The story of the black silk female knight

Whoosh whoosh whoosh.

While several anglers nearby stared in disbelief, Valensa easily caught sandworms one after another and put them into a box.

As a famous ingredient from the lakeside, sandworms are naturally one of the targets of anglers.

They study the movement traces left by sandworms on the sand like the best hunters, use various spices to make bait that smells so delicious that people want to eat it, use meticulous craftsmanship to make traps, and wait patiently for the prey to take the bait.

And what happens? They usually have to spend the whole day to catch only two or three sandworms, and even that's considered a haul to brag about. Many people end up going home empty-handed after a whole day of hard work.

But what do they see now?

A noblewoman who didn't look like a fisherman caught sandworms one after another with just a black silk stocking and a piece of meat. Her catch in half an hour was more than what they would catch in a week.

Why!

The anglers' eyes immediately lit up.

They were all very experienced people, so they could immediately tell that the piece of meat was ordinary, and the secret to the noble girl's success lay entirely in her black stockings.

Several people kept swallowing hard. If they weren't worried about being mistaken for perverts, they would have rushed up and asked the girl if she was selling the black stockings.

Valensa only wanted to improve Melina's diet, not to catch sandworms to sell for money, so she called it a day after the small wooden box was almost full of more than ten sandworms.

"go."

Valensa certainly wouldn't keep her own black stockings, but she also wouldn't take the rotten piece of meat home; she simply threw it into the lake to feed the fish.

Afterwards, amidst the envious and jealous gazes of a group of anglers, he returned home with a box of sandworms, a bountiful harvest.

When I returned to the Adventurers' Guild, the lobby on the first floor was noticeably quieter than it had been in the afternoon. Many adventurers had already found suitable quests and set off with their teammates, while those already on quests had not yet returned. It would be much later in the day before the place became lively again.

After greeting the two young ladies at the front desk and a few familiar adventurers, Valensa ran straight up to the fifth floor without stopping and pushed open the kitchen door.

"Grandma Qianli".

She smiled and held up the box to the elderly woman with gray hair behind the door:

"Can I borrow the kitchen? I just caught some sandworms, to give Melina a change of pace."

"Oh? Miss went to the lake again? Manager Melina is really lucky... Use this place, treat it like your own kitchen."

The old woman smiled and looked Valensa up and down, becoming more and more satisfied with her.

“Oh dear…a noble lady as beautiful, capable, and sensible as you is hard to find these days, even if you were holding a torch…If I had a grandson around your age, I would definitely try to match you up…I wonder which lucky young man will be able to marry you.”

"Grandma Qianli, you're teasing her again!"

Valensa immediately stomped her foot playfully:

"What young man? I don't want to marry any of those stinky men! Having Melina by my side is enough for me in this life!"

"Ha ha ha ha……"

The old woman clearly took Valensa's words as a joke:

"Yes, yes, yes... Manager Melina is so lucky to be with such a sensible and capable girl like you, Miss."

"Ugh... I'm ignoring you!"

Valensa had no good way to deal with this kind of well-intentioned teasing from her elders. She could only pout as she took out the sandworms and begin to show off her cooking skills.

Seeing this, the old woman Cissy didn't say anything more and silently gave Valensa her place.

After taking out the sandworms, Valensa first washed them in clean water to clean off all the mud and sand on their surface, and then found a wooden stick about the thickness of a chopstick.

Insert the stick into one end of the sandworm and slowly pull it out, turning the sandworm's flesh inside out as well.

Continue to wash and rub the sandworms in clean water to thoroughly remove all impurities. This completes the initial processing of the sandworms into food. After squeezing out the water, set them aside for later use.

Heat oil in a wok until it reaches 30% of its maximum temperature. Add the sandworms to the wok and lightly fry until they flip up. Remove them and drain the oil.

Clean the pot and reheat it. Add scallions, ginger, and garlic and stir-fry until fragrant. Add a little stock, salt, pepper, sesame oil, cooking wine, and other seasonings. Finally, add the sandworms and stir-fry. A dish of stir-fried sandworms, brought to the world by Valencia, is now complete.

