Liling appeared at my door at nine in the morning with a smile that immediately put me on alert.

  "Good morning, Kenji."

  "Good morning," I replied cautiously. "Why are you smiling like that?"

  "Like what?"

  "Like you won a bet I didn’t even know existed."

  "I have no idea what you’re talking about." She walked in without an invitation and scanned my room. "Ready for our walk through the city?"

  "Technically, yes, but..." I stopped when I actually looked at her.

  Liling wasn’t wearing her maid uniform. Instead, she wore a dark blue tunic with silver embroidery that hugged her figure in a way her usual uniform definitely didn’t. The neckline had a moderate plunge that, without being scandalous, definitely drew attention to... specific areas. Her hair was down instead of tied up, falling in waves over her shoulders.

  "What?" she asked with absolute innocence. "Did you expect me to go to the city in my work uniform?"

  "No, it’s just..." I swallowed hard, "...you look different."

  "Different good or different bad?"

  "Different... noticeable."

  Her smile widened.

  "Thank you. Now come on, I want to show you the city before it gets too hot."

  *****

  We left the Silver Cloud Clan through the east gate. The guards greeted Liling with familiarity; she apparently went out to the city often. They looked at me with curiosity but said nothing.

  "First rule of the city," Liling said as we walked, "stay close to me. Second rule: don't stop to talk to aggressive street vendors. They’ll scam you."

  "And the third rule?"

  "If anyone causes you trouble, let me handle it." She discreetly touched the knife hidden in her belt. "That’s what I’m here for."

  "I thought you were here as a guide."

  "I’m multifaceted." She shot me a sidelong glance. "Besides, the Young Lady would kill me if I let anything happen to you."

  Golden Carp City was completely different when seen from street level rather than from the clan’s windows. The Noble District where we resided was orderly and spacious, with wide streets and well-maintained gardens. But as soon as we crossed into the Commercial District, everything changed.

  The noise hit me first. Vendors shouting about their products, buyers haggling over prices, blacksmiths hammering metal, street musicians competing for attention. It was an organized chaos that made my project manager brain want to create flowcharts to organize it.

  "Is it always this noisy?" I asked.

  "This is a quiet day." Liling navigated through the crowd with practiced ease. "You should see market days. You can't even move."

  I observed as we walked. The Commercial District was divided into sections by guilds. Here, the blacksmiths and weapon smiths; there, the cloth and clothing vendors; further ahead, the restaurants and inns. And everywhere, people. Thousands of people moving like a human river.

  "How many people live in the city?" I asked.

  "In all of Golden Carp City?" Liling considered. "Probably a hundred thousand, maybe more. No one has really counted them."

  A hundred thousand potential customers. A hundred thousand unmet needs.

  As we walked, my mind began to catalog automatically. Here, there were five blacksmiths on a street of ten buildings. Fierce competition, probably low profit margins. Over there, only two paper and ink vendors for an entire section. Potentially unmet demand.

  "Kenji."

  "Mmm?"

  "You’re doing that thing again."

  "What thing?"

  "That thing where your brain goes somewhere else and your eyes start looking at everything like you’re solving a math problem."

  "I don't do that."

  "You do it constantly." Liling stopped in front of a fruit stall. "Do you want something? The jade apples are good here."

  The vendor, an older man with a kind smile, immediately brightened up upon seeing Liling.

  "Miss Liling! It’s been a while since I last saw you."

  "I’ve been busy, Mr. Bao." Liling examined the fruit with a critical eye. "How is your daughter?"

  "Good, good. She’s already engaged to the blacksmith’s son. Wedding is next month."

  "How wonderful. Give her my congratulations."

  I watched the interaction. Liling knew this vendor by name; she asked about his family. Mr. Bao gave us two jade apples without charging, ignoring Liling’s attempts to pay.

  "After what you did for my daughter last year, I’m never charging you for fruit."

  "It was nothing..."

  "You saved her life, Miss. That isn't nothing."

  Liling accepted the fruit gracefully and we walked away. I didn’t ask what had happened. Some details are only revealed when people are ready. The apple was incredibly sweet and juicy. Better than anything I had eaten at the clan.

  "This is delicious."

  "I told you they were good." Liling bit into hers. "Mr. Bao has the best contacts with farms outside the city. Fresh products every day."

  "Did you save him from something?"

  "I saved his daughter from some idiots who thought a girl alone was easy prey." Her voice hardened. "I taught them she wasn’t."

  She didn’t elaborate further and I didn’t press. We continued walking. We passed through the Blacksmith District, where the heat from the forges made the air visible. Liling explained that each blacksmith specialized in something different: some in weapons, others in armor, others in cultivation tools.

