Chapter 8: The Abyss of the Rift

Looking at the note, Anderson’s face turned as dark as ink.

He had thought Ainola’s personality was a bit eccentric before, but seeing this today, it was truly eccentric enough to make one want to spank her hard.

“Ainola, you brat, just you wait!”

Anderson cursed as he threw the note into the trash can, then shifted his gaze back to the pile of clothes.

These clothes had indeed been worn by Ainola, and just a moment ago, Anderson had truly wanted to touch them to feel their texture.

After all, having lost his worldly desires, the most he could do was merely touch them.

Because of the letter Ainola left behind, Anderson felt the embarrassment of being seen through by her, so he could only silently shift his attention elsewhere.

He looked at the traces of where the clothes had been worn and thought that leaving them here wasn’t right.

“I might as well wash them.”

Anderson put the clothes into the Magic Washing Machine and sat back down in the living room.

After sitting down, he started thinking about how to catch Ainola and bring her back.

He also reflected on what his true feelings for Ainola actually were.

In fact, Anderson was very angry and annoyed right now, but he realized that Ainola had a direct opportunity to kill him and chose not to.

This proved that, to some extent, she still considered him a friend.

So, Anderson decided to capture her first and properly ask her exactly what was going on.

“What is all of this, anyway…”

Anderson sighed.

He felt no ripples in his heart, and in his Sage State, he only thought about how to drag Ainola back.

While Anderson was deep in thought, the White Wizard’s voice rang out again.

“Prince Anderson, I have discovered Ainola’s tracks. She is currently moving toward the Canyon of the Abyss.”

“The Canyon of the Abyss?”

Hearing this location, Anderson felt a bit puzzled.

The Canyon of the Abyss had cliffs on three sides; running there was surely a dead end.

“What exactly is Ainola thinking?”

It wasn’t just Anderson who was confused; even the White Wizard felt it was strange.

But even if he couldn’t figure out Ainola’s intentions, Anderson decided to set out and continue tracking her.

“Prince Anderson, her speed is high. Be sure to surround her and do not let her escape.”

“I understand that, of course.”

Anderson took out his Communication Device and ordered the entire order of Temple Knights to move toward the Canyon of the Abyss.

The perimeter was forming; in Anderson’s eyes, even if Ainola had grown wings, there was no way she could escape this time.

Meanwhile, on Ainola’s side.

The young girl slowed her pace. She was waiting.

After all, for this faked-death operation to work, someone had to witness it.

And those people were none other than the Temple Knights.

“They should be catching up soon.”

Ainola looked behind her and spoke as if she were communicating with someone.

“Spark, how far are they?”

“They are still quite far from you.”

Hearing Ainola’s question, a creature resembling a small fairy appeared beside her, arms crossed.

“Ainola, are you really not leaving yourself any way out?”

Spark, of course, knew that Ainola had left a letter for Anderson.

If Anderson reacted quickly enough, he would certainly be able to reach the Canyon of the Abyss before Ainola.

“If you get intercepted by Anderson, you won’t even be able to jump off the cliff, you know.”

“Don’t worry. With his one-track mind, he’s probably still trying to figure out how to get back to Hail City from wherever he is.”

Ainola knew Anderson had great strength, but she was quite confident in her own abilities.

What was the harm in waiting for him here for a while? Could he really catch up to her?

Ainola proudly puffed out her flat chest.

This caused Spark to cover her face, not knowing what to say.

After thinking it over, she could only offer a word of caution.

“Ainola, you should head to the edge of the cliff first.”

In Ainola’s plan, she certainly wasn’t going to just jump off like a fool.

She required Spark’s guarantee as the ultimate safeguard.

As a fairy, Spark possessed various abilities, and for this operation, all she had to do was use Bubble Magic to escort Ainola down so she wouldn’t end up being smashed into Ainola jam.

“Fine.”

Ainola followed Spark’s suggestion.

If it weren’t for the fact that the fairy had no physical form, she would have liked to pinch Spark’s cheeks.

On the way, Spark asked Ainola.

“By the way, Ainola, you haven’t put on any weight lately, have you?”

“Hey! Asking a girl that question is incredibly rude!”

“I’m just worried I won’t be able to carry you! My bubble spell can only carry 100 pounds; any more than that and it won’t work.”

As it turned out, Spark’s worries were entirely unnecessary.

Ainola was only 5 feet tall and weighed only 41 kg.

She was underdeveloped in every sense of the word.

Ainola said indignantly.

“Do I look like I weigh 100 pounds to you? I want to grow up, too, but heaven knows if this is a genetic issue. Two years have passed, and I’m still the same height and weight.”

“Well…” Spark spread her hands and said, “It seems it really is a bloodline issue. You have a trace of beast-folk heritage in your body.”

“I know that, obviously.”

Although Ainola was human, she was different from the average person.

Whenever night arrived, she possessed a Night Vision ability that others did not have.

However, since there was Night Vision magic in this world, this ability seemed a bit lackluster.

Between their conversation and the journey, Ainola soon reached the edge of the cliff.

She looked at the ten-thousand-foot abyss below and pulled an Impact Mine out of her pocket, tossing it down.

Once this mine encountered a violent impact, it would explode immediately.

However, no matter how much time passed, there wasn’t the slightest echo of an explosion from below.

“Exactly how deep is this place? Do you know, Spark?”

Ainola swallowed hard and looked at the fairy beside her.

Spark was well-informed, but even she shook her head in the face of Ainola’s question.

“I don’t know. No one has ever reached the bottom of the Canyon of the Abyss. What lies down there remains an unsolved mystery to this day.”

Hearing Spark’s words, Ainola couldn’t help but ponder.

When she was very young, she had seen an ancient, yellowing map that didn’t seem to show these deep ravines. Combining that with the knowledge of tectonic plate movement she had learned in her previous life, Ainola asked further.

“Are these canyons naturally formed?”

To this, Spark replied.

“They aren’t natural. It seems these canyons are the marks left behind by the Great Cataclysm. The entire continent was torn into shards by these intricate rifts. If you look down from high in the sky, it’s quite creepy.”