IRM Chapter 13
These two days happened to be rest days, and the teachers hadn’t assigned any heavy tasks either. Since they weren’t in a hurry, the two decided to walk to Central Street, treating it as both saving money and exercise.
It must have been the headmaster’s great effort in arranging the magic arrays that worked – there weren’t many pedestrians in the academy. Only short and stocky or slender little mages walked in twos and threes under the tree shade, carrying thick magic grimoires as they strolled leisurely.
Ji Chi and Evan successfully passed through the campus and arrived at the academy gates.
“Evan, perfect timing that you’re here.”
A familiar voice from the academy gates made Evan stop in his tracks. He turned around in confusion – he only knew a few people from his class at the Magic Academy. Who would be waiting specifically for him?
Evan’s confusion turned into blank stupor when he saw that white graceful figure.
Saintess Coralie stood under a patch of tree shade, turned sideways toward their direction. The white hood was lifted by a corner from the breeze, revealing her delicate small chin and golden hair.
Seeing that Evan didn’t react, Saintess Coralie slightly lifted her hood, exposing most of her beautiful face to the sunlight, which was quite eye-catching. “Evan? It’s you, right? I remember your aura.”
Evan suddenly snapped back to reality and walked two or three steps to a position several meters away from Saintess Coralie. He pulled down his hood, revealing a flushed face full of embarrassment. “Yes! Saint… Saintess, is there something you need?”
Saintess Coralie tilted her head slightly, her gaze stopping on a shadow in the corner by the school wall. “He seems to be looking for you.”
Ji Chi looked in that direction and raised his eyebrows in surprise. “How did he find his way here? And the Saintess actually remembers him?”
Saintess Coralie’s ice-blue eyes swept over and she smiled gently at Ji Chi. “I have a very good memory.”
Ji Chi inexplicably heard a hint of coldness in her tone and decisively backed down. “Sorry.”
From the shadowy corner of the wall, the little undead who had been peeking out anxiously saw Evan, and a spark of joy suddenly burst in his dim eyes.
The little undead stumbled and ran to Evan, grabbing his cloak and pleading incoherently. “Please, please… help me, he’s not going to make it…”
Evan’s small frame was tugged and nearly stumbled by the little undead. He steadied himself, half-crouched down, and gently comforted him. “What’s wrong? Take it slow. I’ll try my best to help where I can.”
The undead have no tears, but the sadness in the boy’s eyes was so full it almost overflowed. “I, I need lots and lots of light elements…”
Evan waited a moment, but didn’t get an explanation from the little undead. However, he wasn’t the type to be aggressive and demand to know the whole story. He just lowered his eyes and thought for a while. “Alright, I happen to have some amulets left unsold. Wait for me, I’ll go back to the dormitory to get them for you.”
The little undead hung his head and shook it vigorously. “Not enough, not enough… Can you come with me to the village? He can’t hold on much longer.”
Evan finally caught some key points, and his expression became grave. “Is someone being invaded by dark elements?”
The little undead’s eyes flickered, and he bit his pale lips and nodded.
Dark element invasion could be serious or minor. If it was mild, basking in sunlight could help recovery. If it was severe, the body would slowly decay and rot, and in extreme pain, there was even a possibility of becoming a wandering undead.
Evan hesitated no more and quickly stood up, asking anxiously, “Where is your village?”
The little undead said quietly, “Bien Village.”
Ji Chi, hearing the familiar place name, suddenly looked at the little undead.
Bien Village was the location of the first main quest in the game. At that time, he had just started playing the holographic game and was quite fascinated by the ability to run and jump freely in the game. He had completed the first few tasks earnestly, so he could still remember some of the plot background.
A human being invaded by dark elements… Ji Chi frowned slightly. If he remembered correctly, all the villagers in that village had turned into undead at the same time.
The only special one was the Boss in the undead village, but that Boss couldn’t really be considered human either… Ji Chi noticed the little undead’s fingers tightly gripping his clothes, and his gaze grew a few degrees colder, though he didn’t say anything.
