While he was cultivating, Nan Tian naturally felt Shiro’s occasional gazes on him as he kept a small smile on his face.
Timing it a few times where he would open his eyes just as she glanced towards him, Nan Tian would chuckle when Shiro would quickly avert her gaze back to her phone.
Thinking about it for a moment, Shiro decided to turn around so that his face wasn’t distracting her.
“Mn…”
Hearing a soft groan beside her, Shiro glanced towards Yuki and saw that she was waking up.
“You’re finally awake.” Shiro said with a small smile.
“Ah… Where am I? And is that you Shiro?” Yuki asked as she brought her hand to her head.
Helping her sit up, Shiro started to explain what happened during the past week.
“Eh? Duan Han Ying is dead?” Yuki raised her eyebrows in surprise.
“Yup. Anyways, what happened in there?” Shiro asked with concern.
Furrowing her brows, Yuki eventually shook her head.
“Honestly, I don’t know. I remember trying to delay my level gain as much as I could after calling you so that I could extend the time I’m still alive. But that only pissed Duan Han Ying off so he brought me to a place filled to the brim with mana. After I was thrown in there, I was forced to keep cultivating and that’s all I know. What even happened to me?” Yuki asked while glancing up at Shiro. Just as she did this, she saw a man that had just finished putting on his mask and wasn’t able to catch a glimpse of his face.
“Keiko managed to discover you while you were being used as fuel to power the dungeon. Honestly, I don’t want to think about what would happen if we were a step late.” Shiro sighed.
“I see… To be honest, this is quite a bit of information to take in after just waking up.” Yuki chuckled as Shiro could understand her reaction. After all, it was basically the same situation for her.
“Don’t worry about it too much. Just know that our main threat is gone for now.”
“Mn. By the way, have you gotten your memories back yet?” Yuki asked as Shiro nodded her head.
“I have and all I can say is it’s been quite… unbelievable.” Shiro chuckled.
“How so?”
“Let’s just say I was reborn as a monster. Right now, I’m the queen of the spirits.” Shiro admitted as Yuki paused.
Seemingly trying to process this information in her mind, she tilted her head and smiled.
“I think I’m still dreaming.”
“Unfortunately, you’re not. I have indeed died and this is my ‘second’ life. I was reborn as a snow girl ya know? And let’s just say my name, white (Shiro), isn’t exactly the most imaginative name for a snow girl. However, I have accepted this identity even though I remember my life as Kuromi.” Shiro shook her head.
“*hais*… At least you’re back for good now. With Duan Han Ying dead, there’s a lot of worries just off my chest now. Though, we should probably be worried about his associates since his EXP farm allowed them to get a few easy levels too. Ending this supply would only piss them off.” Yuki warned.
“Don’t worry about it, I got it covered. Plus, now that my main threat has been dealt with, I can increase my strength without worry.” Shiro grinned.
“Mn, so just out of curiosity who’s this person behind you? Mind introducing me?” Yuki asked with a smile.
“Sure. He’s Nan Tian, the little beggar I mentioned before. You know the one that I hung out with as a kid.”
“Ah you found him again?” Yuki raised her eyebrows in surprise. With the world being this big, finding a specific person was quite hard especially considering the fact that they were an unknown beggar before.
“Well… I didn’t find him. Rather he found me first.” Shiro replied while glancing back at Nan Tian.
Noticing that he had his mask on again, Shiro couldn’t help but tilt her head before shrugging it off. If he didn’t want to show Yuki his face then she wouldn’t force him.
“So what’s your plan now Yuki?” Shiro asked.
She could still remember that her initial goal was to develop a faction so powerful that it could contend with the 5 main factions. However, this plan was ground to a halt after the incident with Duan Han Ying.
“I think I’ll go back to the faction. Remember the promise we made when we became adventurers? I’ll keep trying to aim for that.” Yuki smiled.
“Ok, in that case then get some rest. I’ll make you some food.” Shiro nodded and left the room with Nan Tian.
