Once the group finally stopped fooling around, they noticed Kainster squatting all by himself on the field ridge, his arms wrapped around his knees.
Even though the surrounding sunlight was exceptionally bright, a private raincloud seemed to hang directly over his head.
He radiated an aura of utter abandonment, as if the entire world had cast him aside.
“Soulmate?”
Lin Ling blinked.
“Soulmate, what’s wrong?! Soulmate!”
Lin Ling squatted down in front of Kainster and shook his shoulders violently.
But Kainster only lifted his head.
All light had vanished from his blue eyes, leaving him looking like a salted fish dried out by the sun, yet still staring blankly up at the sky.
“Ah...”
Kainster gazed at the sky, his voice sounding incredibly weak.
“Soulmate.”
“I feel... an endless, crushing loneliness.”
With that, his body slowly began to tilt backward.
Once Lin Ling caught him, Kainster completely gave up on trying to stand.
He went completely limp and collapsed onto the ground.
His body even began to visibly lose its color.
His once-vibrant cloth clothes gradually faded to a dull gray, and even his hair seemed to lose its luster.
“Soulmate!”
Lin Ling held him.
A look of profound sorrow spread across her face.
“How did you end up like this?!”
Kainster didn't answer.
He simply maintained his dead-fish stare.
“Whoa!”
Danasuo's excited voice suddenly echoed from a distance.
“At times like this, it’s time for a Danasuo Flying Kick!”
“Eh?”
Lin Ling froze.
She slowly turned her head.
She saw Danasuo already striking a pose midair.
Tilting her small body backward, she used Levitation Magic to suddenly accelerate forward.
One of her feet was raised high.
Her target was none other than Kainster, who was lying on the ground.
“Danasuo Flying Kick—!”
“Wait, no! Miss Saintess is still here!!!”
Watching Danasuo hurtling toward them, Lin Ling’s pupils shrank instantly.
Pushing off the ground with her feet, she dodged backward without hesitation.
In the next instant.
Danasuo's foot connected precisely with Kainster's stomach.
“Ugh—!”
Kainster's body instantly bounced off the ground.
His entire body folded into a perfect V-shape.
Then he crashed back down.
Thud.
A small cloud of dust kicked up around him.
This time.
As Kainster lay there, his blue eyes were wide with sheer disbelief.
He stared at the white figure who had fled to safety all by herself.
That was his soulmate—the one he had failed to officially swear brotherhood with.
Yet, when danger reared its head...
She had run away.
Without a single moment of hesitation.
She hadn't even looked back.
Kainster raised a trembling hand, only for it to fall back down limply halfway through.
Finally, he flashed a resigned, peaceful smile at Lin Ling before collapsing entirely onto the dirt.
“Whew~”
Lin Ling stood at a safe distance.
She raised a hand and wiped away the cold sweat on her forehead.
“Better you than me.”
“Thank goodness Miss Saintess has quick reflexes.”
But upon seeing Kainster lying there motionless, her expression instantly turned mournful once more.
With a swift slide, she appeared right next to him again.
She grabbed his shoulders and began shaking him once more.
“Soulmate!”
“Don’t die on me, soulmate!”
Tears began to stream down her face at a moment's notice.
“Why!”
“Why did you do such a thing just to protect Miss Saintess?!”
Kainster: “...”
Staring at the silent Kainster, she extended both hands.
She began repeatedly pressing down on the exact spot where Danasuo had kicked him.
“Soulmate! Wake up!”
“Miss Saintess won’t let you die!”
Lying on the ground pretending to be unconscious, Kainster’s expression gradually began to warp.
“Ugh...”
His eyelids twitched slightly.
But to see his performance through to the end, he gritted his teeth and kept his eyes squeezed shut.
“Alright, Lady Saintess,”
Mrs. Nashi, who was standing nearby, watched Lin Ling vigorously pumping Kainster's chest and offered a helpless reminder:
“If you keep pressing any harder, this gentleman won’t be able to play dead much longer.”
Lin Ling froze mid-action.
“Eh?”
