Chapter 375: Chapter 375: Bloodline Reward: Sub-human Species - Jade-tongued Elf

’I hope I never have to use a disguise of that level.’

Lance prayed silently. ’From now on, the King’s Way is to steadily accumulate Power. I’ll have to find a chance to get rid of this blessing.’

He didn’t know if a "Foreigner" would get a chance to freeload off an Evil God’s Power in the future, but based on how much of "Foreigner" was currently unlocked, it hadn’t been triggered yet.

As soon as the "Farso’s Contract" was completed, Lance had decisively used the grand achievement to throw the suffering generated by this blessing into the Melting Furnace to be burned.

He hadn’t burned the suffering during his previous encounter with the Evil God because, ever since the "Snow River" incident, he had decided not to burn suffering in dangerous environments.

But this time, the environment was very safe.

Burning it had granted him a one-time Miracle’s Afterglow called [Misconception Correction].

The Effect of this Miracle’s Afterglow was that it could make one of the user’s lies absolutely believed by others.

Hearing Lance say there would be no safety issues, Cecilia didn’t have the slightest doubt, though his words still left her feeling a little disappointed.

But she didn’t intend to waste this last bit of tender time they had together.

"Senior," Cecilia said, lifting her small, flushed face, "let’s go on a date today."

This was something she had been looking forward to for a long time—something she absolutely had to do when Lance first came to visit her in White River City.

"Okay."

Lance agreed with a smile.

The word "date" felt a bit foreign to Lance now.

In his past life, ever since graduating from college and entering the workforce as a corporate drone, he couldn’t recall ever having done something like this.

Time flew by as the two went on their date.

Outside Violet Academy was a place called Rose Street, a famous commercial street that primarily served the academy’s students. It was filled with shops radiating a youthful energy.

At dusk, the orange-red sunset painted the street in shades of gold and crimson.

"Senior, try this."

"Ahh~"

Cecilia held a cup of blueberry sorbet she had bought from a street vendor. Using a small wooden spoon, she scooped up some jam-mixed sorbet, stood on her tiptoes, and brought it to Lance’s lips.

At this moment, she was like an Ordinary female student enjoying a summer date.

Lance ate the spoonful of sorbet in one go. The cool sensation melted in his mouth, dispelling the summer heat.

"It’s sweet."

Lance offered his review.

"Right? Yuna loves the sorbet from this shop."

Cecilia’s eyes curved like two crescent moons.

She pulled the spoon back and took a bite herself.

Right now, she was overflowing with the sweetness of being in love.

The two walked side by side up a flight of stairs covered in green vines, heading toward a viewing platform at the end of the street.

Lance naturally reached out and took her free hand, feeling the warmth of her palm.

Cecilia’s ears turned slightly red. She then subtly shifted her fingers, sliding them past his palm to interlace their fingers, a much more intimate gesture.

Upon reaching the platform, they were greeted by a wide-open view overlooking nearly half the city. The sky was stained by the sunset, its light casting a glow upon them.

"Senior, the sunset is so beautiful today!"

Cecilia gazed into the distance, but the cheerful tone in her voice had quietly faded, replaced by a hint of melancholy.

She knew that once the sunset faded, their wonderful date would be over.

And Senior would be leaving White River City tomorrow.

Although modern Alchemy Tools made travel between Provinces extremely convenient, for Cecilia, parting was still painful.

"If only time could stop at this moment forever..." she whispered, her gaze falling to their elongated shadows overlapping on the ground.

Elvira’s announcement about the Shadow of the Crimson Crown yesterday was like an unremovable thorn stuck in her heart, making her feel uneasy.

"Senior, when you’ve traveled far, far away... will I still be the one by your side then? In the future, will I really still be able to hold your hand like this?"

Cecilia’s voice was filled with sorrow.

’Not only can you hold my hand, you’ll even be able to chain me up later.’

But Lance just made this little jab in his head.

He looked at the girl, so wracked with insecurity, yet desperately trying to act mature and holding back the urge to say, ’I’m jealous.’

Lance’s heart softened. ’Perhaps this is the very moment that paranoid possessiveness is beginning to take shape in her heart.’

