Maria Is Always So Tempting (Continued)

Both of them were stunned for a moment.

Lappland reacted the most, staring at Texas with an expression of utter disbelief, as if she had been betrayed.

No... didn't you say that Ms. Maria was acting recklessly?

Therefore, I have always suppressed my own thoughts and have not been too close to Ms. Maria.

But the result was...

Doesn't this remind you of that?

However, while it may be called shock, Texas was actually no less frightened Lappland.

She simply appeared rather reserved, staring blankly at the gentle woman before her.

She didn't come to her senses until those cool fingers left her face. She stared blankly at Maria's retreating figure, feeling somewhat lost.

She reached out and subconsciously touched her face.

After hesitating for a long time, he finally raised his head in disbelief.

"Mrs. Maria... do you remember us?"

Do you want me to forget you?

Maria countered with a question.

No... that's not what I meant...

Texas was somewhat reserved.

But Lappland, standing to the side, couldn't hold back any longer.

She pondered for a moment, then decisively stepped forward.

"Ms. Maria?"

"Um..."

"Hehehe~"

The smiling girl looked up at Maria with anticipation.

Maria did as she wished, reaching out to pat her little head.

Are you satisfied now?

"Just a little longer~"

Lappland started to act coquettishly towards Maria.

That familiar touch made her realize that Maria was back!

In the process of training Lappland and Texas, Maria's most distinctive characteristic, besides her rigorous training, was that she was always fair.

She won't specifically praise one person... When both people are present, her scolding and praise are directed at both of them together.

This absolute fairness may not be the best training method, but it is certainly the one that can satisfy everyone.

No one will experience any extreme negative emotions.

And it was this very action that made Lappland completely certain that Maria had truly not forgotten them...

As for why I didn't just get to know them and meet them directly before... well...

Ms. Maria certainly has her own ideas!

As Lady Maria's loyal hunter, he didn't need to think about much else.

Just follow along!

The meeting at the bathhouse didn't last long... Although Maria knew that some places did have a bathhouse culture where all sorts of people would talk about things, Maria didn't really like it.

The main problem was that the girls' restrained gazes made her feel very strange.

So after resting for a while, they got up and went to the reception room.

The gentle Doll prepared a little snack and red wine for each of them.

A cozy fire burned slowly nearby, and Maria, dressed simply in a white shirt, sat on the sofa, facing the two little ones.

"How is Siracusa doing now?"

She asked.

"Siracusa?" Lappland and Texas exchanged a glance, their expressions also subtle.

But after a moment, they spoke.

"After you left, Madam Sicily began a large-scale crackdown on the family... Due to the massive annihilation of the family, only Saluzzo and Texas remain that can still be called a family."

"And it is on this basis that the family, the Gray Hall, and the Court have become the three pillars of Siracusa... However, we have heard that Madam Sicily intends to merge these three in the future, and then expand recruitment to fill the gaps in various industries in Siracusa..."

"You know I'm not involved in these... girls." Maria seemed thoughtful after hearing these words, but that wasn't really what she cared about.

She doesn't enjoy getting involved in political activities.

The girls were taken aback for a moment after hearing Maria's words, but then they realized what Maria wanted to know.

"Madam Sicily is still in relatively good health; at least we have maintained correspondence with her all these years."

"As for the Texas Family, Celinina later foolishly exposed what her father had done... and then took full responsibility for it, staging an internal purge with the rest of the family to exile herself..."

"Saluzzo is still the same as always, not great, but not bad either. I'm too lazy to inherit anything from the family, and besides, I'm bored on my own, so I've run away these past few years."

"As for Lavinia, I heard she just graduated two years ago and is currently serving as a temporary judge in Volsinii..."

Everyone sat around the small table, gradually filling in the gaps in Maria's understanding of things she hadn't known over the years.

After saying everything, Lappland couldn't help but raise her head and look at Maria with some curiosity.

"Speaking of which, what have you been doing all these years?"

"Me?"

Maria tilted her head, swirled her wine glass, and then silently sipped her wine.

"I'm the same as before..."

"Same?"

