Irene pulled back her hand and took a step back.
Then, she placed her right hand against her chest, lightly touching her fingertips over her heart before bowing her head slightly.
That was a mage's salute.
It conveyed respect, as well as an apology.
“I was out of line.”
Her voice was very quiet.
“My name is Irene.”
“A third-year student at the Royal Academy of Magic of the City of a Thousand Towers.”
“I deeply apologize for misunderstanding your identity.”
She paused, her gaze shifting toward Elvia beside them.
“And... thank you to this lady for saving my life.”
Her voice grew even lower than before.
It was laced with a hint of awkwardness.
After all, when they first met, she had blasted Elvia away with a magic scroll.
Moreover, the other girl hadn't harbored any intent to kill her at the time.
Only now, reflecting upon it, did she realize that after the fact.
When that blonde woman had first charged forward, her blade could easily have pierced her throat.
A mage closed in on by a physical class was practically facing a death sentence.
Even if the mage was a Transcendent and the physical class was merely a High-tier High Rank.
She could have driven her blade right into her heart, but she hadn't.
She had merely pressed the spine of her blade against her lower back.
Hearing this thank-you, Elvia smiled.
It was a brilliant smile, carrying a satisfied sense of having gotten her way.
She stepped forward and patted Irene's shoulder.
“No worries, no worries! A hero saving a beauty—it's only natural.”
Then, she turned sideways, resting one hand on Lin Gui's shoulder while gesturing with the other as she introduced them.
“Allow me to introduce us. I'm Elvia, and this is my man.”
“Lin Gui.”
“We're members of a transport team.”
“And a Brightmoon Rank transport team at that.”
Hearing 'transport team,' Irene's eyes visibly lit up.
Lin Gui, however, froze upon hearing this.
A transport team?
Brightmoon Rank?
When on earth had he become part of a Brightmoon Rank transport team?
The transport team selection conference hadn't even started yet!
He opened his mouth, wanting to ask Elvia what game she was playing.
Elvia directly reached out and covered his mouth, forcibly shoving him backward.
Her strength was absurdly great. Lin Gui couldn't break free in the moment and stumbled back a few steps under her push.
Elvia leaned into his ear, turning her back to Irene, and whispered in a low voice:
“The small flying vessel can't seat four people.”
“Hurry up and whip together a raft.”
“Leave this girl to me!”
With that, she released her hand, turned back around, and walked toward Irene.
Wearing that enthusiastic smile again, she began making small talk to strike up a friendly rapport.
She asked what she studied at the academy, what she liked to do in her free time, and whether she had a boyfriend.
Her tone was so warm and friendly that they seemed like long-lost sisters.
Irene's expression grew stranger and stranger.
Habitually solitary, she found it difficult to handle Elvia's bizarre enthusiasm.
Yet she didn't step away.
Nor did she display any impatience.
She simply stood there quietly, occasionally nodding or offering a brief response.
After all, the woman in front of her had just saved her life.
She couldn't bring herself to reject her too overtly.
Lin Gui watched this scene and sighed.
He decided not to bother with them further.
Turning around, he walked over to Guy.
Guy was still sitting in the same spot.
His scrawny body was slightly hunched, the outline of his shoulder blades clearly visible through his tattered clothes.
The strangulation marks were still present on his neck, purplish-red and jarring to look at.
However, the collar had already been removed.
His breathing was somewhat steadier than before.
Yet his overall condition remained terrible.
It wasn't physical trauma.
It was the listlessness brought on by prolonged hunger and extreme shock.
Lin Gui walked up to him and squatted down.
He retrieved a loaf of bread from his storage space.
It wasn't refined white bread.
It was coarse rye bread, hard as a rock, giving off the toasted aroma of grains.
He broke off a small piece and held it out.
“Eat something first.”
“Don't eat too fast, or your stomach won't take it.”
Guy took the bread, momentarily dazed.
Then he lowered his head and began eating in small, deliberate bites.
His movements were slow, as if forcing himself not to devour it ravenously.
After a few bites, he looked up at the mountain of grain piled behind the flying vessel.
The sacks were stacked neatly in rows, numbering over a hundred.
His gaze grew somewhat dazed before morphing into suspicion.
He looked at Lin Gui and said quietly,
“The grain Dalton sends every time... is only forty-four sacks, and the sacks don't look like this.”
Lin Gui's hand paused.
He turned his head to glance at the pile of grain.
Then, controlling his magic, he plucked the grain sacks that had come from the four wooden crates out of the pile, one by one.
The sacks floated into the air and settled steadily in front of Guy.
One sack, two sacks, three sacks...
Exactly forty-four sacks.
