"No worries," Bel said. "Let's go."
They were about to take a step forward when the guard put a hand in front of them. "But Miss, I still have to know this kid's identity."
Apollo tensed up when he heard this. He glanced at the guard and saw him looking at him with suspicion. In the end, he still had to say his made-up name. "I'm actually—"
"He's a guest," Bel said, staring at the guard seriously. "And the person who saved my life. Can't you see we're injured?!"
The guard was surprised by the angry voice coming from Bel. He didn't have a choice but to bow his head again. "My apologies!" Then he stepped aside to let them inside the gate.
Bel scoffed at the guard. "Talk to my father if you are still not satisfied."
Hearing this caused the guard to visibly tense up. "I wouldn't dare so, Miss Bel!"
"Hmph!" Bel gave the guard a disdainful look before she glanced at Apollo with a smirk.
Soon, the two of them entered the gate without any obstructions.
"Where do you live?" Apollo asked, intending to help her on the way home.
"I live northwest of Klown," Bel said, her face scrunching up as her injury started acting up again. Even though she had already stopped the bleeding using the surrounding Qi, it didn't mean the pain from the wounds had also stopped.
"It's not far from here," Apollo muttered. "I'll take you there."
However, Bel shook her head. "No need. Let's just go there and sit. They will come for me."
"Alright then," Apollo nodded and helped her to a closed store with a stool in front of it.
After he sat her down, Apollo looked around the surroundings before he stared at Bel. "How do you know they are coming for you? I didn't see you contact anyone." He asked out of curiosity.
"They will know about it," Bel didn't say anything else.
"I see. Then I should get going," Apollo said. It was already midnight, and the pain from his back was becoming unbearable as time passed. He just wanted to go back to his beggar spot and heal the wounds the way Bel did.
"Why don't we wait for my men? They can take you to your place," Bel said, looking at him with worry in her eyes.
"No need. I can take care of myself," Apollo insisted.
Seeing him determined, Bel sighed. "But let me tell you something first. You said you cultivate on your own, right?"
"Y-yes," Apollo nodded.
"Why don't you join me? You will be under my family, the Helflick Family," Bel offered before she continued. "Besides, cultivating alone without any affiliation is dangerous. Cultivators stronger than you can easily bully you."
"I'm sorry, but I will have to refuse," Apollo declined. "I should get going now! Bye!"
"W-wait!" Bel shouted, but the kid had already run quite a distance. He probably heard her but chose not to stop and continued running.
Bel sighed, then immediately grimaced from her injuries.
It didn't take long for someone to arrive in front of her, riding a chariot with the Great Serpent Insignia on its side. This was a chariot especially given to the school's top students so they could have leisure time outside the school.
Bel had been using it since then. Her charioteer, June, jumped off from the rider's seat while the two white horses stopped in front of Bel.
"Are you okay, Miss?" June asked, evident worry in his voice. He wore a simple dark grey robe that covered his whole body, only revealing his face with streaks of black hair coming out from the robe. He was officially assigned by her family as a bodyguard to protect her at all times.
"I've managed to stop the bleeding, but I need medicine," Bel said, standing up and walking towards the entrance of the chariot.
"Here," June held out his hand with a silver, almost white, marble on it.
"Thanks," Bel took the marble and ate it. Contrary to its hard appearance, the marble was actually soft and easy to swallow.
"Miss," June called out to Bel in hesitation, who was already inside the chariot. "Your father is very angry."
"I expected it," Bel said. "Sneaking out in the middle of the night just to find 'that' person? Anyone would get angry."
"I don't know what punishment we will get, but I think it's going to be harsher than the last time," June said bitterly while jumping into the driver's seat.
"June, I found something inside the forest."
"What is it?" June asked while making the two white horses move.
"Something sinister, horrid within…"
Apollo arrived at his beggar spot, breathing heavily. The pain coming from his back was just too much. He gritted his teeth and took off his upper clothes. Then he reached out to touch his back, and a stinging pain came. Still, he managed to feel his back, which had become scorched. Almost half of his back had been burned by that attack before they made it out of the forest.
It seemed that whatever had attacked him had some burning attributes.
Bel didn't notice that he was injured because she never looked at his back.
"This f*cking hurts!" Apollo couldn't help but shout in pain. He went inside that forest just to test his strength again and also to get back at the black wolves. Well, he did manage to kill four of them but still ended up getting injured in the end.
Taking a deep breath to calm his mind, he glanced at his remaining Alm points.
With only two left, he couldn't even buy the Health Potion that would help him heal his injuries. Was buying that Simple Sword Technique worth it? Apollo knew that even though he only learned the very basics of that technique, his fighting capabilities were definitely elevated.
Worth it? Apollo couldn't decide at the moment. Then he recalled how Bel managed to stop the bleeding of her wounds.