Chapter 1 A Few Days Later

It has been raining continuously in Ikrith recently, often accompanied by thunder.

With a cold snap, the hottest days of summer passed, followed by a period of stable temperatures until autumn.

And today was the day that Lan Qi was to set off for the Kingdom of Boson.

Since the train ticket was for the evening, there were no classes or extra work during the day, just packing the luggage.

"It feels like I just came back from a long trip, and now I'm about to leave again."

Lan Qi stood in front of the closet in his room, frowning and muttering to himself.

Come to think of it, his last trip was as a diplomat of the Brant Empire in the Shadow World, so no wonder he felt like he was constantly on the road.

Lan Qi soon came to terms with it.

After this trip to the Kingdom of Boson, he would be one big step closer to retirement.

If he were to write a memoir of his struggles, this would be the penultimate volume.

As he was packing his suitcase, he suddenly heard a crisp tapping sound on the window glass, in addition to the sound of rain.

"Meow, Lan Qi, you've got a letter."

A little black cat in a raincoat opened the window of Lan Qi's bedroom and used telekinetic magic to float a letter onto Lan Qi's desk.

"Thank you, Cat Boss."

Lan Qi put down the clothes in his hand and walked over to the window to take the little black cat.

It seemed to have wrapped the envelope in magic so that it wouldn't get wet at all.

"It's nothing, meow."

Cat Boss took off its cat-shaped raincoat, folded it neatly, and placed it on the ground.

A letter had been delivered to Cat Boss's restaurant and was kept at Pulanei's counter. Cat Boss went back to his restaurant to take a look before leaving today, so he brought it to Lan Qi.

"Just in time."

Lan Qi looked at the dim sky outside the window. Calculating the days, if the sea mail messenger was on schedule, he would probably receive a reply these days.

Fortunately, the letter arrived before he left.

He walked to the side of the room and turned on the floor lamp, then slowly sat down at his desk.

In this summer rainy day when it was hard to tell whether it was morning or afternoon, the light made the room brighter.

Lan Qi's fingertips gently touched the sealed letter. The surface of the envelope was slightly rough, and the texture seemed to have been weathered by the sea breeze.

He took a small letter opener from the desk drawer, inserted the tip of the knife into the seal of the envelope, and gently traced along the edge like a painter outlining on a canvas. The envelope was carefully opened.

The letter inside was like a precious treasure, waiting to be discovered by him.

Lan Qi smoothly pulled out the letter. The paper was thin and slightly fragile, an antique-style letterhead that had been fumigated with incense and had a magic spell applied to prevent it from being easily damaged.

He smiled slightly and began to read.

"To Mr. Wilford,"

"First of all, I am very happy to receive your letter."

"The talent you recruited for me is quite good. Now that the Batiantian branch in the Protos Empire is worried about the lack of manpower, you have sent me a group of well-trained elite archpriests. I can only say that we are truly in sync."

"I've been dreaming about you lately."

"Thinking of you day and night may be a foolish persistence."

"But I want to say, it's so good to be able to meet the real you."

"I wonder if you still often think of the dozens of days we spent together in those rolling Protos snow mountains?"

"No matter how cold it was, I never felt scared."

"Even in my dreams."

"Just give you a little time, and you will dress winter in a colorful spring, letting the warm sunshine shine on me."

"Meow, it's Xi De's letter."

Cat Boss nestled aside, lying on the table and looking at the letter in Lan Qi's hand. Even without seeing the signature, he knew who wrote it.

He had been curious about who would send a letter to Lan Qi.

But now that he thought about it, Lan Qi had indeed intercepted a batch of archpriests from the Destruction branch in South Wantina Territory.

At that time, Lan Qi actually treated them as free messengers, letting them bring letters to Sigrid.

What a luxury.

"You can tell it's her just by looking at the handwriting."

Lan Qi rubbed Cat Boss's head, his eyes not leaving the letter.

"And some serious business."

"Our partner, the leader of the Berenhard family, Duchess Chloris, has investigated the relics of Duke Morodian and the northern border. As a result, she discovered signs of demons appearing, and these demons seem to be quite different from Pulanei and the others. They have now withdrawn from the Protos Empire."

"Demons?"

Cat Boss looked up at Lan Qi.

"At the time... Duchess Chloris, as the principal of the Protos Royal Magic Academy, entrusted me to investigate the north, because the influx of mysterious demons into the northern countries had caused panic. In the end, the investigation led to Duke Morodian and Bishop Askesang of Annihilation."

Lan Qi hesitated for a moment and recalled.

He didn't expect that after settling down in the northern Protos Empire, an investigation would actually reveal signs of demons appearing.

"Even the Ice Snow Witch Almis is very certain that she had never heard of such demons a hundred years ago, and that they are completely different from the demon culture she knows."

"What worries Great Sage Isis is that among these unknown demons, there may be someone even more powerful than Duke Morodian, and even I may not be able to win for sure."

"Where they came from and what their purpose is remains a mystery."

"But one thing is certain, the more places where demons remain, the easier it is for them to hide their tracks. The Protos Empire and the Kingdom of Esther Elan are natural places for infiltration."

Lan Qi turned a page.

"By the time you receive this letter, I may have finished dealing with matters on the Protos Empire side."

"Probably? In another two or three months, I will be in the Hutton Kingdom?"

"After all, the sea route between the North and South Continents is so long, and it is quite a long journey to find the Hutton Kingdom after passing through various countries from the northern coast of the Southern Continent to the eastern region."

"If you have finished your work and still have the energy, can Saint please show me around Ikrith, the royal capital?"

"In any case, this bishop sincerely wishes you all the best."

"With best wishes."

"Meow, that sounds like an order."

Cat Boss said to Lan Qi.

Although Sigrid's words were very euphemistic, she clearly wouldn't allow Lan Qi to refuse.

"Indeed, the bishop doesn't like people disobeying her."

Lan Qi nodded.

"Wait."

As if sensing that there was more content after the folded page, he flipped it back.

"Miss you."

"Remember to cultivate hard and reach the sixth rank soon!"

Finally, there was a cute emoticon of Little Xi De.

"Really, that's the freedom of an old pro."

Lan Qi shook his head and smiled to himself.

"Old pro, huh? Be careful to deduct your favorability points, meow."

The little black cat imitated Xi De's tone and reminded him.

"I really want to finish all the work as soon as possible and start a leisurely daily life."

Lan Qi carefully folded the letter until it was smooth, put it back in the envelope as it was, and then opened the first drawer and put it away.

"Meow meow meow, please retire soon!"

Cat Boss shouted.

"Don't worry, it'll be soon. Most of the second half of my memoir will be ordinary daily stories. There won't be any void main lines in a daily story collection."

Lan Qi touched the cat, got up, smiled, and went back to the closet to pack his luggage again.