Chapter 32: Departure

Chapter 32: Chapter 32: Departure

"Lu Wei, I forgot to get your opinion on it first. So, do you agree?"

"It’s a little late for that, don’t you think? Is there even a point in asking now...?"

"Ah, my apologies, my apologies! It won’t happen again... But I felt you would surely agree. After all, Miss Bai Ya trusts us so much, and she’s so pitiable."

"Heh..."

An hour later, the fire in the hearth had dwindled to a single dark-red ember, and the clean dishes were put away in the living room’s small cupboard.

Since there were only two bedrooms, Bai Ya naturally got one to herself... though she repeatedly insisted she could sleep on the floor.

Which meant Lu Wei and Furen had to squeeze into the larger bedroom.

Having grown accustomed to dorm life in his past life, Lu Wei was completely unfazed.

Furen, however, was sleeping in the same room as someone else for the first time. He was understandably excited, constantly trying to strike up a conversation from his sleeping bag.

"We’ll have to buy her some Equipment tomorrow."

"And we should probably prepare more food and supplies, right?"

"She said she killed a goblin once. She seems very brave."

"I’ve killed one too. Have you, Lu Wei?"

"..."

’I haven’t! There, are you happy now!?’

Lying on the bed, Lu Wei remained silent, pretending to be asleep.

His mood wasn’t particularly good or bad, just... annoyed. Furen was getting on his nerves.

As for Bai Ya...

To be fair, if Bai Ya really could avoid dragging them down, there weren’t any real downsides.

After all, it meant good food in the forest, an extra person to carry a pack, and one more person for the night watch.

’Ugh, that last one probably isn’t a good idea.’

Considering Bai Ya’s Perception was less than 4, if she stood watch, they probably wouldn’t spot an enemy until it was standing right in front of them.

’Might as well bring a dog.’

’Oh, whatever. Let’s just go with it. It’s my own fault for swindling her out of that Pendant, anyway.’

He rolled over, treating Furen’s incessant muttering as a sleep-aid audiobook, and quickly drifted off.

Meanwhile, in the smaller bedroom, Bai Ya lay in bed, staring silently at the ceiling.

She was happy to have found a job and some temporary security, but one thing still puzzled her.

’For some reason, I feel like I’ve gotten even more dense since the injury.’

’I was never the sharpest tool in the shed, but I used to be able to pick up on the hidden meaning in what people said. I’d even think before I spoke.’

’But now it takes me forever to react to anything.’

’Did I hurt my head?’

Rubbing her forehead, Bai Ya looked completely baffled. After losing the Pendant, her Perception had plummeted from 3 points back down to 1.

...

...

「The next day.」

Lu Wei and the others were up at the crack of dawn.

First, they stopped by the Armor shop to buy Bai Ya a suit of Padded Armor. Then they went to the general store to pick up a Dagger, a sleeping bag, and a backpack for her.

The total came to a little over two silver coins, all of which, naturally, was put on Furen’s tab.

Once everything was ready, the trio set off on their adventure, the goal of which was to scout a location for the shop.

From a party of two, to a party of one, and now a party of three—this was Lu Wei’s third trip into Gelan Forest.

Compared to Furen and Bai Ya, each of whom had only been inside once, he was without a doubt the most experienced ’core member of the team.’

"We’ve already decided on a captain. Now we need a team name."

The air was still damp with morning dew as they walked the road out of town. Furen, face alight with excitement, asked, "Any suggestions?"

Bai Ya: "I don’t have any..."

Lu Wei: "We don’t need one."

"How could we not need one!"

Furen disagreed. "If we want to take on quests from the Adventurer Association in the future, we’ll have to register a team name!"

"I think ’Sword, Gold Coins, and pepper powder’ is a fantastic name!"

"The Sword represents me, Gold Coins represent you, Lu Wei, and pepper powder represents Miss Bai Ya. It’s catchy and sounds so High Level!"

"What do you guys think!"

???

’What kind of human being comes up with a team name like that?!’

’How is that catchy?! And how is it "High Level"?!’

Lu Wei and Bai Ya’s eyes went wide. "It’s terrible!" they said in unison.

