Chapter 19

Samuel looked at Elphis's face carefully, trying to find some familiar shadow. He wondered if he owed this kid in his previous life, so he had to suffer from him in this life.

After recalling for a while, Samuel confirmed that the face and soul breath were unfamiliar, but the wristband on the boy's hand... the color and pattern seemed familiar.

Samuel didn't remember it for a moment, but it didn't matter. This thing was made of light-related magical materials, which was quite suitable for the kid. I just don't know why it would make people comatose.

Could it be that when he recognized his master, a large amount of light elements were injected into his body, causing him to be injured?

Samuel is no longer a god, so many things cannot be explored and can only be guessed.

Suddenly, the boy with his eyes closed began to mutter again.

"Merciful spirit of light, the most gentle power here... please listen to my prayer... and save all living beings from the torment of illness..."

Samuel narrowed his eyes. Interesting. He could even speak ancient language. Wasn’t this guy really in the same situation as him?

Soon he discovered that the kid not only suddenly learned ancient languages, but also suddenly learned magic.

The spell that Elphis chanted actually worked.

The light elements gathered into streams of light that ordinary people could see with their naked eyes, and covered the boy's body like a veil. When the light faded, Elphis's complexion had visibly improved. The calluses and tiny scars on his fingertips were all erased. His hands were as smooth as jade, which matched the boy's face perfectly, making him look more like a young master lovingly cultivated by an aristocratic family.

Samuel was sure that the kid had gotten his chance, and when the time came, he would wake up.

Elphis once did not believe in magic, gods, or the rumors about the double black man, but he may not think so anymore in the future.

Samuel knew in his heart that he had no magical power to bring about bad luck, but the kid might change his mind.

It would be better to just follow Winster's wishes and leave, so that he wouldn't be hurt by this good brother. Samuel couldn't stand seeing himself so sad and scared after losing his memory.

Not even ready to give up his body, the Lord of Darkness picked up the package without any reluctance and walked straight into the depths of the forest.

As for what was Winster's reaction after waking up?

He has been given enough time to recuperate, it's time to face reality.

——

After daybreak, a group of people came to the chapel one after another to see if Al had woken up.

When Will arrived, he saw that the child was still asleep, so he asked the more attentive woman to feed little Al some liquid food, "You guys take care of him first, I'll go back and drive the carriage over, and we'll take Al to the city to have a look."

"Hey, put two more layers of blankets on the bed. Little Al is very weak now and can't stand the bumps."

Will responded and left.

——

Elphis woke up, but he didn't know whether he woke up naturally or was woken by the shaking.

He lay flat on the soft quilt, but he could smell the scent of hay. He was surrounded by wooden boards and a large piece of cloth above him to block the scorching sun. Hearing the familiar sound of horse hooves, he roughly guessed where he was.

The worldview had just been broken and reorganized, but Elphis was in no mood to think carefully about the extra things in his mind. The most urgent thing was...

The young man grabbed the sackcloth covering him, and with difficulty propped himself up with his hands, he weakly uttered, "Hungry..."

I was so hungry that my chest was sticking to my back and I was seeing stars!

The young man following the carriage was overjoyed when he saw him sitting up! He immediately shouted, "Uncle Will, stop, Al is awake!"

Several people reined in their horses, turned over and surrounded Elphis, saying in unison: "Little guy, you finally woke up. We were all worried about you."

"Why did you suddenly faint? Did you encounter something in the forest?"

"Al, are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere else?"

…

Elphis just felt weak and lay down again, "I'm so hungry, did you bring any food?"

Everyone looked at each other and confirmed that no one had brought any food.

Will made a prompt decision: "Al, drink some water first. Al, you ride fast to the tavern and let Lev prepare the food first. We will be there later."

Everyone stopped standing there and talking nonsense. The most important thing was that the person was awake. We could talk about it later if we had anything to say.

Elphis lay in the carriage, stroking the wristband on his forearm. After quickly making up an excuse for his coma, he began to think about Clemens.

Maybe he should call that person teacher?

He had previously mistakenly thought that Clemens wanted to take over this body, but now he realized that the man must have wanted to teach him something, but because of the language barrier, he simply and crudely chose to take over the body. However, he only left some memories and then disappeared...

Most of those memories were about the teacher learning to read in his childhood, and the process of studying the magic system with his friends.

Elphis guessed that the other party did not want to reveal other personal privacy, but just picked out some memories that could help him learn and gave them to him.

He didn't know how many years the teacher had lived, but from his fragmentary memories, he could tell that he was definitely more than forty or fifty years old as he looked.

