Man on the ark, forced to become king

Strictly speaking, Chen's magical talent is not low. This can be seen from her ability to learn the Crimson Sky Sword Technique and to master several prayers in such a short time. True magical idiots are completely immune to these things.

Chen wasn't a complete magic idiot; on the contrary, she could be considered quite talented. After all, she had a bloodline to draw upon, so it was impossible for her to be too bad. However, describing her talent as "growing out of place" was a bit of a stretch.

She... can only control magical energy with the help of a sword-shaped staff. This terrible talent means that at most she can enchant weapons and learn a few healing and protective spells—because those spells are used on herself, and once she's proficient, she can remember them through muscle memory.

"Well, let me ask you anyway."

Lin Lu squinted at the somewhat excited little dragon, and after considering her words for a moment, she asked, "What makes you so arrogant that you think you can learn normal magic?"

"...Give it a try, how will you know if you don't try..."

Chen felt a little guilty, but she didn't give up. She thought that since she could master those few prayers, if she practiced more, it might not be impossible for her to learn spells that she couldn't learn before.

What if she suddenly gets a knack for magic after learning prayer?

"Teacher, please teach me, okay?"

"Alas!"

Lin Lu shivered, instantly losing all sleepiness.

This kind of coquettish tone would be irresistible if spoken by other pretty girls, but when it comes from Chen... it's just as irresistible, it's really a bit too unsettling.

The main problem is that her usual persona doesn't align with acting cute or charming, so her forced imitation is really scary.

"Speak properly!"

Rolling her eyes speechlessly, Lin Lu rubbed the goosebumps rising on her arms and pondered for a while before nodding under Chen's expectant gaze.

"Since you're so eager to learn, I'll give you that opportunity."

“In that case, I’ll go back to the Golden Tree right away. When I get back, I’ll have your master’s wife teach you. She’s more suitable than me when it comes to magic.”

The probability of Chen learning magic is probably as unbelievable as Lao Li finding her other half. Lin Lu didn't intend to be dragged into the hell called 'teaching' by her, so she simply pushed the matter to Lani.

His materials are ready. Kal'tsit's materials are a few days slower, but they are all in place. Lani's new body can be put into operation soon. With mature and complete technology, the process will not take too long.

Before long, Lani will be able to get rid of that cramped doll body and move freely in this world. Finding her an apprentice in advance will also give her something to do.

Besides, with the great celestial law master and the Moon Princess personally teaching you, who knows what miracles might actually happen?

"Master's wife? Is she... the woman with one eye closed?"

Chen immediately thought of Melina. In her understanding, only Melina was worthy of the title 'Master's Wife'; the others could only be considered good friends or subordinates.

Should that woman teach her magic?

For some reason, Chen felt a sense of resistance just thinking about it. She didn't want anyone other than Lin Lu to teach her magic, and she was also very resistant to the title of "Master's Wife".

So Little Dragon Man decisively shook his head and rejected the suggestion, staring straight at Lin Lu.

"It's not her, it's... Okay, okay, wait for me to come back, and then I'll teach you that spell, how about that?"

Lin Lu felt uneasy under their gaze, but ultimately gave in.

If it were anyone else, like Hadley, who dared to be so persistent, he would have slapped him across the face long ago. But who told him to be his own apprentice?

"Then it's settled!"

"It's settled, it's settled." Lin Lu sat up from the rocking chair, wanting to see Chen but still moving closer, afraid that Chen would ask some more torturous questions. She hurriedly ran a few steps and disappeared into the blooming golden light.

"...Am I that scary?"

Watching Lin Lu disappear, Chen's mood plummeted. He sat down on the swaying rocking chair, subconsciously reaching out to touch his face, suddenly feeling a pang of self-doubt.

Logically speaking, she's probably not bad-looking, right? Why does Lin Lu seem so afraid to be around her lately, even though she was fine before...?

and also……

Master's wife...

As Chen pondered this word, which had a distinctly Chinese flavor, his eyes flickered, and he felt a strange, indescribable feeling.

Although they were nominally master and disciple, that night she and Lin Lu were...

Well, nothing really happened, but since they made that promise, their relationship can no longer be described as a simple master-disciple relationship, right?

With a teacher's wife suddenly appearing on his head, President Chen felt like he had lost.

"List?"

Suddenly, a figure walked into the courtyard from outside. He was cautious and seemed very nervous. The familiar voice made Chen tremble involuntarily. He looked up in surprise and found that his boss, who was usually impeccably dressed, was standing at the gate of the courtyard, wearing casual clothes that he had never seen before.

"Nine?"

These past few days, she has been ordered not to go out or go to work at the Guard Bureau. In Chen's memory, Jiu was seriously injured while saving her and also contracted Oripathy. She should still be lying in the hospital now. How could she suddenly appear here full of energy?

