novelraw Chapter 1643 - 1641: Changes of Odd and Even?
Chapter 1643 - 1641: Changes of Odd and Even?
Returning to the city didn’t make much of a difference for Fang Zheng.
After entering the city, the cleric went to the temple to pray, Megumin was lying contentedly on the inn bed after unleashing a burst outside the swamp before coming to the city. Meanwhile, Fang Zheng strolled through the city, recounting his experiences during this time to others.
After listening, everyone couldn’t help but be amazed.
"Like the Black Cat, middle-school syndrome, and can only release one grand magic burst a day? Big brother, you really have it rough."
"Right? I also feel like I’m having it rough. Why can’t I find any normal people in this world?"
Strictly speaking, normal people do exist, but they just don’t meet Fang Zheng’s standards.
However, those who meet Fang Zheng’s standards... are basically not normal people.
"So what’s next, Master?"
"Just keep watching, anyway, it’s still early."
In response to Nymph’s inquiry, Fang Zheng shrugged helplessly. Although he wasn’t trailing Lina like a stalker, he did release a Little Ding Dong to track her and checked the surveillance footage each day to confirm the progress. So far, Lina has met with Takasato and the two have started traveling together. This made Fang Zheng sigh in relief; at least the plot over there was progressing smoothly.
Just don’t know when it’ll reach the Chapter of Phibrizzo the Deathlord.
But for now...
"What do you want with me?"
Fang Zheng stopped and turned around to look behind him. Soon, two cloaked men emerged from behind him.
"It’s a lot of hard work following me all the way here, who are you guys? What do you want with me?"
"We know we may appear suspicious."
Upon hearing Fang Zheng’s words, one of the men, wrapped tightly with only his hair and eyes exposed, spoke up.
"But we came here just to ask you about something."
"What is it?"
"A few days ago, you and that cleric accepted a mission to eradicate a thieves’ gang. I’d like to ask about that thieves’ gang."
"Oh, I see..."
Upon hearing this and seeing his hardened hair, Fang Zheng immediately understood the true identity of the man in front of him—if Fang Zheng guessed correctly, this man was Jerugandis, who would become an indispensable member of Lina’s team in the future.
He’s the grandson of Red Mage Raizo, but was turned into a Stone Man by Red Mage Raizo, which, simply put, is the equivalent of being permanently under a Stone Skin Technique. Thus, Jerugandis has no choice but to answer to Raizo. This time, they originally had their eyes on one of the treasures from the thieves’ gang that Lina destroyed before, but before they could act, Lina preemptively destroyed the thieves’ gang and rudely took the treasure.
This is why Jerugandis, as Raizo’s right-hand man, came to find Lina, intending to steal the treasure. But he’s not doing this to deliver the treasure to Raizo, because after all, Raizo is the one who turned him into a Stone Man. What Jerugandis wants is to obtain the treasure, disrupt Raizo’s plan, and ideally use it as leverage to force Raizo to turn him back into a human.
But why is he here... oh...
Thinking of this, Fang Zheng sighed helplessly.
Right, the task he accepted with the cleric was recorded, and the guy who infiltrated the thieves’ gang at that time only saw Lina being blasted away and had no idea who took the treasure afterward. After all, Lina had been there, and according to the records, Fang Zheng and the cleric had also been there, so to be safe, they wanted to ask if Fang Zheng had the treasure.
"We didn’t have time to do anything."
Clearly, Fang Zheng didn’t plan to get involved in this, so he quickly answered.
"To be honest, by the time we arrived and hadn’t even had the chance to act, Lina Inverse descended from the sky and eliminated the thieves’ gang before us. We had no choice but to leave, so the mission was ultimately a failure."
"So, you didn’t obtain any spoils of war from the thieves either?"
"To snatch things under Lina Inverse’s nose? I don’t want to make things that complicated."
Fang Zheng meant it genuinely; he definitely didn’t want to have anything to do with someone like Lina Inverse, who is a walking disaster.
"I see... I understand. Sorry for bothering you."
After saying this, Jerugandis and his subordinate turned to leave, and at this moment, Fang Zheng finally breathed a sigh of relief. You’d better go and trouble Lina now, and then you’ll just be another unfortunate soul under Lina Inverse...
Indeed, this is another reason why Fang Zheng doesn’t want to provoke Lina Inverse. Everyone knows there are no good outcomes for those who provoke Lina Inverse; they either get defeated by her or become her lackey.
Like Jerugandis and Maruchina...
The best way to deal with such people is to never get involved with them in the first place.
"Ah---!"
As Fang Zheng mused while walking through the square, a sudden scream startled him.
Oh no, it can’t be Lina Inverse catching up, right? If that’s the case, I’m out of here!
Fang Zheng quickly turned towards the source of the sound and saw a small figure desperately squeezing through the crowd, running towards him.
Whew... thank goodness it’s not that disaster.
But, this is...
Looking at the panting little girl who ran up to him, Fang Zheng recalled for a moment and quickly remembered that this was the little girl he met after transmigrating to this world.
Her name was indeed Meiyin, wasn’t it?
"Uh, um..."
The little girl was out of breath as she ran up to Fang Zheng, holding a large picture book in her hands, the very one he had given her.
Initially, Fang Zheng thought she was just here to thank him, but her expression seemed somewhat terrifying, mixed with seriousness and hope, with a tinge of deep unease.
"Is there something you need?"
"Uh, um, that..."
