Chapter 38
(TLN: Extra chapter! Thank you to the donor who sponsored this chapter!)
Coron, the president of the Alchemy Research Society, left his team during battle. He failed at being a leader and his actions were a breach of responsibility as a part of the Student"s Holy Spirit Group. After all, while his responsibilities weren"t explicitly listed out, he shouldn"t have abandoned his duties as a leader. When they returned to the Holy Spirit Magic School, the Student"s Holy Spirit Group"s ministry will certainly make him undergo trial and punish him if he was truly guilty.
However, during the trial and punishment, it was necessary to provide evidence that Coron really did abandon his team members. The Student"s Holy Spirit Group had the authority to impose punishment to the guilty.
In the group, after conversing and probing the area, the two teams finally got a general understanding of the cause of the incident. Now, they only needed to check the testimonies given by Coron. The group resumed with their own actions, whether it be recuperating or waiting for the return of the Head of the Student"s Holy Spirit Group, Long Shiyan.
The jungle was vast, filled with weeds and trees. A group of people was temporarily resting in a small clearing. There were two or three campfires, and people were scattered about. The wounded were between the campfires. Daliana and the two teachers were near them while they were all being guarded by a group of vigilant team members. However, almost all of them were teachers.
The straw-hat a.s.sa.s.sin Edgar led the ox-headed man and the red-haired man to the center of the team. They slightly saluted the two teachers, then silently sat cross-legged near the fire.
Next to the fire, the wounded were being cared for by Daliana. The two teachers were very beautiful. One was wearing a fiery red dress with skin purer than snow and young facial features. She appeared much better than the students at most. Furthermore, wearing a long red dress in the jungle made her stand out too much.
However, no one dared to point it out.
The other teacher"s name was Xi Wenruo. Unlike Teacher Liu Hongyun, she looked more mature in appearance. She wore simple clothing, but her chest was as flat as Long Shiyan"s. Moreover, her eyes were a rare blue hue, resembling the color of sapphire. They were extraordinarily beautiful.
Although these two were currently teachers, they were also Long Shiyan"s former uppercla.s.smen a few years ago. While they did not make much contact with Edgar, they had a better relationship with Long Shiyan.
Inside the Magical Beast Forest, rainfall constantly fell, and the weather was unclear. Even during the winter season, there could be hot climates. In addition, the sun couldn"t penetrate through the sheer amount of towing trees, so occasionally, it was necessary to make a fire in order not to freeze even if it was noon.
The dampness of the deadwood and leaves also raised the difficulty of creating a fire. However, with a fire magician, their bonfires were burning strongly. The fires" red glow reflected on everyone"s cheeks. While it was blazing hot, there wasn"t anything special about it.
Liu Hongyun pressed on her warm cheeks and said to the three large men, “What happened to your leader? How could she disappear in a blink of an eye? No matter what the reason is, you have to explain so I can understand why! Or else…” She paused and crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Is it that hard for the leader of your group to come here to us?”
The three men immediately choked awkwardly as they did not know the reason why she wasn"t here nor what to say. Beside her, Xi Wenruo lifted her hand and knocked on Liu Hongyun"s head. “We have a clear idea about what happened, but it is necessary to make further investigations. You are all a part of the Students" Holy Spirit Group. So, we must also pay attention to your thoughts while your leader isn"t here,” she said, sweeping her eyes at them and then sighing.
Liu Hongyun held the back of her head and watched her friend with a resentful expression. She then crossed her arms across her chest and closed her eyes, ignoring her friend.
Her friend was often like this. She always stood on the opposite side of her. While she didn"t like this, there wasn"t much she could do. She could only rely on her skills to fulfill her desires.
“Teacher Wenruo and Teacher Daliana, don"t worry. We will get to the bottom of this matter. What"s the truth of the incident? We will definitely figure that out.” The straw hat a.s.sa.s.sin, Edgar, smiled slightly.
