Pillar of Yita

”Others know as well,” Hilveld said with a smile, ”Tianlan, Gita, and Box also have gifts for you. Miss Atira has prepared a honey cake for you—though Parker has already stolen half of it. She’s now looking for him all over the ship...”

Fang Hong could imagine how miserable Parker’s fate would be.

However, his heart was mostly touched.

He looked at the palm-sized paper box in his hand and asked, ”Can I open it to take a look?”

Hilveld simply nodded.

Only then did Fang Hong open the box. After peeling away the layers of wrapping inside, he couldn’t help but take a gentle breath. Inside the box was just a silver pocket watch. His original pocket watch had been damaged in the battle of Fenris, and he hadn’t had the chance to buy a new one.

And this watch wasn’t just any ordinary watch. Among the many magic items he had seen, he could tell that the craftsmanship on the silver pocket watch had the touch of dwarfs and fairies. This watch was likely a magic ornament.

He looked up at Hilveld.

”This pocket watch is called ’Law of Causality,’ and it’s my grandfather’s creation. It can help you safely navigate some dangers,” the young lady whispered.

Fang Hong had already seen the watch’s attributes through the system—

Sea’s Watch, Law of Causality, (Pocket Watch, Quality, A+)

Evasion +25

Law of Causality: Consumes magic power, increases evasion value by 200% (performance bonus), lasts five seconds—

Weight: 0.15kg

Level Requirement: 15 or any

The additional 25 evasion value from the watch itself wasn’t much. But the built-in skill ’Law of Causality’ was absolutely considered a highly practical magic guided skill. The ’performance bonus’ indicates that this skill changes its own attributes rather than influencing evasion through the environment.

The latter is generally more easily countered, whereas if it’s the former, there are only a few abilities and spells that can counteract the chosen ones. With this skill, this pocket watch is undoubtedly a rare piece of quality equipment.

However, its significance is clearly not limited to its attributes.

Fang Hong flipped the watch over and saw a small line of text engraved beneath the silver cover:

’Gifted to my beloved daughter—’

The signature was one of the surnames of the Westwood Sibika family, which clearly wasn’t Hilveld’s father, Sir Mawei. Fang Hong almost instantaneously understood the origin of this watch; it could only have been a gift from Hilveld’s grandfather to his daughter.

This was also a gift from Hilveld’s mother to her.

Fang Hong felt the weight of the watch as if it bore a thousand pounds.

”Miss Hilveld...” He raised his head, looking at her unexpectedly.

”Don’t think too much,” the noble lady said with a gentle smile, ”After all, my mother was born into an alchemy family. I’ve been given many such small items, but this one is particularly suitable for the Lord Captain.”

Fang Hong didn’t act coy and simply tucked the watch away, keeping it close to him. Seeing his actions, Hilveld’s eyes carried even more laughter, but she didn’t continue speaking, leaving a moment of silence between the two.

At that moment, they both seemed to recall the conversation they had a few days earlier.

Although there was a touch of teasing at the time, between the young man and woman, some elusive ambiguity inevitably rose at this moment.

Fang Hong couldn’t help but steal a glance at his Miss Ship’s Officer. Sunlight was filtering through the porthole, casting a glow in the corridor. Her eyes were bright and clear as the stars. However, she just smiled slightly and asked:

”Is the Lord Captain planning to go to Dulun?”

Only then did Fang Hong return to his senses and nodded. Though Lady Kuisu was responsible for purchasing supplies, as the leader of the group, he certainly couldn’t remain entirely uninvolved. If he went alone, the target would actually be less noticeable.

From the news that Elisa and Miss Atira had gathered from nearby farms, it seemed that Dulun had no news of their group being wanted. Of course, it could also be a chain reaction caused by the Southern Region decision, resulting in no one paying attention to them.

Moreover, when going to Dulun, he had another task: finding someone to appraise the legendary ring he had acquired from the Sorcerer-Ghoul. Only in such a large city could he find a qualified appraiser.

Hilveld seemed to see through his thoughts.

”Take me with you,” she said, ”I’ll take you to meet someone, Lord Captain.”

Fang Hong was slightly taken aback by her words.

...