Chapter 45: Only Him, Only Him

Lively. Noisy. Clamorous.

Today, Alenson City is as bustling as ever.

At the gates forged of steel and gears, merchants enter and exit in steam-powered magic trucks, their faces beaming with smiles and joy, while residents chat with family and friends just as they always do.

Not a single person noticed.

Among the crowds entering and leaving Alenson City today, there is not a single high noble present.

To ordinary people, high nobles are incredibly rare existences, so even if the high nobles were to disappear, very few would notice.

Now, at this very moment.

In this city of steam standing on the northern side of the world.

Only a large number of commoners remain inside, along with the middle class who lack the qualifications to know the truth; the true upper echelon has long since departed.

"I must… as quickly as possible… buy the things…"

In the sky above Alenson City.

Klisa no longer hides her presence. Using her maximum magic output, she releases the Wind Riding Technique to fly faster, rushing straight toward the bustling market in the city center.

When she lands, she immediately causes astonishment among the people.

Regarding Klisa.

Regarding this beautiful girl.

The market vendors all know that she has some connection to an Official Mage, suspected of being a relative or perhaps the mage's personal maid.

It is precisely because of this inscrutable relationship that the witch has not faced any harassment.

But today.

Witnessing Klisa use magic with their own eyes.

The ordinary merchants in the market are suddenly shocked, staring wide-eyed at Klisa holding her magic wand, their voices trembling.

"A mage, that child is actually a mage?!"

"Hiss… if I had known, I should have been more polite before."

"Goddess of Harvest above, this is truly unbelievable!"

People whisper among themselves.

Some are envious, some jealous, and others are completely dazed.

But soon.

As if speaking in unison, everyone utters all sorts of praise, showering Klisa with compliments, calling her beautiful, kind, and benevolent.

Some even boldly offer free goods.

There are small, exquisite mechanical pocket watches, crisp and delicious vegetables and fruits, and outrageously gorgeous women's clothing.

The merchants are desperate.

Scrambling.

Their expressions are fanatical.

They want to force the best items they can produce into Klisa's hands.

"…Boring."

Klisa calmly watches the farce before her.

Is it because she has lost the cover of the steam engine's massive water vapor?

For some reason, even though it is the same market, the same merchants, and the same buildings, the ferocity and ugliness on people's faces have become incredibly obvious.

Everyone crowds into the same space, fawning and flattering her just to please her.

But.

Isn't this exactly the scene she wanted most before?

No one beats her, no one despises her, everyone competes to be her friend, everyone rushes to get close to her; isn't this the life she dreamed of?

Why, now, has it become so repulsive?

"Ah, so that's it…"

Looking down at her fair, delicate hands, then at the exquisitely crafted magic wand.

Klisa suddenly realizes.

The people on the scene, the surging crowd around her, do not like Klisa; they like a beautiful female mage named "Klisa," a mage with a bright future compared to ordinary people.

They do not like the witch, and certainly not Klisa herself.

From beginning to end.

The one who would reach out a helping hand to the witch, who would embrace the witch like the sun, giving the witch warmth and hope.

Is always only that person.

Only him, only him, would not care about getting his hands covered in mud, taking the foul-smelling witch by the hand and gently bringing her home.

"I must complete my mentor's instructions as soon as possible," Klisa thinks, waving her magic wand to forcibly disperse the surrounding merchants with Wind Magic.

Amidst the fearful and shrinking gazes of the merchants, Klisa quickly locks onto various items.

Food.

Daily necessities.

Clothing and props.

Using Wind Magic, she sweeps them up, sorts them into zones, and then uses her spatial ring to store them all at once.

The entire process takes no more than three minutes.

Magic is truly such a convenient thing.

"This way, I can go back."

Klisa glances at her spatial ring, senses the space packed full inside, nods slightly, and tosses out a bag of coins, distributing them into the hands of each merchant.

Equivalent exchange.

This is the first lesson Xu Xi taught the witch.

The witch keeps it firmly in her heart.

"Wind Riding Technique, gather." Without giving the merchants any chance to speak, Klisa waves her magic wand, and the whistling wind elements wrap around her again as she takes flight, rushing back toward the location of the courtyard.

She completed the task very quickly; the round trip took less than ten minutes in total.

Perhaps she can receive her mentor's praise?

As this thought flashes through her mind, Klisa increases her magic output, making the wind fiercer and her flight faster, eager to return to Xu Xi's side.

But.

But why?

Why does her chest feel so heavy and painful?

"Whoosh—" High in the sky, the wind howls.

Klisa rides the gale, approaching the courtyard at an increasingly fast speed. She is almost there, clearly almost there, yet the unease in her heart becomes increasingly pronounced.

She clutches her chest, her eyes dazed.

She does not understand why, she knows not the reason, she only knows that her heart feels terribly oppressed, and she subconsciously accelerates her flight.

This long-lost pain.

Makes the witch panic.

"Return… return to mentor's side…"

"As long as mentor is there, everything can be solved." Unable to understand what is happening, the witch subconsciously chooses to rely on the person she trusts the most.

Xu Xi, her mentor, her sun.

As long as she returns to Xu Xi's side, all unease and pain will disappear; Klisa genuinely believes this.

Soon.

The high-speed flying Klisa sees the familiar courtyard.

The moment she thinks of the man inside the courtyard, the oppression in her heart lessens slightly.

Thus, Klisa speeds up. Driven by a sense of urgency she doesn't even understand herself, she rushes toward the courtyard as if reckless, even forgetting the caution Xu Xi often taught her.

Faster.

A little faster.

Please, a little faster.

The witch frantically stimulates the Wind Riding Technique. Finally, she flies to the vicinity of the courtyard as she wished.

But it is precisely at this moment.

The sky turns dark.

"Bang!!!!!"

A cluster of unimaginable fireballs descends from the sky, like ten million falling meteors, appearing abruptly above Alenson City.

Roaring, raging, galloping.

The high-speed impact destroys everything.

And the landing spot of one of the exploding fireballs is exactly the courtyard Klisa wants to reach.

"No, wait!… Don't, don't… No, you can't!"

Sensing something terrible, Klisa's pupils contract. She lets out a voice of panic she has never felt before, so panicked that her voice trembles.

The heavy pain in her chest reaches its peak at this moment.