chsdbacks Page 76
Page 76
"I think I heard Mitu mention a guy called Gouzi Ge before..." Her eyes drifted to the air, "I've kind of forgotten his full name..."
Two black lines appeared above Latis's head. He clenched his fist and loudly complained:
"Hey, are you even listening to me?! How can a princess talk about others like that to their faces? It's so rude!"
"Ah, so I said it out loud!" Slinger's eyes widened slightly, and he turned his head away embarrassedly.
"Please forgive me, sir. I'm so used to being alone that I didn't realize I talk to myself when I'm thinking..."
Her golden eyes gleamed in the sunlight. Slinger subconsciously twirled her hair with her fingers, cleared her throat, and said:
"So the black-hatted sorcerers' target was you, Inspector. You've truly suffered an undeserved misfortune. Don't worry, I'll send someone to take these poor people home."
She looked down at her hair, which was now curled into a vortex, paused for a moment, then subtly released her grip, pretending to pat her clothes to loosen the curls, before continuing:
"Where are you headed next, sir? I see your troops seem to have suffered some losses. If I could have the honor of compensating you, that would be most welcome."
"This princess is cuter than I imagined, but her ending was too tragic. I hope something could have been done to stop it..."
Latis took in Slinger's subtle movements the whole time, suppressing a smile as he said:
"My team will next head to Lundia, hoping to build a mage tower there and exchange and learn with various academies. Little princess, you may not know this, but we are all basically self-taught, so it is quite important for us to learn some formal education."
Yes, after a brief period of thought, he finally decided that he wanted all the colleges!
“It feels so strange to be called ‘little princess’ to your face…” Completely oblivious to her own mutterings, Slink nodded, a thoughtful look on her face. She then removed a badge from her glamorous dress and extended her hand:
"This is the emblem of the Whiteley royal family. After I write a few more letters of recommendation for you, you will no longer need to undergo the high-level mage examination."
"An assessment?" Latis took the badge, looked at the flower carving on it, and scratched his head.
“Yes, Your Excellency.” Slink used magic to manipulate paper and pen, beginning to write the letter of recommendation in the air as he spoke:
"Not every high-ranking mage is qualified to study and exchange with various academies. They must undergo background checks, checks on their moral and ethical tendencies, political checks, and checks on their knowledge level. At the same time, high-ranking mages are under constant supervision during study and exchange... Of course, their apprentices do not have these requirements. Sending apprentices to study and exchange is a very normal practice."
"I see, that makes things easier." Latis suddenly realized.
"Is it convenient?" Slinger asked, puzzled, as he folded the completed letter of recommendation into the envelope.
"It's just playing a rebellious disciple, haha, I'm good at that!" Latis took the letter of recommendation, offered no explanation, and ran back laughing, shouting:
"Ate, will you take me as an apprentice? Ate! I am your hardworking and devoted apprentice!"
Slinger stared blankly at Latis, who was running like an aberrant creature, and murmured involuntarily:
"Mr. Gouzi is quite an oddball..."
Suddenly, she saw Latis running back, slapping his head. He did a somersault and landed in front of Slinger, splashing her skirt with dust.
"Haha, I almost forgot!" Latis grinned. "It's only fair to reciprocate. Since it's our first meeting, I'll give you a gift too! See you later, little princess!"
He pretended to reach behind his back, but actually took out a branch of Morning Glory flower, more than a meter long, from his soul space.
"It seems a bit odd to pull this thing out from behind... Oh well, never mind!"
Latis shoved the branch of Morning Glory into Slinger's arms, then flicked his index and middle fingers toward his forehead with an air of arrogance, saying in a deep voice:
"Goodbye, Arrivederci!"
Slinger stood there, holding the still-warm morning glory branch, watching as Latis slid away with a sliding tackle.
……
"Morning Light Flower?"
Slinger looked at the morning glory branch in his hand, his gaze gradually softening.
"Such vigorous vitality, it seems that as long as it is planted, it will bloom at any time... I wonder where this variety is from."
She peered through the gaps in the petals at the small house in the distance and the four figures around her.
“Let’s go back to the palace and plant it… no, never mind.” Slingk murmured to himself, “Such a vibrant life shouldn’t be left to wither away alone in the Siyuan Flower Castle.”
"Is that so? I think so, then I should be like her."
Slinger's bright eyes curved slightly. She set down the morning glory branch, looked at Latis's retreating figure, smiled gently, and said:
"Thank you, Mr. Gouzi."
……
"This is the alchemy hut you renovated?"
"I can't believe it!" Latis asked, looking at the half-elf's shifty eyes. He clutched his head, knelt down, and exclaimed loudly.
"I was wrong, I was really wrong! I never expected you guys to be such geniuses!"
"W-what's wrong!" Yashutia asked hesitantly, a hint of embarrassment in her voice.
"Look at this spacious workshop and cockpit, isn't it great! And look at these two rooms, they're my and the little bird's private rooms, doesn't that give us a sense of privacy?! You and the elf live in the attic, and up there's a viewing platform with a panoramic window, although it's currently occupied by that stupid dragon who's fast asleep... but it's still amazing!"
