“Ahaha, that’s because I was flying a kite just now.”
“But I didn’t expect the night wind to be so strong, it accidentally carried me up into the sky.”
Derek scratched his head, flashing an embarrassed smile as he casually made up a lame excuse.
‘After all, I couldn’t sleep in the middle of the night, wanted to sneak attack someone, but ended up being counterattacked and blown away.’
‘This is quite embarrassing. I really can’t bring myself to say it.’
‘When you’re out and about, face is something you give yourself.’
‘A little white lie like this—Elios will forgive me.’
Feilin’s eyes suddenly turned sharp, staring intently at Derek.
Squeak~
Her dark red eyes seemed to see through Derek’s thoughts.
She leaned close to Vivian’s ear and whispered.
“This old geezer isn’t being honest. He’s lying.”
Relying on years of experience navigating the dark underworld, Feilin saw through Derek’s clumsy lie at a glance.
Seeing their reactions, Derek knew his bluff had been exposed.
His face flushed, and he was about to explain when Vivian interrupted.
“You didn’t also go to that hay warehouse or something, did you?”
Just a moment ago, Vivian had learned from Feilin that Derek had later approached Feilin to ask about Marco.
So she came to a ridiculous conclusion in her mind.
“Alright, that’s exactly what happened.”
Derek spread his hands and said helplessly.
“There’s no need to hide it anymore.” He chose to confess.
“I planned to disguise myself as a Big Tail Rat and go to the hay warehouse to trade with Marco. Then attack him when he let his guard down.”
“After all, this is a demon I myself unleashed, so I’d prefer to finish him with my own hands.”
A hint of coldness appeared on Derek’s face.
As if his opponent was no longer his former classmate and good friend, but a monster possessed by a demon.
Vivian couldn’t help but hold her aching forehead and said, lowering her head.
“Nolan… should also be lying in ambush there.”
“So it really was him?”
“So he was ambushed by Nolan. No wonder.”
Derek said in surprise, feeling a sense of relief that it was as he expected.
When he saw that golden light, he had vaguely guessed this answer.
In Ma’en City, besides Derek himself, the only one capable of this level of light magic was Nolan.
Thinking of this, Derek couldn’t help but squeeze out a faint smile at the corner of his mouth.
“Big Tail Rat!”
Vivian sharply turned her head and yelled.
Her eyes were fixed on Feilin, who was sneaking away, as if they could spit fire.
Startled by Vivian’s sudden shout, Feilin jumped, her fur standing on end.
‘She was in the middle of plotting how to escape and hide where no one could find her.’
‘As long as she could get away from Vivian, this demon who beat her at the drop of a hat, she’d rather go without carrots and squid for life!’
Feilin shuddered and stiffly turned her neck.
She forced a strained smile and said to Vivian.
“Um… the dried squid at home hasn’t been put away yet, so I’ll take my leave now, ha.”
“If you dare leave, I’ll beat the crap out of you.”
Vivian took a quick step forward, swung her hand, and grabbed Feilin’s fluffy big tail.
“Oww!”
Feilin let out a howl as her tail was grabbed.
She turned around and grabbed the base of her tail, pulling hard, trying to snatch it back from Vivian.
But her strength was no match for Vivian; even as her feet plowed two deep furrows in the ground, she couldn’t anchor herself.
“No, no, no!”
Like a death row prisoner being led to the execution ground, she could only watch as she got closer and closer to the end.
Suddenly, scenes of her past flashed before her eyes like a lantern.
Images of her and her cat-kin parents huddling together in a straw nest for warmth, and of her collapsing on the snowfield and being taken home by the guild master.
‘Goodbye, Mom and Dad. Goodbye, Guild Master.’
‘I’ll set foot on the land of the dead first and head to reincarnation…’
Smack!
With a crisp cracking sound, Feilin’s little head was once again smashed by Vivian.
“Tsk tsk tsk, this scene is a bit too bloody.”
Derek couldn’t help but turn away, clicking his tongue.
“Didn’t you say the hay warehouse was something you made up?”
Vivian grabbed Feilin by the collar and asked.
“I really made it up, but how was I supposed to know there actually is a hay warehouse here…”
Smack!
She got her head smashed again…
“Alright, alright, let’s talk about Marco instead.”
Seeing that Vivian had vented enough, Derek quickly interjected.
“I killed Marco once, but Big Tail Rat said he can revive.”
Vivian casually tossed aside the headless Feilin and replied.
“If that’s the case, then Marco should be quiet for a while.”
“A Blood Mage goes through a period of weakness after resurrecting using a flesh statue.”
Derek thought for a moment and then added.
“Let’s go find Nolan first. We’ll discuss the rest later.”
With that, he called out to Vivian and headed toward the hay warehouse.
As he turned, he pulled out a necklace from his inner pocket, set with a crystal-clear ruby.
The only flaw was that the surface of the ruby was covered in fine cracks.
“You’ve been with me so long, but it’s finally time to say goodbye…”
Derek looked at the necklace, sighed softly, and then casually threw it into the grass by the roadside.
“There’s no other way, so be it.”
Vivian said indifferently, then followed behind Derek.
“Wait for me!”
Feilin’s voice came from behind; she was scrambling up from the ground like an abandoned dog.
“Catch up on your own.”
Vivian said without looking back.
…
Inside the hay warehouse.
Nolan was lying on a pile of hay, gazing listlessly at the night sky through a huge skylight in the roof.
Not far from him, a massive horned cow was lowering its head to munch on hay.
“When will Vivian arrive? Am I going to spend the night with this cow?”
He rolled over on the haystack and muttered.
Although they hadn’t spent that much time together, he had unconsciously gotten used to having Vivian by his side at night.
The solitude he once took for granted now felt a bit lonely.
Without that girl chattering away beside him, without her silly antics and laughter.
Nor the bubbling of soup boiling in the pot, the clatter of dishes being washed, the sound of running water.
‘Ah, such a night is so hard to endure!’
‘I’ve decided to solve everything alone, so why do I still want to go on adventures with Vivian?’
‘It’s all Vivian’s fault!’
Nolan suddenly sat up and shook his head violently.
‘No! No! How could it be Vivian’s problem?’
‘It’s clearly me being too greedy. It’s me!’
‘I’m the one craving that warm married life, longing for that peaceful existence with a wife and kids by the hearth.’
‘I’m the one infatuated with Vivian’s small, young body and her cold, corpse-like temperature.’
‘Wait, that’s not right.’
Nolan’s brow furrowed slightly, his expression shifting wildly.
‘Could it be… I’m a perverted xenophile lolicon?!’
‘Oh my god, Elios above, please forgive my impure thoughts.’
He was startled by his own thought.
He quickly pressed his hands together, bowed his head, and prayed to the gods for forgiveness.
But his train of thought soon reversed again.
‘No, this is not some filthy thought.’
‘This is my pure and spotless love for Vivian. Elios, screw you!’
“Cabbage!”
Nolan shouted at the horned cow.
“Moo~”
The horned cow, Cabbage, raised its head and looked at Nolan with confusion.
“Come find Vivian with me!”
He flipped over and mounted the cow’s back.
Boom!
The door of the hay warehouse smashed open from the inside, and the man and cow burst out.
Shrouded in the cold moonlight, they galloped toward the distant night.