  "Cultivation tools?" I asked.

  "Special cauldrons for alchemy, formation matrices, talismans. There’s a whole market for it." She pointed to a particularly large shop. "That’s the Phoenix Crimson Forge. The best formation artisans in the city. Very expensive, but everything they make is of perfect quality."

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Mental note: Established market for cultivation tools. High prices. Potential for lower-cost alternatives.

  "You’re doing the thing again," Liling said.

  "What thing?"

  "The brain thing." She gave me a playful nudge on the shoulder. "Come on, I still want to show you the herb market."

  The herb market was an entire section dedicated to ingredients for alchemy and medicine. The air smelled of spices, dried herbs, and something vaguely medicinal. Vendors shouted the virtues of their products while expert buyers examined the quality of every leaf and root.

  "This is Alchemists' Guild territory," Liling explained. "They control most of the ingredient trade. The prices are... well, you’ll see."

  We stopped in front of a stall selling spiritual ginseng. The vendor, a stout man with the guild emblem on his tunic, cited prices that made me blink.

  "Fifty silver coins for a three-year root. One hundred and twenty for a five-year one."

  "That’s..." I did some quick mental math, "...equivalent to five thousand copper coins for the three-year root."

  "Welcome to the guild monopoly," Liling whispered. "They control the supply, so they control the price."

  I looked at the herb market with a new perspective. Monopoly meant a lack of competition. Lack of competition meant inefficiency. Inefficiency meant opportunity. But that was a problem for another day. Today was just reconnaissance.

  "Hungry?" Liling asked after another hour of walking.

  "Starving."

  "I know a place."

  The "place" turned out to be a small restaurant on a corner of the Commercial District. It was simply called "The Jade Bowl" and didn’t look like anything special from the outside. But when we stepped inside, the aroma of home-cooked food made me salivate immediately.

  "Liling!" An older woman appeared from the kitchen, wiping her hands on an apron. "You’re finally back!"

  "Grandma Ming." Liling bowed respectfully. "I missed your food."

  "And I missed your face." Grandma Ming examined me with sharp eyes. "And who is this young man?"

  "Kenji. He works with me."

  "The new assistant for Young Lady Xiao Yue?" Grandma Ming nodded with approval. "You look too thin."

  "I think everyone thinks that," I replied.

  She laughed.

  "I like you. Sit down, I’ll bring you the best."

  We sat at a table by the window. The restaurant was small, only six tables, but every single one was occupied. Clearly, it was a local favorite.

  "Do you come here often?" I asked.

  "Only when I can." Liling leaned back in her chair. "Grandma Ming makes the best noodle soup in the whole city. And unlike the expensive restaurants in the Noble District, the food here tastes like home."

  Grandma Ming returned with two steaming bowls of noodles in broth, accompanied by pickled vegetables and steamed bread. The aroma was incredible.

  "Eat before it gets cold."

  The first bite was a revelation. The noodles were perfectly cooked, the broth was rich without being heavy, and the meat melted in my mouth. It was simple food, but made with absolute mastery.

  "This is incredible," I said between bites.

  Liling smiled.

  "I told you."

  We ate in a comfortable silence for several minutes. I watched Liling as she ate. There was something different about her today. More relaxed, less on guard. At the clan, she was always in protector mode, watching for potential threats. Here in the city, she seemed more like herself.

  "What?" she asked, catching me looking at her.

  "Nothing. I was just thinking that you look different outside the clan."

  "Different how?"

  "More relaxed."

  Liling considered this while fishing more noodles from her bowl.

  "The clan exhausts me because of the way they treat our Young Lady. Here, I don't have to see that mistreatment. Does that make sense?"

  "Perfect sense."

  "Besides," she added with a mischievous smile, "I don't have to worry about protocol or someone scolding me for being too casual. I can be myself."

  "I like this version of you."

  The words came out before I could filter them. Liling blinked, surprised; then her smile softened into something more genuine.

  "Thank you. I like this version of you too. The one that isn't constantly taking notes or analyzing everything."

  "I’m still analyzing everything."

  "I know," she laughed. "But at least you’re eating while you do it."

  We finished our bowls and Liling insisted on paying, ignoring my protests.

  "You’re my tour guide," I reminded her. "I should pay."

  "You’re my..." she stopped, searching for the right word, "...special project. I’m paying."

  "Special project?"

  "Yes. I’m training you so you don't die in your first real fight, remember?"

  "Hard to forget when my muscles still protest every move."

  "That means it’s working."

