Chapter 47 Shy

The carriage leisurely traveled on the road, and Field listened somewhat helplessly to Hollan's voice coming from inside the carriage.

"Veena, when you're at Heidis, don't ever show your face, okay?"

"Otherwise, there will be many scoundrels like Field coming to harass you. Even though there's a mentor there, they won't dare to do anything to you at Heidis, but they can still annoy you to death."

Field: "..."

Listening to Hollan's words, Veena lowered her head and softly replied, "He... isn't a scoundrel..."

Field immediately looked smug, provocatively raising his eyebrows at Hollan.

Hollan was speechless for a moment. Then, she hugged Veena's shoulder and said, "Alright, he isn't, but there are others. Anyway, you must listen to the mentor, okay?"

Veena remained silent, not saying a word, and Hollan didn't know if she had taken it in.

At this moment, Field also said, "Listening to Hollan mentor is the right thing to do."

Veena nodded lightly. "Mm."

Field: "Don't just 'mm,' say you understand."

Veena: "I understand."

Field: "Good little mushroom."

Hollan: "..."

Watching Field's increasingly smug smile, Hollan really wanted to reach out and pinch him to see how thick his skin was.

The carriage continued steadily, and night fell gradually.

Probably because of the tension on the road, Veena's head started to nod slightly, as if she was dozing off.

Her slender but delicate body swayed gently with the movement of the carriage.

Seeing this, Field didn't say anything but shifted towards Veena's side, turning his back towards her.

Veena's head nodded bit by bit until she finally leaned against Field's back and fell asleep.

Chi Chi also leaned against Field's other side and fell asleep.

Her long tail curled around Field's arm.

Listening to the faint sound of their breathing, Field gently pulled on the reins, slowing down the carriage.

Hollan looked at his tall and solid back, feeling a wave of drowsiness herself.

Being with this big guy gave her a sense of security that enveloped her entire body.

He was only a golden-ranked mercenary after all...

Hollan yawned and came to Field's back, first gently covering Veena with a blanket, then sitting down and wrapping herself in a blanket, leaning against Field's back.

Now, Field had a little cat on his left side, a mature lady mentor on his left back, and a mushroom girl on his right back.

Field turned his head and glanced at Hollan.

He saw her looking at him with mischief in her big eyes.

Field smiled, didn't say anything, and continued to focus on driving the carriage.

"Big guy," Hollan's voice came from beside him, with a hint of resonance. Field knew it was a magical voice transmission.

He hummed softly, indicating that he heard her.

"Can you really protect her?" Hollan asked.

Field understood her meaning—she felt that she might not be able to protect this pitiful mushroom girl herself.

Field didn't answer but nodded.

"Even if those who want to bully her are much stronger than you, will you still do it?"

Field still nodded.

"Why do you want to protect her like this?"

Field smiled and said, "Because she's pretty."

"Just because of that?" Hollan was stunned.

"Isn't that enough?" Field asked back.

Hollan: "..."

It was a very straightforward answer, but also very real.

If Field had said something grand, she wouldn't have believed it, but this, she believed.

Because Field was a man, and men like beautiful women, it's in their nature.

Field didn't hide his nature but instead openly admitted it, which made Hollan look at him in a new light.

So, Hollan asked again, "Do you think I'm beautiful?"

"Of course," Field replied without hesitation.

The phrase "beautiful mentor" had been said countless times, but women always liked to ask questions with the answers already in mind, so Field naturally gave her the answer she wanted.

"Then, would you protect me like you protect her?" Hollan suddenly asked.

Field pursed his lips, turning his head to look at Hollan, who was gazing up at him with an innocent expression, resembling a naive young girl.

But Field wouldn't be deceived by her.

In his eyes, Hollan was a beautiful and intelligent woman who understood the concept of restraint. She wouldn't say something close to a confession like this.

So at that moment, Field's mind raced, quickly understanding—it was a trap!

If his answer was yes, it would imply that Field treated every beautiful woman the same way, not just her. But what women wanted was that sense of being special.

