Click.
The lounge door swung open, and Bai Xiao stepped inside from the outside.
Aya Tone immediately sat upright. “Hello, Auntie Bai!”
His small expression was the picture of obedience.
It was no laughing matter; this woman was his benefactor, his very livelihood. Of course, he had to be well-behaved.
Bai Xiao couldn’t help but chuckle.
‘This child certainly wasn’t acting like this when he was rolling around on the floor just now,’ she mused.
“You, child…”
Bai Xiao walked over and sat beside Aya Tone.
With a hint of exasperation, she began to lecture him: “I’ve sorted out everything that happened this afternoon. You, you… some things just can’t be rushed.”
In all her years as president, she had never once seen anyone push several spatial ability users to such an extreme.
She had just returned from the sanatorium, and the inspection reports for the few individuals had left her feeling utterly bewildered and amused.
Those who had accompanied Aya Tone showed no injuries whatsoever; in fact, their leg strength had even seen a noticeable improvement.
Yet, every single person lying in the infirmary was incredibly weak, collapsing into sleep the moment their heads hit the pillow.
Moreover, their internal energy was almost entirely depleted.
It was as if they had been drained of all their blood by a vampire.
It was truly difficult to imagine what they had endured.
The boy had indeed kept his word, ensuring that none of his subordinates suffered any harm and bringing everyone back completely intact.
However, that ‘completely intact’ needed to be taken with a grain of salt.
“I didn’t…” Aya Tone averted his gaze.
‘He really wasn’t rushing…’
‘He merely wanted to finish early and go back sooner.’
Bai Xiao couldn’t help but smile, gently stroking Aya Tone’s silver hair.
Aya Tone felt the warmth of her palm through his hair, a sensation distinct from being touched by Li Jia or others.
It was incredibly warm and gentle.
This warmth slowly soothed his somewhat agitated heart, which had been stirring after the earlier commotion.
‘[Hmph, I’ll spare that dog author’s life for now!]’
‘This child feels so pleasant to touch, and he’s far more obedient than that brat at home,’ Bai Xiao thought to herself, her actions completely unaffected.
Stroking his silver hair became surprisingly addictive.
She found herself reluctant to stop.
After a long while.
Only then did Bai Xiao slowly begin to speak: “The monitoring department has sent a report: the spatial fluctuations in the Imperial Capital have stabilized, and the rate at which dungeons are appearing has also slowed down.”
“It won’t be long before the tide recedes, and then it will be time for the S-rank dungeons to open.”
“Everyone in the Imperial Capital is working hard, so there’s no need for you to push yourself so relentlessly.”
“You need to learn to trust, understand?”
Aya Tone remained silent.
He understood.
Bai Xiao was right; a person’s strength and energy were finite, and he didn’t need to shoulder all the pressure himself.
The Imperial Capital was vast, far larger than Yan’an City.
Its population was equally immense.
There was no shortage of powerful ability users among them, so the Imperial Capital’s dungeons certainly didn’t require him to clear them so desperately.
Yet…
‘Trust?’
“Auntie Bai, are they all doing alright?” Aya Tone asked, a little self-consciously rubbing his nose.
“They’re all fine; a little rest is all they need.”
“That’s good then…”
“…”
After a brief, nagging remark, Bai Xiao departed.
On the surface, she had advised Aya Tone not to overexert himself.
But wasn’t she doing the very same?
The entire guild’s operations weighed solely on her shoulders.
Sometimes, Bai Xiao truly envied her niece, Fire Finch.
With such capable subordinates, Fire Finch only needed to live a life of leisure, acting as a mere mascot.
She wondered where her niece had managed to find Aya Tone.
The annual S-rank ability awakening list was reported to the system, yet she had never found Aya Tone’s name on it.
It was truly baffling.
When she first heard the news from her subordinates, her initial reaction was that it must be a joke.
A team of fewer than ten people had successfully cleared nearly ten dungeons in a single morning?
Was that even possible?
