Chapter 86 – You Will Have Him

Haitie noticed that the atmosphere between Lin Wei and Duan Yu had been rather strange these past few days—it probably started after that fight.

At the academy, if Duan Yu went all out, Lin Wei was sure to be overpowered. But now, with the Archmage facing off against a giant dragon and the Great Prophecy, Haitie was curious to know who was stronger between the two, so she paid some attention to their battle. Unexpectedly, just as the two seemed evenly matched, they suddenly stopped. The dragon flew higher and higher, and she couldn’t quite see what had happened.

When she returned to her room, she saw Lin Wei entering his room alone, closing the door—and it seemed he even locked it.

Mr. Sylvester and Duan Yu came up together, and it looked like Mr. Sylvester was saying something to Duan Yu. After they parted, Duan Yu paused for a moment in front of the room—then turned and went into the room next door.

Haitie: “…”

This kind of scene, where the two of them were apart, was truly rare.

Seeing that Duan Yu seemed to be staying in the other room for the night, Haitie, out of her duty as half a member of the Astrology Tower, went to help tidy up the room and make the bed.

Before leaving, she cautiously asked, “What happened between you two?”

Duan Yu’s answer made her utterly helpless.

“I don’t know.”

Haitie had no choice but to go down a few floors and return to her room, worrying as she walked—had they taken the fight too seriously?

Lin Wei fled back to his room and took out the Book of Contracts, hoping to calm his mind.

But the characters that he hadn’t fully mastered yet seemed to have changed their faces—he didn’t recognize a single one.

As he stared at them, his thoughts drifted off somewhere, and as if bewitched, he reached out and gently touched his lips.

This action inevitably triggered memories of what had just happened.

His heart pounded furiously, and he felt his entire body heating up.

But at that time, his mind had been blank, so the memories were not very clear—it was like the lingering warmth of a luxurious dream upon waking in the morning.

“He kissed me,” Lin Wei thought as he lay in bed at night, staring at the ceiling. “Yes, that’s the truth. He kissed me… Why did he do that? Was he comforting me?”

This long-overdue worry finally descended upon Lin Wei. Before this, he had been relaxed and happy. Simply being close to the mage he had long admired, seeing that beautiful face every day, and catching even the slightest change in his emotions had been enough to fill him with sweet joy. But now, before he even had the chance to carefully recall and savor the intoxicating, gentle invasion, he was plunged into unbearable anxiety.

“Does he actually dislike me? What was he thinking at that moment—does he know what it means? Could it be…” Lin Wei closed his eyes and buried his face in the soft snow rabbit fur. “Could it be that he… also likes me a little?”

In the room next door, the starry river flowed and shifted on the ceiling, its milky light flickering. The faint glow reflected in the mage’s clear, dark golden eyes, like a shooting star streaking across the evening sky.

Duan Yu gazed at the starry river, replaying the scenes from the snow in his mind.

The moment he remembered most vividly wasn’t the warm, soft touch, nor the trembling eyelashes as they endured it, but the moment Lin Wei lifted his face from his shoulder and slowly loosened his arms as if giving up.

This action was like a sharp blade, stirring the emotions he was used to keeping calm and steady, not only causing endless waves but also bringing sharp, sour pain.

The silence in that moment was heart-stopping, like a thunderclap.

His intuition whispered, “He’s sad and helpless. You’re about to lose him.”

“But if you hold onto him, you’ll have him.”

He slowly closed his eyes, and the world was left in deep darkness, but at the end of that darkness, a faint glimmer of light appeared, as if someone had lit a candle at the end of a long road.

—You will have him.

His thoughts turned into a moth, flying toward the light in the night.

The snowy night sky had no stars, so the stargazers gave up climbing the tower and chose to snuggle by the fireplace instead. The Astrology Tower spent a tranquil night within the barrier.

In the bright morning, with the curtains drawn, the snow-covered mountains outside illuminated the room. Lin Wei stood hesitantly in front of the next door, holding the Book of Contracts, when the dark brown door opened from inside.

He put on a nonchalant expression and flipped to a page near the end of the Book of Contracts. “There are many characters in the latter part that I don’t understand—can I ask you for help?”

“Sure,” the mage replied in a calm voice, stepping aside to let him into the room.

The atmosphere was serious and focused at first, just like every other time they had discussed magic together, until the kitten let out a soft meow, and a fluffy white figure jumped onto the table. After circling around, it found the open book to be a perfect spot—it immediately curled up and lay down, its tail swishing back and forth, thoroughly covering the characters Lin Wei couldn’t understand.

Lin Wei chuckled helplessly and reached out to nudge the little thing, but all it did was lazily squint its eyes.

“So,” he said, looking at Duan Yu in the now-relaxed atmosphere. “About yesterday…”

Suddenly, there was a crisp knock on the window.

Lin Wei’s words were cut off, and both of them turned to look at the window—Adrishig was sitting on the bow of the Magic Wheel, smiling and gesturing for them to open the window.

