Chapter 21 – Bolan’s Invitation

In the deep of night, the bustling activity of the Imperial Capital during the day had gradually dissipated. The shops along the streets had extinguished their lights and closed their doors. After the noise of the streets faded away, only the rhythmic sound of patrolmen’s horse hooves in the distance remained, embellishing the starry sky that only appeared profoundly beautiful at this hour.

The chill of the night grew heavier, penetrating Lin Wei’s clothing, which, unlike a magic robe, offered no protection against the cold. He quickened his pace, heading toward the inn.

Duan Yu’s spiritual energy was usually extended outward at all times, so as long as Lin Wei released a trace of his own spiritual energy, he could tell whether Duan Yu was asleep.

As expected, in the world seen through spiritual energy, the inn and its surroundings were bathed in a faint golden glow.

The color of a mage’s spiritual energy usually corresponded to their magical affinity—such as Duan Yu’s pale gold and Haitie’s red. Lin Wei and Daniel, however, had ordinary white spiritual energy. Of course, this was quite uncomfortable for Daniel. If spiritual energy could change color, everyone believed he would definitely choose green!

As for Lin Wei, who preferred sleep over meditation, every drop of his spiritual energy was precious. He would never casually release it to cover the entire inn like Duan Yu did.

Thus, in the world seen by Duan Yu, this scene unfolded: a wisp of spiritual energy, condensed into a white thread, floated out like a delicate tendril, touched the range of his spiritual energy, and then quickly retracted.

Duan Yu turned toward the direction of the familiar white thread. Across from him, Haitie, who was resting her chin on her hand and was on the verge of dozing off, noticed his movement. “What is it?”

“Lin Wei is back.”

“Finally…” Haitie forced herself to perk up. “I wonder how his business went.”

“I say, we don’t need to worry about that kid Lin Wei,” Daniel, who had been idly staring at a necklace with a red pendant, said lazily. “If he wasn’t confident, he wouldn’t have gone looking for trouble.”

“But…” Haitie said, “I always feel that Lin Wei’s father is a terrifying person.”

She had seen it with her own eyes—every time Lin Wei took out the family crest, the people who saw it would immediately tremble with fear and treat them with utmost respect. If Lin Wei’s father were a good person, they wouldn’t act like that.

After hearing Haitie’s words, Daniel scratched his hair with his right hand. “The nobles on the continent seem to be very powerful. Whether Lin Wei’s father is a good person or not, they would still act that way.”

Haitie looked puzzled. “But they can’t use magic. Why are nobles different from other people?”

“I don’t get it either,” Daniel shook his head and continued studying the fiery red pendant in his hand. “Why bother—we won’t be staying on the continent for long anyway.”

As they spoke, Lin Wei had already come upstairs, and a knock sounded at the door.

Duan Yu, who was closest to the door, got up and opened it.

The room was much warmer than outside, and Lin Wei, who had braved the cold wind to cross half the Imperial Capital, squinted his eyes in comfort. “It’s much better here.”

“You’re back so late… How did your business go?” Haitie asked.

“My father still wants me—the matter is settled,” Lin Wei said as he sat down next to Duan Yu.

Daniel rolled his eyes dramatically and said to Haitie, “See? I told you not to worry about him.”

“Then are we staying in the Imperial Capital?” Haitie asked. “There are so many interesting places here!”

Daniel dangled the beautiful red pendant in front of Lin Wei. “I also want to stay in your Imperial Capital for a few more days—this is the purest flame crystal! It’s actually being used as a necklace decoration! If we find more things like this, we can make a fortune selling them in the Floating Sky Capital!”

Lin Wei thought for a moment. He also wanted to wait for the Imperial Family to come to him to find out what exactly had been lost, so it was necessary to stay here for a few more days.

“We’ll go to the Floating Sky Capital in a few days. You two need to be careful outside. If anyone asks about your identities, just say you’re distant relatives of the Tidis family.”

As he spoke, Lin Wei looked at Duan Yu. “If only you could see… the Imperial Capital is quite beautiful.”

“I think it won’t be long!” Haitie said. “Duan Yu’s cultivation is much faster than mine.”

“The next time we leave the island,” Duan Yu said to Lin Wei, “you can show me the sights of the continent.”

Before the next trip out of the island, Duan Yu was certain he would become a High Mage—this was a very confident statement, as becoming a High Mage was extremely difficult. Even those like Xipo, who had started several years earlier than Lin Wei and the others, had only produced two High Mages so far.

However, for Duan Yu, who had effortlessly become a White-Robed Archmage in his previous life, this speed was not surprising—at least, Lin Wei wasn’t the least bit shocked.

