Siegfried was taken aback by Chang Long's actions, for she did not use her watch to contact a friend as she had said. Instead, she sat quietly with her eyes closed. After a moment, Chang Long opened her eyes and turned to him, indicating she was ready. She then got up and walked out, leaving the young man sitting puzzled.

Upon leaving the dining room, Siegfried saw Chang Long canceling her room reservation. Soon after, a handsome young man in high-ranking martial artist outfit approached her, causing him to pause his steps towards Chang Long in confusion.

"Siegfried! I'm ready. Let's go,"

Chang Long called out, noticing the young man standing dazed not far from her. He snapped out of it and gave her a faint smile.

"Alright! Follow me,"

he said and quickly led the way, with Chang Long and Kitsune having to run to keep up.

"Are you busy?"

Chang Long asked, now standing beside the young man.

"N...not really,"

Siegfried responded, avoiding looking directly at Chang Long and the other man.

"Then why the rush? If you have something to do, just tell us straight. Kitsune and I don't want to impose," Chang Long expressed her concern, fearing she might inconvenience Siegfried.

"Ah...sorry, I got carried away,"

the young man stopped walking and turned to apologize to Chang Long. Then, his gaze met with Kitsune's sharp eyes.

"This is Kitsune. I meant to introduce him back at the hotel, but you hurried off before I could," Chang Long noticed that their eyes met and seized the moment to introduce Kitsune to Siegfried.

"Hello,"

Kitsune greeted him politely.

"H...hello,"

Siegfried managed to reply, trying his best to act normally.

"What's the name of your guild, by the way?"

Chang Long asked, breaking the silence as the young man became quiet again.

"Oh, uh, it's called Pendragon. This way, we're almost there,"

Siegfried led the way to the Pendragon Guild headquarters. Although he was curious about Kitsune's relationship with Chang Long, he dared not ask. Thus, he silently led them to his guild.

Peach Blossom found herself waiting impatiently outside the guild for her beloved brother, who had vanished the entire night without a word, even going as far as to shut off all means of communication. Frustrated from having waited for two whole hours without any sign of him, she was about to return inside to invite Aden, with whom she had recently become remarkably close to, for a walk, when she caught sight of her brother finally making his way toward the guild. Just as Peach Blossom was about to confront her brother for disappearing without notice, she froze upon noticing someone following behind him.

"Scream! Master!!"

Chang Long, Kitsune, and Siegfried were startled by the piercing scream of the young woman who stood beaming with sparkling eyes in front of the Pendragon Guild headquarter. The source of the scream made Chang Long almost want to flee on the spot, while Siegfried looked around searching for this Master his sister was shrieking about so dramatically.

"Siegfried, I must go now; something just came up!"

Chang Long said and swiftly darted away without waiting for a response from the young man.

"Wait, Chang Long!!"

Siegfried called out, but it was too late. Chang Long had disappeared without a trace amid the throng of players starting to fill the streets.

"Master! Master, please come back!"

Peach Blossom attempted to follow but was held back by Siegfried, who was desperate for some answers he sensed were crucial.

"Who is Master, Peach Blossom?" The elder brother inquired, but his sister struggled fiercely to break free from his grasp.

"Let go, Sieg! Master has already left, let me go!"

Peach Blossom tried to wriggle free from her brother's tight grip, determined to chase after the one she referred to as Master.

"If you want me to let go, tell me who Master is," he insisted with seriousness in his voice.

"Don't pretend you don't know, I even heard that person calling your name!"

Peach Blossom retorted, frustrated, thinking her brother was deliberately keeping her from catching up with Master.

"You mean Chang Long?"

Siegfried asked, stunned.

"What Chang Long? That was Master!"

Peach Blossom contested.

"But the person who called my name just now was Chang Long,"

Siegfried frowned.

"No way, that is definitely Master. I remember the young man with baby face who always follows Master around. That person must be Master for sure!!"

Peach Blossom persisted stubbornly.

"Kitsune was the young man with baby face following Chang Long?"

Siegfried muttered softly, but his sharp-eared sister heard him anyway.

"Yes, yes, his name was Kitsune, exactly! Wait... so you do know Master!"

The siblings locked eyes, sharing a moment of understanding, but before either could elaborate further, Rafael, Draco, and Aden emerged, interrupting their exchange.

….

"Phew, I hope she didn't manage to follow us,"

Chang Long sighed, taking a breather in a narrow alley, a good distance from where the commotion occurred.

"I don't think she followed us, Master,"

Kitsune, panting beside her, responded.

"Tired already!? You two really are out of shape. you're already exhausted after such short distance?"

