When she saw who was standing outside the door, Layna froze for a mont. Then she blinked, and finally, an unrestrained joy blood across her face.
“Prin—” She opened her mouth to speak, voice trembling with excitent, but before she could even finish the word, realization struck. She hurriedly covered her mouth with one hand and pulled Yaeger inside with the other.
Then the door shut with a thud.
“Princess, why did you co here?” Layna tried to contain her excitent. “You’re wanted across the entire country right now. How can you still be wandering around?”
“I missed you,” Yaeger said playfully.
Layna’s face flushed red the mont she heard that. Her heartbeat quickened, and for a second, she was completely at a loss for words. There were so many things she wanted to say, yet none would co out.
After the prison break incident, Layna had realized she’d developed strange, inexplicable feelings toward this breathtaking girl before her. Feelings she couldn’t quite define.
“Your ho’s pretty rundown,” Yaeger remarked casually as she glanced around the room.
“It ended up like this after being left unattended for so long.” Layna smiled awkwardly.
Like Yaeger, Layna was also an orphan. Her parents had been killed by bandits during a business trip when she was just twelve years old. After two years of surviving on her own, she had moved to Jade City to make a living. Eventually, she’d earned her own shop. To her, that shop was her true ho.
“Layna, I have so bad news,” Yaeger said, withdrawing her gaze and looking at her intently.
“What bad news?” Layna asked, puzzled. ‘Could it be sothing to do with the plague?’
“Your shop was blown up,” Yaeger said flatly.
Layna looked as though she had been struck by lightning. Her whole body tensed, her mind went blank, and her face turned pale as if scorched. Finally, her knees buckled.
Yaeger quickly caught her.
“M-my shop… my shop!” Layna cried out. That shop had been her life’s work, her emotional anchor.
“Isn’t this reaction a bit too extre?” Yaeger was a little surprised.
“My shop…” Layna whimpered. All her effort, gone in an instant. She was on the verge of collapse. Tears spilled from the corners of her eyes.
“It’s just a shop. I’ll build you a new one, bigger and more luxurious,” Yaeger quickly comforted her.
After all, she was the one who had instructed Kastina to destroy the item shop.
“Really?!” Layna clutched Yaeger’s hand as if grabbing hold of a lifeline.
“Of course it’s true. When have I ever lied to you?”
“Princess, you’re too kind to !” Layna finally felt reassured. Letting go of Yaeger’s hand, she threw herself into her arms and began to weep tears of gratitude.
At that mont, the system notification rang out.
Ding!
Layna’s Favorability has increased. Your relationship status is now [???].
‘So, what the heck kind of relationship is that anyway!?’ Yaeger silently rolled her eyes in exasperation.
Once Layna had cald down, Yaeger got straight to the point, “Layna, I ca here today for sothing else, too.”
“Sothing important?” Seeing the serious look on Yaeger’s face, Layna could tell it wasn’t trivial.
“Here’s the situation…” Yaeger didn’t hold anything back from the beautiful alchemist. She explained everything about the plague from beginning to end.
“What… the plague at the docks was deliberately spread!? Wait, wait—you said you already eliminated it?!” Layna’s eyes widened in disbelief, her mouth falling open in a perfect oval of shock.
“That’s right,” Yaeger said calmly.
Layna slowly closed her mouth and pressed her lips together. If anyone else had told her such a story, she would have assud they were completely delusional. But this was Yaeger standing in front of her. Soone she trusted completely.
Even though the truth was hard to swallow, Layna still chose to believe it. Besides, Yaeger had no reason to lie to her.
“Princess, you always manage to exceed my expectations,” Layna said with a warm, radiant smile.
Yaeger smiled as well, then asked, “Layna, has anyone in Aureole Town been infected with Starfall Disease?”
“Yes,” Layna nodded. “A few days ago, soone visited the docks, and they started showing symptoms yesterday evening. Right now, they’re lying in the church, waiting for treatnt.”
“So it really is spreading,” Yaeger muttered, her expression darkening slightly.
“Last night, the authorities summoned all the alchemists and doctors in town to try and deal with the issue. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been any progress at all.” Layna shrugged helplessly.
“You went to the church too?” Yaeger’s pupils suddenly glowed green as she examined Layna’s condition. Sure enough, she detected traces of the virus dormant within Layna’s body.
“Yes,” Layna replied with a nod.
“It seems the rate of transmission is even faster than I thought,” Yaeger said, materializing a glowing green needle in her hand. “You’ve already been infected. I’ll purge it for you. It might hurt a little, try to endure it.”
Layna blinked in slight surprise but quickly composed herself and nodded gently.
The mont she nodded, Yaeger had already struck with the needle. A sharp sting followed by a powerful surge of life energy coursing through Layna’s body. In no ti, that life force had eradicated the virus and even flushed out so lingering toxins.
As an alchemist, Layna was often exposed to various chemicals. Over ti, her body had accumulated residual toxins.
“This feels amazing…” she murmured, feeling as though every inch of her body had been thoroughly cleansed from the inside out. The sensation was pure relief.
“Stop pulling so many all-nighters. Your body won’t hold up,” Yaeger warned, retracting her jade-like hand.
That one injection hadn’t just eliminated the virus and detoxified Layna’s body, it had also subtly healed and enhanced her physique.
“I’ll try my best,” Layna replied. As she said it, she recalled the ti she had pulled an all-nighter brewing potions with Yunuen, and instinctively rolled her eyes at Yaeger.
The look didn’t go unnoticed. Yaeger seed to rember it too, and the atmosphere suddenly grew a little awkward. “Let’s not talk about that,” Yaeger quickly said, changing the subject. “Layna, I have a favor to ask.”
“Alright,” Layna replied, already having a vague idea of what it might be.
“Can you think of a way to convert my life energy into a potion?” Yaeger explained the properties of her life energy, including how quickly it dissolved in water.
After pondering for a mont, Layna spoke up. “This life energy of yours… while it can dissolve in water, it also evaporates rapidly.”
“Exactly. The key issue is how to extend its shelf life,” Yaeger added.
“Actually, solving that isn’t too difficult. The trick lies in the container itself. For example, we could engrave special sealing glyphs on its surface.” Layna spoke in an offhand manner.
“You know how to carve those glyphs yourself?” Yaeger asked.
Layna shook her head. “I specialize in alchemy, not enchanting.”
“That’s a problem.” Yaeger frowned. They were in a rush, finding a skilled enchanter on such short notice wouldn’t be easy.
“But,” Layna continued, “if you only need to preserve the energy for a day or two, switching to a more airtight container should do the trick.”
“Alright. Let’s try that first,” Yaeger nodded.
Without wasting another word, the two got to work.
At the sa ti, far away in the boundless sea, a small unconscious girl floated along the waves, carried ever farther by the current.
Suddenly, the ocean churned, and a massive silver fish erged from the depths. Its jaws opened wide, then snapped shut. In a single gulp, it swallowed the little girl whole.
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