Inscription and the Griffin

When Hai Na was walking home, Eagle Cape Village the sun had not yet reached its peak.

To this day, she has not been home for four years.

In the past four years, the restaurant closest to the school entrance has been opened and opened again and again, and has changed its owners three times.

She has also changed from a country girl who knew nothing and was uneasy every day when she first came to Glass Island, to a direct disciple of Grand Arbitrator. She has become friends with the Founding Family and the future Her Majesty the Queen... at least they are familiar with each other.

But my hometown has not changed.

The air around me, the height of the trees in the mountains, the depth of the dirt road dug with my feet... no matter what it is, nothing has changed here.

It's as if time has stood still here.

The hourglass stops spinning, but the sun and moon don't move. The smoke from distant kitchens still rises like it did in childhood.

At that moment, Hai Na had an illusion.

It's as if I'm living in a false painting, and now I'm the one in the painting again.

Suddenly, Hai Na stopped.

She noticed a small tree protruding from the roadside.

It was far away from the woods, standing alone on the roadside. Because of this, Hai Na recognized it almost immediately.

She moved closer and found the scar on the bark of the tree.

Hai Na stretched out his hand to keep it level, gestured slightly, and then hit his soft chest with the heel of his palm.

She smiled helplessly and reached out to gently touch and caress the scars on the tree.

She still remembers it.

This is the trace left when she ran from here to Bagpipe Town to go to school.

At that time, her family heard that she was going to the town to study alone, and they were happy and worried at the same time. She was only thirteen or fourteen years old at the time, standing there in a small ball, not understanding anything. How can the family feel at ease? So they gave Hai Na a self-defense dagger.

Although it is a dagger, to the thirteen- or fourteen-year-old Hai Na, it is just a short knife.

That is indeed a good knife. Even from today's perspective, it is indeed a good weapon.

It has a beautiful blue-green blade, as beautiful as a lake. If you face the sun, you can also see the gradient from dark blue to dim yellow from the side... just like the night sky in the evening.

Hai Na still vaguely remembers that the curved Elven Language was engraved on the blade... Hai Na didn't know Elvish at that time, so she just used it as a decoration; but later she learned Elven Language, but she can no longer remember what was written on the dagger.

Compared with the blade, the scabbard looks much plainer.

Hai Na You can feel courage just by holding it. Whenever Hai Na feels restless before the exam, as long as you hold it, you will gradually calm down.

Later she couldn't remember where the knife went. Hai Na had the impression that he had never thrown away this knife. But she couldn't remember when she stopped carrying daggers when she went to school.

But the family didn't blame themselves for losing the dagger. Maybe she stayed at home, or maybe she didn't tell her family... Who knows? And this mark was left by a careless hand when passing by when the beautiful dagger was still on his body.

She originally just wanted to record how tall she was when she went out to study. Let's look at how tall he has grown after graduation... But after that, he forgot about this tree.

Perhaps because I see it when I run back and forth every week, I gradually regard it as part of the roadside scenery, and I can no longer see this small tree. It wasn't until now, when Hai Na came back after four years... that she saw it again.

The tree is exactly the same as before. There is no change in size, and even the shape of the crown is exactly the same. The scars I left on the bark of the tree are still at their former height... except for a layer of scar-like traces, it's as if everything is still yesterday.

Hai Na gently touched the scar on the tree.

She closed her eyes, feeling nostalgia well up in her heart.

In a daze, she seemed to hear the squeaking sound of growing trees. She imagined that everything changed with time, the spring, summer, autumn and winter, and the small trees gradually grew up. And when she opened her eyes again, it seemed as if everything was just an illusion from the past that stayed in her mind.

"It's time to go home."

Hai Na murmured in a low voice, his tone became calmer, and the smile on his face became happy.

When she opened her eyes, her pupils had turned completely yellow.

At this time, Iver was feeding the little griffon some fresh meat.

The gryphon, which has not yet learned to speak, wolfed down its food.

David's mother Nadia's griffon partner Angelica is standing next to Iver at the moment.

"... If you don't plan to walk her or play with her, you can't let this child eat too much."

The big white gryphon made a gentle voice. "As long as she is not hungry anymore, you have to take the meat away. If she tries to attack you or wants to snatch the meat, you will scold her loudly."

"It's also easy to tell if she's had enough. For such children, as long as their eating speed slows down significantly, they are not hungry anymore."

"Just call her by her name, Aunt Anjie?"

Iver asked, "Is this okay?"

