Of course, reality would likely disappoint Anya. Magic that erases memories, unless performed by a magic master, has a high probability of turning a person's head into a literal point if used recklessly.
So, normally, no one would specifically use such magic just to clear away an embarrassing memory.
Recalling her earlier loss of composure, Anya’s toes curled so hard in her shoes she nearly dug a hole through the soles.
She eventually bit the bullet and found a topic to break the silence:
"When do you plan to leave for Clearwater City?"
Jiang Lin rubbed his chin. "I’ll probably set out the day after tomorrow."
"So soon?"
Anya was a bit surprised.
Jiang Lin nodded. "Boulder City isn't exactly close to Clearwater City, after all. It takes over ten days by carriage."
The distance between Boulder City and Clearwater City was about seven hundred li. This world didn't have things like cars; if you wanted to travel long distances, you had to rely on horse-drawn carriages.
Of course, there were some domesticated exotic creatures, like certain bird-type demonic beasts, that could carry people through the sky. However, those were far more expensive, and Boulder City didn't have a transport hub for them. So far, Jiang Lin had only read about them in books.
Supposedly, in areas with rugged roads and complex mountainous terrain, these avian mounts were the primary mode of transportation.
"How much would it cost you to take a carriage?" Anya asked.
Jiang Lin thought for a moment and replied, "About 7 silver coins?"
Anya nodded and fell into thought.
"What is it?" Jiang Lin asked, seeing her hesitating to speak.
"Actually, the fastest way to travel between the two cities is through a long-distance teleportation array."
Jiang Lin knew about this method, of course, but the price was far from beautiful.
"Sigh, unfortunately, the money I have on me probably wouldn't even cover one teleportation. Unless I sell the prize I got for first place last time," Jiang Lin sighed.
However, Anya said, "But did you know? Every student graduating from a Radiant Junior Magic Academy receives welfare from the Temple when they move up to a higher academy."
Hearing this, Jiang Lin was puzzled. "What welfare?"
Anya clarified, "It's for the inter-city long-distance teleportation arrays. You get two opportunities to use them at a discount—if I remember correctly, it's 90% off. That is, you can use one when going to the academy and another when returning.
"Originally, the distance between Boulder City and Clearwater City might cost 7 gold coins, but with the discount, you’d only need to pay 70 silver coins. Although that’s still a lot, it’s much cheaper than 7 gold coins. With your financial resources, you should be able to afford it."
Pausing for a moment, Anya added, "Spending ten consecutive days in a carriage is not a pleasant experience."
Jiang Lin was genuinely surprised.
So this world also had the concept of student discounts?
He made a mental note of it while lamenting that he would never be able to repay the Temple's kindness.
"There's such a good deal?! Why haven't I heard of this before?"
Anya replied, "My family... I mean, I heard someone mention it before."
Jiang Lin went silent.
He decided he would take the teleportation array to Clearwater City.
He wanted to experience the high-end stuff.
He could afford 70 silver coins.
Worst case, he’d just skip a few of Little Black’s meals and let the cat scavenge from his classmates.
Suddenly, Jiang Lin realized a problem.
"Uh, Miss Anya, do pets cost extra to take on the teleportation array?"
Anya thought for a moment before saying, "I think each person has a free allowance for one pet and 20 cubic meters of storage space. If you exceed that, you have to pay more.
"The larger the spatial ring, the more energy it consumes."
Jiang Lin nodded.
Good, Little Black was free.
If they charged for him, Jiang Lin would have considered shipping him there by carriage as freight.
...
Soon, the two arrived at the City Lord's Mansion once again.
For some reason, Jiang Lin felt that the City Lord was looking at him with a bit more appreciation this time.
The subsequent process was more relaxed than it had been at the Temple.
After all, the City Lord didn't have as many opportunities to appear before the public, so his status was subtly different from that of the Temple Master.
Coupled with their pleasant exchange the previous day, the recommendation letter was written in no time.
"Thank you very much, City Lord!!"
Jiang Lin solemnly accepted the recommendation letter again, feeling delighted.
After some small talk, Jiang Lin and Anya left the City Lord's Mansion.
"Miss Anya, your family is full of good people!"
Anya was noncommittal. "My father is quite strict with the management of our branch."
Jiang Lin thought for a moment and asked, "I wonder if your father has any thoughts about the position of the main family head..."
Anya shook her head. "There's likely no chance. He’s quite satisfied with his current life. My older brothers and sisters already have children, so he’s surrounded by grandchildren. He says his current wish is just for us children to grow up healthy and live peaceful lives.
