"I'll leave you here..."
Outside the village, the Shadow Crow landed smoothly. Gorth was the first to leap off its back and help Alina, while Talulah landed nimbly on her own.
See you tomorrow, mentor!
Talulah waved immediately after regaining her footing, her face flushed with excitement.
"You don't need to come so frequently..."
Gorth sighed and gradually faded into the shadows.
"Learning takes time to digest; you can't bite off more than you can chew."
"Oh..."
Talulah's enthusiasm cooled slightly, but she quickly rallied again.
"Then I'll bring some questions to ask you tomorrow!"
Gorth didn't respond again, and his figure began to sink into the shadow beneath his feet.
See you tomorrow, mentor.
Alina's gentle voice rang out, and Gorth's downward movement paused for a moment.
"... See you tomorrow."
As soon as he finished speaking, his figure vanished completely.
"Well..."
Talulah sighed and reached out to rub Alina's face.
"Why do our advisors treat us so differently? They speak so gently to you, but they just sigh all the time when they talk to me!"
Alina retaliated without hesitation.
"Ugh... it's all because you set fire to their forest in the first place, Little Tal."
"That's true..."
Talulah awkwardly withdrew her hand, touching the tip of her nose sheepishly.
"Alright, alright, let's go home! Grandpa and Grandma must be getting impatient!"
"Grandpa and Grandma! We're back!"
Pushing open the door, warmth and the aroma of food wafted out. Talulah's loud, energetic voice filled the air.
"It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back..."
The busy grandmother turned around at the sound, a kind smile spreading across her face.
"Quickly wash your hands, get ready... Hey, stop it, stop it... I'm carrying the dishes!"
Talulah hugged her grandmother from behind and nuzzled her affectionately, which made her grandmother laugh and playfully scold her.
"Hehe, I'll do it!"
Talulah with a smile, while Alina stepped forward to help set the table, but out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of her grandfather sitting at the table.
"Grandpa! Your cough hasn't completely cleared up yet, how can you drink alcohol!"
The old man froze, instinctively pulling the cup closer to his chest.
"It's nothing, it's nothing... My cough feels much better today, and my throat isn't as tight."
"Besides, I'm happy today, so I'll just have a little bit. It's fine, it's fine."
Talulah came over carrying a bowl of soup and asked curiously upon hearing this:
Is there any happy occasion in the village today?
"Not in the village," Grandpa shook his head with a sigh of relief on his face.
"He's my savior... He came by this morning."
"Mentor?" Talulah taken aback.
"Yes," Grandma said, her face full of smiles.
"That person came looking for Alina very early this morning."
"Although he doesn't talk much, he looks... well, quite dignified, but he's a good lad."
"Young man..."
Talulah's mind conjured up the image of Gorth's tall figure, and her lips twitched.
"So that's why I waited so long. Turns out you came to visit first."
"Grandma... where did this come from?"
Alina's soft voice came through, tinged with a hint of doubt.
Talulah looked over at the sound and saw Alina carefully holding a portrait in her hands.
"Oh, this?" Grandma wiped her hands and said with a smile.
"It was drawn by our benefactor. He doesn't seem to be very talkative, so he drew this."
"It looks just like her, doesn't it? You can recognize her as our Alina at a glance."
Alina gazed intently at the serene girl in the portrait, her fingertips lightly brushing across the paper:
"Is... this really me...?"
The image of herself in the portrait shows a serene gaze and a subtle, gentle curve at the corners of her mouth—a look that even the young girl herself had never noticed.
"Right?" Grandma smiled and affirmed.
"With such skillful hands, that young man can't be a bad person."
"Yes, how polite they are..." Grandpa sighed, taking a sip of his drink.
Even when I talked to him about embarrassing things that happened to Alina when she was little, he didn't laugh at me...
Alina's expression froze. Talulah took the portrait and examined it carefully, unable to help but exclaim in admiration:
"They're exactly the same! I never knew my mentor had this skill!"
Suddenly, Talulah seemed to remember something, and slapped her forehead.
"Oh no! This is terrible!"
"What's wrong?" Her grandparents both looked at her.
"The drawing paper and paints I bought before!" Talulah's face showed annoyance.
"I left it in the forest and forgot to bring it back!"
"Picture?"
Alina, relieved that Gorth didn't speak Ursus, was somewhat puzzled.
"Alina, didn't you say you wanted to see the outside world? I was thinking... even though I can't take you right away, I can try to draw it for you!"
Talulah's voice trailed off, a little embarrassed, but her eyes lit up again the next second:
"Since our tutor is such a good artist, could we ask him to draw one for us?"
Talulah excitedly made the suggestion, but then found herself in a new predicament.
"But... wouldn't I need to pay my professor for his help? What does he need?"
Alina was taken aback by what she heard, then chuckled softly.
"Little Tal..."
"Um?"
"Come with me to town tomorrow morning."
"I'm back..."
"Welcome back~ How's your studies going?"
Looking at Vane lying on the cushion watching TV, Gorth felt a subtle displeasure. (Consider it as Ten Percent Off importing the video into the TV.)
It's like your brother is having fun in the dorm while you have to work from 8 am...