Looking at Duan Yu’s half-closed, unfocused eyes, Lin Wei couldn’t help but feel a faint anticipation for the moment when those eyes would truly open and shine with life.

But then, remembering Duan Yu’s frosty gaze on the battlefield in his past life, Lin Wei felt that the current serene and beautiful appearance was more pleasing to the eye…

However—this time around, he and Duan Yu didn’t have the same relationship as in the past, so things should be a bit different, right?

“When you can see,” Lin Wei said, “we’ll travel the entire continent—let’s make up for everything we missed before!”

“Alright.”

Daniel, who had been sitting nearby, stretched lazily. “You two keep chatting. I need to go meditate—identifying stones is exhausting.”

“Hold on,” Lin Wei said with a smile.

Seeing the smile on Lin Wei’s face, Daniel felt a sense of foreboding.

“Look, if you want to buy things on the continent, you need the continent’s currency, which means you need my money,” Lin Wei said, resting his chin on his right hand. “It’s only fair that if you make a fortune selling the stones in the Floating Sky Capital, you share a portion with me… right?”

Daniel, whose plan to quietly make a fortune had been exposed, gritted his teeth. Since Lin Wei was his only financial backer, he said, “I’ll give you half—you don’t have the eye to spot treasures like I do.”

“Eighty percent. You pick the treasures, but the capital is all mine.”

“Is a precious alchemist’s keen eye only worth twenty percent?” Daniel exclaimed.

“Alright, your eyes and nose are indeed valuable… then I’ll settle for seventy percent,” Lin Wei said.

“Sixty percent!”

“If you find a lot of treasures, I’ll take sixty percent,” Lin Wei continued to smile at Daniel. “Otherwise, it’ll have to be seventy percent.”

Daniel’s ice-green eyes darted around. Confident in his alchemical skills, he thought for a moment and quickly agreed, “Deal!”

However, as he got up and walked to the door, he turned back again and looked at Lin Wei with suspicion. “Wait, you’re not this generous—let’s agree first. How many treasures count as ‘a lot’?”

Lin Wei, who had intended to use the term “a lot” to weasel out of some debt, was caught and scratched his nose guiltily. “Fifty pieces?”

“That’s impossible!” Daniel rolled his eyes again. “Twenty at most!”

“Thirty!”

“Fine…” Daniel opened the door and walked out, muttering, “Crafty little noble!”

Haitie laughed happily. “Daniel probably regrets it now—if he hadn’t boasted about the flame crystal, he could have kept the full ten percent!”

“Even though the Tidis family’s wealth could last for generations, I’m still a pauper in the Magic World, so I have to find ways to make money—Daniel just handed himself over, so he can only blame himself,” Lin Wei said cheerfully.

The three of them chatted idly for a while, and as midnight approached, they each returned to their rooms to sleep.

The next day, Haitie gleefully changed into a sea-blue dress and continued to wander around the East District, while Daniel headed straight to the shops selling gems and jewelry early in the morning, searching for treasures that would be valuable in the Magic World.

Their current identities were distant relatives of the Tidis family—the journey from Siren Island to the Imperial Capital passed near the Tidis family’s fief, the Langdawo Plain. Passing through their own territory and bringing relatives from there to visit the Imperial Capital was a plausible explanation—though it wouldn’t hold up with the strictly recorded city gate guards, now that they were already inside the Imperial Capital, such a story wouldn’t raise much suspicion.

Lin Wei stayed at the inn, only venturing out to nearby areas.

However, the Imperial Family acted much faster than Lin Wei had anticipated. On the third day, they came knocking—and the person who came was someone Lin Wei had never expected.

On the morning of the third day, Lin Wei received an invitation from the Imperial Family, asking him to meet that afternoon at a manor in the West District—the signatory was none other than Bolan.

Prince Bolan?

Given Lin Wei’s status as the eldest son of the Tidis family, it would be highly improper for an investigator or prosecutor to directly visit him. Only someone of higher status than Lin Wei could issue an invitation; otherwise, Lin Wei could simply refuse.

In the Imperial Capital, those with the authority to issue such an invitation were limited to the hereditary marquises and dukes in office, as well as the Emperor and his two sons.

In Lin Wei’s expectations, Gregory, who had always harbored strong hostility toward the Magic World, would certainly volunteer to handle this matter. He had prepared to face Gregory, even thinking that, based on his past life’s understanding of Gregory, he could extract a lot of information—but the person who issued the invitation was Prince Bolan.

Had he already begun openly competing with his brother? Or was this the old Emperor’s directive?

Bolan—this long-dormant prince—made Lin Wei prepare himself to bring his A-game to the afternoon meeting.

Perhaps this was also a good opportunity to test Bolan’s stance and hint at the Tidis family’s intentions.