Pillar of Yita

In the last days of Elpaxin, Fang Hong fully realized what it meant when plans failed to keep up with changes.

First, the presence of soldiers from the Silverwind Knights near the inn forced the group to relocate. Fortunately, Hilveld had connections, and through Princess Briana, they found a hideout near an old armory in the lower areas.

Then, a series of typical planning disasters unfolded like a line of dominoes—

Unexpected actions delayed the day’s procurement work, postponing the negotiations Atira had with smugglers in the Lower City Area, which directly led to a delay in the plan to leave the city. And to catch up with time, this incurred additional costs.

It was then that Fang Hong realized that planning was not as simple as he had thought, as ideals always faced a litany of surprises.

Misfortune did not come singly; the next day, Elpaxin was hit by a sudden downpour, causing the sewers to overflow. It wasn’t until the early hours of the third day that the three of them were able to leave the city with the smugglers.

After taking them to the arranged place and collecting the final payment, the smugglers bid them farewell and left.

Fang Hong watched them wave goodbye in the rain and, turning to the soaking wet Reed with curiosity, asked, ”I was worried you’d have a conflict with them, Mr. Reed?”

The Lion People shook his huge head, sending water splashing everywhere, drenching the other two. ”Hey, what are you doing, Reed!” Parker shouted angrily, ”I told you last time to walk away when you shake yourself like that.”

”Ah, sorry, Little One,” Reed answered nonchalantly before turning to Fang Hong, ”Why would you say that, young man—our Captain Sir?”

”Aren’t you a Paladin of Marlan, that... I heard that the Paladins of Eteliria are zealous in their hatred of evil?”

”It depends on how you define justice, little guy,” the Lion People squinted at the direction of rain-shrouded Elpaxin, wiped his pipe clean from the mud and water, and said, ”We are the Goddess’s knights, not Borlandia’s legal scholars—they strive to strip away the extraneous attributes of people to fit them into a framework; while we, we act according to our hearts.”

”Our hearts?”

”Compassion, pity, honor, responsibility,” Reed looked at Fang Hong, answering calmly, ”The scholars of Borlandia claim that Order does not err, whereas we often do—that very fact helps us understand the limitations of mortals, prevents us from arrogance and confusion, so we can live without guilt, true to the teachings of Marlan—”

He glanced at the figures in the distance. ”Smugglers, thieves, con artists, the Lower City Area has all sorts of people, but there are also those whose nature is not bad, because sometimes you can’t choose where you come from. Don’t be prejudiced, Ade, listen with your heart to the answers the wind tells you.”

”Don’t listen to that Big Cat,” the Papalarian wiped the water droplets from his hair, answering irritably, ”It’s always babbling nonsense, the wind will not tell you anything, at most it’ll make a dull shrieking sound, woo woo woo—”

The Lion People only smiled at Parker’s rebuttal, offering no words.

But Fang Hong merely took note and did not truly engage in their argument.

He looked around; they had agreed to meet Atira here. Logically speaking, having been delayed in the sewer overnight, she should have arrived first, yet at this moment there was no sight of the towering figures of the Beasts of Burden in the wilderness.

This made Fang Hong a bit worried.

However, what he hadn’t expected was that the wait would turn into several hours until the imposing figure of ’Mr. Greyrock’ slowly appeared in his vision near noon.

And it wasn’t until Atira and her party approached and Fang Hong climbed atop the Beast of Burden that he realized his worries had come true:

The newly-repaired platform on the Beast of Burden looked even more pitiful than before, with a broken drawbridge, shields on the outside filled with broken Feather Arrows, and terrifying knife cuts everywhere, as if they had been through a major battle.

Tianlan had a bandage wrapped humorously around his head, having bumped it during combat, and now sported a large lump on his forehead; Miss Atira had a slash on her right arm that soaked the bandage in blood, looking quite alarming.

But of all of them, Gita was the most severely injured; the future Miss Natural Historian had used her frail body to block the intruders from getting into the room to protect her books. As a result, the sword wound on her right chest was nearly penetrating. Although a Healer had been found after the battle to save her life, the post-injury infection and high fever in this world without antibiotics could only be managed with the Clergy’s long-term care.

There was no Priest from Milaila among the team, and Elpaxin was not able to find specialized Clergy to take care of her; fortunately, Hilveld was qualified as a Pharmacist, and the Lady Noble took on the responsibility of caring for Gita voluntarily.

This attack had come so unexpectedly that it was somewhat baffling—

Fang Hong asked Atira what exactly had happened with this battle, but she could not provide a clear explanation and simply shook her head.

The attackers were not solitary, but clearly organized; however, they left little information behind on the battlefield—appearing suddenly and leaving before the guards arrived. Tianlan told him that it seemed Gita had seen the identity of the attackers amidst the chaos, but given the young girl’s current condition, this clue proved to be of no use.