Chapter 14: The Chase and Escape under the Night Sky

Chapter 14: The Chase and Escape under the Night Sky

Airael’s behavior was quite unbecoming for a lady, and with no way to drive her off, Axi could only choose to continue the cold war.

“No matter what you do, as long as it’s not too outrageous, I’ll just ignore you.”

Airael had firmly grasped this bottom line.

After indulging in a lavish dinner at Axi’s expense, Airael looked at the now-empty dining table, utterly astonished, and remarked, “Your appetite is really that big?”

Saying this, she even stood up slightly to peek at Axi’s belly.

This time, Axi didn’t ignore Airael; instead, he displayed a hint of exasperation as he said, “As a mercenary, sometimes you have to treat yourself well. You should know, not every day comes with a cozy inn and a feast, and you might very well lose your life at any moment!”

With that, he stood up and walked away.

Watching Axi leave, Airael smiled.

It seemed this guy wasn’t completely impervious to reason!

You just needed to find the right approach to hit the nail on the head.

Feeling triumphant at having discovered the solution, Airael happily stood up from the dining table and followed Axi’s footsteps upstairs.

The two walked one after the other up the staircase, arriving at the doors of their respective rooms.

Coincidentally, their rooms were directly across from each other.

As Axi opened his door to step inside, Airael called out, “Good night, see you tomorrow! As a thank you for tonight, I’ll treat you to a delicious breakfast in the morning.”

However, Axi seemed completely unfazed, not bothering to acknowledge Airael as he walked into his room.

Looking at the door Axi had just closed, Airael’s beautiful brows knitted tightly.

How strange, why isn’t this working?!

Feeling puzzled, Airael opened her own door, preparing to think things through inside.

Lying on the soft bed of the inn, Airael, having removed her Cloak, felt not a hint of sleepiness.

Her mind was filled with thoughts related to Axi.

The first step she needed to take was to figure out how to stay by Axi’s side and not let him shake her off.

Although he was quite famous, in a world where information didn’t flow easily, finding him wouldn’t be so simple.

The second step was naturally to slowly understand him and get to the bottom of her own feelings.

Once she completed these tasks, she would move on to step three: leave him.

Once she understood her own heart, Axi wouldn’t hold much allure for her anymore.

This way, Airael could focus on another matter.

She had come out for experience; she couldn’t possibly return without reaching Level Ten.

Of course, if she could reach Level Ten while tagging along with Axi, that would be even better.

It would make things so much easier for her.

And following Axi would become a kill-two-birds-with-one-stone situation.

With this thought, Airael’s heart filled with joy.

This truly was sharpening the knife without delaying the work of chopping wood!

Lost in her thoughts, Airael drifted off to sleep.

However, Airael didn’t sleep very deeply.

This was a habit she had developed over these recent days.

Now that she was out for training, she didn’t have a sea of guards and handmaidens to protect her.

She had to rely entirely on herself.

…

In the dead of night, the silent inn on the second floor was suddenly disturbed by the sound of footsteps.

Then came the creaking of a door.

Bathed in the dim light of the inn’s second-floor corridor, a tall figure could vaguely be seen emerging from one of the rooms.

The tall figure glanced at the door opposite them before making their way down the stairs.

“Hey! Didn’t we say you would treat me to a hearty breakfast tomorrow morning? Why are you suddenly planning to sneak away?”

Just as he was about to descend, a melodious voice rang out in the night.

This voice was obviously familiar to him.

He halted midway down the stairs and turned back to see a petite figure, distinctly smaller compared to him, leaning against the door watching him.

And these two figures were none other than Airael and Axi.

In her haste, Airael hadn’t had time to don her Magic Cloak and was instead wearing her pajamas.

However, due to the dim lighting, Airael could clearly see Axi thanks to her racially enhanced vision.

Conversely, Axi could only make out a blurry silhouette and relied entirely on sound to identify her.

Although Axi glanced at Airael, he didn’t respond and continued down the stairs.

In fact, he picked up his pace, clearly trying to shake Airael off.

How infuriating—!

Airael gritted her teeth in frustration.

She hurried back into her room to get herself ready.

After preparing herself, she was about to burst out the door when she suddenly stopped.

Turning her gaze toward the window, she couldn’t help but give herself a mental pat on the back.

That guy is really foolish.

With a window available, he didn’t use it—only the door!

If he had exited through the window, she would have been none the wiser!

Fortunately, he hadn’t thought of that.

Not wanting to waste time, Airael rushed to the window, opened it, and leaped out.

About three to four meters high was nothing for her, now a Level Seven Warrior; she landed effortlessly on the ground.

If she were to rate herself, Airael would definitely give herself a ten.

Just so audacious and proud!

When Axi, taking the proper route, woke the on-duty receptionist and stepped out the front door, he found Airael waiting for him outside.

“Thinking you can shake me off? Not that easy!”

Airael smiled at him.

Hearing her taunt, Axi immediately burst through the door and sprinted off at full speed, quickly putting a significant distance between them.

Airael instantly pursued him.

Though her speed may not match Axi’s, in his full armor, it wouldn’t be so easy for him to lose Airael.

As a result, in this game of chase and escape under the night, Airael closely followed Axi.

Trailing behind them were a throng of patrolling soldiers.

The ruckus created by the pair was quite loud, enough to stir the kingdom’s soldiers.

However, both Axi and Airael paid little mind to the soldiers.

The poor folks in the places they passed by were the ones suffering the most.

Tonight, they would probably struggle to get a good night’s sleep.

Airael and Axi’s chase continued until dawn broke.

Finally, they came to a halt in a narrow alley.

After running for so long, compounded by the lack of proper rest the night before, they were feeling rather fatigued.

After all, even the strongest of bodies couldn’t withstand endless exertion.

“Why are you avoiding me? Can’t you let me get to know you better?”

Looking at Axi, who finally stopped running, Airael approached him, speaking as she walked.