I Only Summon Villainesses Chapter 290: I Can’t Depend On My Luck For A Single Moment

Imdiately, Cressida and I scurried around, scanning for anyone that might have looked suspicious.

There was no one for us to find. No way to judge who it could have been. Everyone was moving with purposeful strides, every face belonging to soone with sowhere to be.

It could have been the lady in the vibrant yellow dress, lifting a portion of her skirt as she smiled coolly at nothing in particular. It could have been the man hurling commands at so dogs whose teeth looked worse for wear, and who knew what those things had gone and bitten. It could have been the hooligan-looking young man with a hat and rumpled shirt who was leaning against a wall like the world owed him sothing.

It could have been anyone. And realizing that ant I couldn’t approach a single soul without having a clear suspicion, and I wasn’t even suspecting anyone.

We traced our way back to where the carriage had dropped us, but found no one there. The man was gone.

There was more chance that the pouch of money had been stolen from than that I had simply forgotten it in that carriage. I rarely forgot things, you see.

Cressida and I sat down at the basin of the fountain in the center of the street where the carriage had dropped us.

I sat there replaying every motion that had led to this point, turning the sequence over and over in my head.

There was nothing... nothing at all I could attribute this to.

’I fucked up. Fucked up badly.’

I sighed and looked up at the vast blue sky.

"Cade, don’t beat yourself up, there was no way you could have known. Instead, why don’t we think of the way forward?"

I exhaled slowly.

"That money was five thousand gold crowns. Five thousand. It’s not easy to forget sothing like that. I had earned that particular sum after fighting sumo with the guardian of the Mud Worm gate..."

I turned to her.

"Do you know what it feels like fighting sumo with a worm twice your size in mud that is persistently trying to have you sunk?"

Cressida chuckled shyly, almost tucking her head into her shoulders.

"I don’t even know what a sumo is... hehe... sorry."

I stared at her for a few monts. Then I exhaled again and turned away.

"What are you apologizing for? It’s not like this is even your fault. I an... you even tried to warn ."

Cressida looked down, the light draining from her expression.

"Maybe I should have done so earlier, like you said."

"It doesn’t matter thinking about that."

I was silent for a mont, gathering my thoughts before I spoke again.

"The alternative would be going back ho to take money, but the problem is there is no money to go anywhere... we are stuck in this city with no hopes of getting any."

I fell silent as my own tone rode down a slippery slope toward despair.

Then again, a thought struck .

"Cress..."

"Hmmuu?"

I wasn’t looking at her, but the mont I heard that sound, I had to turn around. And then I saw her munching on a long bread baked with fish in its belly, the whole thing encased in a brown paper bag that was already half crumpled from handling.

I just stared.

’She really...’

Cressida’s expression turned sour imdiately and she spoke with a sorry tone.

"I just found this extra in my bag... I didn’t know what to do with it..."

’Her level of insensitivity really is alarming!’

I shook my head and drove that thought out. She wasn’t the architect of my bad luck today.

"Forget it... we are rcenaries for hire, aren’t we?"

She nodded, at the sa ti hesitating to take another bite from the bread.

"Why don’t we just do what rcenaries do? Earn so money and maybe go ho?"

"What about your armor?"

I thought about it, regret carving itself into my expression.

’They had this ti. Next ti, I shall co prepared.’

"I think I’ll just have to postpone it again... I have rotten luck, and sothing is telling not to depend on it. Especially at a ti like this."

She nodded after and then sprang up, temporarily tucking her bread away inside her bag.

"Alright then, Cade. Follow . I shall take you to the guild."

I stood after her.

"Goodness, thank you. Everything is looking up again."

She turned right and headed down the street while I followed beside her, muttering.

"You’re sure you don’t want to finish that, anyways?"

She shook her head with vigor. "No... we have to focus on more important stuff than food."

After about three turns, we finally approached a building carved from pristine white stone and earthy brown wood. The kind of building that made you feel underdressed just by standing near it.

We entered, and the atmosphere hit before I had even taken two steps. A buzzing lounge, alive with conversation and movent, and fragrances so varied they fought each other for space in my nose. So were sweet as flowers. So choked like Arabian incense left to burn too long. Others were cool and soothing, the kind of scent you’d expect near a lake surrounded by beautiful won in white dresses.

’What sort of establishnt is this?’

But it wasn’t just the scents. The people wearing them were no less astonishing. I had walked into lounges before, plenty of them, but this place was wider than any I had ever set foot in. And there was no visible counter in sight. Instead, a towering pillar stood at the center, and it took a mont to realize it wasn’t a pillar at all, but a lift system.

Then the lift doors opened. Three ladies stepped out, dressed in black and white maid gowns that barely reached their mid-thighs. If they bent even slightly, I would certainly be seeing things I had no business seeing.

’What in the...’

They carried trays of food, walking down to serve certain tables with practiced ease. There was even a man who slapped the ass of one and the only response he received was a calm:

"Lord Soren, that’s another one on your tab... your tab is getting full, Lord Soren."

My mouth fell open as my eyes were frozen.

And now... I was seriously considering if I really wanted to go back ho.