Pillar of Yita

She spoke with such conviction, as if she had seen it with her own eyes. However, this was not the first time this female regiment commander had participated in the hunting season in Dulun City; perhaps she really had seen the Phoenix Sword before.

Everyone was eagerly anticipating, and Fang Hong was also curious about what the real Fire Phoenix would look like.

After the fireworks show, the excitement in everyone’s hearts subsided somewhat. They returned to the hall to discuss the earlier festivities, though in truth, only Tianlan’s voice chirped away, with Gita and Luo Yu occasionally adding a word.

The Papalarians had disappeared somewhere unknown, and naturally, Atira had confiscated the bag of copper letters he had gathered.

It was then that Miss Tata suddenly appeared, lightly flapping her wings to land gently on Fang Hong’s shoulder.

”Good evening, Mr. Knight.”

”Good evening, Tata.”

Sophie, seeing Miss Fairy from the side, couldn’t help but say regretfully, ”Miss Tata, you missed the most exciting part of the fireworks display.”

”I’m quite familiar with the types of magic elements used in those fireworks,” Tata calmly shook her head. ”It’s okay that I missed it.”

Sophie was left speechless.

Only then did Tata release a channel of information into Fang Hong’s mind. Fang Hong saw it, realizing it was a part of the code he had transcribed. It turned out Tata had been busy with this all night.

He couldn’t help but feel a bit sorry: ”Miss Tata, you really didn’t need to rush so much.”

”But isn’t this something Mr. Knight needs?” Tata replied quietly. ”If it’s something Mr. Knight needs, then it can’t be considered a rush.”

Fang Hong was taken aback, unable to help but say, ”Thank you, Tata...”

”Mr. Knight, Miss Hilveld also helped a lot.”

Fang Hong involuntarily looked up, casting a glance at Hilveld.

Through Tata’s description, he then understood that the code should be a roster, namely those few thin volumes, which were all rosters. But being rosters made it all the more interesting; why did Feyos want to burn them?

And what kind of people were on those lists?

Only a pity that despite Miss Fairy identifying it as a roster, Feyos’s code must have been a unique method; without a codebook, translating it was nearly impossible. Therefore, they still didn’t know who each name on the roster belonged to.

Moreover, Fang Hong could only memorize a part of it, since the Clockwork Fairy did not come with a recording function.

He mentioned this matter briefly to others, and Sophie couldn’t help but ask about what had happened during the day. Fang Hong, intending to discuss it with this silver-haired princess from Vislan, began to describe what had transpired earlier at ’Miranda’s Resting Place.’

Yet before Sophie could react, a voice unexpectedly intervened:

”Lady Miranda?”

Fang Hong turned around, realizing it was the young man with the ID ’Uncrowned Crown’ who had spoken. The young man appeared somewhat odd, cautiously asking, ”Mr. Captain, have you been to Lady Miranda’s inn?”

”...how is it there now?” the young man hesitated before asking.

Fang Hong was taken aback: ”You know that place?”

Uncrowned Crown nodded, looking toward Delice, who was holding his hand: ”Before we left Dulun, we had been hiding in that inn all along... It was Miss Feyos who arranged for us to stay there, and Lady Miranda hid us in the attic until the news got out.”

Only then did Fang Hong remember that there actually seemed to be beds left over in that attic, with one near the window still preserved to this day.

He hadn’t anticipated that place being Delice and the others’ hiding spot, moreover, according to what was said, the matter also involved that Miss Maid.

Fang Hong couldn’t help but ask in surprise: ”Did Feyos arrange for you to stay in that place...?”

”Sister Feyos’s master has a relationship with our Westwood Sibika family,” Delice spoke up, responding crisply, ”And Brother Enan has a good relationship with Sister Hilveld.”

Fang Hong looked toward Hilveld.

Hilveld nodded: ”When we were children, our two families knew each other. However, since I left the Southern Region, it’s been almost ten years since we last met. Enan’s biological mother is technically also someone from the Westwood Sibika family, a distant cousin of my mother.”

The complex relationships among the Southern Region nobility gave him a bit of a headache.

Though upon closer consideration, it wasn’t odd for the Westwood Sibika family and the Modkaesar family to help each other, considering they were interdependent in the Southern Region, in a lips and teeth scenario.

Among the three key pillars, with one not engaging in worldly matters, the remaining two naturally maintained close ties.

He was about to ask further questions, but just at that moment, a burst of cheers erupted from the square outside, drawing everyone’s attention back. They turned to see Lady Kuisu walking back from outside, waving to them:

”Come quickly, the Phoenix Holy Sword is about to appear!”

Beyond the square, the crowd was gradually parting to both sides. In the distance, the iron gate of the Duke’s mansion was slowly opening, and a group emerged from within—or rather, a group of knights, riding forth from the manor.

Leading them was a robust middle-aged man, like a silent lion, majestic and mounted on a horse, holding a sword sheath—in which the sword seemed to emit a faint red glow.

The sword was roughly half a palm wide, its cruciform guard a pair of spread wings, crimson as fire, shaped like the Phoenix Feather. The man held the Holy Sword, saying nothing, yet the crowd burst into cheers upon seeing the scene.

For it was the pride of Dulun—

The Phoenix Holy Sword.

And that man, Fang Hong naturally recognized, was the contemporary family head of the Modkaesar Family, Duke Phoenix.

...