Recently, Asa Academy has seen fewer people, to the point where Su Li, who holds the position of librarian, has been on leave at ho – one can imagine how desolate it is.
However, fewer people doesn’t an complete emptiness.
Dean Asa, that particularly gentle-looking old man, has never been hesitant when it cos to making money.
Su Li wasn’t sure how Lan Zhe managed to pass the ssage to Dean Asa, who was currently staying in Jisuo Town.
Anyway, within two days, a letter arrived from the academy, requesting him and Cyril to report tomorrow.
Su Li agreed.
However, before reporting, the pseudo-young man who was actually a grand soul wizard, still defended himself:
“I’m not doing this for the monthly purple gold coin allowance. I’m doing this because—only when one has bread in hand can they turn their imagined poetry and distant dreams into reality.”
“Therefore, even if I walk back into this absurd world, as long as I envision a beautiful future, no matter how absurd the world becos, it becos more bearable,” Su Li argued eloquently.
Cyril mocked him. “Has the academy already beco synonymous with the absurd world for you?”
“I didn’t say that,” Su Li wore an expression that seed to say ‘the world is miserable, and you just had to point it out.’
Cyril: “Tch.”
He was a bit annoyed, but he could understand.
After all, Su Li had never considered attending school himself, let alone an expensive elentalist academy.
When he was working as a librarian, he was at most thinking about how long he would need to save up to support Cyril’s education.
Now that he was suddenly being “guided” by adults toward choices he had never considered before, Cyril thought it was acceptable that Su Li wasn’t acting quite like his usual self.
Moreover, Cyril sohow felt that Diz’s previous speculation about Su Li’s thinking might have so truth to it.
Ignoring Diz’s unsettling comnts, the core of what he said was: Su Li is a pessimist who always appears calm in front of others. His pessimism not only doesn’t affect others but guides them to beco better versions of themselves.
Because of this characteristic, Su Li would consider things very thoroughly. After all, his nature would make him think of the worst outcos, but whenever there were others involved in the sa situation, he would actively guide events toward positive results.
Looking at it from this perspective, Cyril believed that Su Li had probably already imagined multiple tis the inevitable comparisons that would occur among peers.
Yet Su Li himself… was absolutely at the bottom of the food chain.
So…
Su Li, who was simply trying to make excuses for himself, stared blankly as Cyril patted his shoulder.
The dragon-blooded youth said with determination. “The elentalist academy isn’t as scary as you imagine. I told you, anyone who dares to bully you will have to step over my dead body first.”
Su Li: “Huh?”
Before Su Li could react, the youth with dragon bloodline had already sat down cross-legged with fighting spirit to continue his training.
Su Li looked confusedly at Lan Zhe, who was sitting nearby recording his words and laughing continuously.
“What’s the aning of Cyril’s sudden strange words?”
“If you can’t understand it, how could I possibly understand?” Lan Zhe actually did understand.
But he wouldn’t point it out.
Moreover, no one could deny that Cyril, with his dragon bloodline, had extrely high potential for future growth.
With soone actively wanting to protect Su Li and working hard to beco stronger for that purpose, it would be strange if Lan Zhe were to point this out.
However, to prevent Su Li, who couldn’t practice cultivation, from getting bored while Cyril was training, Lan Zhe decisively pulled out the recent purple gold coin.
“Go play outside, and if you’d like, you can buy sothing you need at the tavern at the east end of the street.”
Su Li froze. “You just said it’s a tavern, what could a child like possibly need from there?”
Lan Zhe: “…Don’t tell you haven’t had alcohol at your age.”
“Sorry to disappoint, but I haven’t.”
Before transmigrating, Su Li worked as a freelancer and didn’t need to participate in social drinking, so there was no reason to drink.
Even during his student days, he was never the type to try things just out of curiosity.
That’s why when other students were caught smoking in the bathroom by the director, Su Li passed by calmly. He even comnted: “Second-hand smoke really is harmful.”
Seeing Su Li’s expressionless face as he spoke, Lan Zhe explained helplessly. “That tavern, besides being a place where rcenaries gather to drink and chat, also sells elental items.”
“Have you heard of alchemists?”
“Weapons and armor are their specialties,” Lan Zhe had initially thought about providing Su Li with so alchemical tools himself, but rembering his identity as a dark elent user, he imdiately abandoned the idea.