Not one more, not one less.
Guy stared at the forty-four sacks of grain, his eyes pinned to them.
He stared at the markings on the sacks for a long time.
Then, he let out a long sigh of relief.
This time, he could be completely certain that the man in front of him truly belonged to Dalton.
That breath lasted extremely long, as if dispelling everything that had weighed heavily on him for so long.
His shoulders slumped.
He completely relaxed from his previous state of extreme tension.
Lin Gui didn't disturb him.
He turned around and walked over to a cluster of dead bushes.
Raising his hand, a Wind Blade condensed at his fingertips.
Whoosh.
A sharp sound tore through the air.
A dead tree was severed right at its base, its trunk falling onto the grass.
Lin Gui used Levitation to lift the trunk into the air.
The Wind Blade continued to slice away the extraneous branches.
Wooden planks were carved out one by one and lined up on the ground.
He set to work constructing a raft.
His movements were practiced, lacking any wasted effort.
Guy sat nearby, watching his back.
Only after a long moment did he speak up.
His voice was still somewhat raspy, but far clearer than before.
“May I... call you Lord Lin Gui?”
Lin Gui didn't even turn his head.
“How old are you?”
Guy froze for a second.
“Seventeen.”
Lin Gui said,
“Then you can just call me Brother Gui.”
“I don't like being called 'Lord' or anything like that.”
Guy froze once more.
He stared at Lin Gui's back, his lips twitching slightly.
After a while, he finally nodded.
“Alright.”
“Brother Gui.”
His voice was soft, carrying a hint of unfamiliarity.
Yet once he uttered the words, it didn't seem quite so awkward anymore.
While continuing to shave the wood, Lin Gui struck up a casual conversation to pass the time.
“How do you remember so clearly? Are you in charge of food supply at the sanctuary?”
Sitting beside him, Guy looked at the forty-four sacks of grain and spoke slowly.
“Dalton's grain is the primary food source for the sanctuary.”
“Without this grain, we would have starved to death in the Forbidden Zone long ago.”
“This is... one of the rare acts of kindness shown to us in this Dark Age.”
“My companions and I always thought that if we survived, we would definitely repay this kindness.”
Lin Gui asked,
“Do you have no other way of getting food?”
Guy shook his head.
“The Withered Wood Wasteland isn't suitable for growing crops.”
“Even though Big Brother Morgan learned Wood-element Growth Acceleration, he still couldn't grow anything.”
“The soil is bad, and there isn't enough water.”
Lin Gui's hands paused, his eyes brightening.
“Big Brother Morgan?”
Guy nodded.
“Big Brother Morgan is the founder of our sanctuary.”
“And... you could say he's the leader of the half-demons in the Central City-States.”
Lin Gui set down the wooden plank in his hand and turned to look at him.
“How strong is he?”
“Mid-tier Legendary.”
Guy spoke the number in a very calm tone.
As if stating something completely taken for granted.
Lin Gui raised an eyebrow.
A Mid-tier Legendary was nothing surprising to Lin Gui.
However, a half-demon Mid-tier Legendary who was also a mage...
That was even more outrageous than the story he had made up about a Legendary mage clawing his way out from the bottom.
Seeing Lin Gui's expression, Guy seemed to guess what he was thinking.
He lowered his head and whispered softly,
“Big Brother Morgan is forty-eight years old this year.”
“Back then...”
He paused, as if reminiscing about something.
“The discrimination against half-demons in the City of a Thousand Towers hadn't reached its current extreme.”
“As long as a half-demon had outstanding talent, they could still enter a magic academy and even receive scholarships.”
“Back then, the City of a Thousand Towers...”
His voice grew even softer.
“...was a true city of equality.”
“Until... the City of a Thousand Towers joined the Alliance.”
“Until... the Great Sage took up residence in the City of a Thousand Towers and assumed the position of Supreme Tower Master.”
“Everything changed.”
“Discrimination that had been merely superficial became active, systemic persecution under the push of law.”
Lin Gui tapped his fingers against the wooden plank.
“Was the draft proposal to expel half-demons drafted by the Great Sage?”
Guy shook his head.
“No.”
“He was the very first to oppose it.”
“He even rallied many high officials in the council to vote against it.”
“He claimed that half-demons were part of the City of a Thousand Towers and shouldn't be expelled.”
“He said that half-demons in other Central City-States should also receive protection.”
This unexpected turn of events, however, allowed Lin Gui to sense something fishy. He pressed on:
“Then why did you leave anyway?”
Guy fell silent for a moment.
“Although the Great Sage opposed it, the council members supporting the proposal formed a majority, making its passage virtually a done deal.”
