Chapter 11 : Chapter 11
Chapter 11. A One-Time-Use Mage?!
“Hey! Can you walk more steadily?! You are shaking me to death!”
“If you hate bumping, get down and walk yourself! You glutton!”
“You are the glutton! Your whole family are gluttons! I am a future great mage!”
“Yes, yes, a great mage who eats three meals in one sitting and then lies down like a corpse for half a day after firing a single spell. My respects, truly.”
“You! Insolent fool! Once I recover my mana—”
“If I wait for you to recover your mana, I will starve to death first!”
…
The two of them bickered the entire way and finally made it back into the city just before the gates closed.
Wu You carried Vivian Shadowmoon on his shoulder and walked through the city gate.
He had not gone far when he began wondering whether he should first head to the Adventurers’ Guild or find a place to “dispose of” the little burden on his shoulder.
Suddenly, Vivian Shadowmoon’s body stiffened.
“Put me down!” Her voice sounded urgent, even tinged with panic.
Wu You froze for a moment, then set her down. He spoke irritably, “What now? Have you finally decided to walk by yourself? Or are you planning some new trick?”
The moment Vivian Shadowmoon’s feet touched the ground, she nearly lost her balance.
Her little face was pale, and her emerald-green eyes nervously scanned the crowd as if she were trying to avoid something.
She pushed Wu You and spoke rapidly and urgently, “You! Go turn in the quest at the guild yourself! Hurry!”
Wu You was pushed back a step and then laughed in exasperation.
“Huh? Now you are telling me to go alone? Weren’t you afraid I would keep all the reward for myself just a moment ago? What, did your conscience finally wake up? Or are you plotting something?”
“No! Just go quickly!”
Vivian Shadowmoon stamped her foot anxiously.
Her small face was filled with genuine panic, and her eyes were even turning red.
“Just treat it as me begging you, all right?! Hurry and leave!”
Wu You looked at her expression, and the hardness in his heart began to soften again.
This little brat might eat a lot and cause endless trouble, but judging from her current state… it seemed she had really run into some kind of problem.
“What exactly did you see? Why are you acting so sneaky?” Wu You frowned and subconsciously looked around as well.
People were coming and going everywhere.
Nothing seemed unusual.
“Do not worry about it! Just go!”
Vivian Shadowmoon looked like she was about to cry. She shoved him hard again.
Then, like a startled rabbit, she turned and darted into a dim alley nearby, disappearing in an instant.
Wu You stood where he was, staring at the empty alley entrance.
Then he looked down at the bulging bag of Slime Cores in his arms, his face filled with confusion.
“What a lunatic!”
He cursed under his breath and rubbed his completely empty stomach.
When he thought about how the skills in his mind were still clamoring for an “extra meal,” the thought of the quest reward and feeding those “ancestors” quickly won out.
“Forget it. Who cares about her? It is better that she ran off on her own. Saves me the trouble!”
Wu You muttered while tightening his grip on the bag in his arms and turning toward the direction of the Adventurers’ Guild.
The faint sense of unease in his heart was quickly suppressed by his longing for a hot meal and a peaceful sleep.
…
In the corner of the alley…
Vivian Shadowmoon leaned against the cold, damp wall while clutching her pounding heart.
She carefully peeked half her head out of the alley entrance.
After confirming that Wu You had truly left and disappeared into the crowd, she finally let out a long breath of relief.
“Phew… Thank goodness he left…”
She patted her small chest, a trace of relief and lingering fear appearing on her pale face.
If that person had seen him…
About half an hour passed.
“I probably will not run into him anymore…”
Just as she relaxed and prepared to quietly slip away somewhere else, a rough, greasy hand that reeked of sweat suddenly slammed down heavily onto her thin shoulder from behind.
“Hey, brat!”
An unpleasant, drunken voice sounded above her head.
“You sure made it hard for me to find you! You have been hiding for so many days. Did you really think I would not track you down?”
Vivian Shadowmoon felt as if the blood in her entire body froze instantly.
Her small face turned deathly pale, and her emerald eyes filled with terror.
Stiffly, she slowly turned her head.
What came into view was a vicious face covered with stubble and thick flesh.
A burly man wearing ragged leather armor with an empty wine flask hanging from his waist was grinning down at her with yellow teeth, staring at her maliciously like a cat watching a mouse with nowhere left to run.
Several passersby near the alley entrance had already been attracted by the commotion and gathered curiously.
When they saw the large man holding down the little girl, they began pointing and whispering.
“Hey, is that not Old Drunk Bob? Which unlucky kid did he catch this time?”
“Look at that little girl. Her clothes are all tattered… She must owe Bob money for drinks.”
“Tsk tsk, poor thing…”
Someone in the crowd seemed to recognize Vivian Shadowmoon.
“Hey, wait. That little girl… she looks familiar.”
“I remember now! Did she not appear a few days ago at the temporary arena in the northern market? She said she wanted to prove herself and challenged someone to a magic duel.”
“Oh! That one! Hahaha! I remember now! She struck a pose for ages, chanted an extremely long spell, and then launched a single Great Fireball that blasted a huge crater in the arena. Then she fainted on the spot. That ‘one-time-use mage’!”
“Yes, yes, that is her! It was hilarious! A mage who can only fire one shot! And she even called herself some kind of… what was it… Half-Demon Descendant great mage? Hahaha!”
“So it is her! No wonder Bob is after her. She probably has to pay for the damage to the arena. That crater was not small!”
“A one-time-use mage? Hahahaha! That nickname is perfect!”
The surrounding crowd burst into laughter.
The discussions grew louder and louder, their voices filled with mockery and excitement at the spectacle.
“A one-time-use mage?”
The burly man Bob heard it as well.
His hand tightened around Vivian Shadowmoon’s shoulder, causing her face to twist in pain.
“So you have such a famous nickname, brat?”
He leaned closer to her, his breath reeking of alcohol as it blew onto her face.
“I do not care if you are ‘one-time-use’ or ‘one hundred times use’! You blew up my arena, scared away my customers, and even ruined my signboard! If you cannot pay the money today…”
His other hand clenched into a fist and waved in front of her face.
His knuckles cracked loudly, the fat on his face trembling as he revealed a cruel grin.
“Then I will tear apart that delicate body of yours and sell you to the black market! I heard some nobles with strange tastes love little girls like you who are a bit… ‘special’!”
Vivian Shadowmoon trembled violently from fear.
Her emerald eyes instantly filled with tears, but even stronger than the fear were humiliation and anger.
She wanted to struggle.
She wanted to refute him.
She wanted to blast this bastard away with magic.
But her body was still weak from exhausting her mana earlier.
Her shoulder hurt terribly from his grip, leaving her unable to exert any strength.
Her mind was also in chaos from the harsh laughter and the mocking title of “one-time-use mage.”
“I… I do not have any money…” she said with a trembling voice as soft as a mosquito’s buzz.
“No money?” Bob’s eyes widened. “Then you will use yourself to pay the debt!”
With a sinister grin, he reached out, ready to lift Vivian Shadowmoon like a chick.
Some of the onlookers shook their heads, while others watched with excitement.
But no one stepped forward.
In a border town like this, between a nameless little girl who looked easy to bully and a well-known local thug, which side to stand on was obvious.
Vivian Shadowmoon closed her eyes in despair.
Her small body trembled from fear.