Over the long years, the teacher picked out quite a few memories for him, but the clearest and most complete one was the part where the strongest humans joined together to resist the alien race.

Elphis felt that the teacher might not have intended to let him see those scenes, but... these memories were too profound for him, and they were involuntarily integrated into Elphis's mind.

The profound feeling is not because of the horror of the battlefield, but because the teacher misses the predecessors who fought together...

They are like-minded friends, they have different personalities, but they share the same pride——

They were unwilling to be controlled by gods, and unwilling to seek protection from beings that viewed humans as ants, so they worked together to find a way to become strong that belonged to humans.

They are pioneers, leaders, and guardians!

Elphis had heard many times that the human race survived because of the blessing of the God of Light.

He didn't know the truth of history, but he firmly believed it at this moment - the human race survived because of the existence of predecessors like his teacher!

Unfortunately, after the battlefield scene, there are no other memories. Elphis doesn’t know what happened later. What did the teacher and other seniors experience later?

The young man frowned and pressed his aching head, and the regret soon disappeared.

It's a good thing that he can't see more memories. Otherwise, either he would fall into a coma and starve to death while digesting the memories, or the large amount of memories would merge with his own memories, easily blurring his self-awareness.

Elphis was so focused on sorting out his memories that he didn't notice the passage of time and temporarily ignored the discomfort in his body.

It was not until I returned to the town and was brought back to my senses by the loud and excited shouts of "Al is really awake!" that I felt hungry again.

The carriage drove directly to the tavern. It was noon at this time. In addition to those who came to eat, there were also Pastor Kevin and others who had heard the news and had come to wait.

Elphis was surrounded and walked in, and he experienced the feeling of being the center of attention.

Looking at the townspeople who were truly happy for him, Elphis, who had always treated everyone as workers, rarely felt a little guilty.

Boss Lev prepared grilled steaks, stir-fried vegetables, egg fried rice, mushroom soup... Other townspeople who came for lunch were even more enthusiastic in delivering their own dishes. "Oh, my God, poor Al, you haven't eaten for so many meals. You look so haggard. Eat more to replenish your body."

Elphis swallowed a few mouthfuls of food before he began to respond to what others said.

A powerless commoner picking up a seemingly precious staff is no different from a child carrying gold through the market.

Elphis didn't want to expose the matter and attract outsiders, so he deceived everyone by telling them that he was stung by a poisonous bee. The sting on the top of his head was blocked by his hair, causing the redness and swelling, so they didn't notice it.

Pastor Kawen was puzzled: "Hey, little Winster fed you the antidote potion, why doesn't it work?"

Elphis swallowed a mouthful of meat and said guiltily, "It may be that the detoxification process is slow. Look, I am awake now."

Hmm? Oh, right, he said something was missing... Considering how his son usually sticks to him, it would be normal for him to accompany him into the city, so why hasn't he been seen yet?

"Grandpa, where is Winster?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the surroundings suddenly became quiet.

Kevin felt guilty and told Elphis what happened last night.

"Al, many of us went to the forest and the river to look for him this morning, but there was no trace of him. I wonder if Winster went deeper into the forest."

"This child usually looks quite steady, why did he suddenly…"

"Don't worry, Al. Martin is still looking for him. It's more important for you to eat first."

The boy frowned. He knew Winster's past experiences and character better than the townspeople. He knew very well that the boy would never act recklessly and was not someone who would put himself in danger. Could it be that he had encountered some accident?

Elphis quickly finished his meal and set off to look for someone.

On that day, hundreds of people from the town of Lise were dispatched, divided into more than a dozen teams, to go into the forest to search for people, but they found nothing.

Many people thought that poor little Winster was drowned in the river, and everyone was talking about it.

"No way, all the kids in our town know how to swim. Al taught Winster."

"Well, accidents can happen anytime. Maybe I got a cramp in the water and can't swim anymore."

"But the river water is so clear that we can see the body even if the person is really dead."

"Drowned people float on the water. Maybe the child drifted away with the current while we were sleeping last night."

…

Elphis found the lantern and the pile of dead leaves in the cave, and knew that Winster had been there last night.

After thinking about it for a while, the boy vaguely guessed what Winster meant by running out.

After failing to find the person during the day, he returned to the room that night and saw the piggy bank he had given to Winster.

There were still coins in the pottery jar that the child had earned with great effort, but several pieces of clothing and a bow and arrow were missing. Winster's meaning was very clear - when I left, the money would be given to my brother as a reward for taking me in. It was all my fault that I brought bad luck and made my brother unconscious. I couldn't stay here and harm anyone.

