Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 277 - 43 Old Rivals_1

Chapter 277: Chapter 43 Old Rivals_1

"You are..." Four people, eight gazes, simultaneously pierce the lady’s face. But she, appearing completely at ease, lifts the teacup on the table, takes a shallow sip, with an expression of pure enjoyment. Catherine couldn’t help but ask, "Could you repeat your previous request, miss?"

"I want to rejoin the team." The lady remained calm, speaking as if it was a matter of course, "This still applies for applying to you guys, right, team leaders?"

"Uh, wait, let me guess. You’re not Miss Mersedes, are you?" Catherine asked with a strange look in her eyes: "Miss Mersedes from the City of Knowledge’s Golden Eyeshadow Studio."

"That’s me." Mersedes reached out her hand, Catherine was utterly unsure of what expression to make, she could only mechanically respond, "Mersedes, the top makeup artist from Golden Eyeshadow, at your service anytime. You see, your skin has been somewhat rough and dry lately, it must be that you haven’t been taking good care of it. Actually, your skin is naturally very good, although slightly dark, putting a bit of foundation can cover up this minor flaw, and also your smile lines are little deep, you need to use..."

"Stop!" Catherine slammed the table, whispering angrily, "You actually want to rejoin? What’s your scheme?"

"Scheme? None at all." Mersedes casually waved her hand in front of her face, "You’re overthinking it, I have absolutely no scheme."

"You dare to show your face here with no scheme?" Catherine said in a solemn tone, "Aren’t you afraid of... hehe."

"Stop messing around, team leader." Mersedes covers her mouth, snickering, "I’ve already bowed out, there’s nothing to be afraid of."

"Because we will grill you on who is manipulating things behind the scenes." Catherine tilted up her sleeves as if preparing to fight.

"But you guys demanded to compete by the rules, bowing out is considered as voluntary withdrawal, it’s not a loss, I have every right to refuse to answer." Mersedes laughingly pinched off a piece of plum from lunch and handed it over, "Do you want some, it is quite sour."

"No." Catherine pushed Mersedes’s hand away in annoyance. The four people sat down at her table. Catherine asked, "You could’ve returned to the City of Knowledge unnoticed, why are you oddly asking to rejoin?"

"Private is private, work is work." Mersedes declared confidently, "The trouble I caused you was because of personal reasons, reapplying to join the team is for my work, you can’t mix these two."

"Indeed they can’t be intermixed." Pannis interjected, "But these are not the reasons for you to take the risk of our cold shoulder and vendetta to rejoin voluntarily, you should have some more specific reasons, we won’t trust you without clarity."

"Alright, alright, of course, it’s for the rewards, the reward for this wedding is very high." Mersedes said in a drained manner, sagging her shoulders, "In order to receive the rewards, of course, I have to take risks. You people really won’t understand this grand aspiration."

"No, I understand." There was a tearful urge on Catherine’s face, "Finally, I’ve met a normal person with similar thoughts to mine."

"You understand? That’s great." Mersedes clasped Catherine’s hand tightly, excitedly saying, "So you agree with me rejoining?"

"Of course not." Catherine’s face changed, forcibly pulled back her own hand, stern-faced, she said: "You rejoining makes no difference to us, but we have to deal with the risk of you having other schemes, we’re not idiots, why would we want to do such a redundant thing."

"Don’t be so cruel, team leaders. If I withdraw voluntarily, not only do I have to return the deposit, I also have to pay a thirty-percent penalty fee, that’s no small amount of money." Mersedes spoke in a mournful tone, "How about I give you a hundred gold coin deposit to assure that I’ll have no schemes."

"Are you joking? You really want to bribe us?" Catherine violently slapped the table in fury, "You underestimated us, you at least need to pay us thirty percent of the penalty fee."

"Hey, sis," Lina said in exasperation, "What about your professional ethics?"

"Relax, they’re not bad people." Catherine comforted Lina, "They are just some competitors, those who admit defeat pose no further risks."

"That’s right, it’s just a gamble, a game, why so serious?" Mersedes said indifferently, "I’ve already bowed out, there’s no need to go back on my word for a game. Besides, my base is still in the Holy City, what more do you need to worry about? However, thirty percent is absolutely impossible, the most I can give you is three hundred gold coins."

"Don’t think I don’t know, you black-hearted makeup studios charge by the hour, hiring for a full month this time, must be a hefty sum, thirty percent isn’t a small amount either." Catherine didn’t show any signs of backing down, "Now trying to fob us off with three hundred gold coins? Dream on, at least three thousand gold coins."

"Are you an idiot? There’s not even that much in the total deposit." Mersedes screamed, "Giving you that much I would be at a loss, the most I can give is five hundred, if it’s any more, I might as well not rejoin and just pay the penalty."