He decided that when money could solve the problem, it was better not to create additional possibilities that might expose his identity.
Su Li looked at Lan Zhe with surprise. “I always thought you elent users just created relatively scientific things from unscientific sources.”
For instance, dark elents might be related to dark matter.
Su Li had always tried to understand this world through his own logic, especially since Egbert combined light and heat when using light elents.
So when alchemists suddenly appeared…
One really shouldn’t have too narrow an understanding of a world.
After figuring this out, Su Li asked Roy, “Will my bodyguard co with ?”
Roy, who had been reading, closed his book with a snap upon hearing this.
“Looks like the little master knows very well who’s most observant in this household.”
Su Li’s mouth twitched. “Don’t make yourself sound like a bootlicker.”
Then the two left the building together.
Inside, Mark, who was always cleaning to maintain the house’s tidiness, tried to put the book Roy had left on the table back on the bookshelf. With a bucket and mop in his hands, he attempted an awkward position to grab it, causing the book to fall to the ground.
At a glance, the literate Mark froze in place.
When Lan Zhe hadn’t heard the sound of mopping for a while, he looked over curiously to see Mark turning his head stiffly to ask, “Does Mr. Eg’s copied handbook need to be placed on the bookshelf?”
Lan Zhe: ???
Looking at what was written in that notebook…
Su Li had once said: “Food is a necessary substance for life, yet it can also be sothing that countless people fear.”
Below was a note: Every city in this world has slums, and these people are the ones who most desperately crave food.
Among them are many geniuses with high elental affinity.
However, they are constrained by poverty and unable to rise.
These individuals, lacking light or dark elents, are not absorbed by the church, and due to so-called bloodline theory, they are scorned by nobles unless their talent reaches a certain level.
But this doesn’t an they are worthless.
As long as one can provide the food they crave, even if they know the food is “poisoned,” they understand that grabbing the spider’s thread thrown by soone who may see them as either equals or prey is the best choice when there are no other options.
Lord Su Li must an that food, sothing so common and often valued only for satisfying hunger, is sothing humans can never escape from.
What Lord Su Li overtly referred to was food, but in reality, he was using it as a taphor for the people of this world.
Those who cannot even control the basic necessities for human survival are seen as practically unnecessary existences in this world.
Below was another annotation, but unlike the uniform and ticulous writing above, this one was noticeably ssier, clearly written at a different ti than the previous comntary on the sa passage.
Now I realize that for Lord Su Li, life has always been the most important thing.
Whether it’s Na’an or Roy.
Lan Zhe cares about Na’an because of their years of friendship.
Euphia pays attention to Roy because of his potential to advance to three-star rcenary.
But the Lord’s attention to them seems more based on the fundantal logic that [life itself is above all else].
Therefore, the lives of those in the slums must also have profound value that I currently don’t understand.
......
The dense string of text records made Lan Zhe’s hair stand on end.
Rember, this was presented in book form.
Just one sentence could be interpreted with so many words. Consider how Su Li would casually drop aningful remarks that even Lan Zhe found profound…
The fact that this blank-covered book “Nobody Understands Lord Su Li Better Than ” was in Roy’s possession proved that Egbert had already started circulating it in a small circle.
What an outrageous act.
Lan Zhe felt chills down his spine at Egbert’s increasingly deep-seated perversion.
Mark’s face kept twitching, and in the next mont, he decisively passed this problem to Lan Zhe.
“What does the Lord Holy Son think we should do?”
Lan Zhe: “…How would I know, and you’ve never called Lord Holy Son before.”
Mark continued to look at him innocently.
After coughing once, Lan Zhe patted his chest.
Trying to hide his obviously quickened heartbeat, the man learned the skill that seemingly every adult possesses.
Playing dead.
If I run away fast enough, no one can catch up!
“Act like nothing happened and put it back on the table.”
Mark: “Wouldn’t it be more suspicious if everything is cleaned except the table?”
“Then put it on the bookshelf, and when Roy returns, just tell him you respected his privacy and simply returned the book to the shelf, wouldn’t that work?”
Mark said, “I don’t think so.” It’s too obviously suspicious.
Lan Zhe actually agreed it wouldn’t work.
The words in this notebook were very clear.
Egbert was planning sothing, sothing big, and would likely try to rope Roy in.
