novelraw Chapter 142 : Chapter 142
Chapter 142 : Chapter 142
Volume 2
Chapter 66 : Hotel
"Your potions have gotten even better, Senior."
"Of course they have. That is my proudly improved version. Not only does it take effect instantly, it can also transform you into whoever you want at will. Although comparatively speaking, the duration is much shorter."
"It feels like it could be used for some very useful things."
"Junior, nothing indecent, all right?"
"I did not say I was going to use it for anything indecent! What if I want to turn into someone else and do good deeds anonymously?"
"Hehe, I will just take your word for it, Junior."
As evening drew near, the number of people on the streets gradually increased instead.
After a day of labor, in this age where there was not much in the way of entertainment, most people still stepped out of their homes to enjoy the rare peace and bustle of this street in the Lower City.
From the riverside not far away came a hubbub of voices and the shrill cries of children.
It seemed that some sort of event was underway.
This was the quietest and loveliest time of the day, and also the time Muen had been looking forward to the most.
He was still flipping through that guidebook, quickly determining what other places might still be worth visiting.
Even if Senior did not consider this a date, Muen still hoped to see her beneath the sunset, smiling like a blooming flower, with her hair gently lifted by the breeze from the riverbank.
She would surely look beautiful like that.
And yet at precisely this moment, Senior suddenly said her goodbyes.
"Let us stop here for today."
"Now?"
Muen's hand, still turning the pages of the guidebook, stiffened slightly. He looked up in astonishment.
"It should still be early, should it not?"
"It is not early anymore, Junior."
Anna lightly brushed her hair back and smiled.
"I have already had more than enough fun, and besides, I still have a few personal matters to deal with."
"We barely did anything fun at all."
Muen sighed.
This outing, which he alone had insisted on thinking of as a date, had gone badly from the very beginning.
In his imagination, today should have had sunlight, flowers, a romantic lunch or dinner, a charming sunset, a night strewn with stars, and beneath that night, a blushing girl suggesting they squeeze into a hotel together because the academy gates had already closed...
Scratch out that last one. Something like that felt as though it could never happen with Senior.
If the two of them were together, the only one blushing would be him.
But of all the things Muen had hoped for, aside from the weather being tolerable enough, not a single one had actually happened.
Instead, the day had been filled with twisted incidents, tense confrontations, sudden confessions, and the drifting killing intent of a young girl.
He was numb by now. Could anything be more miserable than this?
"There is no need to be in such a hurry, is there?"
Clinging to the very last shred of hope, Muen suggested, "The guide says there is a special spring not far from here. As long as you are sincere, you can see your future true love in its reflection. It sounds interesting. Will you not go and try it, Senior?"
"True love?"
Anna's gaze shifted away, as though it had fallen somewhere far beyond sight.
"I am sorry. I have never really believed in that sort of thing."
Her voice too seemed to be carried away by the wind, distant and drifting.
Muen felt momentarily dazed.
He could not tell whether what Senior did not quite believe in was that gimmicky spring, or the words "true love" themselves.
"Then I will be going, Junior. I will see you back at the academy."
Anna smiled softly and bade him a gentle farewell.
In the evening breeze that was soon to arrive, she turned around, her skirt swaying as she disappeared into the unending stream of people.
Watching her back, Muen instinctively opened his mouth, yet he still failed to speak any words to make her stay.
"Goodbye, Senior."
In the end, only that hollow farewell was left, crushed by the wind and vanishing together with the gathering dusk.
...
"Ahhh, seriously..."
After Anna left, Muen irritably raked a hand through his hair.
Then he tore up that guidebook, which had already become a little crumpled after only a single day of use, and threw it into the rubbish bin.
"In the end, I still could not repay my Senior at all."
He sat on a bench for travelers to rest on and tilted his head back, looking at the darkening sky in the distance.
Originally, his first purpose had simply been to buy Senior something, or do something for her.
That was right.
This had never really counted as a date in the first place.
At most, the only reason he had tried to treat it like one was because of his own petty scumbag thoughts.
Yet in the end, aside from making Senior watch a few laughable farces, he had done nothing at all.
Instead, Senior herself had become more and more impossible to see clearly, as though she were hidden behind a veil of mist.
"Senior, what are you really thinking?"
As Muen murmured those words, fireworks rose into the air, like countless stars gathering together before bursting apart in a blaze.
The crowd not far away erupted into noise, marveling at that fleeting brilliance.
It only made Muen's figure seem all the lonelier.
"Meow—"
A cat suddenly cried out.
Muen turned around.
The creamy-white kitten that Senior had rescued during the day had somehow returned and was now rubbing itself against his hand, meowing softly.
Muen casually picked it up and scratched beneath its chin.
Before long, the kitten lifted its head, narrowed its eyes, and began to purr in contentment.
"What a foolish little cat you are."
Seeing the silly look on the kitten's face, Muen could not help laughing in exasperation.
"You would not come over when Senior was here, but the moment she left, you came running this way."
"If you keep acting like that, you are going to be too stupid for your own good sooner or later!"
...
...
After watching the fireworks show alone, petting the cat alone, and turning down a woman by the roadside who had tried to strike up a conversation with him, the sky had grown late enough that Muen no longer intended to return to the academy.
He found a hotel that looked fairly luxurious and asked for a room with a private bath.
"I am very sorry, but we only have a couple's suite left."
The young woman at the front desk spoke with an apologetic expression.
"There is an event going on in the streets lately, so there are quite a lot of visitors. All our other rooms have already been booked."
"I see."
After thinking it over, Muen still decided to take that room.
In a place like the Lower City, if even the rooms in a luxury hotel were fully booked, then the ordinary inns were probably already packed as well.
Although staying alone in a couple's suite after a failed date made him feel indescribably desolate, Muen had already gone through so much that day that he felt utterly exhausted in both body and mind.
He could not be bothered to care anymore.
"Please take your key."
The receptionist respectfully presented the key with both hands.
"Thank you."
Muen accepted it with a smile, privately remarking that the service in this hotel was rather good.
Following proper etiquette, he casually left a small tip.
Then, without giving it any further thought, he followed another attendant toward his room.
...
After Muen left, the receptionist, who had maintained a perfect business smile the entire time, suddenly let her expression collapse.
Looking to one side, she wore a look of fear.
"Will... will this do?"
"Mm, this will do."
A shadowy figure spoke from the darkness.
Beside that shadowy figure, there seemed to be someone who looked like the owner of the hotel, curled up in a corner and trembling.
"You may continue business as usual."
The shadowy figure patted the owner on the shoulder and said softly, "But remember this well. Do not disturb me, no matter what."
"Wuwuwu!"
The owner nodded furiously, swearing with his eyes that no matter what sort of noise he heard, he would rather die than take even one step toward that room.
"Very good."
The shadowy figure smiled in satisfaction and turned to leave, humming along the way, her steps light and cheerful.
In her hand, the spare key to the room danced nimbly between slender, pale fingers.
Just like her heart, brimming over with excitement and delight.