Ch. 85 - I Allow You to Be Greedier

[Ring of Mutual Hearts:

Extremely Rare.

Those wearing this pair of rings will unconsciously feel close to each other and sense each other's location and intentions.]

"You're a bit flustered? Why?"

Tang Qi hurriedly removed the ring from around his neck and returned it to its original owner:

"Sorry, the situation was urgent earlier, so I took one of your rings—this is actually a magical item. Only when both parties wear it can I properly cast Sanctuary on you."

Rather than being angry about her keepsake being taken, the young woman finally understood the source of that glow on her body when the zombies had surrounded her:

"So the reason I could sense your emotions all along was actually because of this ring?"

"All along?"

Tang Qi couldn't help but be taken aback.

Didn't that mean all his thoughts since meeting her had been perceived crystal clear?

"All along."

Catherine answered with certainty.

"From when you came to find me in the tent, I could actually feel...

Your feelings toward me were very intense.

Like a traveler parched in the desert for a long time, suddenly discovering an oasis."

Tang Qi realized he'd just died of embarrassment.

"Could you maybe not describe it so vividly next time? I do still have some dignity..."

"It's alright, I can understand."

Catherine took the ring but reached out to grab his leather coat, pulling him down so she could put the Ring of Mutual Hearts back around his neck.

"I don't dislike you, I'm just still getting used to it—

So, are you disappointed?"

Though worn as a pendant, it still counted as wearing it. Tang Qi couldn't lie, so he could only sigh:

"Alright, I admit I am a little."

He couldn't quite articulate what this feeling was—

Having only known each other for a few days, of course it couldn't be called 'love.'

But people always harbor possessive feelings toward the beauty right before their eyes.

To put it crudely...

It was lust at first sight.

"I see."

"..."

Tang Qi had never felt the night so quiet before.

He could almost hear his own heartbeat.

"Thump, thump—"

It felt like panic, yet also like palpitations.

So he tried to calm himself, to ease his taut nerves—

"Wait?"

He suddenly realized something odd.

The flustered one didn't seem to be just his own heartbeat.

"You said we help each other, right? It's like you invested in the Golden Oak, so I should reasonably give you dividends at year's end."

"Of course." Tang Qi nodded.

"So we share prosperity and adversity together?"

"That's right."

"Then what if the tavern encounters trouble that neither Young Master Melade nor we can solve?"

Tang Qi had actually considered solutions:

"Maybe I could take you and run away. With Dawn, ordinary people really can't stop us.

Living in a different city, or even opening a traveling tavern wouldn't be bad?"

"Can I trust you?"

"Of course. You should be able to sense my thoughts."

"Then I won't marry anyone."

Though Catherine answered calmly, she knew Tang Qi could perceive her thoughts.

Just as she could feel his heartbeat.

"Thump, thump—"

"Actually, I don't want to marry Melade either. Those noble formalities are no different from shackles to me.

They'll package me as a facade, parade me through various complicated social occasions, and maybe when they no longer need me, they'll even hand me over to someone else...

Rather than being that kind of wealthy wife, I'd rather open a traveling tavern.

Of course, ideally I'd still want this Golden Oak to take root, grow, and flourish...

I want to earn more money, want a free life where I don't have to look at anyone's face; want Anbi to be able to study in peace; and ideally, let this tavern and starberry wine bring joy to everyone."

"I promise you."

"Is that so? Promise until when?"

The young woman didn't release his collar, instead drawing even closer, her smile carrying a hint of teasing.

Tang Qi was almost against her breath:

"That's hard to say."

Lies were meaningless before the Ring of Mutual Hearts. He could only answer honestly.

"But I'll do everything I can."

"But people's thoughts change, don't they? Current thoughts don't represent your future thoughts. Verbal promises can't be counted on."

Catherine often felt she lacked some romance.

Perhaps it was an occupational hazard that made her too shrewd, always willing to look at problems more realistically, which instead made many things seem petty.

"You're right." Tang Qi didn't deny it.

"That means I'm still not that important."

"Ah..."

Damn it, why had his silver tongue suddenly become so dull?

