Lucky Wind Chime

"Ah—so cold..."

The fruit was somewhat bitter at first, but as she chewed, it turned faintly sweet and sour, with a distinctive fresh fragrance. With every breath, an intense chill filled her mouth.

Unlike the sensation of eating other ice-element fruits, the coldness of this fruit seemed to come purely from its flavor.

"Not very tasty..."

The Girl wrinkled her little face, finished the fruit in her hand in small bites, then looked at the remaining bunch with some reluctance.

"Annie, help me deal with these."

Fiona's Lake Blue Eyes shifted, and she quickly stuffed the remaining fruit into Annie's hands.

Annie smiled gently, took the fruit the Girl no longer wanted to eat, and held it as she accompanied her deeper into the alley.

The few people who had gathered earlier never got the chance to disturb the girls. Before they could enter the alley, a squad of City Guards that had appeared from nowhere swiftly found them.

Several Mana Fluctuations flashed past. Caught off guard, the group was instantly paralyzed and skillfully carried away by the guards in pairs.

Others nearby maintained a Neglect Barrier to avoid causing too much commotion.

The whole process took less than half a minute. Once the last guard responsible for cleanup left, aside from several people having suddenly vanished, it was as though nothing had happened at the mouth of the alley.

A professional team, professional standards—

The guards quickly extracted the truth from them. They were merely a few brazen foreign petty thieves. Having come to Carlras and seen how prosperous it was, they had grown greedy and planned to make a few scores here.

After succeeding several times, they had become increasingly bold. Seeing the bulging purse in the Girl's hand and no guards by her side, they had looked down on her, assuming they were merely two noble girls who had slipped out to play.

But they had chosen the wrong targets and set their sights on people they should never have touched.

What awaited them next was an exceedingly long prison sentence—

The quiet alley was not very long. As the two walked and looked around, they soon approached its other end.

"Annie, look, what are those? They look like an owl and a Swift Squirrel!"

As they walked, Fiona stopped. Her gaze had been drawn to a stall by the roadside.

The stall displayed many delicate straw weavings. There were decorative items such as common little animals, dolls, and tiny carriages, as well as practical items like straw shoes and baskets.

They came in three colors—pale white, beige, and coffee brown—all the natural colors of dried grass.

"Those are straw weavings, milady. Handicrafts woven from dried grass," Annie explained after taking a glance.

These really were rather novel things.

Fiona thought so. It was her first time seeing straw weaving.

Previously, she had only read about Witch Straw Weave in books. It was said that they could move like real animals and made excellent scouts.

"Is there anything you need, you two lovely young ladies?"

The stall owner was a white-haired Old Woman. Seeing customers, she looked up at the two from her little stool and gave them a kindly smile.

Beside her was a Little Boy with reddish-brown hair. He wore a somewhat oversized coarse linen shirt and seemed to be the Old Woman's grandson.

Like the Old Woman, he sat cross-legged on the ground, learning to weave a simple straw doll from two-colored dried grass. It was clear he was studying diligently; his flushed little face was already faintly beaded with sweat.

Hearing the conversation, the Little Boy looked up as well. His lively black eyes swept over the two before pausing briefly on the fruit in Annie's hands. He quietly swallowed, then lowered his head again and continued diligently weaving the straw craft in his hands.

Fiona gently picked up an Owl Straw Weave and examined it closely.

It was about the size of two fists. Coffee-brown dried grass formed its back and wing feathers, while its belly was woven from pale white dried grass, dotted with strands of coffee-brown grass.

Its cheeks were cleverly woven from pale white grass to resemble fluffy feathers, and two gleaming copper coins were set into its eye sockets. Its coffee-brown claws gripped a small branch. The entire piece was lifelike.

"Young ladies, have you taken a liking to this Owl Straw Weave? It's made from dried Pu Luo and Wind Chime Grass. It only costs eighty copper coins."

The Old Woman watched Fiona's movements, a trace of anticipation in her eyes.

"Grandma, may I ask whether this owl can fly and hoot?"

The Old Woman froze at Fiona's question, then smiled and shook her head.

"Haha, don't joke around, little girl. How could a straw-woven owl possibly fly? Perhaps those esteemed mages have such abilities, but this old woman certainly does not."

"It can't move..."

Fiona could not help feeling disappointed after hearing the Old Woman's words.

"Never mind, then. If it can't fly, it isn't interesting."

Fiona gently shook her head and put down the straw weave.

"Little girl, if you want a straw weave that can fly, you shouldn't be looking here. Judging by how you two are dressed, you're not ordinary people, are you? I don't have anything related to Professionals here."

The Old Woman smiled as she looked at Fiona's face, making her feel slightly embarrassed.

"Actually, I want to choose a gift for my brother, but I don't know what would be good, so I've just been wandering around and looking."

After thinking for a moment, Fiona decided to tell the Old Woman her purpose.

"A gift..."

The Old Woman rose unsteadily and picked up a pale white Straw Wind Chime from the stall. Eight pale white grass cords of varying lengths hung beneath it, and a Mangur Tree Fruit was tied to the end of each cord. ① "How about this Lucky Wind Chime? It's woven from Wind Chime Grass naturally dried in the sunlight. It is said that hanging one of these beneath the eaves can bring good fortune to the people in the household. It would be very suitable as a gift."

"Bring good fortune?"

Fiona paused, taking the wind chime the Old Woman handed her. The chime itself carried a pleasant scent of sunshine, while the hanging Mangur Tree Fruits lightly bumped together, making faint tapping sounds.

"Mm, all right. Then I'll take one of these wind chimes."

The Girl examined it but did not sense anything particularly special about it. It still did not meet her standards for a gift. But kind by nature, she did not wish to reject the Old Woman's goodwill, so she decided to buy the wind chime.

"Not satisfied? There's no need to force yourself, kind little girl."

The Old Woman keenly noticed Fiona's thoughts and smiled kindly at her.

"Do you know, little girl? This Lucky Wind Chime is actually connected to a legend passed around privately among us straw-weaving artisans."

As she spoke, the Old Woman turned around, took a strand of pale white dried grass from the basket beside the Little Boy, and handed it to Fiona.

"This is Wind Chime Grass, a very common wild grass. In fields, by streams, and on high mountains, you can find them almost anywhere.

"Every year, between Scarlet Rain Month and Flowing Gold Month, they bloom with small flowers like white wind chimes. The number of flowers usually ranges from seven to fourteen. ② But if you walk into a field of Wind Chime Grass, little girl, you'll find that most have ten, twelve, or fourteen flowers.

"Perhaps you might occasionally see Wind Chime Grass with seven, eight, eleven, or thirteen flowers.

"But Wind Chime Grass with exactly nine flowers—even if you searched the entire field, you might not find any—"

① A tree fruit similar to a pinecone, with a relatively hard texture.

② April to August