Chapter 249: The Name Praised by All Things

Though somewhat embarrassed, Arthur slowly sat down by the campfire, beside Amisa.

“Miss Amisa, I know your opinion of me isn’t good, and I’m aware of what I’ve done… Sigh. But this time, I really do have something to inform the Young Lady about.”

Hmm? Amisa was slightly startled. He had something to inform the Young Lady about, yet he came to find her?

In that moment of surprise, the Head Maid suddenly recalled what she had said that night…

She had indeed told him to come to her first with anything, and she would inform the Young Lady.

Because she didn’t trust Arthur… She never expected him to actually remember those words.

But something as trivial as this wasn’t enough to change Amisa’s opinion of him in the slightest.

“Heh~ Go ahead… What is it?”

The Head Maid forced a smile, the corners of her lips twitching upward as she picked up a stick beside her and poked at the firewood in the campfire.

“Lately, I’ve been feeling a bit unsettled.” Arthur sighed, his brow deeply furrowed.

“Unsettled?” Amisa frowned slightly, inwardly grumbling, ‘Did this guy just not sleep well and come to chat with me?’

“Yes. Starting from about ten days ago, along the path we’ve traveled… there have been lives wailing, and also…”

Arthur stopped mid-sentence again.

Great. Very much in character for this guy… Amisa closed her eyes, originally intending to ignore him entirely.

But thinking back to how much the Young Lady valued and indulged him, she finally spoke slowly…

“I know you have concerns. But you need to think carefully: how has the Young Lady treated you… and what have you done during this time?”

Amisa’s gaze never fell on Arthur. She just kept poking the fire in front of her with the stick, over and over.

“I suggest that if you’re going to hesitate over everything, it would be better for you to just stay put.”

Hearing the Head Maid’s undisguised sarcasm, Arthur opened his mouth, then finally smiled helplessly.

“You’re right. Actually… along this journey, I’ve heard the flowers, grass, trees, snakes, insects, rats, wolves, and tigers… all praising the name of a certain being.”

“A certain being? A Supreme Being?” Amisa squinted slightly.

If so, that was a big deal. As Transcendents, they knew perfectly well what a Supreme Being was.

If they were unlucky enough to catch its attention—even just a single glance—they could fall into an irreversible state of doom.

“Yes. They are calling out a revered name… the Crystal Tree.” This time, Arthur didn’t hesitate.

Perhaps out of guilt, or perhaps wanting to make amends to Ileya, he directly revealed what he had heard.

The Crystal Tree?! Amisa was stunned.

Along the way, the Young Lady had told them many things.

Though Amisa didn’t know all the details, she did know about the connection between this “Crystal Giant Tree” and her Young Lady.

So something related to that Supreme Being had appeared again…

“And those wailing sounds mostly come from humans. According to my deduction… a large number of humans have been slaughtered, which is why such piercing cries arise.”

Arthur analyzed based on what he had actually perceived.

“So this is your ability?” Amisa raised an eyebrow slightly.

After traveling all this way, she had to admit that this old man’s strength was worth recognizing.

“Yes… This is one of my abilities. To put it simply, it’s… the Voice of All Things.”

Giving Arthur a meaningful look, Amisa finally nodded slowly at him.

“Alright. I’ll inform the Young Lady tomorrow morning… But are you sure there’s nothing else you’re hiding this time?”

Looking at the Head Maid’s squinting, suspicious eyes, Arthur could only smile bitterly.

His credibility really was… Sigh.

But it couldn’t be helped. Given what he had done, it was indeed hard to be trusted.

“Of course not. Well then, Miss Amisa, I won’t disturb your night watch.” With that, Arthur slowly stood up and walked toward his carriage.

The Head Maid remained seated, closing her eyes to rest again after he left.

Of course, this matter was very important. It wouldn’t even be excessive to wake the Young Lady immediately and inform her.

But… Holly’s scream just now had already woken the Young Lady from her sleep.

And the Young Lady had definitely heard everything Arthur said to her.

And that was exactly the case.

Inside the spacious carriage, Ileya, dressed in a light nightgown, crossed her arms. Her red eyes narrowed slightly.

‘The Crystal Giant Tree. It’s already starting now?’

However… Ileya now knew that the Saint Witch of the Golden Apple Adventure Group, Tilyaro Risereton, was the Crystal Giant Tree.

From the last stone tablet illustration—“The Saint Witch walks into the interior of the Giant Tree”—it seemed the Crystal Giant Tree was just Tilyaro’s alternate identity.

But… this Supreme Being, who had once fought other Supreme Beings to protect humans, why was it now attacking the Human Kingdom in turn?

Thinking this, Ileya shook her head.

