When Luck Is on Your Side, It's You

"Is this a musical note...? It's so beautiful." The girl with short brown hair looked at He Wei Ni Ya, who was lying on the bed with her back bare, and couldn't help but ask, "Can I touch it? Just for a moment."

Before He Wei Ni Ya could answer, the mature woman who had just entered the room immediately stepped forward and tapped the short-haired girl by the bed on the head.

"Stop fooling around, Tachibana," Ina said to Tachibana in an annoyed tone, then looked at He Wei Ni Ya, "How are you feeling, Miss Ni Ya?"

He Wei Ni Ya nodded, her voice still weak, but she was indeed better than when she had just woken up yesterday.

If he's still barely breathing now, then yesterday he was like someone who was hanging on by a thread.

"I'm sorry, Miss Ni Ya," Ina said. "I don't have a good solution for your injuries... or rather, none of the Lyra do. You should know that the Lyra are not good at medicine."

"Yes," Ju chimed in, "We used to just drink source oil when we were sick."

Ina gave Tachibana a disapproving look, but did not deny it.

"It's alright." He Wei Ni Ya shook her head. "My physical problems can't be cured by simple healing magic."

"Indeed, you were really badly injured," Ina said. "When I first received you, I thought the sender was joking, because you were practically a lump of something, um..."

Ina hesitated for a moment, then He Wei Ni Ya kindly added.

"Rotten meat".

"It seems you are very aware of your physical condition." Ina smiled. "Yes, if it weren't for the fact that you still have a heartbeat, I would really find it hard to believe you are still alive, but..."

Ina's gaze also shifted to He Wei Ni Ya's bare back.

The notes interwoven from the score were operating rapidly, their own Magic Power constantly repairing the body.

But the body itself was still decaying.

However, the rate of repair exceeded the rate of decay, resulting in a very strange process of slow recovery for the body.

If it were an ordinary person, they would probably exclaim that they had seen a ghost.

But Ina, after all, had once fought against the products of evil gods in the Contamination Zone, so her ability to accept things was much higher than that of ordinary people.

So all she could do was marvel at how divine power truly was.

But what Ina didn't know was that the power that allowed He Wei Ni Ya to live was not just the Seventh Note.

When He Wei Ni Ya first awoke, she could feel that there was a bone inside her body that didn't belong to her.

The bone was radiating power continuously, greatly strengthening the Seventh Note within her body to sustain her life, just like Xi Ze had done before.

Without a doubt, this bone belongs to Bai Wei.

To save her life, Bai Wei placed the bones he had retrieved from Xi Ze on her body.

And that's not all.

The music and score she is currently listening to were also given to her by Bai Wei, because her own life had been destroyed in the Final Chapter and could never be saved.

In other words, Bai Wei gave her everything except the ears and the body that no longer contained musical notes.

It was given to her, who was of no use to it.

He Wei Ni Ya gently closed her eyes, her slightly trembling eyelashes revealing her state of mind.

"Miss Ina, did you really not see the sender?" He Wei Ni Ya asked.

"You've asked me this so many times already," Ina gently ruffled He Wei Ni Ya's hair. "When I got there after receiving the letter, you were the only one there. To be honest, I didn't even know who sent the letter. All I knew was that he was very close to my father, and he could tell me many things that only my father and I knew, and..."

Ina paused, then turned her head and looked outside.

The Sword of Order still stands atop Lyra.

She received the decree of the Sword of Order.

However, there was no need to tell He Wei Ni Ya this information.

"Regardless, thank you all, Miss Ina." He Wei Ni Ya opened her eyes and said to Ina very earnestly, "I will repay you."

Ina smiled and said, "There's no need to say these things for now. After all, we're the same kind of people."

"A type of person?"

"Yes," Ina said softly, "They are all lucky ones who have survived to this day under the protection of others."

He Wei Ni Ya could hear the undisguised regret and sorrow in Ina's tone, and she wisely refrained from asking further questions, simply thanking her once more.

