Chapter 40: Let Sympathy Be Buried in the Summer Night
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"Teacher, she..."
Lyle recalled, raising his head to look at the countless stars twinkling in the pitch-black night sky.
"Our encounter also happened on such a summer night. At that time, I had just recently lost my family."
Of course, Jiang Cheng knew what he was talking about; it had only been half a year since her second persona had died.
"At that time, I was single-mindedly thinking about how I could find a powerful master,"
Lyle said.
"I wanted to become strong! I wanted to become a powerful martial artist as quickly as possible. I wanted revenge. I wanted to kill all the demons!"
"At that time, those thoughts filled my heart."
"Mm."
Jiang Cheng nodded. It was precisely because she had guessed Lyle would have those thoughts that she had appeared at that exact moment—not too early or too late. If she had come too early, it would have seemed deliberate, and Lyle's emotions would not have settled enough, but if too late, the passage of time would have dulled his hatred and sorrow.
Even so... Jiang Cheng turned her head to look at Lyle. In his eyes, illuminated by starlight, she saw an endless killing intent.
Fine, apparently, time had little effect on him. He was still so passionate and still resolutely hated the demons.
"At that time, I met her, my teacher,"
Lyle continued. Unconsciously, Jiang Cheng seemed to fall into her memories as well.
"There was a legend that a powerful mage lived in that forest, so I went looking for her."
Jiang Cheng chuckled lightly. In truth, the person who had told Lyle that legend was also her—it had been a clone she created with magic.
"In the green forest, I saw her."
To Jiang Cheng, Lyle's tone felt peculiar; it sounded less like he was reminiscing about his teacher and more like he was reminiscing about a dead wife.
But before she could say anything, Lyle continued.
"My teacher was an elf, there was no doubt about it. The moment I first saw her, I felt as if all my fantasies about elves took physical form."
"Unfortunately, revenge preoccupied my mind at the time, and I never noticed the teacher's beauty."
"Looking back now, I can barely remember what she looked like back then... It's a shame I didn't take a picture at the time."
Lyle sighed and spoke longingly.
Jiang Cheng felt a bit awkward. Now she was sure—this damn brat was reminiscing as though talking about his late wife! Damn!
If she had known that her troublesome disciple harbored such thoughts toward her, she truly should have spiked his meals with impotence medicine back then!
Of course, Jiang Cheng was just thinking about it; to truly do so, she could never bring herself to actually act.
After all... sigh.
Listening to Lyle's rather sorrowful words, Jiang Cheng also felt a bit distressed.
After all, she was merely mean-spirited at worst—a bad person at most, but not purely evil through and through.
The years of genuine feelings she had developed while spending time with Lyle could never be faked, not to mention the affections that the pre-transmigration Jiang Cheng harbored for the Lyle in the novel.
Now seeing Lyle so sad because of her own twisted fun and plans, Jiang Cheng felt an emotional tug she would never admit to herself.
Of course, even though she was moved, would she do the same again next time? Jiang Cheng's answer was: Absolutely.
"I could tell at a glance that she was the legendary Great Mage,"
Lyle said.
"At that moment, I rushed over, threw myself in front of Teacher, and said, 'Great Mage, please accept me as your disciple!'"
As the story went on, Lyle laughed. "Teacher seemed startled at the time."
"Teacher's expressionless little face actually showed a hint of astonishment back then."
Jiang Cheng smiled as she recalled.
She truly had been startled that time—Lyle had already been fifteen or sixteen years old by then.
With the hero's physique and the prior conditioning by her earlier personas, he was already over 1.85 meters tall—easily a head and a half taller than the persona of Jiang Cheng at that time.
For someone so large to suddenly rush at her, of course she had been shocked.
If she hadn't recognized that it was Lyle, she just might have tossed a forbidden spell his way out of reflex.
Well, thinking back, it was rather nostalgic. Though it wasn't Lyle that she missed—she had always been able to see Lyle,
Even when she "died," she would frequently use new personas to observe Lyle.
What she missed was the power she had in that teacher persona—the ultimate and all-encompassing magic.
One had to admit, as a mage, she truly lived up to the title. Even if all her personas were magic-based, nothing compared to the pure, powerful spells of the teacher.
This had nothing to do with destructiveness or strength, it was simply that magic was far too versatile.
Was magic so inconvenient? After getting used to relying on magic for everything as a teacher, for the first few months after becoming the Saintess, she truly was uncomfortable and made many mistakes.
Fortunately, Lyle did not meet Jiang Cheng in her Saintess persona from the start, or he might have noticed something amiss.
As for the maids and attendants who found Jiang Cheng suspicious?
In order to avoid bloodshed and get to know Lyle, Jiang Cheng had no choice but to use divine magic to prevent them from speaking about what they saw, and then sent them off to distant cities.
It was from then on that rumors began to spread of maids and attendants frequently going missing from Jiang Cheng's quarters, eventually morphing into tales of Jiang Cheng needing to kill or eat someone every day, which earned her the notorious nickname of the "most wicked Saintess."
"I thought Teacher, as a proud elf, was unlikely to accept me with that stern face of hers."
Lyle's words interrupted Jiang Cheng's reminiscence, pulling her into another memory.
"Teacher was stunned for a moment, but she agreed readily,"
Lyle said.
"After that, I became Teacher's disciple."
Jiang Cheng nodded. Indeed, her goal had been to take Lyle as her student, so naturally, she agreed without hesitation.
"In short,"
Lyle sighed, "after that, I became Teacher's only disciple."
"I don't know why, but Teacher was very attentive to me—a lot more serious than any other mage I have seen with their students."
"Teacher didn't understand martial arts and my magic talent was terrible,"
Lyle went on.
"So Teacher especially made a powerful martial arts golem for me to spar with."
"Thanks to it, I learned various martial arts styles from across the continent, but unfortunately, the golem was lost when Teacher saved me during one training session."
"In addition, teacher somehow even found a recipe and used the best ingredients to strengthen my body every day."
Jiang Cheng rolled her eyes. No kidding, you are my Hero, you are the protagonist! If I don't teach you seriously, who would I put the effort into?
"So, Jiang Cheng,"
Lyle said, turning his head, "when it comes to teaching, teacher was much better than me."
"I've never been thankful for the blessings and body given to me by my identity as the Hero."
"I know that this body was forged by the people I've met through my lifetime. If not for them, I may never have become a Hero."
No, you would, Jiang Cheng thought silently. You are the Hero of this world, you are the protagonist—no one can replace you, no one.
If, upon transmigrating, Jiang Cheng had found the Hero was someone else, she really would have killed that person on the spot.
"Haaa, so, I really wish I could see Teacher just one more time..."
Lyle sighed.
Jiang Cheng's heart tightened a little. For some reason, seeing Lyle like this made her feel awful.
As the destined Hero, the one and only male protagonist, he should have lived a glorious life.
"All right,"
Lyle shrugged, glancing at Jiang Cheng.
"Let's sleep, there's nothing more to say."
"Mm."
The two stopped talking, leaving only the chorus of summer insects echoing through the night.
Tomorrow, she still had to find the elf delegation. She would have to become that person who kept secrets from Lyle again.
So, let all her sympathy and heartache for Lyle be buried in this summer night.