A whole week had passed without so much as a glimpse of her shadow. Laity wouldn’t foolishly wait for him to return.
After all this time, she must have already left this place, right?
This fishing village wasn’t very large and was quite a distance from other nearby towns. But thanks to a small harbor, it had a fair amount of fish catches, allowing some trade connections with other towns. Compared to other villages of similar size, it was quite lively. That was why this village not only had an inn but also stables.
Ignoring the curious stares of the villagers, Lu Qiuchen stored the carriage in the small stable by the village entrance and entered the inn with Zhang Cheng.
The innkeeper, half asleep inside, lifted his blurred eyes to the two figures standing before him. He suddenly snapped awake, his eyes filled with excitement.
“It’s her! Although it’s been a few days and the image in my memory is a bit fuzzy, this lady’s appearance seems somewhat different, but her clothes and aura—I remember those clearly!”
“This esteemed lady, you have finally returned! You even brought a long-eared elf with you before, and that nearly ruined me!” the innkeeper burst out in a lament.
Hearing this, Lu Qiuchen realized Laity must have caused a big commotion here and quickly asked for details.
With a grim expression, the innkeeper recounted the events.
When Lu Qiuchen first stayed at the inn, the innkeeper saw her noble attire and immediately knew she was either wealthy or noble. Her fair, delicate skin stood in stark contrast to the dark, rough skin of the village’s farmer women.
This was a remote little village with nothing particularly noteworthy nearby, so the innkeeper was puzzled why such a seemingly noble young lady had come here.
He knew the inn’s conditions best and feared they wouldn’t meet the standards of a noble lady, so he didn’t want any trouble.
Since it was still early, he recommended she stay at the Lord’s Manor, which was half a day’s journey away, but she refused outright. Left with no choice, he prepared the cleanest guest room available.
The innkeeper thought the lady would soon be dissatisfied and leave angrily, but to his surprise, she came downstairs again without a hint of displeasure, bought some food, and went back upstairs, never showing herself again until the room’s rental expired.
Suspicious, the innkeeper wanted to check the room several times but feared offending such a distinguished guest and restrained himself.
The next day, when he went upstairs to ask if the guest wished to extend the stay, he was shocked to open the door to a purple-skinned, long-eared elf.
Both were startled, but the innkeeper quickly recovered and was about to speak when the elf, seemingly just as surprised and desperate to avoid him, shattered the window and leapt down.
Coincidentally, today was the day the lord’s knights came to patrol and collect taxes. The streets were packed with farmers and fishermen. The elf’s sudden jump from the second floor startled everyone, plunging the street into chaos.
Seeing the broken window, the innkeeper cursed loudly and looked down to find the knights capturing the troublesome elf. Realizing the trouble he was in, he sighed and hastily pushed tables and chairs around, making the room look like it had been wrecked in a fight.
The Kingdom of Knights had just fought a major war against the Empire, and they were on high alert for Imperial spies. Any outsider, especially a crafty drow skilled in hiding and gathering intelligence, naturally attracted the knights’ attention.
Ordinary knights serving under minor lords were fully-fledged knights, sometimes led by a grand knight. They handled civilians and low-level professionals with ease, but faced with a nimble drow, they were at a disadvantage.
The innkeeper nervously waited, and after a long while, the knights returned empty-handed, furious. He immediately knelt and begged for mercy, repeatedly explaining that he was unaware of the drow’s presence.
The knights couldn’t find any clues nearby and got nothing out of the innkeeper. It seemed this elf had suddenly appeared in the inn. Though they found no evidence, unwilling to return empty-handed, they warned the innkeeper, collected a hefty “service fee,” and left to report the incident to the local lord.
The innkeeper had no idea how the long-eared elf had shown up. Having suffered a major loss without cause, he was frustrated and silently cursed that strange noble lady in his heart.
But now that the culprit stood before him, he dared not show his anger. Seeing she had no intention of compensating him and simply turned to leave, he could only resign himself to bad luck.
“As soon as she leaves, I’ll report those knights to the authorities!” the innkeeper thought bitterly.
“How much did you lose?”
The question startled the innkeeper awake. Hearing the handsome young man’s voice, he snapped out of it and blurted out, “Repairing the window cost 2 silver and 12 copper coins, and the knights’… um, total 18 silver coins.”
