novelraw Chapter 300: Heidelin
Chapter 300: Heidelin
"Neigh, neigh!"
The two handsome steeds in front of the carriage panted heavily amidst the frigid Northern Border. Following along the frost-covered countryside trail, they brought the cumbersome carriage behind them continuing to gallop madly forward. The Healing Rot Church in the rear grew increasingly smaller within Fisher's eyes, while the silhouette of Hearthome Castle emitting wisps of kitchen smoke in the distance grew increasingly distinct.
The clothing upon Fisher's body was thin and insubstantial, yet he didn't feel how cold it was. After peacefully resting for an entire night, the injuries he suffered due to the storm had also healed quite a bit; currently, he could already no longer feel the stinging sensations upon his body.
"Sizzle... Mister Fisher. Our ship is parked right within the port outside Hearthome Castle. Let us board the ship and depart now; I estimate we can arrive at Nebalen tomorrow. Therefore, our dinner can also only be enjoyed on the ship."
"In such a hurry?"
"Sizzle... Actually, we had the thought of tracing back to the Frostwood Sycamore Tree from the six races a very long time ago. But it wasn't until not long ago, after entering the Pale Bird Race's underground palace in Mya, that Valentina finally saw a bit of dawn. Valentina has already been searching for these clues for several years. Naturally, she won't easily let off this opportunity."
It was unknown if it was because Fisher was Helson's student, but the Herdor beside him was considered fairly friendly and frank towards him. Not only did he ask Fisher if he was cold when just boarding the carriage, he also spoke with him about a bit of their current progress regarding searching for the sigils... He seemingly possessed utmost trust towards this student of Helson's.
The soundproofing effects of the carriage weren't very good. Sitting at the front of the carriage head, Fisher would occasionally hear the conversation between Valentina and Ilos within the carriage compartment behind him.
The conversation was roughly more information regarding the demise process of the Moon Rabbit-kin. Actually, the Turan family had received this news several years ago. They had also taken in many Moon Rabbit-kin fleeing Nebalen at that time. But even if they were far away from their homeland, during the night, they would still suddenly be robbed of their lives.
The dying process was largely similar to those crew members Fisher had seen on the Southern Continent island back then: their entire bodies from top to bottom would grow completely replete with feathers, ultimately dying from excessive blood loss.It was precisely because they previously possessed the prior warning of the Moon Rabbit-kin that they appeared to possess certain comprehension regarding those curses when boarding the island.
Fisher suddenly thought of the illusory lines of sight he saw surrounding the True Ice Scroll when it was sealed back then again. He constantly felt those lines of sight differed greatly from the lines of sight within the Spirit World; they were more like another kind of thing he couldn't clearly explain or articulate.
The carriage traveled for probably less than half an hour. At the Hearthome Castle port in the distance, Fisher then saw that ironclad ship he had seen previously, which was quite a few sizes smaller than the Iceberg Queen. At that time, he had merely seen the exterior shape of this ship from afar.
Now being closer, he only then discovered that painted on the side of this ship was a colossal whale possessing a single horn growing atop its head. Looking carefully, it seemed to mutually correspond with that ice-breaking spear at the front of this ship from afar.
Hung upon the mast above the ship was a blue flag blossoming with a five-pointed snowflake. The winds within the borders of the Sardin Woman's Country arose again, blowing that flag to tremble exactly like ocean waves. There weren't any people in front of that ship; he could only see crew members wearing pale blue clothing, similarly bearing the five-pointed snowflake mark upon their bodies, standing by on standby below.
"Young Lady Valentina. In accordance with your instructions, the Narwhal's steam engine has already been pre-heated. It can depart McDowell at any time."
Seeing Valentina's carriage driving over from afar, those crew members respectfully leaned towards the side of the carriage and opened their mouths to speak as such.
The curtain at the rear of the carriage was lifted a bit by a fair palm. From within it transmitted a response carrying a faint fragrance,
"Board the ship. We shall depart right now."
"Yes, Young Lady."
Fisher alighted the carriage a step ahead. Following closely behind him were exactly those two, Phyllis and Balzac, who couldn't deal with each other but were even more vigilant towards him. Fisher possessed no intent of acknowledging them. They were also forced to stay near the carriage because their own boss hadn't alighted yet.
Whereas the "false pregnant woman" Sister Ilos... because she hadn't ridden a carriage for this long in far too long, just having alighted, she couldn't resist reaching out a hand to rub the slightly protruding tail portion upon her nun's habit. Looking rather unnaturally at the massive ship parked at the port, she stood beside Fisher.
"Ah... the Turan family. Finally seeing the genuine masters of their family. Sigh, have I told you before that their family has lived within a fortress in the shape of a five-pointed snowflake for generations upon generations? One can very rarely see the members of their family coming out to be active..."
