Little Pink Starfish

Pei Sen was a “commoner” who hadn’t been in the manor for long. Yet thanks to the young master, he’d climbed the ranks at lightning speed and was now in charge of internal affairs.

What’s more, the young master insisted on keeping him close at all times—if he stepped away for even a moment, a maid would be sent to call him back.

That kind of treatment wasn’t something your average personal butler could even dream of.

On top of that, right after taking charge, Pei Sen reassigned all the servants near the young master’s bedroom. It wasn’t hard to imagine what sort of conclusions the other servants had quietly drawn.

Pei Sen stood stiffly in place, speechless for a while, completely forgetting what he’d originally come here to do.
This misunderstanding… was way too big!
He and the young master were clearly innocent—nothing was going on between them, seriously.

But then again, no wonder people were getting the wrong idea. Among all the changes Pei Sen made, the reassignment of the bedroom servants was the most suspicious.
But his actual plan was to sneak away at night—which meant he had to make some changes near the bedroom, right?

Avoiding those two gossipy male servants, Pei Sen left from the other side.
“Good thing they didn’t think I was up to something shady,” he muttered. “Otherwise they might’ve sent the male servants away for a different reason.”
Honestly, no one really thought that highly of Pei Sen. Besides, he had taken a knife for the young master before, so no one suspected him too deeply.

Also, Pei Sen had only reassigned the male servants, not the guards. As the internal affairs manager, he didn’t have the authority to mess with the guards. Even if there were no male servants on night duty, the young master’s quarters were still tightly guarded.
Servants weren’t for protection—they were for convenience.

As he walked back, Pei Sen sighed to himself.
If the fact that he was taking the young master away came out, people might think he was… eloping with him!
That would be… not good.

And with the secrets they were actually hiding, this was the kind of thing you couldn’t explain even with a hundred mouths.

Eagle didn’t have anyone in the manor he could really trust—but he did trust Pei Sen.
Sadin and Kesso were clearly looking at Pei Sen differently now. Whether that was good or bad, it was obviously related to how Eagle treated him.
That brat rarely treated anyone this kindly. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have driven away so many male servants.

“No point worrying. I still have things I need to do,” Pei Sen muttered, slipping into self-pity again.
He couldn’t delay anymore. If the players discovered the dungeon first… it would be a nightmare. Not just because of the crowd, but because losing the first-clear rewards would be heartbreaking.

Unlike other games, Bix Magic Cube gave insanely good first-clear rewards for dungeons—way better than regular clears.
Pei Sen figured the devs designed it this way to encourage players to hunt for dungeon clues, which were notoriously hard to find. Without solid first-clear rewards, the risk wouldn’t be worth the effort.

Because first clears were so important, all the major guilds eventually started sending specialists to track down dungeon clues.

Pei Sen wasn’t in the mood to worry about the guards anymore. “No risk, no reward,” he told himself.
He wasn’t a regular player now—he couldn’t log off. He was probably fully isekai’d into this world.

In this situation, power was more important than ever.

“Forget money. What’s it worth, really…” Pei Sen said sadly.

He decided to use an expensive teleportation scroll.
Because he was bringing the young master, a single-use scroll wouldn’t work. He had to use a multi-person one, even if it was just the two of them.

Double the pain.

That evening, Pei Sen stared at Eagle’s wardrobe, deep in thought.

Eagle blinked. “What, this outfit’s not good either?”

The wardrobe was full of extravagant clothes, all in the luxurious, ornate style popular with Esmia’s nobles.

But now that they needed to leave, finding something appropriate was… hard.

Night had completely fallen outside. Pei Sen couldn’t afford more delay.
He picked a relatively simple shirt and dark trousers, but didn’t take them out just yet.
After glancing at Eagle’s innocent face, he resigned himself to helping the young master change clothes personally.

As he started unbuttoning Eagle’s shirt, he looked at the two maids who hadn’t left yet.
“You can go now. Come back tomorrow morning.”

Kara and Linni fled so fast you’d think they were racing.
Pei Sen: “…”

Somehow, he had a bad feeling about all this.

But whatever, it was just changing clothes.
Besides, everything was censored with mosaic anyway.

He’d thought upgrading his NPC panel to blue rank would remove the mosaic, but clearly it didn’t. Probably needed another level.

Honestly, now he didn’t even want the mosaic gone too soon.
If blood splatter looked real and there was no mosaic?
That’d be a bit much, emotionally.

After quickly dressing Eagle, Pei Sen asked, “Young master, anything you want to bring?”

“Anything?” Eagle asked, excited—he’d never left the manor before.

“Not everything’s possible, but I’ll try my best,” Pei Sen promised.

There was still space in his bag. Spatial magic items were pretty high-end here.
Someone like Kesso had his own storage ring, of course.
Pei Sen, playing on a side account, used spatial gear to expand inventory.

