Faint rustling of papers came from behind Pell, breaking the silence in his shop. He chose to ignore it completely.

An entire week-and-a-half had passed since the arrival of the little brat. Despite the short time, she had been learning at a surprisingly rapid pace. Her memorization, or maybe imitation, was impressive—was it innate talent, or perhaps she was simply regaining the memories she had once lost? Either way, her progress pleased him—mostly because she had stopped repeating words and hopping around like a rabbit.

“Pell! I’m…done with the book,” came the soft voice.

The sound of a book closing followed, accompanied by the quiet pitter-patter of little shoes approaching from behind. Pell straightened and turned on his stool to face the girl.

“I’ve read from beginning to end, in-including th-the bolded words at the end,” she said, trying to keep her stutter in check.

“You mean the glossary?”

“Uh-uhm…” she stammered, flipping through the pages of the book. “Yes! The um, glossary,” she confirmed, closing the book once more.

Pell sighed. No one ever reads the glossary, but whatever. “Alright, so you know what things like parties, dungeons, and classes are now?” he asked.

“I think so! Dungeons are places where monsters live, p-parties are groups of people who kill monsters, and classes are what they speciawize in,” she replied, her words coming quickly.

“Well…that’s not entirely incorrect, I guess. Could use a bit more detail, but that’s good enough,” Pell said. It was a rudimentary explanation, though it definitely left out some details. “Well, now you at least know the basics. You should be able to check your status and finally read it now.”

This was the moment of truth. He could finally learn who the hell this girl was, and if she was still in a party.

“O-okay,” she said.

After a few days of reading books, she had become less…childish. She had relaxed and adopted a softer, more timid way of speaking. Pell wasn’t sure why, but it was better than the annoying personality she had before.

“Status,” she said.

A blue, transparent panel flashed before her. It followed her gaze and could move based on her thoughts. She had read about this magical screen inside of the books, but this was her first time seeing it. She read what she saw out loud so Pell could hear it.

Name: Enya Empyria
Level: 0
EXP: 0/10
Class: Unassigned
Skills: Mana Detection [D-], Mana Control [E+], Perception [D], Sage’s Insight [B]
Titles: High-Noble, Realm Hopper, Apprentice of Terran

The shock that hit Pell was so immense it left him reeling as she read off her stats. His entire body trembled, and it felt like his jaw had dropped to the floor.

“Um, Pell…your jaw fell,” the girl said.

Pell ignored her, mentally scrambling to process the information. Her level and skills were unusual. Her level was zero, which was almost unheard of for a girl her age. She even had several skills already, which was odd. But no, that wasn’t the surprising part—it was her titles that made him freeze.

Pell noted the titles. “Realm hopper…” He muttered, his voice gravelly without his jaw. He himself carried that title—an indicator of someone who traveled between layers, whether to ascend or descend. He’d started as a peasant in the first layer and ascended to the second layer only six years ago. It wasn’t unusual to see people with that title, but it wasn’t exactly common either. But that title wasn’t what caused him to panic. No—it was the other title.

The first title she held made his bones rattle. It was obvious the little girl was a noble, given her extravagant attire. The fine silken material and delicate craftsmanship were otherworldly. Pell didn’t know much about fashion, but as a merchant, he could recognize expensive clothing when he saw it.

But no, Enya wasn’t just a noble. She was a High-Noble. Pell clenched his fingers and cracked his knuckles without thinking. Meeting a High-Noble was an extremely rare encounter, especially for a commoner like him.

Nobles were present in every realm. It was just how aristocracy and governments worked, no matter where you were. But High-Nobles were a different breed. Even in the fourth layer, there were barely half a dozen High-Noble families, each holding immense influence. Regular nobles were uncommon, but High-Nobles came from places above the fourth layer and seldom ventured down. This was common knowledge, even for children in the slums.

Pell struggled to find words—partially because his jaw was still on the floor.