"For example, my cousin originally wanted to go to the frontline cities to slay the foreign races, but my father talked him out of it. Eventually, he ended up in Boulder City as a gold badge knight for the Temple. Supposedly, he wasn't happy at first, but later he realized my father was far-sighted. Now he’s even trying to persuade me to come back and become a gold badge knight after I graduate."
Jiang Lin was surprised; he hadn't known there were such stories behind the scenes.
"Then what are your own plans?" he asked.
Anya’s eyes grew determined. "I naturally won't limit myself to a small place like Boulder City!
"I want to become strong! To fight against even more powerful experts and slay foreign races on the frontlines!!
"I won't degrade into a loser like my cousin!!"
Jiang Lin's face twitched slightly; he hadn't expected Anya to be a hater of Salas.
"How many brothers and sisters do you have? You don't usually mention them," Jiang Lin asked curiously.
"Them..."
Anya’s expression betrayed nothing.
"I have four brothers and three sisters, but they are all adults and have left Boulder City."
Jiang Lin was quite surprised that Anya had so many siblings.
However, seeing her expressionless face, he felt that her relationship with them might not even be as close as her relationship with Salas.
After a brief thought, Jiang Lin felt it wasn't necessarily a bad relationship, but rather like there was some awkward topic involved.
Speaking of which, with the City Lord's strength... he probably had multiple wives and concubines, right?
This world didn't practice monogamy.
Many people with high status and wealth would take many wives and concubines.
Of course, there were also female powerhouses who kept many male consorts.
From that perspective, the reason for Anya’s subtle expression might be that these were half-siblings.
Could Anya’s love for battle and her desire to grow stronger also stem from dissatisfaction with her father's lifestyle?
"By the way, Jiang Lin, what are your plans for the future? After you graduate from the Middle Magic Academy, do you plan to continue your studies, go to the frontlines to slay foreign races, or something else?"
Jiang Lin fell into deep thought.
He really hadn't planned that far ahead.
"Actually, I've always had the goal of slaying an evil god. I still remember that evil god that possessed Matthew last time," Jiang Lin replied with a shrug.
Anya was stunned. She couldn't tell if Jiang Lin was joking or if he truly intended to do so.
Is Student Jiang Lin really that ambitious...?
It seems I set my own goals too low!
At the very least, I should aim to become a powerhouse that surpasses my father, right?
For the rest of the walk, the two discussed their plans and visions for the future.
Jiang Lin felt a bit nostalgic.
This kind of anticipation for future life, unique to youth, was something he hadn't experienced in a very long time.
...
After walking Anya back to school, Jiang Lin thought for a moment and decided to go out of the city again to see if he could find any traces of cultists.
The city gates hadn't closed yet.
So Jiang Lin could still leave freely.
Cultists were great things.
They provided him with skill points and borrowing points.
He wanted to rake in as much as he could before leaving.
With this mindset, Jiang Lin carried Little Black out of the city once more.
He began his search along the main road.
Finally, after walking for about an hour and a half, the 'automatic cultist radar'—Little Black—gave an alert.
"Over there! Turn left. There’s the aura of another evil god over there!"
Hearing this, Jiang Lin excitedly activated 【Breath Concealment】 to its maximum state and followed Little Black’s instructions, searching through the pitch-black forest.
Finally, after half an hour of twisting and turning, Little Black guided Jiang Lin to a stop in front of an abandoned shack.
The shack looked like it had been there for ages and was now in a state of complete ruin.
Jiang Lin hid in a spot where he could barely see the shack from a distance.
He asked Little Black, "What rank are the cultists inside?"
However, Little Black just looked at Jiang Lin with a deadpan expression.
As if to say:
'I'm just a rank-5 kitty, what are you expecting from me?'
True, Little Black’s automatic radar could only detect evil god auras; it couldn't determine the strength of the cultists.
After thinking for a moment, Jiang Lin directly activated 【Blood Demon Summon】.
A pool of blood red spread out beneath Jiang Lin’s feet.
A world composed of blood qi and slaughter vaguely shimmered through the red light.
A demon-like creature with crimson fleshy wings crawled out from that bloody world. It seemed excited to have escaped, its eyes full of murderous intent as it scanned every living thing in sight.
However, Jiang Lin gave it a command, making it fly toward the shack in the distance.
While Jiang Lin monitored the Blood Demon's status, he himself bolted in the opposite direction.
