Over the past year and a half, he had continuously iterated and upgraded his spatial teleportation magic, finally extending its range to cover the distance from Toka City to his starting village.
When he first left Adewang Town, he hadn't told them, so they still thought he was in that town.
In the letters they sent him, they often complained that he had made them make empty trips.
The gifts they had brought for him had to be carried all the way back.
After successfully managing to teleport here, he had teleported back once specifically to see his old acquaintances.
And this time, he was back to say goodbye.
Having learned that the Debury Magic Academy possessed a vast collection of magic books, and since he wanted to see more of humanity's wisdom in this world and collect more spells, he had decided to make the Royal Capital the second stop of his journey.
Moreover, the reason wasn't just to collect magic. To this day, he still remembered the night he was born, when some noble—he didn't know what rank—had ordered him to be thrown away.
If he had been just an ordinary baby, he would have died that very night.
Thus, Xia De had always kept this matter in his heart. He had long suspected that the noble was from the Royal Capital.
Because after the guard carried him out, the guard never expected that a baby would have the consciousness of an adult, which allowed Xia De to catch some glimpses of the surroundings along the way.
It was a bustling, prosperous scene, far grander than any place Xia De had visited so far.
The reason he hadn't gone there in the beginning was that he was still too weak back then. If he had to estimate, he only had the strength of Tier Seven at the time.
After all, Toka City alone had five Tier Eight powerhouses. What about the Royal Capital, which was even more prosperous than Toka City?
He didn't believe the king of this country could get Tier Eight nobles to support his rule just by talking.
Fortunately, his strength had grown now, allowing him to act without restraint.
In an era where the gods did not appear, he could go wherever he pleased and travel the world.
And these spur-of-the-moment journeys would only become more frequent in the future.
He had a premonition that after leaving this time, he wouldn't return to this small village for a very long time.
Although he didn't fully view the people in this village as family, it was still the village where he had lived for over a decade, and he wanted to say a proper goodbye.
What was more, the old man who had raised him was also buried here.
He stepped into the small village, a faint, familiar smile on his face, radiating a gentle and elegant aura similar to Count Toka's.
But it carried a touch of maturity, making him look as reliable as an eldest son.
Along the way, people constantly spotted Xia De, from elders older than him to young children.
Upon seeing Xia De, smiles involuntarily bloomed on their faces, and they greeted him with joy.
“Little Xia De, you're back! It's been nearly a year since you last visited, hasn't it? How have you been this past year? Is the life of an adventurer tiring?”
“Little Xia De, we haven't seen you in so long, and you've grown even more handsome. Tell your auntie, is there any girl you've taken a liking to?”
“Xia De, you're back! How's the adventurer life? Is it fun? I wanted to go out with you back then, too. Unfortunately, I didn't have the talent and couldn't step into the extraordinary level, so my mom stopped me.”
“Big Brother Xia De, can you teach us swordsmanship again? Uncle Greto and Big Brother Huey teach so terribly!”
With a faint smile, Xia De responded to each of the enthusiastically questioning villagers. He then made an excuse to slip away from the crowd and wandered through the village alone once more.
“Xia De?!”
A pleasantly surprised voice sounded from ahead. Xia De looked over and saw Linna, the most skillful tailor in the village.
She was also Huey's beloved older sister and Greto's beloved wife.
At this moment, she was looking at Xia De with a surprised smile, but Xia De noticed that her belly was highly swollen.
“Xia De, you're back! Those two guys, Huey and Greto, have been talking about you every single day!”
She called out to Xia De with a bright smile.
Fearing she might still be as fiery as she was before marriage and take giant strides toward him, Xia De hurriedly stepped forward. “Sister Linna, you have to be careful in your condition!”
However, what Xia De feared didn't happen. Linna walked very lightly and slowly.
Walking up to Xia De, Linna looked up at him, as he was now a head taller than her. She sized him up and down, then patted his shoulder with a pleased expression.
“Not bad, not bad. You've grown taller and even more handsome, young man. Don't mistreat yourself while adventuring out there, you hear?”
Xia De scratched his head, let out a dry laugh, and then focused his gaze on Linna's swollen belly. “Sister Linna, how many months has it been?”
Hearing Xia De's question, Linna stroked her belly. With gentleness in her eyes, she smiled and said:
“About seven months. Our whole family was so happy when Sister Vanessa found out, especially Greto. He was smiling like a little kid.”
Hearing about Greto, Xia De couldn't help but laugh as well. He leaned down close to Linna's belly, tracing circles in the air with his index finger.
“Little one, I wish you a lifetime of good health, happiness, and smooth sailing.”
Linna also stroked her belly with a gentle expression, smiling softly. “Did you hear that? Your Uncle Xia De hopes you'll be healthy for the rest of your life. After you're born, you must learn from your Uncle Xia De.”
Xia De straightened up, scratched his head blankly, and said with a smile:
“I'm not even sixteen yet, and I'm already an uncle?”
“Hahaha, you're as humorous as always, kid.”
Amused by Xia De's reaction, Linna laughed heartily, then patted him on the shoulder and said:
“Alright, you're still a month away from turning sixteen. You must have come back this time to say goodbye, right? In that case, remember to come to our house for dinner tonight. We'll treat it as an early celebration for you! Greto and Huey will definitely be thrilled, too.”
“Then I won't stand on ceremony, Sister Linna,” Xia De readily accepted.
“Alright, I'll head back first then.”
“Let me walk you back, Sister Linna.”
Linna waved her hand and said dismissively, “I've reached Tier One, after all. There's no need to go that far.”
With that, she left without waiting for Xia De's response.
Xia De shook his head with a helpless, bitter smile, but he still cast a shadow to lurk within Linna's shadow.
“Next, I should go visit Sister Vanessa.”
Xia De headed toward the church. Before he even got close, he heard a cute, youthful female voice.
“Please make sure to get plenty of rest lately. You can take light walks, but don't do any overly strenuous exercise.”
The girl had a gentle and quiet temperament, with shoulder-length brown hair. Her cute face had skin so delicate it looked like it would break at a touch, and her watery eyes were filled with the gentleness of a healer.
“Oh, it looks like our little Lili has also become an excellent Healer.”
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