In the elegant Soronwell Royal Palace Villa, slender fingertips casually inserted a gorgeous lily into a vase.
“Mei Lin, you seem to be in a good mood.”
Imperial Archmage Saint Flora smiled at her foremost disciple.
Since returning to Soronwell, she had never seen this eldest disciple wear such a delighted expression.
“Teacher, is liking someone a feeling of happiness?”
“Oh?”
Saint Flora said in surprise, “My youngest successor, Mei Lin, has someone she likes?”
“Teacher, I think that is love. I have never had such an impulse—to be willing to do anything for her. I once thought my love had a reason: the figure she displayed, the words and deeds she showed. But when I learned everything about her, I found that I still love her. Not just accepting her, but feeling even more overjoyed.”
Saint Flora hastily raised her hand to stop Mei Lin’s words.
There was nothing wrong with this foremost disciple except that once she set her mind on something, she would generate endless trains of thought, seeking to control and comprehend all of it.
In such a state, even her speech became dense and rapid—this was honestly a bit much for her to bear.
Regarding this foremost disciple’s marriage, Saint Flora was quite open-minded.
She had only one requirement: the person just couldn’t be of too lowly a birth—at least the son of an earl—so that there was a chance of bearing offspring who could inherit the holy blood.
“Mei Lin, may Teacher know what kind of person he is?”
“She is a very outstanding, very powerful person. She has always been working hard for me, giving for me, yet never willing to ask anything of me in return.”
Saint Flora smiled and was about to ask for more detail when her eyes shifted slightly.
She raised her hand to dismiss this disciple, who was brimming with happiness, and gazed deeply at the Adventurer Panel.
An encrypted message lay before her on the panel.
It was an image with text—a silver-haired young woman in the picture, with a passage of Prophecy Text beneath it.
[The One Who Prevents the Descent of the Holy Minister—Li Si S. Lancelot]
“Li Si…”
Saint Flora’s brows drew slightly closer.
The name sounded somewhat familiar.
The next moment, fragments flashed through her mind, and she immediately had an impression.
“So it’s her—that strange adventurer who deliberately approached Mei Lin in Border Town.”
Saint Flora gently beckoned.
In the darkness, a wisp of miasma coalesced into a dim figure, which knelt on the ground awaiting orders.
“Dispose of her. The Descent of the Holy Minister cannot be allowed any obstacles.”
The dim figure received the order and dissipated in an instant.
Saint Flora looked at the image as fragmented memories flashed through her mind once more.
She pushed up her gold-rimmed glasses and recalled even more scenes.
She remembered once ordering this commoner to be separated from Mei Lin, and it had indeed succeeded back then.
Now it seemed her judgment had been correct all along.
How could someone who obstructs the Holy Minister’s descent be worthy of standing alongside the seed of the gods?
Saint Flora suddenly revealed a smile.
She turned her head toward the door of the quiet room, which was gently knocked upon.
From outside came Mei Lin, who had turned back to ask a question.
“Teacher, I want to announce my relationship with her to the entire world at the Investiture Ceremony. Do you think that’s acceptable?”
“You may.”
After responding, Saint Flora suddenly remembered she still hadn’t asked about that person’s background.
But it no longer mattered.
As long as Mei Lin liked her, then she, the teacher, wouldn’t mind negotiating with the family on her behalf.
At the very worst, she could take Mei Lin’s beloved as her apprentice.
Even if that person’s origins were the poorest, the status of Saint Flora’s apprentice would surely be worthy of the daughter of the Sorensis family.
“But…”
The several awkwardly mismatched words she had just heard flashed through Saint Flora’s mind.
She shook her head with a wry smile.
“She? This child has been swept away by the passion of love, even confusing grammatical gender. If it’s a man, it should be ‘he.'”
She shook her head and continued muttering to herself, as if to prove the point.
***
“CRASH!”
By the time she arrived at Soronwell, the sky was gray.
A rare thunderstorm poured down almost overwhelmingly upon this mighty city in the desert.
Li Si sat in the carriage, looking up at the sky.
A sense of foreboding rose in her heart.
