NOVPUBHe relayed his speculations to Cat Boss once again.
No guarantees.
"Meow meow..."
Cat Boss was just a cat.
The games of power struggle were best left for Lanci to ponder, while it had much to do.
"Sigh, I’ll take my time with the Empire’s Special Operations Department when I return. It’s almost time to depart for the Shadow World gate at the Saint Kray Monastery."
Lanci, looking through the French window, was captivated by the beauty outside and murmured to himself. 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘱𝘶𝑏.𝑐𝘰𝑚
The colors of the season had stealthily descended upon the courtyard, the scenery painted with autumn’s orange and red splendor.
A layer of golden leaves covered the lawn, and the distant babbling of the stream faintly reached him, blending with the song of the golden canary into the morning’s melody.
Lanci picked up the hot chocolate from the coffee table, took a light sip, and its rich aroma spread in his mouth.
His mood also became warm and comfortable.
During this time, Talia had switched all drinks to hot beverages.
True to an old gourmet, she knew the best diet for each season.
"..."
Talia untied her apron in the kitchen, clenching it tightly.
As soon as she felt Lanci was doing alright, what was expected had come.
"We can depart now."
She came out of the kitchen and said to Lanci without expression.
The anticipated time was nine in the morning, and now it was already past eight, so they should set out for the location of the Void Gate.
"Oh, okay."
Lanci stood up, stretched, and answered.
"Prepare to leave; it’s three-point five kilometers in total, meow."
Cat Boss reminded.
Talia disappeared on the spot into an orange silhouette without a word.
Lanci confirmed the "Mad Love Demon King" had returned, then walked to the hallway, took a gray coat from the rack, put it on, left the residence, locked the door, and walked down the courtyard path towards the Saint Kray Monastery campus.
"You’ve been wearing this diamond-pattern vest again recently, meow."
Cat Boss lay on Lanci’s head, observing his clothes as he walked in the garden.
In the early days of the Protoss Empire, Lanci’s coat might have been black, beige, or even purple, often paired with a white shirt and a light-brown diamond-pattern vest.
But after a wonderful encounter, Lanci began to favor gray coats, his style of dress changed significantly, and he gradually abandoned the initial diamond-pattern vest, mostly opting for darker, more formal shirts.
"It’s cooler now."
Lanci replied to it.
Adding a layer underneath was just right.
The chill of the deep autumn morning lingered in the air, and breathing out white fog at night wouldn’t be surprising.
Today was a rest day, and due to the early hour and the vast size of the Monastery, there were few people on the way.
After boarding the campus bus of the Saint Kray Monastery, he occasionally saw some campus workers and some students already heading toward the school building early.
Looking through the window, Lanci also felt the silence.
It seemed like a long time since Talia had spoken to him.
"Master, are you in a bad mood today?"
According to Lanci’s observation, Talia still had a happy expression at breakfast this morning, so her mood shouldn’t have been particularly bad.
"The Allied Forces have found your fiancée; you must be happy."
Talia replied in Lanci’s mind.
"I hear she’s just arrived in Brilda too; Miss Unity will have to ask for her opinion."
Lanci understood Talia’s thoughts,
"If she refuses, I’ll still have to rely on Master you in the end."
However, they wouldn’t have time to meet with Unity that day, as the reserved time in the Shadow World had arrived.
"...Since you’re counting on me so much, I might help you out when the time comes; after all, I am your teacher."
Talia’s thoughts were much softer.
"Right, right."
Lanci clearly felt that Talia had cheered up.
Tolyado too.
He said that his fiancée had already made contact through the methods of the Rebirth Church, and he had to personally make a trip to pick her up. They needed to talk in person because communication alone wasn’t convincing. If she was willing, she was guaranteed to be in Brilda by the time Lanci emerged from the Shadow World.
"They really are interesting in those Dimensional Branches, eh? First, the Dimensional Saintess rebukes the Dimensional Bishop, and now the Bishop has to personally negotiate even for a direct subordinate."
Talia laughed.
"It couldn’t be that in the Dimensional Branch, the status of the Dimensional Bishop is the lowest, could it?"
Lanci felt perhaps other branches might be shaped like a pyramid, but in the Dimensional Branch, it seemed inverted, with the status of the Dimensional Saintess likely higher than that of the Dimensional Bishop.
On the Northern Continent, if the Saint of Nirvana, Aluone, dared to yell at the Bishop Askesan of Annihilation in his prime, it would be unimaginable.
"Your journey to the Northern Continent seems to have been quite interesting; I wasn’t that interested before, but now I’m a bit curious. When you return, tell me about it when I’m bored."
Ever since Talia found out that Lanci had met Associate Professor Xido on the Northern Continent, she slowly became interested in the story of Lanci’s time there.
However, she was never in a hurry; she had all the time in the world, whether it was five or ten years later didn’t matter.
"I hope this time in the Shadow World won’t be too long."
Lanci looked out the window while talking to Talia.
The flow of time might be different for him and Talia.
But with the Cerryti Empire’s task at hand, he wanted to make every day count if possible.
"An Eighth-order Shadow World is usually calculated by months; some longer ones might take half a year, of course, there are also those less than a month. There’s about a fifty percent chance of getting a Shadow World of three months or less."
