Dragon Raja: Lu Mingfei Returns from the Elden Ring

"Hello! Lu Mingfei!" He quickly stepped forward and firmly grasped Lu Mingfei's hand.

"Hello." Lu Mingfei looked at the old man with gray hair, who was wearing a sloppy suit and baggy trousers.

Is this the professor from Kassel College who controls the dark side of the world?

Noticing Lu Mingfei's gaze, Guderian scratched his fluffy hair rather embarrassedly, "Mingfei, as soon as you passed the voiceprint verification, I had Norma adjust the flight earlier. The preparations were a bit rushed, haha."

"Thank you for your attention, Professor," Lu Mingfei said politely.

When he first met the Greatly Blessed Sir Hundred Wisdom, he was warned that passersby should not overstep their bounds. In comparison, Professor Guderian's enthusiasm was indeed quite approachable.

"Mingfei, you're really sturdy." Guderian patted Lu Mingfei's shoulders gently. "No wonder you're an 'S' class." His eyes roamed over Lu Mingfei, as happy as an old father reuniting with his long-lost son, looking overjoyed and unsure where to look.

"I've informed my uncle and aunt. Please persuade them at the banquet tomorrow night; they think I've been deceived." Lu Mingfei suddenly felt uneasy. This professor, judging by his appearance, really did seem like a conman, so he had no choice but to speak up and give him some advice.

“No problem, no problem.” Guderian didn’t take it seriously and quickly took out a lot of documents from his briefcase and handed them to Lu Mingfei. “Let’s sign them first.”

Ye Sheng silently stepped forward and handed Lu Mingfei a pen.

Lu Mingfei glanced through them and found they were all miscellaneous agreements, including an insurance policy for transporting remains in the event of an accidental death.

He signed his name without even blinking.

The death laws of the borderlands were liberated from the hands of "Black Sword" Maricus and returned to all living beings. For the faded ones, death is as natural as drinking water or eating.

After signing all the agreements, Lu Mingfei finally managed to leave the hotel after refusing Guderian's persistent entreaties.

Late at night, in a suite on the executive floor of the Regent Hotel, Nuonuo leisurely sipped her coffee.

"Have you seen the awakened 'S' class?" Sonic asked in the chat window.

“I saw her.” Nono sighed and typed on the keyboard. “She’s a completely different person compared to the information.”

What is your impression of him?

Nono was speechless. This guy was so concerned about his fiancée's opinion of strange men; anyone who didn't know better would probably think he had some kind of weird fetish. But she knew he was asking about the psychological profile she had created as a profiler.

"I don't know, it's contradictory."

"Don't know?" the other party quickly replied, seemingly puzzled.

"Let me put it this way, do you think the principal would attend her own kindergarten's reunion?" Nono thought about how, in the afternoon, when she saw Lu Mingfei, her former crush, she only waved goodbye, but after receiving Chixiao, she became patient and attentive to her classmates, and even accepted the invitation to the classmate's farewell party.

"The principal? You seem to have a high opinion of him."

“I can’t tell his emotions from his eyes, movements, and expressions. Such a person is either a monk in the deep mountains with a pure mind, or someone who controls his body and mind at all times, not thinking about certain things. I don’t know what those things are. Maybe it’s an ‘S’ class, or maybe it’s a pureblood dragon or something.” Nono replied.

"Anyway, it's not something like attending a high school reunion, right? He did decline his classmates' invitations in previous chat logs."

“They’re having a party tomorrow, I’ll go with them,” Nono said.

"A genuine 'S' rank, the student council is the perfect place for him to shine, we absolutely cannot let him fall into the hands of the Lionheart Society!" Sonic is determined to get the 'S' rank.

The other chat page was also bustling with activity at this time.

"Is everyone free tomorrow?" Chen Wenwen asked in the group chat.

A group of people said yes, yes, yes. They were all high school seniors, and their lives were mostly filled with activities other than studying, except for Lu Mingfei.

He replied, "I have something to do tonight."

The group chat fell silent. The lively chatter that had been buzzing just moments before abruptly stopped, leaving only the lonely message, "I have something to do tonight," at the bottom of the chat history. Chen Wenwen, Zhao Menghua, Su Xiaoqiang, and Liu Miaomiao had already spread the news of Lu Mingfei's acceptance to Kassel College after their afternoon interviews, and now everyone looking at their phones or computer screens was silent.

A seemingly hopeless case suddenly jumped off the back of their leading track and now stands on the podium, looking down at them. No one knows how to face this former underdog. Actually, these kids are too naive. In the adult world, they would be showered with compliments by now.