She glanced at the friend message on her panel and couldn’t help feeling a bit unnerved.
[Mei Lin: Have you arrived? Sorry I can’t welcome you in person. I need to go to the front lines today to continue raiding the Dungeon, but I’ve arranged the best reception for you. Wait for me—I’ll come find you tonight.]
Li Si shuddered.
The Archmage had suddenly launched into a fierce offensive.
Li Si wasn’t the least bit surprised that Mei Lin knew her whereabouts.
Back in Beginner Village, Mei Lin could track her down using all kinds of traces of light, let alone in Soronwell—a magical city built by her own family.
In this city, as long as Mei Lin wanted to find her, she truly had no way to escape.
Actually, by all logic, as a yuri game player, having a onee-san mage fall for her was something Li Si should have welcomed with open arms and happily applauded.
But Mei Lin’s route was far too intense.
She didn’t dare touch it—not even a little.
Since she couldn’t hide within the city, she would just hide in the wilderness instead.
After all, the main purpose of coming to Soronwell was to change classes and level up, and incidentally to keep watch over the protagonist party’s growth progress so the world-saving wouldn’t derail.
None of these required staying in the city.
However, Mei Lin’s offensive was even more swift and fierce than she had imagined.
“Excuse me, are you Miss Li Si S. Lancelot?”
The carriage had barely entered the city when the guards at the gate came right up to it.
Li Si’s heart jolted.
She saw a rope in the guard’s hand, extending behind the city gate all the way to the neighboring gate opening, with more than twenty thieves bound along it.
The guard had clearly already recognized Li Si.
Without waiting for a reply, he immediately performed a greeting salute and reported, “Miss Li Si, these are the thieves who harassed you last night. As for their leader, we’ve also issued a citywide wanted notice. Within a few days, we will capture him and bring him to your manor.”
“Manor?”
Li Si tilted her head.
“Lady Mei Lin has prepared a manor for you in the most prosperous southern district—101 Palace Street.”
As he spoke, the guard handed over a set of keys.
He was about to continue explaining when the carriage suddenly lurched into motion.
The guard froze for a moment, then hurriedly gave chase.
After pursuing for several streets, he finally caught up.
He pulled open the carriage curtain—inside was a squad of armored swordsmen.
Li Si clapped her hands.
Where the way rose one foot, the devil rose ten.
A mere mage still thought she could restrict a warrior’s movements.
[Friend Message]
[Ailin: We’ve been discovered. They didn’t do anything to us. Everything’s normal. Take care of yourself. Speaking of which… are you hiding from Lady Mei Lin?]
Li Si’s mouth twitched.
‘What does she mean, hiding? I just don’t want the Archmage to neglect her duties. This is clearly painstaking thoughtfulness.’
She offhandedly replied with a thank-you, then turned to look behind her.
Lili Ya was holding up a shield to block the rain, Liewata was loaded down with a huge pack and looking thrilled, while Jane—the most important objective of this trip into the city—was hugging Yadana, utterly dejected.
Four people, including a Level 20 mage and a Level 10 priest, and they still couldn’t scrape together a single rain-repelling magic field.
Honestly, when she’d looked at this lineup before, Li Si had thought nothing of it.
But at this moment, she suddenly felt a touch of sorrow.
The sorrow came quickly, but it went just as quickly.
She hurried to a stall, bought four umbrellas, and raced without pause to deliver the target for handover.
Actually, when she had first brought Jane on the road, Li Si had been a little worried about whether Jane, upon arriving at Soronwell, would obediently cooperate and go meet the client. But now, she wasn’t worried at all.
Ever since returning from the Underground Palace, Jane had become a silent good girl, barely even using her Adventurer Panel anymore.
Earlier on the road, Li Si had often seen her using the panel to chat, but for the past two days, Jian hadn’t so much as opened it.
Li Si felt that Jian might have even become somewhat desensitized to Yi Li Sha Bai.
Although it was the result of her own overplaying, in terms of the outcome, curing a stalker fan of her obsession—wasn’t that also a kind of merit?
It was just… she didn’t know whether the client would be satisfied with this explanation.