Chương 52: Back to Zent Village

Adolin woke a few hours later. He felt even worse than before going to sleep. His eyes burned, and his entire body felt sluggish. Going several days without proper sleep clearly wasn't good for him. He got out of bed and stretched. Once he arrived at Zent, he would sleep for a few more hours. He walked out of the tent. A fire burned in the middle of the camp, and William sat on a log beside it. Adolin walked over and stopped near the flames, warming his hands. William glanced at him.

"Can't sleep?" Adolin shook his head.

"Not really. I'll return to the village earlier." William nodded.

"I'll let them know." He spent a minute beside the fire. The night was chilly. Then he walked toward the village. He wasn't sure how common teleportation magic was in this world, so he didn't want to risk using it in front of William. It probably didn't matter anymore. He had failed to hide most things about himself already. Still, he wanted to at least try. Once he was far enough away, he focused on the image of the room he had slept in back in the village and cast Teleport.

The familiar sensation of teleportation followed immediately, though this time it was far stronger than what he had experienced inside the dungeon. Which only made him more certain. The dungeon had used an incredibly advanced teleportation spell. He honestly wouldn't mind learning it. It had felt far more efficient than his own version, and likely consumed much less mana as well. His mana pool had been completely full when he cast the spell. Everything went black, then he was inside the room.

"Status," Adolin muttered. Mana: 126/1380 Well, that had consumed most of his mana. At least he still had enough left to cast Toxin Removal so Lira wouldn't have to suffer through withdrawal. He had also gained two levels just from using Teleport. The spell itself consumed an absurd amount of mana. Most of the cost came from activating the spell rather than the distance traveled.

Since the capital wasn't too far away, he could still teleport there, but he would need to let all of his mana regenerate before going; that would mean he needed to spend a day inside the village. Lira's recovery would consume most of the mana he had left, so first he needed to recover it. Then, after waiting a few more hours, he could return to the tavern before nightfall and finally get some well-deserved rest. He took in his surroundings.

The room looked exactly as he had left it, and Blaise was asleep in one of the beds. Not wanting to wake him, Adolin quietly left the room. The last time he had been here, Lira and Revel had stayed in the room at the end of the hallway to the left. His hand wrapped around the doorknob before stopping. Was it really appropriate to just barge into their room? Probably not. He stepped back and knocked on the door. Rough coughing came from inside the room, followed by footsteps as the coughing only grew worse.

Then the door opened. Lira stood there. Her face was pale, dark circles hung beneath her unfocused eyes, and one of her hands trembled slightly at her side.

"Dareth—" Lira broke into another fit of coughing, catching herself against the door for support.

"You're back." She tried to smile, but the exhaustion and pain twisted it into something closer to a grimace.

"Yeah," Adolin said. Well… it did hurt seeing her like this. At least she hadn't relapsed. He still wasn't entirely sure what he had seen in her the first day they met, but it wasn't the first time he had involved himself in something like this. A few of the apprentices from his previous life had come from situations similar to Lira's. He cut the thoughts short and extended his hand. This wasn't the time to get lost in his own head. Lira didn't hesitate and took his hand. Toxin Removal. He cast the spell.

It took Lira a few moments to steady herself from the effects of the spell. Then she smiled again. This time, the smile was genuine. A faint redness appeared on her pale cheeks as color slowly began returning to her face.

"T—" She stopped herself midway and simply nodded instead.

"How did the expedition go?"

"Good," Adolin said. Then his stomach grumbled. Right. He was hungry. After healing Edrin, he had gone straight to sleep instead of eating, and it had probably been a full day, maybe even two, since the last time he ate properly. He still wasn't entirely sure because of how badly the endurance rooms had distorted his sense of time. He could deal with the distortion if he really wanted to, but it wasn't important enough to waste mana on.

He needed every bit of mana he could recover for the things he planned to do over the next two days. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"There's always someone in the kitchen. We can grab some food," Lira said as she stepped out and closed the door behind her. Adolin appreciated that. The room smelled strongly of vomit, and he had been wondering when she would close the door. Mentioning it himself would have felt inappropriate.

"Works for me." By the time they got downstairs, Lira had mostly recovered. Color had returned to her face, and the pain was gone. Well, that was how the spell worked. The innkeeper sat behind the bar with his legs resting on top of it. The moment he saw them, he quickly stood and rubbed the sleepiness from his eyes.

