Using a detection ability would normally have let us complete the rescue quickly, but for some reason, the spiritual energy at the collapse site was extremely agitated. The detection field kept malfunctioning, so we had no choice but to search bit by bit.
After we rescued Si Nan Ying's team, the final investigation came to an end.
Deaths: 0. Serious injuries: 12. Minor injuries: 46.
We still hadn't found the source of the "powerful spiritual energy tremor" the Patriarch had mentioned, but all sorts of unusual things had happened along the way.
Rui Feng's team had encountered Desolate Beasts, Si Nan Ying's team had encountered hordes of Mountain Giants, and the other teams had also reported highly unusual activity among the monsters.
"So, we can now say with certainty that some kind of abnormal change has occurred in the Winter Arrival Mountains," Si Nan Yuan said to the team leaders present. Her face was now covered in bruises, and her left arm was wrapped in bandages and slung around her neck. She looked a little worse for wear.
"However, we don't have enough people or the technical means to continue investigating. What happened was far beyond the bounds of common sense."
"The technicians should have finished analyzing the data by now. Didn't they find anything?" one team leader asked.
"Unfortunately, apart from the monsters we encountered, nothing else seemed out of the ordinary."
"Could someone be trying to harm the Si Nan Family, using some method to stir up the monsters in the mountains and have them attack us?"
"That's quite possible. In fact, that's what I think happened. Speaking of suspicious people... Rui Feng, I specifically arranged for Liu Ye to join your team. Did you notice anything about her?"
"From what I observed," Rui Feng replied, standing up, "first of all, she's undeniably powerful. What I find strange, though, is that her knowledge doesn't match her abilities. According to Rui Xin, she knows very little about many basic things. Also, she hasn't done anything suspicious along the way. When I risked my life fighting the Desolate Beast, she even put her own life on the line to save me. That shows she's extremely loyal."
"But that could also be—"
"I know what you're worried about. I can't rule out the possibility that she set up the encounter with the Desolate Beast, staging the whole thing to win our trust and achieve some hidden goal. Still, I trust my judgment of people—she's definitely not a bad person."
"But nothing happened during the earlier investigations. Then she shows up, and suddenly there's trouble. Is that really just a coincidence?" one team leader challenged.
"There's no evidence proving she's innocent, but there's no evidence proving her guilty, either. She may be a mysterious person, but we shouldn't act rashly. Let's keep an eye on her for now." To Rui Feng's surprise, it was Si Nan Yuan who said this.
"All right, let's put her aside for now. The question is, if someone is trying to harm us, they've probably failed this time. What will they do next..."
"Either give up, or take advantage of our lowered guard when we get back to strike again," Rui Feng replied.
"Exactly. The Barbecue Festival is in a couple of days, and Winter Arrival City will be in chaos then. If they're going to make a move, that's when they'll do it. So it's decided: we'll strengthen security as much as possible in the meantime. We need our people in every corner of the city and a detection network covering the whole place."
"Yes!"
Deep in the Winter Arrival Mountains, inside a small cabin in the woods—
"Damn it, Olga! Why did you send out the Mountain Giants?!"
Sunny, usually so calm, grabbed the young man in front of him—Olga—by the collar and lifted him off the ground in a fury.
"Don't you understand that acting too soon will only put them on guard? We were supposed to stick to the plan!"
"Hey, hey, calm down, brother. I had my reasons," Olga said, spreading his hands as though surrendering. A sickeningly ingratiating smile spread across his face, though his eyes held a cold glint. "Just put me down first, okay?"
Sunny clicked his tongue viciously and threw Olga to the ground. Olga calmly straightened his collar and smoothed his disheveled hair. He waited until Sunny was almost out of patience again before speaking.
"'Paying no attention at all and getting stabbed in the back' and 'watching only the front and getting stabbed in the back'—when all's said and done, aren't the results the same?"
"...Yes."
"After such a major incident during their investigation, they'll definitely tighten security. But where will they focus it? Probably only inside Winter Arrival City. They're all in the city, after all, so of course they'll watch their immediate surroundings. But how would they ever expect an attack to come from outside? That means the security inside the city is completely pointless!"
"You mean..."
"Exactly. The original plan was, 'Strike when the Si Nan Family lets its guard down after several investigations turn up nothing.' Now it's, 'Strike when the Si Nan Family tightens security in the city after a failed investigation.' The result is the same, isn't it? And if we attack them in the Winter Arrival Mountains, we'll get one extra chance to land a hit beforehand. Isn't that wonderful?"
Sunny fell silent. At first, Olga's idea sounded like a wild flight of fancy, but the more Sunny thought about it, the more sense it made. Every word rang true, and he couldn't help agreeing.
"...All right. I'll trust you this once. If you disrupt the operation again, don't blame me for executing you on the spot!"
"Yes, yes~ But when exactly should we start?"
"Let's do it... tomorrow."
"The Barbecue Festival was originally called the Winter Ancestor Worship and Auspicious Joy Grand Ceremony. It was a festival celebrated by the local hunter tribes hundreds of years ago. The festival was kept after Winter Arrival City was built. Since people had always roasted and eaten the monsters they hunted during the celebration—and the original name was simply too long—everyone now calls it the Barbecue Festival. Simple and easy to understand."
In the sparsely populated city library, I read aloud the book's description of the Barbecue Festival in a bored murmur. The Barbecue Festival... For FFF Group members like me, shouldn't that be February 14?
Ever since I got back yesterday, I'd been terribly bored. It was like being a kid who'd been looking forward to a school outing, only for it to end before I'd had my fill. The few days in the mountains seemed to have awakened the manly (womanly?) fighting spirit in me. Whenever I closed my eyes, scenes of me battling all kinds of monsters sprang into my mind, making my blood boil. Did I have a hidden battle-maniac trait?
I'd wanted to go pick a fight with Rui Feng, but he seemed to have too many important matters to deal with and couldn't spare the time. It wasn't just him. Everyone in the Si Nan Family was rushing around, and Rui Feng, being a senior member, was especially swamped. Rui Xin and Mo Xiao Hong each had their own things to take care of, while Si Nan Ying...
I sighed. I hadn't seen Si Nan Ying since the mission ended. Her injuries had turned out to be surprisingly minor, and with the help of various Spiritual Medicines, she was nearly recovered. But I had no idea where she was now.
I'd heard people say that the massive collapse was caused by Si Nan Ying losing control of her ability. It was hard to believe. I remembered that when we first met, she'd told me she'd once blown up a building at the main estate. Back then, I'd thought she was exaggerating, but not after seeing the devastation with my own eyes.
She'd flattened a whole mountaintop and all... I'd even called her ability a "cute version of Killer Queen." Now I could see it wasn't cute at all... If she'd also developed some godly skill like rewinding time, she'd be more than a whole tier stronger than Yoshikage himself, yo!
Joking aside, after spending so many days together, I'd already come to think of Si Nan Ying as a friend. If a friend was feeling down, of course I had to show some concern. But how was I supposed to comfort her when she couldn't control her ability? Should I tell her, "It's okay if you can't control it"? Looking at the situation, it was clearly not okay. Or should I launch into some classic plot where I helped her practice controlling her ability and became her closest friend through life-or-death struggles? But since I'd been able to use my own ability without a hitch from the start, I had absolutely no experience with that sort of thing...
At last, amid all my doubts and worries, the festival quietly arrived.
Before you continue