The most shameless alchemist in history

321 Mysterious

After Dure was called away by Anko, Lance went to class obediently as Dure had instructed, but he was still inevitably worried, because the scene of Anko fighting against the behemoth last night was too deeply ingrained in his mind, even though there were many inexplicable factors involved.

However, the fact that An could knock down such a behemoth was witnessed by hundreds of people. Coupled with her decisive and aloof approach, it was hard not to label her as "difficult to deal with," "brutal," and "savage." Everyone kept their distance and did not want to deal with her.

But now she specifically asked for Dure, and judging from her demeanor, she was clearly up to no good. Lance was genuinely afraid that she would eliminate Dure as cleanly and efficiently as she would eliminate termites. During class, he kept glancing outside, not paying any attention to the content of the lesson.

Just as the first class was about to end, Dure finally arrived at the classroom. Although Dure was late and didn't get a good look from the teacher, Lance was finally relieved. During class, he wrote Dure a note asking him what had happened, but Dure didn't answer him.

"Durey, what's the deal with that fierce woman who came to see you? She really scared me to death just now." After class, Lance caught up with Durey, who was walking ahead, and asked him what had happened. Compared to his panic, Durey seemed quite calm.

"Nothing special, just asking me about things in the simulation space," Du Lei briefly explained.

"Huh? Is that all? But the academy has become like this, it's like a dream." Lance was straightforward and didn't think too much about it. He walked along the academy's path, looked around, and saw many cranes in operation.

“Maple Leaf Academy is a big tree that attracts a lot of attention, and it has been feared by all sides for many years. Now that it has suffered such a disaster, it may not necessarily be a bad thing.” Du Lei shook his head. The sun in the sky was bright and clear, and birds perched on branches watching the crowds coming and going in the academy, chirping.

"Huh? Is this a good thing? I don't understand what you're thinking, Dure. But... we can all stay here and continue learning. No matter what the environment is like, as long as we're all here, that's enough." Lance scratched his head, not understanding what Dure meant.

However, he is a content person and will not be unhappy about the current state of the academy.

"Is everyone here... By the way, Lance, I heard some news about the south today." Dure was thinking much deeper than Lance. After pondering Lance's words, he brought up another matter.

"South? Which south?" Lance didn't understand.

"Of course, it's the Mountain Country, which borders the Snow Country, Maple City, and the Academy Mountain where our Maple Leaf Academy is located." Du Lei narrowed down the scope and made his statement more precise.

"The Country of Mountains? Oh, I know that. It's the country that's mostly surrounded by mountains. What's wrong with the Country of Mountains?" Lance thought for a moment. He had never been to the Country of Mountains, but he had heard some things about it when chatting with his friends.

"The Mountain Kingdom has mobilized four legions on the border, deploying a large force. They intend to take advantage of the wounds suffered by the southern gateway of the Snow Kingdom to march north." Du Lei looked at the southern sky. Although the sky was bright and clear with a gentle spring breeze, the southern sky was filled with gloom.

"What? They're going to... they're going to fight?" Lance was stunned. This news was a bit sudden for him because war was something very distant for him. He was supposed to be learning skills at the academy, but now war was just around the corner.

"The Mountain Country and the Snow Country have a long history of friction and frequent wars. Although the Sky Country and the Eagle Country sent troops to support the reconstruction of Maple Leaf Academy, which was clearly intended to show the Mountain Country a sign of weakness, the Mountain Country not only did not relax its efforts, but also increased its military strength from one legion to four legions."

Du Lei pondered the deeper meaning behind it seriously. He didn't have much information, but it became more and more detailed every day.

"If a war really breaks out, won't we be dragged into it?" Lance asked, puzzled.

"Get involved? Maybe it's only minor." Du Lei shook his head, looking worried.

"What? Dure, what exactly do you mean..." Lance could see the seriousness of the problem from Dure's face.

"It's nothing. I hope I'm overthinking it. I hope... the war really won't break out." Dure stopped talking about this topic. He glanced at the southern sky again, and the two quickly disappeared at the end of the tree-lined path.

