Chapter 101: The Missed Fate

“Big loss!”

When Zhang Wen opened his eyes again and saw the pink walls of the Imperial Hospital, and smelled the strange scent of mana potions, three words flashed through his mind.

He had worked so hard, battling both wits and strength with the Black Viscount, and accidentally became the thorn in the eye of the terrifying Queen Leika. In the end, the Emperor of the Empire had reaped all the benefits! If he had known earlier that the Imperial Guards had been ordered by the Emperor to deal with the Black Viscount, he wouldn’t have rushed so hastily to confront the Black Viscount and wouldn’t have ended up in such a pitiful state.

Staring at the pink ceiling, Zhang Wen brooded.

“Umm… Teacher Zhang, you’re finally awake!” Xia Xi’s voice, filled with tears, suddenly came from beside him, interrupting Zhang Wen’s self-reflection.

“Ah, Xia Xi? Don’t worry, I’m fine,” Zhang Wen smiled, reaching out to ruffle Xia Xi’s cute little head.

“Hey! Perverted teacher, what are you doing? Let go of Xia Xi right now!” An enraged male voice immediately shouted.

“Hmm?” Zhang Wen turned his head and realized that Agate, who had brought him to the hospital, was also present besides Xia Xi.

At this moment, Agate was glaring furiously at Zhang Wen, as if he wanted to rush forward and fight him to the death. However, a short-haired beauty standing beside Agate was holding the impulsive young man back. Obviously, Agate was quite intimidated by this short-haired beauty, so he dared not forcibly pull away from her grip, only glaring at her in frustration. The short-haired beauty wasn’t angry either, and the two remained locked in a standoff for quite a while.

After Agate’s anger had finally worn off, the short-haired beauty pushed Agate behind her and spoke to Zhang Wen, “Teacher Zhang. I hope you don’t mind me addressing you this way.”

“Of course not,” Zhang Wen nodded, sitting up.

“I’m General William’s aide, Captain Liria of the Imperial Guards,” the short-haired beauty extended her hand toward Zhang Wen.

“I think I don’t need to introduce myself,” Zhang Wen shook her hand with a bitter smile.

“General William had to personally escort that important person to the capital immediately, so he couldn’t come to visit you in person. He asked me to express his apologies to Teacher Zhang,” Liria sat down beside Zhang Wen’s bed.

“No problem. General William must be very busy now,” Zhang Wen sarcastically lifted the corner of his lips, “What I’m curious about is, since General William has captured the criminal the Emperor wanted, why did he leave you here? Also, what’s going on with that red-haired guy over there?”

“Damn teacher, who are you calling ‘the red-haired guy’?” Agate nearly exploded again, but after a glare from the short-haired beauty, he just sulked and turned his head away without lashing out.

“Ah?” Xia Xi curiously stared at Agate, clearly puzzled by how easily he had become subdued in front of the short-haired beauty.

Agate didn’t notice Xia Xi’s suspicious gaze. He just looked at the short-haired beauty’s back, his eyes revealing deep-rooted fear.

Liria seemed not to notice the silent communication between the siblings. She got straight to the point with Zhang Wen, “Teacher Zhang, I came here about Agate.”

“Oh?” Zhang Wen assumed a listening posture.

“Regarding the incident that occurred in Casares last time, the Hawks have clarified everything. Our conflict with the Syndicate was just a misunderstanding. The Syndicate had previously sent people to explain the situation to the Emperor. The situation in the southern border is currently chaotic, and creating more trouble won’t benefit the Empire. Therefore, the Emperor has accepted the Syndicate’s proposal for reconciliation. However, to avoid similar misunderstandings from happening again, Mr. Agate has voluntarily decided to stay in the Empire to serve as the liaison between the Empire and the Syndicate. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“No problem, I understand what you mean,” Zhang Wen nodded naturally, “But what does that have to do with you bringing Agate here?”

“Hehe…” Liria smiled for the first time.

Before Liria, Zhang Wen had met no shortage of beautiful women in this world. However, Liria’s smile felt particularly unique to him. This short-haired beauty’s smile exuded a fresh and elegant charm, like a white lotus blooming in clear green waters. Her smile wasn’t as seductive as Linoah’s or as captivating as Melissa’s, but it was pleasing to the eye, evoking a sense of tranquility and no hint of aversion.

In earthly terms, Liria was definitely a healing-type beauty capable of touching one’s soul. Who would have thought that this gentle, short-haired beauty could command such fear from the mighty Flame Demon, Agate.

“Teacher Zhang, the condition for Agate agreeing to stay in the Empire as a liaison is that he must stay on the same planet as his sister. Considering Miss Xi’s current condition, we had no choice but to let Mr. Agate settle in Casares.”

“Ah?” Zhang Wen glanced at Agate with a strange expression, “Agate, I didn’t expect you to be such a sister complex!”

