Sormlai’s Residence
Shhh!
With a flash of silver-white sword light,
The butler who had been waiting in the living room for his master’s return quietly followed his master’s footsteps into death.
Stepping out from the shadows, Lynn revealed himself and beckoned behind him:
“Keep it quiet and move fast, we’ll loot everything and leave by nightfall.”
With Sormlai dead, nothing in his ho could stop the three of them from breaking in.
Even so, Lynn chose a secret infiltration just to be safe.
The butler had been the last obstacle, and with him gone, it was ti to start looting.
The three quickly divided their search areas. Lynn made his way toward Sormlai’s ditation chamber.
The mont he pushed open the door, his brows furrowed deeply.
The room reeked of blood. Human bones were piled in the corners, and pools of blood stained the floor.
Only the bone bed in the center, capable of absorbing flesh and storing blood, kept the chamber from reeking unbearably.
Lynn searched the room. Before long, he spotted a locked storage cabinet in the corner.
The cabinet was forged entirely of tal, its surface etched with reinforcing spell arrays.
But such wards couldn’t stop Lynn. After studying it for a short while, he found a weak point in the array. Drawing upon the White Crow Sword Arts, a few well-placed strikes cracked it open.
Inside were three tiers of shelves.
The first held a large number of primary-grade magic stones, at least a hundred without needing to count carefully.
The second held eight mid-grade magic stones, each larger and deeper in color.
And on the third shelf lay a pale red sphere of unknown origin. Smooth, soft to the touch, and impossible to identify.
Without hesitation, Lynn swept everything into his pack and continued the search.
Half an hour later, they had scoured the entire residence.
Before leaving, both Mardo and Giggs handed all the loot they found over to Lynn to distribute.
Lynn accepted without ceremony, taking eighty percent for himself and leaving the other twenty for Mardo and Giggs to share.
By rough count, Lynn alone had gained nearly three hundred primary-grade magic stones.
So this was the wealth of a seasoned Second-Rank Apprentice, truly abundant.
Night soon fell.
Under its cover, the three departed from Sormlai’s ho.
Mardo bid them farewell and left on his own.
Lynn and Giggs, however, headed to the shanty district.
At a paupers’ graveyard on the western edge, they found the graves of Ant and Leona.
After Leona’s death, Giggs had buried her here. Later, when Ant died, both he and Lynn had buried him beside her.
“Leona… Sormlai is dead…”
Giggs stood before the grave, his voice soft as autumn wind.
Looking at the resting place of his old friend, he spoke at length.
Lynn stood quietly at his side, his black apprentice’s robe billowing in the cold autumn breeze.
He said nothing, but his eyes, fixed on the grave, grew distant. His thoughts drifted with Giggs’s words.
Seasons shifted. Sumr gave way to autumn. Ti always slipped by unnoticed.
But at least… he had not failed himself.
When Giggs had finally spoken his heart dry, he turned to Lynn, his eyes heavy with emotion.
“I’m planning to head to the academy’s outpost. Will you co with , Giggs?” Lynn asked, then added,
“I need to exchange for the academy’s next-level ditation technique anyway. While I’m there, I’ll also ask about paying off your debt in one lump sum.
“You’ve got enough money to settle it all at once now, don’t you?”
“I do.” Giggs nodded.
Lynn inclined his head and sighed:
“Too bad… Because of the war with the Black Rose faction, Eraldwood City still hasn’t reopened its travel routes. If you want to go to the mortal kingdoms, you’ll have to wait a while longer.”
Eraldwood City was deep within the Eraldshadow Forest. Even by airship, it took half a month to get out.
Without proper transport, the journey would take several tis longer, fraught with dangers no First-Rank Apprentice could survive alone.
At least five First-Rank Apprentices traveling together were needed to have any real chance of making it out alive.
“It’s fine, boss. I’m not in a rush to leave… Now that Sormlai is gone, it’s ti to get the White Shadow Mushroom business running again,” said Giggs.
Lynn thought for a mont, then shook his head slightly.
“There’s no hurry. Wait a while longer after the autumn hunt this year, we’ll talk.”
Giggs nodded without objection.
Tomorrow, the autumn hunt would begin. It would last five days…
So they only had to wait five more days.
The two then made their way toward the academy’s outpost.
...
When Lynn arrived at the academy’s outpost, he realized he had co too late.
The apprentice in charge of ditation technique exchanges had already gone off duty, so he could only return early the next morning.
Still, there was good news regarding Giggs’s situation.
Just half a month ago, the academy had issued a new, more detailed policy regarding the dismissal of apprentices.
Now, not only could debts be paid off in a single lump sum ahead of ti, but the academy had even added a new kind of “career guidance” service helping dismissed apprentices find ways to earn a living.
Giggs was overjoyed, yet his feelings were mixed. He couldn’t help but lant that his group of apprentices had simply been born at the wrong ti.
That night, darkness lay deep.
Lynn returned to his ho on Bluebridge Street.
Maid Carter was still awake, waiting for him to return.
Adeline, too, had not gone to bed. She sat on the sofa reading a book, rising respectfully to greet him when he walked in.
As for why this heterochromatic-eyed girl was here, it was mainly out of concern for her safety.
On the day Sormlai had co to threaten him, and with the Golden Shadow Society dismissing it as nothing more than a personal feud, Lynn had warned Adeline that it was best for her to stay at her uncle Landry’s house for a while. Otherwise, Sormlai might target her simply out of spite.
After he stressed the danger, Adeline hadn’t hesitated. She went to her uncle only to be refused under the excuse of “inconvenience.”
Her aunt said nothing either, rely thinking Adeline was overreacting and causing needless trouble.
Seeing this, Lynn weighed his options and simply had Carter invite Adeline to stay at his own ho for the ti being.
After that birthday incident, Lynn had co to understand Sormlai’s madness all too clearly. He couldn’t let his negligence cost Adeline her life.
Adeline herself understood the gravity of the situation. Without much protest, she accepted Lynn’s offer.
“Are you getting used to staying here, Adeline?” Lynn asked.
She nodded, a small smile on her lips, though in her eyes there flickered a faint trace of worry and frustration.
But it wasn’t resentnt toward Lynn for Sormlai’s trouble, nor regret for getting too close to him.
When she was younger, she had once been cruelly tricked into breaking sothing belonging to a Third-Rank Apprentice.
Back then, little Adeline had been terrified that her mother would abandon her for the mistake.
But her mother hadn’t scolded her once. She simply bore the consequence with her and, in the end, took the trickster’s life.
Adeline could no longer recall many of the details of that incident.
But she rembered her mother’s words:
“Those who are weak and vile at heart always vent their anger on those closest to them, while cowering before the real culprit… Adeline, never beco soone like that.”
And she never had.
So now, her only thoughts were of how to help herself and Lynn through this crisis.
The only pity was that she was too weak, unable to think of any real solution.
That was why her heart was so heavy with worry.
Lynn did not explain further. He simply offered a few calm words of reassurance, then went off to the ditation room.
Sormlai was already dead.
Before long, Adeline would learn of it herself.
-support in Patreon for more chapter, 145 chapters in there
/AetherTL
Reviews
All reviews (0)