verdant Sentinel crashed into the mire. The oppressive psychic static lessened noticeably. The air felt cleaner, less charged with predatory intent. Seventeen hostiles neutralized.

Lloyd leaned against a cypress trunk, breathing heavily, feeling the familiar drain of prolonged Void power use. Fang slumped onto the damp ground beside him, panting, the lightning aura completely gone now, leaving him looking like a tired, oversized grey wolf.

"Good work, boy," Lloyd praised, scratching the wolf behind the ears. "Precision strikes. Energy management needs work, but effective." He looked around at the wreckage – splintered trunks, severed vines held fast by gleaming steel wires that now slowly dissolved back into nothingness at his command. Mission accomplished.

The System notification chimed almost as an afterthought.

[Task Progression: Verdant Sentinel Neutralization]

[Kill Count: 17]

[Reward Calculation: 1 SC per 5 Kills (Rounded Down)]

[Reward Issued: 3 System Coins (SC)]

[Current Balance: 50 (Previous) + 3 (Reward) = 53 SC]

Three coins, Lloyd thought, the familiar frustration bubbling up. Seventeen dangerous magical trees, hours of effort, significant energy drain… for three lousy coins. He shook his head. Need two more kills somewhere just to get that next coin. Pathetic efficiency. He reminded himself the real reward was the Silver from the Apothecary for the quest items.

He spent the next hour carefully harvesting the required materials. Twenty large, perfectly unblemished leaves, their surfaces cool and slightly rubbery, carrying a faint medicinal scent. He stored them carefully in an oilskin pouch. Finding the Heartwood Stone was trickier. He had to use his knife and Void sense to probe the shattered core of the largest Sentinel he and Fang had taken down, eventually extracting a fist-sized, irregularly shaped stone that pulsed with a faint, gentle green light. It felt warm, humming with residual Spirit Energy. He secured both pouches to his belt. Right. Time to get paid.

The walk back to the city felt longer, fatigue settling deep into his bones. He arrived at the Guild Hall just as dusk was painting the sky purple and orange. The evening crowd was building, louder, rowdier than the afternoon shift. He ignored the renewed stares, the nudges, the pointing fingers, and went straight to the counter.

Chapter : 106

A different clerk was on duty now, an older, balding man with sharp eyes. Lloyd placed the pouches of leaves and the Heartwood Stone on the counter, along with his contract copy. "Contract fulfilled. Verdant Sentinels. Seventeen neutralized."

The clerk raised a skeptical eyebrow but efficiently checked the contents. He counted the leaves, examined their quality, hefted the pulsing Heartwood Stone. His eyes widened slightly at the quantity and condition. "Impressive yield, Lord Ferrum. And remarkably fast completion." He made notations in the ledger. "Apothecary Vanya will be pleased. The reward – one Gold Coin and fifty-five Silver, correct?" He counted out the gleaming coins from the Guild coffers, the sound loud in the momentary lull nearby.

Lloyd gratefully accepted the payment, the weight of the gold coin feeling disproportionately significant. Ten more System Coins tomorrow, he thought, relief washing over him. He now had 33 SC and 1 Gold, 55 Silver. Progress. Slow, grinding progress, but progress nonetheless.

He pocketed the coins, nodded curtly to the clerk, and turned to leave the noise and smell of the Guild Hall behind him, weariness pulling at him. He needed food, rest, and to start planning the next phase of the soap venture – sourcing those damned oils. He was halfway across the main hall, pushing through a knot of boisterous mercenaries arguing over dice, when a voice cut through the din from behind him.

Clear. Resonant. Distinctly female. And carrying an undertone of authority that made several nearby conversations instantly cease.

"Lloyd Ferrum! Wait just a moment, if you please!"

Lloyd froze mid-stride, every muscle tensing instinctively. He didn't recognize the voice immediately, but the tone… it wasn't the pleading of a petitioner, the challenge of a rival, or the casual greeting of an acquaintance. It held command. He turned slowly, scanning the crowd, searching for the source. Who...?

—-

The raucous energy of the Central Guild Hall seemed to momentarily pause, a pocket of quiet forming around Lloyd Ferrum as he turned slowly. The noise didn't vanish completely – tankards still clanked, dice still rattled somewhere, a distant argument still simmered – but the immediate vicinity held its breath, drawn by the clear, commanding female voice that had cut through the usual din.

His eyes scanned the crowd, past the rough-faced mercenaries whose initial surprise was morphing back into indifferent curiosity, past the hopeful young adventurers momentarily distracted from the noticeboard. Then he saw her. And promptly did a mental double-take.

Standing near the edge of the cleared space, having apparently just entered or perhaps waiting deliberately, was a young woman who seemed utterly, spectacularly out of place in the rough-and-tumble atmosphere of the Guild Hall. She was tall, easily nearing his own height, with a posture that spoke of innate confidence and aristocratic bearing. Her figure was… well, the eighty-year-old engineer in Lloyd’s head immediately registered it as possessing statistically improbable curves combined with elegant lines, the kind of physique fashion designers on Earth would have fought over. High-spec model indeed, his internal monologue noted with detached appreciation. Walking genetic lottery winner.

But it was her hair that truly commanded attention. Not blonde, not brunette, not even the striking silver or deep black common among nobility. It was a cascade of vibrant crimson-violet, a color so rich and unusual it looked like captured sunset and twilight woven together. It shimmered under the flickering torchlight of the Guild Hall, framing a face that was equally striking – high cheekbones, a strong jawline softened by a full mouth currently set in a determined line, and large eyes the color of amethyst surveying him intently. She was dressed impeccably, not in practical adventuring gear, but in riding leathers of the finest quality, tailored perfectly, suggesting wealth, status, and perhaps a certain disregard for blending in.

Okay, Lloyd’s brain processed rapidly. Tall. Gorgeous. Ridiculously colored hair. Expensive clothes. Radiates 'I'm important, pay attention'. Definitely nobility. High nobility. He scanned his memory banks – both the hazy nineteen-year-old ones and the vast, cluttered archive of his eighty-year Earth life plus the fragmented recollections of his first Riverio life. Blank. Complete and utter blank. He had absolutely no recollection of this stunning, crimson-violet-haired apparition. Had he met her before? At some state banquet he’d slept through mentally? Was she newly arrived in the capital? Some cousin thrice-removed he'd managed to ignore?

Error 404: Name Not Found, his internal system reported dryly. Either new character DLC just dropped, or my memory is even patchier than I thought.

She strode towards him now, closing the distance with a confidence that parted the remaining onlookers like Moses parting the Red Sea. They stared, whispering frantically now, recognizing her even if Lloyd didn't. Her presence amplified the curiosity surrounding him tenfold.