Chapter 329 Waiting

The heat waves were rolling, and the air was distorted into blurry waves.

"That old guy ran away." The assassin's gloomy voice came from behind him, and he used the tip of his knife to block the charred charcoal dust that was flying towards the professor.

"It's okay, we're getting ready to run too." Nova said calmly, looking around calmly at the royal city soldiers who came to put out the fire - the fire had been basically under control at this time, and the fire was no longer the biggest threat. The royal city guards and civilians who had just worked together to rescue the disaster were now vaguely divided into two distinct camps.

"Just leaving like that?" Orel swept his cold gaze over the soldiers, a chilling murderous intent still lingering in his presence. The soldiers' faces were wary and hostile, their armor reflecting an ominous dark red in the still-burning embers.

"Now is not the time to tear each other apart," the professor said softly. His eyes were red from the smoke, his face was covered with a layer of black ash, and the sweat dripped down his face, leaving dry marks.

Those smoky grey eyes slowly slid across the buildings blackened by flames, the frightened civilians who were being organized to help with disaster relief, the wounded who were gathered in a corner of the ruins groaning and crying, and the silent charred corpses further away... Finally, his gaze fell back on the gate of Yuanxin Palace.

The protective magic circle is taking effect, and the complex and exquisite spells are emitting starlight. A beautiful, thin barrier with a pearly luster gently covers the huge Yuanxin Palace, keeping the fire and the victims out, keeping this gorgeous and luxurious palace and the jeweled nobles and priests inside spotless, presenting a very sharp contrast with the dusty civilians and the messy streets on the scene.

——From the beginning to the end, it has never been opened for the people of the royal city, not even a crack in the door.

"You all should have seen how strange this fire is." The ghost's voice was not loud, but it fell exceptionally clear into everyone's ears and was also transmitted to the crystal ball at the same time: "If possible, I don't want to suspect anyone without reason, nor do I want to ponder what exactly this fire interrupted, and for whom it was covering up what..."

He didn't need to say more.

"...Protector of the Royal Court, Lord Sandro," a trembling old man said hoarsely, "Misfortune that comes without cause, as if cursed by the gods, endless and continuous strange disasters—I was a soldier in my youth and witnessed similar scenes on the battlefield. Lord Sandro also participated in the battle against the previous Saint of Ferros."

——And it was a "bad luck" that made it impossible for both the enemy and our side to distinguish their targets. It is said that the entire battlefield collapsed and the ground cracked, and thousands of soldiers from both sides were buried between the closing mountains.

Everyone was in an uproar. The young people of the Third Council were still a little confused, but the older people clearly didn't have a good impression of this saint. Their fear and anger finally found an outlet: "It's her! Sandra! The Witch of Doom!"

"The Queen sent her. She wants to burn us!"

"Look at that closed door!" someone shouted. "They don't care about our lives at all, and they even sent soldiers!"

The soldiers' faces were grim. They had just participated in the firefighting, but now they were surrounded by the crowd's vigilant and angry gazes.

"Back off!" an officer shouted harshly, but his voice seemed particularly pale and powerless amid the boiling public resentment. Faces blackened by smoke began to slowly approach them.

"Everyone." At this juncture, the ghost's voice rang out again, a little hoarse and not loud, but it gradually quieted everyone down. "In the face of disaster, the Third Council has no intention of provoking further conflict at this moment. Our top priorities are to collect the dead, provide aid to the injured, and resettle the victims—as well as demand an explanation from the royal family for this unprovoked disaster and seek justice for the victims."

If a group of unarmed and unprepared civilians clashed with the royal soldiers at the palace gate, it would be an indisputable one-sided massacre. There was no need to worry about the momentary advance or retreat.

Under the soldiers' nervous gaze, the unfathomable young leader completely ignored them and looked in the direction of Yuanxin Palace.

On the other side of the crystal ball, the queen's cold golden pupils met the pair of emotionless gray eyes.

"The Third Council wishes to hear from you regarding the date of the third meeting of the Blooming Council," the ghost said calmly, his contempt barely concealed. "Your Majesties, please give us a clear and precise answer."

"—Our time is limited, and so is our patience."

…

The crowd gradually dispersed. The professor slowly exhaled, frowned, and wiped the sweat that was about to flow into his eyes with the back of his hand. He felt that the exposed skin was painful from the high temperature.

"Don't rub your eyes."

A hand silently grasped his chin, gently tilting his face upwards. A gentle, cool breeze enveloped him, startling the black-haired young man for a moment. But he was quickly soothed by the comfortable touch of the cool fingertips on his heated skin. He squinted his eyes in comfort, allowing the savior to carefully wipe his dirty face bit by bit with a wet handkerchief.

"Did you get burned anywhere just now?" Azuka asked with a frown as he carefully wiped off the unsightly dirt on his lover's face.

"No," the professor said, his words becoming slurred as he was rubbed. "With you here, how could it be possible..."

Sometimes this guy was really overprotective of him, as if he would run away like a house cat and die of hunger and cold outside if he wasn't careful.

But he is not a pampered pet, and it is impossible for him to stay in the safe and comfortable environment carefully created by his lover at all times.

A small handkerchief was clearly not enough to help; soon the fabric was blackened by the soot, and the professor, with a touch of impatience, tilted his head upwards. He glanced out of the corner of his eye and happened to see the small fountain in the square nearby. He twisted his body and managed to break free from the unsuspecting savior. He then lay flat on the stone edge of the fountain, scooped up a handful of water, and splashed it onto his face, rubbing it vigorously.