The two little ones exchanged a glance, gradually realizing what Maria was saying.

"Are you still hunting those dangerous monsters?"

"Um..."

"So, your appearance at Lungmen is also because...?"

"No, appearing in Lungmen was just an accident. My current goal is to go to Bolivar and find a forest."

"Looking for the forest?"

The two little ones tilted their heads, looking somewhat puzzled.

Maria nodded.

"However, I still don't know where that forest is in Bolivar... It will probably take quite a while to find it..."

"If that's the case, I actually have an idea!"

Lappland decisively raised her hand, indicating that she had a solution.

"You know?"

Maria was a little curious.

Lappland nodded and continued.

"A while ago, I heard that Dossoles in Bolivar was planning to hold an annual water-changing ceremony or something... Dossoles is Bolivar's largest and most bustling tourist city, where people from all over Bolivar gather. If you want to find information, you can go there and take a look... and their tourism festival is actually quite famous."

"Is that so?"

Maria listened to Lappland's explanation and seemed to be deep in thought.

She pulled out a map from the side, and the Doll thoughtfully stepped forward to describe the current situation to her...

After a moment of analysis, Maria frowned slightly.

"If that's the case..."

"Then... let's set off."

Campsite, by the campfire.

The young girl from Cautus, draped in a white cloak, sat quietly by the campfire, carefully picking up her dagger and whittling the wood in front of her.

She wasn't good at this kind of carpentry, and the figures she carved were distorted and bizarre.

If you look closely, you can still see clearly what it is.

It's a rabbit and a Wendigo...

Looking at the strange statue in her hand, FrostNova remained silent for a while, then curled her lip in boredom, threw it into the campfire, and picked up a piece of wood from the side to slowly carve it.

This is one of her ways of passing the time.

Since anchoring the entire Yeti Squad on this strange, moving platform, she had much less to do.

Their main activity on weekdays is leading the team to eliminate the monsters roaming the platform.

Those monsters weren't particularly powerful; a few members of the Yeti Squad could take one down if they coordinated well... However, for some of the more special monsters, FrostNova and her team had to handle them.

According to the strange woman who called herself Doll, due to certain special reasons during the construction of this place, it was almost impossible to completely kill those monsters.

This makes their work a long-term endeavor with no end in sight.

However, for the other members of the Yeti Squad, this was actually acceptable.

Although hunting every day is tiring, life is stable.

Moreover, due to the unique nature of this place, they no longer worry that their Oripathy will worsen.

This allowed them to unleash their abilities more recklessly. As for food, although it was rationed, everyone received much better food than they could eat on the snowfield, and they were all full!

This relatively stable and peaceful life is exactly what they have always been pursuing.

But... FrostNova just couldn't bring herself to be truly happy.

She always felt that something was wrong.

As she pondered, she slightly raised her hand.

As a white rabbit, her skin was already somewhat pale for many reasons...

Although her body improved at a visible speed after receiving the mysterious woman's blood, and her skin regained some color... she always felt a subtle unease when she saw her slightly reddish skin.

Her surging blood burned like flames within her body.

The surging power left her bewildered.

The exhilarating feeling she experienced during the battle almost overwhelmed her.

Maria, the mysterious woman, felt a terrible mutation taking place in her body after drinking the cup of black tea that Maria had given her.

Another, even more powerful force was flowing within her.

She was afraid... afraid that under the influence of this terrifying power, she would become someone else...

Thinking of this, she slowly stopped wielding the dagger in her hand, tilted her head slightly, and looked up at the bright moonlight in the sky.

To be honest, she used to quite like the night when she was wandering the Ursus Snowfield.

Although each time they stopped, it meant they would have to spend a terrible night in place, not knowing if they would wake up again.

But at least, at this moment, she can get some rest.

She didn't need to think about too many things, nor did she need to shoulder responsibilities she could no longer bear. She only needed to be herself, sitting quietly by the fire, imagining the day when she and others could live peacefully in a stable world.

But...

In Yharnam, she was starting to dislike this tranquility.

Every time she raised her head, she couldn't help but think of that woman.