Su Xiaoqiang broke the silence, "You're such a busybody. If you have something to do tonight, then do it this afternoon."

She had just finished showering, turned on her computer, and saw Lu Mingfei standing silently among the members of the literary society. She showed no mercy.

"Then let's rent out a movie theater this afternoon," Chen Wenwen replied.

The group chat became lively again, with everyone chiming in and finally deciding on a plan: to watch an animated film called *Wall-E*. It's about a garbage-collecting robot on Earth that awakens to intelligence and falls in love with Nova, an exploration robot sent to Earth by a spaceship civilization; it has a happy ending.

“Let’s go buy tickets together, Lu Mingfei. Everyone can give all the money to Lu Mingfei,” Chen Wenwen said.

Everyone in the group agreed. As a director of the literary society, Lu Mingfei's usual job was collecting money and running errands, so this was routine for him. Moreover, everyone finally felt a sense of security: even if the good-for-nothing had used connections to rise through the ranks, he would still have to run errands for them; the shadow of the good-for-nothing still loomed over him.

“Okay, no problem,” Lu Mingfei replied.

The group chat fell silent again. Lu Mingfei had never formally responded to these kinds of arrangements from Chen Wenwen before; he always tacitly agreed.

This ordinary reply, in their eyes, was like an imperial edict being approved by a eunuch. The jarring and unfamiliar words shattered the naive sense of security in the young people's hearts.

He's not a good-for-nothing anymore; he's Lu Mingfei, and he'll be a dazzling figure like Chu Zihang in the future. Asking him to run errands was done with his consent.

The next morning, Lu Mingfei and Chen Wenwen booked a theater at the cinema.

Chen Wenwen went to the flower shop and bought a bag of bellflowers, which she held close to her chest. The two walked side by side on the cobblestone path along the river. The sun was shining brightly, and the unique scent of spring filled the air, with the river flowing gently by.

"Lu Mingfei, will you be developing your career in the United States in the future?" Chen Wenwen asked.

"I don't know." Lu Mingfei shook his head.

"Actually, going back to China is a good thing; the job market is quite good right now."

Lu Mingfei remained silent. He felt that the girl in the white cotton dress next to him was speaking in a roundabout way, as if she was talking about the employment situation, but also as if she was advising him to return to China to develop his career.

Chapter 8 Farewell (Part 1)

"You value friendships with your classmates very much," Lu Mingfei commented.

Chen Wenwen suddenly froze, staring blankly at the gentle-looking boy beside her. She did indeed harbor some delicate feelings, a sadness at the inevitable fading of friendships and memories among her high school classmates due to separation. But why was Lu Mingfei, who usually spoke such rambling nonsense, suddenly so sharp and serious today?

Lu Mingfei stopped, not because of Chen Wenwen, but because of the red-haired figure waiting in the distance.

"You go back first. I'll be there on time this afternoon." Lu Mingfei pointed into the distance. "Someone is waiting for me."

Chen Wenwen's eyesight wasn't as good as Lu Mingfei's, but she could still vaguely see a red mark. It must be the girl from the interview; she's probably Lu Mingfei's senior now.

Chen Wenwen left alone, heading in another direction along the fork in the road.

Lu Mingfei did not go to see Nuonuo immediately, but instead walked across the lawn to the riverbank.

Throughout his journey, his interactions with Chen Wenwen were mostly characterized by silence and replies. In the borderlands, Lu Mingfei encountered few sane people he could converse with. Under the weight of his fate, he heard mostly suffocating cries, especially from the occasional lingering consciousness of white spirits in the corners. Their unvarnished obsessions, lamentations, despair, and prayers in those fragmented words were a reflection of their lives and the lives of countless beings under the demigod war.

Even the girl who had accompanied him for so long was weary from her journey, burdened with heavy thoughts and a sense of destiny. Even during their entire conversation, sitting face-to-face under the golden glow of their blessing, her reactions combined couldn't match the richness and boundless imagination Chen Wenwen displayed in that short hour.

Through conversations with Chen Wenwen, an ordinary high school girl, Lu Mingfei finally realized his own slowness and discomfort.

Perhaps I'm no longer good at facing such a beautiful, sun-drenched, bubble-like life.

But why bother getting so close...? Because there was once someone who desperately longed for all of this.

He looked down at the water's surface, and in his reflection, he saw a pair of bewildered and desperate eyes—the eyes of a boy lying in a small pond near the Church of Arele. He had died for the first time, but was resurrected through the Golden Blessing at the Church of Arele. He lay there for months, drinking the murky water of the pond, eating wild cherries, his clothes tattered, his hair unkempt, like a lost soul.