"No matter how many times I watch it, I still find it incredible."

After watching Valencia finish her work, the old woman Cisley couldn't help but sigh:

"How can a noble lady like you, who clearly doesn't get involved in cooking fumes, have such good culinary skills?"

Because it's something you brought from your past life~~.

While she thought this to herself, Valensa certainly wouldn't say it out loud; she just smiled.

"Maybe it's because of love... I like Melina and want her to enjoy her food, so it's easy for me to perform exceptionally well when cooking~~."

"Hahaha... Is that so? Then let's assume that's how it is."

The old woman, Cissori, clearly didn't believe it, but she didn't investigate further.

She didn't know the specifics of Valensa and Melina, but she knew that noble ladies who ran away from the capital to a border town must have different secrets and stories.

After thanking the old woman, Cieri, Valensa took the stir-fried sandworms back to her room, along with some bread and a bottle of red wine, and waited for Melina to come home from get off work.

crunch.

Not long after, the sound of the door opening rang out again, and Melina returned.

She was clearly exhausted after a day of paperwork, stretching and looking tired with obvious weariness on her face and in her eyes.

"Huh? Miss, you..."

But upon seeing Valensa's sweet smile and the steaming hot fried sandworms, all the fatigue and weariness were instantly washed away, replaced by surprise and emotion, even bringing tears to their eyes.

"Sister Melina, you've worked so hard~~, come and have some stir-fried sandworms, ah~~."

Valensa chuckled and pushed Melina to the table, picking up a sandworm with a fork to feed her while she couldn't resist activating the new ability she had just acquired that afternoon.

Let me see just how much you like me.

Chapter 9: The First Attempt at the Favorability Function

The target's current level of affection towards you is: Intimacy.

As expected, the technology at Dimensional Hardware Store was reliable. Valensa had just activated her membership terminal when Melina's favorability rating was displayed on the screen, along with a detailed explanation that would pop up the first time the favorability rating query function was used.

Valensa glanced at it briefly. Apart from the precautions mentioned by the owner of the Dimensional Hardware Store, the instructions mainly introduced the levels of favorability.

The middle stage is unfamiliar, with four levels above and below it.

The four levels of favorability are: Friendly, Intimate, Romantic, and Unwavering.

The four negative levels are: disgust, hostility, hatred, and relentless enmity.

For Melina, who has no romantic relationship with Valensa, intimacy is probably the highest level. In her heart, Valensa is probably no longer just a young lady to be served, but also a younger sister to be taken care of.

Valensa was somewhat satisfied with the result, but not entirely content.

She remembered the third way the owner of the Dimensional Hardware Store had mentioned to get more draw chances, and thought that tonight's dinner would be a good opportunity, so she decided to strike while the iron was hot.

"Um... Sister Melina?"

Valensa put down her bread, bit her lip slightly, and stared at Melina with her large, watery blue eyes, trying her best to create a romantic atmosphere.

"Hmm...slurp~~, what's wrong, young lady?"

Melina ate the fried sandworms one fork at a time, clearly a little surprised by Valensa's sudden change in attitude, but she quickly put on a doting expression and listened attentively.

"that……"

Valensa took a deep breath, trying to appear as shy as possible, before lowering her head and speaking:

"I love you... Can we be together forever?"

They've already confessed their feelings, so this should be considered a BL (Boys' Love) interaction, right?

Valensa's heart pounded. She wasn't worried about how Melina would respond; whether rejected or accepted, she had a way of getting away with it by being cute.

She was more concerned about the bottom right corner of the member terminal, wondering if the number of draws would increase.

"Hey?"

Melina was indeed taken aback, seemingly not expecting Valensa to suddenly say these things so seriously.

But she quickly chuckled and patted Valensa's head with an even more affectionate expression:

"What nonsense are you talking about, young lady? Do you think I get to decide such a thing? From the moment I became your personal maid, I have been yours... Unless you ask me to leave, even if I lose my legs, I will crawl on my hands and follow you forever."

