"Ouch!" Prince covered his head, grimacing. "Teacher, I'm not a child anymore. Could you please stop hitting my head?"
"Teacher?" Old Six's eyes widened. "He's your teacher?"
"Yes," Prince said, rubbing the spot where he'd been hit. "This is my teacher. I've been learning from him since I was five years old. Oh, and by the way, he's also a great wizard."
Upon hearing this, Gu Wanyin thought to herself that it made sense why this person was dressed so peculiarly - he was a wizard after all.
"Impressive, right?" Prince started showering his teacher with exaggerated praise. "Let me tell you, my teacher is the only wizard I know! He might even be the only wizard in the world!"
Gu Wanyin posed a soul-searching question: "If he's a wizard and your teacher, why aren't you a wizard?"
Prince: "..."
"That's my sister for you, always asking the hard-hitting questions!" Old Six praised from the side.
"W-well, not everyone can learn wizardry, okay!" Prince's face turned red. "Even though I can't learn it, besides my teacher, no one else can either! That's why I said he's the only wizard!"
At that moment, the wizard spoke up: "No, there is actually another wizard besides me."
Prince: "...Come on, I'm your student. You didn't have to undermine me like that."
"The other wizard, he built a sanctuary specifically for housing homeless people, but..." The wizard sighed and trailed off. "Never mind!"
Gu Wanyin's heart clenched.
It was truly torturous to leave a story half-told!
Prince continued joking and laughing with his teacher, but Gu Wanyin noticed his hands were trembling slightly.
Just then, Jerry approached Gu Wanyin.
"We suffered heavy casualties this time," she said.
Gu Wanyin turned to look at her.
Jerry had an injury on her head, presumably recently bandaged, with thick gauze wrapped around it.
"Two members of our squad were killed, and besides them, nineteen others died, while eight were captured by vampires," Jerry explained.
She gave a bitter smile. "We can imagine what fate awaits those taken to vampire territory. Additionally, there are countless injured. Fortunately, the hotel has medical supplies and blood transfusion equipment."
"What about the vampires? Their casualties must have been significant too, right?"
"Prince did a count - we collected sixteen Blood Element Pearls, which means we killed sixteen vampires," Jerry said. "Although we had the advantage of setting up an ambush first, the vampires were too powerful, and they were wearing protective gear specifically designed to guard against carbonated drinks. Our carbonated drink launchers weren't as effective as usual."
"Protective gear?" Gu Wanyin frowned slightly.
"Yes. Previously, vampires wore simple clothing with a lot of exposed skin, so we could directly shoot them with carbonated drinks," Jerry explained. "But now, they wear this protective gear that covers them completely. We have to tear through the clothing first before we can shoot the carbonated drinks, which greatly reduces our efficiency."
"I see."
It made sense - vampires weren't stupid, after all.
They had already engaged in numerous battles with humans.
They had witnessed the humans' carbonated drink launchers in action.
So naturally, they developed countermeasures.
Gu Wanyin turned to look at Prince, who was still bantering with the wizard.
He must be feeling quite devastated inside.
After all, he had organized this operation.
That's why he was now hiding his sadness behind an overly energetic exterior.
"He doesn't need to be like this," Jerry said. "When we decided to join him, we were already prepared for the consequences."
"That's true in theory, but he can't help feeling terrible about it."
Jerry sighed and looked at the wizard, her voice filled with admiration: "Speaking of which, we were fortunate that the wizard joined mid-battle, otherwise our casualties might have been even worse. The wizard is truly amazing!"
Then, as if remembering something, she added to Gu Wanyin: "Though not as amazing as you, Boss Gu."
This piqued Gu Wanyin's interest: "Does the wizard really use magic? How does he do it?"
"I was busy fighting vampires, so I didn't see clearly. I just saw him set up something like a magic array while the vampires were fighting other humans, then he stood there waving his staff, chanted some spells, and the vampires nearest to him suddenly collapsed!"
"That's incredible?"
"Yes! However, it seems to consume a lot of energy. After doing this once, he had no strength left and had to hide behind a tree to rest for a long while."
Gu Wanyin nodded.
It seemed the wizard's magic was powerful but limited by physical stamina.
In comparison, her special ability was more convenient.
Though using her ability also consumed energy, it was far less taxing than magic.
Though it might also be because the wizard was quite elderly.
Just then, Gu Wanyin heard a chattering noise from the entrance.
Although they were speaking human language, the voices didn't sound... quite human?
And they seemed somewhat familiar.
Then, Fugui and Mengmeng came running in.
"Boss! Many little elves from our island have come!"
"Hmm?"
Gu Wanyin immediately walked outside.
Sure enough, she saw many little elves standing in the front courtyard, led by the Elf King Muddle-head.
The little elves were curiously looking at the angel statue in the front yard, but they were well-mannered enough not to touch it.
"Boss Gu! Long time no see!" Muddle-head greeted Gu Wanyin enthusiastically. "We've come to visit your hotel."
"Welcome," Gu Wanyin smiled. "However, if you don't make any purchases at the hotel, you can't stay too long."
"Don't worry! I remember what you told us before, so we brought something!"
Saying this, Muddle-head produced a handful of mushrooms from somewhere.
Then, every elf pulled out a handful of mushrooms.
Gu Wanyin: "..."
"System, can these mushrooms be exchanged for points?" she asked internally.
"Elves can exchange mushrooms for points, humans cannot," the system replied.
"That works then."
"Come with me, I'll get you your room cards."
"Just a moment, Boss Gu."
Muddle-head turned to face the little elves, cleared his throat, and said, "You all need to listen to Boss Gu when we're inside. Don't run or jump around in the hotel, and maintain some discipline. Understood?"
