Chapter 22: Hey, What Are You Doing Here Again?
Chapter 22: Hey, What Are You Doing Here Again?
“Hmm… so what really happened back there?”
Back at home.
Lin Wei set the materials down in his workshop.
He settled at the coffee table, steeping a pot of black tea, his thoughts still circling around the events that had just unfolded at the Adventurers’ Guild.
To be honest, he’d truly wanted to teach that subjugation squad a lesson then and there. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t process everything else at the same time—if anything, the whole incident only brought more questions to the surface.
Especially about that so-called Hero, Oshu, who had picked a fight with him in the first place. Now that things had calmed down, the oddities were all the more apparent.
“From the way that Hero spoke, and the way he genuinely apologized afterward, he really doesn’t seem like the type to throw his weight around just because of his title. If anything, he’s probably similar to the other Heroes before him—righteous, courageous, eager to uphold justice.”
“But just seeing Lilia run off in tears to the warehouse, and then charging in to cause trouble for me? That makes no sense at all. It’s as if he got hit with a brainless debuff.”
“And it’s not just him… the previous subjugation squads had incidents too, though never quite this blatant.” Over the last two years, the Holy Church had assembled at least a dozen such crusade teams.
Most never even made it to the Demon Lord’s Castle, wiped out by high-level monsters along the way.
Yet the teams that did pass through Aurens Town always seemed to end up circling around Lin Wei for no apparent reason.
Maybe it was just that the town was small, but for things to line up this often was unsettling—especially after today’s sudden outburst.
This wasn’t just some misunderstanding. No matter how he looked at it, it felt like someone was deliberately steering these people to pick a fight with him.
“It’s almost as if Goddess Alicia herself is cheating and pulling strings behind the scenes… At this rate, I won’t be able to stay in Aurens Town much longer!”
But the thing that made the least sense was: why did these subjugation squads always linger around Aurens Town?
Do I have some rare specialty crop here or something? Does the Holy Church suspect the Demon Lord is hiding nearby? What exactly are they sending all these people here for, anyway?
“Let’s hope I can avoid trouble this time.”
“Come to think of it, as long as I keep my head down, Hero Oshu shouldn’t be an issue. It’s that red-haired girl with the unmistakable noble aura who worries me…”
Lin Wei took a sip of his black tea, a vague sense of foreboding washing over him as he remembered the mage’s look of utter disdain for country folk.
Whatever. I’ll just lay low for a few days and see how things go.
◇
For the next several days, Lin Wei kept out of sight, avoiding any unnecessary trips around Aurens Town.
He spent his time at home—reading, tending to his flowers, and, of course, making sure to finish all his commission work in the spare two hours he set aside each day.
After five days of this, he was going stir-crazy.
He glanced at the dozens of potions he’d already stockpiled, sighed, and muttered to himself, “I can’t take it anymore… I need to get out and stretch my legs.”
It was early afternoon in Aurens Town.
The usually busy streets were quiet and peaceful, unusually empty for this time of day. The occasional adventurer wandered by at a lazy pace, as if someone had pressed a slow-motion button on the whole town. Even time itself seemed to be moving sluggishly.
But the Adventurers’ Guild, on the other hand, was bustling with excitement.
“No wonder they’re called a Hero’s party—they actually managed to take down a monster of that caliber?”
“I heard they’ve been clearing out even more monsters nearby. At this rate, Aurens Town might actually become a safe place to live!”
“They’re incredible—especially that mage among them…”
Oh? Looks like something interesting is going on.
A crowd of adventurers had already gathered around the Adventurers’ Guild counter.
Cries of surprise kept coming from inside, as if something extraordinary had just happened.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Lin Wei!”
Today, as usual, Lilia was on duty at the Adventurers’ Guild.
The moment she spotted Lin Wei walking in from outside, her face lit up with delight. She waved enthusiastically, her eyes sparkling with barely contained excitement.
Ever since the higher-ups had forced those commission requests through, she’d been living the dream—no more work stress, her performance shooting straight to number one in the entire Lotai region. These days, she was practically floating on air.
And now the very man at the center of it all, Mr. Lin Wei, had shown up. Just seeing him put her in even higher spirits.
“Are you just passing by on your break?”
“How are the commissions going? If you need any help, please let me know! You’ve worked so hard these past few days, Mr. Lin Wei!”
She would do anything to help him finish those commissions—no matter what it took.
Especially since it was Lin Wei. For him, she’d go above and beyond, even for the most unreasonable requests.
“Good afternoon. I’m just here to deliver the commissions.”
But Lin Wei’s next words left Lilia completely stunned.
He casually pulled up a chair and spread the package he’d brought across the counter.
Dozens of potion bottles lined up in a neat row, their vibrant colors swirling together in a dazzling array that instantly lit up her vision.
“Eh… Eh? Eh?!”
Even knowing how skilled he was at Potion Crafting, Lilia found herself utterly speechless at the sight before her.
“They’re already done? It’s only been five days!”
“Well, there weren’t any special requirements—just had to meet the quality standards. Take a look, and if everything checks out, we can finish the handover.”
Honestly, if he hadn’t been so restless, Lin Wei could’ve waited another couple days before coming out. But with Veya out of the house, there was no way he could hole up alone for a whole week. Any longer, and he’d have merged with the sofa.
“Alright~ I’ll get the paperwork started right away!”
When it came to potions made by Mr. Lin Wei, there was never any need to check them one by one.
She gave the bottles a quick shake, glancing at the color to confirm they matched the required quality.
Snapping out of her daze, Lilia skipped the usual verification process entirely, trusting him completely as she began the official handover.
The adventurers who’d been crowding nearby had already drifted off to mind their own business.
Lin Wei picked up a newspaper and skimmed the day’s headlines. Something came to mind, and he asked offhandedly, “By the way, when I came in, I saw everyone gathered together. What was that all about?”
“Oh… That was the Hero’s subjugation squad,” Lilia replied, her tone a bit chilly as she worked through the paperwork.
“While you were away these last few days, that crusade team’s been clearing out the local labyrinth and hunting down monsters.”
“They just took down a monster that was around level 70, so everyone’s been talking about it.”
For a team whose average level was just over level 50, taking down something in the seventies was seriously impressive. No wonder the Holy Church’s subjugation squads had such a reputation—their elite squads were on a whole different level compared to ordinary teams.
“Isn’t it a good thing? The guild gets higher-quality monster materials out of it, too.”
“You don’t look too happy, Lilia. Are you still upset about what happened last time?”
“It’s not that, really. I don’t have anything against the subjugation squad itself—it’s just that mage in their group…”
She trailed off, her gaze flicking to a flash of red hair approaching from afar.
Lilia immediately clammed up, and Lin Wei instantly understood why.
“Hey—you got any high-grade healing potions—huh? Wait, it’s you!”
Iresha clearly hadn’t expected to run into Lin Wei here. She froze for a couple of seconds, then her expression darkened and her voice turned even more irritable.
“What are you doing here again, you troublesome guy?!”