In Exalting Sanctum, a long line stretched out, and Stelle stood among it.
She was sandwiched between the two people from the open-air teahouse earlier.
The man in front said nothing. His hands were held in front of his chest, clutching a sword without a sheath, its surface covered in cracks.
It looked like it could shatter into pieces at any second.
The woman standing behind Stelle slowly opened her mouth.
"Are they enemies from before? Don't worry. With me here, nothing will happen."
"Wuwuwu, thank you so much, Sister Jingliu!"
Stelle was so moved her eyes filled with tears.
Hearing her call her that, Jingliu only smiled faintly and didn't mind.
———
At the Xianzhou Luofu, Levi sat in the teahouse of Sleepless Earl, his gaze empty as he watched the passersby on the street.
Even the outbreak of the Stellaron disaster couldn't hide the prosperity of the Luofu.
'Do you have any way to find Stelle?'
"Don't rush."
Levi soothed Lumine's restless mood, saying he had plenty of ways to find Stelle.
But honestly, when it came to actually finding her, he had no clue.
There were countless realms, big and small, across the Luofu.
If he searched them one by one, it might take him a whole year.
[Ding-dong!]
[Kiana: @Levi, tomorrow our dorm is holding a celebration party. Mei asked me to invite you. Remember to come.]
[Elysia: Is there me? Is there me?]
How could a party not invite adorable Elysia.
[Kiana: No.]
The fork in her hand stopped midair. The smile on her face froze. Elysia looked over Kiana's reply again and again.
She opened and closed the chat group repeatedly, but those two words didn't change at all.
"So disappointing. I'm really not included."
[Kiana: Mei doesn't even know you. How could she invite you?]
"Hmph~ It's understandable that Mei didn't invite me since she doesn't know me, but you didn't invite me either."
'Are we even still good sisters!'
Her cheeks puffed slightly as she put the food into her mouth.
"Ahh!"
[Elysia: Elysia is angry!]
[Levi: You can just tell me about this. I can take you with me.]
[Elysia: Really?]
Seeing the exchange between the two, Kiana deleted the message where she was about to invite Elysia and said it didn't matter.
If the Valkyrie dorm could accommodate a large gathering, she would have invited everyone in the group. It could've been their first offline group meetup.
[Levi: Even if there was enough space, you still couldn't invite everyone.]
[Kiana: ?]
[Levi: Lumine still has to travel.]
[?]
Lumine slowly typed a question mark. So the one who couldn't go was her?
[Lumine: Who travels in the middle of the night?]
She really wanted to crack Levi's head open and see if it was connected to some public restroom.
[Kiana: ...]
[Kiana: By the way, is Stelle having some kind of episode? Why is she suddenly provoking you two?]
[[Levi: She probably thinks we can't find her, so she's acting without restraint.]
And that was true. Lumine had restricted her abilities. Otherwise, she could've directly hacked into the Luofu's surveillance system.
Run facial recognition on everyone and locate Stelle in minutes.
But doing that would carry a high risk of completely exposing herself.
Fu Xuan was already somewhat suspicious of her.
If she went further, the focus would shift from probing Qingque to probing both her and Qingque.
That was something he couldn't accept.
It concerned his dignity as a man.
'What kind of man's dignity is that!'
Lumine went over Levi's words again and again, but couldn't see how it had anything to do with dignity.
It felt more like he simply didn't want Fu Xuan to know his capabilities, which would increase his workload, so he made up an excuse.
But judging by how leisurely he was every day, did he even have any work assigned to him?
Lumine couldn't help falling into thought.
Thunk!
Levi rested his head on the table, facing the street, continuing his dazed look.
He muttered, "Stelle, little gray hair, where did you run off to…"
"The Stelle you're talking about, is she a tall, slender adult woman with gray hair?"
"She hasn't even turned one month old!"
Sitting upright, Levi leaned forward to look at the speaker, the young proprietress of Sleepless Earl.
"You… no, have you seen her?"
After serving the tea to a customer, the young proprietress came over and nodded.
"She came here earlier to buy some tea because she was thirsty. She ended up scalding herself and turning red all over… you're her friend, right?"
After all, it looked like he was searching for someone.
Levi nodded quickly. "Yes, yes, I'm her best friend. We accidentally got separated not long ago. Do you know where she is now?"
Excitement showed clearly on his face. In the eyes of the young proprietress, he was just happy to hear news of his friend.
In reality… that was indeed the case.
"I don't know exactly where she is." The proprietress shook her head. She wasn't some all-knowing being. They had only met once.
There was no way she could know where the other person was now.
Levi's excitement slowly turned into disappointment. "I see."
Just as he was about to leave, the proprietress spoke again.
"But I remember when she left Sleepless Earl, the direction she went… hmm, it seemed like she was heading toward Exalting Sanctum. You could try looking there, maybe…"
Whoosh!
A sudden gust of wind surged through the teahouse, forcing her eyes shut, her body tingling slightly.
When she opened her eyes again, there was no golden-haired girl in front of her, only the steady flow of pedestrians.
The proprietress scratched her head in confusion, then turned back to her work at the teahouse.
"Yahoo!"
At the central hub of the Xianzhou, a streak of lightning invisible to the naked eye flashed overhead.
Levi's face was full of smiles. "Just when you search everywhere and can't find it, it shows up without any effort!"
"Stelle! Wait for me! Just wait!"
Lumine couldn't help wanting to cover her face. 'Can you stop using my mouth to make such embarrassing sounds.'
Ignoring Lumine's complaints, the lightning, along with the "Yahoo" shout, sped toward Exalting Sanctum.
[Lumine: I don't know why, but I suddenly feel a bit of regret…]
[Kiana: You'll get used to it.]
[Elysia: Indeed, you'll get used to it.]
[Asta: +1]
[Stelle: A moment of regret is nothing. Get ready to stay with Levi and regret it for the rest of your life!]
Stelle grinned and closed the chat, not looking at Lumine's flustered replies.
She was still in the long line. The two people standing in front of and behind her were Yingxing and Jingliu.
According to Jingliu, the two were old acquaintances. This time, they came to Exalting Sanctum to seek treatment from the medicine-bearing Dragon Lady.
Medicine-bearing Dragon Lady… probably a little dragon girl.
Tap!
Jingliu lightly tapped the armor on her wrist. Ren shifted slightly and turned to face Jingliu's covered eyes. A faint smile appeared at the corner of Jingliu's lips.
She pointed toward the Cloud Knights approaching from not far away.
Ren understood her meaning. He turned and left the line, drawing the Cloud Knights away.
Facing Stelle's curious gaze, Jingliu explained, "He has something to take care of… hmm, I also just remembered something."
Seeing another group of Cloud Knights arrive, Jingliu lowered her arm.
"I'll leave the line to you for now. We'll be back soon."
"..."
Watching her leave, Stelle felt a bit curious about what it was, but didn't think much of it.
She continued standing in line.
Huff!
Huff!
A beast-like breathing sounded beside her.
Stelle sensed something, her whole body stiffening as she turned her head.
Lumine's round face was suddenly right in front of her, golden eyes completely emotionless.
"Come die once."
"..."
Gulp!
"Big sis, I was wrong!"