Wei Bai woke up in a daze.
He found the sofa bathed in sunlight, more than half of his body warmed by the golden rays.
The house was very quiet.
Wei Bai saw no sign of Mida, though the occasional sound of pedestrians talking and carriages passing by drifted in from outside, making the silence feel quite peaceful.
The glorious throne of interwoven gold and silver stood at the side of the sofa.
The bloodstains and filth on it had been cleaned away, and the long sword gleamed coldly in the sunlight.
Moving his body slightly, Wei Bai realized he seemed to be recovering faster than expected.
‘Something’s not right…’ Wei Bai murmured.
Relying on Three-stage Healing Magic alone, it was impossible for him to recover this quickly.
Scratching his head in confusion, Wei Bai buried the question in his heart and stopped investigating for the time being.
But at a time like this, where had Mida gone?
Wei Bai’s head felt heavy.
He had no memory of what happened last night, only remembering a brief conversation with Mida about leaving Carven City.
After the battle last night, Wei Bai had decided to leave this place.
Otherwise, if the Church made a move, he would be in serious trouble.
Francis had likely already headed to the Church.
If nothing went wrong, wanted posters for him and Mo Baiwei would be spread across the entire territory of the Count of Alni within two days.
By then, he would have nowhere left to run.
Wei Bai straightened his clothes and found that Mida had not done anything to them.
He stood up, picked up the Glorious Throne with one hand, and prepared to leave.
Last night was just an accident.
He didn’t have much reason to stay in Mida’s house for too long.
Since he had regained his mobility, he needed to leave immediately.
Thinking this, Wei Bai walked toward the door.
Just as he placed his hand on the handle, his footsteps paused.
Maybe he should leave a note for Mida.
Otherwise, when that little girl found him gone, she might cry out of worry.
Turning around, Wei Bai returned to Mida’s dining table.
He looked around but found no paper or pen.
‘Does this little girl hate studying? How can there not even be a pen in the house?’
Muttering to himself, Wei Bai had no choice but to tear a scrap of cloth from the hem of his clothes and fetch a piece of charcoal from the kitchen.
He hadn’t expected that after using such methods to record information in the wild, he would end up using them again to leave a message for Mida in a prosperous city.
After writing and drawing for a long time, Wei Bai finally stopped.
He looked over the scrap of cloth again, feeling like he had forgotten to add something.
‘What else is there?’ Wei Bai thought, tapping the charcoal against the cloth.
Right!
If the little girl wanted to find him, he had to leave her a way to do it.
Given the scale of the Kingdom Continent, trying to find him without a method of contact would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
After adding the contact information for one of the old fogies at the Adventurer Association, Wei Bai put away the charcoal with satisfaction.
He used the Glorious Throne to cut a lock of his hair, wrapped it in the cloth, folded it into a square, and placed it on Mida’s sofa.
“This should do it.”
Wei Bai pushed open the door and took one last look at Mida’s home.
Steeled with determination, he turned and left the small courtyard.
He had to go back and pack his things.
Walking along the road, Wei Bai was not stopped.
Perhaps because word had not yet fully spread, the city guards merely brushed past him.
On the way, he encountered an old friend.
A crow landed on his shoulder, but after a moment, it flapped its wings and flew away.
Watching Anthony’s receding shadow, Wei Bai stood in place and gazed for a while before resuming his pace.
He didn’t want to take Anthony with him on the run.
If Anthony were shot and killed because of him, he would probably blame himself for the rest of his life.
He needed to be responsible for Anthony, whether as a friend or a partner.
He returned home smoothly without any inspections or conflicts.
Wei Bai felt a bit surprised.
Logically, Francis should have reported to Count Alni last night.
Even if they didn’t conduct searches today, the whole city should have been placed under martial law, right?
Why did it feel like nothing was happening?
This Count Alni was far too carefree.
Wasn’t he worried at all about an outsider appearing in the city within his territory?
Despite these thoughts, Wei Bai’s movements did not stop.
He went to the equipment room and stuffed everything useful into his suitcase.
There were originally some elven clothes in the suitcase—dresses and casual wear that Mo Baiwei wore in the palace.
He had thought about throwing them away, but every time he was about to do so, he felt strangely reluctant.
‘These things are such a nuisance. But if I really throw them all away, I’ll truly miss them.’
Wei Bai looked distressed.
His rational side told him to take as little as possible on this trip, especially these redundant items that only added to his burden.
Feeling the reluctance surfacing from the depths of his heart, the expression on Wei Bai’s face stiffened.
