In the Goldengrove neighborhood, luxury home prices had recently reached an even higher level. Moreover, demand at these prices remained quite high. Rental prices were also approaching astronomical levels. After all, there were two child prodigies here known as Mais and Kasuur. One was Mais, who was blind and the surviving member of the countless geniuses who died in the False Dragon Legacy; he was rumored to be a talented alchemist in the city and said to be only 10 years old. The other's fame far exceeded Mais's 'lucky' success. His fame was also spreading throughout the kingdom. According to rumors, Kasuur had killed Sorgon, the genius of the Black Hunters Clan, without caring about his identity, and had rescued the Lady of the Yellow City from Wuma—who killed geniuses like the Sword of Morality—while wounded. Moreover, he was only 12 years old, and even the public knew he was already in the Sage Realm.
Although their fame came from different fields, both were very famous, and many wealthy merchants wanted to stay close to them and get to know them when their routes passed through the Yellow City. As a result of these efforts, there were countless merchants who found Mais difficult to approach. Mais was arrogant and looked down on them. It was difficult to get close to him in any way, and they had actually based Mais's success entirely on luck, even though they could guess that he was at least in the Core Realm.
On the other hand, Kasuur was very naive and easy to get along with, like a real child. With a little gift, he immediately showed them great respect. He never left the side of the merchants who had daughters. The merchants were desperate to marry their daughters to this young man, but either the city's lady or the blind child was taking the kingdom's Young Genius away from them.
At that moment, Mais was in his room. He was silently rolling a pill in his hand. He seemed to be thinking. The pill was golden yellow and radiated a divine glow. Origin energy was compressed within it with incredible intensity, and the surrounding origin energy was being drawn towards the pill. Mais couldn't see any of this, but he could still feel the movements of the origin energy.
"The Annual Compensation Pill. Could it even compensate for the time after the inheritance?"
Now, the Annual Compensation Pill in his hand could create a cultivation effect equivalent to cultivating for a whole year, but... would it be enough to reach the next stage?
After the events of the False Dragon's Legacy, everyone had stepped on the gas once more in their cultivation. Of course, that didn't mean they worked very hard. Probably none of them had worked as hard as Mais. After all, no one had come out of this series of events as unscathed as Mais. Maria was extremely depressed and hadn't been very diligent, except for coming to get Mais's new solution. Moreover, she had become even more unhappy after Evra left. Kasuur had been swept up in the social scene among the young girls and boys. Ulam had locked himself in his room for over a month. Evra had even left the city after the deaths of his father and brother. Rumors were everywhere that Daniel Gama was in trouble in the capital. Apparently, he was trying to take his place as heir, and this was causing him countless problems.
And yet, each of them had made rapid progress in their training. Each of them must have managed to advance a stage. Mais couldn't get information from all of them, but he could guess. Except for Mais, all of them must have made progress.
"They are geniuses, but even if you are a genius, when you have so much to lose, suffering is inevitable."
The best way to avoid the pain of losing them was to stop valuing people.
TICK! TICK! TICK!
"Valeria?"
The door opened instantly, and the sweet child Valeria entered wearing an apron. She was covered in flour—her face and her clothes. She actually looked very cute, but with panic in her eyes. Her face was flushed, and she was out of breath.
"Mais, can I hide here for a bit? Aunt Anika is in the kitchen... she's a little angry because I knocked something over."
"Why should I care? And what did I say about not using my name—"
"Thanks! I'll just stay for a little while."
Valeria hid behind the bed without caring about Mais's thoughts. Of course, she didn't forget to leave a trail of flour everywhere as she passed. It was good that Mais didn't see this, but Mais, who knew Valeria, couldn't help but sigh.
Yelling at Valeria was useless, and a physical reaction was something Mais would never do. Valeria was weaker and smaller than him. Should he become barbaric just because he could hurt her? Should he use his fists when his words failed? Mais's sole purpose in life was to survive. To protect himself and live a long life. He wouldn't attack someone who couldn't hurt him.
"Valeria! Why aren't you listening to me?"
Still, that didn't stop him from yelling at Valeria. Valeria was scared for a moment and bowed her head even lower beside the bed.
"I was just playing. I didn't know it was wrong to play with flour."
'Flour?'
At that moment, Mais began to understand why Valeria had run away. Valeria had grown up without a mother, and her father was a not-so-bright little man. It was probably only thanks to her father's love and the help of neighbors that she had managed to grow up without too much trouble until now. Valeria was only 8 years old. It was normal for her not to know these kinds of little things.
"Valeria, how's your dad?"
The little girl was hiding behind the bed and didn't lift her head, as if it were buried in the sand, but when she heard Mais's words, she lifted her head slightly. Anika, who was passing by the door, had also heard Mais's words and understood where the child she was looking for had run off to.
But she didn't go inside right away. She could see that Mais had noticed her. The young man had raised his hand toward her. He was signaling her to wait. But Valeria hadn't noticed him.
"He's a little sick. I went to see him yesterday, and he didn't look like he could get out of bed. He must be feeling lonely."
Mais remained silent in response. He lowered his hand and became a little pensive. Seeing him lower his hand, Anika didn't wait at all. She walked straight to the back of the bed and allowed Valeria to see her. Valeria's face immediately soured.
"Little Val, why is running away the first thing that comes to mind when you do something wrong?!"
"Why is punishing me the first thing that comes to your mind?!"
Valeria didn't have the strength to escape Anika's arms. With a little tugging, Anika managed to drag her to the door. At that moment, Mais raised his head. He looked at Valeria as if he could see her.
"Valeria, if your father doesn't get better, let me know, okay? I'll prepare some medicine for him, and we'll go visit him together."
Mais knew the pain of loneliness better than anyone. Even though there were many people around him, they were all strangers. They didn't know the truth about him, and so the person they faced was someone else. It wasn't Prince Mais.
Valeria's eyes suddenly filled with tears. It was very easy for a little girl to cry. Anika stopped dragging her for a moment and looked at Mais. She didn't know this little boy's story, but she knew he definitely had an incredible past. A normal person couldn't do what he could do. A normal child never could.
Yet he was helping Valeria. The fact that Mais chose to help this little girl, even behind all his arrogance and anger... Anika thought this blind child was a complex person.
"Okay, you promise, right?"
Mais nodded in agreement.
"Yes, I promise."
Finally, Anika lifted Valeria off the ground and carried her away. It was good that Mais didn't see the pain in her eyes as she closed the door.
Mais was alone in his room again. The only thing that had changed was the flour entering his room. Only in appearance, of course. It seemed like something else had changed too. Mais didn't notice as he popped the Annual Compensation Pill into his mouth. He didn't notice as he began meditating. But Valeria's entrance and exit from the room had changed something else. He didn't feel so scared anymore. His eyebrows had relaxed. A small fire had started burning in his lonely heart.
Mais was smiling.