The 18th Return

  Due to the occurrence of fires and cult events, Dehumi City began emergency martial law. Every street had bald monks in red robes patrolling with teams of Sel riders. The doors and windows of the town were all closed tightly, and the air above the city seemed to have become heavier as well. It is said that this martial law will last for a very long time.

  The newly reopened Black Horse and Cangyue Bar had few customers, and the newly dressed waitress Xikuo carried a wine jug back and forth, occasionally leaning on the counter, silently sighing.

  "Hey! Why are you still so gloomy?" The beautiful older sister pinched Hickel's face: "The tavern is gone, as long as people are still here it's fine."

  "I know, but look at him..." The girl pointed to the young man sitting next to the piano with a downcast expression. Penny Sien's face was listless, and the notes flowing from the piano were intermittent and dull. Fortunately, the atmosphere in the city was similar to the sound coming from the speakers, and there were few customers in the tavern, otherwise such a performance would have greatly affected the tavern's business.

  The beautiful woman looked at each other helplessly and could only sigh.

  It's been ten days since the incident, and even Xico has gradually recovered from the sorrow of losing the tavern. However, Penny Sien still looks half-dead, responding to questions with only monosyllabic onomatopoeias, and when there's nothing going on, he just lies on a table, occasionally looking dazed, nobody knows what he's thinking about.

  Every time Hickel saw the young man like this, he felt extremely distressed.

  She had grown accustomed to Penny's calm and collected expression, as if she always knew what she was doing, always confident, even when flustered, not panicked.

  Kikoru remembered the quiet boy who used to sit in front of the tavern and felt a wave of weakness.

  It's just a tavern, although it holds countless memories, but isn't that all in the past? The city government is investigating the murderer, and I'm sure there will be results soon. The girl sighed, she had already let go of her grief, so why was Penny still like this?

  "We can't go on like this."

  No business came to the door, Wei Ka closed the door early and went upstairs to sleep with a yawn. Xikeer looked at Penny, puffed out her chest, and decided to think of ways to cheer him up.

  This is what she has to do.

  Who tried to dispel the gloom for her when she was surrounded by suffering?

  Who is it that comes to her rescue when she falls into danger without considering the consequences?

  And who was it that encouraged her, giving her the courage to face the shadows that had been weighing on her mind for ten years.

  Yes, it's time for her to do something.

  Kikoru thought so.

  Moreover, there is a deeper emotion that is bursting to come out from the bottom of her heart. This feeling is very unfamiliar to girls, but it's not that she doesn't understand it. At some point, when she looks at the boy's figure, she has an urgent desire to express herself.

  The last traveler went upstairs to rest, and the first floor of the inn was left with only two young men and women. Hickory could hear his own heartbeat thumping.

  "Take it easy, comfort her, encourage him, it's nothing..." The girl who was leaning on the piano kept encouraging herself, recalling how her mother used to comfort her when she cried as a child.

  Hei Ke'er walked over quietly and gently kissed the young man's forehead.

  "This is how older women kiss children." Penny lifted her head, her expression a bit downcast.

  "Are you awake?" Hickel took two deep breaths, his heart racing violently, but his bright red face turned to one side.

  "Go to sleep early." Seeing the girl looking at his profile, the boy closed his eyes again.

  "You... are you alright?" Hiko saw the boy's smile and felt a little relieved.

  "I've been doing nothing, just thinking about some issues." Penny propped her chin with her hand and struck a discordant chord on the piano: "I just figured it out now."

  "Figured it out?"

  Pan Ni let out a sigh and sat up straighter:

  "This is a world of swords and magic, where powerful beings from various upper and lower planes can easily reach the main material plane through dimensional gates. Gods and demons are not nothingness, always interfering with this world in some form or another at all times. Not to mention legendary strongmen, even a high-ranking spellcaster can kill hundreds of lives in one breath, turning prosperous towns into scorched earth in an instant. Terrifying creatures are everywhere... And I, actually hope to live a 'normal life' in such a place?"

  Penny said a lot of words and then laughed at herself.

  Heiko's face sank, and although she didn't deeply understand the meaning of Penny's words, she could hear the biting sarcasm in them, a deep dissatisfaction with herself.

  Penny Xien, whether before or after crossing over, is a person who keeps his emotions to himself. He rarely shows any strong emotional ups and downs, and usually has an calm demeanor. Unless it's a special situation, he rarely reveals intense emotions.

  But witnessing the tavern being burned to ashes, he indeed felt extremely painful. Having stayed in the Red Robe Alchemist Academy for eight years and having undergone countless hardships, he had never felt such pain before that day.

