novelraw Chapter 843: A Guest from the Past
Chapter 843: A Guest from the Past
The empty church seemed to mock them.
Evil spirits were never welcome guests.
Impossible to entice and difficult to control, their true forms were concealed in unknown places, and any assault on them was as futile as a clown battling smoke.
Fortunately, these creatures—once human, elven in appearance yet malevolent by nature—were more interested in people.
— It's time for us to leave.
Before they left, Lu Li asked the Distorted Figure about a cure for Katerina's spiral affliction.
— You will return soon... then there will be a way.
The answer, relayed by the cultist, revealed the Church of Distortion's future plans—they would not sit idly by, and the Distorted Figure would not allow its sister to remain imprisoned in the Place of the Whirlpool.
They bid farewell to the Distorted Figure, and the church members escorted them back to the Elm Forest.
— If you wish to know more about our Lord, you may come to me at any time.The tentacled cultist whispered and, along with his companions, retreated into the burnt-out district of Elm Street.
After watching them go, Lu Li and the others returned to the forest.
After lingering for a moment at the stump where the Fallen had died, they returned to Sea Gaze Cliff.
— What happened to that tree...
The gradual shift in the Elm Forest's mood had allowed them to relax, but as they stood on the edge of Sea Gaze Cliff and saw the changes in the lone, withered tree, Katerina grew wary.
The tree Lu Li called Enni had transformed into a green monster.
— Those are leaves!
Prusius exclaimed, identifying what covered the tree.
— You know them?
Katerina covered her eyes; it felt as if she had heard the word "leaves" somewhere before.
— Plants grow, and they get leaves!
Prusius jumped up and down, understanding what this meant.
— Enni is growing!
Katerina slowly lowered her hand, watching as Lu Li approached the short tree. Its crown was dotted with light green clusters, as if infected, and she whispered softly:
— I've never seen...
As if spring had arrived, long, light-green leaves had sprouted on Enni's branches.
It signified a burgeoning life force.
— Plants... are supposed to... have stopped growing. Is... is it an anomaly? — Ophelia asked hoarsely.
— Mmm.
The Black Crow that had been waiting there flapped its wings and landed on Enni.
The delicate branches barely supported the crow's weight, sagging helplessly, and a wave of rejection pulsed through the trunk, repelling the annoying black bird.
— I have to go now.
Lu Li told Enni.
The branches from which the Black Crow had flown swayed gently, and the newly revived Enni conveyed her reluctance to part.
— It doesn't want you to leave, — Elder Sister translated from beneath his hood.
— We'll be back when we find Anna.
Lu Li's dark eyes fell upon the new shoots, and he told Enni about the approaching Severe Winter.
Humanity might be enough for Enni to survive the Severe Winter, but Lu Li still found some wooden planks and buried them around her trunk, shielding her from the cold, corrosive sea wind that blew in from the ocean.
In the short span of a few dozen minutes, Enni's young shoots had turned yellow.
She was preparing for the coming Severe Winter.
Meanwhile, Prusius, who had been watching the ruins of Belfast, came running back—he said the enormous skeleton in the port had changed, now resembling the keel of a ship.
Those heretics they had nearly encountered were building ships in the port.
After burying the protective planks, Lu Li remembered something and took out the seed he had received from the withered swamp tree.
The loss of his Humanity made it difficult for Lu Li to sprout the seed; perhaps it was worth planting it next to Enni.
— I need it.
The Merchant rarely took the initiative to speak first.
— You know what it is?
Lu Li opened his palm, revealing the irregularly shaped tree seed.
— A seed.
The Merchant fell silent for a moment, then this last of the Merchants decided to tell Lu Li:
— The seed of an Inspector's Eye.
It was an entity from the outer realm of the In-Between, the place where the Merchant resided.
— Do you really need it?
— All the Inspector's Eyes have withered. That place needs seeds.
— Can you make it sprout?
— I can.
The Inspector's Eye and the Merchant coexisted. Without the Merchant, the Inspector's Eye would wither from neglect, and without the protection of the Inspector's Eye, the In-Between would become unstable.
Handing the seed to the Merchant, Lu Li picked up the crow and left Sea Gaze Cliff, heading for the northeastern part of the Elm Forest.
They skirted Quiet Hill, reaching the coastline around noon. The large ship, the Andrea, was drifting nearby.
A distant horn echoed across the sea, and Elder Sister reached out a small hand from under the hood, waving back.
Flipping over a wooden boat that lay upturned on the beach and pushing it into the shallows, Lu Li took an oar and rowed toward the Andrea.
Bump.
The wooden boat bumped gently against the Andrea's rusted hull, and ropes snaked down to hoist it aboard.
— Caw!
The Black Crow spread its wings to keep its balance, following them as they were lifted onto the deck and into the wheelhouse.
Wooooo...
With a blast from its horn, the Andrea left the coastal waters and sailed along the Allen Peninsula toward the port of Himmfast at its other end.
The seed of the Inspector's Eye earned Lu Li a modest reward of ten thousand contribution points. The Merchant took the seed and departed for a short while to plant it in the In-Between.
Barry did not appear again. However, the Merchant, upon returning from the In-Between, still chose to follow Lu Li without resuming his trade.
This was because it was difficult to establish a shop outside of Vinnelag using a Black Crow as a messenger.
Most messengers from the Ancient Era had already died; only the old ones or their descendants remained, like the Black Crow that followed Lu Li and his companions.
Giving Port Roadster a wide berth, the Andrea sailed along the southern coast of the Allen Peninsula toward the port of Himmfast.
They arrived at the port of Himmfast in the evening.
It was now in ruins, and since the port was a good distance from the city of Himmfast itself, they decided to spend the night on the ship.
The Andrea caught a few more large fish. Their scales had fallen off, but they hadn't grown limbs from the contamination. They were brought to the wheelhouse to be cooked and boiled.
Night fell, and a shifting darkness enveloped the Andrea, leaving only the light from the wheelhouse to pierce the fog.
Drip—drip... drip—drip...
Lu Li, who was waiting for the fish to cook in the pot, calmly raised his gaze, looking beyond the wheelhouse.
The sound of dripping was barely audible.
Just then, Elder Sister climbed out of his hood, clinging to Lu Li's shoulder, and said with a yawn:
— Andrea says an uninvited guest has come aboard.
Knock... knock... knock...
Someone suddenly knocked softly on the wheelhouse door, and the sound of dripping water could be heard on the sea wind.
Everyone exchanged glances. They were all in the wheelhouse, so who was knocking...?
The warmth emanating from Ophelia's body grew unstable.
In the silence, the knocking came again from outside.
Knock... knock... knock...
The slow, strange rhythm repeated, and the others now seemed to hear the dripping water as well.
At that moment, Lu Li rose from his seat and opened the door.
His actions startled the others. They thought Lu Li was being controlled by an anomaly—until he spoke calmly to the dark figure outside the door:
— Come in.
Prusius looked up at the tall, dark figure in a top hat, from which water was dripping, and asked cautiously in a low voice:
— Mister Lu Li... you know him?
The tall, shadow-like silhouette ignored Lu Li's invitation and silently retreated into the darkness.
The dripping rainwater seeped into the wooden planks of the deck. Lu Li closed the door again and returned to his seat as if nothing had happened.