Evan was also familiar with the name Bien Village. Its geographical location was right below the Angel Kingdom, hailed as blessed with angelic protection, and most of the residents were devout believers of the God of Light.
How could there be someone invaded by dark elements there? And needing an undead to save them? Evan found it hard to believe.
But time didn’t allow him to think too much. It would take half a day to get from Saint Trilley Royal City to Bien Village, and every second of delay meant one more minute of danger for the invaded person.
Evan hurriedly rummaged through his backpack to find his coin purse, counting out the coins while saying to Ji Chi. “Sorry, I have to go to Bien Village to take a look, so I won’t accompany you to the street. Be careful on your way.”
You’re the one who should be most careful, you good-hearted fool.
Ji Chi remembered that when he had fought the undead village Boss, he was already in his twenties or thirties level-wise, and still died several times before clearing it. With Evan’s current level and health, going there would be like delivering himself to death.
Ji Chi knew he couldn’t dissuade him, so he could only sigh helplessly. “I’ll go with you.”
Evan looked at him with some emotion, but still refused. “No need, I…”
“Don’t forget I can also use light magic,” Ji Chi reminded him.
“I’ll come along too.” Saintess Coralie, who had been left aside, also spoke up gently.
She smiled under the dappled light cast by the tree shade, like hope for saving all living beings. But for some reason, Ji Chi always felt that the Saintess’s eyes had subtly brightened just now, like the excitement of finding some excitement to join.
But Evan was thoroughly startled. He quickly waved his hands. “You? How could you? The road is very dangerous! We might even have to spend the night in the forest…”
Saintess Coralie looked at him coolly. “So what? As the Saintess, I should be the one most responsible for saving those in suffering. Or do you think the Saintess is just a decorative tool used by the Church?”
“No, that’s not it…” Evan couldn’t argue with her and looked miserable.
How dare he define the Saintess like that? He was just worried that he wouldn’t be able to take good care of her, and then he would definitely become a sinner to the entire Church.
“Stop talking, let’s go quickly.” Saintess Coralie took on the authority of a Saintess for the first time, commanding without question.
Not far from the academy was a place that rented magical beasts for transportation. The group spent three gold coins to rent three magical beasts that looked like horses and galloped toward the outskirts of the city.
Because both Evan and Saintess Coralie had pure light constitutions, the little undead could only ride the same magical beast as Ji Chi. His already stiff body was now rigid like ice from the far north.
Although the little undead had been saved by Ji Chi once, for some reason, he was inexplicably afraid of Ji Chi. The undead’s unusual sharpness always made him feel that this person was somewhat dangerous.
Sure enough, what the little undead feared most soon happened. Ji Chi lowered his eyes to look at the small figure sitting in front of him and asked softly in the hunting wind brought by the galloping magical beast. “Why lie to him?”
The little undead’s body tensed. “What… what?”
Ji Chi’s tone was quite cold: “Is the one being invaded really human?”
The little undead’s whole body visibly trembled, almost screaming. He curled up slightly like a small animal, his trembling voice broken in the wind. “Who are you?! How do you know?! What do you want to do?!”
The little undead looked terrified, his eyes constantly glancing around as if he wanted to flee from Ji Chi regardless of everything.
“Forget it.” Ji Chi looked at the panicked little undead for a while, then suddenly said, “With me here, whether it’s human or not doesn’t matter, but—”
He looked up toward the dense green forest in the distance. “When this is over, remember to apologize to him. You don’t need to deceive him; he would follow you without thinking anyway.”
The little undead didn’t receive the angry questioning and light element attacks he expected. He slowly widened his dim eyes and secretly glanced in Evan’s direction following Ji Chi’s words.
Under the sunlight, Evan galloped on his magical beast, tightly gripping the reins in his hands. The young man’s immature face showed determination as he faced forward, his eyes filled only with anxiety and worry, pure enough to put one’s heart at ease.