"It seems you're recovering well?"

As Chen was pondering why Jiu had come here, she saw another person appear behind Jiu, a full head taller than Jiu, with flowing green hair, laughing heartily and beckoning to her.

"Star Bear?"

Chen was completely dumbfounded and couldn't think of anything to say for a moment.

Theoretically speaking, neither Kyu nor Hoshiguma should know about this courtyard. Why did they come together today? It's a weekday, don't they have to go to work?

“I heard from Lin Lu that he changed his place of residence. You are also recuperating here. It just so happens that this place is not too far from where I am, so I thought I would come and visit. I didn’t expect to run into Jiu on the way. She was also coming here, so we came together.”

Hoshiguma walked over from next to Jiu, carrying two fruit bags in her hands. As she walked, a peculiar smell wafted out. Chen sniffed and looked in the direction of the smell, and saw that the fruit bags contained two large durians.

"...Why did you think of bringing durian to see the patient?"

"This."

Hoshiguma put the bag on the ground, spread her hands, and laughed, "Isn't the city under martial law so many shops aren't open yet? I saw this for sale on the street, so I just bought a couple. It's fruit, after all."

"That's true."

Durian is indeed a fruit, and that statement is reasonable and without any flaws. Chen nodded reluctantly, looked at Jiu who was standing at the door looking very conflicted, thought for a moment, walked over and patted her on the shoulder.

"Nine? What's wrong with you?"

"Ah! No, it's nothing..."

Jiu suddenly woke up, forced a slightly strained smile, and took a step back to avoid Chen's palm.

"Don't get too close to me, I..."

"I know."

Chen paused for a moment, then suddenly opened his arms and hugged her.

"Thank you. You wouldn't be like this if it weren't for me."

"No need to say that, I don't regret it."

Jiu was stunned for a moment, then quickly stepped back to try and distance herself from Chen, but Chen was holding her too tightly, and she couldn't break free with her strength.

Do you think I care whether you have Oripathy?

Chen could roughly guess what she was thinking, and he also remembered that Lin Lu had mentioned before that Jiu had left the Guard Bureau and was now a member of the Golden Tree, so she must have come here today to report for duty.

“I know you’re not afraid, but…”

"Ore sickness?"

Hoshiguma's voice suddenly broke in. She frowned and leaned closer, an expression that made Kyuu's body stiffen abruptly, and she lowered her head.

"Nine was injured by the Originium Bomb while saving me, so..."

Chen explained in a low voice, and Hoshiguma's face showed some displeasure. She slammed her hand hard on Jiu's shoulder, making her stagger.

"I asked you why you've been avoiding me all this time, is it because of this? Is this the kind of people you think we are?"

"no no……"

Jiu quickly denied it, but still kept her head down, completely different from her usual self.

She is no longer the decisive and efficient leader of the Guard Bureau, but just a young girl who is confused about her future. She is also somewhat at a loss when facing her former comrades, and dares not have too close contact with them for fear of affecting them.

"And you call yourself the team leader? Don't you know that unless an Originium crystal is directly inserted into the body, infected individuals won't contract Oripathy?"

Hoshiguma's arms pressed Kyuu against her like iron hoops, and she led her inside. Her carefree demeanor was the same as always, showing no change despite Kyuu's status as an infected person.

"Chen, isn't Lin Lu here too? Where is he?"

Forced to sit down on the stone bench in the courtyard, Hoshiguma shook her head and looked around, but couldn't see a single person, which made her a little disappointed.

She originally planned to go out for a meal and drinks with Lin Lu and Chen today, but now that Jiu is involved, she feels even more determined to get together and help resolve Jiu's inner conflict.

Although Lin Lu's strength and status in Lungmen were completely different from before, Hoshiguma didn't care about that. In her eyes, Lin Lu was still a friend, and that was enough.

"Old... Lin Lu went out on something and probably won't be back today."

"That's it."

This answer was exactly what Hoshiguma had expected. She nodded, her gaze sweeping over Chen and Jiu, and laughed heartily, "Since he's not here, let's not wait for him. It's rare that we're both free today, how about we go out to eat?"

"They won't let me out."

Chen was somewhat tempted. Although she never liked noisy gatherings, it was a different story when she was with real friends. Jiu's mental state wasn't very good either, so perhaps this opportunity could help her vent her emotions.

However, she is still under house arrest, and no reason has been given. She is only told not to go out. Unfortunately, these words were not spoken by Wei Yanwu, but by Madam Wenyue, which makes things very difficult.

"That's easy, I'll buy it and we'll eat here!"

Chen's predicament wasn't a big problem, at least Hoshiguma didn't think it was difficult to handle. Since they couldn't go out, they wouldn't go out. They could just buy food and eat it back home, wouldn't that be the same?