Angelica nodded. "Yes. Shouting the other party's name loudly is a simple command of Path of Authority. Just like pointing your finger at someone is a simple curse, singing is a simple spell.

"The Path Power contained in these behaviors is very weak, and humans can hardly feel it. But for the lives corresponding to the path, it will become very clear.

"Just like pointing your finger at the devil will make the devil angry, singing to the goblins will make them happy... As long as you yell at the griffons, they will immediately know that they have done something wrong."

"What about Path of Love's simple act?"

Lily, who was standing behind Iver, suddenly raised his head and asked.

Angelica's hawk-headed eyes winked mischievously, and replied with a smile, "Of course it's kissing and making love. This is how Lady of the Lake charms people."

"Where is Path of Twilight?"

Iver asked.

"It's an inscription."

Angelica replied, "Portraits and statues are half Path of Beauty and half Path of Twilight. Therefore, artists can easily sense the power of Path of Twilight.

"Compared to painters, photographers are purely Path of Twilight professions. Taking pictures of the real world and saving them is the most typical Path of Twilight behavior.

"Because of this, those invisible dead who also belong to Path of Twilight are easily traced by photos. Because they sensed the breath of Path of Twilight. There are many horror stories based on this principle."

"That's it..."

Lily nodded, thoughtfully.

At this moment, the griffin in front of Iver suddenly seemed to be choked. It shook its head and rested for a while, then continued to come closer to grab the large piece of meat steak in Iver's hand.

"That's it, Iver. "Angelica reminded.

And Iver immediately took back the steak and raised his voice. "Stop, Liz! Don't eat it!"

The little griffon named Liz shook his head in aggrieved manner.

Liz obviously understood.

But she didn't attack Iver, she just looked at Iver quietly with wet eyes, rubbed against him and let out a soft and delicate sound.

Iver felt a little soft-hearted for a moment.

But he strengthened his will and said firmly, "You are not hungry anymore, Liz. Don't eat it - I don't have time to play with you."

Liz shouted again when he heard this.

It's not as clear and loud as an adult falcon, but as crisp as a bird.

Iver handed the fresh meat to Lily and asked her to wrap it up. Then he touched Liz's head and neck as comfort.

Different from Emily of David, Liz is taller. Perhaps because she is older, she is more obedient than Emily.

Her fur is half black and half white, and she has entered the moulting period. Now I can carry a person on my back. Even Hai Na can carry it while wearing light armor, let alone Iver.

But there were three of them in their party. Even if you don't count the luggage, there are Iver, Lily and Sherlock. Liz is definitely impossible to carry.

Philip could have been asked to help bring everything there, including Liz - as Grand Guardian's companion griffon, he was much more powerful than his peers.

But Philip left Glass Island with George. Faced with this situation, Angelica could only call his best friend.

"Anjie!"

A loud female voice came from outside, and then White Griffin, which was larger than Angelica, flew directly into the yard of David's house.

"Carmela!"

Angelica was very happy and went over to nuzzle her. "Let's talk when we come back, let's get ready to go. We'll probably arrive before evening - I'll take Iver and Lily, and you'll take Sherlock, Liz and luggage."

"Okay, no problem. What about Sherlock?"

"On the way, it should be here soon."

Iver explained.

Hearing Iver's voice, Carmela came over and looked at Iver: "Is this this generation's Moriarty? He looks more handsome than his father."

Iver was a little surprised when he heard this.

Can gryphons actually recognize human faces?

On the contrary, he could hardly recognize the appearance of these griffins... He could only judge who was who by their size, voice and personality. Not to mention which griffin is good-looking and which is not.

As if he had guessed what Iver was thinking, Angelica explained warmly, "It's not about appearance, we can't tell what a human looks like.

"Gryphons' aesthetic standards for humans are related to humans' adaptability to Path of Authority. Simply put, they are calm, steady, loyal, majestic, and reliable. People with Path of Authority adaptability, in our opinion... are just like you see cute cats."

... Oh, no wonder.

Iver immediately understood the mentality of the two rows of griffins squatting at the entrance of the palace. To them, it's probably like humans squatting there every day to watch a the Great Collective beautiful cat walking around and meowing.

So that's it, they're squatting there and sucking people in...

And Iver also understood the devil's aesthetics.

If the griffon, as an authoritative creature, has such an aesthetic, then the devil's aesthetic should also be related to the desire for transcendence...

Iver glanced back at the shadow of Lily.

Then he probably understands how he tamed the shadow demon.