When the Holy Light Knights’ team finally reached the outskirts of the Gray Fog Forest at the border, Yisela’s smile vanished.
There was none of the Temple’s bustling prosperity here, nor the cheering sounds of the square. Only ruins remained.
The once prosperous village now had less than half of its walls left. No crops could grow on the scorched earth.
The air was filled with the smell of burning and a sense of despair.
A group of villagers in tattered clothes were huddled in a makeshift refugee camp. They were all gaunt, with hollow eyes.
When they saw the Knights approaching, they didn’t cheer. They just instinctively shrank back. As if they were afraid that these armored people had come to collect taxes or drive them away.
There was a little girl so thin she was just skin and bones. In one hand, she tightly clutched a piece of moldy black bread. She looked at Yisela warily.
At that, Yisela was stunned. As a transmigrator, she wasn’t inexperienced.
In her previous life, she had seen poverty, war, and hunger in the news.
But sympathy through a screen was completely different from the suffocating feeling of actually being there.
In her own life, she had complained that the milk wasn’t sweet enough, that the sheets weren’t soft enough. She thought this otherworld was a huge playground. As long as she was happy and caused trouble, everyone would smile and forgive her, praising her for being cute.
She had never imagined that in this otherworld, there were people who couldn’t even afford a single full meal, and had their homes taken by magic beasts.
And just as she was looking at the little girl clutching the moldy bread, a very brief thought flashed through her mind.
She remembered that night in the Dragon’s Nest when her stomach growled with hunger, curled up on the cold dragon bed, without even a piece of bread to fill her belly. If only someone had come by and handed her a chicken leg.
Seraphina walked over. She crouched in front of the little girl.
Then she took out a bag of white bread and a bottle of milk from her backpack, and gently placed them in the little girl’s hands.
Several knights also gathered around. They distributed the dry rations, blankets, and water skins they carried with them to the surrounding refugees.
A young knight draped his coat over the shoulders of an old woman who was shivering. The old woman grabbed his hand, repeatedly saying words of thanks.
That knight had never furrowed his brow once during the many days of marching, but now he awkwardly turned his face away and wiped the corner of his eye with his vambrace.
Yisela stood there. She watched Seraphina busy among the crowd, her back weary but still straight.
So this is what a true Sheng Nu is like—she isn’t that kind of lofty divine statue. But someone willing to bend down for these complete strangers, to wipe the dirt from their faces.
“I was wrong.”
Yisela lowered her head. Her tears dropped onto the dusty ground with a patter.
Seraphina settled the little girl and then turned around.
She saw Yisela standing in the ruins, crying like a dirty little kitten.
Her heart tightened. She quickly walked over.
“What’s wrong?”
“Are you hurt?”
“Or are you scared?”
Yisela suddenly threw herself into her arms.
She held her neck tightly. She cried so hard she could barely breathe.
“Sister!”
“I’m sorry!”
“I shouldn’t have treated you like that in the Holy Temple, calling you a fake Sheng Nu. I shouldn’t have eaten your snacks, caused you so much trouble, and called you a big liar!”
“You’re only this tired because you’re protecting them!”
“You’re a good person!”
“You’re the best sister in the whole world!”
Seraphina was stunned. Looking at Yisela’s eyes, red with guilt, she gently patted her on the back.
“Little fool, big sister isn’t a good person.
“Big sister just wants to protect the people I want to protect.”
“But, I’ll accept this apology.
“As a reward, when we get back, I’ll make you cream pancakes, okay?”
Even though she spoke lightly, a very complex feeling suddenly welled up in her heart.
She hadn’t expected Yisela to say these things. Seeing her cry like this, she felt pretty bad herself.
But she also felt relieved—this little one had finally grown up.
Yisela raised her head. Her tear-streaked eyelashes trembled, and then she broke into a smile through her tears.
“I want double the cream!”
“Okay.”
“Double the cream.”
Above the ruins, the setting sun was slowly sinking to the west.
At that moment, the little evil dragon seemed to finally understand what true protection meant.
And her Knight was gently holding her hand, walking together toward a new battlefield.