  If someone has gone through hardships and finally achieved a good life that they had dreamed of, but reality soon tells them it's an illusion, how would they feel?

  The reason why Penny has been feeling down lately is this.

  Anyone's beautiful dream shattered out of thin air, and their mood won't be too good.

  "Mr. Zhan said it right, I'm indeed a muddled guy." Pennie muttered to himself, his eyes becoming increasingly empty.

  "Y...". Hickel's eyes changed slightly, as if he had a premonition.

  "To defend one's own life, one must have the matching strength. Without strength, what qualifications do you have to live according to your own ideas? I should have understood this principle long ago, but I've been deceiving myself all along. This is no longer the rule of law society it used to be." Pannie said with a tone of regret, not noticing that she had accidentally revealed some information that shouldn't be leaked. Fortunately, Hickel apparently didn't understand and didn't notice this small segment of conversation, but instead heard another key sentence spoken quickly by Pannie: "Hickel, I might have to leave."

  "So, is it going after 'power'?" The girl asked tentatively.

  "We've provoked a superior devil, and after what happened at the tavern, it will continue to come for us. If I don't have enough power to counter it, we'll pay a terrible price sooner or later."

  "Where are you going?"

  "I don't know, maybe it's in the west... Maybe I can try my luck at Candlekeep or Luskan, after all, my basics are still pretty good." Pannier looked up at Xikor and said thoughtfully.

  "Those places are too far away, Penny, go find Father." Hickory said suddenly after a moment of silence.

  "Huh...?" Panni was taken aback, looking incredulously at the girl with a calm expression.

  "I... have also figured it out, I am Sel's woman, my father is Red Cloak, and my children may also become Red Cloaks. So you... don't have a reason not to be able to become a Red Cloak either... This might be my fate." Xikuo smiled slightly, with some bitterness and sweetness: "I appreciate that you can consider my thoughts, but you don't need to go on an adventure a thousand miles away for this."

  Go back to being a Red Robe again?

  Without noticing the girl's unusual expression, Penny's eyes fluttered slightly, and she began to consider this option, which seemed not entirely unacceptable.

  This world is full of palpable dangers everywhere.

  After several days of consideration, Penny arrived at an answer, and with the foundation of Red Robe education he had received, it was probably very difficult for him to accept the orthodox Magical Guild's training, and the Magical Guild would also probably find it very hard to accept him.

  An apprentice mage from Thay - a title not particularly well-received in Faerun.

  Places where he can continue his studies are really limited.

  In this way, the danger inside the Red Robe Association, he has already had some experience and paid the price... It's just that after becoming a formal Red Robe, being bound by the association will be much less, at most shaving his head, not becoming a monk.

  "I believe you won't change, and in Sel, I at least have the chance to see you often...". Hickel sat beside the young man, taking out a coin from his pocket: "This is the keepsake left by mom, it's a copper coin blessed by the lady, carrying it with you will bring you good luck."

  "So..." Penny took the coins, and suddenly a surge of courage welled up in her heart, making her think that going back to the Red Robe Master wasn't so unacceptable after all: "Thanks, Hiko."

  "I should thank you, Penny... and..." Hickel leaned in close to Penny's ear: "I never said I liked you."

  "Oh." Penny was taken aback for a moment, his attitude towards Hickory had always been like an elder to a younger child, liking perhaps, but not love. But he thought for a moment and finally smiled at Hickory: "Me too."

  Since we're going to part ways anyway, why ruin each other's mood?

  Pan Ni thought so, but soon a warm lip was attached to her own mouth, and the kiss lasted for tens of seconds until both of them felt suffocated before slowly separating.

  Be careful.

  Perhaps from now on, in this world, I will no longer be alone. Penny walked out of the inn with a tattered bundle on his back, looked back at the figure in the window, and felt an inexplicable feeling in his heart.

  He knew that no matter whether this confession would eventually come to fruition or become a farce, at least in the future when he was bored and had nothing better to do, there would be more content to think about, and someone was waiting for him in a small hotel in a certain city.

  These chaotic thoughts had been swirling around him until he arrived at the bedroom of Dean Zhan Huashi in Lakeview Academy, where the servant who led him in closed the door and left. The middle-aged man in red robes got up from bed, rubbing his sleepy eyes, and nodded slightly with some fatigue:

  "It seems you've already made up your mind, but be clear about what kind of price you'll have to pay."

  "I'm ready," said Penny with a serious expression.

  He also didn't know whether this step forward would bring good fortune or disaster. However, it was already too late to turn back.

  ***

  Seeking recommendation votes~~