Meeting a High-Noble was like meeting royalty in the third or fourth layers…probably. He didn’t know which was rarer—having an audience with a king, or meeting a High-Noble. Normal people would never need to answer that question.

Pell stared at the girl, scrutinizing her confused and worried expression—one that did not befit nobility or royalty.

Calming down, Pell crouched to pick up his jaw and snapped it back into place with a satisfying clink. He took a deep breath as he straightened, or at least, what would’ve been a deep breath—missing lungs and all.

The last title she held seemed to be a clue about who she really was. She was an apprentice to someone named Terran. The name didn’t ring any bells, but that was probably to be expected. There was no way Pell would know the dealings of High-Nobles. But even though that title could point to her identity, one thing still bothered him—what had happened to everyone else?

Enya tilted her head, studying Pell’s shocked expression. “Pell?”

Lost in thought, Pell didn’t respond.

Where was her party? Where were her guards? Did she really come here all alone? The system could register party members, so surely she would’ve read their names off if she had one. But if she didn’t…then it meant she wasn’t in a party at all. Another question, one that had been bothering him since their first meeting, began to surface again.

Pell opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He wanted to ask, but it was clear she didn’t know the answer. It was a question he’d wondered once, but it had seemed trivial at the time.

Now, it gnawed at him again.

Was it possible she had never been in a party at all?

Pell’s expression shifted, his thoughts muddled. “Your stats…” he muttered.

Her stats were awful. How could a noble like her have stats like this? Her level was zero, and she hadn’t ascended to a class yet. Given her age, how was that even possible? Most children, even those in orphanages, had classes—and they were younger than her.

Pell himself had been offered a class early on, but he had refused it for years, waiting until he was an adult. He wanted to see if a better class would be offered to him, but one never appeared. His case was an outlier in that regard, but outliers didn’t count for common sense. He was the exception, not the norm.

What also stood out were her skills. Four separate skills at level zero? That was odd. As far as Pell knew, it wasn’t even possible to acquire more than one or two skills before getting a class. Three of her skills seemed self-explanatory, but that last one—Sage’s Insight—what the hell was that?

Pell shook his head. Skills and all that didn’t matter right now.

“Hey...you don’t happen to remember anything now, do you?” he asked.

"Uh, no?" she replied after a moment of thought.

“You…you said you were a High-Noble…Enya?”

Enya looked at him with a perplexed expression. After a beat, she seemed to realize. “O-oh, I’m Enya,” she chuckled. “Sorry, I thought you said a word I didn’t know yet.”

She glanced back at the transparent panel and read the lines again. “Yeah, it says I have a title called ‘High-Noble.’”

Pell winced. “Do…you know what that is?”

“No?”

She looked even more confused than before. It was clear she had no idea why Pell was acting so anxious since she’d read off her stats.

Pell’s mind raced as he thought of how to handle the situation. A few moments passed before he decided on the best course of action: act normal. It’d be odd if he completely changed his demeanor now, and besides, she was just a little girl. Hell, she didn’t even know her own status.

Pell thought back to when he had swung a sword but missed because she was so short when they first met. He winced, realizing the potential consequences of his actions.

Maybe it was lucky she had amnesia.

He straightened and assumed his usual stance. “Well, alright. Just forget about it for now, I guess. You know what nobles are, right? People with power and prestige? You must’ve read plenty of books with nobility in them.”

“Y-yeah. I know what nobles are, but what’s a High-Noble?” she asked.

Coughing, Pell replied calmly, “They’re like normal nobles, but…more powerful. They’re better than regular nobles.”

The little girl’s eyes lit up. “So I’m actually really, really awesome?” she asked, clutching her hands together.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re amazing, brat.” Pell froze. He had been calling her a brat this whole time. Calling a High-Noble a brat? It was like throwing a pie made of horse manure at the ruler of a nation.

He glanced down at her still-shining eyes, feeling the tension slowly drain from his body. Just act normal. She still has amnesia. There’s no point in trying to impress her now, he thought.