Chapter 2: The Return.
“Should I send you back to your original world….. Dear Tang, are you sure?”
The king’s gaze flickered imperceptibly toward the Saintess’s direction.
“So it really is possible to send me back?”
Tang Yingjie had only made the wish with a try-it-and-see attitude, but he never expected that the king would actually have a way.
“Ahem, well, of course there is.”
The king hesitated for a moment, but ultimately chose not to hide it and honestly admitted that he did indeed have the means to send him back to his original world.
“However, isn’t our world good? The Demon King is already dead, and the demon army has been driven out of the border. As the Hero, you can enjoy the highest noble treatment. Were you also a noble in your original world?”
He tried to persuade him to stay.
But Tang Yingjie shook his head very firmly.
“No, our world no longer has feudal nobles like you. Your noble status here holds no attraction for me. You are a good king, and keeping me in this world brings you no benefits at all. So please send me back.”
Hearing Tang Yingjie’s words, the king fell silent.
After a moment, he made up his mind and nodded.
“Just as I promised, as long as it is within my power, I naturally will not refuse.”
“However, the reverse teleportation ritual requires preparation time, about two days. We will hold the reverse teleportation ceremony for you at the imperial capital square.”
“Thank you very much.”
Tang Yingjie’s tightly wound nerves relaxed slightly, and the breath he had been holding in his chest was finally released.
Two days later….
On the imperial capital square, a massive magic array was rapidly constructed over the past two days. Large quantities of rare magic materials were transported to the square by carts and then embedded into various parts of the array.
The citizens had heard the news that the Hero was returning. Soon, the outer perimeter of the square was packed tightly with crowds coming to see the Hero off.
During the preparation phase of the teleportation ritual, the king emotionally stepped onto the speech platform on the square and once again praised the Hero’s heroic deeds, lauding his righteous actions.
As his long speech ended, the magic array was also fully prepared.
Standing on the magic array, Tang Yingjie looked at the crowd who had come to send him off with a complicated expression. He still felt some regret in his heart.
Without any ideological foundation, pushing forward rashly would only make him become the next king under the push of public opinion, rather than a liberator.
He did not need to become a king, so he decided to leave.
Finally, he glanced once more toward the direction of the palace, where his former comrades who had fought alongside him were standing.
Over the past two days, these teammates had taken turns visiting his residence to persuade him to stay.
Unfortunately, his resolve to leave was firm.
As for the Saintess, he had not seen her at all during these two days. Considering she had never seemed particularly concerned about him, he did not think much of it.
He silently followed the pre-laid path, step by step, until he reached the very center of the magic array. As the array activated, waves of mysterious magical light surged up from it and completely enveloped him.
A blinding flash burst from the array.
Everyone instinctively covered their eyes. When they opened them again, the magic array was already empty. The upright and brave Hero was nowhere to be seen.
The king breathed a sigh of relief.
The crowd also let out a collective sigh in their hearts.
Even they themselves didn’t know exactly what they were sighing for. Perhaps they were mourning the departure of the Hero who had briefly given them dignity and personhood.
Or perhaps they felt regret that the Hero and the Saintess’s legend ultimately did not end with them together.
Just as the crowd was about to disperse.
Alice, who had been missing for two days, hurriedly arrived at the square with a large convoy and several black-robed mages.
“Am I still one step too late after all?”
She stared at the empty magic array, gritting her silver teeth.
“Don’t worry, Saintess. There is still time.”
With a wave of his hand from one of the black-robed mages, the mages who had come with Alice quickly began studying and modifying the massive array left on the square.
The king and the citizens watched the scene in stunned silence.
The citizens had no idea what was happening, but the king understood perfectly.
Tang Yingjie was called the Hero because that title was given to those brave enough to raise their blades against the Demon King.
The title of Saintess Alice, however, carried far more weight than Hero.
It was a title that only the sole successor of one of the most powerful organizations in the world, the Magic Temple, could possess.
These black-robed mages were clearly from the Magic Temple. Along with the magic materials and the way these mages were performing reverse calculations on the array…
The king, who “somewhat understood” magic, had nothing but disbelief in his eyes.
“Has the Magic Temple gone mad? They want to send the Saintess to another world?”
……
Earth, China, Hunan Province, some university.
Dormitory Building 18, Room 616.
It was six o’clock in the morning. Even the ultimate night-owl otaku gamer in the dorm had already gone to bed. Snoring sounds rose and fell from the three occupied beds, making the dark room quite lively.
On another neatly organized bed, an extremely dazzling blue light suddenly burst forth. Then, the figure of a person who had been missing from the school for three days emerged within the light.
As the light faded, Tang Yingjie looked at the familiar yet strange dormitory.
He let out a long breath in his heart.
He was back.
Feeling the hard bed board that he had complained about many times before now brought him an immense sense of security.
According to the king, the magic array would adjust the teleportation time when sending him back.
It could be set to a maximum time difference of one year in the other world equaling one day on Earth.
So his three years of struggle in the other world might only amount to three days of disappearance on Earth.
Well, it wasn’t exactly nothing….
He could barely remember if he had classes today, three years after his disappearance.
If there were no classes, it would be fine. At most his roommates would be curious about where he had been for three days. But if he had classes all three days and disappeared consecutively, he felt the counselor might explode on the spot…..
Lying on the bed, he subconsciously pulled out the nearby pillow and placed it under his head.
A strong wave of sleepiness quickly swept over him.
Sure enough, crossing worlds consumed far too much energy.
Since he was back now, there was no need to overthink it. If anything came up, he could just give the counselor some excuse, apologize, and that would be it.
In the worst case, he would just receive a minor demerit.
With that thought, he unfolded the neatly folded blanket beside him, covered himself with it, and fell into a deep sleep.