While the matters in Miracle Wing were happening, Lei Zhen remained ignorant of their situation and was busy cooking breakfast for Chris.
Although he didn't need to do these kinds of extra chores, he wanted to increase his rapport with Chris.
One thing he learned harshly from his lesson in Magnolia was to never underestimate anyone. Even if they looked ordinary or have the typical character's backstory in every game, Lei Zhen would not dare to look down on them.
Based on the fact that Chris was able to have two top tier mount on his command was enough to prove his theory to be correct.
pαndα,noνɐ1,сoМ Throughout the night, he had studied Gizzle and Mizzle behavior, and he discovered that they were more than capable of protecting Chris alone.
Henceforth, his role as a protector was actually meaning;ess and Chris never needed a guard to begin with. And this was the main concern that Lei Zhen had in mind.
Why did Chris request for a guard when he doesn't need one?
'Sooner or later, I'm going to unveil your secret, Chris.' Lei Zhen thought, placing the plates down on a small carpet in a neat manner.
The plates were filled with nutritious vitamin B and C, and have the benefit of improving one's health.
And naturally, Lei Zhen didn't forget to make two large portion for Gizzle and Mizzle.
"Here you go, thank you for helping me out." Lei Zhen patted their head once he placed their portion down.
Within a few seconds, Gizzle and Mizzle were munching on their delicious breakfast in joy.
"Chris, come out for breakfas-"
Before Lei Zhen could even finish calling him out for breakfast, he noticed that Chris was already sitting down on the small carpet and eating his portion.
"Aren't you swiftly… to not even make a sound when coming out?" Lei Zhen was secretly astonished by his swift movement.
Chris was extremely fast and soundless in his movement. This caused Lei Zhen to fear Chris even more since this just goes to show how capable he is.
Taking a seat down, Lei Zhen began to eat his breakfast as well.
"Although you are a bit annoying, I'll have to admit your cooking is one of the best I've seen." Chris said while eating in between, causing some of the food to drop on the grass.
"You can finish eating first before talking." Lei Zhen scolded.
"Whatever, I like to eat and talk however I want."
Unwilling to argue with him further, Lei Zhen decided to change the topic. "Anyway, we should start to get going soon. Otherwise, it'll take forever to reach Yors Castle."
Chris nodded his head in agreement.
They were still transporting his merchandise and with every second passed, it meant every money lost in the meantime.
"Alright, I'm done eating. Let's go!" Chris dropped his plates and ran toward the mounting seat, ready for departure.
"..."
Sometime later, the two began to travel ahead again and along the path, it was peaceful.
A little too peaceful to be precise.
"Strange… how come there aren't any monsters around?" Chris mumbled. As an experienced merchant, his intuition was telling him that something was very wrong.
"Are you wondering why it's so peaceful even though there should still be some ambush along the way?" Lei Zhen asked from inside the carriage.
Route 43 might be safer than route 32, but that doesn't mean there aren't any dangers in route 43.
Besides the monsters, there should also be some bandits that are waiting in bushes to ambush traveling merchants or other people.
Yet not a single soul could be seen throughout their journey.
"Seems like I'm not the only one that found it strange." Chris smiled briefly.
It was good to be able to converse with someone clever because they didn't need to explain everything explicitly.
"My Gizzle and Mizzle have been acting strange for a while, so there should be something amiss here." He continued, halting the carriage movement.
If the path ahead is filled with dangers, then moving ahead right now would be a bad idea.
"Agreed, you should stay right here, first." Lei Zhen hopped off the carriage and pulled out his staff. Now was the time he had to do his job as a protector.
Besides, he could not afford to have Chris being in any life danger. After all, Chris is an NPC and once he died, it would be a permanent death compared to him, who could respawn somewhere else.
"Un, I'll wait here for your good news." Chris held a laid back attitude. Not a hint of worry could be seen on his face.
Despite his attitude, Chris could not escape from the detection of Magnolia system since Lei Zhen noticed the rapport increased by a little bit.
'Heh, a man with few words and instead keep it all within him.' Lei Zhen exclaimed inwardly, shaking his head and proceed to walk ahead.
After walking for a good ten minutes or so, the suspicions on Lei Zhen were gradually increasing further.
The road in route 43 was newly built, so normally, it should still look as new. However, Lei Zhen noticed scratches and some concrete broken.
Upon closer inspection, he could deduce the broken road was recently made.
And as he walked closer, trails of blood could be seen that were leading to the forest.
Kneeling down, Lei Zhen stared at the red blood and realized it was still fresh, indicating whoever was injured should still be alive and was heading toward the forest.
"Strange… a wide open road here to travel, but they chose to go to the deep forest instead. This either means the person is some wanted criminal or is being chased by a powerful foe and has no choice." Lei Zhen muttered, feeling perplexed by the situation.
If his inference is correct, then technically, the strange matter at route 43 is unrelated to him. Hence, he could simply have Chris travel faster to the Yors Castle and ignore this incident.
"A person is injured and I'm a doctor… a no-licensed doctor to be precise. Could I turn a blind eye to this? Yes, I can, it's a video game.' Lei Zhen thought.
After pondering the matter, Lei Zhen smiled. "Yup, it's just a video game. I shouldn't be such a busybody."
And with that said, Lei Zhen held his staff and rushed toward the deep forest.
