Pillar of Yita

The battle outside was intense, the sky bright as day, and the ground and walls trembled slightly. A leader of the Sky Pirates entered and told us to hide in the underground tunnel.

...As we passed the warehouse, I secretly slipped a handful of Hawk-Beak Beans into the pocket lining without anyone noticing. Later, this action proved to save my life.

Soon after, the battle outside subsided. Another Sky Pirate entered the tunnel to inform us to leave. But I had a vague feeling that this person seemed somewhat different from the others.

This difference was primarily in his demeanor—

This made me realize that the Sky Pirates’ situation seemed somewhat unfavorable.

...Facts confirmed my thoughts. Shortly after, vague news from elsewhere emerged: the Sky Pirates planned to leave this place and sell us to a group of Slave Traders.

It seemed that although they won that battle, the plan in Idus was also declared a failure.

After reading this passage, Fang Hong felt that he had grasped something. As Hilveld said, these slaves were coming from Idus, not on their way to Idus.

Although they could also have come from the defeated Sky Pirates at the time, the Blood Shark Sky Pirates did not need to go to such lengths.

From the old man’s descriptions, the Descendants of Flor had ample opportunity to disguise themselves as the Blood Shark Sky Pirates during their takeover of control in Idus.

Moreover, in the other party’s account, a pirate entering the tunnel for the second time was mentioned as subtly different from the first.

Though this couldn’t serve as evidence, it could certainly explain many things.

He closed these pages, pondered for a moment, and then asked the old man: ”Mr. Alvan, did you record that you experienced a battle in Idus?”

The old man replied energetically: ”I remember that battle very clearly.”

Fang Hong glanced at the others and then said: ”In fact, my companions and I all personally experienced that battle.”

After hearing his answer, the old man also seemed a bit surprised, looking at them with light brown eyes, exclaiming: ”So the enemies of the Sky Pirates at that time were you all? People really can’t be judged by appearances; it was actually a group of young people who caused so much trouble for the Sky Pirates.”

Fang Hong shook his head: ”That’s not the case, Mr. Alvan. We were just one of the participants at the time. The ones who truly attacked the Blood Shark Sky Pirates were the Descendants of Flor.”

He paused a bit: ”You should have heard of them, right?”

”The ’Guild organization’ of the Holy Choosers,” the old man nodded: ”I’ve heard of them. Very interesting, what you said adds details to my memory, and I’ll have to write them down one by one later.”

”There’s one more thing,” Fang Hong glanced at Hilveld behind him, before asking: ”Actually, there’s a small mistake in your account.”

”What?” the old man wasn’t angry and asked for advice humbly.

Achilles looked at them from the side. He initially thought Fang Hong mentioned the request merely as a means to open a topic, but didn’t expect both sides to genuinely discuss the work, which unexpectedly left him somewhat surprised.

But luckily, he held his composure, thought for a bit, and didn’t speak.

Only then did Fang Hong say: ”At the end of your account, you said the Sky Pirates won that battle in the end, but that’s not the case. In fact, after the battle that night, they were driven out of Idus.”

He paused slightly: ”Do you remember the situation at the time?”

The old man was unaware of the purpose behind Fang Hong’s inquiry, pondered for a moment, and then answered: ”I overlooked that, but in the aftermath, we remained hidden in the tunnels and were unaware of the true situation outside.”

Fang Hong frowned: ”You mean, after the battle that day, a group of Sky Pirates remained hidden in the tunnels of Idus?”

He cursed under his breath, noting how clever the Descendants of Flor were, keeping these people in the tunnels would make it challenging to use the timing of the battle to prove anything against them.

Because no one could ensure that a group of ’Sky Pirates’ wasn’t hiding in Idus’s underground after the night battle.

He held onto a last hope and asked: ”Mr. Alvan, do you remember when you left the tunnels?”

But the old man could only provide a rough time: ”Roughly a few days later, we left the valley directly through the tunnels. This aligns well with what you’ve described.”

It’s just that this alignment wasn’t what Fang Hong wanted. Since the Descendants of Flor’s two mishaps with the Elf Ruins and the Jiefulite Red Cloak Team, their actions had become increasingly flawless.

Nevertheless, the question-and-answer session wasn’t without gains. At least he understood that Hilveld’s analysis was indeed true.

Understanding who the true enemy was also happens to be extremely crucial.

Moreover, the old man did have some genuine scholarly demeanor—even though he wasn’t clear about Fang Hong’s true intentions, he still humbly accepted the points raised by them and even praised them a bit.

Fang Hong had no interest in looking further. In fact, after being sold to the Slave Traders, these elderly and frail individuals weren’t of much concern to the traders, who only left them to fend for themselves, not even providing food.

But it was thanks to the Hawk-Beak Beans mentioned earlier, hidden in his pocket, that the old man survived with resilient life force.