An unprosperous street.
Still wearing the slightly tattered Plate Chain Composite Armor after the battle, Xia Nan walked alone on the road.
His eyes were slightly dull, recalling the scene from his conversation with Vier just now.
Faced with his blunt advance before the farewell, the mysterious-backgrounded girl was incoherent and even seemed flustered and helpless.
This formed a stark contrast to her demeanor when confronting the Red Dragon named "Crawbarry," who could wipe out their team with a single Dragon Breath.
It made Xia Nan feel absurd.
Could he ever be more terrifying than an adult Red Dragon?
After a period of bewilderment, Vier stammeringly offered her explanation for his suspicions.
Nothing special, just utterances like "coincidence," "resembles someone from the past," "mistaken identity," lacking any specific information. Nᴇw ɴovel chaptᴇrs are published on novel fire.net
Xia Nan obviously wouldn’t believe it just like that.
But since she exhibited such resistance to these topics, clearly unwilling to delve into discussions with him.
He couldn’t be bothered to ask further.
Anyway, it was just a casual mention before leaving, and the next encounter wouldn’t be for at least three years.
Having often spent time in the tavern hall, listening to countless rumors from passing adventurers, he knew it well.
Unless absolutely necessary, and familiar with the other person, in most cases, randomly probing into people’s secrets is not a good idea.
It will only involve oneself in unnecessary troubles.
As for why he didn’t invite her to team up for adventuring.
To be honest, Xia Nan felt uneasy.
Even though she had already proven her reliability in critical moments, banishing an adult Red Dragon to another plane.
And as a fundamentally solid Spellcaster, she could offer numerous aids to the team.
But it must be admitted that Vier was hiding too much.
Whether it was her seemingly low Professional Level, yet able to confront an adult giant dragon head-on with her Combat Ability;
Or mysteriously joining an escort team, seemingly just for those hundreds of Gold Coins that don’t mean much to most Mages, nobody knew the girl’s true intentions.
Xia Nan even doubted whether "Vier" was indeed her real name.
In such circumstances, with shadows lingering in his heart, how could he possibly invite such an enigmatic character to team up with him?
On the other hand, it was the same for Vier.
The identity of "Reincarnator," and the heavy burden of "saving the world" on her shoulders, was almost suffocating her.
On countless quiet nights, she contemplated why, among the countless more suitable candidates on Aifala Continent, as numerous as grains of sand in an hourglass, it was her.
Why was it her, an obscure, even ordinary Transcendent Mage who had to work in the Mage Tower’s lab for her mentor, chosen to receive such an opportunity.
However, since it had already happened, her sense of responsibility and conscience left her with no room for refusal.
Of course, Vier wanted to inform her past mentor or several Big Shots of the positive alliance on the continent, hoping they could help share the burden on her shoulders and provide assistance.
But the entities above the long river of time were constantly watching her, and revealing her "Reincarnator" identity would only lead to the loss of this precious possible chance to save the world.
With this as a premise.
To outsiders, the incomprehensible goals, her strange actions defying common sense, the mission’s unique nature and high confidentiality demands, inevitably meant Vier had to walk this journey, hidden in the shadow of the world’s back, alone.
Temporary cooperation was perfectly fine;
but long-term teammates were simply impossible.
Nothing was spoken explicitly, but a peculiar tacit understanding formed between Xia Nan and Vier.
Until truly leaving, vanishing from view.
Neither side mentioned anything about teaming up.
Slightly turning aside, he allowed a plainly dressed and frightened-looking middle-aged man to pass.
Xia Nan considered his upcoming plans.
The Snake Scale Arm Shield should have been forged by now, and of course he had to return to River Valley Town, but staying in a remote town with nothing for a few months was unrealistic.
Thus, he decided to follow Vier’s suggestion to exit from the other side of Yuan Sha Province, bypassing the route of the Melted Scale Mountain Range to return to River Valley Town.
As for the address she provided...
At least from her performance in this mission, Vier seemed to hold no hostility towards him.
Since she said there might be something there to help him, Xia Nan didn’t mind taking a look on the way and helping her with a minor task.
A remote village located within Yuan Sha Province, near the edge of Nianshu Territory.
Like countless other obscure, small human settlements within the Kingdom, it had no economically valuable specialties nor proximity to major transportation routes.
Causing many elders living in the village to possibly have never stepped beyond the boundary formed by scattered fences around the area in their entire life, nor did outsiders wish to pass through the densely forested region to reach this unremarkable village.
Speaking of which, years ago, Grey Valley Village once had an opportunity to change its Destiny.