"Er, alright. We’ll put a pin in the team name for now."

Furen was crestfallen for a moment that the name he’d worked so hard to come up with was shot down so easily.

But his excitement returned almost instantly.

"But we should at least change how we address each other! This is too weird. We don’t sound like close-knit teammates."

"Hmm, that’s true."

Lu Wei nodded. He didn’t think they’d reached the ’close-knit’ stage by any means, but he agreed with Furen’s suggestion.

"From now on, let’s just call each other by name. No more titles."

"Mmm, I was thinking the same thing."

Furen turned to Bai Ya. "Bai Ya, what do you think?"

"Ah? I..."

Bai Ya blushed, clearly embarrassed. She hadn’t expected Furen to switch to her first name so quickly.

But now that they were teammates, calling them ’Mr.’ and ’Miss’ did seem a bit off. After steeling herself, she looked to Lu Wei and asked quietly:

"Lu Wei... is this right?"

"Yes!"

Furen eagerly cut in, "Okay, my turn!"

"Ah, okay..."

Bai Ya jumped, then turned to Furen and stammered:

"Fu-Furen... Mister."

"..."

The delayed "Mister" made Furen’s smile freeze. Bai Ya, blushing, quickly apologized.

"S-Sorry, Mr. Furen."

"I-I don’t know why, but I feel it’s too disrespectful to you to not use a title."

’Too disrespectful?’

’So she doesn’t see me as a real comrade yet.’

His expression fell. Looking deeply hurt, Furen shook his head. "But you just called Lu Wei by his name."

"I..."

Bai Ya froze, at a loss for how to explain.

After all, she *had* treated them differently.

’Now that I think about it, Mr. Lu Wei does seem a bit more approachable.’

’And that seemed to have really hurt Mr. Furen...’

"Can I try again?"

At this thought, Bai Ya suddenly looked up and promised earnestly, "I won’t let you down this time."

"There’s no need. It’s not a big deal."

Furen looked up at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle and sighed with a touch of bitterness. "We always desire what is forbidden and pursue that which is denied to us, but only the wise understand that anything forced is imperfect."

???

’Could you please stop quoting those Hero lines from novels? It’s so damn awkward!’

Lu Wei’s mouth twitched. He almost lost his composure. ’If this were my past life,’ he thought, ’Furen would be a top-tier Jia Hao.’

Bai Ya, on the other hand, didn’t understand a word of it. After a moment of confusion, she softly pleaded again:

"I don’t know what you’re saying, but please, I insist you let me try again."

"Since you insist, then fine." Furen’s gaze remained fixed on the sky.

"Mm..."

Nodding grimly, Bai Ya took a deep breath. With a tense expression, she said softly:

"U-Um..."

"Furen, thank you..."

AAAAH!

’Wait! What am I thanking him for?!’

’I was just trying to make it a full sentence so it wouldn’t be so awkward... but this is so much more awkward!’

The moment the words left her mouth, Bai Ya’s already flushed cheeks turned an even deeper shade of red. She hung her head low, her shoulders trembling slightly, feeling like she’d never wanted to die more in her entire life.

As for Furen, though he maintained his profound, sky-gazing pose, the corners of his mouth couldn’t help but curl up ever so slightly.

"Heh heh..."

"..."

’No, wait, what are you "heh-heh"-ing about?!’

Standing to the side, staring wide-eyed at Furen and Bai Ya, Lu Wei was completely dumbfounded.

He never imagined the two of them could milk so much drama out of something as simple as how to address each other.

Anyone who didn’t know better would think they were acting in some melodramatic idol drama.

’I’m done. I’m just done.’

Rubbing his forehead in despair, Lu Wei silently downgraded his assessment of the three-person adventurer party’s Power by another Level—

from "a ragtag mob" to "a bunch of useless small fry."

In simple terms, they were at a level where they’d shatter at the slightest touch.

The only advantage was probably just...

Glancing again at Furen, who was outwardly calm but inwardly ecstatic, and then at Bai Ya, who looked like she wanted to die on the outside and probably felt the same on the inside, Lu Wei shook his head with a sigh of resignation.

’Ah, whatever. At least I won’t be bored on this trip.’