The low voice of that Spiritual Body also left Malin very puzzled; in the common language, the pronouns for ’he’ are different for males and females, which allowed Malin to confirm that ’he’ was male. So, the question now was—who had betrayed them?
Who knows, maybe it was just a whisper from Spirits to confuse their minds.
Thinking of this, Malin glanced at Shelton, "I helped you deal with that guy this time, so what will your score be like?"
"It will probably be reduced by twenty points, but considering the target of the summoning was too powerful, maybe the deductions will be halved. Plus the deductions from Array studies, maybe you’ll barely pass, but you might just not make it," Shelton said with a sigh, "But anyhow, you’re right. Failing an exam only means graduating a year later, but it would have been like my sister, dying in battle... just thinking about dying like that, maybe upsetting my parents, I feel it’s better to stay alive. Thank you, Malin."
"You’re welcome, thank the money, kid," Malin said with a smile, patting the nonexistent dust on his hands—the kid was too tall for him to reach his back.
"...But money can’t buy life after all, or else my sister wouldn’t have died," Shelton sighed.
His words made Malin fall silent for a moment... That’s right, life was truly priceless in this world.
"After this experience, I must study Array more diligently. The Goddess of Fortune won’t always look after just me," Shelton said, stretching out his hand, "Thank you, Malin."
"The potion’s effects are still there," Malin said to the brazen young man.
Shelton retracted his hand with an embarrassed smile.
Back at the Church, Malin met Faye, and Clovis and Lillim immediately couldn’t wait to talk about their adventure. Hearing how they fell into the rift and then landed right in front of Malin, Faye was overjoyed—falling into a rift and coming back to the main plane was nothing controllable; without the strength of the second ring, the void was not a day trip but a deadly stranding on the journey.
"Was that thunder just now from your side?"
"No, the explosion was on our end," Malin said, turning his head to look at Clovis and Lillim, "Did you hear thunder?"
"Not at all," the two Orc girls shook their heads.
"That’s strange," Faye shrugged, while noticing the scars on Malin’s hands, "What’s this?"
"Erosion from Negative Energy," Malin also noticed the black spot on the back of his hand, "It’s nothing, I’ve drunk a potion made from the World Tree fruit, such a spot will fade quickly."
"Well, I’m relieved then, speaking of which, every time you go out alone, I always worry. When I was little, my mother and father always went out, and I never really understood that feeling; I even thought the emotions described in novels were just the ramblings of literati. Now that I think about it, I was just too young."
"How old are you anyway, you silly girl," Malin said with a smile, patting the little bead on the girl’s hair, "What’s this?"
"It’s a hair tie from the Eastern Kingdom, unexpectedly cute," Faye said, "By the way, how shall we solve tonight?"
"We want to eat the delicious food made by Mister Malin," Clovis and Lillim raised their hands and shouted.
Malin smiled and nodded, "Alright, no problem."
"You spoil them too much," Faye whispered in Malin’s ear with a laugh.
"What do you want to eat?" Malin asked.
"The fruit salad you make with your own hands," Faye responded immediately.
Malin smiled and reached out to gently scrape the girl’s nose—while she said she didn’t want any, her stomach was honestly very straightforward.
At that moment, Colin, sitting at the reception desk, could no longer bear to watch this couple frivolously indulging in their affectionate display: "If there’s nothing else, go home! Don’t add to the chaos in the Church during rest time!"