Eagle didn’t have any of that. He never left the manor, so he never needed it. And even if he wanted to buy it, these items weren’t something you could just find anywhere.

Eagle thought for a moment. “Can we bring Pex?”

The fat black cat, Pex, twitched as if sensing danger and jumped away with surprising agility for its size.

Pei Sen looked at the cat.
“Unless the young master gives Pex to me, I can’t bring him,” he joked.

Players could summon pets, no problem.
But living animals couldn’t be stored in bags or warehouses.

Unexpectedly, Eagle said without hesitation, “Sure, I’ll give him to you.”

Pei Sen: “…………”

I really don’t want it, thanks.

What could a fat, lazy black cat do? Couldn’t fight, couldn’t find treasure, did nothing but eat and sleep.
Total waste of a pet slot. And it didn’t even try to be cute.

Still, the system dinged:

Ding! Congratulations, player has obtained pet “Pex.”

Pei Sen: “……”

Pex yowled angrily, fur bristling—clearly just as unhappy with the situation.
He’d lived in luxury with Eagle—what could Pei Sen offer?

To Pex, Eagle would always be his true master.

Pei Sen gave in. If Eagle wanted to bring the cat, fine.

But then he went “Huh?” in surprise.

Pex (Lv.2)

• Age: 21
• Race: Shadow Cat
• Skill 1: Shadow Assault (MAX) – innate racial skill, can ambush from shadows.
• Skill 2: Shadow Claw (Lv.1) – create claws from shadow, deal heavy damage.
• Skill 3: Rending (MAX) – innate ability, all attacks cause bleeding.
• Skill 4: Fang & Claw Boost (Lv.1) – bloodline power, increases attack.
• Skill 5: Shadow Corrosion (Lv.1) – attacks apply corrosive shadow damage, stacks.

A five-skill god-tier pet. You deserve it!

Pei Sen: “…”

Wait, what? This was just a regular fat cat, right? Why was it a Shadow Cat?

It didn’t look special—just obese.

But judging by the skills, this cat was strong.
Pei Sen had never heard of any player getting a pet like this. Most pets in Bix Magic Cube were weak, even common monsters couldn’t be caught as pets unless they voluntarily followed you.

Pex was an exception—it had willingly become Eagle’s pet.

Now it was his.

“Pex…” Pei Sen looked at the cat.
Pex seemed to sense something and began meowing pitifully, trying to stay close to Eagle.

It was clear: Pex didn’t want a new owner.
He just wanted to keep living his spoiled life as a noble’s pet.

Too bad Eagle had already given him away.
The cat’s heart was shattered.

Pei Sen ignored him and helped Eagle finish changing, pulling out a couple more outfits just in case.
Then he took out two black cloaks.

“Put this on.”

These magic cloaks were rare items sold by a mysterious merchant who only showed up later in the game.
Pei Sen had stored a few on his warehouse account and now was the perfect time to use them.

Magic Fog Cloak (Back item): Wearing the hood fully hides your face. Others cannot identify you unless you lower the hood yourself. Blocks attempts to probe your stats or information.

To players, that second ability was more valuable.
Plenty of players had skills to scan NPC or player panels—this cloak stopped that.

Eagle eyed the cloak, which looked… kinda gross. He really wanted to refuse.
But he knew if he did, Pei Sen might refuse to take him.

So he reluctantly put it on.

“Pei Sen, do you have a spatial magic item on you?”

“Yeah,” Pei Sen admitted. No way to explain some things otherwise.

Eagle narrowed his eyes. “Those are expensive. Why did you ever…”

…apply to work at the manor?

Pei Sen sighed. “It’s not really a magic item.” He raised his empty hand. “It’s something the Bix people can naturally do. I can store things. But it can’t be sold. It’s not for profit. And honestly, even if I had rare items—what could I get for them in Casey City? Probably just more trouble.”

Eagle looked at his own plain-looking ring.
If he ever sold it, it might be worth more than a spatial item.

He knew Pei Sen wasn’t telling him everything.
This man had too many secrets.

Sometimes Eagle wanted to see through all of him—yet held back.

Because he knew Pei Sen’s care for him was real.
He didn’t want to lose that.

“Are we heading out now?”

“Yes, we are.”

Pei Sen held out his hand.
Eagle, without hesitation, placed his hand in it.

Holding Eagle’s hand tightly, Pei Sen pulled out the multi-person teleportation scroll.

Normally, just standing in the magic circle was enough.
But Pei Sen didn’t want Eagle to hesitate or miss the timing—this scroll was absurdly expensive.

“Young master, if you want to back out… now’s your last chance.”

The magic circle lit up their faces with white light.

