Even though Erwin had progressed after an arduous match, Larwood had been eliminated in the round of 32. The group of friends gathered together, and Larwood didn't want to sour the mood, so he still wanted to hold a celebration for Erwin, but Erwin turned down the offer. He didn't want to hold a celebration when Larwood clearly wasn't in the mood for rejoicing. Furthermore, everyone had drunk a lot the past few days, and Chase and Kaiba were also glad to be able to give their livers a break.
Thus, that night, Larwood, Chase, and Kaiba returned to Sarus to have some fun together, while Erwin decided not to go with them as he wanted to prepare for his upcoming match the next day. There was no way that Sherry's money pouch was going to be able to keep up with the extravagant spending of the young nobles, so he wisely returned to Seaford Academy after bidding farewell to Erwin.
After everyone left, Erwin was the only one remaining in the huge tent, and he laid on his bed alone, flipping through the pages of "Laws of Time and Space" and "A Discussion on the Ultimate Damage of Magic", but he found himself unable to focus on the words on the pages.
He applied the ointment that Larwood had left for him onto his own body while murmuring to himself, "In circumstances of extreme instability, rifts will exist between space and time... Rifts? And what does it mean when it refers to circumstances of extreme instability?"
Erwin pondered these words for a long time, but to no avail, and at this point, he could no longer be bothered to try and deduce whether he had misinterpreted the meaning of the third chapter. His self-doubt had begun ever since Larwood and the others left for Sarus, and after flipping through the pages of the book countless times, he was still unable to find an answer. Initially, he wondered whether he had made an incorrect interpretation. After that, he began to wonder whether he should be doubting himself. The two contradicting thoughts always led to a dead-end, and in the end, Erwin decided to give up on the matter for now.
He stowed the two books away in the sheepskin satchel that he was always carrying, then placed the satchel beneath his bed before deciding to go and take a stroll in the night market to alleviate his accumulated mental fatigue.
During the past few nights, he had either been hanging out at the pub or lying on his bed to recover from his injuries, so he had never visited the night market. On either side of the boardwalks of different sizes in the market stood a series of wooden poles, each of which was several meters tall. A thin copper rod was inserted into each wooden pole near the top, and magic gas lamps of different colors were hanging by metal chains from the copper rods. The gas lamps swayed occasionally amid the fierce wintry wind, and the metal chains clinked and clanged faintly as a result. In the brightly lit setting, the chill in the air seemed to have been significantly alleviated. There were also colorful flags dangling down from the top of the wooden poles, giving the lively and bustling market a joyful atmosphere.
A little girl who appeared to be of the age where she had only just started going to school joyfully accepted a lollipop from the owner of a candy shop, and after removing the wrapper from the lollipop, the colorful spiral of the lollipop suddenly began to revolve. The rainbow spiral spun faster and faster, and the little girl was entranced as she looked on with a dazed expression. All of a sudden, a fiery phoenix erupted out of the dazzling spiral, then gave a clear cry before flying up into the heavens. The little girl hurriedly raised her head to look up at the night sky, while the flames on the phoenix's body began to take on a rainbow hue as well. After that, the fiery phoenix exploded with a loud thump, releasing a beautiful rainbow firework that dissipated in the sky shortly thereafter.
The little girl immediately began to clap and giggle with joy upon seeing this, and the lollipop that she was holding had taken on a fiery hue. She watched the "fiery" revolving vortex that she was holding with a curious expression, then took a bite before chewing vigorously. It seemed that the lollipop was a little hot, and after she swallowed her first mouthful, she immediately gave a loud burp, upon which a huge plume of fire erupted out of her mouth. Many of the passersby were quite amused to see this, and the little girl was also quite amazed herself as she giggled joyfully before running away with her lollipop to look for her friends.
Erwin looked on at the little girl's departing figure, then cast his gaze toward the lively crowd in the night market. There were people lining up in front of all of the stalls selling snacks, and it really was a fantastic atmosphere to be in.
"Stop following me!" Amid the rabble and commotion, Erwin heard a familiar voice ring out from not far away. An amused smile appeared on his face as he identified the owner of the voice, and he shook his head before crouching down to hide beside a stall that was selling fruit wine.
Shortly thereafter, a red-haired beauty emerged, and it was none other than Lana. On this occasion, she was wearing a tight-fitting black dress that covered her entire body aside from her cleavage and her calves. In addition to that, she was wearing a gray rabbit fleece coat outside of her dress. She was dressed rather conservatively tonight, much to Erwin's dismay, as there really wasn't much to look at given the comprehensive coverage of her clothes.
Walking along beside Lana was Jeff, and there seemed to be someone trailing along behind them.
