Chapter 42

"What!" Afra stared in disbelief at the puppet before her.

The screen on the counter displayed a smiling emoticon. "Ms. Chrisley left the shop a week ago to complete a task outside."

Afra deflated instantly, then asked urgently, "Then when will she be back?"

"Probably in three or four days," came a crisp female voice from behind Afra.

Afra turned around, startled. "You are?"

Rao Ke smiled warmly. "Hello, I'm Rao Ke, Chrisley's student and the owner of this shop."

Afra suddenly remembered her true purpose for leaving the island and quickly introduced herself. "Hello, I'm Afra, a friend of Chrisley's. I came to visit her, and I also wanted to discuss something with you, the shop owner."

Rao Ke smiled. "Of course. We can talk in the room next door."

"Alright." Afra nodded, then turned to look for her companion. "Garcia?"

"I'm here." Garcia's flat voice came from the left.

Afra turned and saw Garcia holding a large pile of items, setting them on the counter. "Please ring these up."

"Certainly." The robot cashier processed the items while suggesting, "If it's more convenient, you could apply for a shopping card. Points accumulate and level up, which brings corresponding perks and discounts."

Garcia considered it and found it reasonable. "Thanks, I'll get one in a bit."

Afra stood dumbfounded. "When did you go grab all that?"

After paying, Garcia took the bag. "While you were chatting with the puppet, I took a lap around. The samples tasted pretty good."

"Whatever. Let's head next door with the owner to talk." Afra shifted into business mode, all seriousness.

"Okay." Garcia rummaged through the bag, pulled out a box of strawberry cake, and handed it to Afra.

Rao Ke led them to the meeting room on the second floor of the villa.

"Please, have a seat."

Rao Ke sat down and got straight to the point. "You two are the delegates sent by Dragon Island to sign the contract, right? You've already seen the materials about our shop, presumably."

Afra nodded. "Of course. The Queen sent us here to sign the Teleportation Array contract with Keke Shop."

"Our shop would be very happy to sign an agreement with Dragon Island," Rao Ke said with a smile. "Would the two of you like to stay and play around the shop for a few days? We're launching a new event a week from now."

"Sure, I wanted to wait for Chrisley to come back anyway," Afra agreed readily.

Garcia nodded as well. The shop was huge, and it had plenty of desserts and fruit. He'd only bought a small portion just now—there were still other sections he hadn't explored. It had been centuries since he'd seen a place this interesting.

"Then stay here. We happen to have some empty rooms, and when your teacher returns, you'll know right away," Rao Ke offered.

Recently, Rao Ke had drawn expansion cards for the shop and villa from the lottery. The shop's floor space had doubled, while the villa had gained an entire extra floor filled with guest rooms for visitors.

"Thank you for the trouble. This is a small gift from us." Dragons never stood on ceremony, so they accepted without hesitation.

Afra and Garcia each took out their prepared gifts from their Space Rings.

"Don't say another word, just take them. We're about the same age as your teacher," Afra said with a laugh.

Rao Ke didn't belabor the point. "Then thank you. I'll have Baitang show you to your rooms. Feel free to browse the shop next door if you're at loose ends."

"Sounds good. We'll relay the contract details to the Queen shortly."

Both sides ended the conversation on very pleasant terms.

Meanwhile, far away in the Goblin Kingdom, Chrisley had just woken up that morning. She'd been invited to the dining hall for breakfast when Yabusi shared a piece of news.

"This morning, the King announced that court session would be held. I'll need to head to the palace soon," Yabusi said from the head of the table, while inwardly wondering what that impostor was up to.

"So I can only take you to the palace tomorrow," Yabusi continued. "Since court has just convened, getting an audience with him won't be easy."

"Doesn't matter." Chrisley ate her breakfast. "But if he dares to show his face, he must have some confidence. You'd best be careful."

After finishing his meal, Yabusi boarded his carriage and headed to the palace for the court session.

Arriving at the assembly hall, Yabusi stood by his seat, staring at the curtain overhead, lost in thought.

Some ministers who were close to him came over to ask about the situation.

