novelraw Chapter 302: The Team
Chapter 302: The Team
Walking down the stairs next to the corridor linked to the elevator, the floor below was precisely the dining hall for enjoying dinner. The corridor's lighting presented a warm color tone, concurrently causing the surrounding temperatures to rise slightly.
"Arriving truly so slow..."
Long before Fisher and Ilos came down, the remaining employees had already arrived at the scene. Balzac and Phyllis had also changed into a lighter, more convenient outfit of indoor clothing. Especially Phyllis: she directly put on tribal attire unique to the Southern Continent. That tribal attire couldn't be considered revealing, but the natural materials would always make gentlemen originating from the West Continent associate it with wildness originating from the jungle. Fisher was naturally no exception.
He suddenly wished to know what appearance Raphaela would possess if she put on this set of clothes.
Phyllis laid prone upon the dining table, bored to death. Seeing the arriving late Fisher and Ilos, she curled her lips, speaking as such.
"Ap-apologies."
Hearing Phyllis retort as such, Ilos subconsciously apologized. This instead made the retorting Phyllis somewhat at a loss for what to say next; she had no choice but to cup her own face and nod her head.
Beside her was Herdor. Opposite them were also Balzac and the little Kadu girl they had seen just earlier, Sertil. And at the end of the table, sitting at the position of the main seat was Valentina who had changed into a black dress outfit. Behind her was also the beaming Heidelin, currently fastening a napkin for her.
"Since everyone is gathered, then I shall begin serving the dishes... Mister Fisher, sit first."
Valentina instead reached out her own hand to arrange the napkin before her chest. It wasn't until Fisher sat down that he finally discovered this dining table seemed to be somewhat tall for ordinary people. Subconsciously, he cast a glance at the Valentina sitting at the end of the table and chairs, but saw that her current height was actually a full head taller than the Phyllis beside her.Did she pad something upon her wheelchair?
This thought abruptly popped out within Fisher's brain, concurrently causing the action of fastening his napkin to become somewhat slower too. He constantly used his peripheral vision to contrast against her suddenly grown-taller stature. As a result, it was spotted by the Valentina currently arranging the napkin at her chest. Her actions also became sluggish, making Fisher withdraw his appraising gaze without showing any change in expression or tone.
"...Tomorrow morning, we will arrive at Nebalen. I am unwilling to talk about proper matters at other times again. Therefore, taking advantage of everyone being here right now, I will converse with everyone regarding tomorrow's matters. This way, after finishing dinner, you guys can properly rest for a bit."
Valentina opened her mouth softly, hauling the atmosphere upon the dining table straight into her own hands. Everyone looked towards her, awaiting her subsequent words.
Turning her head, she looked towards Ilos, who was sitting beside Fisher clumsily fastening her napkin. With one hand pinching the Turan family ring on her finger, she opened her mouth and spoke,
"Sister Ilos. Your other compatriots successively suffered harm from an unknown existence in Nebalen. You escaped a calamity in the Sardin Woman's Country. But this absolutely doesn't imply you are immune to this. You still highly possess the possibility of experiencing matters similar to your clansmen."
"But since it is the Turan family who invited you to return to your homeland, we will also exert our utmost full effort to protect your safety. We have prepared an artifact capable of completely isolating external matters. After arriving at Nebalen, you must absolutely stay inside every night; under no circumstances can you leave. Understood?"
The artifact spoken of by Valentina ought to be the colossal containment vessel mentioned previously on the island. At that time, they had once wished to bring the scroll back into this artifact to open it, yet they never expected the scroll couldn't be brought out of the island. Only then did they seek Fisher's help.
Ilos's small face paled slightly. But she still performed a prayer gesture. Nodding, she said,
"Mother Goddess bless... As long as I don't see the moonlight, then I won't see those weird things..."
After listening, Valentina however shook her head, warning,
"When we were protecting your clansmen, they also thought exactly like this. But the death of the Moon Rabbit Patriarch has already proven this point will not work. Moreover, within your Moon Rabbit Race's altar, the probability of death will be far higher than in other locations. The earliest recorded death of the Moon Rabbit-kin was precisely inside the altar... Following that, exactly as if it was contagious, death spread pervasively throughout your ethnic group."
"I... I will stay inside that artifact!"
After obtaining Ilos's assent, Valentina only then looked towards the Balzac beside her with satisfaction. Stating to him,
"Just right now, I have already notified the family concerning the matter regarding the Snow Fox Race Mark. They are currently negotiating with the Snow Fox Patriarch over this matter. But to speak honestly... the hope is extremely slim. If necessary, we might have to personally take a trip. Balzac, this is the situation concerning the Slime-kin distributions transmitted back from the family. It is exceptionally scattered and messy; utterly indistinguishable which branch exactly is orthodox. It requires you to search for historical texts for a bit and judge..."
Balzac received the slips of paper passed over by the maid behind him. Frowning, he examined the contents atop them. Subsequently, he nodded his head and assented to it.
Whereas the Phyllis alongside them possessed a face full of having nothing to do, as if their conversation possessed totally zero relation with herself. By all estimates, she was currently pondering over exactly when she'd actually be able to eat a meal.
"Lastly... Mister Fisher. Since you possess an identical interest towards the Frostwood Sycamore Tree as us, could I also similarly request you on certain matters?"
Valentina's sudden, unexpected voice interrupted Fisher who was also waiting for the meal. He regained his senses. Turning his head, he then saw her appearance of pinching her ring and strategizing within a command tent. Meeting her pale silver irises, he nodded his head and said,
"If you trust me... naturally, yes you may."
