Pillar of Yita

He picked up a match, and lit his pipe, but a pristine hand reached from the side and pulled the pipe from his mouth. Reed looked up in surprise, only to see Atira looking at him seriously and saying, ”Ade is injured.”

”Alright, alright,” the Lion-man, imposing and fierce, had no choice but to admit defeat in front of the Elf Girl, ”I’ll go somewhere else, but you have to give me back my pipe, Atira.”

The Elf Girl then cracked a slight smile and handed the pipe back to him.

After the Lion-man had left, she turned back around and looked at Fang Hong with a stern expression. Somehow, Fang Hong felt a bit guilty and evaded, ”Miss Atira, why is Miss Hilveld here?”

Atira looked at him, couldn’t help but shake her head; Fang Hong reminded her so much of her brother. Both were equally impulsive yet similarly naive and brave, and a bit foolish—she had originally kept this young man in the team for a bit of a selfish reason.

But unknowingly, the shadows of the two seemed to gradually overlap, almost indistinguishable. She knew this was wrong, Ade wasn’t her brother, but she still carefully hid this thought.

Yet she couldn’t help feeling a bit guilty in her heart.

”I’m sorry, Ade,” the Elf Girl suddenly spoke softly after a long while.

Fang Hong gaped, unsure what to say, totally confused why Miss Atira would apologize to him all of a sudden.

But Atira didn’t continue on this topic. Having said that, she took a breath of relief, then answered Fang Hong’s question, ”Miss Hilveld and her maid also want to head to Elpaxin, hoping to join us. She did help a lot this time, and besides, letting two ladies walk back to Elpaxin by themselves doesn’t sit right with me.”

”Oh—” Fang Hong quietly listened, not sure what to say for a moment.

The image of the blonde girl smiling with her head bowed surfaced in his mind again. He couldn’t decide whether he wanted to go with her or not. But what about the Fairy Construct? Fang Hong shook his head, feeling it against his conscience to covet someone else’s belongings—this was not the kind of character his uncle had taught him to have from a young age—he regretted slightly, but still decided to return the things to their owner.

He just felt a bit sorry for Miss Fairy.

Fortunately, at that moment, a calming sensation suddenly came through his mind; although there was no verbal communication, Fang Hong seemed to also understand what Miss Fairy wanted to tell him.

”It’s okay, Mr. Knight.”

Fang Hong nodded, his thoughts clearing again, remembering a strange dream he had before, he couldn’t help asking, ”By the way, has someone else been here before?”

”Other than Hilveld, it’s just been us,” Atira shook her head.

”Strange...”

”What’s wrong?” Atira asked.

Fang Hong scratched his head, answering, ”I thought I heard a familiar voice, but I can’t remember who it was.”

”Maybe it was Hilveld—it might not be, she’s been by your side, trying to wake you up.”

”No, not her,” Fang Hong shook his head, ”I remember the voice, it’s familiar...but I can’t remember, just feel like I’ve heard it somewhere.”

Atira couldn’t add anything to the conversation on such a topic.

After a while, Fang Hong remembered the most pressing question, sat up, and asked, ”By the way, what about the Rock Shark?”

Atira, having anticipated this question, answered, ”It’s alright now, it didn’t run away, thanks to you.” She looked towards the Forest, ”And everyone is waiting to see you, you’ve saved quite a few lives—they say.”

”Haha, really?” Fang Hong scratched his head, feeling a bit happy, who wouldn’t want to be a hero, after all, that was his dream. But the dream was soon overpowered by reality, he sheepishly asked, ”By the way, those two Clockwork Fairies, according to the rules, should also be included in the Contribution Value, right?”

Speaking of which, he didn’t know if he had offended the god of Clockwork Fairies—if there was such a god in this world.

Any Clockwork Fairy in his hands wouldn’t last two days. After leaving Traveler’s Rest, it took quite an effort to build two Clockwork Fairies, and now they were all gone. Well, it’s like wind blowing on eggshells, fortune comes, and people are content.

Atira watched him like this and shook her head.

...