"Have you finished taking care of everything over there?"
"It's done! It's done!"
Vane shifted to an even more limp position, his tone light and cheerful.
"Now there are professionals carrying the burden for me, and..."
"Ifrit was taken out by the boss, and I, the temporary babysitter, am also honorably laid off. So you don't need to think about finding me any more work..."
Seeing Vane's "I'm already lying down, do not disturb" attitude, Gorth shook his head helplessly.
After taking a bottle of vodka from the shadows and placing it on the table, Gorth reminded Vane of something before heading to the Nursery to test the effects of the fertilizer.
Vodka?
Vane, with the cushions on, wriggled to the table, took the bottle, and took a small sip.
"Hmm... it doesn't taste good."
After putting the bottle back, Vane lay there lost in thought.
"So boring~"
A moment later.
"Hmm! I'd better go out and bother the birds!"
Iberia, coastal village.
"That's outrageous!"
Irene leaned against the rough stone wall, her cheeks flushed with anger.
"What cooperation with the investigation... They're all lying! Their eyes are darting around, and their words are contradictory!"
"Criminals won't voluntarily confess their crimes to law enforcement..."
Dario didn't even look up; he was squatting on the ground drawing something.
"But the criminal himself has already confessed!"
Irene turned around, her ears trembling with excitement.
"Jim and Carl, they themselves admitted to participating in the sacrifice!"
"We have irrefutable evidence, why can't we take them back to the nearest stronghold for formal interrogation? Leaving them here will only..."
"What do you only know?"
Dario finally raised his head and looked at his apprentice.
"Irene, what if, during your escort, the villagers firmly believe that their family members and neighbors are innocent?"
"They become agitated, gather together to block you, and even attack you—how should you deal with this?"
Irene puffed out her chest almost without thinking:
"Of course--"
"Of course, we should kill them all."
"!!!"
"Mr. Vane!"
Irene was both angry and annoyed, her expression serious.
"Please don't make such a cruel joke! Inquisitor would never..."
"Hey hey~ just kidding, don't be so serious."
Vane waved his hand, speaking as he naturally reached out to touch her erect earlobes.
"Please have some self-respect!"
"Tsk, stingy."
Vane sauntered over to Dario's side, squatted down, and looked at the ground.
"Galio, what are you scribbling about here?"
"It's Dario... never mind."
Dario didn't even look up; he had already given up on correcting this self-centered guy about the form of address.
"These are the preliminary findings of today's investigation."
"This is... a map?"
"Um,"
Dario responded, his finger tracing over several specially marked, cross-marked areas.
"The village has a small permanent population, but there are more abandoned or uninhabited buildings than expected. Judging from the traces, many of them were abandoned recently."
"Recently abandoned?"
Irene's expression changed upon hearing this.
"So, the owners of those houses only recently disappeared? Were they persecuted by the Church of the Deep?!"
"Uncertain."
Dario poured cold water on the idea, pointing to several points on the sketch.
"I examined several areas in detail and found no obvious signs of fighting, struggle, or violent destruction."
"The door lock was intact, and although the items inside were dusty, they were arranged relatively neatly, not like a sudden attack."
"What if he's like that brat Aegir, used as a sacrifice by the neighbors?"
The air seemed to freeze briefly at Vane's words. Irene bit her lip.
"That possibility cannot be ruled out."
Dario slowly steered the conversation back to the investigation itself.
"The villagers' resistance to the investigation is widespread, but the degree of resistance itself is also a clue."
He drew a striking circle in the center of the map, slightly to the west.
"Most villagers only verbally refused or showed a lack of cooperation. But the closer we got to that direction, the more obvious their defensiveness and resistance became."
"Yeah?"
Vane raised an eyebrow, his eyes gleaming with interest.
"So, there's a high probability that some good stuff is hidden there? Where exactly?"
Dario pointed to a location, Vane headed straight in that direction.
I can't walk anymore...
Vane turned around in surprise, the Inquisitor's fingers gripping the corner of Vane's trench coat tightly.
What are you doing?
"I'll handle it."
Okay~
Vane shrugged and asked a new question.
"Didn't they say they'd provide accommodation? Where are we staying tonight?"
Dario got up and led Vane toward the edge of the village.
"The home of that young Aegir."
"Hmm... how's your investigation going with that guy?"
Dario paused, Vane naturally walked past him.
"Don't look at me like that... Your Inquisition should know better than I do about the persecution of the Aegir in the south."
"Why has an Aegir managed to survive here until now?"
Dario caught up again, and Irene explained to Vane.
"According to the villagers, this boy only arrived recently; they had never seen him before."
"Only you would believe such a lie, you cute little bird~"
Irene wrinkled her nose and retorted:
"I didn't believe it completely!"
"Yes, yes~ Little bird, do you know why people in the south hate the Aegir so much?"
Irene was taken aback, Vane turned his amused gaze to Dario.
Didn't our Grand Inquisitor tell you?
"Iberia's past..."
Irene looked at the teacher, but Dario remained silent, so she could only turn her gaze to Vane.
"Okay... eager little bird."
Vane raised an eyebrow and began to tell the story.
Do you know... about the Iberia Golden Age?