Pillar of Yita

But after asking that question, Sophie didn’t continue to press for an answer, as if she didn’t care about the response at all, and instead simply said, ”Then I’ll have Xi go check the surrounding area and see what kind of plot Jiefulite’s people are really up to.”

Fang Hong let out a relieved sigh and nodded, then thought of something and added a reminder, ”Wait a second, it’s better if the others hide as well.”

”I understand that, of course. I won’t let Jiefulite’s people notice us, but what about you? What are your plans? Do we continue deeper, or follow these people and see?”

After speaking, she looked into his eyes.

Fang Hong naturally averted her gaze.

If these people’s target was indeed Hilveld, then he naturally had to stay. After a moment of silence, he answered, ”Let’s wait and see.”

Sophie seemed to have anticipated this response, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, and nodded, ”I’ll go make arrangements first.”

Fang Hong watched her figure disappear, the pale blue window folding together, leaving a streak of light lingering in his vision.

Her brief interaction with Princess Hilveld of Silver Weslan had left a profound impression on him.

The other party was very perceptive, yet her words did not come off as sharp or aggressive, displaying a kind of tolerance rare in these restless times. But Fang Hong understood that if anyone mistook this demeanor for weakness, they were likely to suffer greatly.

Because she was inherently a person with a tremendously strong heart, he thought, this tolerance was built upon strong self-confidence.

Fortunately, his own performance wasn’t too bad—well, it should be, Fang Hong shamelessly thought.

Feeling quite pleased with himself, he glanced in the direction of the plaza. The discussion about division of labor and cooperation no longer interested him. He opened his contacts and sent a short message to Miss Elisa, ”Elisa?”

The message seemed to sink into the ocean, taking a good while before the system finally indicated he had received a reply.

He opened the reply:

Elisa: ”What’s up?”

”I have something I want to talk to you about.”

Another stretch of silence followed.

Then a message arrived in front of him:

Elisa: ”...Alone?”

The owner of the words seemed to have sensed something, showing some hesitation.

”Alone,” Fang Hong answered.

”Well then...”

The other side did not complete the sentence immediately, but after a while, she added:

Elisa: ”...All right, I’ll find you in the corridor we came through before, Mr. Ade. Just wait a little for me.”

Fang Hong stared at the text for a while, lost in thought.

New ideas continuously surged in his mind, and then one by one they were overturned.

He looked in the direction of the plaza, just as one of the twin girls stood up and was saying something to the others.

Then she left the chair and started walking in this direction.

The crowd’s eyes turned towards here, but thankfully the people of Silver Weslan had already left and Fang Hong also lowered his head to pull up his hood and turned to walk through the crowd.

He walked alone through the silent and dark expanse, circumventing the debris of the fallen ceiling. The memories of his arrival hadn’t faded, and he took out a dimly glowing Crystal from beneath his coat and inserted it into the iron hoop of a wall torch.

The somewhat dim light revealed the pale and deep gray mist, accompanied by a set of footsteps; Elisa appeared in that place.

Her face was a bit pale.

”Mr. Ade.”

Fang Hong watched her, his silence bordering on fearsome. His face was stern, his lips pressed together in thought of speaking plainly, but instead, he asked, ”Can you tell me now what exactly happened, who are those people who attacked you?”

”Mr. Ade, I...”

”I don’t want to hear any explanation, Miss Elisa; you’ve done nothing wrong,” Fang Hong shook his head, ”Why keep dodging? This isn’t like you, what happened to make you this way? What did you see? Was it the woman mentioned by Jiefulite’s people? Who is she?”

The young girl shook her head vigorously, ”I really didn’t see anything, I just feel a bit guilty for not protecting Alice, that’s all, Mr. Ade, you’re overthinking it.”

”Then you did see, didn’t you, how did Alice die?”

”Ah!” She exclaimed in a low voice, retreating a step back in some panic.

”Alice died from a shot to the chest, a fatal wound, close-range shooting, the bullet directly hit her heart.” Fang Hong pointed to his own chest, then took out the Model 3 ’Lion’ Handgun from behind his back, reversed the grip, and handed it over, ”This gun, you recognize it, don’t you?”

”Mr. Ade...I...”

”Why lie?”

”No, it’s not... I mean...”

”Miss Elisa.” Fang Hong raised his voice a little, looking into her eyes.

But Elisa dared not meet his gaze, covering her mouth and stepping back, ”Mr. Ade...”

”It was Hilveld, wasn’t it?”

”No,” she denied subconsciously, ”I, none of us have confirmed it yet.”

”Which means you definitely have seen her,” Fang Hong pressed on, ”I know you’ve seen her; you couldn’t have not recognized her.”

”But...”

She instinctively lowered her gaze, seeking to evade the question.

However, Fang Hong shook his head and said, ”Alright, Miss Elisa, I’m not someone who can’t distinguish right from wrong, whether it was Hilveld or not, we need to get to the bottom of the truth. Covering it up won’t solve anything. What exactly are you worried about?”

”Are you worried I’ll take my anger out on you? And that would consequently harm the Rain Listeners? I know you’re without support here,” he sighed, ”But that’s your sister, you shouldn’t weigh her against interests on the scales, think about it well. I’m not as narrow-minded as you think—”

Elisa stared at him in a daze.

Her eyes showed a hint of guilt; she hung her head and answered, ”I’m sorry, Mr. Ade, indeed, I was overthinking.”