Pillar of Yita

The others finally came to their senses, having completely forgotten what had happened before, only Miss Hilveld retained a sliver of memory, a touch of annoyance flickering through her pale blue eyes. However, the noble lady composed herself and smoothly adjusted a strand of hair on her forehead, acting as if nothing had happened.

By the time they reached this place, the moment for the team to part ways had come. Fortunately, they had mentally prepared themselves that morning, so the two young girls weren’t a sobbing mess.

”Be careful,” Atira solemnly reminded him, ”Don’t trust that dragon too much; they are all very sly and not trustworthy. Your own safety should always be in your own hands.”

Fang Hong looked at the Elf Miss somewhat strangely, doubting whether she had been possessed by Miss Sicape. In his memory, the always affable Atira would not say such a thing.

Although he did not believe that the Green Dragon Meijeli would play any tricks on this matter, he still nodded in agreement. The Elf Miss was not wrong; his safety should indeed be in his own hands.

”Ah,” Tianlan, taking Gita for an excited run around, returned gasping for breath along with the latter, eager to try: ”I also want to give it a shot. Isn’t it said that Trainees can participate too? Maybe we can join Brother Ade.”

Gita frowned deeply. She was naturally willing to join the adventure with Fang Hong, but she knew very well what Fuli was plotting, and quickly objected: ”No, Trainees and official Trialers do not follow the same route.”

”How do you know?” Tianlan asked curiously.

Gita pushed her glasses up and rolled her eyes cutely, thinking I knew what you were up to—Sister Fuli. She evasively replied: ”I’ve heard that we’ll have to go through a spider’s nest and encounter tentacle monsters below.”

Tianlan was so frightened that her hair almost stood on end as she chattered, ”Spi... spiders!? Then... then forget it, Trainees need six squads, and we can’t gather enough people anyway.”

Fang Hong found this strange and pulled Gita aside to ask: ”Gita, do you know what the trial is about? Why didn’t you tell us earlier?”

Gita’s face turned completely red, and she muttered, looking down, ”I... I don’t know, Brother Ade.”

”What!?”

”I lied to Sister Fuli.”

Fang Hong couldn’t help but look up at the sky, realizing that his team was truly something, not a single one of them was easy to manage.

At that moment, Tainaric took the baggage from Reed, and the two exchanged a knowing look, nodding at each other. Since the previous battle, the Lizardman Prince obviously recognized the strength of the Lion Paladin. In Andasok, valiant warriors are the most respected—whether as teammates or opponents.

Parker and Fang Hong also took their belongings from Atira and Hilveld, lastly the adolescent.

When Hilveld handed over the spare parts for the Reinforced Gloves to Fang Hong, she asked, ”Do you really plan to use that money to help me build a ship?” Fang Hong looked at her surprisingly: ”I did promise you, Miss Hilveld.”

”A promise is a promise, you really are a rare good man,” Hilveld glanced at him meaningfully, ”But that ship is my father’s last wish. To be honest, I shouldn’t impose the responsibility solely on you.”

”You’ve done enough for this team already, Miss Hilveld.” Fang Hong, seeing the somber expression on Hilveld’s face when she mentioned her father, couldn’t help but comfort her.

The noble lady forced a smile, blinking her eyes, and said: ”Why not take me with you?”

”What?” Fang Hong nearly thought he had misheard, how did the topic change so drastically?

”To be serious, I haven’t surpassed Level 15 either,” Hilveld replied, ”If I go down, perhaps I could be of some help. Besides, wouldn’t the Captain feel lonely by himself?”

Her last phrase was practically whispered into Fang Hong’s ear.

Hearing this, Fang Hong nearly shivered. He had no idea what was going on in the noble girl’s head.

He hurriedly stepped back, ”But Miss Hilveld, even when considering the levels of your Cartographer and Geography expertise, you would exceed Level 15, right? If I’m not mistaken, your main War Profession is Gunslinger, isn’t it?”

”It’s only a little over,” she said. ”I’ve heard that experience gained from Life Professions is discounted.”

Fang Hong quickly shook his head, ”That won’t do. I’ve heard the same rumor, but Toragotos has never confirmed it. It’s just an informal saying. Besides, after Parker’s departure, you are the only one in the team who can read maps. Miss Atira and the others need you to stay.”

Honestly, if Hilveld had suggested this earlier, he might have really considered replacing Parker with this lady noble, as the latter seemed much more reliable. But after so many days of preparation, changing team members at the last minute would clearly be unscientific.

Fortunately, Hilveld was not insistent. After hearing his words, she obediently nodded, ”Alright, what you say goes, since I’m your Ship’s Officer.”

Fang Hong finally breathed a sigh of relief.

As everyone said their goodbyes and left, the Lion People finally had a chance to take out his pipe and draw in a long breath, then he exhaled a cloud of smoke, which made Tianlan cough violently beside him.

She protested loudly with annoyance, ”Cough cough cough, you old chain-smoking Big Cat! Move away!”

Reed just shrugged his shoulders and walked to the side.

But amidst the lingering smoke, Atira was doing a headcount, ”Is everyone here? We should get ready to head back to Mr. Greyrock, and then go to Cloud Harbor to meet up with Ade and the others.” But she frowned, looking around, as she felt someone was missing.

After counting everyone, she asked, ”Has anyone seen Miss Hilveld?”

All were stunned and shook their heads after looking around. Only then did they realize that the noble lady seemed to have vanished.

It was Miss Hilveld’s maid, who was always by her side, still standing in the same spot. Atira searched for a while, then somewhat skeptically turned to Xiesta, ”Your mistress is missing, and you’re not worried?”

Xiesta looked at her curiously, ”Miss Hilveld can take care of herself.”

This statement surprised everyone.

...