This wasn’t something she should be worrying about now… However, her plan had been executed quite well.

If it weren’t for the so-called “tolerance” she had shown toward Arthur these past two times, this old man, who seemed to hold a special respect for the “Saint Witch,” would most likely still be speaking in riddles like last time.

But… even knowing this, it was completely impossible for her to resolve it.

A disaster sweeping through the Kingdom—she didn’t have that kind of power to handle it.

All she could do was, amid this torrent of catastrophe that might be equivalent to “world-ending” for humans, try her best to protect the Marquis Castle—that single leaf boat in the storm.

To ensure that she, her family, and her friends would not perish in this disaster.

Moreover…

Memories of the “future” flooded into her mind. Perhaps her enemies weren’t just the Supreme Beings and their descendants…

The Kingdom itself was not a shield for her; it was a double-edged sword that could take her life at any moment.

Thinking of this, Ileya suddenly recalled another point—the one that bothered her the most.

In the original “fate,” Ileya was executed by hanging.

But even after her death, neither her mother nor that old man came to claim her body.

Yet, knowing Lady Shuderian, Ileya was certain she would never leave her daughter to rot on the gallows.

She would do everything in her power, spare no expense, to save her.

As for that old man who had yet to “meet” Ileya in this timeline…

In her memories, though he was somewhat unsmiling, he had been quite indulgent toward his daughter—even to the point of doting.

Otherwise, the original her could never have earned the title “Bloodblossom Demon.”

If even her father was like that, let alone her two brothers…

So the only reasonable explanation was: when she was executed as a so-called “witch,” the Marquis Castle had already encountered a major disaster—or even…

It might have been annihilated, leaving only her alive.

At the mere thought that something like that could happen, Ileya’s eyes could barely contain the murderous intent surging within her.

“Ugh…” This chill even caused Veil, who was sleeping beside her, to subconsciously shrink her head under the covers.

No… The more she thought about it, the more Ileya felt she couldn’t sleep at all.

Especially when she imagined that her mother might have met with misfortune in this disaster, she wanted to immediately annihilate both the Supreme Beings and the Human Kingdom together!

“Strength, strength… As expected, to stand firm in this world, you need power~”

With that thought, Ileya decided not to sleep. She slowly closed her eyes and began to control the blood flow inside her body, accelerating it…

This was the skill she had drawn from the [Soul Coffin] before: the ancient magic “Blood Manipulation.”

When she first learned it, she could only barely control her own blood flow a little, even giving herself a nosebleed.

But now, her control over her own blood was nearly perfect.

During her usual practice, the Young Lady had also devised some uses for this ability.

For example, slowing down her blood flow—which caused obvious fatigue and lethargy—mostly used for… helping her sleep.

Another was forcing blood to seep out from her pores, condensing into blood droplets.

As for remotely controlling the blood inside another person’s body…

Ileya glanced sideways at the Young Lady sleeping with the blanket pulled over her head.

The moment she activated the spell, it was like casting a stone into mud—a deep sense of powerlessness instantly flooded her entire body.

“Hiss… Sigh~ As expected, it’s still like this.” Ileya looked at the bulging blanket and smiled helplessly.

Having advanced to the Third Rank, she finally understood the helplessness that the Lich in that tomb had felt when facing Veil…

Veil’s body might be soft and delicate, easy to push over… but her magic resistance was maxed out.

At the very least, all the spells Ileya had mastered, when used on this girl, sank like stones thrown into the sea, failing to raise even a single ripple.

‘If only I had a body like this…’

As Ileya thought this, her left hand subconsciously slipped under the covers and lightly traced Veil’s waist…

“Mm… Mmm…” Feeling the cold touch on her skin, little Veil instinctively twisted her body.

Just as the Young Lady’s lips curled upward, she suddenly felt a very cold gaze shooting at her from the side!

Turning her head, she saw Reliel on the other side of the carriage.

Her icy blue eyes had opened at some point, and she was now staring at her expressionlessly.

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡° )

Huh?

“Ahem…” Ileya’s heart inexplicably skipped a beat, as if she had been caught doing something bad.

“You… you’re awake?” She felt that such a dry remark might as well have been left unsaid.

“Do you like her?” But to Ileya’s surprise, this little mute suddenly spoke, asking her such a question.

‘Like… her?’

She blinked. To this question, Ileya had a unified answer.

“I like everyone~ You’re all indispensable wings that let me fly forward~”

Faced with such an outrageously flirtatious statement, the Miss Younger Sister fell into a long silence.

Then she looked at Ileya’s hand that was still mischievously under the covers.

And subconsciously touched her own waist.

The thought in her mind at that moment was… ‘I shouldn’t lose to Veil.’