Farewell, Big Shot

"What? You actually want me to send my daughter to the church in the nearby village?"

Upon hearing Sordil's outrageous request, Queen Irene, usually mild-mannered, roared angrily.

"Irene, listen to me..."

"I won't listen! I don't want to listen! Sordil, let me tell you, I can accommodate you on other things, but don't even think about this!"

After roaring at the giant egg, Irene stormed out of the cave.

August and the others, who were waiting outside the cave to congratulate the two, automatically stepped aside upon seeing the Her Majesty the Queen's furious expression. After the Queen left, everyone exchanged glances, then curiously looked into the cave.

"What exactly did the teacher say that made his wife so angry?" (August)

"Who knows! But one thing is for sure, it's definitely not something nice!" (Sage Dragon)

"Sage Dragon, what should we do now? Should we go in to offer our congratulations, or... (Red)"

"Congratulations? In the current situation, if we go in, we'll definitely be scolded by the master and kicked out, or sent to the madam as intermediaries!" (Tingmei)

"But we can't just stand here and wait!" (Red)

"In that case, why don't we send someone in to scout out the situation and then decide what to do?" (August)

"Hmm! That's a good idea, but who should we send?" (Tingmei)

"Alright then! Let's draw lots to decide. Whoever draws the lot goes!" (August)

"Okay! (All)"

Looking at the red-stained skewer in her hand, Tingmei's right hand trembled uncontrollably.

"Click"

Because she subconsciously increased the force, the token, which was about the thickness of her little finger, was broken in two and then slipped from her hand.

"Auntie Tingmei, it's up to you!" (August)

"Tingmei, you can do it! (Red)"

"Girl, don't be afraid! That brat is locked inside the giant egg right now, he can't bite you!" (Sage Dragon)

Looking at the three people encouraging her, Tingmei mustered up the spirit of "the wind is howling and the Yi River is cold" and then strode into the cave.

After Tingmei walked away, Red patted his chest lightly and said thankfully, "Luckily August was quick-witted and came up with this idea, otherwise one of the three of us would have been the one to go in!"

"Shh! Keep your voice down! Don't let the girl hear us, or she'll come looking for trouble with the three of us!" (Sage Dragon)

At this moment, Tingmei was unaware that she had been tricked by the three guys outside the cave, and was slowly moving into the cave.

After crawling along for about fifteen minutes, Sister Ting finally covered the distance that usually only took her a few dozen seconds, and safely arrived in front of the giant dome. (Why "in front" instead of "in front of"? Because she was still at least ten meters away from Old Suo!)

"Master... Master... Master, I... I..."

"Alright! You don't need to say anything more. I heard everything you just said!"

Realizing she had been exposed, Tingmei inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief, then stammered, "Then... Master, you..."

"Don't worry! I won't make things difficult for you! Go tell those three guys outside to invite Irene over again."

Hearing this, Tingmei finally felt relieved and silently mourned for her three companions outside. But just then, another sentence from Sordil instantly snapped her out of her reverie, and she stormed out of the cave.

"Oh! Right! I forgot to tell you, when you were drawing lots just now, August and the others secretly marked the lot slips. So..." (Haha! Old Suo is pretty cunning!)

"Da da"

"Da da"

A series of brisk footsteps came from the cave, and the next second, Tingmei, with a smug smile on her face, appeared in front of August and his two companions.

Seeing that Tingmei was in a good mood, the three of them exchanged glances and then asked in unison, "Tingmei (Auntie), what did Master/Teacher/Bastard say that makes you so happy?"

Tingmei smiled and shook her head, then said, "Master, what can we say? Of course, we need... uh, no! We need you to invite Madam over!"

"Let us? (The three of us)"

"Yes, let you go and invite them!"

"Auntie Tingmei, are you sure you didn't hear me wrong? (August)"

"Of course I heard correctly. If you don't believe me, you can go in and ask the master!" (Tingmei)

Looking at the sly smile on Tingmei's face, Red asked softly, "Tingmei, could it be that you gave Master this terrible idea?"

Upon hearing Red's question, August and the other man immediately looked at Tingmei.

"Hehe! Uncle Reide, you're overthinking it. This really was the master's decision. Oh! By the way! The master also told me the secret of the lottery. Surprised? Unexpected?"

Upon hearing that the secret of the lottery had been exposed, Red and his two companions blushed and their faces darkened. Then, dejected, they left the cave and chased after Irene in the direction she had just gone.

