Mike was going to continue talking about Henry's past, but was interrupted by a gesture from Perry just as he opened his lips. Perry's attention had been attracted by the footsteps coming from not far away, which were familiar and rhythmic, accompanied by a low conversation.
He raised his head and looked at the source of the sound. Sure enough, Teresa and Alaric walked over one after the other, and their figures gradually became clear.
"Henry!" Teresa smiled as soon as she saw him, and her pace quickened a bit, with a brisk tone of concern, "You look much better than yesterday."
Alaric followed behind her, his steps were much more steady than hers. His expression was as calm as ever, but his eyes revealed a complex emotion. He walked to the bedside, stood still and was silent for a few seconds, as if he was organizing his words. Finally, he spoke slowly, his voice low and sincere: "Henry... I'm sorry." His tone was full of apology, "I misunderstood you before and failed to help you in time. All this is because my intuition misled me, I feel very sorry."
Perry smiled bitterly in his heart, and couldn't help laughing at himself: Your intuition is not wrong, but I was wrong in hiding something.
However, he did not say this out loud, but chose to wave his hand, smiled slightly, and said in a relaxed tone: "It's okay. I am also responsible for this matter. I failed to explain it clearly."
Seeing this, Teresa patted his shoulder and tried to ease the atmosphere: "Okay, okay, don't dwell on the past! The focus now is to help Henry find those materials, isn't it?"
Perry nodded, his eyes swept over the two of them, and there was a hint of doubt in his tone: "Speaking of which... I really didn't expect that you were also the assistants sent by Miss Crocker to help me."
Hearing this, Teresa blinked, and a sly smile appeared on her face: "Yes, we are your helpers, but——" She deliberately prolonged the tail tone, with a hint of ridicule in her tone, "Our mission route is not quite the same as yours."
"What do you mean?" Perry frowned slightly, obviously puzzled by her words.
Teresa shrugged, with a playful smile on her face, and explained: "Actually, Miss Crocker and I originally had a mission to perform, and the target location was Limbo Forest. What a coincidence that it was exactly the same place where you were looking for something. The previous plan was to set off in a few days, but because of your matter, Miss Crocker felt it necessary to act in advance."
Perry looked at the two thoughtfully, with a bit of surprise in his eyes, "I see."
Alaric nodded, his tone as calm as always: "However, now our routes and goals overlap to some extent. So, since we met, I will help you by the way."
Perry raised his eyebrows and looked at him with a smile, "It sounds like you are really casual. But thank you anyway."
Teresa smiled lightly, crossed her arms, and said jokingly: "You're welcome, but by the way, I want to tell you that we have another one coming."
"Another person?" Perry repeated in a low voice, and his thoughts could not help but slide to a familiar name. He raised his head, and a flash of understanding flashed in his eyes, thinking that it could not be Fido?
Teresa said with a little excitement: "Remember the chef trainee I mentioned before? I found that he had successfully entered Limbo Forest and returned safely, so I invited him to be a tour guide. "
Perry sighed silently in his heart, it was him again. He secretly calculated that when he met this guy, he would also ask about the chef class and the attitude of chef Oliver towards his absence ——this matter has always been on his mind.
He looked up and scanned the people in the room, then whispered: "So there are five people in total. Mike, Teresa, Alaric, Miss Crocker... and..." He paused and frowned, "and the chef trainee."
At this moment, Miss Crocker, who had just finished her work, wiped her hands and interrupted: "Hey, you can't count me in, I'm not your 'assistant'. I do have my own things to do in Limbo Forest, and I can't take care of you at all."
"So, who is the remaining one?" Perry asked in confusion.
"It's me." A low but slightly frivolous voice suddenly came from behind them.
Everyone turned their heads, and Teresa stood up suddenly, staring at the person who came, her tone full of disgust: "Ah, you troublesome bastard again!"
"Joyce..." Alaric frowned, obviously not having a good impression of this person who suddenly appeared.
Perry turned around and was stunned when he saw the person coming. The man was wearing a gorgeous businessman's suit. Although his clothes were somewhat similar to Mike's style, the details were more luxurious and exquisite. He exuded an aura of shrewdness and confidence. He smiled slightly, obviously not caring about Teresa and Alaric's hostile eyes, and walked straight towards Perry: "Hey, Henry! I'm really happy to see that you are in a good mood."
Perry did not respond, but frowned slightly. Ever since he learned that Joyce liked to chase strange events, he was wary of him. Suppressing the doubts in her heart, Perry turned to look at Miss Crocker, with a little speechlessness in her tone: "Why is it him?"
Crock looked guilty, her eyes wandered around, and she explained hesitantly: "Well... Joyce is more familiar with the situation in the Kingdom of Attala than anyone else. Moreover, his family has some power there, which can provide you with a lot of convenience. Right, Joyce?" At the end, as if to prove her words, she turned to Joyce for support.
