When the man and dragon returned to the apartment, Velyan quickly took off her hood. Her dragon horns and tail returned to their original state, and her golden wings easily grew back, passing right through her cloak as if there were no obstacles.
“You ruined Flora’s clothes again,” Chen Mian said, glancing at the cloak on Velyan that now had two small holes in it.
“I—I didn't do it on purpose,” Velyan said, fluttering her wings somewhat guiltily. “I can exchange some treasure with Flora for them.”
“No need, you can have these clothes.”
Chen Mian led Velyan to the fishery and pointed at the water. “Just release all the fish fry directly into it.”
Hearing this, Velyan nodded. She reached into her pocket, pulled out the miniature space, and tossed it toward the lake. The moment they touched the water, the wooden crates rapidly expanded back to their normal size, and the dense swarm of fish fry inside swam out into the lake.
“Human? Can this lake really sustain so many fish?” Velyan looked up and asked in confusion.
“It should be fine.”
“Is it because of the mana in the lake water?” Velyan asked, staring at the surface.
“Yes,” Chen Mian nodded.
“Velyan, was the dragon in the Forest of Death after you?” Chen Mian asked calmly.
Velyan thought for a moment and shook her head. “My appearance in the Forest of Death was a complete accident, and I didn't tell my clan about my whereabouts, so my situation shouldn't be exposed.”
Then, her expression grew a bit more serious as she added, “Even if I'm injured, even if there are dragons who covet my bloodline, they wouldn't dare to make too big of a scene. My clan is not to be trifled with.”
After saying this, Velyan turned her head back and stared intently at the lake. “Human! How do I fish?”
Clearly, she cared far more about whether she could eat grilled fish later than what was happening in the Forest of Death.
Chen Mian retrieved two fishing rods from his storage space and bought a bag of bait from the System Shop. The System Shop was indeed very convenient, especially since he had no shortage of Points right now.
However, in his current situation, before there was any news of the fifth tenant, Points didn't seem to have much use other than buying appliances for Louise to dismantle, or purchasing seeds and livestock.
Velyan took the fishing rod, hooked the bait just as he did, and looked at Chen Mian with anticipation in her eyes. “And then?”
“Cast the line, wait quietly for the bobber to sink, and then pull it up.”
Velyan swung the rod with force. The fishing line drew a beautiful arc in the air... and then got hooked on her wing.
“...”
Chen Mian watched her try to reach the hook on her back with her other hand. After she failed twice, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly. He walked over to help her take it off. “How about you just jump in and catch them after all?”
“No, you said I couldn't jump in to catch them, or I'd kill the small fish fry.” Velyan pouted, gripped the rod tightly again, and gently cast the line. This time she succeeded, and the white bobber bobbed gently on the water's surface.
Velyan folded her wings and squatted by the shore. She stopped swishing her tail, becoming completely still and quiet.
“I feel it. There's something down there,” she whispered, keeping her voice very low.
Velyan suddenly yanked the rod. A silvery-white shadow burst out of the water, tracing an arc in the air before landing on the grassy shore. It was a very small silver fish, still flopping around.
Velyan looked down at the fish, then up at Chen Mian, her golden eyes widening slightly. “I... succeeded?”
“Yes.”
She froze for a moment, and then her lips curled into a smile. She bent down and carefully unhooked the fish. “It's so small, but I caught it.”
“Put it in the crate, and keep going.”
Velyan nodded, placed the fish in the bucket beside her, rebaited the hook, and cast the line again. Her movements were much more practiced than the first time.
Chen Mian seeing that she had mastered the basics, turned and walked back toward the apartment.
“I will catch an even bigger one!” Velyan's voice echoed from behind him.
“Talk after you actually catch one.”
Entering the apartment, Chen Mian was instantly greeted by a wave of cool air; the air conditioning was on.
The living room was very quiet. Someone was lying on her side on the sofa by the window, holding a book in her hands without reading it, seemingly lost in thought.
It was Loviki.
Today, Loviki wasn't wearing her usual training gear. Instead, she had changed into a loose, light-gray long-sleeved shirt, looking completely relaxed and lazy.
The sound of Chen Mian changing his shoes made her raise her head slightly. “Where's Velyan?”
“Fishing over at the fishery.” Having changed his shoes, Chen Mian sat down beside her. “What's wrong?”
“The weather is nice, so I'm taking a day off.”
“Yeah, the weather is indeed nice.” Chen Mian nodded, taking the book from her hands.
“Hey! That's robbery!” Loviki reached out to grab the book, but Chen Mian had already held it up high, out of her reach.
Chen Mian casually placed the book on the other end of the coffee table, far from her. “Studying magic theory even while resting—what kind of rest is that?”
“Give it back!” she demanded, reaching for it in vain.
She turned her head, completely justified. “My idea of resting is just staring into space while looking at magic theory!”
“Oh,” Chen Mian nodded. “But the page you were just looking at is the same one you were on two weeks ago.”
The air fell silent for a moment.
Loviki's face flushed red at a speed visible to the naked eye, the blush spreading from her neck all the way to her ears. “H-how do you know it's the same page?”
“You dog-eared it the last time you read it.” As he spoke, Chen Mian pointed at the open book on the coffee table. “It's still there.”
“...I was... I was reviewing the previous content!” Loviki's speaking speed visibly quickened. Her gaze drifted toward the book on the coffee table before she quickly looked away. “Reviewing! Do you understand?!”
Chen Mian smiled and nodded. “Then what did you review? Let's hear it.”
It took Loviki several seconds to squeeze out a sentence: “I reviewed... the theoretical framework.”
“What theory?”
“...The... the mana circulation theory.” The more she spoke, the guiltier she felt, her voice growing softer and softer.
“The most basic content from Chapter One?”
“...Who cares which chapter I'm reviewing!” Loviki finally gave up resisting. She collapsed backward against the sofa cushion, crossing her arms and staring huffily at the ceiling.
Looking down at her like this, Chen Mian asked with a smile, “Alright, what's really going on?”
After a long pause, Loviki finally spoke, her voice much softer than before. “I was wondering if I've gotten lazy... I really didn't want to practice swordsmanship this morning.”
“Are you just not used to not sparring with me?”
“O-of course not!”
“Then there's no such thing as being lazy. If you want to rest, just rest.”
Loviki froze for a moment, looking at Chen Mian's profile. “Even if the day is wasted like this... and nothing is achieved, is it really okay?”
“Yes, it's fine,” Chen Mian said with a smile. “If you don't want to practice today, then don't. If you want to stare into space all day, then do that.”
“Then for the rest of the day, I'm really not going to do anything.” Loviki's expression relaxed slightly.
“Alright.”
“And you aren't allowed to do anything either.”
“I'll stare into space too.”
Loviki tilted her head to look at him, a smile playing on her lips. “...It's a promise then.”
“It's a promise.”
She fished out a throw pillow from behind the cushions and hugged it in her arms, lying down on the sofa with her feet resting on its edge, looking completely relaxed.
The living room fell silent again. The breeze blew in through the transom window, gently rustling the pages of the book on the coffee table.
After a while, Loviki spoke again, her voice slightly more mumbled than before. “Chen Mian.”
“Yeah?”
“If you hadn't gone to the Adventurer's Guild to register for that Black Iron Rank nameplate, would we never have met?”
Rate on N.U.
