Burden

Ronan instinctively searched for Venecia.

The girl stood beneath a Yellow Pine Tree seven or eight meters away from Ronan, head lowered so deeply it was practically buried in her chest, both hands constantly twisting the hem of her robe before her.

She looked so ashamed and self-reproachful that she wished she could disappear into the ground.

When she sensed Ronan looking at her, Venecia's face flushed all the way to the roots of her neck.

Though the skin on Venecia's face and hands was dark and rough, the small section exposed below her collarbones was dazzlingly white, like the milk they had drunk that morning.

Seeing Venecia like this, Ronan was somewhat speechless.

The main reason he was angry was that the academy had stopped accepting students, utterly wrecking his plans for what to do next.

He was already upset and agitated, and that house agent had a foul mouth and looked down on people.

What did any of that have to do with Venecia? He had never expected the girl to handle the troublesome matter of finding a house in the first place.

"Of course not."

Ronan decisively shook his head at Sheryl.

"Then it's because of me."

Sheryl sighed like an adult and said dejectedly, "I know. I've always been a burden to you. I'm so useless, I can't do anything, and I'm always dragging you down..."

"..."

Ronan was speechless. Are women all this fragile and sensitive? After comforting the grown one, I have to comfort the little one too? Ronan suddenly felt a headache coming on. After thinking for a moment, he asked Sheryl, "What kind of person do you think counts as useful?"

Counting on her fingers, Sheryl replied, "Either someone like Grandpa Wells, who knows everything. Or someone like you, who's super good at fighting and always gets everyone out of danger. Or someone like Sister Vinnie, who's pretty and kind-hearted."

Ronan could not help laughing. He reached out and rubbed Sheryl's little head. "No one is born knowing everything. That doesn't mean they aren't useful."

After saying that, Ronan suddenly froze. A thoughtful look appeared on his face as he unconsciously rose slowly to his feet.

"If one day, you feel like you've become someone else's burden..."

Ronan looked toward Hoddam Wizard Academy, his eyes flickering as he murmured softly.

"Then work hard to become stronger."

Once he finished speaking, Ronan let out a long breath. The frustration and pent-up gloom that had weighed on his heart seemed to vanish in an instant.

He had only meant to comfort Sheryl, yet somehow, he had unknowingly talked himself through it as well.

Feeling much lighter, Ronan lowered his head and saw Sheryl's young face filled with an expression of half-understanding.

With a faint smile, Ronan bent down, picked Sheryl up, and walked forward, Venecia following behind them.

He chatted with Sheryl as they walked.

"Do you have wizard talent?"

"Of course. Grandpa Wells said my aptitude is much better than his."

"Maybe he was just trying to make you happy."

"No, Grandpa Wells never lies!"

"Then I'll teach you meditation tonight."

They waited at the agreed location until the afternoon before the three of them finally saw Old Wells hurrying over.

Andre and his sister were nowhere to be seen, but they did see Jacob, the blond little fat boy they had not encountered before.

The moment Jacob saw Ronan, he excitedly came forward on his own.

"Lord Ronan, it's wonderful to see you again!"

Ronan was rather pleased as well.

In the Treehouse Area, aside from Old Wells, Jacob was probably the person Ronan had gotten along with best, having patrolled together with him for several months.

When he had failed to find Jacob during yesterday's escape, Ronan had genuinely worried for a while.

"Where did you go? Why didn't I see you yesterday?"

Ronan asked immediately. Looking a little embarrassed, Jacob scratched his head and said, "Yesterday, I was buying things for someone else, so I came into town early in the morning.

By the time I'd finished buying everything and came out, I heard people saying the black-robed people had attacked and the Treehouse Area had fallen."

What enviable dumb luck.

Ronan sighed inwardly. Who knew how many gray-robed people had died in the forest yesterday, yet Jacob, usually the most timid and cowardly of them all, had muddled through and escaped disaster.

"...But all my belongings are still in the treehouse, and I used all the magic stones I brought with me to buy a whole bunch of random junk I don't need at all..."

Jacob wore a miserable expression as he spoke, pulling several women's sanitary cloths from the pack on his back.

"..."

Everyone was instantly speechless. Ronan could only console him that it was fine. Given the current situation, he would sooner or later be able to sell those things again. He might even make a small profit.

Only then did Jacob feel a little better.

"Andre and his sister are living in a cave outside town. They aren't used to living in town."

Old Wells took out a slip of paper as he spoke. "They gave me the address of where Qiao Lin and his wife are staying now. Are we going to find them?"

Everyone looked at Ronan.

The small mutual-aid group Old Wells had started no longer needed to exist after they left the Treehouse Area.

Whether they would continue maintaining it now depended entirely on Ronan.

Ronan thought about it. According to his original plan, he would enroll at Hoddam as soon as he entered town.

But the academy had stopped accepting students, disrupting his plans. He could only choose to stay in town.

Living alone was not as good as staying together with everyone. They could look out for one another.

"Let's go."

Ronan spoke. "Qiao Lin lost an arm. This is his hardest time. Let's go check on him."

As soon as Ronan said this, obvious joy appeared on everyone's faces.

After all, Ronan was now the core of their entire little group.

"By the way, where's Linas?"

Ronan asked.

Old Wells had clearly already learned of Linas's actions from Andre. With a somewhat complicated expression, he replied, "He parted ways with Andre and the others after leaving the forest. I don't know where he is now."

Ronan nodded, unconcerned.

As long as someone like Linas did not stay around to harm their own people, Ronan did not care where he went.

Following the directions on the note Andre had given them, the group made their way to the edge of town, to a residential area that was almost out in the wilderness.

There, inside a dim, damp little house that barely received any light, they found Qiao Lin lying pale-faced in bed, recuperating from his injuries, and Qiao Lin's Wife sitting beside him and tending to him.

When the desolate and helpless couple saw them, they were so happy they nearly cried.

In truth, losing an arm was not such a serious matter for a wizard.

Not to mention that what wizards pursued was the immortality of the soul. The physical body was merely a shell; having one more arm or one less arm did not really matter.

Even if someone truly found it inconvenient to use only one hand, the Wizard World had plenty of ways to solve the problem.

It was just that, given Qiao Lin and his wife's current financial situation, they could forget about attaching a new arm anytime soon. For now, they would have to make do.

After finding Qiao Lin and his wife, everyone discussed it and ultimately decided to find several houses nearby and settle down there.

For one thing, the rent in this area was cheap. Aside from Ronan, none of them had much money to spare, so they did not have many options.

For another, living here made it convenient to leave town, allowing them to solve part of their food problem in their daily lives.