Davy-chan mocked, floating lazily behind them.

"Easy for you to say, Davy-chan. You're just floating around effortlessly. You don't have to run like us,"

Chang Long snapped back at the spirit of the former pirate king.

"Heh, even if I were still alive, a run like that wouldn't wind me up, as it did you. You've got a long way to go before you can be considered a master, just so you know!"

"But where should we go? Our house isn't finished yet. Wandering around the city risks getting mobbed by Peach Blossom and her gang at any moment!"

Chang Long exhaled heavily through her nose, then turned to Kitsune for his opinion.

"Why don't you go train to improve our skills? ...You weren't wearing this outfit yesterday,"

Davy-chan chimed in.

"Woah, this is the God of Death outfit! Kitsune, how did it revert to the God of Death outfit? Then Siegfried and the other players in the town must have seen it too!!"

Chang Long looked down at her clothes, her face falling as she realized the snake leather outfit Kitsune used to magically disguise her real outfit had disappeared, revealing her real outfit.

"My apologies, Master. The disguise spell can only maintain its form within my line of sight. Since you disappeared last night, the spell couldn't sustain itself,"

Kitsune explained somberly.

"Never mind, we had better leave the town as quickly as possible. I'm not ready to be beaten to a pulp by Peach Blossom and her gang just yet,"

Chang Long quickly changed the subject and stood up to survey the route to the town gates.

"You're not angry anymore, master?!"

Kitsune asked, looking dejected.

"Not at all. It's not Kitsune's fault. Let's go. We won't make it in time to hunt beasts and level up today. How about we explore the north instead? The map says there's an ancient forest with trees so thick it takes several people to hug one,"

Chang Long said, her eyes sparkling at the thought of such a picturesque location.

"Yes, master!"

Kitsune replied cheerfully.

"Fine, let's go,"

Davy said, somewhat resignedly. He wanted his successor to focus on training rather than travelling leisurely, but since it was Chang Long's last day online, he did not want to spoil her mood.

Once the two companions agreed with her, Chang Long swiftly moved towards the northern gate, aiming for the ancient forest known as Fairy Forest to the north of the city. However, due to the considerable distance, they had to cross a nearly two-kilometer-wide expanse of White Stone Field, a popular training ground comparable to the Pine Forest, before reaching the entrance to Fairy Forest. Chang Long decided to use her Mystic Gust skill to move faster and to save more time to explore.

Inside the Pendragon Guild's headquarter where Siegfried, the guild leader, four high-ranking guild members and one brand-new member were having a tense meeting.

"So, the player that Peach Blossom called Master is actually Chang Long, right?"

Rafael initiated the discussion.

"Yes,"

Siegfried nodded in confirmation.

"Not true! I remember the young man with a baby face (Kitsune) always calls him Master every single time,"

Peach Blossom argued.

"Are you saying that I'm lying?"

Siegfried turned to his sister with a stern look.

"Exactly! Your brother has already made it clear. That person introduced himself as Chang Long to your brother,"

Draco supported Siegfried.

"Or maybe Peach Blossom got the person mixed up,"

Aden suggested.

"That could be possible,"

Rafael agreed, nodding.

"No way! Even though Master wasn't wearing the same outfit as when we last met, and his complexion seemed paler with dark eyeliner, I'm sure that was Master.'"

"I said her name is Chang Long. When will you believe me?"

Siegfried shook his head in frustration.

"Wait! Peach Blossom, didn't you say that when you tried to add Master as a friend, the system told you there was no player with that name?"

Aden reminded Peach Blossom.

"Oh, right!"

Peach Blossom exclaimed, recalling the moment.

"So, it's settled, Chang Long and Master could be the same person,"

Draco concluded, and everyone nodded in agreement.

"But where did you come across Chang Long, Sieg?"

Rafael asked, curious.

"Near an old cemetery by the abandoned part of town,"

Siegfried answered truthfully.

"What were you doing there? That place is creepy,"

Peach Blossom frowned, questioning.

"Just taking a walk. I was a bit stressed from guild meeting, so I went looking for a quiet place to clear my head,"

Siegfried shrugged, indicating his indifference to ghosts and spirits, especially in the game where they were just another type of beast.

"Chang Long was taking a walk there too?"

Draco asked, wondering if their tastes were a bit peculiar.

"I don't know about that. I only heard her calling for help in one of the abandoned buildings, and I went in to help,"

Siegfried recounted, his cheeks turning suspiciously red as he reminisced about the previous night's events.

"Calling for help?"

The other four echoed in unison.

"Yes! Calling for help,"

Siegfried nodded, trying to adjust his hair to cover his blushing face.

