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Join the ServerRoland lay weakly on the cold ground.
His body was covered in wounds, and blood flowed continuously from them, seeping into the hard ground beneath him.
His vision was becoming increasingly blurred, and the pain radiating from his body felt distant.
Roland could feel his life force draining away; if he didn’t find a way out, he would likely die here.
However, at this moment, he couldn’t care about that; he laboriously tilted his head, gazing at the unconscious blonde witch bound within a massive purple magic circle not far away, and the white-haired boy standing beside her.
“Now, you should understand, shouldn’t you! There is an insurmountable gap between us; no matter how hard you try, you cannot defeat me, who has been studying magic for a thousand years!”
“So, you should just give up! Stop interfering with my mission to eliminate the source of the world’s destruction!”
The white-haired boy spoke coldly; at this moment, he had no intention of delivering a finishing blow, as if in his eyes, someone of Roland’s caliber didn’t even deserve to be killed by his hand.
That being said, even if Roland didn’t intend to interfere further, the boy wouldn’t help him up; he would just let him lie there and fend for himself.
Looking at this white-haired boy who was far stronger than himself, a glimmer of resentment flashed in Roland’s eyes.
Was he really destined to lie here helplessly, watching as Miss Rhynes’s life was taken by this mysterious stranger?
****
Half an hour ago.
On the crowded streets of the royal capital, Roland and Rhynes stopped in front of an accessory shop.
Although the goods in this shop weren’t like those in Tsumuguri City, where every piece was set with magically significant gemstones, the dazzling array of accessories still caught Rhynes’s attention, making her eyes fixate on one piece after another.
Every accessory was beautiful, and she wanted to buy them all at once.
But that was clearly impossible, so Rhynes, unable to choose, handed the decision to Roland.
“You pick one for me!”
“Eh? Me?” Roland looked slightly surprised; he had no experience in this area, so why was Miss Rhynes asking him to choose?
“Yes! Let’s see how your taste is.”
“You’re just here to tease me, aren’t you!”
Roland had no choice but to comply; after scanning all the accessories on the stall, he picked out a red cord knot and handed it to Rhynes.
“How about this one?”
To be honest, there were more beautiful accessories on the stall than this knot, but Roland didn’t know what Rhynes liked, so he could only pick something standard that no one would hate.
As expected, Rhynes frowned slightly and began to complain.
“It’s so plain… your taste is terrible! Why would you choose such a tiny thing?”
“You don’t understand; don’t underestimate this ordinary knot—it actually represents the bond between people, like a red string of fate connecting them; as long as the string isn’t cut, they will be happy together forever.”
Hearing this, Rhynes’s cheeks flushed slightly.
“Is that so? Well, since Roland picked it personally, I suppose I’ll reluctantly accept it!”
With that, Rhynes tied the knot into her hair and gave Roland a brilliant smile.
The radiant smile made Roland’s face flush, and he quickly turned his head to hide his embarrassment.
“You should stop looking now; maybe there’s an accessory that suits you even better than the one I picked! Miss Rhynes?” Roland suggested to change the subject, but Rhynes didn’t respond, which made Roland suspicious.
He turned his head back, only to find that Rhynes had vanished, and the red cord knot he had just chosen for her was lying abandoned on the stone floor.
“Eh? Miss Rhynes?”
Roland hurriedly scanned the area, but no matter how hard he looked, he couldn’t find a trace of Rhynes.
In desperation, he sought help from the shopkeeper.
“Um, that blonde witch who was just beside me—do you know which way she went?”
Faced with Roland’s question, the shopkeeper looked confused.
“Customer, what are you talking about? You’ve been standing here alone from the beginning. I’ve never seen any blonde witch!”
“Eh?” Roland looked utterly stunned. “No way?”
Rhynes’s sudden disappearance struck Roland as abnormal; while her personality was unpredictable and she often played hide-and-seek for no reason, leaving behind a carefully chosen gift and vanishing without a word was not her style.
Furthermore, she had already tied the knot in her hair.
Roland searched frantically, but the street was packed with shoppers, making it nearly impossible to find a familiar figure.
In his panic, a familiar witch’s robe suddenly flashed through the crowd not far away.
Like grabbing a lifeline, Roland pushed through the crowd and caught up, grabbing the figure in the robe.
“Finally found you!”
However, the person in the robe wore a look of bewilderment.
“Brother Roland?”
It was then that Roland realized he hadn’t caught the Rhynes he was looking for, but her disciple, Mashiro.
Moreover, Rhynes’s other disciple, Chloe, was standing nearby; seeing Roland grab Mashiro, she broke into a sly smile.
“Oh? So Brother Roland is this interested in little girls like us? I wonder what Master Rhynes will do if she finds out? I can’t wait!”
Hearing Chloe’s bratty remarks, Roland quickly released Mashiro’s hand.
“Wait, this is a complete misunderstanding! I’m not a damn lolicon!”
At this time, both Chloe and Mashiro were exactly ten years old, one with silver hair and one with black, both wearing witch’s robes a size too big for them; it was likely no one present could have resisted them.
“Wait, you two—did you see your Master just now?”
“Master Rhynes? She hasn’t been with us for a long time; who knows which guy she’s run off with?” Chloe replied irritably.
“Uh…” Roland was momentarily speechless; that guy was undoubtedly himself.
“So you didn’t see her either?”
“That’s right!”
“Alright, you two carry on with your shopping!”
Roland waved them off, trying to dismiss the two little ones, but Chloe suddenly clung to him like a little devil.
“Hey, hey, Brother Roland—Master Rhynes isn’t with us, so even if we want to keep shopping, we don’t have money to buy what we want!”
“How about you pay for us? You wouldn’t want Master Rhynes to find out about your improper intentions toward Mashiro, would you?”
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