Chapter 45: Only Him, Just Him

Bustling.

Clamor.

Hubbub.

Today, the City of Allenson remains as prosperous as ever.

At the iron and gear-crafted city gates, merchants come and go in steam-powered magic carriages, their faces brimming with smiles and joy. Residents, as usual, chat with family and friends.

No one notices.

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

To ordinary people, high nobles are incredibly rare, so even if they disappear, few would take notice.

Now, at this very moment.

This steam-powered city standing in the northern part of the world.

Inside, only a large number of commoners and mid-level officials, unqualified to know the truth, remain. The true high officials have long since departed.

“I need… to buy things… quickly…”

In the sky above Allenson.

Cressa no longer hides it, using her maximum magical output to cast the Wind Riding Technique, flying faster and heading straight for the bustling market in the city center.

When she lands, she immediately causes a stir.

About Cressa.

About this beautiful girl.

The market vendors all know she has some connection to an Official Mage, possibly a relative or the mage’s personal maid.

It’s because of this ambiguous relationship that the Witch hasn’t been harassed.

But today.

Witnessing Cressa use magic.

The ordinary vendors in the market are utterly shocked, their eyes wide as they stare at Cressa holding a magic staff, their voices trembling.

“A mage, that child is actually a mage?!”

“Sigh… If I had known, I should have been more polite before.”

“By the Goddess of Harvest, this is truly unbelievable!”

People chatter away.

Some envious, some jealous, some utterly stunned.

But soon.

As if in unison, everyone starts showering Cressa with all sorts of praises, calling her beautiful, kind, and benevolent.

Some even boldly offer free goods.

There are delicate mechanical pocket watches, crisp and delicious vegetables and fruits, and outrageously gorgeous women’s clothing.

The vendors are desperate.

Fighting to be first.

With fanatical expressions.

Trying to force their best items onto Cressa.

“…Boring.”

Cressa calmly watches the farce before her.

Is it because the massive steam from the machines no longer masks everything?

For some reason, even though it’s the same market, the same vendors, the same buildings, the ugliness and malice on people’s faces have become glaringly obvious.

Everyone is crammed into the same space, flattering her to curry favor.

But.

Isn’t this the very scene she once longed for?

No one hitting her, no one spitting on her, everyone vying to be her friend, everyone eager to get close to her. Isn’t this the life she once dreamed of?

Why does it now fill her with such disgust?

“Ah, I see…”

Looking down at her fair hands, then at the exquisite magic staff.

Cressa suddenly understands.

The people here, the surging crowd around her, don’t like Cressa. They like a beautiful female mage named “Cressa,” a mage with a bright future compared to ordinary people.

They don’t like the Witch, nor do they like Cressa herself.

From the beginning to the end.

The one who would extend a helping hand to the Witch, who would embrace the Witch like the sun, giving her warmth and hope.

Was always only that person.

Only him, just him, who wouldn’t care about getting his hands dirty, who would take the stench-covered Witch by the hand and gently bring her home.

“I need to finish the mentor’s task quickly,” Cressa thinks, waving her staff and using Wind Magic to forcefully disperse the surrounding vendors.

Under the vendors’ fearful and cowering gazes, Cressa quickly identifies various items.

Food.

Daily necessities.

Clothing and tools.

Using Wind Magic to gather them, she sorts and categorizes them, then stores them all in her Spatial Ring.

The entire process takes no more than three minutes.

Magic is indeed a convenient thing.

“Now I can go back.”

Cressa glances at her Spatial Ring, sensing the fully packed space inside, nods slightly, and tosses a bag of coins, distributing them to the vendors.

Equivalent exchange.

This is the first lesson Xu Xi taught the Witch.

The Witch remembers it well.

“Wind Riding Technique, gather,” without giving the vendors any chance to speak, Cressa waves her staff, and the roaring wind elements envelop her again, carrying her back toward the courtyard.

She completes the task quickly, the round trip taking less than ten minutes.

Perhaps she’ll earn praise from her mentor?

With this thought in mind, Cressa increases her magical 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?

“Whoosh——” In the sky, the fierce wind howls.

Cressa rides the gale, flying faster and faster toward the courtyard. She’s almost there, so close, yet the unease in her heart grows stronger.

She clutches her chest, her eyes blank.

Uncomprehending, unknowing, only aware of the heavy pressure in her heart, she instinctively speeds up.

This long-forgotten pain.

Makes the Witch panic.

“Return… return to the mentor’s side…”

“As long as the mentor is there, everything can be solved,” unable to understand what’s happening, the Witch instinctively chooses to rely on the person she trusts most.

Xu Xi, her mentor, her sun.

As long as she returns to Xu Xi’s side, all unease and pain will disappear, Cressa genuinely believes.

Soon.

The high-speed flying Cressa sees the familiar courtyard.

Thinking of the man inside, the pressure in her chest lessens slightly.

So, Cressa speeds up, driven by an urgency she doesn’t understand, rushing toward the courtyard as if her life depends on it, even forgetting the caution Xu Xi always taught her.

Faster.

Even faster.

Please, faster.

The Witch frantically pushes the Wind Riding Technique, and finally, she reaches the vicinity of the courtyard.

But just then.

The sky darkens.

“BOOM!!!!!”

An unimaginable barrage of fireballs rains down from the sky, like thousands of falling meteors, suddenly appearing above Allenson.

Roaring and rampaging.

The high-speed impacts annihilate everything.

And one of the blazing fireballs is headed straight for the courtyard Cressa is trying to reach.

“No, wait!… No, no… This can’t be!”

Sensing something terrible, Cressa’s pupils contract, and she lets out a panicked cry, her voice trembling.

The heaviness in her chest reaches its peak at this moment.