Pillar of Yita

A slender hand as white as snow gently placed a white porcelain teacup in front of him. The bottom of the cup made a pleasant clink as it touched the saucer, and the white mist rising from the black tea reflected the warm glow of the crystal lampshade.

Behind the feathering mist was a pair of beautiful eyes as blue as gemstones, with lashes fluttering like feathers, quietly watching him.

”The moonlight is lovely tonight.”

Hilveld rested her chin on the back of her hand, lying on the table, and lifted her gaze towards him.

Indeed, considering the usual weather at Mist Bay Void Gorge, the faint moonlight had actually managed to break through the fog today, rarely shining upon the Long Gorge.

It was the first time in days that he saw Hilveld with some free time.

She had been busy correcting their off-course navigation, buried in the chart room, while he kept irregular hours. Though their bedrooms weren’t far apart, they rarely saw each other.

Fang Hong looked at the wisps of mist rising from the cup of black tea.

”Has the kitchen caught fire again?”

”Everyone plans to finish things overnight, Miss Atira heard you hadn’t rested yet, though it should have been Xiesta to bring it,” Hilveld lazily blinked her eyes, ”But you know, as the lady she serves, I always have a few willful little requests, like seeing you first — my Lord Captain.”

”Now you’ve seen me,” Fang Hong said, ”Hilveld, you haven’t rested yet, have you?”

Hilveld nodded and unabashedly stretched languorously in front of Fang Hong.

She yawned, ”Everything is done on that side, no rush. The Lord Captain hasn’t slept either, so I’ll keep you company.”

Fang Hong thought to himself that with her by his side, he couldn’t focus on anything else.

But he found himself unable to voice a refusal; how could he bear to refuse?

The Lady Noble seemed to see through his thoughts, merely smiling with sparkling eyes.

”Speaking of which, Hilveld, what’s the plan next?” Fang Hong gently closed the lid of the Magic Guided Reactor and asked, ”Even though we have a ship now, it will still take quite some time to reach the Second World, and the current Seven Seas Traveler is not up to the task, we probably need another upgrade, while we have some money, everyone lacks experience.”

After leaving Istania, everyone had relaxed a little.

Though they’d gone through a perilous chase, after the tension eased, each felt a hollow emptiness as if they’d lost their purpose.

They had headed south for the Dragon Witch affair, to find the true culprit behind the death of Miss Atira’s brother, Lady Kuisu’s son, and thus reached this place.

But in Idus, everything had already been revealed; Miss Evril was merely a pitiful pawn in the tragedy, though this didn’t excuse Nikopolas’s evils — yet at least everyone now knew the true culprit was that cold-hearted Wanderer.

The latter had been killed by them in Idus — though it was hard to say if it was truly death, the Wanderer had claimed that even if he perished temporarily, he was an immortal existence.

At least until he reappeared — or new messages came from Sorcerer-Ghoul Tang De, they couldn’t find any valuable clues.

Fang Hong doubted the existence of true immortality, where even the Dark Star had perished, weren’t its followers’ beliefs in immortality ridiculous?

He believed the Wanderer must have some special means to temporarily evade death’s grasp, but currently, it all remained speculation.

The master of Traveler’s Rest, Mazak, had handed him the Ring of Golden Flame, sending him south to find someone who knew about the ring’s origins.

Sir Duke had commanded them to head south with the ring, to relive past adventures, which they did, even meeting the legendary heroes of before.

The Seven Seas Traveler was now complete, and their task seemed only to return and report, returning the now powerless, ordinary ring to its original owner.

After that, he planned to visit Scepter Coast, to fulfill the covenant with R and Shana — after all, Elpaxin was not far from the Kingdom’s Northern Territory.

To listen to the winter horns, to see the legendary land of the Ancient Monarch Hunter, and to investigate the past of the Grossel Family and the Wanderer.

After that, he truly didn’t know what other objectives he had.

If even he felt this way, how about the others?

Hilveld listened and quietly pondered, ”Why doesn’t the Captain consider visiting the Empire — the birthplace of human Alchemy, the pinnacle of present-day Magic Guided Engineering, possessing the world’s most advanced technology and might, the Empire’s Artisan Association is a Holy Land to many Alchemists.”

Fang Hong was taken aback, ”Are you suggesting we visit the Empire, to see if we can find a way to further improve the Seven Seas Traveler there?”

The current Seven Seas Traveler, rather than being his creation, was more of a legacy of Hilveld’s father and grandfather.

This ship’s blueprints, and its core component, the Heart of Fairy, were completed many years ago; before the vessel’s construction began, its foundation was firmly laid.

For him and Hilveld to improve on this foundation further, they would have to travel the same path he took while researching the α Crystal.