Night fell.
A scout discovered fluctuations of the Evil God’s magic with shock and suspicion.
Dax was the first to learn of it, and Lin Nuo arrived shortly after receiving the news.
When he opened the wooden door he had visited earlier that afternoon, he saw Suo Liuxiang’s cold corpse, which emitted a disturbing, chilling aura.
Lin Nuo fell into a long silence.
Under the scout’s terrified gaze and Dax’s horrified eyes—the latter having no time to stop him—Lin Nuo, the only one unaffected by the wicked energy, stepped forward calmly.
He closed the tearful eyes on Suo Liuxiang’s cold face, which wore a smile of apparent satisfaction.
He told Dax and the scout there was no need to make a scene.
The next day.
Yosena, who had swum back from the shallows, was led by Lin Nuo into Suo Liuxiang’s room.
The body had already been carried away, and the bloodstains on the floor had been wiped clean.
Cleansing Magic had left the room without even a trace of Suo Liuxiang’s scent.
“She was always a coward. Coming back only to face an invasion by cultists probably scared the life out of her.”
“I wanted to introduce her to you, but you might have disliked her…”
Yosena seemed sullen, thinking of her friend who had left without saying goodbye.
But then she reconsidered, feeling that this was exactly how Suo Liuxiang was.
“She loved running away more than anything. When we were in the cellar and I asked her to give me a hand, she just slipped away…”
As if a dam had burst, Yosena continued her reminiscence, “I’m telling you, I once asked her to help me pick some Moonlight Grass, and she said she was afraid of the turtles and crabs in the shallows. What is there to be afraid of? Seriously!”
“Getting her to work was just too hard… It seems the only time she ever proactively wanted to do something was eight years ago when she told me she’d met someone she wanted to protect.”
“But when I asked who it was, she actually asked me something bizarre—she asked how one should believe in the Evil God…”
“After that, she disappeared and remained without a word for so long. Isn’t she a strange and annoying person?”
Lin Nuo thought of that pale girl and the smile she wore in the final moment of her life.
It took a long moment before he spoke, “Maybe.”
Seeing Yosena pack the few items in the room as if waiting for her friend’s next return, Lin Nuo didn’t clarify anything.
He stepped slowly to the side.
Through the still-open wooden window, he could see a girl in a white dress sitting on a reef not far away, surrounded by little merfolk.
She held a conch to her lips and played a melodious, unique tune toward the azure sea.
“Lin Nuo, I suddenly want you to take good care of the Royal Lady.”
Before Lin Nuo could turn his head, Yosena, who had been watching Sister Xi blow the conch alongside him, suddenly shook her head in a daze.
“Eh? That’s really strange… I wouldn’t have said something like that before. We merfolk are supposed to call her Sister Xi.”
“Perhaps someone wanted you to tell me that…”
“Yeah, now that you mention it, that’s possible!” Yosena didn’t dwell on it.
“Anyway, when I’m conducting experiments or brewing potions, what I trust most is my intuition.”
“Right! I think I told you that my mental experiments failed over 500 times. I haven’t told you the details yet, but you must never think I’ve harmed anyone.”
“Those 500 subjects who went mad were actually just magical creatures.”
“I just don’t know why…” Yosena said doubtfully, “Those Treading Wave Sea Guard Knights said they were retaliated against after killing just a few dozen magical creatures. I’ve driven over 500 mad over the years, yet Blaineau never came to kill me…”
Unable to figure it out, Yosena naturally attributed it to her good luck.
It wasn’t until she helped organize Suo Liuxiang’s wardrobe that she found a stalk of Moonlight Grass—the very thing Suo Liuxiang had once refused to pick for her—hidden among a pile of tattered clothes.
Yosena suddenly spoke again, “You haven’t answered me. Can you protect Sister Xi?”
“Hmm?”
“You don’t think she looks like she still needs my protection most of the time, do you?”
‘For heaven’s sake…’
‘Do you even realize who is actually the weak one being pinned down?!’
Lin Nuo scratched Fatty Bird, who had flown in from outside and landed on his shoulder.
“If such a time comes, even if I said I couldn’t, you probably wouldn’t believe me.”
“That’s true.”
Having received a satisfactory answer, Yosena smiled with great confidence in Lin Nuo.
She rubbed the Moonlight Grass between two fingers.
The petals drifted into the sea on a gentle breeze, floating into the distance.
***
“Clop, clop, clop—”
Inside a carriage, a couple dressed in noble, dignified attire was returning toward Claremont Manor after completing a tour of the Elven kingdom.
“Although those arrogant Elves would have been willing to pray for us if you entered the World Tree,” Puli said with a smile, “the Elven King’s invitation this time was something our son earned for us.”