But Yabusi himself knew nothing, so naturally he had no information to give.

Soon enough, it was time for court to begin. With the steward's announcement, the curtain slowly drew back.

Yabusi's eyes widened slightly as he saw that familiar man seated on the throne.

"Alright, court is now in session!"

...

The entire morning session, Yabusi seemed distracted, but the goblin ministers around him seemed to think the King had finally come to his senses, so they were all especially attentive.

When the session ended, the steward by the King's side declared the court adjourned.

The King leisurely rose and returned to his private chambers.

"Your Majesty, the Queen and the other consorts have all sent word asking when you might visit their palaces," the steward said cautiously.

The King was silent for a moment, then said coldly, "Noted. You may withdraw."

When the palace was empty save for the King, he picked up a mirror and stared at his own reflection. A bizarre smile crept across his face.

"Finally able to control this body. Just a few more months, once I've dealt with those troublemakers, and the entire Goblin Kingdom will be mine."

The King muttered to himself, his words made eerie by the dim palace and his unsettling smile.

The soul currently inhabiting the King's body had originally been an ordinary mage on the Kaqisha Continent. But after obtaining a forbidden black magic tome, he'd delved into the dark arts.

Eventually, he was reported, and the Church of Light nearly beat him to death.

He'd barely escaped with his life using a soul-separation spell, then spent years hiding and studying black magic.

During one experiment with soul projection, he'd accidentally possessed a dead goblin, through which he'd gotten close to the King. Finally, he'd forcibly used a soul-stripping technique to cast the King's soul into a crow.

But the black magic had taken a heavy toll on its caster. The dark mage couldn't control the King's body at all at first and had to rest for nearly three months just to barely manage it.

"Whatever. Soon, the Goblin Kingdom will be mine."

At that moment, in Duke Yabusi's manor, Chrisley and the others were watching an image projected from a scrying stone.

Chrisley looked at the King on the screen. "So he can control the body now?"

"Must be the soul-stripping spell. That technique was banned ages ago—can't believe there are still people who know it." Aodisite offered her assessment.

Yabusi looked around at everyone in the room. "So what do we do now?"

Aodisite shot him an odd look. "Isn't it obvious? Strike while the iron's hot."

"This kind of dark art takes a heavy toll on the caster, so he can only barely control the body right now. What we should do is get into the palace, strip the foreign soul from the King's body, and put the King's own soul back."

Aodisite provided a simple, crude solution.

"You know this black magic?" Yabusi looked at Aodisite, curious.

Aodisite smiled. "It's not exactly difficult magic for me. And when I learned it, it wasn't even considered black magic yet."

Chrisley summed it up bluntly. "So just think of an excuse to bring Aodisite and me into the palace, and we can act."

The King, currently residing in a crow's body, felt rather like he'd landed in a thoroughly unhinged team.

"Alright, I'll bring Mengdeli to see him tomorrow," Yabusi said. "Then Mengdeli will recommend the two of you."

"Fine. As long as I get to see him, I guarantee success," Aodisite promised.

Honestly, with Aodisite's power, she could have simply gone straight to the palace and swapped the souls herself.

But that wouldn't be any fun at all, Aodisite mused.

"Good, then it's settled." Chrisley finalized the plan.

"We'll leave the first half to the two of you," Chrisley said, turning to the others. "Once the groundwork is laid, we guarantee the rest will be handled."

Yabusi thought it over. "No problem. Tomorrow I'll take Mengdeli to see him."

"Good. That's all on you, then. We'll take our leave."

Chrisley rose, and Aodisite hurried to follow. She'd just finished the second volume last night and was itching to get the third from Chrisley.

"So, we're settled then. You'll pretend to fall in line with him just to get into the palace and meet that one," Yabusi began plotting. "Either way, we need to earn his trust and get him to agree to see those two."

Mengdeli nodded. "Leave it to me. I'll make him pay."

Mengdeli could never forget the countless nights he'd closed his eyes, only to see the disappearing goblin numbers from the reports stabbing into his mind like hundreds of needles, a pain that kept him both tormented and wide awake.

Now, finally, it was time to collect the debt...