Where were his smooth words, where were they!?

Wasn't he eloquent just moments ago!?

"Then perhaps, I can make myself more important."

The young woman paid no mind to his silence, only slowly standing up, stepping into the cool stream water, yet feeling no cold at all.

She felt her ears burning terribly.

She could no longer distinguish whose heartbeat was in her ears.

Or perhaps there had never been a difference.

But Tang Qi understood that if some things took the wrong path from the start, then everything afterward would become a complete mess.

He forced himself to calm down, and though it was futile, he still slowly took a step back:

"But I might not be a devoted person."

Yet Catherine grasped his wrist, feeling the searing body temperature similar to her own, almost pulling him into the water as well:

"It's alright, for now I just don't dislike you.

It's just that compared to others, I'm more inclined to choose you—

You're different enough, and more interesting and reliable than anyone I've met so far."

Catherine was also being very frank.

Since this was an exchange, Tang Qi, Melade, or anyone else essentially made little difference.

It was just that in comparison, she leaned more toward Tang Qi:

"If my pragmatism makes you uncomfortable, I can apologize for that.

But we've only known each other for a few days. Suddenly telling you I've developed feelings for you would actually be lying to you, right?

I don't want to lie to you.

And I hope you can understand that I'm saying this because I treasure you—I've never once thought of using you, not for a moment."

Her answer actually made Tang Qi breathe a sigh of relief.

He didn't care about being used or not.

He just didn't quite agree with some of her views:

"But your body was never your only value."

Her fiery, passionate eyes widened slightly, her vivid red lips trembling involuntarily.

After her breathing had steadied for quite a while, she finally formed a smile:

"Do you want even more? Wouldn't that be a bit too greedy?"

Tang Qi's fingers touched her shoulder, hooking that slender strap:

"'Humans are cunning and greedy'—Stonecrusher always says so."

"Well, actually I'm the same, a greedy woman—wanting money, stability, and freedom too.

Dear poet sir, can you satisfy my greed?"

"At least I can promise you absolute freedom."

If it weren't for those restless thoughts lingering endlessly, perhaps no one could see through the panic beneath the young woman's calm exterior.

She raised her swan-like neck and said:

"Then I allow you to be greedier—

If you can manage it."

Tang Qi couldn't help but laugh: "Is this some kind of competition?"

"It's just to see which of us gives in first, no?"

"Then I think it must be you, at least today."

"Why?"

"Because you're trembling."

"I... I've just never tried before.

Wait, why are you so practiced—mmph."

Moonlight quietly spilled by the riverbank, melting into the folds of that gray-white nightgown on the fern leaves.

Reflecting through the clear 'prism,' even the reflection of milky-blue chalcedony took on a rosy blush.

...

"Strange, when did the quill pen get stained with red ink?"

Geya, who had just sat down at her desk, examined the quill in her hand that seemed dyed with blood, scratching her head in confusion.

The evening wind blew through the open window, carrying summer's heat along with it, assaulting her senses all at once.

A strange smell lingered endlessly, making her pinch her upturned nose and mutter with furrowed brows:

"That's why the instructor shouldn't have allowed them to plant entire patches of Southern Stone Flowers below the dormitory building..."

Though this flower was delicate and white, possessing certain ornamental value.

And could absorb certain harmful gases, serving to purify the air.

But come summer, that pervasive smell would still make people feel slightly uncomfortable.

Yet this was an unavoidable compromise.

After all, the academy didn't regulate every poet's behavior.

Indulgence and debauchery were also part of the unconventional nature of wandering poets.

Just look at Bruto and you'd know.

This meant that during summer, this restless season, even without planting Southern Stone Flowers, the air would still be filled with a suggestive scent.

Dean Ulasan could only tacitly allow these air-purifying flowers to be planted.

When noble gentlemen came to inspect, he could still brush it off with "it's all the scent of flowers"...

Geya sighed, closed the open window tight, changed to a fresh quill, and recorded everything she had seen on the monument tonight—

[Lost Calendar Year 1000, June 14, Dawnmist Forest, overcast.