“I also feel that using a convenience our child secured for us makes it feel like he’s truly grown up. Hahaha…”
The one responding to Puli was none other than Lin Nuo’s father, the leader of the seven Dukes, Kuxiu Clemence.
“Our son was the one who suggested that our Clemence family should monopolize the privilege of seizing the Elves’ Sacred Relics. It’s just a pity that this situation isn’t easy to reveal.”
“Lin Nuo has no way to protect himself. It’s safer for now to let everyone think he’s mediocre. He won’t feel it’s a pity himself…”
Along the way, Kuxiu often saw traveling bards active in front of taverns.
These people, who were both singers and storytellers, held lutes and told epics of heroes and legendary adventures across the Sallydor Continent while performing improvised comedies.
More than once during their travels, Kuxiu had heard these people mention the name “Lin Nuo.”
However, the tone was mostly mocking.
“Lin Nuo’s magic aptitude is mediocre! He’s ignorant and incompetent!”
“I heard that every once in a while, he helps the newly recruited Priestesses in the chapel check their physical development.”
“He idles his time away at home. Rumor has it that he even drops a Soulstone whenever he passes the maids’ bathhouse…”
The listeners would then let out sighs of jealous indignation, then head off to denounce Lin Nuo’s character elsewhere out of concern for the maids and servants of the Clemence family.
If the insults were too harsh, Kuxiu might send the old butler out to spoil their fun by telling the bards who claimed Lin Nuo was worthless, “Lin Nuo is rich.”
That alone would easily break their composure.
Followed by: “Lin Nuo’s looks could make the God of Love and Beauty sigh with envy, and he has a powerful, amazing father.”
The onlookers would shout in frustration and turn red with rage.
This was one of the things Kuxiu enjoyed most during the journey.
“My heart hasn’t been at peace lately. I’m really afraid that little Lin Nuo might have done something shocking while we were away,” Kuxiu said at a noble inn during a break to rest the horses.
“But in all likelihood, our son probably can’t do much that would truly surprise you,” Puli said.
“After all, when you were little Lin Nuo’s age, you were already capable of striking down a Demon Army several times your size with only 10,000 guards.”
“That’s true.” The old butler agreed and said,”The Lord Duke saw the summit early on, so there are surely very few who could catch his eye.”
“Patter, patter—”
Hurried footsteps suddenly burst in.
Before the old butler could turn around to scold the magic guard for being so undisciplined, the guard’s urgent and panicked report caused the cheerful atmosphere to freeze completely.
“Reporting to the Lord Duke! The scouts have discovered a change in Young Master Lin Nuo’s location from a few days ago!”
“The Young Master went to the Shilang Bay! According to reports, hundreds of thousands of magical creatures have recently been active on the surface there!”
“Boom—”
Before the old butler’s heart could stop.
A scout from the Migludia family followed immediately to report.
“Reporting to the Lord Duke!”
“Count Dax led several thousand Treading Wave Sea Guard Knights from the western Falling Tide Port to the Shilang Bay! Young Master Lin Nuo is among them!”
“They have entered a final battle with the tide of magical creatures after the Bloodpact Servant used the Ankalamuheng!”
“Crack—”
Kuxiu crushed the glass in his hand, his eyes filled with intense worry.
‘Letting my son fight magical creatures?’
‘What’s the difference between that and asking a mouse to write an essay on how to pet a cat?’
Just as he was about to summon mages to head to the Shilang Bay to rescue Dax and Lin Nuo, another report arrived like a clap of thunder, striking him right in the temples.
“The 4,000 knights fought 200,000 magical creatures… and without using magic… they won a total victory!”
“What?!”
“Without using magic… 4,000 beat 200,000?!”
The First Duke, the head of the seven Dukes, was so shocked his eyes went wide as saucers.
“This is the information Count Dax just sent through transmission magic!”
“In that case…” Puli, who had almost fainted from fright, breathed a long sigh of relief, “Dax is truly capable of winning against such odds.”
“Madam, actually… Count Dax said that this great battle with the magical creatures had almost nothing to do with him.”
“They all said they didn’t know if Young Master Lin Nuo was possessed by the Goddess of Wisdom. He actually came up with the ideas of feigned surrender, a Fire Attack, and using Iron Chains to drive the magical creatures away.”
“That battle was exquisite beyond measure. The top credit belongs entirely to Young Master Lin Nuo!”
“…Ah?!”
Even the steady old butler couldn’t help but let out a sharp, startled cry.
“Lord Duke, did you know? Delusion… that powerful Bloodpact Servant under the Evil God was subdued by Young Master Lin Nuo!”
“He has now returned to Luke. He seems to have learned a rare healing magic as well and is currently treating the injured knights…”
“Hey!”
“Lord Duke! Madam has fainted from shock!”