Chapter : 55

Yan Yunqing bought the fruit pastries Lilian wanted and found that the number of people outside the inn had doubled when he walked back.

Yan Yunqing found it strange and sent a private message to Lilian.

[Ri'an (Private)]: Did something happen inside the inn?

Lilian's message came back a while later.

[Lilian (Private)]: Hmm? Chew chew... I've been... chew chew... in the room... chew chew chew, nothing happened!

Yan Yunqing: ...

[Ri'an (Private)]: You don't have to reply while you're eating. Swallow your food first.

[Ri'an (Private)]: I see a lot of people at the inn's entrance, you should be careful.

After another while, Lilian's message came belatedly.

[Lilian (Private)]: I think I know now. A high-level expert has come to the inn, I can feel his presence.

[Lilian (Private)]: I'll go check it out, don't come back yet.

Yan Yunqing was startled and immediately thought of that General Sawyer who had just entered the city.

Could it be that he had moved into the inn?

No, you're a general from a major family, how can you not even have a place to stay in the capital and have to stay at an inn?

Isn't this general's life a bit too stifling?

[Ri'an (Private)]: Be careful, I suspect that General Sawyer has moved into the inn. He's a level 100 swordsman, don't get discovered.

However, for General Sawyer who was often stationed at the border, elves shouldn't be that rare, right?

He remembered that the forest where the elven territory was located was right next to the Light Ruins. Elves should be a common sight there.

Sawyer shouldn't be too surprised to discover Lilian, right?

But Lilian never replied to Yan Yunqing's message.

Yan Yunqing sent several messages in a row, but Lilian remained silent.

Yan Yunqing didn't know what was happening over there.

After hesitating for a long while, he finally gritted his teeth and walked in, still in his Edward disguise.

Hopefully, his disguise could fool a level 100 expert...

Yan Yunqing braced himself and walked in.

The inn's lobby was still business as usual, except that the mercenaries sitting at the corner bar had been replaced by a new batch.

They were dressed in ordinary clothes, but the aura they exuded made it clear they were not ordinary people—the Sawyer army.

Yan Yunqing's scalp tingled. He felt he had to change inns immediately, otherwise, living under the noses of this group of people every day, he wouldn't even be able to sleep soundly.

It was like a fugitive on the run living next to a group of policemen, afraid that they would rush up and arrest him in the next second.

Yan Yunqing wiped away a cold sweat and quickly walked past under the seemingly casual gazes of those Sawyer soldiers.

"Welcome back, Your Excellency Mage."

The attendant standing in front of the magic compartment had a sweet smile, greeting Yan Yunqing while consciously pressing the button for the magic compartment for him.

Riding the lift, Yan Yunqing silently counted in his heart, the unease in his heart growing more and more obvious.

As soon as the door of the magic compartment opened, Yan Yunqing quickly stepped out, at the same time opening his minimap and looking at the small blue dot on it.

Could Lilian have already been... hmm?

Lilian was still in their room?

Yan Yunqing's footsteps paused, and he hesitated for two seconds.

What was going on? Didn't Lilian say she was going to investigate Sawyer's situation?

Why was she still in the room?

Why wasn't she replying to his messages if she was in the room?

Could this fellow have been caught in the room?!

Thinking of this, Yan Yunqing became even more nervous.

There were still some materials for the failed Fire Emblems that he hadn't put away in the room.

Although it would be difficult for others to tell what he was originally trying to craft from the discarded materials, who could guarantee there wasn't an alchemy genius like that around?

Yan Yunqing quickly walked to the door of his room.

Just as he was about to open it, the door opposite his room opened without any warning.

Hearing the sound of the door opening, Yan Yunqing was startled and turned his head.

He once again met that pair of deep blue eyes, like eyes frozen with a thousand years of ice.

Yan Yunqing: ...No, buddy?

You're a genius swordsman from the Sawyer family, why are you staying in this mid-tier room?

Is your family out of money? Staying at an inn is one thing, but not even a high-end suite?!

Yan Yunqing complained in his heart, but his fingers were stiffly on the doorknob, not daring to open the door for a long time.

He was afraid that the moment he opened the door, Lilian would fly out from inside.

He hadn't been caught red-handed before, but now he had run into him directly.

Adrien's gaze swept over Yan Yunqing's familiar black magic robe, a flicker in his eyes.

He remembered this mage.

He had been in the crowd at the city gate earlier, staring at him for a long time.

The emotions contained in that gaze were too complex, making Adrien subconsciously look back, only to see this extremely strange mage with his entire face hidden in the shadow of his hood.

His gaze was different from those of the ardent, admiring, or hateful people.

It was more like curiosity mixed with a bit of admiration... and even a hint of reminiscence, which made Adrien remember this strange mage at once.

He thought it was just a fleeting glance, but he didn't expect to meet him up close so soon.