Looking at Fang Zheng, the little girl seemed quite nervous and unsure of what to say. After a moment, she raised the book in her hand.
"Thank you for the book you gave me, I really like it!"
"Ah, well, you’re welcome... If you like it, I have more..."
"No, no, it’s not like that."
However, before Fang Zheng could finish his sentence, Meiyin shook her head vigorously, interrupting him.
"I... um, what I mean is... I’ve understood the stories in it."
"Hmm, pretty smart... So..."
"Wait, that’s not what I mean, I mean..."
As she spoke, Meiyin desperately extended a hand, pointing at the cover of the picture book before her, staring at Fang Zheng and articulating word by word.
"I understand now!"
"......"
Seeing the little girl’s determination, Fang Zheng was momentarily stunned. Then he turned his head and looked at the cover of the book, noting that the girl was pointing directly at the title on the cover.
Hmm... wait? Could she mean...
Thinking of this, Fang Zheng suddenly realized, staring in surprise at the little girl in front of him.
No way...!
"........."
"........."
For a moment, silence enveloped the two of them, both not sure what to say. After a moment, Fang Zheng coughed.
"So... constants don’t change?"
"...Huh?"
The girl was clearly confused by Fang Zheng’s question, seemingly not understanding what he meant.
Was it too difficult? Or too obscure?
In that case...
Fang Zheng coughed again and looked at the girl.
"How are you?"
Hearing this, the girl’s eyes lit up immediately.
"Fine, thank you, and you?"
"I’m fine too!"
As he finished speaking, Fang Zheng and the girl shook hands firmly!
"I never expected to meet a fellow traveler here!"
"Me too!"
Looking at the girl in front of him, Fang Zheng couldn’t help but sigh. Having transmigrated to so many worlds, it’s the first time he actually met someone like himself!
"Are you Japanese? I’m Rino Honzu from Japan, I..."
Perhaps because she was seeing a fellow countryman, the girl was quite excited and started sharing her experiences with Fang Zheng eagerly. Through her description, Fang Zheng learned that she was originally a 21-year-old female college student from Japan named Rino Honzu, who loved reading passionately. One day she went to the library to read, a sudden earthquake happened, and she was killed by falling books.
When she regained consciousness, she had transmigrated to this world, becoming a little girl named Meiyin.
Hearing this, Fang Zheng also felt a sense of wonder. Being crushed by books in a library during an earthquake is something he could never imagine. But then again, he himself was killed by a falling live wire... Could it be that only those with bizarre deaths qualify for transmigration?
"You don’t know how happy I am to see books!"
Sitting next to Fang Zheng, Meiyin waved her little arms and legs excitedly.
"There are no books here, and almost no one can read. I even considered making my own paper, and I tried baking clay tablets... but I failed."
"That’s really unfortunate."
Looking at the little girl in front of him, Fang Zheng couldn’t help but sympathize. Although his rebirth was unlucky, at least he was a normal person. According to Meiyin, her body was weak and often ill, unable to even leave the house. Also, they were regular civilians, only barely able to make ends meet. For someone like Meiyin from modern life, it was quite unbearable.
"There aren’t even any toilets or baths here..."
Meiyin told Fang Zheng she had almost given up, but then she met him. Initially, Meiyin just found it curious to see Fang Zheng reading in the square, but when she was sent home after fainting and opened the picture book Fang Zheng gave her, she immediately noticed the issue— the text was in Japanese!
Because of this, Meiyin was stunned and never expected to see something from Japan in this world. From then on, she visited the square daily hoping to meet Fang Zheng. Though she hadn’t met him, she never gave up. Now it seems, her perseverance has paid off somewhat.
"So, what are you planning to do?"
"Huh?"
Surprised by Fang Zheng’s question, Meiyin was a bit taken aback.
"What do you mean?"
"To be honest, I’m also from another world... although I’m like you, reborn and transmigrated, but the world I was in isn’t like this. Now, I have some power and status. Honestly, I can’t send you back to your original world, but I can take you to another Earth where you can return to your previous life. What do you think?"
"Another Earth?"
"Yes, you know about parallel worlds, right? I’ve explored many and connected with a few. If you’d like, after finishing my business here, I can take you to another Earth to live your life as before."
Fang Zheng didn’t mind sharing more with her since they were both transients after all. Although not from the same Earth, they were kindred spirits to some extent.
Moreover, Meiyin was a polite and good child. If it had been those idiots from the Shield Hero World, Fang Zheng would have kicked them away long ago.
"This... this..."
However, Meiyin didn’t react as gleefully as Fang Zheng expected, instead, she seemed uncertain.
"Is there a problem?"
"Yes... while I find this place inconvenient, this body’s family... Dolly, Dad, Mom all love me... I..."
"I see."
Seeing Meiyin’s troubled expression, Fang Zheng nodded. His reborn body left him with a lot of trouble. So he hadn’t considered this aspect, but Meiyin clearly faced a different situation.
"No need to rush. I’ll be in this world for a while, you can find me anytime."
As he spoke, Fang Zheng handed a portable personal device to Meiyin.
"It works like a computer, give it a try. If there’s anything, contact me through it. Oh, right, do you need some money? Your current situation seems tough..."
"No, no."
Seeing Fang Zheng offering money, Meiyin quickly shook her head and pushed it away.
"I’ll just take this device, thank you... Mr. Fang Zheng, I’ll reach out if I need help."
"Sure, come find me anytime."
Watching the girl, Fang Zheng patted his chest.
After all, he was her senior, right?