Afterwards, Ina sent Tachibana away, and only when the two of them were alone did she speak again, "What are your plans for the future? If not, I suggest you don't leave Lyra. I've heard about the situation at Holy Sound; many people are looking for you, right? Although Lyra isn't what it used to be, it can still support you to live in anonymity."

"...I'm sorry, Miss Ina," He Wei Ni Ya shook her head and said softly, "I can't do that."

Are you afraid of being a burden to us?

"Yes, but it's not just because of that."

He Wei Ni Ya nodded slightly, then looked out the window. The sunlight, untouched by the wind and snow, shone warmly on her face, reminding her of something Bai Wei had said to her long ago.

"Perhaps only when the warm wind, completely free of ice and snow, blows on your face will you truly understand what I'm saying."

Wei Ke turned his gaze away from the scorching sunlight and listened intently to the conversation between two passersby across the table.

"What exactly is going on? Why is it so chaotic?"

"Don't you know? A ruthless person came here yesterday."

How ruthless?

"A dozen or so Holy Sound are chasing him, don't you think?"

"... That's true, and then what?"

"Then a third of them were killed on the spot, and we still couldn't catch them; they got away."

"Wow... Is it that exaggerated? Where did it come from?"

"Where else could it have come from? Don't you know what's been going on with Holy Sound lately?"

Wei Ke retracted his attention and stopped listening.

He doesn't have time for gossip right now; he's more concerned with other things.

For example... those guys who kept chasing him.

Wei Ke narrowed his eyes slightly, trying to find his target among the diverse people coming and going at the border.

But he couldn't find it.

It's not that there aren't suspicious people, but rather that everyone in this place... is suspicious.

This left Wei Ke, who was visiting for the first time, somewhat bewildered.

Fortunately...

His nose twitched.

Amidst the chaotic odors, he still managed to detect the most distinctive one.

It smelled exactly like him.

Sure enough, they still managed to catch up.

Wei Ke's expression didn't change much. After confirming the presence of the scent, he took off his coat and casually hung it on the guests at the next table who were still chatting. At the same time, he casually took the spice that the guest was carrying and hung it on his body. Then he quickly left the tavern.

Not long after, he heard sounds of rioting coming from the tavern.

But Wei Ke did not stop there. Instead, he hung the spices he had just taken on the carriage that was leaving the border, and then walked on the opposite road from the carriage.

Not long after he left, several dark figures darted out of the tavern and chased after the carriage.

Thus, Wei Ke successfully arrived at his destination— the Yade Town.

To be more precise, it wasn't that we arrived, but rather that we "returned" to it.

Yes, he had started from the town and headed to the border, leading those who had been tracking him to believe that he was using this route to leave the area.

But in reality, he never intended to leave.

He will not leave until he finds A De.

But Wei Ke also knew it would be difficult.

For him, Hunter who no longer had any hunting dogs, simply surviving was already a tremendous effort.

But...

Wei Ke pursed his lips, told himself "keep going" twice in his mind, and then set off again.

However, he did not enter the town because there were too many spies there, so he went into the deep mountains along the edge of the town.

Before long, it got dark.

In this land, darkness means danger.

Fortunately, Wei Ke arrived at his destination, a dilapidated and abandoned church, before anything went wrong.

This church belongs to the former church of this land – the "Senro Church".

However, after the destruction of the Senro Church a hundred years ago, it was abandoned and the surrounding cemetery also became wasteland.

The townspeople were naturally unwilling to get too close to this place, and even the Hunter were reluctant to set foot here easily.

But Wei Ke had no other choice.

He slowly pushed open the church door, and the first thing he saw was the ancient and dilapidated Senro God.

From his perspective, one can still feel the power of the Senro God in his lifetime; the immense pressure is enough to make anyone who comes here for the first time feel breathless.

Fortunately, Wei Ke was already used to it, and he walked in with ease.

But he suddenly stopped after taking only two steps.

His nose twitched, and his eyes narrowed at the same time.

Because he smelled the scent of blood.

And it was unfamiliar blood.

