Pillar of Yita

Last time he came to this place, due to the dust storm, he didn’t even notice the ”colors” of this city. In Istania language, Bain means ”gray-white,” a dye extracted from that weathered valley, from the calcium deposits of the marine sediment.

Among the white buildings, other than the main part of the fortress, the most prominent was, of course, the spire of the Androma Sanctuary.

Not far from that spire was another one—

Fang Hong was very familiar with that place; it was Marlan’s sanctuary.

The owner of that sanctuary was a somewhat reticent middle-aged knight who, with his help not long ago, left this city.

But unexpectedly, less than half a month later, he returned to this place once again...

Yet this return wasn’t for a reunion.

The Grand Princess asked him to come here to find a person, specifically, an intelligence chief.

That person was called ”Camel Toe,” and like that ”Hummingbird” of the Quistack Woodpecker Brotherhood, it was just a meaningless code name.

Fang Hong even knew that Bain was a military fortress, unlike Quistack, a diversified royal capital with various powers. So-called brotherhoods have no space for survival in such places; the so-called information trafficker might be an intelligence chief—in fact, this person might be the Grand Princess’s hidden line here.

But fortunately, none of this concerned him. He didn’t even have to exert much effort to find someone in Bain; the Princess had already given him the means to contact this person—he had recently gone to Bain’s largest tavern and got in touch with this ”intelligence chief’s” informant there.

After exchanging codes, he came to this place the next day to wait for someone.

This was Bain’s old city gate.

In the past, it was the outer wall of Bain Fortress, but that was a matter of one or two hundred years ago. As Bain expanded, it’s now an entrance between Bain’s inner and outer city.

Fang Hong stood under the gate, and at a glance, he saw a mark drawn with chalk on one corner of the gate. It was an abstract image of a sand rat, reportedly one of the guardian beasts on the family crest of the Princess’s maternal side. Upon seeing this sand rat, Fang Hong was more certain of the connection between the other party and the Grand Princess.

In fact, he hadn’t waited long before seeing a scar-faced man emerge from a corner of the gate.

Seeing this person, Fang Hong instinctively felt he was meeting the real deal—not because of speculation, but because the person wore a cloak pinned with a badge bearing the image of a sand rat.

To be honest, Fang Hong was slightly startled. The other party had arranged to meet him at this place; he originally thought this person would emerge from the inner city, but to his surprise, it seemed the person had been hiding in that corner the whole time, just observing him.

Fang Hong looked at the other party and directly asked: ”Mr. Camel Toe?”

But the man didn’t answer, only looking at his hand. Fang Hong was slightly startled, realizing something, and hurriedly presented the token given to him by the Princess.

It was just a brooch, seemingly patterned after some plant, but Fang Hong didn’t recognize it. Princess Rupert hadn’t given it to him directly; she had Achilles pass it on, telling him to use this brooch to verify his identity when meeting the person.

Fang Hong didn’t think much about it, but upon presenting the brooch, it seemed to have the desired effect. The scar-faced man looked at the badge, nodded, and asked: ”Are you the ’Messenger’?”

Fang Hong internally spat, thinking what an unpleasant name this was.

But he also understood that Princess Rupert was unaware of his entanglements with the Dragon Worship Sect. This code name might just have been arbitrarily chosen; whether it was ’Messenger’ or something else, it didn’t really matter.

He just lightly nodded.

The man raised his head to look at him, his eyes flickering with an inscrutable light: ”The Princess finally remembered me, who’s been left in this place for so long?”

Fang Hong was slightly stunned, looking at this guy. He hadn’t expected such words from him when he spoke.

He originally thought the other party was the Grand Princess’s hidden agent here, but surprisingly, it sounded like he was someone who had been forgotten. But if that’s the case, why did the Grand Princess want him to find this person at this point in time? What could someone she had forgotten help her with under such circumstances?

He almost suspected he was entirely wrong about the whole thing, thinking perhaps the Princess wasn’t trying to get out of trouble?

Before he could speak, the man shook his head, saying: ”Fine, it doesn’t make sense to talk about these things with someone like you. You’re too late; someone has already taken the person away.”

”???”

Fang Hong stared at this person in confusion.

What do you mean by too late?

Who took whom away?

He was stunned for a long while before remembering what he was here to do, taking a letter from his bosom and handing it to the other. ”I think you might be mistaken about something, friend,” he took a breath, then replied casually: ”I’m just the messenger, the Princess sent me to deliver this letter.”

”Mr. Camel Toe?”

”Letter?”

The man looked at him with some surprise.

With a doubtful expression, he reluctantly took the letter without opening it, only glancing at the seal on the envelope. But it was at this moment that Fang Hong saw the man’s eyebrows slightly raise, his expression clearly changing a bit. Still, he didn’t open the letter, just silently put it away, close to his body.

Then once again raising his head to look at Fang Hong, he said: ”I see, alright, I understand now. It seems you’re merely here to convey a message, so please pass a message to that Princess for me.”

”Tell her, I understand now, she can rest assured. The favor I owe can be repaid at any time.”

Looking at the other party, Fang Hong was curious about what that favor could be.

But he also knew this person would never tell him, so he just nodded slightly after pondering for a moment.

The man took one last look at him, turned and disappeared back into the shadow of the gate, quickly vanishing from sight.

Fang Hong quietly watched this scene, feeling puzzled inside. What he initially believed seemed utterly wrong—though this thought only flashed briefly through his mind. He suddenly realized that his mission in Istania seemed to have ended, and after leaving this place, what’s happening at Kashan Palace might no longer be his concern.

With this thought, he took one last look in that direction before quietly turning and leaving.

Things seemed to go more smoothly than he imagined.

He originally thought he would encounter some hurdles.

...