Fourth day after leaving Starberry Town.

Didn't curse at Melade today.

But cursed out the dwarf and necromancer to my heart's content...]

"Is the Lord's Alliance on the Eastern Continent really that interesting... why does he always encounter these bizarre things?"

After putting down her pen, Geya could completely foresee how many people would immerse themselves in fantasized revelry once this journal entry spread throughout the entire Poet's Academy—

No helping it, who told these poets that their daily lives were just the three-point line of academy, city district, and brothels.

Adventure was in their nature, but due to livelihood pressures, suppression was also an unavoidable choice.

Who didn't long to travel every corner of the world?

But once out the academy gates, the first thing to ensure was whether you could survive the first year—

She still didn't know how Tang Qi had crossed the ocean and survived.

[I admit, I was the one who started it.

But the primary condition for triggering Vicious Mockery is 'viciousness.' I insulted him, wasn't that also to experience the spell and think of the team?

And I was already very restrained—

At least I didn't extend my most sincere greetings to Stonecrusher's parents, right?

I just made some jokes, like 'dwarves like to drink ale because they can't reach the climbing grapevines' and such—who knew he'd react so strongly?

So I think I was right.

The dwarf overreacted.

But it's fine, I choose to forgive him.

To prove that my level is a height they can never reach in their lifetimes.

That line's not bad, I'll write it into the "Joke Collection" later too.]

"Cough cough!"

Geya nearly choked on her own saliva.

"I've already read this once, why can't I help it still?"

[...The hunter's lies were seamless, but Anbi's existence instead became the biggest flaw in the lie.

At first I didn't understand why he, a fourth-circle spellcaster, would go to such great lengths trying to muddle through with Polymorph and act in secret.

After all, high-level warriors, when facing same-level spellcasters, if properly countered, actually find it very difficult to display their full effectiveness.

Only after the fight started did I completely understand—

Turns out this bastard's spell list was too terrible.]

"Fourth-circle spellcaster..."

Just writing down these words made Geya's hands tremble involuntarily.

As someone from a nation ruled by spellcasters, she knew very well what the [fourth circle] represented—

This was already a height that most Terran nobles could never reach in their entire lives.

Like Tang Qi's father, Old Lord Weinberg, was only a third-circle spellcaster.

Yet that was enough to establish a foothold in the Terran Empire, maintaining the balanced finances of a mediocre family that was neither glorious nor ruined.

Once one touched the fourth circle, they gained the possibility of entering the council and participating in imperial decision-making.

This was also one of the reasons those noble lords scattered their seeds far and wide, just to find a talented child and seek the family's further advancement.

"This kind of existence has already been reduced to 'too terrible' in your words..."

Geya bit her silver teeth lightly, contemplating her junior schoolmate who had undergone earth-shattering changes after a year's separation.

Thinking of his experiences, his spells, and the heights his perspective had now reached.

What could she do besides envy?

"Should I also leave the academy and go outside for a walk?"

But she quickly dismissed the thought.

"Forget it, if I encountered a necromancer, I'd probably just be the one whose head gets demanded."

[...But I didn't know beforehand what spells he actually possessed.

This made me anxious from the very start.

In that moment of mental blankness, I actually thought about backing down, started thinking about how to avoid this conflict...

So much so that I almost blurted out—

'I actually have a senior schoolmate who's perfect in every sense. If you go find her, you won't even need to look for additional body parts.'

Senior Geya, if you see this journal entry someday, please don't blame me for my cowardice.

I'd rather you not focus on my 'betrayal,' but instead concentrate on 'perfect senior schoolmate.'

That's the truth!]

"Damn Tang Qi, do you know I'm secretly reading your diary and are deliberately trying to annoy me!?"

Geya transcribed the original text word for word, gripping the pen shaft with increased force.

But what she felt more was confusion:

"Does he really know? Or was it just a coincidence..."

But speculation alone could never yield an answer.

In the end, she could only purse her lips and huff softly,

"Fine, considering you called me 'perfect'... I'll forgive you for now."

No longer dwelling on tangential matters.

She turned to recording the rest of the journal—

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