Walking out of the Iron Tavern, the little catgirl looked absolutely delighted. Although treating the entire tavern had cost a lot of money, she still had over ten thousand gold coins left—several times what she had initially.

  Moreover, when she had just descended the stairs, all the mercenaries in the tavern had raised their glasses to toast her. In that moment, she suddenly understood why Caius enjoyed being a mercenary.

  "Big guy, I want to become a powerful mercenary too, meow!" The little catgirl clenched her tiny fists as she spoke.

  "Haha! Then you’ll have to work hard. Starting tomorrow, you'll train with me, and I guarantee your rank will soar!"

  "Okay, meow!"

  The little catgirl had just advanced by one star yesterday, now reaching Silver Seven-Star. It was likely due to running around with Caius these past few days.

  But this level of progress wasn’t enough. Caius planned to give her some special training soon.

  After wandering around the inner city for a while, spending a few thousand gold coins to replenish supplies, the sky had darkened. Caius then left the inner city and returned to the Mercenary Tavern.

  Seeing Caius return safely, Yvlan visibly breathed a sigh of relief before curiously asking about the Iron Tavern.

  Caius gave a brief summary, and it was clear that Yvlan felt a little envious.

  She also dreamed of becoming a grand tavern owner like Raymond.

  After submitting the mission and receiving his commission, Caius took Kiki and went to sleep.

  Early the next morning, Caius took Kiki to a leather shop to get her a weighted training outfit.

  It consisted of a pair of leather leg wraps, leather wrist guards, and a small leather vest.

  Normally, the pockets of these leather garments were meant for holding equipment, but Caius instead filled them with metal plates.

  Ethereal Steel plates—three on each leg wrap, two in each wrist guard, and sixteen in the front and back pockets of the vest, making a total of twenty-six plates.

  Ethereal Steel wasn't light. Each plate weighed about three pounds, so twenty-six plates added up to seventy-eight pounds.

  Considering that Kiki herself barely weighed just over ninety pounds, her face immediately fell.

  "So heavy, big guy…" Kiki pouted.

  With the added weight, even climbing onto Caius’s shoulder became a struggle, and she felt uncomfortable all over.

  "Heavy is good. It'll help you train, and your vital energy will increase faster."

  "So when I can move flexibly while carrying this weight…"

  "I’ll become as strong as you, meow?!" Kiki’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

  Caius laughed heartily. "Then you’ll get to carry even heavier steel plates!"

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Kiki: "..."

  Though the weight was uncomfortable and the leather straps dug into her skin, Kiki gritted her teeth and bore it for the sake of getting stronger.

  Then, Caius took her back into the inner city—not for shopping this time, but for surveillance.

  The branch of the Seth Chamber of Commerce was located in the inner city market district, housed in a rather luxurious building.

  Caius rented a street-facing room in the building opposite it.

  And it wasn’t cheap.

  A standard suite cost one hundred and forty gold per night—almost twice as much as the most expensive suite on Hailan No. 11, which was only eighty gold per night.

  So, whatever money Caius spent on this mission, he planned to reclaim from the Seth Chamber of Commerce later.

  The entire day passed uneventfully. He simply kept watch on the large store, occasionally circling around to check the surroundings.

  That’s how stakeouts worked—constant vigilance, even through the night. Otherwise, if they let their guard down and fell asleep, the target’s convoy might have already left the protected zone by dawn.

  Fortunately, he didn’t have to wait long.

  Late at night, just as Caius and Kiki had switched shifts and he had barely slept for a moment, Kiki shook him awake urgently.

  "Big guy, big guy! There’s movement, meow!"

  Caius’s eyes snapped open, and he looked out the window.

  Sure enough, six carriages loaded with cargo were leaving from beside the store, clearly attempting to slip out of the city under the cover of darkness.

  Caius smirked.

  Just as he had predicted—the enemy would never truly follow their planned schedule. The intel Raymond had received was just a deliberate diversion.

  The Seth Chamber of Commerce had moved a day early.

  Had they waited another two days, Caius wouldn’t even be able to find the tracks they left behind.

  "Let’s go, keep up with them!" Caius swiftly climbed out the window with Kiki and silently followed behind the carriages.

  The convoy quickly passed through the inner city gates, clearly having arranged things in advance. Otherwise, the gates, which were normally closed at night, would not have been opened.

  Caius had no such arrangements, so he took out a magic stone and, taking advantage of the night and the drowsy guards, soared over the towering city gates with Kiki in tow.

  "Huh? Did something just pass by?"

  "What? You serious? You must be sleepy. I told you to stop playing cards and get some rest before our night shift."

  "Maybe I really did imagine it… Ugh, I’m so damn tired…"

  The concealment effect of the magic stone worked exceptionally well at night. As long as Caius moved fast enough, the guards wouldn’t even be able to tell if he was human or a ghost.

  After clearing the city walls, Caius continued tailing the convoy across the rooftops, following them to the outer city gates.

  Security at the outer gates was much more relaxed. When the carriages arrived, the guards simply made way without even closing the gates.

  Once again, using the magic stone’s concealment, Caius vaulted over the heads of the guards unnoticed.

  Now, all that was left was to wait for the convoy to leave the protected zone before making his move.

  "Kiki, take a guess. Which carriages carry the goods, and which ones carry the people?" Caius grinned at the crouching catgirl beside him.

  Hearing this, Kiki immediately observed the six carriages. Her eyes flashed with a greenish light before she answered, "The first, fourth, and last carriages carry people, meow!"

  "How do you know?" Caius raised a brow in surprise.

  "Wind’s Perception, meow!" Kiki replied.

  "A spell, huh?"

  "Yup, meow~"

  "Lucky you." Caius sighed. He could also determine which carriages carried goods and which carried people, but only through experience.

  "In a six-carriage convoy like this, the second, third, and fifth are for cargo, while the first, fourth, and sixth carry people. This way, they can protect the cargo from all angles."

  "The ones in front clear the path, the ones at the back guard the rear, and the middle carriage oversees everything—so naturally, that’s where the Platinum-level mage would be."

  "In a battle, you always take out the rear first. Our primary target is the fourth carriage."

  "If we deal with that one first, the rest will be easy."

  "Ohh! I learned something new, meow!"

  Caius ruffled her little head before the two continued tailing the convoy.

  An hour later, they had exited the protected zone.

  "The rank difference is too big. You should stay back for now. Once I’m done, you can clean up the battlefield," Caius instructed.

  Kiki nodded with a bit of disappointment.

  She wanted to fight alongside Caius, but she knew she was still too weak. She could contribute in Gold-level missions, but in a Platinum-level mission, she’d only be a burden.

  She glanced at the weighted training outfit on her body, determination flashing in her eyes.

  She had to get stronger, so she could truly help her big guy, meow!