“Sister complex?” Agate didn’t understand the term at first. When he finally caught on, his face nearly turned the same color as his hair.

“Damn it! Perverted teacher, what the hell are you talking about? You’re the one with a sister complex! Your whole family has a sister complex!” Agate furiously shouted again, then hastily explained to Xia Xi, “Xia Xi, don’t listen to this perverted teacher’s nonsense! I’m actually worried about this perverted teacher…”

Halfway through his explanation, Agate suddenly noticed everyone in the room was staring at him with strange expressions. He felt as if struck by lightning, his face turning nearly the same color as his hair.

Oh no! My reputation! Agate wailed inwardly. If symbols were used to depict Agate’s current state, it would have to be Orz.

“Alright, Mr. Agate, you don’t need to explain so hard,” Liria continued with her rare healing smile, turning to nod at Agate, “I believe you.”

“Thank goodness. I really am not…” Agate was almost moved to tears.

However, Liria then abruptly changed her tone.

“In any case, the Empire doesn’t care why you want to stay on the same planet as Miss Xi. Mr. Agate, the Empire has already met your request, so we hope you will keep your promise and do what you need to do.” After solemnly addressing Agate, Liria turned back to Zhang Wen with a charming smile, “Teacher Zhang, from now on, Agate will be in your care.”

“Ah? In my care? What do you mean by that…” Zhang Wen was surprised again.

“Hehe. Teacher Zhang, the Emperor has already issued an order. Mr. Agate will soon become a student at Almace Academy, enrolling in the fourth year of your school’s mana arts department.”

“Mana arts department? Agate brother? Hmm… Haha!” Before Zhang Wen could react to Liria’s words, Xia Xi was already rolling on the floor laughing.

“Cursed woman… You go ahead and laugh! Laugh your hearts out!” Agate muttered through gritted teeth, helpless against Liria and Xia Xi. Who made him so foolishly agree to the Syndicate’s several scheming leaders’ demands?

The No. 3 of the Syndicate, a high-level practitioner, actually had to go to a school and attend classes with fourth-year mana arts students. Every time Agate thought about it, he felt so depressed he wanted to bang his head against the wall.

“This arrangement is really…” Zhang Wen couldn’t help but be amused by this prank-like arrangement.

“So, Teacher Zhang, I’ve said all I needed to say. Please take care of your health,” Liria smiled, stood up, gave a standard military salute to Zhang Wen, and left his hospital room gracefully.

“Hmph!” Agate also angrily snorted and followed Liria out the door.

Only Zhang Wen and Xia Xi were left in the ward.

Xia Xi ran over and locked the door, then turned around, her eyes already burning with furious anger.

“Zhang… Wen… Teacher!”

“How… what’s wrong?” The raging fury from the red-haired girl made Zhang Wen inexplicably feel a bit guilty.

“What do you mean, ‘what’s wrong’? Don’t you know our relationship? You suddenly ran off to the southern suburbs to fight someone, and I had to lie in bed for two whole days! Two days! Two days!”

“What? I was unconscious for two days?” Zhang Wen clearly heard the emphasized time Xia Xi kept repeating.

“Yes! You were unconscious for two days. And during those two days, I had to stay in bed too. I couldn’t even tell those idiotic mana practitioners what illness I had!” Xia Xi complained angrily.

“I see. I’m sorry,” Zhang Wen sincerely apologized.

When he fled to the southern suburbs pursued by the Black Viscount, Zhang Wen hadn’t considered Xia Xi’s situation at all. Making a young girl in her prime lie in bed for two days, unable to move her limbs, was indeed a torment like hell.

“…Hmph! Well, I’ll let you off this time,” Xia Xi’s planned follow-up moves were all rendered useless by Zhang Wen’s sincere attitude. The girl pouted and turned her face away in a huff.

“By the way, how have Zack and the others been these two days?” Zhang Wen smiled and asked Xia Xi.

It was better that Zhang Wen hadn’t mentioned Zack. As soon as he brought up Zack and the others, Xia Xi’s voice became even more sour.

“They? Of course, they had it much better than me! They’ve become heroes of Almace Academy and Casares. Even your governor specially sent a document to commend them. Miss Kajelena from the mana arts department didn’t hurry back to Casares either; she even took a few days off, letting people take Zack and the others, along with a group from the mana arts department, to tour the scenic spots of the Fira planet.”

“I see,” Zhang Wen nodded understandingly.

Almace Academy’s achievements on the Fira planet this time were rarely seen in a hundred years. Although the mana arts department lost the competition, the physical arts department had a great victory. And he, the physical arts representative teacher who led the physical arts department to a comeback, had disappeared, so naturally Miss Kajelena couldn’t just leave him behind and take the others back to Casares.

“Do they know about my injury?”