Fifteen minutes later, Irene, her face contorted with rage, returned with Red and his two companions, all of them bruised and battered.

"Madam, Master, he..."

Before Tingmei could finish speaking, Irene had already vanished from her sight, leaving only the heavy sound of her footsteps echoing in the air. The three who had been following Irene wisely remained outside, quietly awaiting their summons from the two big shots inside. (Hmm! As expected of a seasoned old fox, she successfully avoided a second beating!)

The two inside the cave talked in private for a long time, and then Irene ran out of the cave again, this time with red eyes.

Just as August and his companions were mourning their impending tragic fate, a Mind Talk from inside the cave broke their... well, sorry, I miscounted! It was the two men's uneasy mood.

"August, come in, I need you to do something!"

"Gulp"

After swallowing hard, August tearfully bid farewell to Sage Dragon and the other two, and walked into the cave, turning back every few steps.

"Alas! This time, August is probably... (Red)"

Just as the Prime Minister finished speaking, August had bravely sacrificed himself just seconds before, suddenly rushed out of the cave and ran quickly toward Irene's room.

"This child is truly brave. If it were me, I probably would have already committed suicide by running into a wall! (Sage Dragon)" (Here I would like to ask, Lord Sage Dragon, which wall do you think could kill you?)

"Well!"

The three of them sighed, then turned and walked towards their residences.

After arranging Erza's affairs, Old Suo turned all the pain in his heart and the reluctance that Irene conveyed to him into motivation, and continued to gnaw on the hard eggshell in front of him.

Just as Old Suo was venting his anger, a series of cracking sounds suddenly came from inside the giant egg.

"Holy crap! Could it be that the eggshell has finally cracked open?"

"Brother, since you were going to crack anyway, couldn't you have cracked a few minutes earlier?"

Just as Sordil was lamenting the timing of the giant egg's shattering, a powerful seven-colored light appeared inside the egg, and then Old Suo lost consciousness and disappeared into the egg.

"Um?"

Sordil instinctively raised his right hand to shield himself from the intense light so he could see his surroundings clearly.

"Huh? This isn't..."

"That's right! This is your bedroom!"

Hearing the sound behind him, Sordil immediately did a forward roll to create distance between himself and the other person before turning around to check the situation behind him.

"Wow! Not bad! If you had been this agile back then, your brains wouldn't have splattered out!"

Although Old Suo couldn't see the woman's face clearly, he recognized her identity.

"It's you?"

Hearing Sordil's angry words, the masked woman said displeasedly, "Hey! Hey! What kind of look is that? What kind of tone is that?"

"The normal tone when speaking to an enemy!"

"An enemy? You brat, if it weren't for me, would you have been able to travel to the world of Asland that you've always longed for? Would you have been able to meet the goddess you've always admired?"

"Hmph! Without your help, it seems I wouldn't have died, right?"

"Yes! I admit I accidentally killed you, but didn't I make it up to you? Is there any need to be so relentless?"

"Compensation? You mean you're going to throw me into an unknown world and leave me to fend for myself?"

After Sordil finished speaking, the masked woman seemed genuinely angry, as her beautiful eyebrows furrowed together, forming a Kaster.

"Hmph! I was originally going to explain to you why I accidentally killed you, but since you're being so unreasonable, then I'll just let you be a fool!"

With that, the masked woman flicked her sleeve, and then Sordil, feeling dizzy, left the place and re-entered the bright, multicolored light.

When Sordil opened his eyes again, the seven-colored eggshell reappeared before him. And... he wasn't sure if he was seeing things, Old Suo the eggshell seemed a bit thicker than before.

Just as he was filled with doubt and uncertainty, a clear, arrogant female voice with a hint of anger appeared in his mind.

"You brat, I'm just giving you a light punishment this time. If you dare to make me angry again, I'll take everything back and turn you into that kind of lazy bum from my past life!" (Hmph! Does he really think the boss has no temper?)

Upon hearing the sound, Sordil instantly realized he wasn't seeing things; the eggshell really had thickened. At the same time, the sound sent a chill down his spine, and he wanted to kneel down and apologize to the cute young lady from before. (Heh! Now he wants to admit his mistake, but it's too late. Stupid Sodir, prepare to experience hell mode!)

(PS: The Great Owl would like to give a friendly reminder to all time travelers: never mess with a beautiful and powerful woman, or your fate may be utterly miserable.)