Pillar of Yita

”Puhahaha, Parker, look at what you’ve turned into! You’re killing me, hahaha!” Tianlan pointed at the Papalarians and laughed so hard that she almost ran out of breath, but just then the Berio swayed slightly, nearly causing the overly-schadenfreude-filled girl to tumble to the ground.

Fang Hong saw her like this and shook his head, swiftly reaching out to catch her, fearing she would roll off the ship in her laughter.

Parker was stunned for a moment and looked down at his chubby, short arms—nothing seemed off. He then raised his head and asked in confusion, ”What’s wrong with me? This is the Elf Princess’s shape-shifting technique. Can you guys recognize me? She said her skill is unbeatable in Avenquin, but I always thought she was bragging.”

”Hey, Madam,” the sailors nearby chimed in discontentedly, ”Show some respect for Princess Briana.”

”Madam?” Parker was shocked, ”Are you blind?”

By now, Tianlan was shaking all over with laughter. She finally managed to fish out a small round mirror from her pocket, almost dropping it to the ground. She intended to hand it to Parker herself, but couldn’t move a step and had to pass it to Gita instead.

Gita, holding her huge glasses, shook her head and sighed, but still went over to give the mirror to the Papalarian.

Parker took the mirror skeptically: ”What’s this for?” The Big Cat stood firmly beside the railing, grinning to reveal his white teeth, while next to him, Luo Yu struggled to explain, ”This... it’s hard to describe...”

Parker had no choice but to look into the mirror himself, and the plump, cute face of the lady reflected in it immediately showed a look of shock, and she screamed, ”Tianlan, why is there a woman in your mirror!”

But Tianlan, upon hearing this, laughed so hard she could no longer speak.

Then Parker realized something, screamed as if he’d seen a ghost, and threw the mirror aside, running down into the ship’s cabin. His steps were so clumsy, he stumbled at the hatch, tumbling down like a barrel with several screams, ”...change me back!”

Fang Hong watched speechlessly and asked, ”He’s not hurt, is he?”

Reed shrugged, ”Don’t worry, Princess Briana is very rich.”

”What kind of answer is that?”

The Big Cat’s eyes twinkled with mischief: ”You know the answer.”

Regardless of whether Fang Hong really knew the answer, he soon learned the outcome of the situation. Parker eventually succumbed to Princess Briana’s manipulations—although the incident with the box telling the Papalarians, ’Actually, I think you look a bit better this way than before,’ almost led to a duel.

It wasn’t long before Fang Hong learned the truth that Princess Briana had easily settled the whole matter with a Grade-A Magic Guided Short Sword, just as the Lion People had said: the Papalarians never yield unless—

Of course, the gender-switching belt was only a temporary choice. Miss Atira persuaded Parker to use it just occasionally in crowded places, and he reluctantly agreed. But privately, he still grumbled incessantly:

”Compared to this, I’d rather stay with Mr. Greyrock and the Big Cat.”

”Mr. Reed doesn’t need to go into town to learn skills.” Luo Yu replied, being the platform’s maintainer, and also having no experience points to spend—he naturally had to stay as well.

Fang Hong glanced at him, realizing that it was indeed time to resolve the identity of some of the trainees in the team. Although he didn’t have much leverage, he still had some valuable things to trade.

He planned to have Red Leaf relay his message, also first asking about her thoughts, especially since she herself was from the Tabopolis Knights Order.

Thinking this, he felt a bit embarrassed. Red Leaf had always wanted to pull him into the Oak Knights, but here he was, thinking of poaching from her instead.

”Such is the sorrow of the Invoker.” Parker picked up his fluffy blonde wig and complained loudly in a ’cute’ manner. The only place ’she’ had managed to reclaim some control was her adamant refusal to wear the dress Princess Briana had prepared for him.

Fortunately, in this day and age, many female adventurers opted for practicality by wearing neutral or even male clothing, so everyone just nodded in agreement.

”Mr. Parker really is cute, ah, don’t be mad—this is just a temporary measure after all, I’m certainly no demon!” Princess Briana was clearly very pleased with her ’masterpiece,’ squinting her eyes.

She also praised Atira and Hilveld: ”Of course, our makeup team is also outstanding, Hilveld, and Miss Atira.”

Atira gently shook her head, and Hilveld looked curiously at Fang Hong, giving him the chills.

”We should at least give Parker’s new identity a name, right?” Tianlan seemed well-meaning but was actually stirring up trouble: ”I can’t just keep calling him Parker, that would be too noticeable.”

”I don’t see anything wrong with Parker,” Luo Yu shook his head, indicating it didn’t need to be so complicated.

Parker agreed wholeheartedly with this, but unfortunately, their opinions were outright ignored by the ladies, big and small. Eventually, Princess Briana decreed, ”We’ll call her Lady Papamo then.”

Thus, Parker obtained a new identity—Lady Papamo.

The joyous times on the ship were short-lived, however, as the Berio soon docked. As Princess Briana went with the captain to the Port Authority to register, she planned to meet her ’old friend,’ Sir Roban, a fellow hero of the Battle of Bain.