Meanwhile, at a temporary teaching point on the other side of the college, students came out of the classroom after class and discussed recent events.

"Kelly, wait for me! Why are you in such a hurry today? And you don't look well. Is something bothering you?" Messiah caught up with her best friend Kelly. She was almost inseparable from Kelly every day. She was a very smart girl and very good at reading people.

Kelly was noticeably different today; a cloud seemed to hang over her face, which worried Messiah greatly.

"It's nothing. Every girl has a few bad days. It'll pass." Kelly shook her head, indicating that she was fine.

"Huh? Kelly, are you... are you on your period?" Messiah thought for a moment and pointed to Kelly's lower abdomen.

"Pretty much... Hmm? Messiah, I have to leave for a bit. You go back to your dorm by yourself." Kelly waved her hand, unwilling to continue discussing the matter. She said this to Messiah and hurriedly prepared to leave.

“Kelly, you…you…why are you in such a hurry? But that person over there…I don’t think I’ve ever seen him before.” Messiah was very worried about Kelly. She originally wanted to keep Kelly and ask her more questions, but by then Kelly had already gone far away.

Moreover, Messiah noticed that Kelly walked into a secluded alley in the distance, where a cloaked figure was waiting for her at the entrance.

“Kelly has never been so secretive before. Is she in trouble?” Messiah watched as Kelly and the person in the black cloak disappeared into the alley. She cautiously followed, but quickly lost track of them and couldn’t find any trace of them.

This worried the Messiah; by all accounts, it was not a good omen.

.

322 Sneaky

Over the next week, the students gradually adapted to life on the college as a large construction site. More and more strangers came to the college grounds, most of whom came to help with the reconstruction, and many students also participated in the reconstruction.

As time went by, the weather gradually warmed up, and bright sunshine poured into every corner of the academy. Withered branches began to sprout new buds, and unknown wildflowers covered the hillsides, which added a lot of color to the academy that had suffered a great disaster. Everything seemed to be developing in a good direction.

Of course, this is on the premise of ignoring news from the south.

"Durey, I heard the bakery got a new chef. The bread he makes is so sweet and soft, so much better than the old brick bread. How about we go try it tonight?" Lance ran up to Durey and said this as the students came out of the makeshift classroom after class.

“Tonight, I have to go to…” Dure knew Lance meant well, but he wasn’t really interested in what to eat. After all, in his opinion, as long as it filled his stomach, food didn’t matter much. He immediately decided to decline Lance’s invitation.

"Du Lei, Lance!" Just then, someone rushed over and stopped Du Lei and Lance.

"You are... Messiah? Why are you in such a hurry? Is something wrong?" Dure recognized the person. In his memory, Messiah always appeared with Kelly, inseparable. But now only Messiah appeared, which was very rare.

"Huh? Where's Kelly? I can't see her. Is she hiding somewhere, planning to suddenly jump out and scare us?" Lance looked around, trying to find Kelly's whereabouts. He and Dure had reached a consensus on the fact that the appearance of Messiah meant the appearance of Kelly.

“Kelly seems to be in trouble!” Messiah said worriedly, which startled Dure and Lance.

"Trouble? What trouble could Kelly possibly have? She's so fierce, it's already a good deed if she doesn't cause trouble for others, okay?" Lance thought he misheard, after all, in his impression, Kelly had always been very assertive and didn't seem like someone who could be bullied.

“But Kelly is really in trouble now, and I really have no other choice but to ask Dure and Lance for help.” Messiah was very flustered in his desperation.

"Don't panic, please tell us what happened in detail." Du Lei was much calmer than the two of them. He knew that no matter what kind of trouble they encountered, they needed to sort out their thoughts first in order to solve the problem effectively.

“Here’s what happened…” Messiah calmed down and began to tell Dure and Lance what had happened to Kelly over the past week.

Maple Leaf Academy is quiet after nightfall. The roar of cranes and machinery that were there during the day is gone, as are the noisy chatter of students coming and going. Apart from a few scattered lights that can vaguely make out the outline of the academy, it is pitch black all around, with the light obscured by the night.