“Even though the City of a Thousand Towers joined the Alliance, as a holy city for mages, it holds immense independence within the Alliance.”
“Even if the agreement passed, it wouldn't have threatened the half-demons living in the City of a Thousand Towers.”
“However...”
He looked up at Lin Gui.
In those blood-red eyes, an indescribable emotion flickered.
“Big Brother Morgan still organized all the half-demons.”
“And left the Magic City before the agreement took effect.”
“It wasn't just leaving.”
His voice became barely audible.
“It was an escape.”
Lin Gui raised an eyebrow.
He didn't say a word.
On his shoulder, Shadow Blade Lynn uttered a cold sneer.
The sneer was faint, loaded with mockery.
“Heh.”
“That guy is still as sickeningly hypocritical as ever.”
Lin Gui let out a sigh.
He had a pretty good idea now of who was pulling the strings behind this hunt.
As they chatted, the raft was completed.
Lin Gui bound the sacks of grain to the raft one by one.
The ropes were drawn taut, secured with three dead knots.
He also specifically used steel bars he had purchased along the way to firmly fasten the rear of the raft to the flying vessel.
He did this to prevent the flying vessel and raft from separating midway.
After all, the flying vessel traveled fast.
With the raft trailing behind, if the connection wasn't secure, it could easily fall apart.
Having set everything up, Lin Gui turned around.
“Get on the raft.”
Elvia was still chatting with Irene.
Or rather, to be precise, Elvia was doing all the talking.
Meanwhile, Irene stood there with a constipated expression, occasionally uttering a brief response.
Hearing Lin Gui call out, Elvia immediately grabbed Irene's hand and pulled her toward the raft.
Dragged along by her, Irene stumbled slightly.
Her eyes landed on Lin Gui.
The look in those black eyes was absurdly conflicted.
As if staring at something that made her uncomfortable, yet unable to look away.
Lin Gui raised an eyebrow.
He didn't pry.
He controlled the raft, causing it to float into the air.
Following the thin soul thread extending from the assassin's hair, they flew forward.
The raft glided steadily.
Its speed was neither too fast nor too slow.
Lin Gui had intended to ask Guy more about the sanctuary.
However, he glanced over at Irene.
The black-haired girl sat at the far end of the raft, hugging her knees, her eyes darting toward him every now and then.
Every time their eyes met, she would quickly avert her gaze.
Only to glance back again a moment later.
This odd behavior made Lin Gui deeply curious about what on earth Elvia had done to her.
He signaled Elvia with a look.
Elvia understood immediately, getting up to sit beside Lin Gui.
“What did you say to her?”
Lin Gui asked in a low voice.
Elvia smiled.
She leaned into his ear, her lips practically brushing his auricle.
“I told her how amazing my man is.”
Lin Gui gave her a completely bewildered look.
“What are you playing at?”
Elvia chuckled softly.
“Recruiting her, of course.”
“She knows Levitation, she's got talent as a soul mage, and freaking hell—she's a Transcendent mage who isn't even eighteen yet... Compared to her, the magic geniuses counted across Carter Royal Capital's thousand-year history are total scrub trash.”
“Plus, this little chick is full of hatred for the City of a Thousand Towers, harbors a grudge against magic families, and even stabbed a young nobleman from a magic family to save a half-demon.”
“What is that?”
“That's our potential comrade!”
“A prime, dyed-in-the-wool prospect for revolution!”
“How could we not recruit her into our team?”
Lin Gui looked at her with an odd expression.
“So your method of recruitment is...?”
Elvia's expression turned sly and vulgar.
“Of course it's doing to her what you did to me back in Whitecliff City.”
Lin Gui's expression turned to one of utter disgust.
“Just to recruit an eighteen-year-old girl, you'd do something like that?”
Elvia raised her head, oozing righteous self-importance.
“Hey, I'm doing this for your sake, alright?”
“As a guy, you're not losing out on anything.”
“I'm not even jealous, so you should be secretly rejoicing, you dog.”
Lin Gui countered speechlessly,
“First off, drop that Carter Royal Capital princess routine.”
“I am not using a method like this as a bond to maintain a future revolutionary team.”
“Secondly, my charm isn't nearly as high as you think.”
“Lastly, I think that instead of focusing on a genius who might rise in the future, you'd be better off directing your energy toward the half-demons of the Withered Wood Wasteland.”
Elvia grumbled in annoyance,
“Half-demons? That bottom-tier race, their strength caps out at Transcendent at best. Even if their numbers grow, they can't compare to a magic gen—”
“Their leader is a Mid-tier Legendary mage.”
“And in all probability, there's more than one Legendary.”
Elvia: “???”
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