Elphis was worthy of being the person who knew Winster best. He guessed his train of thought perfectly and even imagined his child crying and running away from home. He was immediately anxious and angry!

Winster had been gone for a day and a night, and no one knew which way he had taken. Everyone was looking for him in all directions, like headless flies. They didn't know where to look for him, not to mention that he might have been hiding on purpose.

I have raised it for more than a year and told it many times not to be superstitious (God of Wealth: Then I should leave?), but now it seems that I have not listened at all!

Although Elphis had already witnessed that there were indeed gods in this world, he still believed that the dark race would bring disaster, and it was definitely nonsense that the Church made up in order to consolidate its position.

Besides, Winster is a grateful human child and has nothing to do with the dark race.

You little brat, you ran away from home without even bringing any money with you.

Elphis decided that after he found the person, he would first spank him, then put him under house arrest for ten days or half a month, and ask him to write a ten thousand word self-criticism and reflect on his ignorant behavior of not even leaving a note, causing so many people to worry, and even troubling everyone to find the person!

The boy, who had just developed a strong interest in magic, temporarily ignored this matter. He rode his horse around in the forest for several days and even went to Raphael City to post a missing person notice, but to no avail.

More and more townspeople believed that Winster was drowned and then washed away by the current.

Of course, Elphis heard what everyone said, but his child had gone through the most helpless years of his childhood alone, so there was no reason for him to be so stupid or unlucky as to end up drowning.

But as smart as he is, he couldn't come up with a reason why Winster ran away from home when he was unconscious, so he could only remain silent about this rumor...

The only thing that could comfort Elphis was that he had taught Winster a lot of common sense and survival skills over the past year, and the child was cautious and steady. As long as his true hair color was not discovered, he would not be in too much danger...right?

After a few days, the number of townspeople who came to help look for people gradually decreased, and everyone gave up.

Elphis didn't bother others too much. So much time had passed and Winster didn't know how far he had run. Even he, as his brother, couldn't keep looking for him, let alone the townspeople who were not very familiar with Winster.

The townspeople felt sympathy for Winster's disappearance, thinking that the child had been displaced since childhood, and was finally picked up by Al and lived a stable life for a year, but now he is gone again...

But it was only pity and sympathy. After all, Winster had hardly spoken to them. He was a rather dull child and not very likable. So, no one felt sorry for him and soon forgot about the incident and continued to live their lives as usual.

Only Pastor Cavan felt guilty and often said that he should not have let Winster go to the forest that night. He thought that Winster would be fine since he went there often. Who would have thought that he would never come back...

From then on, when Kevin prayed every day, he would ask God to protect Winster and help him survive the disaster.

As for Elphis, he gave up the search after a few days and his life returned to normal, running his small business as usual. The only difference was that he secretly practiced magic behind Pastor Kaven's back.

Although he seemed to have accepted Winster's disappearance, Elphis was still concerned about the child for longer than he thought.

Maybe it was because Winster was the first person he had ever interacted with as himself since he came to this world...

Elphis seems to have a good relationship with everyone, but if you think carefully, no one can be considered his friend. Pastor Kevin is a relative, and the others are partners and employees.

Only Winster was the first child he had devoted his heart and soul to educating. He knew Winster's secret, and Winster also knew his attitude towards the public's beliefs.

So, they should trust each other?

When the two of them were together, if they didn't want to talk, they wouldn't talk; if they didn't want to laugh, they wouldn't laugh. If Elphis wanted to complain about something, he would just say it out loud, without having to maintain the image of being friendly, intelligent and good-tempered in the eyes of others.

The child is so sensible that it makes people feel distressed. He does not have any of the annoying shortcomings of his peers. Elphis raised Winster as his own brother, so of course he can't let go of this matter.

Elphis, who just wanted to be an ordinary wealthy businessman, changed his mind the moment he officially started practicing magic - he used to be hindered by religious dignitaries, but a powerful magician can override all powers, and as long as he is strong enough, he doesn't have to live in fear.

My younger brother ran away from home, but it doesn’t matter, as long as he’s still alive. If he can’t be found now, I will ask many people to help him find him in the future.

When he is strong enough, he will overturn the saying that double black will bring bad luck and let children walk in the sun with dignity!

——

When Winster regained consciousness, it was already the night that Elphis woke up.

A moment ago, he was still guarding his brother, but at this moment, he was sitting in a damp cave filled with the smell of earth. His body was exhausted, his head was dizzy and aching, and he no longer had the strength to move.

He was hungry, and there was a dead snake as thick as an adult man's arm waiting for him to deal with.