Chapter 118: Joy and Sorrow

A wedding?

Luge lay on the old recliner, patting his round belly, relaxing his long-tense body and mind while letting his thoughts wander. He had already fulfilled his first wish after leaving the basement: to eat his fill. Daisy's cooking was as reliable as ever, and she could simultaneously prepare multiple dishes in an orderly fashion to satisfy their big appetites, which reminded him of that wizard apprentice skilled in cooking, the Flame Man.

As for his second wish, it was to take a hot bath, then sleep soundly.

He gradually drifted into a light doze, silently waiting for Daisy to finish preparing the scalding bathwater.

What he found amusing was that after the battle over breakfast, the usually silent Dasha had actually developed an interest in learning cooking from Daisy. Dasha rarely took the initiative to do anything, and Esjin, seeing this, wanted to join in too. The two Kobolds finally had a new hobby besides fighting and reading adventure novels.

Clang! The abrupt sound of a hard object striking the tabletop.

Luge opened his eyes.

He saw his spellcaster neighbor about to turn and leave.

Luge, still sleepy-eyed, looked at the dozen or so small magic stones on the table and was dazed for a moment.

"I'm fulfilling my promise. After you left, I made some other things; these are all that's left." Seeing Luge awake, she spoke up on her own, her expressionless face unable to hide her fatigue. After speaking, she continued walking out.

Only after her back had completely disappeared did Luge come back to his senses.

He looked at the magic stones on the table and felt she hadn't lied.

The bathwater was ready at this time.

He rose and put away the full nineteen magic stones, then strode off to enjoy the long-awaited hot bath.

According to what was written on the invitation.

There were still more than ten days until Lorigo's young master's wedding to that marquis's daughter.

That was when he would finally get the long-awaited Unlimited Passage Ticket, though he inexplicably felt a comical sense as if Lorigo had sacrificed himself to exchange for the ticket for him. The Starry Sky Family would naturally not be so easily intimidated by a marquis about to lose his light; there must be other plots and transactions between the two. Twin Moon City looked strong, but in reality, he was the most passive and hardest-pressed party.

In history, powerful Ground Cities about to lose their light would sometimes, in madness, forcibly seize other Ground Cities, but rarely succeeded. For example, the war between Twin Moon City and Red Moon City had such signs; all reasons for war were excuses, everything was probing.

Luge thought of the stone he had seen at the Fendis Family Castle, the one held in the shriveled old man's hand, which the old drunkard called a Seal Stone. It could draw upon the power of the city's Dome Light Stone to unleash a powerful punishing strike. This was the confidence of the defending side; for enemies coming from afar, as long as there were particularly outrageous Extraordinaries, they could be erased.

Now thinking about it, this kind of stone left by wizards at the founding of a city not only balanced the various nobles within a city but also to some extent curbed the chaotic wars between Ground Cities.

Only such Ground Domains, stable within a certain range, were good Ground Domains that could steadily provide Extraordinary Seeds to the Upper Realm.

After his bath, he just had a good dream.

Everything else had nothing to do with him. The Unlimited Passage Ticket was almost in hand, making him extremely lighthearted; his Extraordinary Seed was about to go where it should go to take root and sprout.

Luge looked forward to Lorigo's wedding even more than Lorigo did.

"Should I prepare a gift for him?"

After waking up, Luge felt refreshed as he pondered. He had slept for a full two days; actually, half a day was enough to recover his energy, he just wanted to enjoy that laziness.

Dasha and Esjin were in the kitchen helping Daisy, their efforts only getting in the way more. The two of them had started staying in the rooms they had chosen before, just so they wouldn't miss the time Daisy prepared breakfast.

"What gift should I give?"

Luge stroked his chin on the recliner, muttering.

Suddenly, a mournful cry came from outside.

Luge twitched his ears, rose, and strode out of the house.

He saw the little one crying loudly, with several neighbors busy in the distance. Among them was the little one's father, Cui Fanke with his broken arm. They had all gathered at the door of a house diagonally across.

"Old Tom is dead."

The witch apprentice actually came out of her home and came to Luge's side.

"That day, seeing the extent of the fungal infection on his hand, I guessed he wouldn't live much longer." She said expressionlessly.

Luge suddenly realized. It was the old man who had brought them fine wine. She actually still remembered his name; Luge had thought for a long time before matching it, after all, he had only heard others call that old man twice by the bonfire.

The old man seemed to have no relatives by his side. The neighbors helped in a flurry, wrapping the old man in curtain cloth and forbidding children on the street from approaching.

Little Lucien was crying because of this too. The little one seemed to want to see Old Tom one more time. Although the old man always kicked his butt, he also gave him many delicious things.

After comforting the little one, Luge turned and saw her still standing at the street side, looking in that direction, looking at the busy neighbors, as if falling into that dazed state again.

The neighbors used a door panel from Old Tom's house and some temporarily gathered wooden boards to make a simple coffin for him. People who died of fungal infection could not stay in the city for long. Several of the strongest neighbors carried the irregularly shaped coffin toward outside the city. Some neighbors naturally followed behind, forming a simple funeral procession of not many people.

The child's crying, the procession receding into the distance.

Luge followed behind too. Seeing the little one was determined to follow, he had Daisy go take his small hand.

The little one's mother had a leg injury and usually couldn't always come out to watch him.

Luge noticed that the witch apprentice had not come along. She only watched from afar as the procession left, until she could no longer see their figures.

Along the way they walked and stopped. People they saw on the road would spontaneously make way. Several of the extraordinary coffin-bearers had strength, so naturally they didn't mind the fatigue.

Suddenly, a commotion came from the front of the procession.

The noise grew louder, and Luge also heard Cui Fanke and that knight neighbor's loud voices.

He pushed through the crowd and came to the very front of the procession.

"What's going on?" He came out beside Cui Fanke and asked.

"They say the envoy people lost something important, and now they've blocked the road, not letting people leave the city. But those who died of fungal infection can't stay in the city overnight. Yet it's a rule set by the City Lord himself. They've clearly already inspected it. If we can't send Old Tom away, we'll still be punished." Cui Fanke said indignantly.

Luge nodded, stepped forward, and lightly patted the shoulder of the knight neighbor who was arguing his case, stopping the dispute.

He slowly walked up to the knight formation blocking the road.

Seeing his posture, the leading knight swiftly drew the spindle longsword at his waist.

Luge smiled, reached out to push aside the sword tip before him, and took out the Star Badge he hadn't worn for a long time. This small badge was being used for the first time since he got it. He just didn't know if it was as useful as Lorigo said.

The middle-aged knight's expression turned solemn. He immediately put away his longsword, reached out to take the badge and examine it carefully, then handed it back with both hands.

The middle-aged knight who returned the badge did not act immediately, but fell into silence, as if pondering something. Luge could see his hesitation and difficulty, so he didn't urge him, just smiled and watched him. Finally, after the middle-aged knight bowed to Luge, he waved his hand backward, and the knight formation all retreated to the side, making way.

The simple funeral procession without blood relations was able to set out again.

(Chapter End)