  We left the restaurant and continued our tour. Liling showed me the Workshop District, where artisans created everything from furniture to jewelry. She pointed out the differences between high-quality products and trinkets that only looked pretty.

  "How do you know so much about this?" I asked.

  "Years of experience. When you’re a bodyguard, you need to know the city. Know which streets are safe, which vendors are reliable, where to find things quickly if you need them."

  We continued walking. I noticed several men turning to look at Liling as we passed. Some with obvious admiration, others with less honorable intentions written on their faces. She seemed completely oblivious to the attention, or she simply ignored it. I, on the other hand, was becoming increasingly aware of the stares. And increasingly irritated by them.

  "Is it always like this?" I asked after a particularly bold guy looked her up and down.

  "Like what?"

  "People... staring at you."

  Liling shrugged.

  "I’m used to it. It comes with the territory of having..." she made a vague gesture toward her chest, "...noticeable attributes."

  "I didn't just mean that."

  "What did you mean then?"

  "That you’re beautiful and people should have more subtlety."

  Liling stopped in the middle of the street. She looked at me with an expression I couldn't decipher.

  "Kenji Tanaka, did you just say I’m beautiful?"

  My brain caught up with my mouth.

  "I... I mean... objectively speaking... from an aesthetic perspective..."

  She let out a genuine laugh that made people nearby turn to look.

  "Relax. I accept the compliment." She stepped closer, deliberately invading my personal space. "Though I must say, you get very nervous when I flirt with you."

  "I’m not nervous."

  "Your neck is red."

  "It’s the sun."

  "Sure it is." Her smile was pure mischief. "The sun that explains why you can't maintain eye contact right now."

  I forced my eyes to meet hers. Error. Liling was definitely enjoying my discomfort.

  "Better," she said, still smiling. "Come on, I want to show you one more thing before you go back into business analysis mode."

  We moved away from the Commercial District toward an area that was clearly more residential. The buildings were older here, less maintained, but there was something cozy about the narrow streets and the small gardens people grew in window boxes.

  "This is the East District," Liling explained. "Where the common people live. Workers, artisans, families who have been here for generations."

  "And the Lower District?"

  "Further south. It’s... different. More dangerous, poorer, but it’s also where you find the best bargains if you know where to look."

  Mental note: The Lower District for resource scavenging.

  Liling guided me through increasingly narrow streets until we reached a small park. It wasn't much, just an open space with some old trees and worn stone benches. But there were children playing and old men talking; an atmosphere of community that the Noble District definitely lacked.

  "This is my favorite place in the whole city," Liling said, sitting on one of the benches under a large tree. "Come, sit."

  I sat next to her. From here, we could see much of the city spread out before us.

  "Why is it your favorite?" I asked.

  "Because it’s real." Liling pulled her knees against her chest, a posture that made her look younger. "At the clan, everything is protocol and formality. In the Commercial District, everything is business and transactions. But here... people just live. That’s all."

  I understood what she meant. There was something honest about this place. No pretenses, no hidden agendas.

  "Thanks for bringing me," I said.

  "Thanks for coming." She looked at me sideways. "Did you enjoy the walk?"

  "More than I expected."

  "Even with my relentless sexiness?"

  "Especially because of that."

  Liling laughed, surprised.

  "Wow, I definitely didn't expect you to say that."

  "I’m full of surprises."

  "I’m starting to notice that."

  We sat in comfortable silence, watching the city. My mind naturally began to process everything I had seen today. The opportunities, the inefficiencies, the trade patterns. There was so much potential here, so many things that could be improved. But for now, I just enjoyed the moment. Liling next to me, the warm sun, the soft breeze moving the leaves of the tree. It was nice. Simple, but nice.

  "Kenji," Liling said after a while.

  "Yes?"

  "Your purpose for coming out to the city... is it really just to look for cultivation resources?"

  Of course she noticed. Liling was too observant to miss details.

  "More or less. I was evaluating the city, observing commercial patterns, identifying potential opportunities."

  "Opportunities for what?"

  "I’m not sure yet," I replied. "But there are... possibilities here. Things that could be done better, business-wise."

  Liling studied me with that piercing gaze she had probably perfected while interrogating suspects.

  "You’re planning something."

  "I’m always planning something. It’s how I breathe."

  "Kenji."

  "Yes?"

  "Just... be careful. The city seems welcoming, but it can be dangerous if you don't know what you’re doing."

  "That’s why I have you."

  "Exactly. That’s why you have me." She stood up and stretched. The movement made her tunic tighten in ways that made my eyes wander briefly. "Come on, we should find what you need before it gets dark."

  ******

  Author's Note:

  Clicking the like button is the easiest way to tell me you want more.