By the time Lin Gui returned to that temporary post office in the Seventh Ring, it was already late at night.
Inside the simple wooden building, the candle flames had long since been extinguished.
Only scattered points of light from outside the window seeped in, sketching the rough outlines of the interior.
Theia sat quietly on a wooden crate piled high with letters, as if she had already merged with the darkness.
To conceal her appearance, she had made complete preparations.
A large black cloak covered her tightly from head to toe.
A heavy veil hung from the edge of the hood.
Even those signature pointed ears were hidden without a trace.
If Lin Gui hadn't sensed her familiar aura, he almost would have thought she was just a silent statue.
“Have you been waiting long?” Lin Gui's voice rang out in the silence.
He sat cross-legged on his oak staff suspended in mid-air, his posture leisurely.
Hearing his voice, that “statue” instantly came to life.
Theia stood up, and a faint, slightly complaining hum came from beneath the veil, which then turned into a soft chuckle.
With practiced movements, she took a step forward and leapt lightly.
She firmly grasped Lin Gui's waist from behind, sitting sideways on the extended part of the staff.
“If you didn't come soon, I would have thought you were invited by some noble lady for black tea.”
Her voice sounded a bit muffled through the veil.
Lin Gui did not respond, only controlling the staff to quietly float out of the post office.
The refugee district was submerged in a heavy darkness.
Only a few scattered candle flames glowed stubbornly behind dilapidated windows.
In sharp contrast to this dead silence was the distant upper area.
There, lights were blazing, and magic radiance reflected off the mountain peaks and layered city walls as if it were broad daylight.
The clamor of singing and dancing seemed to drift across the vast distance.
Lin Gui led Theia, weaving through the cracks between light and shadow.
They silently crossed one heavily guarded barrier after another, entering the Fifth Ring's commercial district.
The scene before them suddenly opened up.
The commercial district at night was still bustling.
Shops lined both sides of the streets, their magical signs shimmering with vibrant colors, illuminating the wide cobblestone road as if it were day.
Well-dressed pedestrians crowded together.
The air was filled with a mixed aroma of food, spices, and fine wine.
“Wow...”
Theia couldn't help but let out a low exclamation; even through her disguise, her anticipation was palpable.
Although she had snuck here once in the morning, she had returned in a hurry after buying clothes then and had no time to look around.
At this moment, seeing the dazzling array of shops around her, her attention was instantly attracted by the snack stalls wafting with enticing aromas.
“Delicious food!” she muttered softly, full of longing.
However, Lin Gui pulled out an internal map of the Royal Capital from his coat and glanced at it by the light. He then steered the staff to turn direction, flying toward the area Fal had marked for him.
He avoided the main roads thick with people and specialized in weaving through secluded alleys.
The surrounding scenery gradually changed; prosperity and luxury receded like the tide.
Soon, they arrived at a street that was completely out of place with the rest of the commercial district.
The buildings here were low and dilapidated, and the road surface was uneven with potholes.
The lighting was dim, and the air wafted with the smell of cheap food mixed with garbage.
Compared to the areas they had passed through before, this place was lower by an untold number of grades.
Lin Gui deactivated the Shroud of the Gloomy Night covering the two of them.
Their figures appeared at the dim street entrance.
“Eh? You're just deactivating it like that?” Theia was startled and subconsciously tightened her hood. “I haven't completely mastered my demon energy yet...”
Lin Gui smiled faintly.
“It’s fine. This place is the most remote corner of the commercial district, specifically set up for lower-class commoners and refugees... ‘Gray Street.’”
He specifically emphasized the name “Gray Street.”
This term itself carried the unabashed disdain of upper-class people toward the lower class.
A place where gray, unremarkable people, as insignificant as dust, gathered.
Whether it was self-important Gold Rank adventurers, or Transcendent members of the Defense Force with their noses in the air, or elitist members of transport teams, or even any prominent nobles and their servants, none would lower their status to set foot here.
“Hmm~~” Theia pressed her finger against Lin Gui's back, her tone carrying a tease. “This doesn't seem like something the always-cautious Lin Gui would do~”
She leaned forward slightly, her voice carrying a hint of cunning.
She had originally prepared for Lin Gui to protect her with the Shroud of the Gloomy Night the whole time.
But since he had deactivated it, it seemed he had another purpose for this date.
“A romantic date with a stunningly beautiful girl where you walk the streets, build feelings, and finally become a couple... I suggest not mixing in too many other irrelevant matters~~”
Lin Gui chuckled and explained.