Normally, few people go out during this time. In fact, the college prohibits students from going out in the middle of the night, especially now that there are many more strangers in the college. Going out late at night will cause a lot of unnecessary trouble. But even so, some people still rush out.

"Huh? Du Lei, how come she disappeared in a flash? We just saw her there, did we lose her?" In a corner of the West Square, someone peeked around, looking left and right, trying to find something, but didn't seem to find the target they were looking for.

"Shh, keep your voice down, or you'll be spotted. Don't worry, we haven't lost you. You're definitely over here. Be patient, we'll find you." Next to Lance, Dure made a shushing gesture, signaling him not to panic. He calmly searched around.

Night conceals too many things, and finding someone in complete darkness is indeed a difficult task, at least for most people. But for Dure, who is used to hunting at night, it was no problem at all.

"Lance, Dure, look over there! Kelly's over there!" Someone pointed to a dark figure not far ahead and said in a low voice, her voice full of worry. It was clearly Messiah who was speaking.

"It's so late, and Kelly is still sneaking out like this. What's going on? Dure, we need to hurry up and follow her to find out who Kelly met with... Wait, Messiah, could she be... could she be... going out on a date?" Lance was about to rush forward.

But he soon realized a possibility that made him stop in his tracks and ask Messiah with great doubt.

“It’s not a date. I know Kelly better than anyone. She wouldn’t date anyone. She’s been going out almost every night for the past week. I saw the person she met once before; he was wearing a black cloak, but I couldn’t see his face clearly…”

Messiah followed behind, shaking her head in denial of Lance's guess; she knew Kelly far better than Lance did.

"Huh? Is that so? I thought she was going on a date, but going to meet someone in the middle of the night... that seems a bit too suspicious. Didn't she tell you who she was meeting? You two are good friends." Lance scratched his head.

“If only Kelly had told me, she’s the kind of person who does things her own way. Her recent behavior has been so abnormal that I’m really worried and that’s why I’m asking you for help. Otherwise, I really don’t know what to do.” Messiah looked very worried and guilty.

"Messiah, don't worry. Kelly is not only your friend, but also our friend. We will not stand idly by and do nothing about what's going on with her. Hurry up and follow her. As long as we stick close to her, we will find out who she is going to see."

Dure comforted Messiah and followed Kelly closely. He could spend days and nights tracking his prey by following footprints in the vast snowfield, so tracking someone's back in the academy was a simple and easy task for him.

"I understand. I'm relieved to hear you say that, Du Lei." Messiah finally calmed down.

"Durey, look! She's moved again! Hurry and follow her, or we'll lose her!" Lance was very worried and immediately chased after her. The three of them quickly disappeared into the night.

.

323 Don't follow me

After leaving the dormitory building, Kelly headed straight for the back mountain of the academy, which is the direction where the Ash Tower is located. Before the Ash Tower completely collapsed, this area was a restricted zone of the academy, but after the Ash Tower collapsed, the restrictions were lifted, and anyone could come and go freely.

Of course, due to the collapse of the Ash Tower and the earthquake it triggered, this place has been labeled as "ominous," and under normal circumstances, no one would want to come to such a place, even though it is early spring now, when everything is reviving and the hillsides near the academy are covered in lush greenery.

However, the area around the back mountain remained barren, as if it had been neglected by the goddess of spring and forgotten in some corner.

Kelly's late-night outing was certainly not to see the scenery in the back hills, as there really wasn't much to see there. The reason she came here was because someone was waiting for her. In fact, that person had been waiting for her every day for the past week.

"What information have you found out? Did you get what I asked you to retrieve?" A voice came as Kelly stopped amidst the ruins, accompanied by a figure shrouded in a black cloak, whose appearance was obscured by the light.

However, you can roughly tell from the voice that this is a middle-aged person.

“There hasn’t been any valuable intelligence lately. As for what you asked me to get… I’m very sorry, the security is just too tight, I simply can’t access it.” Kelly said softly, her head lowered. Although the silhouette and expression of the middle-aged man opposite her were not clearly visible in the darkness, Kelly could not make out his features.

