Chapter 390: No Regrets
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
After moving up a level, Suzanna felt a significant change in her body. Even though she was exhausted, she only slept for a short while. She opened her eyes and stretched her body. She glanced around, her eyes finding Anfey, who was leaning against a nearby tree. He knew that the cold will not threaten Suzanna’s health, but he still set up a magic shield that blocked the cold wind. He turned and saw Suzanna staring at him and grinned.
"Did you miss me?" Anfey asked as Suzanna sat up.
Suzanna smiled. She moved closer to Anfey and rested her head on his shoulder. She did not say anything, but her actions showed that she had missed him very much.
"You must be exhausted," Anfey said softly.
Suzanna smiled and shook her head. Both of them were trying to avoid confronting the truth, because the truth would remind Suzanna of some unhappy memories. She would rather keep her suffering to herself.
"What happened?" Anfey asked. "Since you left, I mean."
"Wait a bit, won’t you?" Suzanna said, frowning. She did not want to say anything because she did not want to ruin the moment.
Anfey smiled. He stroked Suzanna’s hair and did not say anything. He wanted to know what had happened to Suzanna, but he did not want to ruin the moment, either. Suzanna had rarely made any requests. She was much better at following orders. He had found Suzanna, and he knew that they would have plenty of time to catch up.
The unicorn was sitting on the ground a few feet away, watching Anfey and Suzanna. It lifted its head and whinnied, as if it felt ignored and wanted to join the two as well. Anfey ignored the unicorn, but Suzanna turned and waved at it. "Come here," she said, pushing herself up.
The unicorn stood up and galloped over. It stopped next to Suzanna and rubbed its head on her shoulder. Anfey frowned and waved his hand, shooing the unicorn away. He just wanted to spend some time alone with Suzanna and did not want anything to intrude.
"Don’t do that," Suzanna said. "It saved my life."
"Really?" Anfey asked, confused.
Suzanna nodded. "The druids didn’t want to harm it, so they weren’t using their full strength."
Anfey nodded. "Of course," he said. "Unicorns are holy to them." He waved his hand at the unicorn, beckoning it to come closer. The unicorn galloped over to him and nudged his arm with its head.
The unicorn rubbed itself against Anfey and Suzanna a few times and settled down against Suzanna, resting its head on her lap.
"So, Lady Master Swordsman," Anfey said with a grin.
Suzanna smiled. "Yes? Are you jealous now?"
"Never," Anfey said. "I’m really happy for you."
"Thanks," Suzanna said with a sigh. "But it’s nothing."
"What? It’s very important! You’re a master swordsman now," Anfey said.
"You don’t get it," Suzanna said, shaking her head. "I felt something when I leveled up. I don’t know how to explain it. It’s like a giant barrier, you know? It’s like a cage surrounding our world. We are the birds. The world we know isn’t real. We are just seeing an illusion. Whoever set that barrier…we are just seeing what that person wants us to see."
"What else did you sense?" Anfey asked, intrigued.
"I was too distracted by the fight," Suzanna said, shaking her head. "It was fleeing. I don’t think I could have caught it if I wanted to."
"Interesting," Anfey said. "I think that’s an important discovery. You should talk to Master Saul about it."
Suzanna nodded. "I agree."
"Anyways, how did you break through?" Anfey asked.
"I don’t know," Suzanna said, shaking her head. "I knew I had no other choices but to fight. I thought I was going to die, but my combat power just kept coming, and then…"
"Then you broke through?"
Suzanna shrugged. "That’s basically it."
"Tell me exactly what happened," Anfey said.
Suzanna nodded. She told Anfey about everything she had encountered so far, including the initial attacks and the realization that the unicorn was following her. She smiled proudly when she told Anfey that she took care of her enemies alone without any aid. Anfey smiled encouragingly. He was very proud of her for being so strong and independent. She told him about the fight with the druids and the encounter with Mauso. Anfey frowned as she finished.
Suzanna did not notice anything strange about her fight with Mauso, but Anfey found a lot of things about the encounter suspicious.
"What happened then?"
"Then I ran into you," Suzanna said. "Did you learn how to teleport? It would be very useful in the future. And are you practicing with your fire sword?"
Anfey retrieved Entos’s wand from his dimensional ring and handed it to Suzanna. "Check this out," Anfey said with a smile.
"This is…" Suzanna’s eyes widened as she examined the wand.
Anfey nodded. "It is."
"They… they’re so good to us," Suzanna said with a sigh. She handed the wand back to Anfey. "How can we ever repay them?"
Anfey nodded in agreement. "We owe them so much."
Clearly, Suzanna was moved by how everyone from Maho Empire treated her. In the past, she only worked for them because she liked the team. Now, she was willing to serve not just the team but also Maho Empire.
Anfey understood her sentiments. Saul and Ernest had taken him off of the island and helped him when he was just a nameless boy. Yolanthe had helped him numerous times as well.
Yolanthe was a very good king and a smart man. Anfey was willing to serve a king like him.
"Is everyone alright?" Suzanna asked. She knew that the druids and the elves were targeting Anfey and her friends.
"Some tried to fool me," Anfey said with a grin.
"You didn’t fall for it, did you?"
"Of course not," Anfey said, shaking his head.
"Good," Suzanna said. "I know you’re not stupid."
Anfey smiled. "You are very smart as well, Suzanna," he said.
"We have made Manstuly our enemy," Suzanna said softly. "We need to be much more careful now."
"We do need to be more careful," Anfey agreed. "But he was at fault. He attacked us first, did he not?"
"You’re right, but we still need to be careful," Suzanna said. She knew that this was only the beginning of a long and difficult fight, but she was willing to follow Anfey. She knew that she would never regret her decision.