“Don't worry, the chances of meeting that person aren't very high.”
Seeing that Theia was still confused, he had to explain further.
“This was where Roger met that ‘madman’ who filled his head with the existence of Avalon all those years ago.”
“I want to recreate the scene of his first time coming to Gray Street. One person, one half-demon.” Lin Gui paused.
“According to Fal, when the Royal Capital Knights intercepted Roger, the half-demon slave beside him unleashed magic containing demon energy... just like yours, Theia.”
“So,” he looked back at Theia. “In a bit, there's no need to intentionally control the leakage of demon energy. We'll try and see if we can bait out the person who guided Roger back then.”
Lin Gui did indeed have this bit of calculation regarding his date with Theia.
But in his heart, he didn't hold much hope.
After what happened with Roger, Gray Street had undergone several brutal purges.
The number of people who died due to association was not small.
Even if that “madman,” or the person behind him who guided Roger, was still in the Royal Capital, it was basically impossible for them to appear in this place of strife again.
As Lin Gui expected, their subsequent stroll yielded no special discoveries.
Gradually, Lin Gui also temporarily forgot this purpose and began to enjoy this rare leisure with Theia.
Although the streets were worn and the goods were cheap, far from comparable to the boutiques on the main roads, the atmosphere here was exceptionally vivid and lively.
People of all races were mixed together.
There were lizardmen performing fire-breathing, gnolls beating on broken tin drums, and stalls selling various hand-woven ornaments.
The air was filled with the aroma of various cheap but fragrant snacks.
Like a curious child, Theia pulled Lin Gui to weave between various stalls.
They bought grilled insect skewers that were charred and fragrant, tasted strong-flavored weird beans, and she even picked two bracelets woven with colored bird feathers and broken gemstones, forcefully putting one on Lin Gui.
Her chatterbox nature also completely opened up, speaking non-stop about interesting stories from the Elven Forest and eccentric adventurers she had met during her travels.
Lin Gui mostly just listened quietly, responding occasionally.
Seeing her rarely relaxed state and remembering her talkative nature, it seemed being cooped up in the refugee district for the past two days had indeed bored her to death.
They were truly enjoying the simple happiness brought by this date.
After a while, Theia suddenly grabbed Lin Gui's hand and pointed to a dark, empty alley nearby.
“Lin Gui, come here and help me with something.”
Deep in the alley, Theia whispered, “Cast the largest Shroud of the Gloomy Night you can to cover this area.”
Although Lin Gui was confused, he still did as he was told.
Invisible mana fluctuations spread out, isolating the entire alley from the outside world.
“Then, use Warmth to create many small light orbs like you did at the outpost,” Theia continued her request.
With a slight thought from Lin Gui, light orbs the size of fists, emitting a soft white glow, appeared out of thin air.
Like fireflies in a summer night, they floated lightly in the dark alley, driving away the thick darkness.
Under the misty and warm halo, Theia took a deep breath and untied the black cloak that had been covering her form.
The cloak slid down.
Revealing the light green elven-style dress beneath, as well as her face that was breathtaking even without any embellishment.
Her long silver hair flowed with a soft luster under the light orbs.
Her fair skin was like the finest jade.
Those emerald-like eyes, carrying a hint of bashfulness and even more anticipation, shone brightly.
She did a light spin, her skirt fluttering slightly.
Facing Lin Gui, she revealed a smile so brilliant one couldn't look away.
“How is it? Has such a beautiful elven girl made your heart thump~~”
Lin Gui looked at her, momentarily lost in thought.
A few seconds later, he finally smiled and responded, his tone carrying his characteristic flatness yet exceptionally serious: “My heart is moved, going thump-thump.”
Theia's whole body trembled slightly.
Redness quickly spread across her fair cheeks at a speed visible to the naked eye, all the way to her pointed ears.
Against the backdrop of the misty fireflies, the elven girl currently looking down in shyness was breathtakingly beautiful.
Lin Gui watched blankly, something in his heart seemingly being touched lightly.
But immediately after, a trace of imperceptible despondency flickered in the depths of his eyes.
He knew Theia's feelings.
But he knew even more clearly that at the end of this long-distance journey, they would eventually part.
This was not something that could be decided by passion alone.
In the current City-State Alliance, tolerance for half-demons was sliding toward the abyss.
