8 TOMOE

Instead of going back home, Regis dropped by the House of Registry. This was the place where Linares lived and where she did her work to help people register newborns, marriages, businesses, and other things that needed to be recorded in a book of the registry. She had been doing this for so many years already with different identities.

It was all thanks to the ruler of this kingdom that she was able to live without putting her kin in danger, except for Amber.

The door to the House of Registry was abruptly pushed open and the receptionist thought it was caused by a strong gust of wind since she didn't notice anyone entering the establishment.

Unbeknownst to her, Regis already arrived on the third floor of the building and was sitting on an expensive couch just meant for him.

Linares vacated her seat instantly and got down on one knee while putting her hand on her chest. "Good evening, my Lord," she greeted with her lowered head. "How may I help you tonight?"

"I wonder if you notice anything unusual in town?" Regis asked with his discerning crimson eyes that helped him detect if someone lied to him or not.

"Yes, my Lord. I sensed this presence in town, but I could not find the source of it. At the same time, I could tell that the source meant no harm to your subjects. Even so, I planned to keep my ears and eyes open for any strange events in town."

Regis sensed the confusion and hesitation from her, but she was telling him the truth. Of course, Linares knew that Amber meant no harm to the people because she was once part of this town. Regarding the strange presence, she did feel it from Amber but whenever she tried to pry on her using magic, the presence would be gone instantly. It was as if it was never there in the first place.

"I see. I appreciate your effort in keeping the peace of my kingdom."

"My Lord, it was what I promised when I asked you to spare my life hundreds of years ago. I am just keeping my end of the bargain."

Regis didn't say anything more and stood up. When Linares could no longer feel the oppressive aura coming from the king, she raised her head and found herself alone in the room. [The presence he was talking about, was it Amber?] Linares thought while biting her fingernails from anxiety. [No, that's impossible unless – no way! That's even more impossible.]

That night, Linares was unable to fall asleep with so many things going through her mind. She was sitting inside her secret chamber which can only be activated with her magic source. In this chamber, all her magic books were kept, and some of the most dangerous spells that her kind tried their best to protect.

In contrast, Amber was lying comfortably in her bed after taking a warm bath that May prepared for her. Since she was travel–worn and had eaten quite a lot of snacks earlier, she didn't bother to have dinner.

She was just scrolling on her status board to see which quest she should take first to accumulate points and level up. Although she could still do an exercise set, it would not give her so many points for level-up, but it would help her gain more stamina, agility, and intelligence.

Compared to other leveling-up systems she read from her brother's books, hers was just average. Like what her system said previously, it won't make her insanely strong, but it will help its host survive no matter what happens.

"I'll do this quest tomorrow," Amber said while checking on a quest - *Helping 10 people will give her 1 point*. She didn't know to what extent should she help someone, so she decided to do a little experiment the next day. "Good night, my dearest system."

System: "Good night, Amber."

The next day, Amber woke up around 8:00 AM when the sun was shining brightly through the window and warmed her face.

She went inside her space storage and opened the door to her house. She first checked the white fox inside her bedroom which she also placed inside a huge case to give it some room for movement. Based on her system appraisal, it was already awake and was healing slowly but properly.

"So, you are pretending to be asleep, huh?" Amber muttered while taking out some meat from her refrigerator. She sliced them into thin and small pieces before putting them into a small bowl. She also took some berries and other fruits for the fox.

Basically, she was just experimenting with which food the fox would eat since she had never ever seen a real fox in her past life, lest knew what it likes to eat.

However, her system told her that foxes were omnivores, so there it was – a meal of mixed fruits and meat. She could only hope it would eat what she prepared so it could replenish its energy.

"System, what is my fox's gender, by the way?"

System: "It's a male."

"Hmm... then, your name will be Tomoe," Amber said and the fox's ears twitched a little when it heard what Amber said. "Tomoe, I am your friend. From now on, I will be taking care of you while you are resting here. Don't worry, I won't miss any of your meals."

System: "Tomoe is a girl's name, right?"

"I don't know. The fox spirit I knew from my previous life with this name wasn't a female."

System: "You knew a fox spirit from your previous life?"

"Yup. Why don't you check my memories?"

The system did and it was dumbfounded. Amber did know of a fox spirit in her last life but was from an anime she watched. It couldn't help but sigh deeply at Amber's memories.

System: "You are hopeless."

Amber laughed at her system's reaction while placing a small bowl of water inside the cage just next to the bowl of meat and the platter of mixed fruits.

She gave the fox a gentle caress on its head before locking the cage and leaving it alone so she could make her own food in the kitchen. Instead of buying food outside, she decided to cook inside her own home.

One hour later when she was all done eating and changing her clothes, she went out of her space storage and appeared inside her room in the inn again.

"It's time to do a little experiment!" Amber said and excitedly left her room without bringing anything with her. Today, she was planning to offer help as much as she could.

In that way, she would earn a reputation from the townsfolk and it would change their impression of her. After all, she blurted some awful words yesterday and it would certainly affect her.

For someone who plans to start a business, she can't afford to leave a bad impression on her possible customers.

System: "There is no time limit for this. Good luck, Amber."