Academic gathering with a lich-Chapter 161 - 154 The Great Emperor Nero

A moment of silence. The sunlight cast patches of light on the tender leaves, revealing the shadows of birds flitting across the sky. With a clear chirp, the flow of time at the trio’s location was restarted.

"Haha... Haha... Was I overthinking it?" Kevin embarrassingly rubbed the back of his head. His golden locks swirled like stars falling from the sky, "After all, the delusion of controlling Mr. Ralph seems to be unachievable."

Lyle wore a look of helplessness on his face, "How did you come up with such a fantasy?"

"Well... after all... Mr. Ralph is a bit scary. Simply looking him in the eyes, you can’t feel your gallbladder anymore. Especially, the way he acts, it left a very deep impression on me."

"Ah, I get it!" William nodded with a face that screamed I understand, patted Kevin’s shoulder, and both men looked at each other, a taste of camaraderie forming in their eyes.

"So, Lyle, is Mr. Ralph really, really not a creature you made?"

"No," Lyle gently tugged at the warrior’s reins, urging it to move on. "I don’t have the skills to create someone so gloomy and frightening."

........

Leaving the high walls of Cassandra, vegetation became more abundant around them. As the road stretched on, the marks left by woodcutters on the tree trunks gradually diminished. Since the three of them were not skilled travelers, they missed a village to stop at when the sun set, and had to camp in the wilderness.

Lyle, faced with no village in sight and no shop behind, asked his employer.

"What should we do?"

Kevin’s face fell, "Sorry, I thought our pace was quick enough to be near our next stop, but now it seems we can only stay overnight in the wild."

William showed no anxiety over the current situation, although the wilderness was much more dangerous for the average person.

"Then let’s just rest outside for the night. I’ll handle setting up the camp. After all, magic is quite suitable for this job."

William pulled out his magic wand.

He waved it casually.

"Wind of Traction."

From deep within the bushes, a soft rustling could be heard as twigs rolled over the ground, piling up before William.

"Ignite."

The pile of twigs burst into flames, providing warmth and light for the three companions.

William took out a white pouch, and then pulled out a waterskin much larger than the pouch itself. He inserted his wand into the shrunken skin.

"Gushing Spring."

Like inflating, the waterskin was instantly filled to bursting, looking like it might split at any moment.

William handed the waterskin to Kevin and began feeling around the soil nearby until he found a suitable spot.

"Stone Wall Skill."

A U-shaped stone wall, three sides connected and three meters high, rose from the ground facing the fire and the astonished Kevin and Lyle.

William wore an easy smile on his face.

"Magic, that’s how convenient it is."

As the moon began to climb to the top of the trees, William was tending the fire under the pot. He was stirring the spoon tirelessly without a hint of a mage’s dignity, cooking what was said to be a famous dish from his homeland.

Kevin chatted with him about some sights seen at noble gatherings, never taking his eyes off the pot. The simplicity of tonight’s camping picnic and the mysteries of magic held great allure for this adventurous young nobleman.

Lyle fed the horses which had been tired from a day’s work, all while occasionally soothing them from any frights they had received.

"Lyle, what happened? Why is there so much noise over there?"

"It’s nothing, I might have been a bit too rough and frightened them."

Kevin spread his hands towards William, taking the opportunity to cover for Lyle, "He’s always been like this, back when we were in the academy together. Outside of medicine, Lyle was always clumsy with other things. Sometimes I wonder, who between us is the truly pampered noble."

Lyle soothed the horse, walked aside, pulled open his clothes, and scolded Nia tucked inside the lining.

"You’ve scared the horses."

In the darkness of the clothes, Nia opened her big eyes, and a small tentacle slid over Lyle’s clothes.

"Nia is hungry."

"Hungry? You want to eat the horse feed too? Didn’t I just feed you dessert?"

Nia’s tentacle formed a small fist, gently thumping Lyle’s waist, "It wasn’t just now, it’s been an hour! It’s time for Nia’s post-meal dessert!"

Lyle pulled out a small piece of cake and threw it to Nia, who then happily withdrew into his sleeve. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Medusa climbed onto Lyle’s neck, her eyes a beautiful inky green in the darkness.

"Lyle, why do you still hide Nia? Those two lads, they’re your trusted friends, aren’t they? Sooner or later Nia is going to be discovered by them, and besides, they pose no threat to us."

"Yeah! Why do I have to hide, anyway? It’s not like those two blokes can be scared to death."

......

"Lyle, why did you take so lo... Holy shit, what is this!" Kevin scrambled to the other side of William, who also picked up his magic wand in surprise.

"Lyle?"

The light from the fire revealed Lyle’s slender figure, already crawling with a mass of tentacles sprouting from behind.

Lyle raised his hands to signal them to ease their guard.

"This is Nia, my talent. Don’t worry, she’s my... alter-ego. She might look a bit frightening, but she’s actually a good kid. You’ve seen her before, William, in the City of Wandering. That former slime, Shuishui, that’s Nia now."

William simply extended his magic wand forward, "Lyle, how can I be sure that you’re not being controlled by this monster?"

Nia clearly disliked being treated as a monster, especially as a threat to Lyle.

She said in a baby voice, revealing a secret that William wished to forget:

"When that succubus Miss Anna nearly tricked you out of your underwear, it was I who bought back your clothes with Gulu’s gold coins!"

William’s magic wand dropped to the ground, his face blank with embarrassment, much like Kevin who was staring at him with a bizarre expression.

The vast forest was pitch black, but William felt as if many eyes were on him, his dark history making him wish he could vanish into thin air.

He knelt on the ground, head hanging low, murmuring to himself.

"Lyle, please tell me this isn’t true."

Lyle looked at him pityingly, but couldn’t keep his lips from curving upwards.

"Nia once even marked your underwear with indelible yellow paint... the likeness of a head on Orichalcum coins."

William’s head shot up, tears of frustration in his eyes. He murmured to himself:

"Great Emperor Nero..."