The red-haired male, Brands, dropped his firewood, and then sat cross-legged with his hands on his knees. He raised his head and shrugged as he said, “Don"t worry about that girl. Even if she likes to go off and hide, she continues to look after us. We can"t even say for sure that she isn"t watching us right now. Maybe she"s laughing at us in some obscure location nearby!”
“This G.o.d also has that feeling. Although she is small, she is very important. Under normal circ.u.mstances, she isn"t around. However, during critical moments, she is always indispensable to the team. Although this G.o.d loathes her strange behavior, we cannot move without her.” Ox-headed Chris said with a serious expression.
“Yeah!” Edgar also sighed. Although he hated how she knew everything but refused to discuss with them, he sometimes admired her. Occasionally, the straw-hat youth overlooked her actions or supported her.
“It seems that you are being tormented by Yan Yan"s wretched ways!” Xi Wenruo smiled as the tense atmosphere was slightly relieved by her mood. Liu Hongyun puffed her cheeks out and stared at her. Then, she snorted and ignored everyone around her.
“The relationship between you, teachers, and the head of the group seem to be very good. But how did you get to know her before?” In Edgar"s mind, this fact was so peculiar that he couldn"t help but ask. As far as he knew, Long Shiyan was a super-mysterious person who was barely seen all year long. Apart from Zi Linglong, no one knew what she did every day, and she only appeared when some big event happened.
Of course, after they joined the group, the number of times they encountered each other increased, but she still liked to disappear a lot.
“Who told you that our relationship was good?” Liu Hongyun stared widely at him. “I only said that we met with the little girl a few times since we were her uppercla.s.smen, but please don"t mistake our relationship with her. Otherwise, beware of being burnt to ash by me,” she threatened.
“Uh.” Edgar scratched the back of his head and smiled. “I"m not asking Teacher Hongyi; I"m asking Teacher Wenruo.”
“And Wenruo also doesn"t know her all that well!” Liu Hongyun pulled Xi Wenruo away and said with a heavy expression.
“Back when we were still students, I was roommates with Yan Yan. At that time, she was an outstanding student with considerable achievements, so she got the chance to live together with her female uppercla.s.smen. We only got acquainted with her because of this!” Xi Wenruo faintly smiled, ignoring her old friend"s denial.
“So it"s no wonder that the teachers call the president with such an intimate name like Yan Yan. I was a little surprised at first.” The red-haired boy lamented. The number of people who called Long Shiyan with the intimate name of "Yan Yan" was extremely few. Generally, teachers would address her as "Long" or her full name “Long Shiyan”. Only people like Zi Linglong could call her that intimately. Otherwise, she would only be called "Yan Yan” on special occasions.
Therefore, it was no wonder that they would feel strange after hearing their teachers call her "Yan Yan.”
“But we didn"t meet her often afterward so the distance between us gradually got bigger and bigger. Nevertheless, the girl still likes me very much.” Xi Wenruo smiled lightly with a confident appearance. She didn"t seem to be lying.
When Xi Wenruo paid no attention to her, Liu Hongyun became speechless. She simply acted as if "what remained unseen was deemed to be clean” was true
(TLN: 眼不见为净-"what remains unseen is deemed to be clean" it"s an idiom meaning if you don"t look at it, it doesn"t exist)
“Teacher Hongyun doesn"t seem to be fond of the head of the group, right?” Daliana, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke. Her voice wasn"t loud, but it wasn"t soft either. Everyone could still hear her words clearly. Her inward gossiping provoked Liu Hongyun. Even if he put up a taciturn appearance, Chris picked up these rare gossips using his keen hearing.
His spirit of being a gentleman had long been thrown out beyond the topmost clouds.
“Who said that I hate her, I, I just… I just don"t want to have any type of relationship with her.” Liu Hongyun choked as she could barely utter her words audibly.
“In the end, don"t you still dislike her?” Daliana sighed.
“Oh, I failed to understand the question.” Xi Wenruo pondered for a while. In her memories, Liu Hongyun wasn"t really interested in Long Shiyan and while their relationship wasn"t very bad, it also wasn"t good either. How come? Although it was barely noticeable, Long Shiyan seemed to unintentionally cause Liu Hongyun to be offended. In the end, it became a problem that remained unsolved even until now.