It could be said that the question Hollan posed was like the classic "who's prettier, me or her," but it wasn't just a question to test; it was also a trap!

Truly befitting of a mentor, this complex question came effortlessly.

So Field pretended to ponder, remaining silent for a moment before speaking.

"If you needed protection like the silly mushroom, then yes, I would," he said. "But obviously, you don't need it because you're stronger than me, so..." He deliberately paused, then smiled and continued, "So instead of giving unnecessary protection, I'd rather offer you the romance and fun you haven't experienced."

"For example, you agreed to my candlelight dinner."

Hollan couldn't help but laugh, covering her mouth with her hand. "I only agreed to dinner, not this 'candlelight,'" she said.

Field chuckled. "It's okay, I can bring my own candles."

Hollan laughed, her eyes forming crescents, having long experienced Field's thick skin.

And this perfectly timed "pushing the envelope" made her feel very pleased.

So Hollan nodded and found a comfortable spot leaning against Field's back. "How about tomorrow night, Mr. Mercenary?"

"I believe it will be an unforgettable time, Mentor Hollan."

"Then... goodnight."

"Sweet dreams."

A night passed without words.

When Hollan woke up, the sky was already bright.

The feeling of waking up naturally after a good night's sleep was truly comfortable.

The only discomfort was having to sleep leaning on the carriage, but a bit of movement made it better.

Hollan sat up straight, stretching her body into a beautiful lazy stretch before looking at Field.

Field was still sitting there, like an iron tower.

And the little cat didn't know when it had crawled into Field's arms, curled up in his lap, using his thigh as a pillow.

Veena was still leaning there, her position proving that Field hadn't moved all night.

"Where are we?" Hollan asked softly.

"We still have one-third of the journey left," Field replied.

Because he deliberately slowed down the carriage, there was still some way to go, but they would definitely arrive before noon.

At this moment, there was a whimper from Veena's side.

Veena woke up.

After getting up, she seemed a bit groggy and stood up directly on the carriage.

Fortunately, this carriage was a large one used for transporting goods on ordinary days, with a ceiling height of about six feet, and she almost bumped her head.

After getting up, she swayed forward, and finally exclaimed and stumbled forward because she tripped over the wooden threshold of the carriage.

Fortunately, Field was quick-eyed and quick-handed. With a sweep of his right hand, he caught her and then put her back into the carriage.

"Silly mushroom, do you think you're still in the orphanage?"

"Um..." Veena looked around and then realized—she had left the orphanage already and was now on a carriage heading to Heidis.

"I'm sorry..." she said softly, feeling that she might have caused trouble for Field.

"Don't keep saying sorry, I'd rather hear you say 'I love you' to me," Field teased.

"Hey!" Hollan lightly tapped him and then said to Veena, "Don't mind him, he's just teasing you. You can't say such things casually."

But then Hollan noticed that Veena lowered her head and remained silent.

She raised an eyebrow, then said to Field, "You see, the joke went too far!"

Field was taken aback and turned to look at Veena. Although Veena always kept her head down, it was because of her inferiority complex, not daring to look ahead, but looking down at the ground.

But this time, Veena had truly lowered her head completely, her little face almost parallel to the ground.

Did he really go too far?

So Field leaned over. "Mushroom?"

Veena didn't answer, still keeping her head down.

Field looked at Hollan, who had her arms crossed, looking like she was saying, "You caused it, you fix it."

Field had no choice but to say to Veena, "Look up."

At the words, Veena actually obediently raised her head, but still didn't speak.

Field reached out and gently lifted her bangs.

Veena didn't dodge, which was a good sign. As long as she didn't cry, it wasn't a big deal.

But who knew that when her bangs were lifted, what Field saw was a completely red face.

At that moment, Field's heart skipped a beat.

At that moment, he realized that it wasn't a joke gone too far that made her cry.

It was Veena taking it seriously, getting shy.

Even her ears turned red.

