Chapter 166: A Maiden’s Prayer

She had been sitting here for seven hours, since noon.

At first, a drunk old man would constantly come out to scold her, telling her to go back to work.

Later, the old man couldn’t be bothered to scold her anymore, leaving her to wait alone, a solitary figure in a circle of dim yellow light.

Until the sound of approaching footsteps once again broke the silence.

TAP, TAP, TAP…

The footsteps were steady—not too fast, not too slow. They sounded heavy, suggesting a human Adventurer burdened with a heavy load, or perhaps a Half-Beastman.

The girl raised her head again, her gaze piercing the hazy night as she looked toward the mouth of the alley.

When the familiar figure finally came into view, her eyes instantly reddened. She shot to her feet, hastily wiping the tear stains from her face, and sprinted toward the man, whose face was lit with a benevolent smile.

“Dad!”

…

…

“Oh? Lu Wei, you’re back?”

“Hold on, I just have to change a patient’s dressing. I’ll be right with you~”

A dozen or so minutes later, when Lu Wei walked into the Sawing and Sewing clinic, Aryan was holding a wooden tray, preparing to change a Dwarf’s dressing.

Meanwhile, the Elder was still sprawled drunkenly in his recliner, a half-empty bottle of hard liquor in his hand.

Clearly, neither of them seemed surprised by his arrival.

Much less excited.

‘Wait, something’s not right here.’

‘I can understand the Elder, but why is Aryan so unfazed?’

‘According to Theodore, she was supposed to be worried sick.’

‘Did Theodore lie to me?’

“Ah, right. You go on ahead.”

Lu Wei stared blankly as Aryan walked into the ward, completely baffled.

Her reaction was nothing like what he had expected.

‘I wasn’t expecting her to burst into tears, but she should have at least shown a little relief.’

‘But there was nothing at all!’

‘So much for a “reunion of life and death”!’

‘Anyone watching would have thought I was a complete stranger!’

‘Okay, fine. Theodore definitely lied to me!’

‘Damn, he’ll really stop at nothing to set me up with Aryan.’

Grinding his teeth in frustration, Lu Wei came to this conclusion.

Just then, Aryan emerged from the ward.

She carefully put her instruments away before turning to him and asking with concern:

“Lu Wei, I heard your general store caught fire last night?”

“You weren’t injured, were you?”

‘Huh?’

‘So she did know?’

“Er, no…”

Lu Wei paused, a bit taken aback. “There was no fire. We just killed some goblins and were burning the corpses.”

“Oh, so that’s what it was.”

Aryan patted her chest lightly. “I heard everyone talking about a fire this morning, so I thought it was real.”

“Hmm…”

Lu Wei was suddenly at a loss for words. After a moment, he explained awkwardly:

“Anyway, everything’s fine. It’s just that Uncle Theodore said you were worried, so I thought I’d come and let you know.”

“Mhm, I figured you’d be okay.”

Aryan nodded with a smile, tidying the medicine cabinet as she spoke:

“I was definitely startled when I first heard the news, though. I rushed to find Elder, but he was still asleep at the time.”

‘So were you worried or not?!’ ℯℓ.

Seeing her calm demeanor, Lu Wei was now even more bewildered.

Aryan, however, didn’t seem to notice his confusion. She quickly changed the subject, asking about his recent adventure.

She also bought the Drowning Joy Grass he’d brought back.

The price she offered was 3 Silver Coins per pound, exactly what Bai Ya had told him.

It came to 8 pounds in total, which was 2 gold and 4 silver.

“But do you really need this much Drowning Joy Grass?”

Lu Wei didn’t comment on Aryan’s “impartiality,” nor did he try to haggle. He just asked, confused:

“If you’re making anesthetic, this is probably enough to last several years, isn’t it?”

“It’s fine. I can sell the rest to other clinics.”

Aryan walked over to the sleeping Elder and, with practiced ease, counted out 2 gold and 4 silver from his money pouch.

“This way, you won’t have to go looking for a merchant. It’ll save you some trouble.”

“Oh. Well, thank you.”

Lu Wei nodded and took the money. For once, he didn’t question Aryan’s motives.

If it had been anyone else, he would’ve assumed they were trying to take a cut.

The reason, perhaps, was that Aryan had been a huge help with the construction team.

All in all, besides Furen and Bai Ya, she was probably the third person he trusted in this world.

As for her unusually calm demeanor just now… that wasn’t too hard to understand either, he supposed.

Aryan was probably very worried when she first heard the news this morning, but it was possible she’d calmed down since.

After all, even if the general store had actually caught fire, it’s not like he couldn’t run. It was hard to imagine him actually getting burned to death.

“Alright, I should get going.”

Watching Aryan tie the money pouch back onto the Elder’s waistband, Lu Wei shouldered his backpack.

“It’s getting late, and I have other things to take care of.”

“Alright.”

Aryan didn’t try to make him stay. She walked him to the door and asked in a low voice:

“By the way, are you free tomorrow afternoon?”

“In the afternoon… I should be free.”

“In that case, could you go with me to…”

“Captain! Aryan!”

Suddenly, before Aryan could finish her sentence, a voice called out from the mouth of the alley.

They both turned and saw Bai Ya, panting and out of breath.

“What are you doing here?”

When she reached them, Lu Wei frowned. “Didn’t I tell you to find the construction team and Clara?”

“I already did.”

Bai Ya caught her breath. “I followed the address Uncle Theodore gave and went to Uncle Aiden’s place. He said he’ll bring the other craftsmen into the forest first thing tomorrow morning.”