"What happened? Why did he call for help?"

Peach Blossom asked with a concerned look.

"She probably went in to explore, but because it was dark, she didn't realize the floor was actually 5 meters lower than the street level and ended up falling and spraining her ankle,"

Siegfried speculated.

"And you knew the floor was 5 meters lower than the street level, that's how you managed to help her up?"

Rafael asked, puzzled.

"I didn't know,"

Siegfried replied softly.

"But... why does Siegfried keep referring to Chang Long as 'she' all this time? Isn't Changlong a man?"

Aden voiced his confusion, having heard Siegfried refer to Changlong as she consistently.

"Indeed!"

Peach Blossom, Rafael, and Draco exclaimed together.

"Because Chang Long is a woman,"

Siegfried stated firmly.

"Really?!!"

The three men chorused in shock.

"...Chime..." Peach Blossom was agape, with a sound as if someone was ringing a distant bell escaping her mouth.

"How did you know Chang Long is a woman!"

Rafael asked with a sly look in his eyes.

"Uh..."

Siegfried hesitated, his face turning red again.

"No way! Master Chang cannot possibly be a woman! Even if he looks a bit feminine, his mannerisms are completely masculine,"

Peach Blossom, who had sneaked off to ring a bell, quickly rejoined the conversation with seriousness.

"Behavior alone can't determine whether someone is male or female,"

Siegfried argued.

"So, what did you use to determine that Chang Long is a woman?"

Rafael pressed on; his curiosity piqued.

"Yeah, how?"

Aden and the others seemed equally puzzled.

"She... she told me!"

Siegfried answered, blushing, and tried to avoid the gazes of the four pairs of eyes staring at him.

"...Chime..."

Peach Blossom sneaked off to ring the bell again.

"Just like that, she told you she was a woman? I find that odd. Normally, you can tell a player's gender easily by their attire or body shape, women tend to be more delicate than men, or by their accessories. But..."

Draco trailed off.

"So, if Peach Blossom thought Chang Long was a man, her attire must not have been typically feminine, right?"

Aden completed Draco's thought.

"If Peach Blossom, who is a woman, couldn't tell, how could you? From what I gather, Chang Long wouldn't just go around telling others, 'Hey, I'm a woman.' Otherwise, Peach Blossom would have known long ago that Chang Long was a woman!"

Rafael and the other two men nodded in agreement, all turning to Siegfried for an explanation.

"Uh... You guys don't believe me, do you?!"

Faced with their scrutiny, Siegfried feigned anger to cover up his embarrassment. How could he possibly explain how he came to know Chang Long was a woman?

"We don't believe you!"

The three men chorused in unison.

"No! I don't believe Chang Long is a woman either!"

After her second bell-ringing escapade, Peach Blossom was quick to disagree, backed by three voices in agreement.

"That's not what we mean, Peach Blossom. When we say we don't believe him, we mean we don't believe that Chang Long would just tell Siegfried she's a woman!"

Aden clarified.

"Oh? ...So, everyone actually believes Chang Long is a woman?"

Peach Blossom was confused, having thought Rafael, Aden, and Draco doubted Chang Long's femininity.

"Alright... tell us the truth, Sieg. How did you know Chang Long is a woman?"

Rafael sat next to Siegfried, locking an arm around his neck to prevent him from escaping.

"That's right! We promise this conversation stays here, no spreading rumors,"

Draco joined in, helping his friend block Siegfried's escape routes.

"I told you, Chang Long herself told me! Why won't you guys believe that!"

Siegfried yelled at his friends, his face burning red from embarrassment. Just the thought of revealing how he came to know, made him wish he could disappear into the ground. He would never say it!

"Come on, Sieg. If you don't tell us the truth, I'll never believe Chang Long is a woman,"

Peach Blossom was not backing down either, moving behind her brother to lock his neck from the back.

"Ouch!! Let me go, you lunatics. I've told you the truth!"

The young man remained adamant despite his bright red face, whether from embarrassment or lack of air, it was hard to tell.

"Stubborn, aren't we!"

Rafael tightened his grip, causing Siegfried's face to turn purplish.

"This won't do, dear brother. You need this!"

Peach Blossom pulled something out of her bag and held it up in front of Siegfried.

"Arghhh!! I give up, I give up. Take it away!"

Siegfried, the esteemed guild leader known for his cool demeanor and bravery, who faced fearsome dragons without flinching, now screamed in utter terror, shocking the other four into startled jumps.

-----

Read 'Adventure World Online (AWO)' before anyone else with more chapters at https://www.jinovel.com/en

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.