"Seriously, there are crooked merchants like this even here? I thought only the Demon Continent had them!" Roxy grumbled angrily, so mad that her signature ahoge stood straight up.
The Demon Continent was notorious as a gathering place for crooked merchants—some of the demons there were insatiably greedy and loved pulling off conscienceless money-making schemes.
Dan Feng beside her remained silent the whole time, only occasionally nodding, seemingly not responding much to Roxy's complaints.
This farce instantly soured the originally good mood the two had been in.
"Hey Dan Feng, should we go check out a bookstore next?" Seeing the atmosphere turn heavy, Roxy quickly threw out a new topic to ease the awkwardness.
Dan Feng hesitated slightly before replying indifferently, "I'm fine with anything."
This answer inexplicably stirred a wave of irritation in Roxy's heart, even leaving her puzzled at herself.
"Why am I feeling like this?" Roxy muttered inwardly.
The two then walked slowly along the street, beginning their search for a bookstore.
To their surprise, though the street was quite long, they searched for a long time and couldn't spot even the shadow of a single bookstore.
"That's weird. Such a long street, and not a single place selling books?" Roxy muttered to herself in suspicion.
Books should be fairly common everyday items in Asura—how could they be so hard to find?
"Let's keep looking," Dan Feng said. He also found it strange and refused to believe there were no books for sale here.
At that moment, Roxy's gaze turned toward the crowd in the distance.
It seemed a familiar figure had just passed by over there.
"Teacher!" Roxy called out in delight and immediately ran toward where the figure had gone.
Dan Feng was puzzled but still followed after Roxy.
"What's wrong?" Dan Feng quickly caught up to the running Roxy and asked.
"I just saw my teacher!" Roxy's eyes couldn't hide her excitement. The person she most wanted to see right now was her teacher.
"Teacher? Bloody Kant?" Dan Feng remembered the name of Roxy's teacher and began scanning the surroundings to help her look.
But he suddenly realized he had never seen Bloody Kant in person—searching like this was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
"Kant-sensei! Bloody Kant-sensei! Please wait!" A woman wearing glasses and squinting her eyes stumbled out of the crowd, panting heavily. It was obvious she had just undergone intense physical exertion.
"What? Bloody Kant-sensei?" Roxy's hearing was excellent; she caught the keyword amid the noisy crowd.
The woman immediately latched onto the words "Bloody Kant" and turned her head toward Roxy.
Their eyes met, and they spoke in unison: "Are you her acquaintance?"
...
"Please have a seat on the sofa," the woman said as she led Dan Feng and Roxy into a house. She then went to the nearby kitchen and brought out tea and snacks.
"So many books and pens," Roxy said curiously as she looked around, while Dan Feng picked up a hand-drawn magazine from the table and began reading it.
The woman placed the tea and snacks on the table and introduced herself: "I'm Arlelia, and I work at this publishing house. I'm currently in charge of Kant-sensei."
"Publishing house?" Roxy found those three words quite unfamiliar; her large water-blue eyes filled with confusion.
"It's probably the place responsible for authors who write books," Dan Feng explained to Roxy. Leaning back on the sofa, he thoughtfully recalled the fragments Arlelia had mentioned and gradually pieced together the role of publishing houses in this world.
Unlike the institutions in his previous life that focused solely on distributing books, publishing houses here functioned more like editors-in-charge. Their duty wasn't merely to bring books to market but to specifically urge authors to complete their works.
Dan Feng grew interested in this operating model. He secretly wondered to himself: if he became an author too, would it increase his progress bar? Writing books could count as a form of understanding, right?
While Dan Feng was lost in thought, Arlelia smiled at the two of them and turned her gaze to Roxy, asking gently, "May I ask what your relationship is with Kant-sensei?" Her voice was very soft—the kind that inspired trust.
Roxy looked up and met Arlelia's squinting eyes. Memories flooded back like a tide.
She smiled and said, "Back when she visited the Demon Continent, she came to my village. I was only in my teens then. Later, she taught me how to use magic. That time was really special to me."
As Roxy recounted, the corners of her mouth unconsciously lifted, as if those days spent with Bloody Kant were still vivid in her mind.
It had been the happiest time of her childhood—like a deaf-mute person finally meeting someone who knew sign language after long solitude. The feeling of no longer being seen as an outsider filled her with warmth and happiness.
"Huh? Demon Continent? That was so long ago—you're only about 12 years old, aren't you?"
"Hey! I'm Migurd race! And right now I'm 25—I'm completely an adult!" Roxy said while puffing out her cheeks like a child.
At that moment, Arlelia seemed to suddenly remember something and quickly said, "Oh, oh! So you're the Migurd race mentioned in Kant-sensei's Traveling the World!"
Roxy immediately looked proud upon hearing that and nodded vigorously.
However, Dan Feng suddenly spoke up: "By the way, it seems Traveling the World isn't finished, right?"
Arlelia visibly froze for a moment before giving an awkward smile and explaining, "Uh… yes, that's right. Kant-sensei only finished part of it, but I went ahead and published it without her permission."
The reason Dan Feng said this was because he had carefully read Traveling the World and noticed it only described the Central Continent and Demon Continent—even the Millis Continent, which was a necessary passage on the Demon Continent, wasn't mentioned.
"It really isn't finished?" Roxy looked at Arlelia in shock.
"Kant-sensei is always like this. I just found her earlier and was chasing after her," Arlelia said, adjusting her glasses before continuing, "She's been obsessed with having fun these past few years and has been delaying drafts for a long time."
"It really is well written, but it's a shame it's unfinished," Dan Feng said, shaking his head. Talking about this made him annoyed—he had even thought he was unlucky and bought a torn copy.
"Right? When I first read Kant-sensei's manuscript, I was hooked instantly and hurriedly signed a publishing contract with her," Arlelia said. For once, her squinted eyes opened wide.
"But getting the drafts back afterward became very difficult. Even when I did get them, the quantity was pitifully small."
"Now she only occasionally brings over some drafts—sometimes not even a single page. The company president is even thinking of revoking the publication decision."
"How could she do that!" Roxy said in surprise. The image of Bloody Kant-sensei in her mind completely shattered.
"By the way, you mentioned earlier that you studied magic under Kant-sensei, right?" Arlelia suddenly recalled what Roxy had said and quickly took Roxy's hand.
"Eh?" Roxy looked completely confused.
"Since you're her disciple, maybe you could catch her! Could I ask you to help?" Arlelia looked as if she had grasped her last lifeline—her eyes opened to their maximum. It was clear she was being completely sincere.