Pillar of Yita

”Hey, hey, are you there?”

”Hey?” Inside the room, the Alchemist of Ragnarok listened to the empty wind sound from the other end of the Communication Crystal, his face turning a bit somber as he looked at his colleagues, gently shaking his head: ”Can’t get through, maybe that unlucky guy got into trouble, or perhaps the Shadow Throne’s people have been wiped out.”

”The Shadow Throne’s people had an incident with our Clockwork Fairy, probably with little chance of survival,” someone replied, frowning, ”there’s about a ten-minute communication blackout during revival, do we just wait around during this time...”

”So Flame, what about your Clockwork Fairy?”

A young man scratched his head, looking back: ”It’s going to take some time to slip past the big shots of the Alchemist Alliance, right, boss? Besides, the opponent struck so cleanly, it’s probably the work of the Alchemist Alliance, should we be more cautious?”

A moment of silence.

Then someone spoke: ”Don’t you have other contact methods for the Shadow Throne members?”

Everyone looked at each other. The Shadow Throne was just an obscure small guild before the New Southern Border Alliance was established, and they only assigned some contacts, but usually, it’s impossible for them to mingle with these people.

After a while, a voice suddenly came from outside the door: ”...everyone, I happen to know some people from the Shadow Throne, not sure if you can use that...” The owner of that voice knocked on the door outside before tentatively asking.

The Alchemists of Ragnarok were stunned, remembering that outside the door was the guild’s secret sentry, sent by the higher-ups to protect those ’powerless to even truss a chicken.’ They exchanged glances before someone went to open the door.

Outside stood a young Magic Guided Conductor, and since Ragnarok has many guild branches and a large system, it’s understandable that the members within the guild don’t recognize each other. The Magic Guided Conductor and a group of Alchemists belonged to different branch guilds, and he glanced at them before introducing himself: ”I’m Yin Shi...”

He said, ”Our team happened to meet some people from the Shadow Throne before, maybe it can be of use—”

The Alchemists glanced at each other.

Then nodded slightly.

...

At the chilly, windswept three-way street, Enan looked a bit surprised at the Musketeer emerging from behind the snow dust, suddenly stunned, revealing a look of disbelief as he unconsciously opened his mouth.

Hilveld casually tossed the musket in her hand far away, just smiling slightly: ”Long time no see, Enan.”

”You, you are...” Enan’s confusion turned to clarity, suddenly realizing: ”Wait, you’re from the Albert Family... Sir Mawei’s daughter... Miss Hilveld?”

Hilveld laughed: ”Yes, but you and Feyos both forgot about me.”

Enan looked a bit embarrassed: ”After all, that was ten years ago, I can only vaguely recall some scenes of Sir Mawei bringing you as a guest to my house; actually, I just vaguely felt some familiarity earlier. By the way, Feyos, she...”

Mentioning Feyos, he stopped talking, his expression slightly gloomy.

Meanwhile, Miss Ship’s Officer glanced at Fang Hong beside her. Enan then looked at this young Alchemist, a questioning light in his eyes, asking: ”Are you with him?”

Hilveld nodded slightly.

She walked over, gently brushed the snow dust off Fang Hong’s shoulder, making the latter a bit flustered, but Miss Ship’s Officer straightened his collar meticulously. Then she turned back, a smile in her eyes, introducing: ”This is my Captain—Seven Seas Traveler, you must have heard of my father’s story, right?”

Enan looked at the two with some confusion.

But Hilveld’s words surprised him even more, so much that he couldn’t help but ask: ”That rumor is true; are you really planning to recreate Seven Seas Traveler?” He naturally heard about the Seven Seas Traveler affair, knowing Westwood Sibika’s close ties with the Phoenix Clan, not to mention his current background in the Rose Workshop.

Hilveld nodded: ”It’s just a bit of planning, for now, there’s only a thread, I’m planning to get back the Heart of Fairy, this southward journey is just on the way.”

She looked at Fang Hong and smiled: ”Ade also agreed to help me, in some sense, he’s my fiancé.”

”In some sense?”

Fang Hong couldn’t help but blush.

That was because he still couldn’t accept such a rapid relationship progression.

Though he had accepted Miss Ship’s Officer in his heart, there was still some vague sentiment, while Hilveld’s traditional noble conduct somewhat overwhelmed him. The Catfolk privately laughed at his pretentiousness, but this counted as a boy’s exclusive pride.

As for Miss Ship’s Officer, she was always smiling—

Explosions and flames came from the plaza’s direction.

Fang Hong glanced in that direction, then grumbled: ”This place is not safe to stay for long, shouldn’t we leave Dulun first?”

Hilveld and Enan exchanged a glance, both knowing he was shifting the topic, but both being smart chose not to expose it. Enan only nodded; Fang Hong’s suggestion was actually his own intention.

The three of them finally threw a glance towards the plaza and then turned to enter a nearby alley.

But Fang Hong had let the Clockwork Fairy advance early on, neglecting behind him, where in a dim alley, a young man was gasping for breath as he ran out.