A month passed in the midst of their playful banter, and the Duke finally decided to return home.
They haven't gone to the dungeon during this time. After the last ordeal, there are hardly any low-level monsters left on the first few floors, and there are even some level 20+ monsters lurking in the shadows, making it unsuitable for their training.
Under Luo Fan's enticement, the little angel finally became more diligent and reached level 15. However, she had consumed all the crystal cores below the beginner level, and she was worried that she wouldn't be able to digest the beginner level ones.
As for Luo Fan, besides finishing reading all the books in the study, he also learned winter swimming. The fish and shrimp in the lake suffered, ostensibly to help Lis recover.
Xiaoxue was also influenced by this; she learned to scuba dive, and the little girl felt no discomfort beneath the frozen lake.
"That's true. Ice is a derivative of water, so it's normal for the little girl to be able to adapt to ice water," Luo Fan comforted her. After all, the snow-covered girl underwater was quite a sight to behold.
Inside the carriage, the Snow Maiden still clung tightly to Luo Fan's clone, feeding him crystal cores and occasionally taking one for herself.
Ellie is already a Level 9 Novice Mage, Daisy is only Level 7, and even Liz has reached Level 3 Novice Mage. With the little lazybones' help, Liz's level is rising rapidly.
"Xue'er, stop feeding me! My main body has only just reached level 25, while my clone is almost level 27!"
"Okay, just one." The Snow Woman seemed to be used to this action; she was now level 27.
Kerry didn't stay here. After all the setbacks lately, he'd been consciously avoiding his sister. He felt that it wouldn't be long before she surpassed him.
By then, he'll be the worst person in the family. Ugh, how embarrassing!
Upon returning to Sacred Heart City, Luo Fan did not notice any significant changes.
The snow hadn't melted yet, and the whole city was still a white expanse, with hardly anyone in sight. Apart from a few shops, most of the buildings along the roads were closed.
The city was quiet at dusk.
Back in the familiar guest room, Ellie hugged Liz and lay down on the bed. The experiences of the past few days gave her a surreal, almost otherworldly feeling.
With his improved strength and his sister's contract with a rare magical pet, Luo Fan went from having one to having two, and he also gained a lot more money.
She was stunned when she opened the small box and found it full of purple gold coins.
Daisy only took a few, leaving the rest for Ellie, which made Ellie feel embarrassed.
"Aili, you helped my family obtain so many crystal cores and materials, and we haven't properly thanked you yet. Besides, you still have to raise your younger sister, Luo Fan, and Zi Yu."
"I'm the one supporting them, and this is all my hard-earned savings. Do you know how hard it is for me?" Luo Fan couldn't help but complain and quickly tried to persuade Ai Li.
Ellie had no choice but to put them away, including the books and magic scrolls.
"Luo Fan, are we going to go back to live there afterwards?" Ellie asked directly, and Liz next to her also perked up her ears.
"Let's stay a little longer. We don't know what the situation is like outside, and Daisy wouldn't feel comfortable letting you go back like this."
"Oh, what do you think, Liss?"
"I just want to be with my sister, Brother Luo Fan, and also Zi Yu and Grandma Daisy." The little angel had already fallen asleep.
"Then let's stay a little longer."
Early the next morning, Ellie took her younger sister out. Daisy and Snow insisted on coming along, also to get their adventurer certifications at the guild. The group quickly grew much larger, with Daisy's guards following behind.
"With such a heavy snowfall this year, I hope there won't be any problems with your house," Daisy asked with some concern.
This time when she goes back, Ellie plans to bring more clothes with her.
"Probably not, the roof was renovated before."
However, upon returning to the familiar place, all that was seen were ruins, with collapsed roofs. The houses were filled with snow, indicating they had been abandoned for some time.
"Oh, isn't this Ellie? I'm so glad you're all alright." An elderly woman nearby saw Ellie and slowly walked over.
"Hello, Grandma Jones!"
“Ellie, did you offend someone? One night it snowed heavily, and I saw a lot of people come and smash your house. When you woke up in the morning, you found the house like this.”
"Grandma, I don't know either. Daisy and I were staying at a friend's house a while ago, not in Sacred Heart City."
"Oh, it's alright, it's alright." Jones said, pacing away slowly.
"Aili, I'll go see if anything useful was left behind." Luo Fan skipped over.