Looking at Euphia, who was already in Jisuo Town.
Mark couldn’t believe there wasn’t so connection.
“Then what should we do? Join in?”
After offering this seemingly questionable but actually reasonable option, Lan Zhe’s eyes brightened considerably.
Lan Zhe thought it made sense.
They could totally join in – if you can’t beat them, join them. Besides, with Egbert’s level of perversion, shouldn’t soone keep a close eye on him in case he influences others?
Though this reasoning had a hint of “the family dog is going mad, better watch it before it bites soone.”
But Lan Zhe accepted it quickly.
He even thought “Nobody Understands Lord Su Li Better Than ” made so sense…
While questioning if sothing was wrong with himself, Lan Zhe firmly nodded to Mark.
“Yes, that’s right, we can totally join in…”
anwhile.
Su Li, who was visiting the tavern with his bodyguard, felt sowhat nervous.
Not because of potentially unexpected situations inside the tavern, but because…
He was only 12 years old!
Just as Su Li was thinking about buying the alchemy tools and heading straight ho without looking around the tavern, Roy beside him let out a big sneeze.
“Caught a cold?” Su Li, unaware this was due to two people thinking about him back ho, simply inquired about Roy’s health.
“No, colds are ailnts that only occur to soone like you,” Roy replied calmly.
The normal person who could catch colds looked at the gorilla who couldn’t, and expressionlessly responded, “Oh.”
Roy sensed the passive-aggressive atmosphere but couldn’t quite put it into words.
He still needed more experience to read the air around Su Li.
“We’re here.”
Su Li looked up at the tavern Roy was pointing to.
It was quiet due to poor business, with its doors wide open. At a glance, you could see only a handful of custors inside.
In the past, the sound of custors clinking glasses had seed as noisy as firecrackers.
Now, the sound of glasses touching each other was more like a musician’s occasional deliberate notes. The crisp sound passing through one’s ears sohow felt more pleasant than drinking a cool beer.
However, this atmosphere made the tavern feel less like the lively place it should be, and more like a modern quiet bar ant to ease urban stress.
Su Li felt relieved.
He actually couldn’t handle overly bustling places very well.
Roy deliberately led Su Li in such a way as to block the views of those who, unknown to Su Li, had been frowning at him since he entered.
Roy knocked on the counter and said to the tavern keeper, who was wiping glasses with a clean cloth. “Got anything good?”
“Soone of your ability still interested in my modest alchemy tools?” Despite his words, the keeper’s money-making instincts were clearly active.
He promptly brought out several boxes from under the counter.
One box contained nurous rings, while the others mostly held daggers and short swords.
“Take a look.”
“The rings are mostly defensive items – wind barriers, fla protection, water shields, and such.”
“Your fixation on water elents never changes,” Roy gave the keeper a bored look.
Few people in Sadina City hadn’t been swindled by the tavern keeper, but after being fooled so many tis, they’d grown familiar with each other.
“Can’t help it. Most defensive items just counter sudden attacks, but water elent defenses always co with the annoying feature of extracting air from inside the barrier.”
These rings were practically tavern heirlooms.
—In a negative sense.
Because they couldn’t be sold.
When first crafting these alchemy tools, the keeper had simply thought he should make so of each elent… and the water shield rings had stayed ever since.
Having been swindled for so long, Roy had no intention of helping the keeper clear his inventory, so his attention followed Su Li to the boxes containing weapons.
“See anything interesting?”
Speaking of interest, Su Li had spotted sothing the mont the keeper brought out the boxes.
It wasn’t about quality, as he couldn’t sense elents anyway.
Su Li liked that item because he thought it would suit Cyril perfectly.
It was a short sword that looked sowhat like a magic staff.
Both the scabbard and hilt were wooden, and the scabbard itself was made from a single piece of wood. If the keeper hadn’t already drawn the sword, revealing the tal gleaming in the tavern’s warm light, Su Li might not have been able to tell if it was a magic staff or a short sword.
Its natural appearance suited elent users, as staves were common weapons for regular elentalists, while the short sword would suit Cyril, who had awakened beast blood and was destined for greatly increased strength.
Two uses in one – worth it.
The keeper explained. “This sword can withstand elental output from a mid-rank third-tier elentalist. For a child, it’s perfect as a weapon for managing excessive force.”
Su Li decisively declared. “We’ll take it.”
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