“They probably don’t. I only found out last night that you were injured, and then I came with Agate to see you.”

“I see,” Zhang Wen nodded lightly.

“Alright, let’s stop here. Those annoying mana practitioners will come to check soon. Sigh!” Xia Xi sighed helplessly, leaving Zhang Wen’s hospital room with a bitter face. The girl who had suddenly “collapsed” in the inn two days ago was also a “patient,” and had not yet received a recovery certificate from the mana practitioners.

After sending Xia Xi out of the ward, Zhang Wen smiled bitterly and looked up at the clock hanging above the ward door. After hesitating for a moment, Zhang Wen still changed into the casual clothes Liria had left for him. Then, he opened the window and jumped out of the ward.

At this time, Babylon City was just as the sun had set, approaching nightfall, yet not completely covered by darkness. On the horizon, a streak of crimson remained, while colorful mana lamps on the streets were all lit up. If one wanted to appreciate the night view of Babylon City, this was the most beautiful moment.

However, Zhang Wen, who had escaped from the hospital, had no heart to admire the beautiful night view of Babylon City. As soon as he landed on the ground, Zhang Wen immediately got into a mana-powered flying car parked by the street and headed straight to Linwei Street No. 137, the inn where Xiu Luo and his group were staying.

The battle that had occurred two days ago seemed to have had no significant impact on this inn located in the heart of Babylon City. When Zhang Wen entered the inn lobby, the scene he saw was almost unchanged from two days ago. In a corner of the lobby, Zhang Wen easily found Xiu Luo, who was sitting at a table, frowning in deep thought.

“Zhang Wen!” As soon as Xiu Luo saw Zhang Wen, his frown immediately lifted.

“Hey! How’s everything going?” Zhang Wen smiled and sat down opposite Xiu Luo.

“Everyone is safe and sound. Thanks to you this time. After you saved us that night, where did you go? We’ve been asking around for two days without any news,” Xiu Luo asked again, frowning.

“I’m fine. Hey! I’m here now, aren’t I? It’s good that you’re all safe,” Zhang Wen smiled and shook his head.

Regarding the matters of the Black Viscount and Leika, it was natural for General William to keep everything under tight wraps. Besides, the battle between Zhang Wen and the Black Viscount had mainly taken place in a military restricted area. No matter how well-informed the bounty fighters were, they couldn’t have found out anything.

“Let’s not talk about my things first. What about the mission Angela gave you? Don’t you fear punishment from her if you fail?” After a brief silence, Zhang Wen teased Xiu Luo with a smile.

“Cough… cough…” The serious Xiu Luo didn’t expect Zhang Wen to suddenly mention Angela and ended up coughing violently, finally recovering after a while.

“We didn’t complete the mission, but Governor Temiso is already very satisfied. The top three floors of the Fira Arena were completely destroyed, with six saint-level experts killed. Plus that night, the TK Group, which had been holding the arena together with the other four major organizations, suddenly went crazy and attacked the headquarters of other organizations. As a result, all three saint-level experts were killed by the Imperial Guards. Nine saint-level experts were killed overnight. I think the Fira Arena won’t be able to recover from this blow for at least ten years. Governor Temiso just wanted to make Karajan lose face. Since this goal was achieved, it didn’t matter whether we acted or not.”

“Oh? Don’t you want to take the opportunity to level up? The Fira Arena is clearly at its weakest now.”

“Forget it. It’s not honorable to take advantage of someone’s misfortune,” Xiu Luo shook his head. “Besides, the Fira Arena will need at least two months to rebuild their destroyed top three floors. We don’t have that much free time to wait here. We’ve booked a spaceship for tomorrow back to Casares. What about you? Will you continue to act together with Almace Academy?”

“Of course. I’m the physical education instructor at Almace!” Zhang Wen smiled as he stood up.

“Oh! By the way, the woman you left behind that night gave me this to give to you last night when she was leaving. I saw tears on her face when she left. … What did you do to her?” Just as Zhang Wen was about to leave, Xiu Luo suddenly pulled out a pink envelope sealed with wax, teasing Zhang Wen in retaliation.

“I didn’t do anything,” Zhang Wen shook his head.

Probably because I didn’t do anything at all, she got upset, Zhang Wen thought bitterly in his heart as he accepted the envelope.

On the way back to the hospital in a mana-powered flying car, Zhang Wen opened the envelope Melissa had left. As he unfolded the neatly folded letter inside, Melissa’s elegant handwriting came into view.

There were very few words on the letter, only three lines.

Hate you!

Miss you!

Goodbye!

Whether on the envelope or the letter, Melissa had not written her name. However, beneath those three short lines was a clear lip print.

“Goodbye…” Zhang Wen gently touched the lip print left by the peerless beauty, letting out a long sigh, having tasted Melissa’s soft lips more than once.