Chapter 77: Parting & Surrounded
Andrea fidgeted. She clutched the corners of her dress tightly, staring at Aurelius from the corner of her eye as though she wanted to say something.
Combined with the faint blush on her cheeks, she looked like a schoolgirl ready to confess her love to her crush.
However...
"Alright. Enough messing around," Medea suddenly intervened, moving between her and Aurelius.
Andrea’s expression instantly turned back to normal. She puffed her cheeks angrily, stomping her feet as if blaming Medea for ruining her prank.
Medea looked truly helpless in the face of her antics.
She looked at Aurelius, finding it difficult to hide her embarrassment.
After clearing her throat, she took the initiative to speak.
"Thank you a lot for your help. Had it not been for you, it would have been impossible to bring back the Underworld Tulip."
"We’ve already given you the goblin corpses we managed to collect as a reward. Still, I don’t believe this is enough to make us even."
Medea paused briefly before reaching into her clothes and retrieving an item from an inner pocket.
It was a token in the shape of a shield, about half the size of a human palm.
"This is the token of the Adventurer Guild," she introduced.
"If you take it to any of the guild’s strongholds, you will receive the same treatment as a high-level member," she explained, handing the token over to Aurelius.
"Beyond that... you can say that I owe you a favor. If you ever need a helping hand, you can visit the Adventurer Guild and request to meet me."
Medea didn’t go on to say what kind of help she would provide him with.
However, given her identity as the daughter of a Rank 5 Awakener, it was obvious she possessed the status and power to handle most matters.
Aurelius quickly realized that this was the mysterious promise mentioned by the Player Panel.
Nodding with a smile, he took the token and handed her the Underworld Tulip in return.
"You should be cautious," he reminded her.
"Just like you said before, this thing requires an Awakener to supply it with Mana constantly. If you fail to do so for an hour, it will wither away."
This was something Aurelius had learned the moment he received the Underworld Tulip from LunaticTV through Alchemist’s Touch.
This also explained why they had brought him along.
Most likely, they had somehow detected that he was a mage-like Class. Requiring someone with ample Mana, they took the initiative to invite him.
Medea took the flower and spoke no further. She didn’t burst out in tears or show any regret for their parting.
After nodding subtly, she turned around, grabbed the reluctant Andrea, and dragged her away.
Matthew, who had been watching this happen, also nodded with a smile. Keeping a firm grip on LunaticTV, he chased behind them.
In the end, only Marcus remained. His expression was as solemn as ever, his eyes fixed on Aurelius.
Just as he was wondering whether Marcus would announce their rivalry over Andrea’s love, the Shield Bearer did something unexpected.
He raised his hand before bringing it down to pat Aurelius’ shoulder. Although Aurelius was more than six feet tall, Marcus was even more massive.
Standing together, they looked like an ordinary man beside a legendary giant.
"I didn’t expect it, boy. You’re quite capable. If you ever run into trouble that is not too troublesome, you don’t have to waste Medea’s favor."
"You can ask to meet me," Marcus said in a deep voice.
Without waiting for Aurelius to speak, he turned around and departed.
Only his voice lingered behind as his back quickly disappeared.
"It’s best if you put some weight on by then. Also, spend less time in the degenerate noble circles and more time with real adventurers."
"Men should be tough and manly! The current you looks too delicate to be a real man!"
Aurelius had no time to respond to these nonsensical words.
Before he could process what was happening, Marcus had already caught up with his teammates, and they all walked out of the city.
Well... they and the unwilling LunaticTV, who was trying his best to break away from Matthew’s grasp.
Watching them go, Aurelius shook his head with a faint smile.
This trip... had been interesting.
Although it had lasted for less than a day, it had been quite eventful, much more than his trips to the Dryad Forest.
Aurelius was satisfied with everything that happened.
He was happy with how the day turned out.
...At least, until he overheard a voice coming from the opposite street.
"Hey! The cutscene is finally over! Aurelius is free!"
"Did you see? That Lunatic guy was dragged away! Haha! He has been boasting in his stream for so long! Now, he is the one who suffers!"
Laughter and hushed whispers echoed in Aurelius’ ears.
When he turned around, he came face to face with their source.
Players.
Everywhere he looked were Players.
The streets. The alleys. Even in the nearby taverns, Players sat, staring intently in his direction.
It was no coincidence.
From their chat, Aurelius understood what was happening.
’Bringing LunaticTV back with me was the right choice. Although that guy is a chatterbox, it seems that he is quite popular. Or rather, unpopular enough to spread the word.’
All these Players had come here with a single goal in mind.
To meet the Hidden NPC Aurelius!
Evidence of this was that several Players rose to their feet, looking ready to approach him with shining eyes.
They had no chance to do so, however.
Out of nowhere, a fat but incredibly fast figure walked into the city.
Realizing what was happening, his eyes lit up.
"Brother Aurelius! Brother Aurelius! You’re here too!" he shouted, looking completely out of breath.
Aurelius sidestepped to dodge his advance and was ready to give him a beating.
Before he could do so, however, World_Builder retrieved an item from his System Inventory.
The moment it appeared, the object’s heavy weight nearly caused him to stumble.
But he didn’t care about his shameful appearance.
He hurriedly spoke:
"Brother, look at what I found!"
"Do you think this thing is valuable? How about you buy it?"
Aurelius’ instinctive reaction was to dismiss him, knowing that Players couldn’t possibly have come into possession of anything that could interest him so quickly.
But just then, his eyes landed on the item in World_Builder’s hands.
Immediately, the words he was about to say remained stuck in his throat.