She bit her lip, looking at Field with panic and unease in her big eyes, as if a whirlpool was spinning.

But it was precisely this appearance that made Field's heartbeat accelerate uncontrollably.

"Ahem... I was just teasing you, don't think too much about it," Field scratched his cheek and said.

At the words, Veena slowly recovered, nodding gently.

"Yeah."

But Hollan raised an eyebrow.

The big guy... getting shy?

Around 10 o'clock in the morning, they arrived at Grilla City.

It was still bustling and lively as ever.

Field drove the carriage into the unloading area of Heidis Academy and then helped Veena unload a large pile of packages.

"By the way, Veena's dormitory is a single room, right?" Field asked as he carried the packages, following behind Hollan and Veena.

Chi Chi was sitting on his shoulder, swishing its tail back and forth.

"Uh-huh," Hollan nodded. "I have three vacancies for Mage Research personnel dormitories, each of them is a single room, so you can rest assured."

Of course, she knew what Field was worried about. It was whether Veena's roommates would bully her. This was something Hollan had already taken into consideration.

"That's good," Field nodded, then followed Hollan and Veena into the female dormitory of the academy.

Of course, he didn't enter.

Because Hollan smiled mysteriously and said, "What, do you want to come in and take a look?"

Field immediately replied, "Of course not, I'm just worried that you two little girls won't be able to carry these packages."

Hearing Field call them little girls, Hollan felt in a good mood. Then she beckoned with her finger, and magic appeared, lifting the packages from Field's hands and storing them in her space ring.

"You don't have to worry about that, go about your business~" Hollan said with a smirk.

Field: "..."

"Alright," Field nodded and looked at Veena. "If you ever encounter someone bullying you, just tell Mentor Hollan. If she can't handle it, I will."

"And if you ever get bullied and don't tell me, and I find out, then I'll have to resort to extreme measures, got it?"

Veena nodded, "Um."

"Don't just say 'um,' say you understand."

"I understand."

"Alright, go on."

Watching the two women disappear into the depths of the mysterious female dormitory, Field turned around and walked towards the school gates.

He wanted to take this opportunity to complete that platinum-level task.

The tasks Hollan posted were all about collecting materials, quite simple.

Out of the six gold-level tasks, four were about collecting medicinal herbs, probably to make magic potions. The other two were about collecting materials from gold-level magical beasts, requiring hunting, but they were all herbivorous magical beasts.

So these six gold-level tasks were relatively easy, just bearing the title of gold-level, but not much harder than silver-level tasks.

As for the platinum-level task of hunting the Crystal Demon Snake, its location was in the Norflac Forest.

Norflac Forest was a huge forest, much larger than the Bullnem Forest.

It was closer to travel from Grilla City to Norflac Forest than from Heidis, about more than 190 kilometers.

By rushing over now, killing the Crystal Demon Snake, and then coming back, it would probably be afternoon.

It was perfect timing to use the Crystal Demon Snake's magic crystal as a gift for Hollan.

Although it was originally a task, it was still better than preparing some meaningless flowers.

Besides, out of the six gold-level tasks Hollan had, five could be found in the Norflac Forest. If he was lucky, he might be able to complete all six tasks today.

This efficiency, high indeed.

For this reason, Field also went to the magic potion shop in Grilla City to replenish some stamina potions, preparing for a big fight today.

This was referring to fighting the Crystal Demon Snake, not... with Hollan...

Uh... never mind, no need to explain.

Preparations complete, Field set off with Chi Chi, beginning their mad dash.

After advancing, Field's speed was even faster now, covering almost 200 kilometers in less than an hour, and they arrived at their destination.

It was tough on the little cat, though, being blown by the strong winds all the way.

"Big guy, I'm so dizzy, meow..." Chi Chi pitifully lay on Field's shoulder, speaking.

"Well, let's take a rest for a bit then," Field felt a bit sorry, at the same time thinking—it would be great if he could fly. Not only would he be faster, but it wouldn't be so bumpy either.

Indeed, he needed to learn magic.