Daisy instructed the guards to help clean up the debris, and Ellie also went inside to search for a while. Everything inside, including the walls, had been deliberately smashed. Even many of the bricks on the floor had been destroyed.
But the clothes left at home were all gone, and there were obvious burn marks on the side of the bed.
A line of text was also found on the wall, written crookedly with a carbonized wooden stick.
"Aili, you deserve to die!!!"
"Who wrote this?" Daisy asked, pulling on her friend's arm.
"I don't know either." Ellie's mind was in a mess, and she didn't remember offending anyone.
"Whoever wrote it, they'll definitely come looking for you again. You'd better be mentally prepared." Luo Fan looked around but didn't find any useful clues, after all, so much time had passed.
"I know, and I'm just a little sad. A place I've lived in for so long is just gone."
"Out with the old, in with the new. Anyway, we have money now, we can always rebuild a better one. Besides, it's not safe to stay here now," Luo Fan advised. As long as the master is alright, that's all that matters. Moreover, living at Daisy's house is really nice.
"Well, that's all we can do for now."
At the Adventurers' Guild, Ellie met Joanna and Guild Master Joseph again. The latter had been promoted to the position of guild master for this branch, shedding his title of vice-master.
"Ellie, it's been so long! It's so good to see you looking so energetic." Joanna grabbed Ellie's arm and chattered on and on.
“I even went to your house and found that it had been destroyed. I even looked for you. Later, I went to the Duke’s mansion to inquire and found out that you had gone to their fiefdom.”
"I'm glad you're alright. You don't know, things were really chaotic here a month ago. Even that Marquis Mair who bullied you before got caught up in it. Good grief, he was stripped of his title and his fief was taken back."
"As for the Claire family you used to be with, they haven't been affected. I guess it's because they don't have much money, so they don't even look at them."
Luo Fan listened with great interest, then suddenly thought about the destruction of Ellie's house. Could it be because someone knew the inside story? But then he thought again, the Duke and Duchess certainly wouldn't be that foolish.
Besides, it was Xiaoxue and I who discovered this, so it shouldn't be blamed on Aili, right?
Therefore, it's very likely a previous conflict, which narrows the scope. One is Yasuo; although he's lost his title, his foundation remains, making this task easy for him.
Another issue is the Cold Water Mercenary Group. Because of the incident, they were directly expelled from the mercenary association. If the remaining members seek revenge, Ellie could very well be implicated. After all, the other victim, Emil, at least has a marquis backing her, so no one should dare to touch her.
As for the rest, Luo Fan couldn't figure it out either. The Claire family probably wouldn't do that; that marquis was clearly a man who cared a lot about his reputation. The Temple of Gods and Demons wanted to capture her, so they probably wouldn't do something like this either. Of course, it couldn't be ruled out that it was deliberate revenge; last time, they had wiped out an entire Shadow Squad.
As Ellie listened to her sister's rambling and Luo Fan's analysis, she calmed down considerably.
Liz, standing next to her sister, clutched her clothes, still somewhat worried.
"By the way, Ellie, what are you planning to do here this time? Are you going to work again?" After talking for a while, Joanna finally got to the point. Joseph had wanted to interrupt her earlier, but he hadn't found the opportunity.
"Not for now. I came here specifically to see my sister and to accompany Daisy to register."
"Oh, I'll take care of it for you. Anyway, the guild doesn't have anything going on lately." With that, she hurriedly left the meeting room.
"President, congratulations!" Ellie smiled as she looked at President Joseph, who now exuded a much stronger aura and looked more energetic than before.
"You're too kind, Ellie. If it weren't for you, I probably wouldn't be with Anna right now. Thank you so much! This mid-grade dark crystal is a token of my appreciation; please accept it." Joseph took out a small box and handed it over.
"Aili, accept it! You're the matchmaker for this marriage, so it's normal to charge a fee." Luo Fan quickly reminded her, this is a good thing, it will be very useful to Ai Li later.
"Thank you, President. I also hope that Anna is doing well."
"I will definitely treat her well. By the way, don't go to the Ice Shadow Dungeon for now. Another accident has happened there. Ghost Bats have been discovered on the fourth floor."
"Ghost Bat? That's great! Its blood smells amazing!" Luo Fan's small eyes widened.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com