‘I should be a man now, right? Why am I so reluctant to part with these clothes?! In this situation, I should just throw them away!’
But… he really didn’t want to.
In the end, Wei Bai compromised.
Thus, the clothes remained in the suitcase, set to accompany him on his journey.
—
“Doctor, how much do these medicines cost?” Mida stood before the pharmacy counter, blinking as she stared at the doctor.
“Fifty silver coins,” the doctor, dressed in a black robe and wearing glasses, stated the price tonelessly.
Mida fell silent.
She hadn’t expected these low-grade potions to be so expensive.
She had already avoided the instant-effect healing potions and settled for the slower-acting ones instead.
She never imagined even these would be so pricey.
“Could it be… a little cheaper…”
Mida felt embarrassed.
She pinched the hem of her clothes, her other hand tightly clutching a silver coin in her purse.
This was all the money she had saved from her wages over a long time, excluding necessary expenses. It totaled only about thirty silver coins.
“No, we are a formal pharmacy. Prices are fixed.”
The doctor gave Mida a cold glance and then said, “If you don’t have enough money, you can leave the medicine here. I can wait until you go back and get the rest before you return.”
“Fine, fifty it is.”
Mida poured all the money out of her purse, counted it, and then placed two bottles of potion in the doctor’s hand.
“Please keep these two for me. I’ll go back to get the rest of the money.”
After saying that, Mida hurriedly left the pharmacy.
The doctor looked at Mida’s slender back, turned his head expressionlessly, and began to count the scattered coins.
Mida jogged through the streets, her youthful chest heaving with her breaths as she clutched several bottles of potion and rushed home.
She had to be faster; otherwise, Wei Bai would have to endure the pain for longer.
At the thought of the scars on Wei Bai’s body, Mida’s heart ached slightly.
She felt as if she could sense the pain those scars brought, and Wei Bai was currently suffering through that intense agony.
She didn’t want Wei Bai to be in so much pain.
Looking at those scars, she only knew they made his body incredibly weak.
She wanted Wei Bai to get better quickly.
Mida hurried to her front door.
Only after seeing the familiar courtyard did her pace gradually slow.
Her body was covered in a thin layer of sweat, and her small mouth gasped for air.
“Phew… I’m so tired, but these medicines should be useful for Wei Bai,” Mida talked to herself before pushing the door open.
“I’m back!”
There was no response from the quiet house.
Only a scrap of cloth remained on the empty sofa, while the person and the long sword were nowhere to be found.
“Wei Bai?!”
Not seeing Wei Bai, a trace of unease rose in Mida’s heart.
Panic set in immediately as she rushed to the sofa and grabbed the wrapped cloth.
“What is this?”
Curiosity piqued, Mida unwrapped the cloth to find a lock of hair and words written on the fabric.
As she read the handwriting on the scrap of cloth, Mida’s mood gradually plummeted.
Her hand holding the cloth slumped down.
“Why…” she murmured.
The young girl’s eyes turned red, and her hand clutching the hair tightened.
“Why didn’t you wait for me? Why did you leave without even saying a word?”
“What if yesterday was the last time I saw you? What if I can’t find you through the Adventurer Association…”
“Then what should I do?”
Mida’s eyes grew moist.
Wei Bai’s departure without a goodbye caused her mood to sink into the depths.
“I like you… I really like you…”
Just as the girl was overcome with grief and about to burst into tears, a dark shadow landed on the windowsill.
“Caw!”
A sudden cry startled Mida.
With tears still on her face, she looked toward the window and saw a familiar crow.
“Anthony?”
Mida asked tentatively.
The crow cried again in response.
Then, Anthony flapped his wings and flew from the windowsill to land in front of Mida.
“Are you going to take me to find him?”
Seeing this, Mida wiped away her tears, a hint of joy entering her voice.
If it was Anthony, he would surely find him.
Hearing Mida’s words, Anthony tilted his head, his small black eyes staring at her in confusion.
He didn’t understand.
Seeing that Anthony did not respond, Mida grew anxious.
She grabbed Wei Bai’s lock of hair and began to gesture.
“Do you know where he is?”
Mida asked while making signs with the hair.
Anthony seemed to understand her intent and nodded his small head.
Knowing that Anthony knew where Wei Bai was, Mida’s heart suddenly raced with excitement.
Anthony knew Wei Bai’s location; she could go find him!
At the thought of seeing Wei Bai again, Mida’s previously despondent mood surged once more.
“Can you take me to find him?”
Mida stared at Anthony expectantly, hoping he could understand her meaning and lead her to find Wei Bai.
However, Anthony’s next move was beyond her expectations.