If the Blood Demon was outmatched, he wouldn't get dragged into it.
Today, the Blood Demon had a substantial combat duration.
A full five minutes.
Soon, the situation inside the shack came into Jiang Lin’s view.
Six people were standing ready, staring at the eerie intruder.
One of them was rank-2, and the rest were rank-1.
Jiang Lin glanced over and saw the familiar altar, as well as the corpse lying on it, confirming their identity as cultists.
The Blood Demon then began the slaughter.
After killing two rank-1 cultists and confirming there were no more cultists hiding in the shadows, Jiang Lin circled back and started firing sword qi into the shack from the outside.
Having the Blood Demon fight a rank-2 expert alone was still a bit difficult; it could only rely on its high recovery to ensure it didn't die.
But with Jiang Lin acting as a 'wild card' on the battlefield, it was different.
His unexpected attacks threw the opponent into disarray.
Although the opponent realized how annoying Jiang Lin’s strengthening technique was after the first hit and quickly used an immunity function to negate it,
Jiang Lin wasn't a one-trick pony.
The next moment, a glowing magic formula appeared beneath the opponent's feet.
The formula shone with a holy light.
Strands of holy light chains emerged from it.
【Chains of Holy Judgment】!!
The rest was quite simple.
After killing these six cultists, an eerie black fire appeared, completely incinerating them.
Jiang Lin also skillfully recited the 【soul-passing incantation】:
"With holy light as the guide, and the dark night as the boat, let the lost souls return to their place of rest..."
Whether it worked or not didn't matter; it was for peace of mind.
【Random Skill Upgrade 6 → 11】
【Designated Skill Upgrade 0 → 1】
Watching the evil god’s black flames burn away all traces, Jiang Lin felt something was off.
He couldn't keep using this evil god magic after silencing his victims, could he?
He needed to get a normal fire-attribute magic.
"Hey, hey, kid."
At this point, Little Black started getting a bit dissatisfied.
"Why were you in such a rush to kill them just now? You should have saved them to sacrifice to me!"
However, Jiang Lin said, "Oh, come on. They were rank-1 and rank-2 experts, and I’m just a rank-0 little weakling. If I didn't go all out to kill them, I was afraid they’d counterattack!"
Hearing this, Little Black felt it made some sense, but it also realized with some shock that it had already subconsciously started treating Jiang Lin as a rank-1 creature.
"Let's go, Little Black. Tonight isn't over yet!"
Little Black looked at Jiang Lin in confusion.
"Can't you only summon that thing once a day? You dare to barge into a cultist gathering spot all by yourself?"
Jiang Lin shook his head.
"Of course not. I’m leaving the day after tomorrow, and there’s so much land around Boulder City. Who knows how many cultist strongholds are hidden out there? I naturally can't just sit by and do nothing.
"So, following the principle of not letting things go to waste, I’m going to package their information and report it to the Temple to claim the rewards."
Little Black reminded him, "Aren't you afraid they'll ask how you got this information?"
Jiang Lin smiled faintly.
"The Temple and the cults are naturally opposed, so no matter what, they’re on my side. When the time comes, I'll find a mid-level official other than Salas—like the older brother of that top student from Morning Star Academy—and show him the City Lord's recommendation letter. I'll say I received help from the City Lord and ask him not to spread it around. At least until I leave, there won't be any major conflict.
"As for after I leave, they’ll either gradually forget about it or find a problem and come to ask me. But by then, so much time will have passed that I can just make up an excuse, and they’ll have no way to verify it. For instance, I could say I ran into a cultist on the road and tortured the locations of other strongholds out of them."
Little Black looked at Jiang Lin in surprise.
It hadn't expected him to come up with such a bold yet meticulous plan in such a short time.
The key was that this kid lied without blinking, his face didn't even turn red, and his heart didn't skip a beat. He didn't look like a paladin at all.
Subsequently, Little Black acted as a cat-shaped radar under Jiang Lin’s lead.
Time ticked away. In the blink of an eye, Jiang Lin had led Little Black from evening to midnight, and then from midnight to dawn.
Jiang Lin’s notebook now had four or five more suspected cultist gathering spots.
Holding his 'Death Note,' Jiang Lin squinted his eyes at the rising sun and sighed.
"Another beautiful day. It’s a pity time is so short, not enough for my light to spread across the entirety of Boulder City!
"Let's go, Little Black. Tomorrow, we leave this city."
Rate on N.U.