"You're back?" he asked. Adolin simply nodded.

"What can I get you?"

"Whatever you have warm," Lira said.

"Porridge and bread."

"That'll do." The innkeeper disappeared through the door behind the bar. Adolin sat at the nearest table, and Lira joined him.

"Did you find the cause?" Lira asked.

"Yeah," Adolin said.

"We found a corrupted dungeon. The surrounding forest was corrupted too."

"Corruption? This close to the capital?" Adolin shrugged.

"I don't really know all the details." He went on to explain everything they had gone through. And once again, he found himself surprised by how easy it felt to talk to her. Lira reminded him of his sister. Maybe that was why he had avoided thinking too deeply about what she reminded him of before. They had the same golden-brown hair and hazel eyes. His first apprentice had been the same.

"There was another attack on the village after you left," Lira said.

"But it was a small wave."

"Did anyone get hurt?"

"No." She smiled softly.

"It ended quickly with the man Edrin left behind. There was another attack this morning and… I couldn't help. Thankfully, it was even smaller than the first one, so I wasn't needed." Adolin studied her.

"Well, tomorrow I'll fix it. I just need some time to prepare."

"The… addiction?" Her eyes brightened.

"Really?"

"Yeah. In a few hours." Lira stared at him silently for a few moments before a blush spread across her face, and she quickly looked away.

"I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything," Adolin said. She nodded slowly.

"I know you don't like people thanking you, but… thank you. Again." She let out a small chuckle.

"At least you didn't make that face this time." Adolin tilted his head. What face? She laughed quietly again.

"Whenever someone thanks you, you always look… I don't know." She hesitated, trying to find the words.

"Like you don't think you deserve it. I can't really explain it." Adolin wasn't sure what kind of expression she meant, but he knew why he disliked being thanked. And he really didn't want to think about it. This was a new life. The past should stay where it belonged. He scratched the back of his head.

"Well… I'll try not to make it anymore." The food arrived a few minutes later. The porridge was mixed with some kind of local seeds and wild berries. Nothing special, but it filled his stomach well enough. The bread, however, was excellent. Soft on the inside with a slight crispness on the crust, it was baked with the same seeds used in the porridge. Somehow, they tasted far better in the bread than they did in the bowl.

They spent the next hour talking about different things, mostly about the village and the people Lira had met there. Adolin avoided bringing up the last few days. It was obvious she had struggled, and he was fairly certain she wouldn't appreciate him asking about it directly. Still, the question he had wanted to ask ever since meeting her lingered in the back of his mind. The more he thought about it, the more it felt like there would never be a right time to ask it.

"Are you mad at Lissandra for leaving you?" The question left his mouth before he could stop it. The atmosphere at the table turned awkward almost instantly. Lira avoided his gaze, and Adolin suddenly found the table far more interesting to look at. Why would he even ask that?

"I… I don't know," Lira said quietly.

"I don't want to think about it… so I don't. That's why I'm not really sure how I feel about it." She paused for a moment.

"I am mad about Telian seeing me like that. Mom should never have let him see me in that state. Never." Her gaze lowered toward the table.

"Other than that… I don't want to relive those memories." He understood where she was coming from. Still, if it were him, he thought he would have been at least a little angry even if he understood why Lissandra had done it. Her position at the Academy had been the only thing giving her enough influence to seek help from the church. But if she had allowed Lira to stay at home in that condition, she likely would have lost that position. It had been a terrible choice. Both options had been equally awful.

One choice risked ruining her relationship with her daughter, but carried a small chance of curing her. The other avoided damaging the relationship, while leaving Lira with almost no chance of ever getting better. And honestly, Adolin wasn't sure what he would have done if he had been in Lissandra's place. Not long after that, he was back in his room, lying on the bed. The mood had soured after his question, and they hadn't really talked much afterward. Adolin himself hadn't known what to say next.

It was an awkward situation entirely of his own making. Well, it was already over. And at this point, he was dying for sleep. He woke up some time later to sunlight spilling through the window. His mana had fully recovered. Now it was finally time to get rid of Lira's addiction for good. Preferably, before Revel returned, he had to deal with whatever conversation she wanted to have with him.