Go back? There's no going back.

After putting away the life-recording ring, Su Wei turned his head and looked far towards the west.

There, the outline of a steep and towering mountain range is clearly visible.

*

Evening, Royal City of Tirantia.

The sun sets and a cold wind howls.

Although it is the season of cooling down, the streets and alleys of the royal city are still brightly lit and bustling.

"Lady Celsia, the First Prince is currently safe. He is returning to the empire accompanied by an escort team."

Near the First Palace, on a road that was off-limits to ordinary people, Elthea, dressed in black and white, followed behind the princess of a kingdom and reported softly, "Communication with the team has been restored. Now, you can get in touch with that master at any time."

However, her report received no response.

In the cold night wind, outside the palace where ordinary people are forbidden to enter, the only sound left is the clicking of slender heels walking quickly.

Elsie was silent for a moment, but did not repeat it.

She's used to it.

I don’t know since when, this decisive owner of the house... always walks very fast on the way home after a busy day.

Even during this time, I would always get distracted and couldn't hear what others said.

Even the habit of "making rational use of various fragmented time to listen to reports" has changed a lot without realizing it.

However, what she didn't expect was that this time even the contact with the prince failed to bring her master back to her senses.

In addition to being confused, Elsie became more and more curious. What on earth was her master thinking at this time every day?

Soon, the distance from the perimeter to the main gate, which was not short to begin with, passed in the blink of an eye.

drop.

"Welcome home."

After a moment, as Celsia walked quickly to the main gate, the palace gate in front of her slowly moved to the sides.

When the door was halfway moving, the First Princess heard a different, thin and plain synthesized sound coming from the door. Although she was a little confused, she quickly took a deep breath.

First, he calmed his slightly rapid breathing, then he lowered his head to check the wrinkles on his clothes, and finally, he habitually tidied up his hair which had become a little messy after being out all day.

The whole process went smoothly. In just a few seconds, all the fatigue on the face of the empire's first princess disappeared, and her elegant and calm aura rose to its peak again.

When the gate was completely moved to both sides, she did not look around, just glanced at the left side of the gate with her peripheral vision without leaving any trace, and was about to walk into the yard.

"...?"

But the next second, her eyes suddenly froze, staring at the empty left side of the door, and Celcia stood there in a daze for a moment.

Not seeing the person who was supposed to be there at this moment, she quickly came to an idea.

"Yes, the temperature difference at night has started to get bigger these past few days. Did he... catch a cold again?"

The next second, the elegance and composure on the First Princess's face paused, and gradually turned into coldness.

She subconsciously turned around and looked at the maid beside her: "It's the same every year. He has such a bad health that he doesn't even have the slightest awareness. He catches a cold every time the season changes. I told you a few days ago that we don't need him to come outside to pick us up. Didn't you remind him, Elsie?"

“Hmm…?”

Hearing the sound, Elsie first instinctively looked behind the door, then she scratched her cheek in confusion: "Well, Lady Celcia, he won't catch a cold because of this anymore."

"...?"

"You sent him away yesterday afternoon, didn't you?"

Looking at her master who seemed to be still in shock, Elsie reminded him in a low voice.

"..."

Hearing the sound, Celsia blinked her clear green eyes, and she slowly opened her eyes. Only at this moment did the memories of yesterday emerge bit by bit like a tide.

——Thank you for your hard work. From now on, we won’t have to meet again.

Suddenly, the words I said not long ago emerged in my mind.

For some reason, even though this happened just yesterday, she had been selectively ignoring it in her mind.

It was not until this moment that she remembered everything that happened at that time and remembered what she had said to him.

"……Is it."

Her whole body tensed slightly, and she looked back at the empty palace in front of her, as if waking up from a dream.

“…Alright, that’s fine.”

After a moment, under the slightly worried gaze of the maid beside her, the slightly shaken expression on Celsia's face gradually calmed down.

The next second, a calm smile reappeared on the corners of her lips: "At least from now on, there will be one less stupid kid waiting outside in the cold wind every night in this world. That's good."

Celsia still remembered clearly that although a certain person was usually very obedient, he would occasionally become extremely stubborn in some strange situations and would not be able to adapt at all.

"Now, he no longer needs to use such lame behavior to please anyone. It is better to find a place to stay in this royal city than to wait in a place like this every night... Elsie, what do you think?"

The tone was cold and gentle. Just as Celsia was sighing and looking at her maid with a smile, she noticed that the expression on the latter's face suddenly became a little strange.

"…What’s wrong with you?"

Her heart skipped a beat for unknown reason and she looked at her.

"No, I just thought that the child...may have left the royal city now."

Elsie tilted her head, a hint of reminiscence on her face. "When we said goodbye yesterday, he said he was going back to the slums outside the city."

"Um…?"

Slums?

Celsia's expression froze a little as she chewed on these words: "What is he doing there?"

"He said that was his home."

Seeing her master's somewhat dazed reaction, Elsie responded somewhat uncertainly.

"…Huh?! How can a place like that be a home?"

