Exploring the Domain

The sky was still hazy as another day dawned.

On the courtyard wall, dandelion seeds caught in the morning breeze spun gently on their own.

Li Qiuzhi glanced at the clock. It was five thirty in the morning.

He slung the Adventurer's Hunting Bow and a quiver full of arrows across his back, with the Dull Blade still fastened at his waist.

After checking that he had forgotten nothing, Li Qiuzhi left the house and headed for the city gates. He arrived at around six, just as Fischl and Oz appeared together.

Bennett also arrived at their meeting point, yawning and rubbing his sleepy eyes.

"Behold your languid state!" Fischl studied her nails, her hands clad in asymmetrical black silk gloves, and declared haughtily, "As servants attending at my side, how can you undermine this Prinzessin der Verurteilung's majesty so upon our dark journey!"

"Mein Fräulein says she has been waiting for you for quite some time," translated Oz, the night raven familiar of Her Highness.

"Haha."

Bennett rubbed the back of his head and grinned, showing his white teeth. "I was so excited last night that I stayed up chatting with my dads."

"Please forgive us, Your Highness," Li Qiuzhi said with a smile. "Still, isn't this an awful lot of people?"

Li Qiuzhi looked around.

Fully equipped adventurers were heading out through the city gates one after another. Li Qiuzhi had only ever seen crowds like this at the market.

"They're some of the larger adventuring teams. They have plenty of experience, so they're an essential part of any domain exploration."

Bennett shared what he knew.

Li Qiuzhi nodded. Come to think of it, he seemed to have seen an adventuring team recruiting new members before.

With so many novice adventurers around, heading out alone without any experience was hardly wise. Most would find a veteran to guide them.

Joining an adventuring team, or forming one with a few friends, was a good choice in that situation.

Bennett had probably done the latter.

Unfortunately, their leader was so unlucky that every commission they accepted ended in failure in some bizarre way, forcing the members to request leave under various pretexts.

In truth, they had long since moved to other teams.

Katheryne had simply been too softhearted to tell him. Otherwise, Benny's Adventuring Team, with only its leader remaining, would have had its registration revoked long ago.

While Li Qiuzhi's thoughts wandered, Fischl pressed her hands against the sides of her split-front skirt and faced the city gates.

"I hear the fate of the forsaken kingdom calling. Rejoice, my attendants!"

Flapping his night-dark wings, Oz said, "Mein Fräulein says it is time for us to depart."

"Since Fischl says so, let's go," Li Qiuzhi said softly.

Outside the city gates stood rows of four-wheeled carriages. Besides those the Adventurers' Guild used to transport supplies, some of the larger adventuring teams had their own.

Unlike adventurers in small teams such as Li Qiuzhi's, they could simply ride there in comfort.

Fischl remained ahead of the two of them, maintaining the dignity of their leader.

After a short wait, Cyrus, the president of the Adventurers' Guild, gave everyone a few words of advice about exploring the domain, then led the entire group off.

His advice amounted to keeping the peace while exploring the Domain, helping one another, and asking the Adventurers' Guild to mediate any disputes.

Then, led by the Adventurers' Guild's convoy of carriages, the procession set off in a grand, winding column.

Li Qiuzhi's group of three people and one raven blended inconspicuously into the crowd. After a long journey, they reached the Temple of the Thousand Winds and began setting up a temporary supply camp.

Since the camp would serve all the adventurers, Li Qiuzhi and his companions had to help as well.

With so many people working together, the temporary camp was soon ready. Wall lamps were also installed along the dark passage into the ruins to make coming and going easier.

With that, the domain exploration officially began.

The ruins domain at the Temple of the Thousand Winds.

Li Qiuzhi felt a little dizzy after passing through the Domain Portal, but a shake of his head soon cleared it.

Fischl, who had entered a step ahead of him, stood before him. Her skirt, black outside and purple underneath, split like a swallow's tail, partly concealing her asymmetrical, sheer black stockings from behind.

She wore ornate black ankle boots with flat heels.

Looking past the Prinzessin der Verurteilung, he found that the architecture inside the Domain seemed to match that of the ruins outside.

Overhead was a high stone-vaulted ceiling, making it feel as though they had entered some sort of underground structure.

"Ow, ow, ow..."

Bennett's voice came from behind him.

Li Qiuzhi turned to look at Bennett, who had just emerged from the portal. Seeing him rubbing his head, he asked in confusion:

"What's wrong?"

"A pebble fell on my head from somewhere," Bennett said with a hint of complaint.

"..."

Li Qiuzhi looked above Bennett's head. With his excellent eyesight, he spotted several tiny stones wobbling inside a crack in the high ceiling, yet to fall.

Unless he was mistaken, Bennett's bad luck had begun to take effect.

He quickly pulled Bennett aside to keep him from being struck by the stones that fell afterward.

The two joined Fischl, and Li Qiuzhi looked around before asking:

"Where's Oz?"

"He is scouting the enemy's movements on our behalf."

Her Highness Fischl held her left hand over her eyepatch, seemingly sharing Oz's vision.

"Has he found anything?" Bennett asked beside her.

Fischl swept her left hand down with a flourish. "Ahead lies the choice of fate."

"Huh?" Bennett was baffled.

"She probably means there's a fork in the path up ahead," Li Qiuzhi said, guessing at Fischl's meaning after a moment's thought.

"Indeed. As expected of the attendant who understands my heart!"

Fischl gave him an approving glance.

[Fischl has developed a favorable impression of you. Gained 45 Friendship points. Current Friendship level: Lv. 2 (95/200)]

Looking at the Friendship notification, Li Qiuzhi could not help marveling at the power of his character Specialty, [Maiden Rescuer]. It made earning Friendship so much easier.

"Then let's head over. We'll take whichever path has treasure!"

Li Qiuzhi let Fischl lead, while he and Bennett followed beside her.

The domain was vast, with paths leading in every direction ahead. What Fischl had called "ahead" was actually slightly to the left.

On their way over, they encountered a Ruin Guard that had already been defeated. Other adventurers must have done it, since its chaos device had been removed.

When they reached the "choice of fate" Fischl had mentioned, the Night Raven Oz was already waiting there.

"Mein Fräulein, gentlemen, which direction would you like me to scout first?" Oz asked, flapping his deep, night-blue wings.

Li Qiuzhi studied the different routes ahead, resting a hand against his chin as he considered them.

Directly ahead was a straight road like the one they had come along, with no telling what lay beyond. To the left was a narrow path sloping slightly downward, looking very dark.

To the right was another broad road, marked with the footprints of a Ruin Guard.

Which should they choose? Li Qiuzhi happened to glance at Bennett, and seemed to recall something...

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