“You’re right, but…” Latis, tears welling in his eyes, pointed to the wildly writhing vines beneath the house and shouted:
"What the hell is this?! This is even more abstract than a house with long legs!"
“However…” Latis took a few deep breaths, then calmed down, stroked his chin thoughtfully, and said:
"It moves a bit like a headless Cthulhu, and it looks pretty cool..."
"But, but!" he cried again, clutching his head. "This is way too outrageous! This is a children's channel, it doesn't touch on anything 18+ at all! How the hell can this be broadcast?!"
"It...it can disguise itself!" the half-elf explained weakly. "Big...big brother, look!"
"Oh?" Latis wiped the dust off his face, stood up calmly, and watched as the vines under the house gradually curled up to the wall, leaving only a thin layer of vines wriggling underneath.
He stared blankly at the alchemy hut that was moving quite fast, scratched his head, and squatted down to take a look below.
The thick vines, like caterpillars scorched by the sun, were wriggling wildly at an astonishing speed.
Latis took a deep breath, calmed himself down, raised his head, and stared at the half-elf for half a minute.
"Ah!" Artemis raised her finger and said calmly, "I should go and make the magic book pages!"
Yashutia stared dumbfounded at the half-elf who resolutely went upstairs. Under Latis's deadpan gaze, she said, sweating profusely:
"I, I... Oh! I suddenly remembered I haven't finished kneading one of the recipes yet, I'm going back to the workroom!"
The robin looked bewildered at the two fleeing figures, hesitated, then approached Latis and said in a low voice:
"I'm so sorry to trouble you again, brother..."
Latis was taken aback, then realized she was talking about the Black Hat Squad, and immediately laughed, patting her head as he said:
"The little bird will be amazing in the future, super amazing!"
"Huh?" The robin looked up in surprise, staring at Latis's mysterious smile, and asked instinctively:
"really?"
“I have already seen the future!” Latis said mysteriously.
"My brother is really something... should we say he's very perceptive or just unreliable..."
The robin sighed helplessly, hesitated for a moment, nuzzled Latis's chest with its head, and then went back inside.
Latis glanced around, nodded, and slid into the nearby bushes.
"I'm going to surpass him, I'm going to surpass him, I can't take it anymore!"
He quickly pulled up his black robe and looked at the silver pattern that was glowing and radiating heat.
"Why is it getting hotter and hotter? Is this succubus going to catch fire?!"
Latis took a deep breath, reached in, and suddenly pulled Sasha out.
"Gu..."
The pink-skinned succubus instinctively kicked her little feet, then collapsed limply into Latis's hands.
"Hey, hey, don't die! Damn it, killing someone is easy, but disposing of the body is hard! Wake up!"
Latis anxiously shook the succubus whose mouth was covered in drool, and whispered:
"Useless succubus, if you don't get up, I'm going to throw you away!"
"Sasha is so tired..." The succubus struggled to lift her leg, but it slumped down again in a spasm. Her eyes gradually regained focus, and feeling her leather dress that had been wet and then dried and then wet again, she finally remembered what she had been through, and tears of sorrow streamed down her face.
"Waaah... Sasha is not going to live... Sasha was defeated by a mere mortal... Waaah! Forty... forty-five times! Sasha is truly useless, Sasha doesn't deserve to be queen..."
Latis felt a headache coming on. He pinched Sasha's mouth shut and whispered:
"Alright, alright, you can go back now!"
"But Sasa hasn't even opened yet... and it's already failing... If we go back like this, we'll be treated as defective products, ugh..."
“That’s true.” Latis rubbed his temples and said, “But I can’t be with you right now… Oh, right!”
He quickly took out the [Succubus Essence Source] from his soul space, stuffed it into Sasha's hand, and laughed heartily:
"Is this okay now? This should be very useful to you, right?"
Sasha stared in shock at the source material in her hand, her mouth agape, and exclaimed:
"This is...this is the source material that only a prospective queen can possess! Where did you get it from?! Tell Sasha right now!"
"Just tell me if you want it or not!" Latis laughed. "I won't let you work for nothing. If you take this, it shouldn't be considered a defective product when you get back, right?"
"Yes, yes!" Sasha immediately swallowed the source essence. She flapped her wings, looked at Latis who was about to leave, and asked hesitantly:
"You... Summoner, are you leaving?"
“Yeah.” Latis scratched his head and asked, “Or what? Shall we play a game of Gwent first?”
"Huh?" Sasha landed on the ground in a daze. Seeing Latis about to leave again, she didn't have time to think and quickly pounced in front of him, pointing to the silver markings on his abdomen and asking:
"Sir, may I have this...?"
"What do you need this for?" Latis hesitated for a moment, after all, this thing was quite useful to him.
“It’s just…” Sasha’s pink face seemed to turn even redder, “If a succubus is truly convinced of her defeat… taking away the tool that defeated her symbolizes…”
She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and shouted:
"That means Sasha will become your personal succubus! Then you can summon Sasha at any time, merge with her, and Sasha won't be able to resist..."
Latis paused, a glint of wisdom flashing in his eyes.
"It seems pretty good, doesn't it? It's not really a good idea for a muscular guy like me to wear silver patches every day..."