Deep in the valley, the town was as it always had been.
In the open space before a cottage near the castle, the golden-haired Argraidean Elf stood with her arms folded, leaning against a small tree as she gazed absently toward the distant mountains.
The sunlight overhead was bright, and only sparse clouds dotted the clear sky. A row of glittering flashes could be seen along the hillside. Yun Qingzi was trying to teach the mass-produced dolls in the valley how to fly on swords.
Every now and then, an ethereal, lovely singing voice drifted over from nearby. It was Mermaid humming, interspersed with the sound of splashing water as she practiced swimming in the pond behind her house. Sometimes the singing would suddenly stop, followed by a brief cry of alarm. That was the sound of her sinking beneath the water.
A golden "tumbleweed" leaped down from the castle's tall outer wall nearby. A radiant smiling face emerged from the flying golden hair. "Luo! Let's go catch fish by the river!"
"No." Luo waved lazily, then shifted into an even more dispirited position against the tree trunk, looking as though her life force had completely burned out.
She had already changed out of her ragged silver-white dress. She was now wearing a black dress and coat sent over by the Special Operations Bureau. Paired with her current air of dejection, she looked utterly melancholy.
Rapunzel was not bothered by the rejection. After gathering her hair up to ankle length, she sauntered over and dropped onto the swing beside Luo, rocking back and forth with her feet dangling above the ground. "How about picking mushrooms in the forest? I can get you a pass. I'm telling you, they have these pale-blue, long-stemmed mushrooms over there. Eat one and you can