Gazing at the gigantic flag fluttering in the wind within the sky, Emhart couldn't resist opening his mouth and saying this to Fisher. And speaking of the Turan family's genuine masters... the gazes of these two couldn't help but look toward the direction of the carriage. Over there, the Valentina sitting in the wheelchair was being transported down from the carriage by Herdor.
Her pair of legs seemingly possessed a certain unknown congenital or acquired crippling illness, rendering her life only capable of mutually binding with the wheelchair beneath her, letting her aura be dyed with a layer of faint fragile color... especially when Fisher saw her being transported down from the carriage expressionlessly.
Speaking of which, previously when she was beside him, the Demi-Human Completion Handbook had once displayed a garbled code of entirely unclear meaning. This either indicated Valentina was a highly unique demi-human race that even the Demi-Human Completion Handbook couldn't identify, or it meant her circumstances were special, completely mismatching the regulations of the Completion Handbook for determining a demi-human girl.
And Fisher didn't really believe a demi-human race that even the Demi-Human Completion Handbook couldn't ascertain would emerge. Therefore, he more so believed it was the latter.
Meaning to say, even if Valentina wasn't a demi-human race, she still possessed profoundly deep connections with demi-human races.
A bit of deep contemplation flashed through the gaze he sized Valentina up with. Yet he didn't explicitly reveal it. Only the Emhart on his shoulder detected a bit of the clues, speechlessly casting him a glance.
This Turan family ship was named the Narwhal. The boarding method was also quite a bit gentler than Alagina's Iceberg Queen. At the very least, right now Fisher and the large-bellied Ilos didn't have to haul themselves up iron chains onto the deck anymore... because this ship was equipped with a mechanical elevator.
"Boss, since the Cloud Cat Race Mark is already in our hands, and regarding the Moon Rabbit Race Mark, we've also now found the orphaned Moon Rabbit and secured its whereabouts... shouldn't we go contact the Snow Fox-kin tribe to search for the sigil for a bit?"
On the elevator, Phyllis leaned against the wall bouncing a gold coin in her hand. Balzac's words newly awakened the Valentina who was resting her eyes to nurture her spirit. She silently cast a glance at the Fisher beside her hugging his chest, completely unknown what entirely he was pondering. Following this, she somewhat headache-inducingly rubbed her own temples.
The Herdor behind her noticed Valentina's actions, hence opening his mouth to state,
"Sizzle... The Snow Fox-kin is a highly xenophobic race. Although their traces are frequently seen in the northern parts of the Northern Border, they are exceptionally unfriendly towards other races. According to the family's intel, the sigil remains in their hands. However, ordinarily even attempting to communicate with them is incredibly difficult; wanting them to hand over the sigil is presumably impossible..."
"Tch, isn't it just a flock of stinky demi-human races? Even if we go steal it..."
Balzac murmured a sentence in a low voice. But the Phyllis behind him violently grasped the gold coin in her hands, emitting a crisp sound. Simultaneously, beneath those muffin-like lion ears, her gaze also turned unfriendly, forcing the words he was about to spout out to come to an abrupt end.
He almost forgot: right now, there were still two demi-human races beside him.
Balzac silently swallowed his words back into his belly, no longer speaking, merely curling his lips and leaning against the wall.
"I will think of a way regarding the matter of the Snow Fox Race Mark later. Right now we already hold the Cloud Cat Race Mark in our hands; the Pale Bird Race and Moon Rabbit Race marks also possess clues..."
Valentina suddenly spoke. During the gaps between words, when mentioning the "Pale Bird Race" and "Moon Rabbit Race" marks, she swept a glance at the Fisher and Ilos beside her. Following this, she only then continued speaking to Balzac,
"You may begin searching for the sigil clues of the remaining two demi-human races. The Giant Troll-kin has been missing for far too long; I estimate it'll be relatively difficult to search for them. Start with the Slime-kin's sigil first."
"...No problem, Boss. I will go prepare later."
Valentina nodded. The entire elevator also abruptly trembled and halted. Following blasts of creaking mechanical component friction noises, the large doors before their eyes suddenly opened, revealing the spatial area of the ship compartment's interior.
They nonetheless saw that within the broad corridor paved by wool carpets, gentle magic lighting was diffusely scattered. Something vastly contrasting with the Northern Border's frigid temperatures were the blasts of warm breeze, completely as if placing oneself beneath the sunlight.
The warm temperatures mingled with a little faint feminine fragrance, revealing the figure of a lady wearing traditional Northern Border attire who had already been waiting a long time at the elevator's doorway.
"Young Lady Valentina... Everyone... Good evening. The hot water and dinner have already been prepared. Welcome back."