Lin Wei opened the window with some annoyance.

“It seems I’ve interrupted something. My apologies…” Adrishig’s smile was meaningful and completely devoid of any “apology.”

“You’re back—what do you want from us?”

Adrishig lazily crossed his arms. “We need to set off, little one. I was coming to wake you up… I didn’t expect you to already be awake.”

Lin Wei, who had slept very restlessly last night, asked with a dark expression, “Where to?”

“The Valley of Flame. You know they’re facing some issues there,” Adrishig said with a wink.

Lin Wei thought for a moment, then quickly exchanged a glance with Duan Yu. The two of them boarded Adrishig’s ship.

Daniel was at the helm, and the Magic Wheel slowly rose, heading south across the continent.

“The last time we flew on this little ship was at the edge of the Dark Age,” Adrishig said, lying back on the deck with contentment.

He narrowed his eyes thoughtfully, recalling the scene from back then.

“I thought I had long forgotten, but the moment I boarded the Magic Wheel, I realized those memories were as vivid as if they had happened yesterday.”

Lin Wei and Duan Yu listened quietly to the man’s narration. It was only at times like this that Adrishig’s voice carried a sense of age that starkly contrasted with his youthful appearance.

“There were quite a few of us—Kui Ling, Arthur, Histon… Sometimes the lovely little Nylan and his knight were there too,” Adrishig said slowly. “Kui Ling loved to pontificate on the deck about what his academy would become, Arthur and Histon argued endlessly about the management system of the Magic Association… Nylan wasn’t in good health, so he couldn’t stay on the deck often, but he loved standing by the railing, looking down at the continent, and telling me—he wanted to build a vast human empire where people wouldn’t fear the powerful races and wouldn’t worry about food for the next day.”

“But he would soon be dragged back into the cabin by Donas—the reason being that the future empire needed him to stay alive, and the wind would make the fragile emperor cough for a long time.”

“He succeeded,” Lin Wei suddenly said.

“Yes, he always achieved what he set out to do,” Adrishig’s eyes held a faint warmth. “Now, when I look down from the Magic Wheel, all I can see is his empire’s territory.”

Lin Wei looked at Adrishig. He hadn’t expected—the founding emperor of the empire to be so familiar with the Magic World.

“Those were the happiest days. We were filled with pride, believing that this little ship gathered the most brilliant geniuses of the continent. We were going to establish a beautiful new order for this lovely land, filled with endless love and strength.”

“But then it all fell apart,” Adrishig chuckled softly. “We thought war was the best opportunity to showcase our genius, that everything could be solved with cleverness and magnificent magical power—until we encountered an unbeatable force.”

Lin Wei had a vague premonition—this man who had lived for over a thousand years was about to reveal something that touched the core of the Dark Age.

“The continent’s history recognizes it as a war involving all races and factions. The empire’s records will describe it as a difficult war between humans and other races. The bards will say it was a war that determined the direction of the Magic World. Katanaphia will tell you it was a war between gods…” Adrishig looked up at the sky and sighed. “But what I experienced was a war between humans and gods.”

Gods—this word was finally spoken by Adrishig.

“But don’t worry, little ones,” Adrishig sat up, his usual nonchalant smile returning. “They were just some cowards afraid of death.”

“So you won?”

“Of course not,” Adrishig answered matter-of-factly.

“I’m just a poor ordinary man—no magic, no spells, wandering the continent with some interesting stories and clumsy alchemy. Did you expect me to defeat gods? They would’ve easily killed me, plucked out my eyes, and hung them around their necks as decorations!” He sounded as if he had been greatly wronged.

Lin Wei: “…”

He felt that the sentimentality he had just felt while listening to this man’s reminiscence had been thoroughly insulted.

With this time, he might as well finish the conversation that had been interrupted earlier with Duan Yu.

He glanced at Duan Yu and maintained eye contact.

Adrishig, who hadn’t received a response, looked back and forth between the two: “…Tsk.”

He was clearly dissatisfied, and a mischievous smile played on his lips.

“Hmm… Lin Wei—actually, I forgot to tell you something.”

Lin Wei turned his attention back to him: “What?”

“You know, I was late by two days,” Adrishig lay back down in a relaxed position. “That’s because I took a detour to visit Siren Island.”

Lin Wei mentally mapped out the man’s convoluted journey and couldn’t help but marvel at the magic of the word “detour.”

But Adrishig’s next words made him perk up his ears in alarm.

“My gains were quite substantial… Not only did I bring back the little one from the Valley of Flame—I also ran into a descendant of the Nylan family,” Adrishig said.

Nylan—Nylan Zek Yucarius, the founding emperor of the empire. And the “descendant of the Nylan family” that Adrishig could have “run into”…

Lin Wei, who only wanted Gregory to stay quietly on Siren Island until the end of the Seasonal Tide, felt a headache coming on: “What did you do to him?”