"Then go for it, you not only get to pay the penalty, you will have to refund the deposit too. Which one would be more of a loss?" Catherine, in high spirits, leaned her upper body forward aggressively, "One thousand five hundred gold coins, that’s my bottom line, I absolutely won’t back down anymore."

"Are you dreaming?" Mersedes fluently waved the knife and fork in her hand, "Seven hundred gold coins, not a cent more, any more than that you might as well kill me."

"Seven hundred? You can forget it!" Catherine replied just as fiercely, "One thousand, if you don’t agree let’s just break up now."

"Deal." The two ladies both smiled at the same time, as if they weren’t the ones fiercely arguing beforehand, with elegant movements, they lightly high-fived and softly said, "Welcome back to the team." "I’ve rejoined, thank you, my team leader."

"Your knightly spirit is crying again, sister." Lina covered her eyes, unable to bear the sight. "Are you really a knight?"

"I have not violated the knightly spirit, and the knightly spirit does not say that we are not allowed to do business." Catherine said calmly, "Because these guys are messing around, making the city guards, those young men, do a lot of extra work every day, hard like manual labor. And without any additional pay, I’m helping them get some extra income as compensation, which is more in line with the just items in the knightly spirit."

"Alright, alright, you’re always right." Lina replied in a sullen tone, "You have delayed too much time bargaining, it’s almost time to gather, let’s hurry up. Otherwise, don’t blame me for not reminding you if we’re late."

"Can you join up now, Mersedes?" Catherine returned to normal tone, "Is there anything else you need to prepare?"

"No, I’ve got everything ready when I estimated you guys would be here, ready to go." Mersedes said, "Even if you hadn’t come, I would have gone to find you."

"Then let’s go." Catherine exhaled and stood up, "First, let’s explain our situation to Captain Ayrland."

"Hey, Fox, I’m leaving first." Mersedes waved at a thin figure in front of the bar, "Tell Little Bear for me, tell him ’sister’ wishes his plan is successful, although I don’t think it’s likely."

"Gotcha, Duck." Fox waved back without turning his head, "Come back and visit more often, don’t just stick around your studio, we brothers miss you."

"Alright, alright, nagging Fox." Mersedes turned and walked away, "I’ll be back twice a year then, you talk too much."

"Hey, who is that? Fox?" Catherine pursued Mersedes, asking, "Is he one of you?"

"Yeah, he ordered the full plan yesterday." Mersedes replied, "Unfortunately, you guys broke it, so he had to step back."

"How many of you are hiding around here?" Lina looked around, "I always feel like an animal could pop out anytime."

"Exactly, look ahead." Mersedes pointed to two men approaching them. They were both tall, one muscular and sturdy, the other tall but lean and strong. On sighting the two men, Catherine and Lina shouted in unison, "Are you...are you that Frog (Earth Wolf)?"

"Seems no introduction is necessary." Mersedes shrugged, "That’s them."

"Haha, Miss Catherine." The muscular frog, who also appeared to be a knight, had his eyes light up at the sight of Catherine, cheerfully exclaimed, "I truly admire your knightly skills, even dreaming about yesterday’s fight. I hope to learn from you if there’s a chance in the future."

"No problem." Showing a proper exchange between knights, Catherine also spoke generously, "We can do that anytime after the final result comes out. But, are you really stepping down?"

"Of course, I promised." The frog performed the motion of knight’s oath, "I swear by the name of the knight."

"By the name of the knight." Catherine returned the promise with a knight-specific gesture. "Then we will go back and prepare for the next challenge, until we meet again."

"Sis, make more money." Watching the five depart, the Earth Wolf kept waving and shouting, "When the time comes, and your ’little brother’ asks for a loan, make sure to lend me."

"Buzz off!" Mersedes shouted angrily, "You’ll just spend it on drinking and chasing women if I lend you money. I’ll tell your father when I go back and have him break your legs."

"You guys seem very familiar." Pannis asked, "Have you known each other for a long time?"

"Of course. They’ve been fighting each other since childhood. I, being a few years older than them, watched them grow up during their fights." Mersedes didn’t hide anything, answering directly, "Wouldn’t you say we’re familiar?"

"She must be very familiar with you guys as well." Pannis asked casually.

"Seems you’ve figured out something." Mersedes paused, smiling wryly, "Actually, she has no idea who we are, we are not from the same circle. By the way, you wouldn’t be foolish enough to expose this, right?"

"Of course not." Pannis declared, "Didn’t you see that Catherine and the others were giving me a glare that could kill? I won’t reveal this secret even to them."

"That’s good." Mersedes told Catherine and others seriously, "Keeping this secret is the best choice, not only for us, but for you. I hope you understand."

"Hmph." The girls responded with a huff and turned away. (To be continued... If you enjoy this work, welcome to qidian.com to recommend, monthly vote. Your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile phone users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)