Chapter 5: The Reunion Went Wrong from the Start

“Sigh.”

I kept washing the dishes, why did things turn out like this…

Time rewinds to this morning…

After parting ways with Lily and Uncle Boumk, I entered Erisburg through the city gate.

Compared to the deserted city gate, the inside of the city was a completely different scene.

“Don’t miss it, passing by or not, fresh beef, fresh beef…”

“Silver Scale Breastplate, blue quality, five gold coins a piece, after-sales exchange guaranteed, a penalty of ten for one fake. Hey handsome, want a Silver Scale Breastplate…”

“Clearance sale, tearful price reduction! Everything in the store is 9.99, everything is 9.99! If you miss today, you’ll have to wait until tomorrow!”

“The Erisburg leather factory has gone bankrupt! The Erisburg leather factory has gone bankrupt! The b*stard boss ran off with his brother-in-law! We have no choice but to sell leather to cover our wages…”

“…” “…”

Putting aside the somewhat strange advertisement from the leather seller, looking at the bustling and lively scene before me, how should I put it…

It felt as if I had returned to the days of squeezing through the market with the grandpas and grandmas during the holidays.

And among this group of constantly shouting shops, the young man selling beef successfully caught my attention.

It wasn’t that there was anything strange about him, but as a beef seller, he himself was a minotaur…

That’s right, you’re not mistaken, the guy in front of me with the loud voice desperately shouting for people to buy beef was a minotaur…

There’s a problem with this, right? There’s definitely a problem with this.

Why, as a minotaur, are you selling beef? What kind of sad story is behind this…

Although I found it very strange, the other people acted as if they didn’t care at all, as if it were a very normal thing…

Ah, a child went and bought some of his beef…

Watching that child happily leave with the beef, I covered my face with my hand.

I felt that if I took this seriously, I would lose.

Although I was very curious about the story behind this, my stomach told me that now was not the time to care about such things…

Because during these past few days with Lily, I’ve been tormented by her new dishes every day, and I haven’t had a proper meal in a long time…

Lord Angel must be tired of me by now…

What a pity, if I had stayed with Lily for a few more days, I might have become friends with Lord Angel…

I randomly found a restaurant, went in, ordered a few dishes, and then began to wolf them down…

After finishing the meal, I suddenly discovered a very serious problem…

I had no money on me…

Even after turning out all my pockets, I didn’t have a single copper coin.

Years of living in the wild meant I rarely used money, so I never paid much attention to where my money was.

Thinking back now, I probably left it in Uncle Boumk’s carriage by accident…

This was a very serious problem.

Mmm, it seems I’ll have to dine and dash.

I glanced at the entrance and suddenly noticed several muscular men…

Holy meow, they weren’t there when I came in just now, and now several of them have appeared out of nowhere.

You guys were specially prepared for me, weren’t you?

Perhaps noticing my predicament, a young waiter came over.

“Sir, are you finished with your meal?”

“Mhm, ah, well, I… I’m about done.”

“In that case… please pay the bill. Are you paying with cash or card?”

As he spoke, the young waiter revealed a charming smile.

“Um… can I… wash dishes?”

The young waiter’s charming smile remained on his lips, but I could clearly see him twitch…

“Get to work, quickly! If you don’t finish washing all the dishes here today, don’t even think about sleeping!”

As he spoke, the young waiter, who was constantly cracking a leather whip in his hand, was a completely different person from before.

And I was continuously washing the mountain-high pile of dishes in front of me…

Finally, before dawn arrived, I finished washing all the dishes.

After leaving the restaurant, I discovered an even more serious problem…

Where… where was I going to sleep?

I looked at the whitening sky…

I thought, I might as well not sleep tonight.

Otherwise, when people woke up in the morning, they would suddenly find a person lying on the roadside…

Although I consider myself to be thick-skinned, if something like that really happened… I might go hang myself…

Thinking this, I decided to sit on a bench by the roadside and wait for dawn.

And so, the sky grew whiter and whiter, until it was finally completely bright.

People on the street gradually became more numerous.

But I noticed that all these people were heading towards the square of Erisburg.

And the crowd grew larger and larger.

I even saw the minotaur selling beef and the young waiter…

What on earth were they doing?

Curiosity drove me, and so I followed the crowd towards the square.

When I reached the square, I understood.

Uncle Boumk had said that Erisburg would hold the annual Swordsman Grand Ceremony, and it seems that day is today…

The square was huge, comparable to two football fields.

But even so, the square was still packed with people.