Forget a team of fewer than ten; even some large-scale raiding parties…
…would typically spend several hours preparing before attempting an A-rank dungeon.
The environment within dungeons was unpredictable; without proper protection, even an S-rank powerhouse could fall.
Yet, this team, composed entirely of spatial ability users, had merely slightly depleted their internal energy.
The only plausible explanation was that Aya Tone, leading the team, had single-handedly cleared all the monsters in the dungeons!
‘How she wished she could keep this child.’
However, Fire Finch would certainly never let him go.
Bai Xiao scoffed softly; she knew all too well how stingy her niece was.
‘What a pity…’
****
Watching Bai Xiao’s retreating figure, Aya Tone flicked his small hand, and the lounge door swung shut with a direct thud.
A slight smile curved his lips as he comfortably stretched.
He muttered softly, “If only Fire Finch could be as gentle as Auntie Bai.”
“But I’m sorry, Auntie Bai, I truly can’t bring myself to trust.”
A faint white light flickered in Aya Tone’s eyes.
Given that his ability was to transform into a magical girl, and he himself was deeply resistant to it.
From the very beginning, it was destined that he could not open his heart to others.
Still…
Aya Tone could still profoundly feel Bai Xiao’s kindness towards him.
In that case.
Aya Tone leaped from the sofa, tidying the slightly wrinkled clothes he wore.
Good relations were reciprocal; only with mutual give and take could they endure.
“Time to get to work! Time to get to work!”
The morning’s exertion wasn’t negligible for Aya Tone, but it wasn’t overly significant either.
Perhaps… a third?
Hmm… roughly about that much.
Since no one was accompanying him this afternoon, he would just have to go alone.
‘No need to rush?’
‘No!’
‘I’m in a hurry! I am King Gigi!’
****
President’s Office
A secretary hurriedly pushed open the door and reported to Bai Xiao, “President! The silver-haired ‘witch’ has gone out alone.”
“Hmm.”
Bai Xiao didn’t look up, continuing to deal with the documents before her.
‘What’s the big deal?’ she thought. ‘His hands and feet aren’t tied.
Is he not allowed to go out and play?’
Seeing her so calm, the secretary couldn’t help but grow anxious.
“When he left, he casually picked up several B-rank dungeon quests.”
The news of Aya Tone clearing ten dungeons with Fu Ling and a few others in a single morning had long since caused an uproar within the guild.
Currently, those involved were still recuperating in the sanatorium.
Yet, this ‘Lady Witch’ had taken several quests with him when he went out; his objective was self-evident.
“…”
Bai Xiao’s brow furrowed, and her writing hand paused. “That child, alone?”
“Yes, alone!”
“Alright, go tell the military to prepare a few storage bags. As for the rest, just let him be…”
Secretary: “…Understood.”
Only after the secretary had left did Bai Xiao finally put down her fountain pen and rub her temples.
‘This child, he just won’t listen, even right after being told.’
‘For such a disobedient child, she truly wished she could!’
‘Catch him, and then ‘dearly cherish’ him!’
*Crack!
Bai Xiao’s hand, which had been resting on her face, had transformed into a tiger’s paw at some point.
With merely a light touch to the desk, a crack originated from that spot, rapidly spreading outwards.
In no time, the entire desk crumbled into dust, scattering across the floor.
Yet, surprisingly, the documents that had been resting on it remained completely untouched.
Losing the table’s support, they softly landed on the ground, perfectly intact.
Not a single one was out of place.
This clearly demonstrated Bai Xiao’s masterful control over her power.
If Fire Finch had been present, she would have undoubtedly recognized that Bai Xiao was currently furious.
As a child, Fire Finch frequently courted disaster, being both inept and overly fond of mischief.
This often led to her aunt, Bai Xiao, catching her and giving her a thorough beating every time.
Bai Xiao’s face had always worn a similar smile during those times.
As the White Tiger, the primary harbinger of slaughter among the Four Symbols, how could its inheritor possibly possess a gentle temperament?
…