In the next instant, Kainster suddenly snapped his eyes open, clutched his stomach, and sat right up.
“Hahaha!”
“I can't take it anymore, I can't!”
Kainster waved his hands at everyone while laughing hysterically.
“If you kept pressing, I really would have thrown up the breakfast the Head Chef made.”
He looked up at the group staring at him from a short distance away.
Right now, every single one of them looked more ridiculous than the last.
“Hahaha!”
His laughter echoed across the fields.
“Your faces...”
But before he could laugh for long, he realized the atmosphere around him was far too quiet.
He slowly raised his gaze.
Only to find everyone in front of him staring back with dark, expressionless faces.
“...”
Kainster's laughter came to a screeching halt.
The only sound left in the air was the gentle breeze rustling through the wheat shoots.
“Uh...”
Kainster remained frozen in his laughing pose.
The expression on his face slowly stiffened.
“Is it too late to stop laughing now?”
Unfortunately, no one answered his question.
Kainster's smile vanished instantly.
He immediately adopted a deadpan, serious expression.
“I just lost composure for a split second.”
“But now, I am once again a man of supreme self-control.”
“Please, give me another chance.”
“Why on earth would we give you a chance?”
Lin Ling's voice drifted into his ears, sounding like the grim reaper whispering from the shadows.
Kainster shivered.
It seemed his only option left was that move.
He stole a quick glance at the group.
Then, he suddenly broke free from Lin Ling's grasp and bolted.
“I’m out of here, soulmate! Reach me via magic transmission if anything comes up!”
Kainster shouted as he sprinted away into the distance.
His speed was surprisingly impressive.
Within a few short seconds, he had already covered quite a distance.
Lin Ling stood right where she was.
Watching the desperately fleeing Kainster, she slowly raised her hand.
“Trying to run?”
The magic behind her rapidly condensed.
A massive magic arm manifested and snatched the sprinting Kainster right out of the air.
“Come back here!”
Kainster’s body was instantly hoisted into the air.
“Eh?”
His legs were still frantically cycling midair.
But no matter how fast he ran...
His body was steadily pulled back toward Lin Ling.
“Wait! Soulmate!”
“We can talk about this!”
Kainster was dragged right back in front of the group in an instant.
Before he could even beg for mercy...
Danasuo had already flown up to his face, holding a wet clump of mud.
“Don’t squirm now.”
“Master Danasuo is about to begin her creation.”
“Wait! I think we can still negotiate this—”
Danasuo didn't give him any room to negotiate.
She immediately began smearing the mud all over Kainster’s face.
Slumped on the ground, Kainster completely gave up all resistance.
A moment later, Danasuo floated backward.
Staring at her masterpiece, she puffed out her chest with immense satisfaction.
“And done! A masterpiece!”
With that, Danasuo herself couldn't help but burst into hearty laughter first.
“Hahaha!”
She laughed so hard...
...that she couldn't even maintain her Levitation Magic, dropping straight toward the ground.
Seeing Danasuo fall, Leticia quickly reached out her hand, catching her safely in her palm.
“Don’t be so reckless next time.”
Leticia looked down at the giggling Danasuo in her hand and extended a finger.
She gently rubbed Danasuo’s head.
Though her tone was cool, her concern for her little mentor was unmistakable.
“I know, I know!”
Danasuo lay in Leticia's palm.
But as she looked up...
...and saw the mud still smeared across Leticia's face, she burst into laughter all over again.
“Hahaha!”
Leticia: “...”
She silently watched the endlessly laughing Danasuo in her palm.
Meanwhile, on the other side.
Lin Ling looked at Kainster's face, which Danasuo had completely covered in mud.
She finally couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing as well.
“Pfft, soulmate.”
“You look so funny right now!”
“What right do you have to laugh at me?!”
Kainster pointed at Lin Ling's face.
“Your own face is completely covered in mud too!”
Lin Ling's laughter faltered.
“...”
The group stared at one another.
Now, all four of them had their faces completely covered in wet mud.
Rate on N.U.