The little undead gradually stopped trembling. He pursed his lips and remained silent for a long time, finally letting out an almost inaudible “mm.”
****
Getting from Saint Trilley Royal City to Bien Village required passing through a quiet and dense Gentle Wind Forest.
In the game, this forest was the best place for newbies to grind experience and materials—monsters were scattered, levels weren’t high, and mainly it was close to the royal city’s resurrection point.
But for the real world, as long as you left human towns, anywhere would have certain dangers.
After all, there were no resurrection points in reality for adventurers to start over.
“Be careful, it’s about to get dark. Evan, watch the right side, Ji Chi, watch the left side. Be alert both in the trees and under them.” As the sunset gradually sank into the treetops, Saintess Coralie’s expression became solemn. She surveyed the increasingly dim environment and spoke a reminder.
Perhaps because the forest was too empty, her voice didn’t sound as gentle and sweet as usual, but rather somewhat distorted and low.
Evan responded, and taking advantage of the last rays of light filtering through the forest, he quickly turned to glance at Saintess Coralie and Ji Chi.
He was beginning to regret it. He really shouldn’t have dragged unrelated people into danger…
I will definitely protect their safety with my life. Evan tensed up and became even more serious about watching the surroundings.
Suddenly, a flash of red light from behind a nearby tree made his heart tremble.
“Be careful! There’s movement ahead!” Evan’s face changed as he shouted a warning.
The moment he spoke, more red lights emerged from the dark forest, and hunched, twisted human figures emerged from between the trees, facing the direction of the three magical beasts with glowing eyes.
It was a wandering goblin squad.
The ugly and fierce goblins with dark green skin, seeing they had been discovered by their prey, let out sharp shrieks, baring their fangs and claws as they charged toward them.
The transportation magical beasts were startled by the bloody smell and killing intent, suddenly braking and nearly throwing their riders off.
“We can’t break through! We have to deal with them first!” Saintess Coralie needed only one glance to assess the situation and decisively commanded, her swift movements and manner tearing apart her usual gentle disguise.
At this moment, she was more like a battle-hardened hunter.
Evan had never been in such close contact with monsters. He sat on his magical beast with a pale face, cold sweat gradually seeping from his forehead. “How could this be… how could we encounter so many goblins…”
He had overestimated his own abilities and underestimated the dangers outside the city.
In his expectations, there was indeed a high possibility of encountering magical beasts on this journey, but the magical beasts in Gentle Wind Forest were nothing more than bouncing rabbits, burrowing mice, and other small magical beasts.
However, the suddenly appearing goblin squad shattered his expectations and rationality. Evan fell into a state of regret and fear. He regretted getting Ji Chi and Saintess Coralie into danger, and he feared that both of them would be injured because of his momentary recklessness…
Or even die.
Evan’s pupils contracted, his body trembling lightly. The brutal roars of the monsters, the anxious calls of his companions—all sounds grew distant and unclear.
Ji Chi dismounted from the magical beast with the little undead. Seeing that Evan was still sitting on his magical beast with vacant eyes while the beast paced restlessly, slowly approaching the goblins.
Ji Chi frowned and shouted. “Evan! Get down!”
“Damn it, getting scared like this by such small fry…” Before Ji Chi could make a move, he suddenly heard gritted teeth muttering from nearby. Ji Chi was stunned and turned his head.
Saintess Coralie gritted her teeth and tore off the obstructive white cloak, revealing agile black casual wear underneath. She swung her long leg and mounted Evan’s magical beast from the side, leaning backward and using her right hand to grab the reins to stop the beast from charging into the goblin pile.
At the same time, she roughly grabbed Evan by the collar, almost twisting his upper body half around. Saintess Coralie lifted her chin, her eyes sharp as knives. “Are you fucking awake yet? Do you need me to find some milk to calm your nerves?”
Ji Chi: “……?”
Little undead: “……??”
Evan: “……???”