That's the kind of life that the boy longed for back then: a home with uncles, aunts, and cousins; a group of classmates who even looked down on him; and that beautiful girl who seemed transparent in the sunlight.

But every day when I open my eyes, all I see are broken walls and roaming monsters.

Now, Lu Mingfei has eaten his aunt's cooking, heard his uncle's boasting again, watched Lu Mingze send some love messages to "The Mark of Sunset" that will never be answered, attended a gathering of his classmates from the literary society, and spent a long time alone with Chen Wenwen.

Although he arrived many years late, he finally did, fulfilling his obsession with the shadowy boy in his memory.

Lu Mingfei tossed down a dandelion growing on the riverbank. It landed on the water, shattering the reflection of the disheveled boy. A sigh drifted silently into the distance with the current and the faint ripples.

That touch of tenderness and vulnerability, treasured since the day that girl threw herself into the furnace, shall end here.

The one who returned from that world was Lu Mingfei, the King of Elden.

Nono quietly came up behind Lu Mingfei and stared at this 'S' class whose behavior had suddenly become artistic. His behavior was undoubtedly like Daiyu burying flowers, but what exactly was he burying?

Lu Mingfei turned around and briefly looked at Nuonuo.

A spring breeze swept by, yet Nuonuo felt a chill for a moment, a chill stemming from the information the profile gleaned from Lu Mingfei. This young man no longer suppressed his emotions; if before he was a sharp sword, flawlessly concealed within its sheath, now he was unsheathed.

Nono had sensed the same heavy will in several people: Professor Schneider, the head of the executive department; Principal Angers; and Chu Zihang, the president of the Lionheart Society. Lu Mingfei, however, was different from them. Those people were filled with hatred, pain, and anger, typical avengers. Lu Mingfei's will, on the other hand, was devoid of emotion, more like that of an emperor determined to accomplish some grand ambition.

At that moment, she completely lost interest in this loser.

This kind of person is not someone a girl who knows profiling can handle. Her help to her boyfriend has reached its limit. Whether he can join the student council or not depends on the actions of the student council president after the new student enters the school.

“Senior sister…” Lu Mingfei began.

"I was just passing by and happened to see you," Nono blurted out, her words carrying the air of a tsundere girl from an old anime, but she knew the person in front of her would never misunderstand.

"I see. If there's nothing else, I'll be going now." As expected, Lu Mingfei left with those cold words and parted ways with the beautiful senior.

After watching him walk away, Nono approached the riverbank alone. The dandelions Lu Mingfei had thrown in were already gone in the current. She pouted, staring at the river and muttering to herself, "The academy should offer a course to study dragons' interest in flowers and plants..."

In the afternoon, at the movie theater.

The theater was dimly lit despite the lights being on. Lu Mingfei sat alone in the back row, while the young people in front of him chatted excitedly. With their parting imminent, their laughter was tinged with a hint of nagging.

However, someone finally spoke to Lu Mingfei.

It is Zhao Menghua.

"As a top student from Kassel College, you'll be giving a speech later. Here's some more formal attire." Zhao Menghua handed over a bag containing a shirt, suit, and tie.

"I won't do it. Let the president or you give the speech." Lu Mingfei wasn't interested in giving a speech.

If it were in the past, Zhao Menghua would definitely have tried to persuade him again. Everyone knows that Lu Mingfei, who is always smiling and carefree, is actually very submissive. If you persuade him a few more times, he will definitely agree.

However, Zhao Menghua left in silence. He felt unfamiliar with Lu Mingfei's calm attitude from beginning to end and was unsure of the other party's level of seriousness and bottom line.

He quickly returned to the crowd, regaining his usual confidence and composure, but he never glanced in the direction where Lu Mingfei was sitting again.

Soon, the lights dimmed and the projector turned on.

Instead of the classic green screen and golden dragon from the State Film Administration as the opening scene, the screen displayed a line of text.

"Chen Wenwen, Lve, Yu!"

Three people in suits stood precisely in three positions, forming an "i" and two "o"s, which together read "Chen Wenwen, I Love You!"

Lu Mingfei realized that Zhao Menghua had just lied; wearing a suit on stage was not a way to give a speech.

He looked at Zhao Menghua, who had stood up, and frowned.

Is this guy deliberately targeting me?

"Today was supposed to be our literary society's gathering, but I'm just taking this opportunity..." Zhao Menghua had already begun his speech loudly, completely unaware of the displeased and probing gaze.

Chapter 9 Farewell (Part 2)