Today at the Adventurer's Guild, he had accidentally caught a glimpse of the wanted list posted at the door.
Of the 346 wanted criminals, 295 were actually half-demons!
This included Theia.
And the treatment after capture was not imprisonment, but direct execution.
What was worse was that in the City-State Alliance meeting at the beginning of the year, the support for the agenda on whether to include half-demons as “evil races” had already exceeded half.
If the regulations took effect at the end of the year, all half-demons would be forcibly expelled from any city-state within the Alliance.
This was undoubtedly a gentle yet more thorough genocide targeted at half-demons.
So, regardless of whether that thumping heartbeat existed in his heart for Theia, after safely delivering her to Avalon, separation was an almost inevitable ending.
If Avalon truly could accept half-demons, and was as equal as the poetry described, then he hoped that after arriving there, Theia would settle down safely and never leave again.
He did not tell Theia any of this.
He hoped this journey could leave her with more beautiful memories.
Leaving the alley, the two of them strolled casually for a bit longer.
Just as they were preparing to leave Gray Street and return to the refugee district, Theia suddenly moved close to Lin Gui, her voice pressed extremely low: “Someone is following us... the target seems to be me.”
Lin Gui's expression remained unchanged as he asked flatly, “An adventurer? Or the Defense Force?”
“I don't know.” Theia shook her head slightly. “Like us, he's covered his appearance, but looking at his clothes, he shouldn't be wealthy. He looks like a refugee. Also, the person is very short, like a human child.”
Lin Gui's eyes brightened slightly.
A refugee? Could it be that he had really stumbled upon a clue related to the group that guided Roger?
Was his luck really this good?
Theia's brow furrowed, and she whispered, “Not good, he seems to be planning to flee. Lin Gui, should we chase him?”
“Can you tell how strong the opponent is?” Lin Gui asked.
“It's too far; I can't sense any battle force or mana fluctuations.”
Lin Gui deliberated for a moment. “Follow him from a distance first.”
The two of them immediately followed that gray figure blending into the crowd.
The other party was clearly extremely familiar with the lower-class areas, choosing complex small paths to travel.
They followed the person from Gray Street in the commercial district, all the way through to the Sixth Ring's commoner district.
The houses here were a bit more regular than in the refugee district, but they were still crowded and dilapidated.
The faces of the pedestrians mostly wore the exhaustion of struggling for a livelihood.
Occasionally, one could see a few drunken mercenaries leaning in the corners, or some provocatively dressed women soliciting business at street corners.
The tracking continued for nearly half an hour.
That gray figure finally ducked into the Seventh Ring, that even more chaotic and filthy refugee district.
Eventually, they witnessed the person flash and duck into a junkyard haphazardly constructed from discarded wooden boards, rags, and rusted iron sheets.
On the open ground at the edge of the junkyard, some blacksmith tools were unexpectedly laid out, along with some finished adventurer equipment.
Longswords, daggers, leather armor, and so on.
The materials used for them were very ordinary and could be found anywhere, but the forging and sewing craftsmanship was exceptionally exquisite.
The lines were smooth, and the structures were reasonable, far exceeding the general level of this area.
Theia pointed at that equipment in shock. “These...”
Before she could finish her sentence, her toe had just stepped into the range of the junkyard.
“Ding-ling!”
A crisp yet piercing sound of a metal bell suddenly rang out!
It was a warning trap!
Before Lin Gui and Theia could react, there was a loud crash of a window breaking from deep within the junkyard!
“Not good, he's running!” Lin Gui said immediately.
Theia reacted even faster; before Lin Gui's words had even landed, she had already rushed in like an arrow from a bow.
Her figure flickered several times among the clutter and then disappeared into the darkness.
A moment later, Theia walked back with an odd expression.
In her hand, she was dangling a figure a whole head shorter than her who was constantly struggling.
The gray camouflage coat the other party wore had already been torn away.
Lin Gui stepped forward and snatched off the dirty, torn hat on the person's head.
When he saw clearly the face covered in dust and grease, which could still show hard lines, and especially those eyes that were clearly visible as if they were burning charcoal even in the dim light, Lin Gui was stunned.
These were not human eyes.
“A dwarf?” Theia also exclaimed in surprise.
But immediately, she noticed that the blood color in the other's eyes was similar to her own when she was demonized. “No... it's...”
The small person being held in the air by Theia struggled with all his might, shouting in a coarse voice that matched his physique: “Put me down! You stinky long-eared elf!”
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