Erwin took a closer look before murmuring to himself, "Isn't that Byron Shreesan? What is he doing with Lana and Jeff?"
After the three of them passed by the fruit wine stall, Erwin sneakily followed along behind them.
All of a sudden, Lana stopped in her tracks before turning around to glare at someone behind her. Erwin was given quite a fright by this, thinking that he had been discovered, and he hurriedly hid himself behind a burly passerby on the street. Only then did he realize that Lana had actually been glaring at Byron. From then onward, Erwin made sure to maintain a certain distance from Lana and Jeff, but was still close enough to eavesdrop on their conversation.
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Byron was clearly quite offended by Lana's inhospitable display, but he didn't dare to voice his dissatisfaction.
"Jeff, you go speak to him," Lana said as she pouted at Jeff.
"Lana, don't be so rude!" Jeff turned to glare at Lana as he said, "Byron has been kind enough to invite us to visit the night market, and you're being extremely rude to him!"
"Fine! If you want his company, then you can hang out with him! I'm going back," Lana grumbled with a disgruntled expression.
A wry smile appeared on Jeff's face. This was their father's arrangement, so he felt bound by duty to see it through, but whenever Lana threw a tantrum, he would be left completely powerless. Thus, he turned to Byron with an awkward expression.
Byron was also feeling quite awkward, and after a moment of hesitation, he said, "It's alright, Jeff. It seems like my presence is rather bothersome for Miss Lana, so I'll be taking my leave now."
Jeff knew that convincing Byron to stay wouldn't be a good idea, but it also seemed rude to let Byron go, so he was at a loss for what to do. After the first day of the Pillow Sword Tournament, Duke Shreesan had paid Prince Lazaar a visit, and they enjoyed a very pleasant chat together. Not long after that came the invitation from Byron, and Jeff naturally knew that their father wanted to make a couple out of Byron and Lana, but Lana was completely opposed to the idea.
Originally, the plan was for Lana and Byron to come out on their own, but Lana was extremely opposed to the prospect of visiting the night market with no one else but Byron. As a result, Jeff was forced to come along, and he practically had to drag Lana out the door to meet with Byron.
After being insulted on multiple occasions by Lana, Byron had well and truly had enough, and he was determined to leave. Jeff was unable to convince him to stay, so he could only accompany Byron back to Sarus.
Byron was an extremely proud and haughty character, but ever since he had been comprehensively crushed by Lana on the first day of the Pillow Sword Tournament, he had fallen head over heels for her, completely mesmerized by the combination of power and beauty. He was even willing to set his pride aside and implore his father to pay Prince Lazaar a visit to see if Lana were available. Duke Shreesan was resistant to the idea at first, but he was worn down by his son in the end and paid a visit to Prince Lazaar's manor in person. To his surprise, Prince Lazaar wasn't opposed to the idea at all, and he even encouraged Byron to take the initiative.
Byron was ecstatic after hearing this news from his father, and he and Lana were supposed to visit the night market on their own, but Lana was vehemently opposed to the idea. If Jeff hadn't agreed to come with them, she most likely wouldn't have come out to meet Byron at all. Even though she had come to the night market, she was still extremely cold and hostile toward Byron. Byron had always had a superiority complex over others, and this was the first time he was being looked down on, so it was naturally quite a humiliating experience for him.
Even as Byron turned to depart, he still couldn't help but turn back to take one final longing look at Lana. His gaze roamed over her fiery red hair, her elegant figure, and her beautiful blue eyes, which were still so captivating even with such cold emotions displayed within them. Her pout was countless times more beautiful than even the warmest of smiles from other women, and Byron didn't dare to stare for too long as he hurriedly lowered his head. He was so nervous that he was unable to speak, and the sense of inferiority in his heart was growing more and more pronounced.
Erwin had watched the entire situation unfold, and he had a rough idea of what was happening. Theoretically speaking, he should've been quite pleased about this situation. After all, Lana had never treated him with such hostility and disdain. However, for some reason, he was feeling quite infuriated instead.
Lana didn't want to look at Byron any longer, yet just as she was about to turn around, an arm suddenly wound itself around her waist. She looked down at the arm that had abruptly appeared around her waist with a stunned expression, yet before she had a chance to react, the arm wound itself tighter around her, and she gave a surprised yelp as she found herself pressed up against the owner of the arm.
Erwin wasn't looking at Lana. Instead, he wore a steely expression as he glowered at Byron and Jeff. His arm remained tightly wound around Lana's soft and slender waist, while his other hand had already gripped onto the staff that was concealed up his sleeve. He didn't know what had come over him just now, but never had he made such a courageous move. The woman in his arms could easily reduce him to a piece of scorched charcoal with her spells, yet in this moment, he felt completely fearless.