Nelly froze on the spot, mechanically shifting her gaze to Melissa; Melissa seemed startled by the youth’s appearance but quickly returned to normal, laughing awkwardly. Before she could speak, the white-haired youth had already moved. He stepped back three steps, creating a long distance, then pulled out a red-leather magic book from the wide sleeve of his robe, hastily opening it to cover his face. He said in a voice so low it was almost inaudible: “Please do not touch me,” and after a pause, he added in a cold tone, “and please do not come near me.” Although the words were sharp and pressing, the youth’s ending tone was slightly trembling, showing extreme nervousness.
The white knuckles resting on the dark red leather book were even whiter due to the force, clearly showing the owner’s unease. Nelly finally came to her senses, bewildered by this unexpected development: What is this feeling of an Earth village otaku stepping out of an all-night manga forum to encounter the world!
“Sorry, sorry!” Melissa remained carefree and cheerful, explaining to Nelly, “This is Karl, a magician from Kalinsiya. I chatted with some traveling merchants last night and heard he was also going to the Magic Cave, so I invited him to join us. How about that?” Melissa looked proud, clearly pleased with recruiting a new teammate.
Nelly’s temple twitched, glancing at “Karl” who was still maintaining a “do not approach” stance, and said flatly: “Are you sure he wants to join us?”
“Of course!” Melissa said, taking a step towards Karl, “You’re going to the Magic Cave too, right?” He quietly stepped back to maintain distance, answering weakly from behind the book: “Yes…”
“How about we travel together?” Melissa said boldly, slapping her chest, “I’m the hero chosen by the goddess!” Apparently, hero, you didn’t make an appointment with him last night and just got up early to ambush him! Nelly thought to herself, carefully examining this otaku magician again, and surprisingly no longer feeling that intense familiarity that had previously hurt her heart. Could it just be a coincidence?
With doubts in her heart, Nelly pulled Melissa’s sleeve and whispered: “Did he say anything about his background? Why is he coming to the Magic Cave from far-off Kalinsiya?”
Before Melissa could answer, Karl spoke up: “I… am a mage from Naxiye, heading north for revenge.”
“Naxiye?” Melissa repeated blankly, then after a moment, raised her voice, “That oasis by the Dead Sea that cultivates the continent’s most excellent magicians?”
The magician clearly couldn’t handle Melissa’s dramatic reaction, trembling and stepping back half a step, but standing a bit straighter with pride: “Yes.”
Nelly was still skeptical: “Why not take the main road directly to the Magic Cave, but come here first?”
The demon army continued eastward, pressing towards the border.
As the last pure land in the northeast of the continent, Nafare’s land routes connecting to other countries were cut off by the demon army, and the sea routes on the other three sides were about to be interrupted. The count led his ministers in praying to the three goddesses for protection, summoning the destined hero. The hero’s first task was to sail across the treacherous Mermaid Sea to seek help from the royal capital, Mez.
In this situation, not taking the main road from Kalinsiya to the Magic Cave but instead making a detour to Nafare raised suspicion about Mr. Karl’s purpose.
“Because of the Demon King, the transmission array had a problem…” Karl’s voice grew lower. One could imagine that the magician was now blushing with embarrassment.
“Magicians have fragile emotions, especially those from Naxiye… don’t be so aggressive, Nelly,” Melissa said, signalling her to let Karl off. “So, are you interested in going to the Magic Cave with us?”
Karl lowered the magic book, revealing his red eyes: “Okay.”
In just a moment, his previous tone was replaced by distant restraint. What is this condescending tone! Without a hero’s status, he can’t even find a ship out of Nafare now.
Nelly carefully examined the magician Karl again, feeling more and more confused. Her gaze met the eyes peeking out from the edge of the book, and the other party nearly panicked, tucking his head back behind the book.
Melissa got approval, and her face immediately brightened: “Let’s set off! Nelly, what’s the next task?”
Nelly knew she couldn’t argue, so she adjusted her mindset: “Go to Canossa to meet the Marquis.”
“Oh oh!” Melissa strode out of the inn first, with Nelly quickly following, looking back uneasily and catching sight of the magician Karl hesitantly taking his first step.
Their gazes met again, and they both trembled.
Karl silently raised his magic book in front of his face, clearly sensing Nelly’s unfriendly attitude.
Nelly pulled the corner of her mouth, deciding not to provoke him for now and wait for an opportunity to ask the system clearly. She didn’t want to repeat her mistake and guide the Demon King himself to fight the Demon King again.
The road from the newbie village to the main city of the marquis was a good stage for the hero to level up by fighting monsters.
However, the hero’s combat power was worryingly low, so the journey would naturally not be smooth.
How are these monsters stronger than the ones in the village!” Melissa released skills while forcefully chopping at the snarling magically transformed pine tree.
Objectively speaking, Melissa had made great progress compared to her initial lack of technique – though she was still far behind the expected progress. Given time, she might become an excellent swordsman. Thinking this, Nelly unconsciously turned to look at Karl, who was also watching from the sidelines.
He keenly noticed her gaze, pulled his hood closer, and moved further away.
“Cough, won’t Mr. Karl help?” Nelly felt awkward and softened her tone to ask.
“No.” This time he answered decisively, but immediately looked regretful, carefully peeking at Nelly’s reaction from behind his hood.
Nelly replied dryly: “Is that so?”
In this brief exchange, Melissa finally defeated the magically transformed pine tree, breathing heavily as she strode between the two, patting Karl’s shoulder: “The next monster is yours!”
Karl froze, stepping back to maintain a safe distance, stubbornly repeating softly: “Please don’t touch me, please keep your distance.”
Melissa was unconcerned: “Don’t be so sensitive, Karl. I won’t hurt you or mock you.”
Hero, are you really selling out your own elf for an unknown magician?
Karl glanced at Nelly, slowly pulling his hood down to his chin, softly saying: “She dislikes me.”
His childlike tattling tone made Nelly want to laugh and cry. She didn’t want to get entangled and simply turned away: “Mr. Karl is overthinking. Let’s go, Melissa, or we won’t reach the inn before dark.”
Melissa responded and continued energetically along the abandoned country path.
After just a few steps, a cold, sharp voice suddenly came from behind:
“Stop.”
Nelly felt a chill rush up: this was Karl Sars’s tone.
In this moment, Nelly was surprisingly calm. Deep down, she had never believed the system’s guarantees; when she saw that face, she had already vaguely sensed something. Now, it was just her worst speculation becoming reality ahead of time.
She carefully paid attention to the surroundings, walked to a thick oak tree, opened the system interface, and connected to the interaction port to ask: “I want to know what’s going on with the magician named Karl.”
After a moment of silence, an emotionless but pleasant female voice sounded: “After judgment, it is a normal event with no abnormalities.”