"That's not what I meant by being together!"

The interface in the lower right corner of the member terminal remained unchanged. Valensa, somewhat embarrassed and annoyed, pouted and said:

"Melina, your loyalty as a maid is beyond question, but what I want to ask is... would you be with me just because you like me?"

"you……"

Faced with such a direct attack, Melina finally blushed a little.

But she reacted faster, immediately reaching out to ruffle Valensa's hair and flicking her forehead:

"Miss, have you been reading some weird romance novels lately? You should save those kinds of lines for your sweetheart. What's with flirting with me? If you keep this up, I'm going to get angry, hmph!"

"Hehe, sorry Melina, it was just a spur-of-the-moment decision."

In fact, Valensa already regretted her impulsiveness. Doing so might have taken her relationship with Melina to the next level, but it could also lead to unexpected problems.

Fortunately, Melina gave her a way out in time, and she immediately stuck out her tongue and got away with it, only to suddenly notice that the number in the lower right corner of the member terminal had changed from 00 to 01...

Just like that, I got a blind box draw chance worth 6 gold coins?

Valensa was overjoyed, and her heart burned with excitement once again.

She wasn't ready to break through her current relationship with Melina, but getting some more rewards through other means shouldn't be a problem.

After all, according to the owner of the Dimensional Hardware Store, interactions with beautiful girls are not limited to language; intimate actions and behaviors are also possible.

So Valensa became unusually clingy tonight, trying every possible way to get close to Melina after dinner, like a kitten desperately trying to be affectionate.

When it was time for bed, she stood in front of Melina's bed in her nightgown, hugging a pillow, looking pitiful.

"Sister Melina, can we sleep together tonight? I'm afraid of the dark~~".

"Young Miss, what's wrong...?"

Melina found it quite amusing. How could a young lady who had always loved to be bold and playful since childhood, and who now dared to hunt wild beasts and monsters in the jungle all by herself, possibly be afraid of the dark?

However, considering what Valencia said at dinner and her behavior tonight, Melina had a guess: she felt that Valencia was just having typical teenage overthinking and anxiety.

"Then come on."

Melina, of course, wouldn't refuse her when her young mistress needed comfort, so she casually patted the empty space next to the bed and invited Valensa to come up and sleep with her.

"Yay! I knew Melina, you spoil me the most!"

Valensa immediately rushed over happily, hugging Melina's tall and voluptuous body, her face beaming with a blissful smile.

"Go to sleep... You must be very tired today. Get some rest."

Melina then lowered her head and gently kissed Valensa's forehead, before wrapping her arms around her and falling asleep in each other's arms.

This wasn't the first time Valensa had cuddled her personal maid while sleeping.

In the beginning, Valensa did consider fulfilling her dream from her past life and having a sweet and sensual night with a beautiful and hot maid.

Unfortunately, perhaps because Melina, whom she had grown up with, was like family, Valensa found it difficult to have any impure thoughts about her. Even when she held Melina tightly in her arms, she couldn't get excited at all.

This once worried Valensa greatly, who feared that her orientation might have changed along with her gender. Fortunately, she later proved her worries to be unfounded through other means.

She undoubtedly still likes pretty and hot girls, but her feelings for Melina far outweigh her desires and impulses, which is why she finds it hard to feel anything.

The same thing happened now. She clearly wanted to do something more ambiguous to earn some rewards, but after hugging Melina, she really entered a state of peace and tranquility not long after. The fatigue from three consecutive days of hunting also burst out all at once, and she fell into a sweet sleep in Melina's arms.

"Eh? Eh eh eh eh?"

The next morning, Valensa was stunned when she saw the number 05 in the lower right corner of the member terminal interface.

She felt that she hadn't done anything special last night.

The number of draws that I had to work hard to earn in the jungle for three days is now mine?

……

Valensa suddenly began to understand those wayward girls a little better.

This method of quickly gaining benefits simply by abandoning one's pride and integrity... is indeed very tempting.