Her mature visage carried a bit of gentle smiling intent. That broad bosom, even when compared against the Sister Teresa within his memories, was completely not to be outdone. A full head of pure black long hair was tied into a hair knot. Adorning the hair knot was a glistening hair crown. Inlaid upon that hair crown was a single emerald green gemstone... leading it to appear quite striking.
He had seen this lady on the island last time. She seemed to be called "Heidelin"... It was just that within his impression at that time, she hadn't worn this hair crown, that's all.
"Sizzle... Mister Fisher. This is the ship's supervisor, Miss Heidelin. Ordinarily, she is also in charge of taking care of Valentina's daily living. Heidelin... this is Fisher Benavides. Last time we met on the island. Right now he will be cooperating with us together to search for the sigils."
"Hello, Lady Heidelin."
"Mister Fisher, hello. We met once previously. Extremely glad to see you again here... Ah, and this lovely Moon Rabbit-kin nun?"
"Eh? Um... Mother Goddess bless... No, incorrect. V-very glad to meet you."
Heidelin reached out her hands to cup her own cheeks, exchanging a greeting with Fisher as well as Ilos. Closely following that, she also cast a rather meticulous gaze sizing up the Emhart upon Fisher's shoulder once, seemingly clicking her tongue somewhat in wonder at his ugliness. Her staring made Emhart's entire body uncomfortable, nearly failing to shrink back into Fisher's pocket.
The gaze within her jade irises was gentle, exactly as dazzling as that single emerald gemstone inlaid upon her hair crown. Her personality was also exceptionally warm and enthusiastic, just like the temperature inside the room.
"Alright, Heidelin. Arrange a room for each of them individually. Afterwards, lead them to the dining hall... I need to return and change my outfit."
Valentina pushed her own wheelchair walking out of the elevator, journeying towards the depths of the corridor. Balzac and Phyllis were also already frequent flyers upon the ship from long ago. After watching that Valentina sitting in the wheelchair travel far away, Phyllis's smile immediately turned dangerous upon looking at the Balzac beside her,
"Heh... You dead dog. You were quite capable of speaking inside just earlier, huh... Next time, you just pray when you encounter an accident, don't let a stinky demi-human race like me save you. Otherwise, it'd entirely do a disservice to the words you spoke just earlier."
Balzac twisted his mouth askew. Casting a glance at Ilos who was still within the elevator... as well as Fisher who was looking at him before his body... while the beaming Heidelin at the side was also currently looking at him.
He opened his mouth yet said absolutely nothing. Merely glaring at that Phyllis possessing an unfriendly complexion, he coldly snorted once,
"Hmph."
Balzac shook his own red robes, just preparing to walk inside. The depths of the corridor suddenly quivered for a moment. Following this, loud, continuous, massive explosive noises transmitted over, exactly as if countless metal components were currently fully engaging in frantic quivering and friction. This gave him a jump of fright.
"Fuck! What is this guy Sertil doing again? Sooner or later there'll be a day where she'll completely dismantle this entire ship... None of these guys are reliable, and now there's even one more..."
Peevish and irritated, Phyllis spat a mouthful of saliva onto the carpet alongside her. Laughing rather disdainfully once, just as she was preparing to swagger away from here, the ears atop her head restlessly twitched again. Afterwards, she somewhat ashamedly reached out a hand rubbing her own hair. Turning her head back towards the beaming Heidelin, she embarrassedly laughed,
"Ha... I totally forgot I can't carelessly spit stuff on the boat... Haha, apologies."
"If you are capable of remembering to flush the toilet... I might perhaps be even happier, oh, Miss Phyllis."
Heidelin opened her mouth to speak with a smile that wasn't a smile on her skin, causing the Phyllis who was previously flying high with imposing momentum to become possessing a guilty conscience. Silently retreating a step back, while using the lion tail behind her back to sweep the stain on the ground entirely clean, she concurrently began shifting backward secretly completely without anyone knowing or noticing,
"Definitely next time... definitely next time..."
Seeing Heidelin utterly lacking any intent to acknowledge herself, Phyllis's footsteps instantly became brisk. Scampering joyfully exactly like a freed hound, she darted towards a room within the depths of the corridor. Sending off her parting dorsal view that repudiated all six relations, only Fisher's group of four remained at the elevator's doorway.
With a sigh, Heidelin withdrew her line of sight. Turning her head back, she spoke to the deeply contemplating Fisher,
"Although these guys are quite capable when working, their private lives are truly incapable of compliment, precisely like little children... However, perhaps it is exactly due to such lack of restriction to trivialities that they are capable of completely concentrating upon the matters before their eyes? Alright, alright, Mister Fisher. Allow me to lead you guys to your rooms to take a look. Mealtime will swiftly commence; there isn't much time to delay anymore."
She tapped her own lips. Her mature charm was released from her naturally unadorned lip corners, acting in perfect harmony with that single hair crown she wore upon her forehead to bring out the best in each other.