Chapter 31: The Town in the Fog

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Salser nodded expressionlessly at Astolfo, who was staring back at him. Honestly, he didn't know what that person wanted to express by turning around and looking at him with the eyes of a wounded little animal—but nodding first was always right, as he could always ask for details later.

Under the glow of the arc lamp, the maiden-like knight breathed a sigh of relief, his eyelashes, still carrying a few drops of seawater, closed, sparkling with a crystalline light.

The person in front of the Dark wizard looked to be in his early twenties, with the face of a noble girl who never left home, and very special, beautiful, and crystalline eyes: his gaze always unashamedly revealed any emotions within his heart. His wet pink hair hung over his face and shoulders, as if he had just stepped out of bath. Just a moment ago, when he was panicked, he looked more like a little animal than the Dark wizard's newly acquired apprentice.

He had a long sword at his waist, with a gold-engraved hilt and an abstract eagle emblem.

It seemed Jeanne wasn't very keen on talking to Astolfo, so Salser patiently explained to him the story he and the Inquisitor had concocted—yes, 'him', although it was unclear if Jeanne had noticed that the person in front of her was male, as a Dark wizard, Salser could sense that the soul in front of him did not belong to a female.

However, he did look very much like a woman, at least more so than Jeanne. If one had to describe it, Salser thought of Jeanne as a raging boar, and Astolfo as a harmless rabbit.

There was definitely no prejudice involved.

His personality was easy to grasp—rather than being innocent and carefree, it was more a lack of rationality. He seemed very good at forgetting what he had just thought about in the heat of the moment. From drawing his sword to confront Salser, to being swept into the sea by a wave, to being fished out by Salser, and then poking Salser's face as if his head was filled with water, everything that happened in between was spontaneous. He even tried to befriend the 'demon' he had just drawn his sword against, calling it 'the first time making friends with a demon, so I'll try my best'.

It was hard to understand how this curiousity-driven person had survived until now.

Maybe it was just sheer luck?

In any case, he seemed to easily believe the story Salser and Jeanne had hastily concocted for the outside world: a loyal knight, to protect the Inquisitor he served, fused his soul with a demon in the depths of the dungeon before his death, and so on. After that, it was the usual adventure plot, nothing worth mentioning.

—A sweet and romantic love story about a knight?

The flickering light in Astolfo's eyes expressed this thought.

What kind of disgusting things is this guy imagining!? Salser suppressed the urge to punch him.

After that, Astolfo, without caring about his wet clothes and the hair casually draped over his shoulders, walked directly to the other side of the lighthouse and started fiddling with the telescope. After hearing that they had discovered him through the telescope, he began to play with it.

"I feel like I'm going to throw up," Jeanne whispered to the Dark wizard during the interval when Astolfo was playing with the telescope, "I've never felt so disgusted before."

"You came up with this retarded plot first, I just added the details," Salser glanced at the telescope to make sure Astolfo wasn't turning around, then raised his middle finger directly in front of her face, "I think you really crave being surrounded by handsome men and gallant knights, right? It must feel great to come up with such low-brow, third-rate scripts. After all, your mental makeup is no different from that of a peasant girl yearning for love."

Jeanne grabbed Salser's middle finger that was raised in front of her face and bent it down forcefully. Her soft voice was like a sigh, gentle as if lovers were whispering to each other, but the content was very discordant, "Can you repair injuries like broken bones in the dream world?"

"By the truth! Can you calm down!?"

"Breaking the finger that insulted me can calm me down." The white light of the lighthouse shone on Jeanne's face, strongly illuminating her twisted expression.

"I see a town!"

This was Astolfo's shout.

The continuous sea breeze was still roaring, now intermittently, as if it was about to subside. Jeanne reluctantly let go of Salser's finger and followed him to the telescope.

At this moment, Astolfo had his eye to the lens, pointing towards the inner side of the island.

Salser placed his hand on Astolfo's shoulder.

"Are you sure there's a normal town here?" he asked.

"Honestly, I'm not at all sure, Mr. Salser," Astolfo replied to the Dark wizard, pointing to the fog-shrouded inner side of the island with Jeanne and Salser. Just ten minutes ago, Astolfo had been fished out of the sea by the Dark wizard, yet now there was not a trace of worry on his face, "But this is part of the adventure, discovering unknown things, doesn't it feel wonderful?"

"......If that makes you happy."

Salser glanced up at the ceiling of the lighthouse. If this were reality, the lighthouse might have been inhabited in the past, but now it should have been unvisited for a long time. The leather wallpaper on the walls had peeled off, revealing gray-black bricks. The base of the arc lamp and the corners of the walls were also dotted with scattered spider webs. There were some broken glass pieces on the ground, from a window on one side of the lighthouse that had been shattered, and because of this, the sea breeze brought in the biting cold and the sound of rain.

He lowered his head and turned to Jeanne, "Actually, I think we just need to squat here until we naturally wake up."

"Can you use your spells?" Jeanne stared at him expressionlessly.

It seemed she didn't quite agree with Salser's opinion.

"......Yes, I can."

"Then let's go," Jeanne made the sign of cross in front of her chest, turned around, and walked down the spiral staircase, "The Lord will bless you."

"Mm-hmm," Astolfo also turned around, made an unstandardized cross on the Dark wizard's chest, then clasped his hands together, nodding as he said, "Okay, the blessing is done, now all we need to do is to uncover the mysteries and find out what happened here."

"This is just a dream without logic." Salser despairingly covered his forehead.

"Precisely because it's a dream without logic, uncovering the mysteries will be even more enjoyable." Astolfo gripped the hilt of his sword, looking at the dark spiral staircase and spoke softly. Then he paused and added a few more words, "Also, um... I'm sorry for telling Miss Inquisitor about the town on the island... which led to you being dragged along. However, I will do my best to help you in battle, after all, we are friends! Of course, my swordsmanship isn't very good, so please don't laugh at me then."

"I can't guarantee I won't laugh at you."

Salser shrugged and then followed the Inquisitor's footsteps.

"Eeeh???"

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