Zhang Cheng breathed a sigh of relief. A window for 2 silver coins? Prices in this world weren’t that high. The gold coins Lai had given him should last quite a while.
After paying the innkeeper, Zhang Cheng quickly left to catch up with Lu Qiuchen.
“Zhang Cheng, after we find Laity, you should be the one to capture… to approach her.”
Lu Qiuchen lowered her head, considering the next steps, and spoke as Zhang Cheng caught up.
There were many reasons she chose not to capture Laity herself. On one hand, Laity was only a high-level professional. With Zhang Cheng’s strength, capturing her should pose no problem. Even if he failed, she would back him up. It was better for him to gain practical experience by facing slightly weaker opponents first.
On the other hand, Lu Qiuchen noticed Zhang Cheng paying the innkeeper after she left. This revealed a huge difference in their mindsets. Since Zhang Cheng might not use force to seize the Sky Shard, she wanted to see how her friend would choose to act.
Although Zhang Cheng promised to always stay by her side, she didn’t want him to feel how cold and ruthless she had become. She hoped to gradually adapt to his way of doing things.
Also, Laity carried strong foreign traits. Hmm… for Zhang Cheng, the drow were somewhat like kin. And Laity was a descendant of the former drow queen, carrying the identity of a fallen princess. Such a girl would likely ignite Zhang Cheng’s protective instincts and divert his attention away from her.
(Zhang Cheng’s Perspective)
Driving the carriage, Zhang Cheng looked at the scenery fading behind and let out a bitter smile.
At first, when he was sent to this world, it was impossible not to be nervous or scared. Reincarnation into another world sounded wonderful, but this wasn’t a game with infinite lives. One misstep in battle could mean a cold corpse.
Fortunately, with Lu Qiuchen around, his life was somewhat secure.
But because of her, he couldn’t completely relax.
In the past few days, he noticed that many of Lu Qiuchen’s actions had deviated from human definitions of kindness. To him, that was a sad thing.
Now a half-elf, he still had emotions like any elf or human. He hesitated, wavered, regretted, and questioned whether abandoning his parents on Earth to save his fallen friend was worth it.
But when Zhang Cheng truly saw Lu Qiuchen in front of him, heard her recount her experiences, and realized she deliberately hid her changes in mentality—sometimes speaking inconsistently—he understood how much she valued him and how vulnerable she truly was inside.
Since she still considered him an important companion, he would naturally give back positively.
Regarding the fall of the Kingdom of Tara, he learned it wasn’t Lu Qiuchen’s intention; she was just another victim of that event. If so, what was there for him to refuse?
Truthfully, it all started with him. Now that his friend had changed, he could not evade responsibility.
If Lu Qiuchen wanted to atone, they would bear the burden together.
If she continued down this crazy path, he would be the one to correct her.
As for the promise he made before—although he regretted deceiving her—he had to break it to prevent her further downfall. If the dragon clan could influence her mind, then he could also use a contract to forcibly bring her back.
He had to increase his strength, advance quickly to an epic-class Dragon Knight, and gain control over Lu Qiuchen!
Thinking optimistically, saving her didn’t necessarily have to rely on a contract—love could change people too…
As a nearly 26-year-old lifelong bachelor nobleman, suddenly discovering a sexy beauty perfectly matching his XP, of the same age, with similar interests and love history, and with whom he had been close before—how could he not try to pursue her?
Those were all just excuses.
Though Zhang Cheng knew she was his good buddy, the inner “little Zhang Cheng” clearly didn’t think so.
Looking at her appearance, could that dragon girl possibly resemble his friend at all?
Yes, he was just after her body. He was shameless!
The key point was that they knew each other inside and out. After everything, if little Zhang Cheng couldn’t “perform,” it would make one doubt his abilities!
If he could successfully win over his friend, both would find happiness, and he could seize the chance to save her. That would be killing two birds with one stone.
“Mom, since you sent me into this world, I won’t let your expectations down!”
But there were difficulties. First was the feud between my father and my future wife… that had to be dealt with slowly. There would be a way eventually.
Most importantly was Lu Qiuchen’s attitude. From prior tests, she seemed somewhat resistant to his approach. The road ahead was long.
Thinking about it, the difficulty was indeed great, but for the beautiful future he imagined, he would never give up.
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