Chapter 23

"You're insane." Charles showed her no mercy. As he looked at the unconscious arcanist on the bed, bitterness and jealousy filled his heart. This was the man—this was why Gwendolyn had rejected his pursuit.

"I know. Maybe I really am insane." Gwendolyn wiped away her tears and cast another healing spell. "Two days ago, we were attacked by crazed beasts in the Green Forest. Bitter City's curse had spread there, affecting many of the animals in the forest. I don't know how Eugene appeared in the Green Forest, but if it hadn't been for him, I probably would have been infected by the curse. I might not even have made it back alive."

"Didn't they say the Holy See had already contained the spread of the curse?" Nagg frowned.

Gwendolyn shook her head. "Their so-called containment means restraining those who have been infected. Purification spells can't completely dispel the curse. I went to see my former mentor, April, but she shut her doors and refused all visitors. Charles and I found a way out after Bitter City was sealed off. Divine spellcasters always had certain special privileges at times like this. Not long after we left the city, we encountered the Order of the Light Knights sent by the Holy See headquarters. They had been ordered to slaughter every infected person, so we had no choice but to flee into the Green Forest."

"And then you were attacked by infected beasts and happened to run into this arcanist?" Nagg said. "Don't you think that's too much of a coincidence?"

"I don't think it was." Charles spoke with difficulty. In truth, he had no desire to speak for this arcanist—his rival in love—but a knight's sense of justice and fairness compelled him to tell the truth. "We saw him removing the curse from the beasts."

"Arcanists can do that?" Winnie asked curiously.

"They can cast curses, so naturally they know how to remove them," Eli answered. Then he asked Gwendolyn, "How exactly was he injured?"

"Wind Wolves." Even now, Gwendolyn still shuddered at the memory. "For some reason, a huge pack of Wind Wolves appeared on the outskirts of the Green Forest, and nearly all of them were at the fourth tier. The Order of the Light Knights retreated immediately after a brief encounter, and the nearby villages were all attacked by the Wind Wolves. Eugene was surrounded while protecting me. When I found him, he was barely alive. I lied to Charles and told him to come back first. I said I would send Eugene away, but I brought him back anyway. Captain, I'll accept any punishment from the group, but please let me heal him."

"Can you heal wounds caused by Wind Blades in a short time? His symptoms seem to be more than just excessive blood loss." Eli looked at Eugene's pale, bluish face, which remained unchanged even after treatment.

Gwendolyn looked at Eli, the hope in her eyes gradually fading. "Then... what should we do?"

Nagg paced back and forth a few times before gritting his teeth. "Three days. I'll only give you three days. Three days from now, whether this arcanist is dead or alive, he can't stay here any longer."

Gwendolyn looked at Nagg and moved her lips, but in the end, she said nothing. She merely wiped away the sweat brought on by Eugene's high fever.

Nagg had already gone downstairs with Charles and Winnie. Eli lagged a few steps behind, and before leaving, he spoke with his back to Gwendolyn. "I know a great divine spellcaster. She's a very interesting person. If you need help, you can talk to me."

"She... she won't report us to the Holy See, will she?" After a long silence, Gwendolyn's voice sounded behind Eli.

"I don't think so. She isn't a divine spellcaster from the Holy See," Eli said.

Early the next morning, Elufiel was awakened by a series of clanging noises, as though armor and weapons were striking against one another. The clearly sleep-deprived elf covered her two pointed ears and struggled in the warm bed for a while longer before finally climbing up with difficulty. The moment she opened the door, she saw the mage, also dressed in sleepwear, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Hi?" The elf waved at the mage.

Odovish's hand shifted from pinching the bridge of his nose to rubbing his temple. One side of the elf's nightclothes had slipped from her shoulder, but she clearly had not noticed and seemed ready to walk straight outside. "Eluer, perhaps you should change before going out."

"Huh?" Elufiel was forcibly pushed back into her room by the mage. It took her quite a while to realize what a foolish thing she had just done. Even after changing into a robe and coming downstairs, the tips of her ears were still faintly red.

The fireplace was lit, and the room was very warm. Elufiel, dressed in a white-and-purple robe, stood at the bottom of the staircase. The mage stared blankly for a moment at her slender neck and the charming flush at the tips of her ears. No one could deny an elf's beauty.

Odovish had changed into a casual robe and was sitting on the sofa. Before him stood a little girl of thirteen or fourteen, while a swordsman was organizing his equipment by the door.

Elufiel guessed that the little girl with reddish-brown hair was Odovish's niece, Goliath. Yet the way the girl nervously twisted the hem of her clothes made her seem terribly afraid of this guardian?

As the elf came downstairs, the swordsman's body tensed for an instant. The housekeeper immediately said something, and only then did he relax and continue what he was doing. Goliath, meanwhile, stole a glance at her before lowering her head again and twisting the fabric in her hands.

Odovish beckoned Elufiel over, signaling for her to sit wherever she liked. The elf sat beside Goliath. The little girl peeked at her again from the corner of her eye, unable to hide the curiosity in her gaze.

Odovish spoke. "Goliath, what did I tell you?"

"Um... before I advance, I shouldn't keep running off to challenge Vampire Bats." After saying that, Goliath hurriedly added, "But I'm really about to break through."

"Vampire Bats?" Elufiel connected that to the mage's large-scale purchase of Moon Soul Grass, and the corner of her lips curled upward.

Odovish glanced at her and forcibly interpreted that expression as the elf's curiosity about Vampire Bats. In an even voice, he explained these common low-level magical beasts of Kanado.

Elufiel found the mage's awkwardness amusing. He was clearly worried about his niece, yet he still put on such a stern expression, like some old-fashioned stickler.