Speaking of which, later Fisher not only needed the Turan family to contend against the Erwind tracking him down to kill him, he also had to rely on them to block against the offensive from Elizabeth who was tracking him down to kill him. Thinking like this, even someone like Fisher felt somewhat embarrassed towards this young eldest young miss of the Turan family.
At this time with her inquiring as such, Fisher also immediately assented to it. Although with a single thought one would inherently know it couldn't possibly be a highly important matter; she still fundamentally did not possess complete trust towards him.
"Excellent. Then you temporarily act together with Herdor. Our operation process will utilize a lot of magic. Even residing within the Northern Border, I have heard somewhat of your magic abilities. You two ought to possess many topics; it's only right..."
"No problem."
Fisher nodded. Turning his head to look at the Herdor beside his body, he unexpectedly discovered he had paused for an exceedingly long time entirely without a response. It wasn't until a bit of steam surged out once more from beneath his face did he finally nod his head.
He, functioning as a man constructed of machinery, naturally did not need to eat. Merely acting as a member of the team, he still constantly appeared here.
Fisher acutely detected that between Valentina and Herdor lay a subtle connection... especially after learning Herdor's surname was also "Turan." But currently lacking surplus information, he buried this tiny little thought that generated within the bottom of his heart.
"Everyone, dinner has arrived. Please enjoy."
The proper matters preceding the meal were generally finished. Wearing an incredibly conspicuous emerald hair crown, Heidelin led a flock of maids, arriving at the front of the dining table. Serving them portions upon portions of fairly sumptuous dinners—entirely traditional Northern Border foods—as well as a small glass of beer.
Herdor possessed absolutely nothing before his body, merely watching his partners at the side partake in their meal.
Waiting until everything had been completely readied, Valentina raised the beer in her hands. Towards everyone on the table, she opened her mouth and stated,
"Everyone. Please perform your respective prayers..."
Regardless of whether they were congregants believing in the Frost Phoenix or believing in the Mother Goddess, both possessed the habit of praying before dining. Both lay upon this table, yet their actions completely did not conflict. Ilos and Balzac were believers of the Mother Goddess, hence reverently speaking a sentence: "Thank the Mother Goddess for bestowing food upon me." Meanwhile, Valentina, Heidelin, and Herdor were believers of the Frost Phoenix, hence requiring them to say: "Indulge and enjoy beneath the shadow of the wings."
And the remaining people belonged to the category of believing in absolutely nothing; they could immediately drink wine freely and casually.
The atmosphere of this single dinner meal was exceptionally pleasant. Valentina was the earliest to leave the seating. She ate little; her wine drinking was also merely stopping after a brief attempt. Following right after were these two: Balzac and Sertil. Both of them possessed their respective matters to busy themselves with. Therefore, upon arriving at the very end, only Phyllis who was still frantically eating and Fisher who had just finished dinner preparing to rest a bit remained.
Herdor also had not yet departed, but instead was continuously conversing with Fisher,
"Sizzle... Mister Fisher. If permissible, do you want to head to my magic workshop together with me to take a look? There exist numerous decent tools and books... Valentina desires us to engrave even more magic; presumably toward magic materials she wouldn't be stingy."
Facing Herdor's invitation, Fisher pondered for a mere few seconds before nodding his head and consenting to it. At any rate, he lacked any matters anyway; it'd be far better to go visit what the workshop of this Turan family magician looked like.
A magic workshop was precisely a location where a magician stored assorted materials, books, and tools. Traditional mages adored utilizing this manner of speaking. For instance, someone like Mentor Helson possessed many such workshops. Yet modern-faction magicians exactly like Fisher stressed extreme efficiency and convenience; utterly abstaining from considering any sort of permanent magic engraving sites. Take Fisher, who could even fetch a kitchen knife and engrave one out for you. He lacked quite a few points of the nobility and sense of ritual found in traditional magicians.
However, in reality, Fisher was still significantly fond of visiting the magic workshops of others. From the arrangement of objects and habits of utilizing materials within the workshop, one could immediately and very swiftly figure out clearly the temperament and standard of this magician. He could also interact with this elder regarding some insights into engraving magic; why not be happy to do it?
"Hmph? Phyllis, how are you eating this slowly every single day? If you still don't finish eating, the maids won't be able to rest, you know!"
Right when Fisher's group was preparing to leave, Heidelin, having finished handling matters outside, walked in hugging several heavy and thick books. She possessed an immense headache staring at that Phyllis who was still gnawing on meat.
If she knew earlier, she wouldn't have prepared this many meat dishes today. This guy disliked eating vegetables. Ordinarily, when there were vegetables, swallowing two or three mouthfuls down and she'd stop eating; exclusively picking the meat out to eat perfectly.
"Burp! I still want a— Haha... alright. Actually I am eaten full... Burp!"
Phyllis, who still wanted another portion, rubbed her own lower abdomen that was already gradually becoming capable of comparing to Ilos's. But when she turned her head and saw the other party's extremely dangerous gaze, she immediately embarrassedly laughed once more, rubbing her own head and changing her mouth.
"You this guy truly is... Right, Mister Fisher. Miss Valentina said just earlier that you entirely lack clothing to ward off the cold upon your body, instructing me to head into the storehouse to fetch a few pieces for you. If you and Mister Herdor have matters to busy yourselves with, you can tell me your sizing numbers. I shall go fetch them for you... if you don't mind my traditional aesthetic judgment."
Cupping her own cheeks, she winked at Fisher. This caused Fisher's gaze to shift away from the books hugged within her embrace, smiling brightly towards her as he opened his mouth answering,
"Then I will trouble Miss Heidelin."