This action made Perry doubt whether Crocker was bribed by Joyce.
Joyce smiled calmly: "Miss Crocker is right. Besides, I am still your 'partner' Henry, right?"
This sentence instantly angered Alaric. He took a step forward, his tone full of undisguised anger: "I was the Henry's partner! You are such a pestering guy!"
Joyce raised his eyebrows and counterattacked nonchalantly: "Oh, I heard that you quarreled over something before, but you are no longer partners? Now you want to hide these things while Henry is losing his memory? Huh?"
Perry was stunned when he heard this, his eyes swept back and forth between the two of them, and his heart was alarmed: What is going on? What happened between them before?
Alaric did not answer, his expression became a little stiff, he did not even dare to look directly into Perry's eyes.
"Don't you stir up trouble there!" Teresa stood up suddenly, gnashing her teeth in anger, as if ready to rush over and beat Joyce at any time, "Besides, they quarreled because of you? Don't you know it yourself?"
Joyce spread her hands slowly, with an innocent look on her face, which made Teresa even more furious. As soon as she took a step, Mike stopped her: "Calm down, Teresa, now is not the time to quarrel!"
"Yes, everyone's personal grudges can be put aside for now," Mike's voice was calm and powerful, successfully drawing everyone's attention back to the current problem, "The most important thing now is to solve Henry's problem."
"That's right." Joyce clapped her palms lightly, with a hint of deliberate provocation in her tone, "So, this time I am in a group with Henry. And you two, Teresa and Alaric, seem to be going to Limbo Forest, right?"
His smug look made Perry a little helpless, and Alaric was so angry that his teeth itched, and said coldly: "Joyce, you'd better restrain yourself."
Teresa also clenched her fists, obviously trying to suppress her anger.
Perry sighed helplessly, feeling that the relationship between these people was much more complicated than he imagined.
"Sorry, I'm late." A clear voice came, breaking the tense atmosphere. A tall figure appeared at the door, it was Fido. He was taller than Joyce, and his eyes easily passed through the crowd and saw Perry standing in the corner. His eyes suddenly lit up, showing a bit of surprise: "Ah, you..."
Perry's heart instantly rose to his throat. He noticed that Fido recognized him, and was afraid that the other party would directly call out that name in this situation. He immediately took advantage of the moment when others were not paying attention, and quickly made a quiet gesture to Fido, with a hint of pleading in his eyes, indicating that he should not expose the relationship between the two.
Fortunately, Fido understood the signal, paused for a moment, and did not call out the name "Henry", but quickly adjusted his expression. He turned to Joyce calmly, pretending that it was just a chance meeting: "Joyce? You are here too, what a surprise. I thought you were busy investigating those strange stories in the school recently."
Joyce obviously didn't notice the subtle interaction between the two. He smiled at Fido naturally and joked in a relaxed tone: "Fido, hello! Speaking of surprises, I didn't expect to see you here. Aren't you still busy in the kitchen?"
Fido shrugged, with a joking arc at the corner of his mouth: "I don't stay in the kitchen forever, I have to have a day off. And," he glanced at the other people in the room, "You don't look very relaxed, what happened?"
Crock suddenly interrupted, with a bit of urging in his tone: "Now that everyone is here, let's act quickly. Go to the teleportation phone booth, don't waste time."
"Wait!" Perry said suddenly, looking a little flustered, "I... I'm not ready yet!" He has almost nothing on him to protect himself.
Alaric walked forward, holding a familiar schoolbag in his hand, and handed it to Perry: "Don't worry, I brought your things."
Perry was startled, took the schoolbag, and found that it was the one he usually used. He quickly opened it and checked it. Sure enough, it contained his magic book and some small props. But he soon noticed that in addition to his things, there were some more bottles and jars in the schoolbag.
"Are these... potions?" Perry took out a bottle of transparent liquid from the schoolbag in confusion and shook it. The liquid in the bottle was faintly shiny.
"Well," Alaric scratched his head, with a little embarrassment in his tone, "I put some healing potions in it, just in case. It's... uh, my apology gift."
Perry was stunned for a moment, and then showed a grateful smile: "Really? Thank you, Alaric. These potions are really useful to me." Although he was not sure what Alaric's "apology" was for ——maybe it was yesterday's misunderstanding, or the previous quarrel——but he didn't care at the moment. This help really made him feel more at ease.
"Okay," Crocker spoke again, with an unquestionable firmness in his tone, "Can we set off now? Time waits for no one."
Perry nodded, put on his backpack, held the magic book tightly, and had a look of determination in his eyes: "Well, let's go."