Chapter 174: Embracing and Confiding

That person’s voice was loud enough for both Rollin and Victoria to hear clearly. Rollin cast a suspicious glance at the donkey, which was still busily chewing away, and asked doubtfully, "Little Black, could you possibly..."

However, before he could finish, with a wet "thud," a snow-white object was spat out from the donkey's mouth. In the bright moonlight, Rollin clearly saw that it was actually a greasy leg bone!

Amidst the astonished gazes of Rollin and Victoria, the donkey chewed twice more, and with another "thud," spat out a second leg bone. After that, Little Black's big mouth acted like a veritable leg bone manufacturing machine, spitting out four or five more leg bones in rapid succession—"Thud!" "Thud!" "Thud!"—before finally stopping. It then licked the shining, greasy residue from around its lips with its large tongue, and bared its huge teeth at the two people in front of it. Well, this was its unique way of saying hello.

At this moment, Rollin was so shocked his jaw nearly dropped to the ground. He had no idea how Little Black's mouth could possibly hold so many things. Victoria’s beautiful eyes were also widened to their absolute limit. She stared in disbelief at the black donkey. Even though she had undergone rigorous training in the Maya Mountain Range many times and had always kept an exceptionally clear head no matter what magical beasts she encountered, her thoughts felt somewhat chaotic at this very moment.

Just as the two of them were staring blankly at Little Black, this absolute comic relief of a creature, a low shout suddenly came from not far behind them: "Hey! Who's there in front? What are you sneaking around for at this time of night?"

The sudden voice gave Rollin and Victoria a start. Upon listening closely, it turned out to be none other than the kitchen staff member from the academy's infirmary who had just complained about missing a dozen chicken drumsticks. Rollin looked at the scattered leg bones on the ground, then glanced back at the silhouette of a person drawing closer and closer. After his brain spun at top speed for a few dozen revolutions, he made the most correct decision possible: he grabbed Victoria's hand and lowered his voice, "Run!"

Victoria still seemed to be under the lingering shock brought on by the donkey and had not fully recovered. Pulled by Rollin, she instinctively began to sprint along with him, though she asked doubtfully, "Rollin, why are we running?"

"Uh, Victoria, just imagine: if the person behind us comes here and discovers those leg bones on the ground, would he ever think those things were eaten by a donkey?" Rollin said helplessly as they ran.

"Oh, right!" Victoria had snapped back to her senses by now, understanding completely at Rollin's reminder. As everyone knew, donkeys were herbivores; even the magical Wind-Chasing Donkey was no exception. When the person who lost the chicken drumsticks arrived at the scene and saw a pile of leg bones, he would certainly never believe they were eaten by a donkey. And since she and Rollin were also present at the scene, they would naturally and inevitably become the scapegoats...

At this thought, Victoria couldn't help but shoot a look that was equal parts exasperated and amused at the primary culprit right beside them—the donkey, Little Black. The creature was running with extreme ease, its four hooves closing the distance with a few steady bounds to keep right up with them, occasionally sticking out its tongue or making a funny face at the two of them. "What, what kind of donkey is this?!" Victoria could not help but cry out powerlessly in her heart.

"Hey, stop right there! It's so late, why are you running?" The flight of the two people and one donkey instantly aroused the suspicion of the person behind them. While shouting loudly, he ran swiftly in their direction. But how could his speed compare to Victoria's, a Tier 6 Magician, and Rollin's, a Tier 5 Warrior? In the blink of an eye, the distance between the two sides grew wider and wider.

As they sprinted, Rollin and Victoria vaguely heard an exasperated voice carrying over from behind: "Damn it, those chicken drumsticks really were stolen and eaten by you two! This pile of leg bones... Tomorrow, I—I will definitely go report this to Dean Lev, hmph, public morals really are degenerating by the day!"

Hearing this, the two exchanged a bitter smile, and the speed of their run increased by another notch. If they were caught over such an embarrassing matter and it was reported to Dean Lev, making it known to the entire academy, they would die of shame. What made it most absurd was that this matter wasn't done by the two of them at all, but rather by the leisurely donkey strolling right beside them.

Victoria and Rollin ran wildly all the way, out of the academy, arriving at the back mountain, and running for some distance further before finally coming to a halt. "Hah... It should be safe here," Rollin said, letting out a long breath.

Both he and Victoria were thoroughly honest folks. From childhood until now, let alone engaging in sneaky behavior, they had never even taken a single thread or needle that didn't belong to them. To have someone chase them so fiercely and aggressively for such a distance left the two of them truly at a loss for whether to laugh or cry.

Just as Rollin was about to say something more, he suddenly noticed that Victoria's face was flushed red, looking rather shy and fidgety. "Eh, Victoria, why are you..."

However, before Rollin could finish his sentence, he realized that at this very moment, his hand was still tightly grasping her warm, smooth little hand, and the two of them had never let go the entire time they were running. "I—I'm sorry!" Rollin slowly released her delicate hand with a sense of embarrassment.

At the very moment when their hands were about to part, suddenly, that little hand counter-grabbed his arm. Then Rollin felt his body tighten as a soft frame wrapped around him in an embrace. "Rollin, I—I like you so much, I really, really like you!"

A voice that had haunted his dreams whispered softly in his ear, overflowing with boundless joy. At this moment, all sense of reserve, all distinctions between the sexes, and all grand ambitions of family revival were completely cast to the winds. She no longer wanted to endure the endless waiting and solitary yearning as she had before; at this moment, she only wanted to hold the person tied to her heart tightly in her arms.

Rollin froze for a split second before snapping to attention. Every drop of blood in his body seemed to boil at that instant. With a surge of deep emotion, he pulled Victoria into a counter-embrace, holding her so tightly as if he wanted to melt her entire being into his own body. Breathing in the delicate fragrance of her purple hair, Rollin murmured against her ear, "I—I feel the same..."

In the biting wind of the deep night, in the silent back mountain of the academy, beneath the illumination of a bright moon, Rollin and Victoria held each other tightly in an embrace. At this moment, there was only each other in their hearts, as if the entire outside world no longer existed.

Seeing this scene from the side, Little Black the donkey let its two long ears droop down in an 'eerie' fashion, covering its big eyes, though it left a tiny crack between them. Through that crack, it stared unblinkingly at the two of them...

Years of waiting and endless longing all erupted at this single moment. The two of them clung to each other in a tight embrace, murmuring softly into each other's ears, as if they had an endless stream of words to share between them.