A Sorcerer’s Journey

“Uh… This is…”

As if after a comfortable sleep, Grimm woke up and found himself in his Demon-Hunter Castle.

He stumbled upon a very familiar scene. The books on the shelves, bottles of experimental specimens, the quiet room, the towering Destructive Energy Reaction Logger, the Tree of Life outside the room swaying and dancing along with the breeze, and warm sunlight casting into the room through the window.

“Oh yes! The Demon-Hunting expedition to the Infernal Spirit World… Ah! Demon-hunting expedition to the Infernal Spirit World? What is that?”

Grimm looked like a person with amnesia. He shook his somewhat disoriented head, initiated a will and Little Myna appeared on his shoulder.

“Caw caw, Master, what can I do for you?”

Little Myna’s mouth was stuffed with marshmallows, he was licking nonstop with his tongue.

Grimm went through his confused mind and asked, “All of a sudden, I feel like I am suffering from a partial memory loss, I think… we went to the Infernal Spirit World, and then?”

“Huh? Impossible! Master, you have been busy experimenting with these two ‘Destructive Energy Reaction Loggers’ to find materials to support the Destructive Energy. Infernal Spirit World? You have to wait for a few decades before the expedition commences.”

Little Myna arched his eyebrows and stared at Grimm in a confused and skeptical way.

“Master, are you so tired that you have started to hallucinate?”

Grimm rubbed his eyes. He genuinely felt really exhausted, as if he had been crouching in this room doing his experiments for days.

Was it really just a dream?

But why did he feel that his memory was so real?

Out of curiosity and skepticism, Grimm pondered for a while before taking the crystal orb. After a while, Millie appeared in the crystal orb.

“Grimm, what’s up?” Millie asked. They were neighbors, Grimm would make occasional visits from time to time.

Grimm opened his mouth but no words came out of it. How and what would he ask her? Was it appropriate to ask her what had happened to him? Suddenly, he realized how foolish it would sound.

Millie was stunned for a moment by Grimm’s unusual behavior. In the blink of an eye, the bright eyes under the silvery-white hair sparkled like the flowers blooming in spring that melted the chilling snow between them.

“Grimm, come over to my place with Mavrica Nevichy later, I bought some rare ingredients today.”

Huh?

Grimm froze at her remark and hesitated. Was he really that close with Millie?

This was inconsistent with the Dark Sorcerers’ social style. Although he no longer regarded himself as a pure Dark Sorcerer, such a stark contrast…

Instead, Little Myna squeaked, “Caw caw, great! I’ll be there with Master in a while, Millie, you better prepare for three!”

At Little Myna’s remark, there was a hint of happiness in Grimm’s mind, although he was apparently angry at Little Myna for taking the liberty to agree to Millie’s invite.

“Okay, give me a minute, I’ll come over later.”

Grimm was like an invited Bright Sorcerer, Millie was no longer donning her disguised cold outlook. The face under the silvery-white hair was fair and smooth. She looked very gentle and casual, even with a hint of laziness, smiling tenderly at Grimm.

This smile came right from the heart, masked by some vivid hidden messages. It surprised Grimm on the spot.

Click!

The crystal orb disconnected.

“What’s the matter with you, Master? Are you pretending that you don’t know? I already heard stories about your sorcerer-apprentice times from Millie, she had always admired you. The time you rescued her at the brink of her death when you were at the Shadow Burrow World. Caw caw! She didn’t go to the Burrow World with you for the Demon-Hunting expedition because she wants to hide the thing she has for you deep inside her heart…” Little Myna teased as he stared at Grimm with his big googly eyes and laughed out loud.

Grimm took a deep breath and said in a shocked voice, “What thing? Feelings?”

Grimm felt something tingling in his heart. He was stunned for a while longer before he masked his flustered expression with a stern voice and chided furiously, “Stop talking about this in the future, it is impossible! I will never accept any woman other than Lefay!”

After saying so, Grimm left his Demon-Hunter Castle with Little Myna and walked towards Millie’s Castle.

Millie dashed about here and there at the dining table like a busy housewife. Donning his sorcerer’s robe, Grimm sat and waited patiently at the table.

A while later.

When everything was settled, Millie sat next to Grimm. Three dinner plates, two big and one small were placed in front of Grimm, Millie, and Little Myna respectively.

Grimm sipped the glass of red wine and turned to Millie in surprise. Some fond memories seemed to flash across his mind.

“This was Lefay’s favorite wine. I used to think it was too bitter to my liking, but now, it tastes sweeter and sweeter, and the finish is excellent, just like life.”

With that said, Grimm glanced at Millie, who had taken off her frigid appearance and no longer wore her sorcerer’s robe, and smiled.

“Thank you for the nice dinner. You look different today.”

A heartfelt smile.

Millie also sipped the red wine in her glass and her cheeks blushed a pinkish red. Grimm, who had never seen Millie like this, was stunned in awe. He felt a little drunk as he wondered why Millie somehow overlapped with a familiar figure in his memory.

“Grimm, thank you,” Millie spoke suddenly.

Grimm asked in bewilderment, “Thank me? What for? You gave me a lucrative reward after I saved you.”

“Stop pretending like you know nothing.”

Millie savored the delicious food on the table. Grimm fell silent and started eating his dinner as well, feeling overwhelmingly awkward.

Grimm started to regret coming here this evening after the unusual sensory stimuli.

Little Myna, on the other hand, dunked his head into the delicious dinner as if he had been through a horrifying famine, ignoring Grimm and Millie altogether.

After a moment of awkward silence, Millie put down her cutlery abruptly and grabbed Grimm’s hand who was in the midst of confusion and shock.

“You…”

Grimm tried to shake off Millie’s hand only to find that he was too weak to fight against her. Or maybe, his heart was weak.

Millie looked into Grimm’s eyes intensely. She placed Grimm’s hand on her chest, sharing their warmth. She cried happy tears as she spoke, “Grimm, I’ve been putting up a mask to hide my feelings, pretending to be just friends, all because of our identities as Dark Sorcerers. I’m really tired. You are always so dazzling like the bright sun in the sky. I love you so much and I’m willing to give you everything!”

Millie clutched Grimm’s hand tightly, ignoring his overwhelming surprise and struggle.

“There are times when I envy Claudia. She dares to flirt with you and show her admiration to you in broad daylight without fear of gossip and punishment. I mean, how can an excellent sorcerer like you not get the attention of others? I am a woman first, then a Dark Sorcerer!”

Grimm felt the softness and voluptuousness inadvertently from the touch of his fingertips. He stared at Millie who was inching closer and closer to him. Rationality kicked in among the chaotic panic, reminding him that he could not go on like this.

That night, Lefay reconciled with him in such a domineering way as well, which led to their mistaken love, and later progressed into a seemingly wonderful short-term passion during their sorcerer-apprentice times.

The short-term happiness that would eventually become a perpetual painful memory of a lifetime.

No, he could not go on like this!

Grimm shook Millie’s hand away violently. He raised to his feet, his breath quickened and his heart racing, and strode out of Millie’s Demon-Hunter Castle.

Ever so slightly, Grimm felt that something was wrong as things had progressed in an unusual way, but he could not pinpoint exactly where, how and why.