Chapter 109: If You Are Her, That’s Fine Too

“My book is gone because of me. I can rewrite a copy for you,” Furina suggested softly.

Rewrite?

Lin Shu was startled, suddenly remembering that Furina had accurately recited the incantation earlier.

When they were hiding in the house from the pursuers, Furina had only quickly skimmed through the entire book. And now she was saying she could rewrite it without batting an eye?!

Given her personality, it didn’t seem like she was joking.

“Wait, this isn’t just having a good memory anymore, is it?”

“You’re not… able to memorize anything after seeing it once, are you?!” Lin Shu asked in shock.

“Mhm.”

Furina only made a sound of affirmation, as calm as if she had said she knew how to eat.

“Actually, it’s not that much trouble. I can find another one later,” Lin Shu advised.

“Aren’t you still relying on it to look at incantations?”

“Well… yes.”

There were some incantations Lin Shu hadn’t completely memorized yet.

Seeing Furina’s insistence, Lin Shu finally had no choice but to agree.

“But I need paper and a pen. If you don’t mind, I’ll have to follow you for a while.”

“I don’t mind that,” Lin Shu said. “It’s just that I need to go to the Imperial City. There might be clues about my Master there.”

“That far…?” Furina showed an expression of not understanding. “But, anywhere is fine, as long as we leave this place.”

They waited for a while longer, making sure no pursuers were coming from the ground, before Lin Shu and Furina slid down the tree trunk to the ground.

“I know the way. The direction to the Imperial City is this way.” Furina took the lead, walking ahead.

With the help of Furina’s memory of the terrain, the two of them took a big detour, walking on a desolate, uninhabited road.

The path was almost covered with fallen leaves, winding into a dense forest that seemed to have no end.

Lin Shu looked up at Furina’s silent back.

She suddenly realized with a shock—were her actions changing Furina’s fate?

Since this was the past, could her interference cause a butterfly effect, affecting the future?

But she couldn’t just stand by and watch Furina get captured.

Lin Shu shook her head, dispelling the worry in her heart.

Forget it. Maybe it was precisely her participation and interference that led to the future outcome?

Since she acted according to her own will, she shouldn’t overthink it.

Lin Shu kept an eye on their rear, ensuring no pursuers were following.

Both of them were tense, walking in silence through the wilderness for an entire night.

Only when the edge of the sky began to turn the color of a fish’s belly, close to dawn, did they finally see the outline of another small town.

The sky was dimly lit, and the streets of the small town were empty.

“How much farther is it from here to the Imperial City?” Lin Shu asked.

“On foot, another five days.” Furina gave a light yawn.

Seeing Furina’s exhaustion, Lin Shu suggested, “Let’s find a place to rest for a while. We need to conserve our energy before continuing.”

She instinctively reached for her pack, then suddenly remembered the last of her money had been given to the boatman.

“Furina, do you have any money on you?”

Furina rummaged through the patched pockets of her cloth skirt and pulled out a few silver coins, silently handing them over.

This was all the money they had.

It seemed they would have to find a way to earn some money later. Otherwise, forget going to the Imperial City, they wouldn’t even have food and lodging for tomorrow.

The two of them wandered around the small town and found a shop with an inn sign.

At the entrance of the inn, Lin Shu was drawn to a colorful bulletin board standing by the door.

“Request board?” She stopped to observe it.

Colorful request papers were pinned to the wooden board. Most were trivial matters, with only a small portion concerning subjugating monsters in the outskirts.

“How much for an ordinary room?” Furina walked up to the counter.

The staff at the counter quoted a price—exactly all the money they had, no more, no less.

“We won’t be staying, thank you.” After saying this, Furina turned and walked out.

“Hey, hey!” Lin Shu grabbed her. “Where are you going? To sleep under a bridge?”

“To find crystal stones.”

“Don’t go. I have another method here.” Lin Shu waved the piece of paper in her hand, then turned back to the counter. “Please open a room for us, thank you.”

After handing over all their money, they went to the inn room. The room was small and cozy, with the bed neatly made and clean.

“You rest first.” Lin Shu led Furina into the room and had her sit on the bed. “I’ll be back soon.”

“You’re going to do a request?”

“Yes. You’ll be fine staying alone in the room, right?”

“Mhm.” Furina nodded.

Just as Lin Shu was about to leave the room, Furina softly reminded her, “Be careful.”

Lin Shu paused in her steps and smiled in response. “Okay.”

They had taken a detour to another town. Even if the people trying to capture her hadn’t given up, they wouldn’t find this place for a while.

The moment Lin Shu closed the door…

—

In the inn room.

Although Furina was tired, she had no desire to sleep.

She walked to the table in the room, picked up the parchment placed on it, dipped a pen in some ink, and relying on the memory in her mind, began to rewrite that magic illustrated book exactly as it was.

First the basic spells, then the low-level spells…

The pen tip moved, making a rustling sound on the paper. Furina couldn’t help but recall the scene from last night—Lin Shu had used these very spells to save her.

Her pen tip paused. The ink bled slightly beside the annotation for the corresponding spellcasting materials, forming a small black dot.

If she could also learn this magic, wouldn’t she have the power to protect herself? Wouldn’t she be so passive anymore?

But she was penniless now. She didn’t even have the most basic spellcasting materials, let alone advanced ones.

Forget it. Perhaps it’s just a pipe dream.

First, rewrite this book and return it to Lin Shu. That would count as repaying the favor.

She forced her heavy eyelids open, resisting sleepiness, and wrote stroke by stroke with great seriousness. She didn’t know how long she had been writing.

Until the midday sunlight filtered through the curtains, spreading across the tabletop.

Knock knock.

“I’m back.” Hearing it was Lin Shu’s voice, Furina got up and opened the door.

“I didn’t know what you liked to eat, so I just bought some snacks. Have something to fill your stomach.”

As she spoke, Lin Shu handed over a steaming rice cake, emitting the aroma of starch.

“You bought this much?” Furina couldn’t help but ask when she saw the dry rations in the bag.

“Ah, that request had been hanging there for over half a year with no one solving it. The client was especially happy when they found out I completed it and gave me an extra portion of the reward. So I bought the dry rations too.”

“What’s that…?” Furina’s gaze fell on Lin Shu’s back.

She was carrying a bulging backpack, and it was unclear what was inside.

“On my way back, I passed by a general store. It had a lot of magic materials piled up, all covered in dust.”

“The shopkeeper said these materials had been sitting there for a long time with no one buying them, and he was about to throw them away anyway. He only charged me a little spare change.” Lin Shu put down the cloth bag and looked up at Furina. “I thought about it. After we reach the Imperial City, we might have to part ways.”

“If you’re willing… would you like to learn magic?”

“…?”

Furina looked at Lin Shu with confusion.

“…There’s no need for this. I have nothing with which to repay you.”

“You don’t always have to think about repayment. We can look out for each other on the way to the Imperial City.”

“If the casino people come looking for you again in the future, and I’m not by your side, you could use magic to drive them away and protect yourself.”

“What do you think?”

Furina lowered her head, gripping the wrapper of the rice cake tightly.

She said in a low voice:

“I taught a little girl about your age before. With your memory, you’ll definitely pick it up quickly.”

As Lin Shu spoke, her peripheral glance caught the partially rewritten pages on the table.

She was slightly taken aback.

Was it a coincidence?

Furina could write out that magic book, and she shared the same name as that important figure. If she were to learn magic…

Lin Shu turned back, anxiously waiting for Furina’s response.

Even if she wasn’t that person herself, helping her master a skill for self-protection would be good too.