NOVPUBSummer afternoon.
"Finally off work."
"Time to find some food, meow."
Lanci and Talia had finished their day’s work and walked out of the Old Literature Building of the Magic Engineering College, arriving at the garden at the entrance where Cat Boss popped out of the shadows and settled on Lanci’s shoulder once again.
After saying goodbye to Professor Bolao, they planned to stop by and pick up a few things and then start their journey home.
Even as the days of summer were long, without realizing it, the sun’s gold had begun to take on a tinge of orange-red; in another hour or two, it would likely start to set, its shadows stretched long in the summer afternoon.
Though no matter how long the sunset stretched the shadows, Talia’s figure only reached his shoulders.
She looked up inadvertently, gazing at his face above her.
That sly, arrogant, and annoying face.
Compared to when she first met him over a year ago, she felt he had become noticeably more annoying, and yet, she found herself day after day by his side.
Suddenly, as if realizing something, a purple Magic Card appeared in her hand.
Her halting step caused Lanci and Cat Boss to stop as well.
"Wait a minute, a message from my friend."
Having said this, Talia ran off to sit on a bench in the distance.
"Miss Zhu, no, no, you’re not disturbing me."
"..."
In the distance.
Lanci watched Talia, who was now leaning on a bench.
Though he couldn’t hear what was being said on the other end of the communication, he could catch bits and pieces of Talia’s conversation.
It was rare to see her chatting so merrily with a friend.
He leisurely walked to a big tree in the gardens of the Magic Engineering College and sat down. It was better to let Talia chat with her friend at ease; standing on the road waiting made it awkward for her to keep him waiting.
But before he could attend to Talia, Cat Boss handed Lanci an illuminated Communication Magic Card.
"Meow, Lanci, you have a message too."
Little Black Cat announced.
Now Lanci himself was out of card slots, all of them used for keeping Tata, and all other Magic Cards that could be unbound were with Cat Boss.
Lanci glanced at the Communication Magic Card and saw that it was Loren who was calling him.
He immediately connected the communication.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Love Guru, the thing is... I’m having dinner with Juliana again tonight, is there anything in particular I should pay attention to?"
The purple light of the Magic Card flickered with Loren’s words.
"According to my analysis, you need to take her out for at least three meals tonight to make her very happy, so the key is to understand her hints and spend more time with her. Do you have plenty of time today?"
Lanci thought for a moment, lowered his voice a bit, and brought the Communication Magic Card closer to ask.
During their last date, Loren and Juliana had agreed to have dinner together again, and now it seemed this was going to happen.
"Oh, I just finished my work at the Temple and said goodbye to Almis, and then made plans to go home tonight to watch a horror movie that Florence rented."
Loren’s reply came through the Communication Magic Card once again.
Cat Boss’s ears twitched on Lanci’s shoulder as it listened.
You’re really aiming to become the Time Management Master, Director Loren huh.
Despite Loren’s perspective, there is no problem at all if he regards the Bingxue Witch Almis as a colleague, Paladin Leader Florence as a brother, and Juliana as only a friend, nothing more.
But it now sounds to him as though Loren was brewing a nuclear fusion!
"Please hold on a moment."
Lanci covered the Communication Magic Card and walked back into the building of the Old Literature Building, into a rest area of the student service center.
The towering ceiling and pillars on the first floor of the Old Literature Building created an expansive view, interwoven with dark wooden furniture and textured stone walls.
Lanci made his way to the discussion area on the side of the hall, which was equipped with several sets of sofas and low coffee tables, with a few floor lamps beside the carpet adding a tranquil elegance.
He sat down with Little Black Cat in his arms, already quite far from Talia.
"Alright, let’s continue."
Lanci’s soothing voice exuded professionalism as he spoke.
"Is it inconvenient for you to talk right now, Mentor?"
Loren sounded slightly apologetic on the other end of the communication.
"These few days might indeed be somewhat inconvenient; an elder has arrived at home and could possibly overhear me at any time."
Lanci admitted. He took out a small notebook from his pocket, pulled off the pen clipped to it,
"So I might not be able to provide real-time guidance, but for now it’s still okay. Your situation doesn’t seem to have any particular problems at the moment. You can just go with the flow for the time being, be confident. Have there been any oddities with Almis and Florence lately?"
As he maintained the communication, he began to record key information like a doctor during a consultation. 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝒑𝙪𝒃.𝒄𝒐𝙢
"Almis seems to have been through my things, leaving no trace, but I can faintly sense her magic power. It’s probably because of work, as she’s been handling the temple’s official business for me. It’s normal for her to need some documents sometimes, but why would she go through my wardrobe too..."
Loren mused with a bit of uncertainty.
"What kind of person do you think Bingxue Witch Almis is?"
Lanci didn’t wait for Loren’s hesitant response and asked first.
"If I had to describe her, she’d probably be like the ’light of the white moon’. When I felt like I couldn’t hold on anymore, she was the only one who quietly helped me, taking on all of the Church’s affairs. So now, no matter how cold she is to me, I trust that she is a good person."
Loren’s tone grew deeper, unable to hide his gratitude towards the Bingxue Witch.
"..."
Lanci was silent for a while.
"Just pretend you don’t know, and you could even leave some flaws deliberately for her to go through your items. Even if you catch her in the act, don’t confront her. You should help her cover up, allowing her to bluff her way through. Absolute tolerance towards her is the best way you can repay her."
Having analyzed the situation, Lanci provided the answer.
Although, in his view, the witch route seemed a bit unorthodox, it was the Bingxue Witch who was steadfastly supporting Loren during his toughest times and had stood by him through thick and thin, which Lanci deemed immensely precious.
Since the witch seemed quite interested in Loren, Lanci had no choice but to get involved in this affair.
Cat Boss glared at Lanci.
It felt that since Lanci had returned to the South Continent, the good news was that Lanci’s matchmaking methods had become more normal, no longer ’welding’, but the bad news was he had started ’weaving’!
"What do you mean?"
Loren was confused,
"But if we do this, the day she finds out that I’ve been pretending not to know she’s been through my stuff, and even playing along with her, won’t she feel mocked by me?"
Loren was concerned that the Bingxue Witch would be exceptionally embarrassed when the time came.
"No worries, this is known as gentlemanly conduct and gentleness. When she realizes your tolerance, all of her guilt will transform into affection."
Lanci explained.
