One-Eyed Monster

The winter season on the Yowein Continent features many festivals.

After the Warm Winter passes, the Extreme Winter arrives, a time when people cannot work in the severe cold. Thus, people have leisure time during this period.

During this leisure time, festivals follow.

Whether it’s the Demon Festival or the Chimney Festival, the people of the Yowein Continent embrace them happily, enjoying the fruits of their labor throughout the year during this cold season.

The arrival of the Bonfire Festival represents the nearing end of Extreme Winter, ushering in a new year.

The Bonfire Festival occurs a few days before the Farewell to the Old Festival and the Welcome the New Festival, and its liveliness far exceeds these celebrations.

Because it is the last celebration of the year.

Afterwards, the Farewell to the Old Festival and the following Welcome the New Festival signal the start of a new year, new plans, and new work, ending the revelries.

In every corner of the Yowein Continent, everyone looks forward to the Bonfire Festival. On that day, people indulge themselves completely; even if there is a war, the opposing sides will pause their battles, light bonfires, and enjoy the festival.

On that day, everywhere inhabited on the continent will be enveloped in bonfires, and that night will belong to the flames.

That night, the flames will illuminate the sky, with a large fire pit and countless small ones everywhere.

People will gather around the big fire pit, singing joyfully, dancing, and releasing themselves... Then, they will cross over the little fire pits, hoping the flames will burn away their misfortunes and that prosperity will blaze stronger.

On that day, people will share their fine wines and gourmet food beside the bonfires...

Everyone will happily spend the day.

For Igor, this year’s Bonfire Festival is very different from previous years.

In past years, he spent the Bonfire Festival at home. Previously, he would help his father chop wood and stack it; theirs was the only family in the mountains doing so, making them very busy during the Bonfire Festival as the whole mountain relied on them to gather firewood.

”Hey, stack the wood in a cone shape, layer by layer upward, so the bonfire burns brighter.” Now Igor is helping villagers stack bonfires; the festival is coming that night, and everyone has been busy for a long while. Igor sees he has free time, so he offers a hand.

”Here, young man, take a sip of water; you’ve been working and talking so long, you must be thirsty. Drink some water to freshen your throat.” An elderly woman hands Igor a bowl of warm water, with steam curling off the rim.

”Thank you; you people are really too kind.” Igor remarks, touched by the villagers’ simplicity and enthusiasm, something he never saw back on Guru Mountain.

They’ve been away from Guru Mountain for about a week.

After Nakasha’s League Guard dispatched the report via Mail Bird, they received a reply from Governor Rostov in less than two days. The reply was simple and exactly as Elder Rostellum predicted, instructing them to return quickly.

Subsequently, Nakasha instructed briefly and left with Hustace and others.

Nakasha had long wanted to leave Guru Mountain, leaving the mess to the goat-bearded politician, and letting Liuli City handle its own mayoral issues. Their glory-seeking had nothing to do with him.

Nakasha wished to leave Guru Mountain hastily because he felt it held no more value. Plus, its secrets had been preempted by someone else, which felt unpleasant.

He hoped to reach Luona before the Bonfire Festival, to burn away those bad feelings with the flames.

However, Nakasha did not anticipate Young Master Hustace having friends, and these friends made it impossible for Nakasha to expedite their speed, as it went beyond his control.

He originally planned to leave his subordinates behind to travel slowly, but considering possible enemies along the return journey, he might struggle to handle things alone, so he discarded that idea.

After all, given Young Master Hustace’s special status, there would surely be many with ulterior motives.

Thus, Nakasha had to forego his White Robe’s speed advantage and chose to travel slowly by steam car.

Actually, the steam car is quite fast... but still cannot compare to a Wizard’s speed, which is why they could not celebrate the Bonfire Festival in Luona, one of the main reasons no less.

They were currently in Kanu County, almost a week’s journey from the imperial capital. It was impossible to make it back in time for the Bonfire Festival, so they would have to celebrate the Farewell to the Old Festival and Welcome the New Festival in Luona.