After all, he couldn’t always be by her side. It was understandable that she would feel insecure.

But it wasn’t as if there was no way to resolve this insecurity.

Suddenly, Lance reached out, flicked his finger, and gave Cecilia a light tap on the forehead.

"Oof!"

Cecilia rubbed her forehead in pain, looking at Lance with a wronged expression.

"Silly, how long is a lifetime? Once we’ve seen all the sights there are to see, we can start thinking about where to retire."

"Retire?" It was the first time Cecilia had ever heard such a term.

"Yes, retire."

Lance began to paint a picture of the future. "We’ll go somewhere with beautiful scenery, preferably with a sea of flowers like the one we saw in the valley. We could also build a log cabin, clear a plot of land, and plant it full of the flowers and plants you like."

"We could also get a few small pets. When we have nothing to do, we could travel to other Provinces on the continent and see the different cultures and landscapes."

"We..."

Cecilia repeated the word.

"Yes, we!"

In truth, for an insecure girl in the throes of love, imagining a tangible future together was an effective way to alleviate that insecurity.

And as he spoke, Lance had already activated the Miracle’s Afterglow, [Misconception Correction].

The Power of the miracle began to burn.

"So don’t be afraid that we’ll be separated in the future because of distance or anything else."

With Lance’s words, Cecilia’s restless heart was slowly being soothed.

"You should be able to feel the connection between our two souls."

"Even a Giant Dragon, no matter how far it flies, will eventually return to its own lair. And your Magic Tree is the lair where I am willing to rest."

With Lance’s reassurance and the help of the Miracle’s Afterglow, it was as if all of Cecilia’s anxiety had been blown away.

That firm belief in their destiny returned to her heart once more.

"Senior..."

Cecilia saw Lance break into a smile.

But the pent-up grievances from the past few days because of Elvira, combined with the profound emotion stirred by Lance’s words, still made her eyes well up. Large tears rolled down from the corners of her eyes.

However, illuminated by the sunset, her tear-streaked smile was incredibly sweet.

Cecilia threw herself into Lance’s arms.

The young woman hugged Lance tightly, her voice choked with sobs as she loudly responded to that promise of a future:

"Mhm! It’s a promise, Lance!"

"We will definitely be together in the future!"

"I’ll plant lots and lots of flowers! And I’ll plant berry trees too! I’ll definitely work hard to learn how to make desserts, and I’ll make them for you every day!"

On this summer evening, the trajectory of fate was shifted once more in their embrace.

The fated path concerning the "Broken Hunter King" on the commission panel had finally deviated:

[Under your patient guidance, the individual with extremely high fate-weight (Cecilia) has slightly changed her original thoughts.]

[Fate Line Deduction: In the future, when faced with the choice of whether to completely imprison you, she will hesitate for a longer period of time because of this beautiful memory.]

[However, forced by external circumstances and the frenzied prying and snatching of others, she will ultimately still choose to use certain means to forcibly hide you away.]

[Furthermore, during the period of concealment, you will enjoy yourselves day and night, and you yourself seem to greatly enjoy it, delighting in the situation.]

’Damn it! That last line was totally unnecessary!’

Lance felt a little awkward, as if his innermost thoughts had been exposed.

However, from this fate deduction, Lance also gleaned new information. He finally understood that the root cause of him being locked in a basement in the future wasn’t Cecilia’s own insecurity, but rather that the main catalyst seemed to be immense external pressure.

’Just how much terrifying pressure from how many different factions would it take to force this girl to make such an extreme choice?’

In the fragment of fate he’d seen, he felt that Cecilia hadn’t seemed to care much about Elvira’s discovery.

’Could the source that drives her to that dark place be a Witch?’

’Or is it someone I haven’t even crossed paths with yet?’

’It can’t be Nia, can it?’

Although it had only shifted a little, his efforts hadn’t been in vain. Next came the time to reap the rewards.

[Detected Fate Trajectory Deviation: 10%]

[General Experience Reward: 15,000]

[Congratulations on using the ability of Jhin, the Virtuoso to deviate fate. You have drawn a bloodline reward: Sub-human Species·Jade-tongued Elf.]

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