After hearing the voice, there was a brief silence for a few seconds, and the expression on the First Princess' face was completely frozen: "The knights who were guarding there before seemed to have been transferred back yesterday, right? How could a stupid kid like him who stutters even when talking to others for a few more words stay in a place like that?"

"Stupid...kid?"

Hearing this, Elsie fell silent for a moment.

She suddenly discovered that there seemed to be a slight deviation between her and her master's cognition.

Is it possible that the reason a stupid kid becomes awkward and stutters after speaking a few more sentences is because he is talking to a different person?

"Well, considering safety, I gave him the most suitable m1996 for him when we said goodbye."

Observing her master's increasingly grim expression, Elsie lowered her head slightly and confessed in a low voice: "In addition, I also placed a royal identity badge in his backpack in advance... Although I have not been able to get your permission for this matter, I am very sorry."

"........."

"..."

"...?"

After a long while, Elsie, who hadn't received any response, raised her head again.

Then, looking at the quiet main entrance in front of her, she blinked, subconsciously turned her head and looked around the empty street.

"Celcia...Mistress?"

Chapter 16: Klina

Outside the slums, at the foot of Mount Rosso, the Hunter's Guild.

This is where most hunters and practitioners gather.

To practice cultivation in this world, it is not enough to just have the qualifications, at least most people do not have the qualifications.

You also need money and channels to exchange various resources.

The Hunter's Guild is where most practitioners make money and trade.

'A-choo.'

'A sneeze! '

"Aaaaa... A-choo!?"

He walked straight to the entrance of the guild hall. Suddenly, he felt a chill on his back and sneezed three times in a row.

"My goodness, you're wearing so many thick clothes this year, are you going to catch a cold again?"

Raising his hand to rub the tip of his nose, Su Wei looked at the door in front of him.

He came here to go to the Rosseau Mountains to find the strong man who might be related to his mother's disappearance.

However, as an ordinary person who has not yet officially started practicing, and with only one bullet left in his M1996, Su Wei naturally would not go up the mountain alone.

He plans to hire bodyguards.

After tidying up his clothes a little and straightening his body, Su Wei pushed open the rickety door and stepped into the guild hall, which had a very down-to-earth decoration both inside and outside.

“…There are so few people.”

Su Wei's heart sank as he glanced at the few people in the hall.

Why does it feel like this is a little different from the description he had heard before: "You can hit five reliable hunters by throwing a brick with your eyes closed"?

Although he was confused, Su Wei walked straight to the bar and prepared to issue the commission.

"Hello, is this your first time?"

A gentle female voice sounded in Su Wei's ears. At this moment, the receptionist standing in front of him was unexpectedly beautiful.

Even though his aesthetic taste had been completely shaped by the First Princess after being influenced by her for so many years, he couldn't help but look at the former a few more times.

Her long red hair, as bright as maple leaves, was tied into a neat ponytail at the back of her head. Her eyes were clear and heroic, her delicate facial features were perfectly blended together, her skin was fair, and her legs were also white and slender... As far as appearance was concerned, there was nothing wrong with the girl in front of her.

“…It’s my first time.”

Under the smiling gaze of the receptionist, Su Wei nodded.

Today was indeed his first time coming to such a place.

"Whether or not there's anyone willing to accept it, the minimum cost for doing it once is this amount, okay?"

Raising a finger towards Su Wei, the receptionist smiled and spoke.

...When you say "do", I think you mean issuing a commission, right?

"One silver coin per time?"

Looking at the girl's fingers, Su Wei tilted his head.

"Huh? It's a handling fee of one-tenth of the total reward. The commission is valid for ten days after it is issued, and the handling fee is non-refundable."

After casually handing the form with the contents of the commission to Su Wei, the girl tilted her head and looked at him with an awkward but polite look of doubt.

“…Okay, then help me publish it first.”

Su Wei remained calm, wrote the contents of the commission on the form, and handed it back.

"Hmm...? You're looking for a bodyguard to go with you to... the Rosso Mountains?"

For some reason, after checking the contents of the commission, the girl suddenly raised her head and looked at Su Wei with a subtle look.

"Yes, is there anything wrong?"

Su Wei asked.

"No, there is no problem with the content of the commission, and the reward is also very high, 500 gold coins... This commission has reached the gold-level task standard, but, probably no one will accept this commission now."

Pinching her small chin and pondering for a moment, the receptionist stared at Su Wei's face carefully and said meaningfully: "Besides, I personally don't recommend that a boy like you enter the Rosso Mountains at this time."

"Because, in the past two weeks, no matter if they were cultivators or hunters, eight or nine out of ten people who had entered that mountain range, especially men, never came back."

After leaving these words, the girl picked up the seal under Su Wei's dazed gaze, stamped it on the authorization form with a "snap", stood up, walked to the notice board nearby, and posted the authorization on it.

The result was just as the girl said.

At first, when the hunters wandering in the hall noticed a new commission with a golden seal on it, they all came to the notice board.