But you could clearly see that Kelly's expression was complicated; she clenched her fists with worry and a hint of resentment.

"What? It's been a week and you still haven't gotten it? Are you really a piece of trash?" The other party was very dissatisfied with Kelly's answer, and he raised his hand and slapped Kelly across the face aggressively.

At this distance, Kelly could have easily dodged, but she didn't; the slap was crisp and loud.

"I'm so sorry for letting you down!" Kelly said, her head bowed as she tried to control her emotions, her cheeks burning.

"I'll give you three more days. If you still can't get it within three days... you know what the consequences will be!" After saying this, the other party left and disappeared into the night as if he had never been there.

"Three days?" Kelly stood there with a bitter smile, remaining motionless for several minutes.

“You all come out, he’s already gone.” Kelly didn’t turn around, but she was speaking to the people behind her.

"Huh? We've been discovered? Um... Kelly, we didn't mean to eavesdrop... Who was that person, and what about him just now..." There was no one behind Kelly, but as she spoke, figures began to jump out and approach her.

The hesitant guy at the front was undoubtedly Lance, who explained while expressing his indignation on Kelly's situation.

“I know you’ve been following me from the beginning. It’s ridiculous that you’re witnessing this.” Kelly still didn’t turn around. She clenched her fists, her nails digging deep into her flesh. It was clear that she was struggling internally and was not feeling well at all.

"So Kelly, you knew from the beginning? Well... we were just worried about you..." Lance had been really trying to figure out what Kelly was up to, but after seeing what had just happened, his enthusiasm was greatly dampened, and he became uneasy.

“Kelly, I asked Dure and Lance to follow you because your behavior has been quite unusual for the past week, and I’m a little worried…” Messiah immediately stepped forward to help Lance out of the predicament, taking all the blame upon herself.

“I’ll handle my own affairs, you don’t need to worry about me. Also, I hope this kind of stalking won’t happen again.” Kelly shook her head, her words cold. After saying this, she turned and left, quickly disappearing into the night.

“Hey, Kelly, Kelly… she’s gone, Dure, what should we do? And what happened just now…” Lance wanted to call Kelly back and get something from her, but Kelly clearly had no intention of telling him.

“I think she must have her reasons for not wanting to say,” Dure said after Kelly left, having remained silent until then.

"No matter what her reasons are, she's still our comrade. How can she keep this a secret? This is too much!" Lance was very dissatisfied, though his dissatisfaction stemmed from his concern for Kelly. Anyone could see that she was in a bad mood.

"And that person just now... It's really worrying. Who is he? Why would he treat Kelly like that?" Messiah recalled what she had just witnessed. She knew Kelly very well and what kind of person she was. She couldn't understand why Kelly hadn't uttered a sound after being slapped.

“We all know Kelly’s personality. For Kelly to take that slap without saying a word, that person must have something extraordinary to her, right?” Dure pondered for a moment and came to a conclusion. He knew that Kelly had always been a very strong-willed person.

"Durey, you're usually the most resourceful. Tell me, what should we do about this? Are we just going to turn a blind eye and pretend we didn't see anything?" Lance couldn't make up his mind, so he could only ask Durey.

“We’ve already seen it, and it’s really unlikely that we can ignore this. But if we rashly ask Kelly, it will only make her disgusted.” Dure carefully analyzed the situation and knew that it was unrealistic to try to find out what had happened from Kelly.

“Dure, what can we do to help Kelly? I’m really worried about her.” Messiah had no choice but to ask Dure for help.

“I understand how you feel. Kelly is your friend, and she’s also my friend. It’s unrealistic for us to expect answers from her, but… what if we get them from someone else?” Dure suggested a possibility.

"Another person? Dure, who exactly is this other person you're talking about..." Lance hesitated for a moment, unsure who Dure was referring to.

“Of course it’s the person Kelly came out to meet,” Dure explained.

“But that person comes and goes without a trace. We can’t find him at all, and there’s not a single clue we can follow.” Messiah was at a loss.