... Is it them?

Wei Ke immediately reached for the small axe behind him, but did not back down.

After all, the dangers of retreating into the darkness at this time are far less than the dangers of fighting them for their lives here.

Wei Ke's thinking is still very clear.

However, the smell of this blood... it smells very mixed, and it clearly doesn't come from one person.

There are only two possibilities for this smell: either there are more than ten injured people hiding in this church, or...

One person carries the blood of more than ten people.

Wei Ke walked in little by little until he finally saw the source of the blood smell under the Senro Statue.

A man lies unconscious, with a folded Serrated Knife at his feet.

He was wearing a robe soaked in blood, from which the more than ten different smells of blood came.

This outfit doesn't seem like something from this place; at least Wei Ke is pretty sure he's never seen a robe like this before.

Who is this guy?

Doubt and answer surged into Wei Ke's mind almost simultaneously.

Is this... the ruthless person we heard about in the Borderlands before, the one who killed countless Holy Sound Player?

He actually got here?

Upon realizing the other person's identity, Wei Ke instinctively had an idea—to kill him!

Although we don't know who he is or what his stance is, his presence here is a threat to Wei Ke.

Thinking of this, Wei Ke immediately pressed the axe against the other man's neck.

With just a little force, he could separate the opponent's head from their body.

However, Wei Ke just couldn't bring himself to do it, and his expression showed great struggle.

After a long while, he put down his axe and kept repeating the words "I am Hunter," as if trying to convince himself.

He eventually succeeded in persuading them.

So Wei Ke looked at him and muttered helplessly, "You're lucky."

Then Wei Ke noticed the other person's still bleeding wound and the Serrated Knife at his feet.

He thought about it for a moment.

"If I leave you alone, you'll die." Wei Ke pulled a small medicine bottle from his pocket and shook it gently. "I can save you, but I won't do it for free. I'll take your knife... Is that alright?"

There was no response from the other party, so Wei Ke placed the medicine bottle beside him.

"You're so lucky to have met me."

He said this, and then reached out and grabbed the blood-stained Serrated Knife.

But in the split second before his hand touched the Serrated Knife, Wei Ke noticed a shadow flash across the chaotic blade.

That is...

Wei Ke realized something and abruptly lowered his head.

With a "click".

A huge wolf's head snapped shut on his head, its sharp teeth tearing the half of his hood, which he hadn't had time to pull back, into pieces.

They still caught up with us!

With gritted teeth, Wei Ke suddenly turned around and swung the axe in his hand toward the head of the person behind him.

But the man simply raised his other hand.

In an instant, his other hand transformed into a ferocious wolf's head, biting down on Wei Ke's axe handle.

Another "click" sound.

The wooden axe handle was split in two.

The wolf that had previously attacked Wei Ke's head lunged at Wei Ke again.

That's still not enough.

Out of the corner of his eye, Wei Ke also saw two other pursuers attacking him from the left and right. The muscles under their thin clothes were bulging, like wild beasts that could burst out at any moment.

They were driven to the brink of despair.

Wei Ke gritted his teeth, determined to take a gamble.

Hunter must never die unarmed.

Even though the axe was gone, he still had the Serrated Knife.

So he immediately stepped back, keeping an eye on the three people in front of him, while reaching for the Serrated Knife.

Then they caught an empty shell.

Wei Ke's eyes widened, and he turned around abruptly.

The Serrated Knife was no longer there.

What's going on?!

Before he could react, two voices reached his ears.

One sound was the friction of rusty metal.

The other sound was the sound of a blade cutting into flesh.

"Clang."

"Brush".

Then came several muffled thuds.

When Wei Ke turned around again, the three pursuers were already lying in pools of blood.

And standing atop the pool of blood was the same man from before.

The Serrated Knife in his hand was fully extended, and blood was dripping slowly from the rusty blade.

Wei Ke stood there stunned, then heard the other person speak slowly.

"It looks like..."

Bai Wei looked at Wei Ke with a light smile.

"You're the lucky one."