And in the middle of the square stood a group of guards, forming a circle, surrounding the high platform in the center of the square…

And on the high platform stood a group of young men and women…

They were all full of spirit and vigor, enjoying the gazes cast upon them by the crowd.

Because they were the protagonists of today, the new generation of swordsmen who would travel to various countries after this ceremony.

And among this group, one young girl was particularly special.

Long, dark blue hair, a blue dress, white boots, and an incomparably exquisite face.

She stood at the very front of the crowd with her eyes closed.

Even in such a joyous moment, her face remained expressionless.

It was as if there was an invisible wall around her, separating her from the others, making them afraid to approach.

And when the other young men and women looked at her, their eyes were filled with fear and respect.

The crowd below the square was already buzzing with discussion.

“Is that the legendary student from the academy?”

“That’s her, that’s her, the youngest Grand Swordmaster in a hundred years.”

“I heard she’s only 16 years old.”

“Isn’t that right? Otherwise, why would they say she’s the one with the most hope of advancing to Sword Saint in the last hundred years?”

“…” “…”

Looking at the young girl on the stage, although she had changed a lot, I still recognized her at a glance…

It was Aisilis, whom I hadn’t seen in 8 years.

“You’ve grown up too, Aisilis.”

As I said this, a smile lifted the corners of my mouth…

After all, who would know that I had once protected this girl…

While the people in the square were continuously discussing, a man dressed in a wide monk’s robe and holding a scepter, the head of the academy, walked onto the high platform.

He gently tapped the ground with his scepter.

The previously chattering crowd all closed their mouths, and the square fell silent in an instant.

At this moment, you could probably hear a pin drop…

The academy head nodded and spoke slowly.

“Thank you all for attending this year’s Swordsman Academy Grand Ceremony. Every year, the Grand Ceremony is a time for us to witness the new generation of…”

The academy head intended to say more, but I was no longer interested in listening.

Seeing that Aisilis was doing well, I was already very satisfied.

I began to slowly walk towards the edge of the square…

“…Everything that needs to be said has been said. So, I won’t waste any more words. I declare, the 278th Grand Ceremony of the Swordsman Academy officially begins…”

With that, the academy head walked off the high platform…

Then Aisilis opened her eyes and walked to the front of the stage.

At this moment, the academy head walked back onto the high platform, but this time with a box covered by a red cloth in his hands.

The academy head walked in front of Aisilis, lifted the red cloth, and inside was a sharp white sword.

Aisilis held the sword with both hands, faced the square, and said softly.

“I, Aisilis, as a graduate of this class, will lead the Swordsman Academy to a more glorious future. I…”

Suddenly, Aisilis stopped talking, her eyes wide, her hands trembling.

Her lips quivered, as if calling someone’s name.

Seeing this, everyone looked at each other, not understanding why Aisilis had stopped.

With a ‘clang,’ Aisilis dropped the white sword, ran down the high platform, and rushed towards the edge of the square…

I was slowly walking towards the edge of the square, about to leave the crowd.

But a commotion came from behind me, and it was heading in my direction.

Before I could react, suddenly, I was hugged from behind.

“Brother… no, is that Yuren?”

“Eh?”

Before I could answer, the person behind me was already excitedly answering their own question.

“It must be Yuren, I can’t be wrong. I dream of you every night… I can’t be wrong… it must be Yuren.”

As she spoke, there was a hint of a sob in her voice…

I separated the hands of the person behind me, turned around, and what came into view was a dark blue-haired girl with tears in her eyes…

“Long time no see, Aisilis.”

I replied with a smile…

“Yuren… I’ve missed you so much ::>_<::”

With that, she threw herself into my arms again, holding me tightly with both hands, as if afraid I would disappear in the next second.

However, in this beautiful reunion scene, I almost forgot, this was a public square…

“Ai… Aisilis, let me go first. So many people are watching.”

“Nnnn~~ No.”

Aisilis said coquettishly.

“You used to let me hug you whenever I wanted. I·don’t·want·to·let·go♡”

With that, she even rubbed her face against my chest several times.

The crowd in the square was petrified.

Especially the young men and women from the Swordsman Academy.

They were about to go crazy.

As the number one genius and number one beauty of the Swordsman Academy, Aisilis naturally had many suitors…

But no matter who it was, Aisilis always had a cold expression.

This also made Aisilis the most difficult to conquer ice queen in the academy.

And now, what were they seeing?

The strongest in their eyes, the eternally unthawing iceberg, was acting coquettishly in the arms of a strange young man.

And this young man was a seemingly ordinary, and in fact, very ordinary young man.

‘Could it be that Aisilis likes this type?’

A thought crossed everyone’s mind…