Eagle shook his head.
“I won’t regret it, Pei Sen.
Thank you for taking me away.”

At the same time, back in the manor, Aiken sighed.
“From tonight onward, rotate the guards outside. Just say I’m in a bad mood and don’t want to see anyone but Eagle.”

“Yes, sir,” the head guard replied.
“Are we not safe here at Golden Rose Manor? Could Boswick really reach us here?”

Aiken shook his head.
“He won’t. He’s already taken what he wanted. As long as I stay away from the capital, he won’t care.”

He still clung to a shred of hope that Viscount Oak Boswick wouldn’t go so far as to kill him.
That maybe, somewhere, the man who used to be his knight still existed.

But his housekeeper, Vido, disagreed.
“If I were him, I’d definitely want to kill you. You represent the humiliation of his past.”

“No one will know. My most trusted knight… was Drey.
His real name was Oak Boswick.”

No one cared anymore.
The people who knew either served the new viscount—or were dead.

“So why tighten the guard?”

“…Because my dear friend Eagle just eloped with someone.”
Aiken waved a note helplessly.
“He told me to stay safe and not stir up trouble until he’s back.”

The housekeeper was stunned. “Wh-what?!”

Aiken hadn’t been able to stop him.
And honestly, he wouldn’t have succeeded.

Because once Eagle decided something, no one could change his mind.

“Personal butler, huh…” Aiken smiled bitterly.

That joke Eagle had made in his letter?
Turned out, the joke was real.

This was serious trouble.

And in the Kingdom of Esmia, things were falling apart.
The royal capital had done nothing about his lost territory, not even asking questions.

Aiken frowned.
“In times like these, maybe the manor isn’t so safe for Eagle after all.”

…

Eagle opened his eyes and saw Pei Sen beside him, cloaked like he was.
Pei Sen still held his hand—Eagle felt safe.

“Are we out?”

“Yes, young master.”

Eagle had only ever left in a luxurious carriage, surrounded by guards.
He’d never even seen what was outside the manor.

But now, for the first time, he looked up and saw the starry sky—
And far in the distance, the endless Starfall Plains.

Behind him was the familiar, yet unfamiliar, Golden Rose Manor.

“Shh—” Pei Sen held a finger to his lips.
“We’re still too close to the manor. Let’s walk farther before we talk.”

The two wrapped their cloaks tightly and vanished into the night wind.

Pei Sen was pleased: the teleport direction had worked out perfectly.

His player panel had a map—he wasn’t worried about getting lost.

They headed toward Casey City.
Pei Sen planned to visit a certain scavenger who, according to forum info, might be holding something important.

Golden Rose Manor wasn’t far from Casey City, but they weren’t going straight there—they were detouring to the scavenger’s hut.
Originally built to be remote, the hut was soon discovered by curious players.

“Where are we going?”
Eagle asked—he didn’t know anywhere at all.

“Just to find something,” Pei Sen replied, looking at the map.

Eagle stopped asking and just followed.

The roads of Arli Continent weren’t exactly smooth.
Eagle, used to anti-shock enchanted carriages, found walking very unpleasant.

Even with boots, the rocky paths hurt.

Pei Sen suddenly stopped. “Young master, are you getting tired?”

Eagle said nothing—but his silence spoke volumes.
He’d clearly never walked this much before.

Even with some magic skills, he was still just a magic apprentice—weaker than most people.

Pei Sen sighed, squatted down with his back facing him.
“Come on, I’ll carry you.”

At fifteen, Eagle was nearly Pei Sen’s height.
Pei Sen himself was over 180cm—Eagle was definitely taller.

Still, Eagle hesitated only a moment before climbing onto his back.

“Pei Sen… am I useless?”

“No. You just haven’t experienced this before.”

Pei Sen expected Eagle to be heavy—but he was surprisingly light.

Thanks to Pei Sen’s boosted Strength stats, carrying him was easy.

Eagle rested his cheek against Pei Sen’s, whispering,
“Just carry me a little while. I’ll walk again soon.”

“Alright.”

In the thick night fog, Pei Sen carried Eagle onward.

Soft mist swirled around them. The path ahead was unclear.

Eagle felt a strange peace—like it was just the two of them.

Well, three—if you counted the grumpy-faced Pex trailing behind.

Pex was bitter. He should be napping on a cushion right now.
Why was he walking out here in the cold?

This was cruel to a cat.

At that moment, two players came online.
They spotted a dark silhouette in the fog.

“What the hell is that?!”

“No idea. Fog monster?”

“I’m outta here!”

“Wait—let’s check it out!”

“What if it’s an NPC?”

“Then it’s probably a rare one. Maybe it has a quest!”

The two players dashed toward the shadow.

Pei Sen saw them coming—and had a very bad feeling.

And his bad feelings were almost always right.