Walking to the kitchen, Shiro made herself a hairband and tied her hair into a ponytail while making a clip for her fringe.
Creating an apron along with a kitchen knife, Shiro started to look through the cupboards for some ingredients. As it’s been a while since she had last seen Yuki, Shiro decided to make her a meal that they had when they just started out as adventuring buddies.
Looking at her new hairstyle and apron, Nan Tian raised his eyebrows in surprise as it made her seem like a housewife.
“Mn? What? Is there something on my face?” Shiro asked while typing her apron.
“Nothing, just surprised. Anyways, if you don’t mind me asking, what’s the promise you made with Yuki? I’m quite curious.” Nan Tian asked.
“Well, it ain’t no secret so sure. Basically, when we started out as adventurers, we made two promises. First was for me to become the best mage in the world so that my parents can’t complain about me choosing a different path. Second was for Yuki to create a faction to contend with the 5 strongest factions. That way, we can support each other. Me with individual prowess while she helped me with resources and such.” Shiro replied with a shrug.
“Quite a big promise huh? Though I can definitely say that you’re one the most powerful people in the world right now.” Nan Tian chuckled.
“Yeah right, a random level 500 can just walk up to me and sneeze to kill me in one hit.” Shiro rolled her eyes.
“But that’s the same with everyone lower than A class. However, what they don’t have is your access to your plethora of skills that basically make you unkillable. Tell me a person that has more health regenerating skills than you do? Ones that can recover you to maximum health with a single cast. To make matters worse, you have multiple casts.”
“Well… I suppose that’s also true.” Shiro admitted since her Grace skill was the literal definition of bullsh*t.
Sorry, you killed me once now did you? After intense combat hm? What? The backlash of your skills are activating? Then you’ll need to kill me another 20 times before your backlash hits or else you’ll be killed ya know~
“Anyways, scoot off to the side. I need to focus on cooking since I haven’t done it in a while.” Shiro waved her hand before focusing on the stove.
“Maybe you can spare me a plate? I’d be quite interested to taste your cooking.” Nan Tian asked with a smile.
“Sure, I’ll make sure to mix some rat poison into your plate while I’m at it.” Shiro giggled softly.
*Cough!
“At least give me poison meant for humans if you’re gonna try to kill me.”
“We’ll see~” Shiro smiled as she started to cook.
{My my, isn’t this a harmonious aura wouldn’t you say so Iziuel?} Nimue’s voice rang out.
{Yup.} Iziuel nodded her head as it was rare for Shiro to be this peaceful.
‘Oi, at least let me focus on cooking ok?’
{We’ll see~} Nimue grinned as she imitated Shiro’s tone.
Blushing from a bit of embarrassment, Shiro glared at Nimue before shaking her head and focused back on the task at hand.
{Pft, what a maiden.} Nimue laughed.
{Aren’t you one as well though? If I remember correctly, you never got a boyfriend did you?} Iziuel tilted her head.
{. . .}
‘Pot calling the kettle black.’ Shiro scoffed.
{You of all people are the least qualified to say that line.} Nimue rolled her eyes.
‘Yeah, people. This empress is a monster now so it doesn’t apply to me.’ Shiro grinned.
{. . .}
{She’s technically right you know.} Iziuel shrugged.
{Whatever, and just for your information, I did get a boyfriend ok?} Nimue pouted.
{Having one for two days doesn’t count.} Iziuel shook her head since she could still remember what had happened.
As the two spirits were reminiscing about their past, Shiro couldn’t help but smile at the current situation.
‘I suppose it’s nice to have a break now and again.’ Shiro thought to herself as she noticed that her mood seemed to be considerably better than what it used to be. Savouring this feeling while it lasted, Shiro eventually finished the dish and gave it to Yuki. Naturally, she didn’t forget about Nan Tian and decided to cook his portion too. After attending to Yuki, the rest of the patients started to wake up.
Seeing this, Shiro decided that she might as well cook for them too since she’s already got the tools out. For the first time in a long while, she spent the rest of the day without any combat related thoughts.