Adrien nodded at Yan Yunqing, "Adrien Sawyer."

Yan Yunqing: ...???

What do you mean, why are you saying your own name to me? ...Eh, could this guy be introducing himself?

Yan Yunqing said hesitantly: "I am... Edward?"

Adrien hummed in acknowledgment, "I know."

The corner of Yan Yunqing's mouth twitched. He felt that there was probably something wrong with this guy somewhere.

Would a normal person just introduce themselves right away, then stare intently at the other person, and after the other person also introduced themselves, say 'I know'?

This guy's emotional intelligence is a bit low! Could it be that his martial prowess was exchanged for his emotional intelligence? A legendary high-scorer with low ability?

Yan Yunqing wanted to open the door and go into the room, but this General Sawyer still stood ramrod straight, staring at him without blinking, making it awkward for him to enter or not to enter.

Seemingly realizing that his attitude might be a bit strange, Adrien added: "Nice to meet you?"

"...Do you need something?" Yan Yunqing asked.

"Hmm?" Adrien glanced at the window in the corridor, "It's still early, I plan to go eat later."

Yan Yunqing: I didn't ask if you were going to eat, did I?

After less than five minutes of contact, Yan Yunqing had already discovered that he couldn't be too subtle when speaking to this genius general in front of him.

So he coughed lightly, "Sorry, I have something to do, I'll go in first."

After speaking, Yan Yunqing looked at Adrien, waiting for him to leave before he opened the door to his room. After waiting for a while, neither of them moved.

Adrien: "You have something to say to me?"

Yan Yunqing: "...I thought you had something to say to me."

Adrien: "Oh, no."

Yan Yunqing: "Okay."

The two of them stared at each other, in a stalemate.

Yan Yunqing was about to lose it. He was on the verge of opening the door and checking on Lilian, regardless of whether this Adrien would find out, to see what had happened to her and why she had suddenly lost contact, when he received a message from Lilian.

[Lilian (Private)]: Ahem... ahem... I was just, trying to finish eating and go out to investigate the situation, but I ate too quickly and choked. It took me a long time to swallow. Are you outside the door? How come I hear you talking to someone?

You choked because you ate too quickly?! So that's the reason you were out of contact!!!

Yan Yunqing was speechless for a moment, but also relieved.

The hand gripping the doorknob loosened. He wasn't in a hurry to go in anymore.

He had plenty of time to waste with this General Sawyer!

Yan Yunqing shifted to a more comfortable position, leaning against the door panel, sending messages to Lilian while having a staring contest with Adrien.

[Ri'an (Private)]: I ran into that General Sawyer outside, you stay hidden and don't come out, I'll deal with him.

After a few more minutes of stalemate, it was Adrien who first averted his gaze. He tilted his head slightly, "A drink?"

Seeing Yan Yunqing frown, Adrien added, "Then we can have dinner together."

Yan Yunqing: "...So, do we know each other?"

Adrien said strangely: "We do."

Yan Yunqing: "??? When did that happen, how come I don't know?"

Adrien nodded: "Just now."

He pointed at himself, "Adrien Sawyer."

Then he pointed at Yan Yunqing: "Edward."

"Um... nice to meet you."

Yan Yunqing's CPU spun for a long time before he realized that when Adrien said they knew each other, he was referring to the time when they had just looked at each other and exchanged names.

No, anyone who didn't know would think that meeting just now was some kind of mafia contact exchanging secret codes. You call that knowing each other?

Also, have they only known each other for a few minutes and have already reached the point where they can go for a drink and a meal together?

Buddy, you seem a bit gullible, don't you? Are you really a level 100 expert?

Or are all powerful people this naive?

Yan Yunqing suddenly thought of the Demon King's retainers, and this statement seemed to become uncertain.

Probably, it seems, possibly, maybe... it really is?

"Are you going?" Adrien issued the invitation once again.

Yan Yunqing felt as if a prompt box had appeared in front of him: [An invitation from Adrien, do you accept?]

Yan Yunqing: "...Then let's go?"

Adrien nodded, finally taking that step, and walked ahead first.

Yan Yunqing was helpless.

He could only send another message to Lilian, telling her to wait in the room, and at the same time, he placed the box of fruit pastries he had brought back from his backpack at the door.

Only after doing all this did he follow Adrien's footsteps.

Adrien was very tall, a good one meter ninety-something, with a typical Western face and build.

It wasn't as noticeable when he was on horseback, but walking alongside him, one could feel his mountain-like physique.

This was inevitable. If he were a bit thinner, how could he have the ability to guard against the demonic beasts at the border!

It just made the slightly shorter Yan Yunqing very uncomfortable, always feeling like he was enveloped by a shadow.

They went downstairs together.

The Sawyer soldiers sitting in the corner of the lobby saw their general and quickly stood up to greet him.