Nakasha was quite displeased, but there was nothing he could do about it. Those people were Young Master Hustace’s friends, and he had no way to refuse them.

Nakasha chewed on tobacco leaves, scrutinizing Young Master Hustace’s friends from head to toe.

Bunan and Pifu, the two little sidekicks, were easier to deal with. They stuck around Goding and the other League Guards and didn’t talk much, possibly because the trip to Guru Mountain had left them shaken. Pifu seemed to be handling it better, but Bunan had been particularly unlucky, inexplicably branded a murderer and having gone through many unbelievable events on the mountain... those events had pushed his mental and physical state to an early breaking point. Nakasha didn’t pay much attention to these two since people who posed no threat were as worthless as things of no significance.

Compared to Pifu and Bunan’s dazed silence, Qi Liu’s quietness had a different flavor, which intrigued Nakasha. He felt Qi Liu had changed, something not typically associated with a groom, because Nakasha could sense the spirit power emanating from Qi Liu. A groom shouldn’t have that kind of spirit power; the changes in Qi Liu were typical of those who had a class. However, Nakasha still didn’t worry about Qi Liu, knowing that he was affiliated with the Governor’s Mansion and part of his own team, so there was no need to be wary.

What Nakasha needed to keep an eye on were the other two guys.

These two were friends of Young Master Hustace as well, but Nakasha couldn’t understand them at all.

One was as silent as a mute but emitted an invasive aura of spirit power, while the other never stopped chattering along the journey, being a complete chatterbox, yet showed no aggressive spirit power.

Nakasha’s concerns lied here: the silent one, despite being aggressive, was forthright, giving off a feeling of openness, so Nakasha wasn’t worried about fighting him.

But the other guy was inscrutable; he constantly asked all sorts of stupid questions throughout the journey, but Nakasha couldn’t feel anything from him—no spirit power, no hostility, completely blank.

This kind of blank demeanor was the most unsettling.

Nakasha couldn’t understand what this young man was up to, keeping only a guarded stance as this youth was unlike any he had encountered—unpredictable and devoid of any deductive logic.

Like now, where he had no idea what the boy was doing, building a bonfire? Simple tasks like this should be left to the non-adventurers, so why join in the bustle?

Nakasha didn’t realize this was part of Igor’s nature; often people involuntarily lose track of their true self, usually because they are forced to change under pressure.

Ambitious dreams might vanish without a trace over a meal for tomorrow; in reality, one’s true self holds little power.

The biggest difference about Igor was that free-spiritedness flowed through his veins.

He wasn’t constrained and maintained a significant degree of freedom at all times.

This freedom was his own will, as well as the support of his family—a remarkable support.

This freedom gave Igor an inherent awareness that altered him inside, leaving him somewhat unrestrained in everything he did.

Yet, this lack of restraint wasn’t indiscriminate; Igor managed it fairly well, understanding the importance of right and wrong.

He knew his father never burdened him with life’s pressures, even though their family wasn’t particularly well-off.

Everyone treated him with leniency, so he couldn’t let them down, which is why he thought over gains and losses with every indulgence.

This was Igor—sometimes quite foolish, yet so endearingly foolish that people couldn’t help but want to help him. Even Nakasha found himself answering several of his questions along the way.

Such an inscrutable Igor made Nakasha uneasy, forcing him to a state of worry.

Was this youth friend or foe? Nakasha just couldn’t decipher him.

However, this unfathomable youth was indeed a friend of Young Master Hustace, and not just an ordinary one—it seemed they were very close comrades.

Because whatever Igor did, Young Master Hustace followed along.

This was quite concerning, as it meant Nakasha had to keep a constant eye on this youth.

He had to protect Young Master Hustace at all costs, ensuring nothing unusual happened to him.

This was his most important duty right now, so despite his reluctance, he had to keep a close eye on the boy.