[You have received +500 Plot Points!]

After vanishing into the shadows, Ruvian and Irene stepped out of it again. But not where they had entered. The surroundings had changed.

They were inside Silvena’s room now.

Although this was only his second time here, the sheer luxury and overwhelming spaciousness of the room still felt just a little... daunting to him.

Then, when his body fully came out from the shadow, a voice greeted them.

It came from the large bed in the room.

"What took you both so long? Ruvian, you didn’t do anything to my Irene, right? If you did..." she paused, her voice sounding a bit dangerous, "...that pole of yours — you won’t see it again tomorrow morning."

Ruvian frowned slightly,

’Huh? Who do you think I am for?’

’And what the hell did she just say?’

Shaking his head, Ruvian explained his situation.

"No, it is not like that," he said, letting out a small sigh. "It’s just that on the way here... I think someone was following me."

As he spoke, he walked further into the room and lowered himself onto a large, soft chair. The cushion sank a little under his weight, but his eyes stayed calm, though slightly serious.

Silvena, who was still sitting on the bed and covered with the blanket, looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"What? You got tailed? By who?"

Ruvian looked down for a moment, then slowly shook his head again.

"Sadly, both of us could not tell who it was. But it is fine. It is not a problem... for now."

As he finished speaking, Irene moved closer and stood beside Silvena.

"I see. If you say so, alright then."

Honestly, after hearing the details from Irene, Ruvian already formed a rough guess in his mind about who that person was.

Irene was strong, and she was someone capable of noticing anyone trying to follow Silvena. She had been trained for such things, and her senses were not easily fooled.

Yet this time, even Irene could not identify who it was. She could not break through the concealment spell that person used. From that alone, Ruvian understood that whoever it was had a high level of skill in that area.

Other than Calyra, only one person came to his mind.

’Yeah, it’s definitely him.’

Even so, the reason remained unclear.

’Why is he following me? Since when? Could it be because of what happened in the dining hall... did that make him take interest in me?’

Ruvian wondered, his thoughts moving carefully.

Still, based on what he knew from the novel, that person was not a threat. It was possible that he was simply curious about Ruvian, nothing more. Perhaps.

With that in mind, Ruvian set those thoughts aside for now. He will confirm about that later. As for now, there was something else that required their attention.

Their next trip to the Ashway Bazaar.

Ruvian lifted his gaze toward Silvena, his expression easing slightly.

"Anyway, how is your fever, you’re doing well now?"

Silvena nodded right away, looking a little proud as she lightly brushed her nose with her finger.

"Well, you can say that I’m getting better, so don’t worry too much. Though, my nose is still a little bit stuffy. Ugh. But I think it should be alright. I’ve been taking some medicine that the academy physician gave me. They also said that it was good that I came to the infirmary to check or else it could be dangerous."

She then looked at him again, this time with a sharper gaze and a playful smirk forming on her lips.

"So I guess, I’ll have to thank you for that."

Ruvian let out a small sigh as he leaned back slightly into the chair.

"I see. That’s good to hear. If you’re getting better, then I can bring you along for our trip to the Ashway Bazaar."

Irene, who was standing beside the bed, placed a hand on her chin as she thought for a moment.

"Are demons really going to be there? And is it alright for just the three of us to carry out an operation like that? Will that be enough?"

Ruvian did not answer right away.

He only gave a small, quiet smile.

Well, Irene’s concern was not unreasonable.

Even if that place was not exactly an enemy stronghold, it would still be filled with demons. And for only the three of them to go there, it could easily be seen as nothing more than a reckless, almost suicidal decision.

Ruvian gave a calm reply, as he looked at Irene.

"Don’t worry. There won’t be any dangerous threat level demons. Most of them are weak. Only a few higher ranked ones will be there to oversee the lower demons. For the three of us, it should be enough."

As he finished speaking, he rose from his seat and walked toward the nearest wide table.

Truth is, there was another reason why he didn’t choose Seraphine for this mission.

It was because... Ruvian did not want to see her for now. He already made her annoyed in the Deepmarch Dungeon, so it was better not to make it worse.

On top of that, she seemed to be occupied with her own responsibilities. Ruvian had checked her availability just in case, but Silvena had already confirmed that Seraphine was currently busy with another task.

Reaching the table, Ruvian paused for a moment before speaking again.

"Anyway, I’ll explain why we’re going there, what we need to prepare, and what we’ll do once we are there. So, please pay attention, especially you... Silvena."

"Hey, what do you mean? I always pay attention." she said, puffing her cheeks slightly in irritation. "If you need to name someone, it would be Irene."

As she said that, Irene was munching on another bread, slightly tilting her head.

Ruvian let out a light laugh at the tease.

He took out a few sheets of paper and placed them neatly across the surface of the table. The faint sound of paper brushing against wood filled the quiet room.

With a wide, wolfish grin, Ruvian looked at them and asked, "You two don’t have any elective classes that day, right?"

Silvena and Irene nodded.

"Yes, both Irene and I don’t have any electives that day."

Ruvian smiled.

"That’s great. I do have one sadly, but it should end in the afternoon. Therefore, we are going to leave right after that."

*****

Later, the next few days passed like a fleeting shadow, gone almost as soon as they came. Until at last, the day finally came for them to leave the academy...

──────── ✦ ────────

[Chapter 144: Late Night Preparation]

Plot Points= 6,700