Although Xi Wenrou had always acted unconcerned about it, after growing up, this was, nevertheless, a question worth investigating. While thinking about it, she couldn"t help but shift her gaze upon her innocent friend.
When Liu Hongyun saw Xi Wenruo watching her with a strange look, her face could not help but stiffen. She struggled to open her mouth, but she did not dare to stare straight into her blue pupils. She could only whisper, “Wen… Wenruo, You…why are you looking at me? Stop…stop looking at me like that!”
“I…” Before Xi Wenruo could finish her words, suddenly, the people around her caused a racket. They all seemed to be staring at a beautiful woman who was walking beside another beauty, who was clearly Zi Linglong. The woman"s ordinary dress and boots could not hide that woman"s beauty.
“Yan Yan!” Xi Wenruo was astonished. Meanwhile, her words instantly started a few people.
“What, Head of the Group?”
“Head…Head of the Group? This, how is this possible…”
“This G.o.d must be dreaming. This G.o.d will sleep for a while, so you all may proceed with whatever you are going to do.”
Long Shiyan ignored everyone"s shocked expressions. She went straight to Xi Wenruo"s side and nodded slightly. Afterward, she smiled at the crowd. “Don"t just stand there, go pack your things up, it"s time to go.”
“You… are you truly the head of the group?” Edgar scrutinized at her grown-up appearance, and sure enough, he could draw parallels between the current Long Shiyan and the previous one.
“Do you think that she isn"t my elder sister?” Zi Linglong held her arm and declared in a high-profile manner as if she was announcing her possessions. She seemed exceptionally proud of Long Shiyan. Her own slightly blushing face displayed a content expression, which was extremely cute.
“Yes…it"s true!!” Edgar mechanically pulled the flabbergasted Brands to the sidelines. Meanwhile, Chris, who hypnotized himself to sleep, still had his eyes closed.
“This G.o.d is sleeping. The power of the Beast G.o.d is about to awaken, so I have to interrupt it,” Chris spoke. “The little girl"s body has become bigger and more beautiful. This G.o.d needs to calm down, this G.o.d needs to calm down…”
Suddenly, Chris charged at her, but he was quickly subdued by Zi Linglong and held onto the ground. “Chris, if you dare lay a hand on my sister, you should beware because I will crush you into debris.”
Chris fell onto the ground as he laid flat on his stomach, raising his hand to surrender. “Waaah, I just wanted to make sure that it was true, nothing more. You are absolutely ruthless. But now, I can tell that she is the real one, otherwise, you wouldn"t have acted like a mother hen who was guarding her child.”
Zi Linglong rolled her eyes and didn"t want to deal with him anymore.
“Well, quickly hand over the badge. We need to go and protect the other students, otherwise, we cannot complete our duties as the members of the Student"s Holy Spirit Group.” Long Shiyan lowered her head and let the system fly onto her own head. This proved she was the one and only Long Shiyan.
When Xi Wenruo looked at her, she couldn"t help but sigh. “This is the first time I have seen you in this form." Liu Hongyun came closer but was unable to say anything as she observed the beautiful woman.
“Cough, while there are no issues with this G.o.d, there might be some problems with the unconscious Alchemy Research Society members.” As Chris"s voice dropped, Daliana continued to add, “Yes, Head…Head of the Group, Katis and Bonnie are still unconscious!”
“I understand, but it doesn"t matter. They just fell into a coma after losing too much blood. After being treated by using magical beast cores, there shouldn"t be any major issues with them." Long Shiyan paused and turned toward Edgar and Chris. “You two should take turns carrying them as we move forward.” She faced Xi Wenruo and said, “It would be troublesome if the teachers were hindered while guarding us, so we should ascertain the real reason that this matter occurred ourselves. We should immediately check the surrounding area to be careful.”
When Xi Wenrou heard her, she couldn"t help but frown. However, she nodded and gave several commands to the rest of the team after agreeing with Long Shiyan"s idea.