Before they could speak, they saw a little tail following behind the general.

A gloomy little mage.

Anthony, the personal guard who had been assigned to be Adrien's external brain, immediately became alert.

He smiled at Yan Yunqing in a seemingly friendly manner, then immediately approached Adrien and asked, "This is?"

Adrien slightly raised his chin at him, "A friend, Edward, we're going for a drink together."

Anthony: "...A friend? General, you have friends in the capital?"

And a mage friend at that? He had never heard of it?

Didn't the general hate interacting with dawdling mages the most?

How come a mage friend suddenly appeared as soon as he arrived in the capital?

The corner of Adrien's mouth lifted, and he said very reservedly: "He admires me, so we got to know each other."

Yan Yunqing: "...??? Admire you?"

Yan Yunqing was stunned. When did he ever admire this guy?

You with your thick eyebrows and big eyes, you can just spout lies, can't you?

Adrien nodded, "When I entered the city, I saw you. You came to welcome me."

Yan Yunqing: "I..."

Yan Yunqing was at a loss for words for a moment.

He couldn't help but look up, almost unable to maintain his dark and damp persona. "I was just there to join the fun!"

Adrien was surprised. After thinking for a moment, he nodded, "Alright, you don't admire me."

He turned his head to explain to Anthony, "He doesn't admire me, I misunderstood."

Yan Yunqing felt like this was getting worse the more he tried to explain.

Why did it sound like he was some kind of dark, crazed fan who didn't dare to admit his feelings when he met his idol?

The problem was, he really didn't admire this guy!

Anthony looked at Adrien, then at Yan Yunqing.

His CPU was about to explode. He finally came to a conclusion, "So, General, what you mean is, you saw this guy welcoming you at the city gate just now, you thought he admired you, and then you just got to know each other?"

Adrien looked at Anthony with great appreciation, "Yes."

Anthony: ...

Yan Yunqing: ...

Yan Yunqing cast a look of admiration at Anthony.

This person could actually decipher the thought process of a 'genius'. Could it be that this person was also a genius?

Anthony was also very speechless.

He had long heard that this general's way of thinking was peculiar and that it was difficult for ordinary people to understand him.

On the way here, he had rarely spoken to Adrien and only felt that the other party was a taciturn person.

Anthony only felt that this matched his powerful strength, as strong people were always so aloof.

But as soon as they arrived in the capital, after only a few words, this general's image collapsed again and again.

Anthony asked without much hope: "And you're going for a drink together is...?"

The corner of Yan Yunqing's mouth twitched, and he maintained his persona, speaking gloomily:

"He asked me if I wanted to have a drink together. If I didn't say yes, he would just stand there and stare at me."

The implication: If he didn't agree, this person wouldn't leave.

Anthony was very smart and immediately understood Yan Yunqing's hint.

He felt extremely ashamed of his superior's actions and quickly apologized on Adrien's behalf, "Sorry, sorry—the General probably meant that he felt you two hit it off as soon as you met, how should I put it..."

Anthony racked his brains and finally came up with an answer: "Felt like old friends at the first meeting!

Yes, the General feels that you are like old friends at the first meeting, so he invited you for a drink.

Ai, the atmosphere in our place is more open, without so many twists and turns.

The General is also a very straightforward person, which is why he did such a rude thing."

Yan Yunqing gave Anthony a strange look.

He didn't expect this person to be a cultured man.

Speaking of which, did this world also have the idiom of 'feeling like old friends at the first meeting'?

Adrien remained silent. Even if his emotional intelligence was low, he had also noticed that something was wrong at this moment.

Why did it feel like he had done something wrong?

But he hadn't done anything, had he?

Adrien: Confused.JPG

Yan Yunqing pondered for a moment, "I don't mind having a drink together, if I did, I wouldn't have come down... It's just that the drink he mentioned isn't just here, right?"

This small bar was just a place provided by the inn for mercenaries to rest.

Anyone staying at the inn could drink some cheap wine for free.

It couldn't be considered a proper tavern at all, and the wine here was not as mellow as the wine in a real tavern—

Although Yan Yunqing had never actually had a drink in a tavern, he had been to a tavern several times!

Even if you haven't eaten pork, haven't you seen a pig run?

Anthony looked at Adrien, only to see Adrien nod very sincerely, "Just here."

Yan Yunqing and Anthony were both speechless and choked up.

Anthony coughed lightly, "Haha, the General is joking.

It's just that we've just arrived in the capital and don't know of any famous taverns here.

How about this... Mr. Edward, you recommend one? Tonight's drinks will be on our general."

As soon as his voice fell, before Yan Yunqing could even start recommending good taverns in the capital, Adrien grabbed Anthony's wrist.

Both of their gazes fell on Adrien.

Adrien opened his mouth, but in the end, he could only say dryly: "We... don't have that much money."