It was cool, comfortable. Nova contentedly opened his collar a little to let in some air, wrung out his dripping hair, and tucked it messily behind his head. When he looked up, he saw the savior standing before him, carefully and leisurely folding his handkerchief and placing the clean side close to his body.

Nova: “…”

Somehow, it felt a little creepy—but he had done nothing wrong.

"Sir, this place is not clean." Seeing the man showing an unconscious alert expression to him, the wet collar on his chest became translucent, and there were even a few drops of water slowly flowing down on the pale and sharp collarbone. Azuka sighed, leaned down slightly towards the man, and gently wiped the black-haired young man's neck with his fingers, causing the man to instinctively shrink.

...His lover was so familiar with him that even those extremely subtle and inappropriate changes in his emotions were captured by her - he didn't know whether he should be happy or not.

"Where?" The professor was startled, instinctively looking up, only to be unceremoniously taken advantage of by someone leaning over and kissing him. A cool, slippery tongue greedily pried open his unguarded teeth and darted inside, entwining the tip of his tongue, which was a bit helpless. This time, the other person didn't forget to hold the back of his head in place, one hand digging into his wet hair, the other holding his shoulders, holding him still.

"Damn it, I'm still here!" Ole's exasperated voice came from the side. "I'm just hiding my body, I'm not dead. Can you two stop being so oblivious?!"

Azuka paused, then noticed the hand pressing against his chest, which was unconsciously resisting, begin to grow more resistant. The god slowly straightened up, somewhat discontentedly, not forgetting to smooth his messy black hair. Damn it, he had momentarily forgotten that his "good brother" was outside the range of his confusion spell.

"Didn't you go get some water?" the Savior said unhappily.

"Yeah, it was just a few minutes, but when I came back I saw you two kissing passionately." The assassin couldn't help rolling his eyes. With his good eyesight, he could even see a layer of wet and shiny stuff on the tyrant's lips - his eyes were going blind.

"Lemonade smoothie for you two." With a sullen face, he handed each of them a small cup of iced dessert - there were still a few straws stuck to the edge of the container used by the vendor to keep it warm.

"Where did you buy it?" Azuka took it and stared at him with some suspicion.

"A vendor who hasn't run away yet. I searched for a long time before I found three cups that weren't melted too much." Ole stuffed a big mouthful of ice chips with syrup and lemon juice into his mouth fiercely, and immediately breathed a sigh of relief - the fire scene was too hot, and no matter how high the level of the warlock was, it would be difficult to withstand it.

A certain god doesn't count, he cheats, controls the wind, and can cool himself down.

"Shut up and eat. It won't kill you anyway." Seeing that the other person was still skeptical, Ole sneered and turned to look at the professor, revealing his brother's secrets with ill intentions: "Don't pay attention to him. This guy is very picky. Even in the past, he had to find a water source to bathe regularly on the battlefield. Even if he couldn't find one, he would comb his hair every day and pick up every strand of hair and take it away."

Ignoring someone's warning look, he spoke more and more excitedly: "And even if there is nothing to eat, and the person is seriously injured and unconscious, our princess will definitely not touch any unwashed wild fruit."

"First, a sorcerer's hair is a medium for casting spells, so leaking it out carries certain risks. Saints' hair has been auctioned off for exorbitant prices on the black market. I bet you didn't know that." Azuka interrupted coldly, stirring the smoothie elegantly with a spoon. "Second, I simply won't touch the wild fruits you find—and that's because most of the food you find is poisonous. Even Maxine, with her iron stomach, vomited and had diarrhea after eating it, and the three of us were nearly surrounded by an entire enemy army."

"Hey! That's just because I was too young back then and lacked wilderness survival experience!" Ole, instantly annoyed by being exposed, complained angrily, "How long are you going to keep harping on about such a small matter?"

Then he saw the tyrant, who was happily stuffing smoothie into his mouth, silently pull the spoon out of his mouth, look at him with some suspicion, and carefully stir the glass of ice water mixture.

Ole: “…”

These two are just the same kind of people! He angrily stuffed a large mouthful of smoothie into his mouth, chewing it with a crunching sound, as if he was chewing someone's bone.

A flock of pigeons fluttered down in the square, cooing, as if all the disasters that had happened in ancient Amacadio, all the injustices that had been covered up, all the suffering that had been ignored, and the turbulent tides that lurked in the depths of the city had nothing to do with them.

Ole leaned against the sculpture, spoon in hand, his mind free for a rare moment. He'd lived two lifetimes, but even then, he still rarely had a moment like this, free from thoughts.

As a result, the assassin, who was rarely moved, just tilted his head, and the two people on the other side were still flirting. One of them was obviously doing it on purpose, and the other one had a confused look on his face, which made him even feel a little sympathy for the other one.

His best friend was whispering to him, "Sir, there's a little syrup on your face." Is this guy a kid? He even got syrup on his face from eating a smoothie. The black-haired young man looked up in confusion, then had his face carefully wiped. Then, surprisingly, he licked his fingertips quite naturally. He actually licked them!

Ugh! Disgusting! The assassin thought with goosebumps all over his body, that bastard's mysophobia is actually quite targeted, it disappeared in front of the professor, right?!