Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The little girl had green eyes, and she was wearing a green hairband, like the color of newborn saplings.
She didn’t seem scared at all after being knocked out just a moment ago. Instead, she sat up casually and looked around the area with great curiosity.
She saw glittering decorations in a brightly-lit castle hall. Everything was big, and she was curious.
“What are you looking for?”
The girl looked up at the “giant” sitting at the other end of the table. “Are you talking to me?”
Angor nodded.
“Oh, I like your voice. It reminds me of the small stream flowing in the morning wind. Gentle and clear.”
Angor was a little surprised by her words. He then smiled and said, “Thank you. It’s an honor to hear such words.”
“They’re so big and pretty!” The girl put her hands on a dish with beautiful carvings. She then put her hands on a teacup which was almost as big as herself.
Angor pointed at a smaller glass, which was still too big for the girl. “Milk smoothie, if that’s okay for your taste.”
The small Krakok sniffed and licked her lips. “Thank you! But I can’t use that.”
She pointed at the spoon in the glass.
To her, the small spoon was larger than a war hammer.
“You see? Can I have it instead?” Shadow joked and tried to reach for the glass.
The Krakok girl pouted while she watched Shadow reaching out for the glass.
That milk smelled so sweet… My granny wouldn’t let me eat anything sweet. And that cream! I want to have them all!
When Shadow picked up the spoon, Angor took out a metal fork and stuck it toward Shadow’s hand.
Shadow jumped and quickly let go of the glass.
Angor skillfully caught the drink and put it in front of the small girl again.
“Hey! Well, she can’t drink THAT, so we better not waste it!” Shadow protested.
Angor glanced at Shadow and didn’t spare the effort to reply. He then took out the spoon and used Thaw to recreate it into a smaller tool in a matter of seconds.
He cooled the now smaller spoon with Condense and handed it to the girl.
“That’s perfect! Can I really drink this?”
“By all means,” Angor said as he gestured at the glass of milk.
Shadow frowned as the girl satisfied her stomach. He thought this “Mask” was lying about knowing alchemy, but what he just saw proved that Mask was actually good at it. That glass spoon would easily turn to a useless liquid without careful control.
And Mask did that work nice and easy… There was even a tiny cartoon design on the handle of the spoon. It was an animal that wore a lace skirt and a bow-tie. Was that a cat or a rabbit?
Making the spoon smaller in such a short time and in a perfect way meant Mask was very skilled at alchemy.
“Nice trick there, man. How about helping me with something?” Shadow said through the Spirit Bond.
Again, Angor didn’t answer him. He was watching the girl as she happily consumed her drink.
The “smoothie” he made was only iced milk added with some cream. It was nothing top-class. Still, he felt content to see the little girl enjoying it so much.
Angor’s noble manners told him not to speak when someone was eating, and so, the silence persisted.
It was the Krakok girl who broke the silence first. “This is so nice! My grandma won’t let me have anything like this. She would only force me to sing every morning.”
“Why?” Angor gladly found something to talk about since the girl seemed willing.
“Well…” The girl rubbed her nose bridge awkwardly. “She said sweets eat away my teeth, so I’ll look terrible when singing in front of others.”
“Do you really need to look pretty when singing?”
“I know, right? But granny said if I do a good job at singing, the Sky Choir will bring me to sing for the Queen over at Citadel.”
“Citadel?” Angor looked at Shadow, who returned with the same confused expression.
“But aren’t you the same as those big people from Citadel?” the girl asked.
Shadow spoke before Angor this time, “So you aren’t afraid of us because we’re from Citadel?”
By this, Shadow pretended that he and Angor did come from the place mentioned by the girl.
“Yup. When I went to the ceremony at the capital, Hippocrotee, I saw a really, really beautiful lady who came from Citadel. You all looked the same size. Our Grand Priest was talking to her then, so I can’t get close.”
Those words got both Angor and Shadow to start thinking carefully.
Angor was interested in the name “Hippocrotee”. The former name of Water Grasse was “Hippocratee”. It seemed that even after the thousand years, the Krakoks still couldn’t forget their old home.
Shadow was more curious about the “beautiful lady” from Citadel. He was now trying to ask about her information from the Krakok girl.
“She had really bright blond hair. It’s long and all curly, like those clouds you see before a big rain. She has brown eyes and a small spot around her lips. And, um, she was wearing a red robe.” The girl tried to remember while finishing her iced milk.
“That should be an apprentice of the old witch,” Shadow spoke through Spirit Bond. “If this girl’s right, she saw ‘Mercy Witch’ Fiona. A peak level-3 apprentice like me.”
Next, Shadow smiled at the girl. “I see! That’s Fiona, my dear wife.”
“Oh yes! I heard Grand Priest mentioning her name, Fee, Fee…”
“Fiona.” Shadow chuckled.
“Lady Fiona it is! So, she’s your wife, mister? Oh, you two must be so happy!”
Shadow didn’t seem shameful at all. “Of course. She always sticks close to me all day, and at night we get to bed and—”
Angor snapped his fingers, and Shadow suddenly lost his voice.
The man didn’t find anything wrong with his throat. Rather, he “forgot” how to make sounds.
Shadow touched himself quickly and found a small trace of aura lurking around his eyebrows. When he tried to chase it away, Angor moved a hand again and ordered the aura to return into the Nightmare Domain.
“Don’t start fooling yourself with those lies.”
“Well, we gotta pretend to the fullest,” Shadow said with a grin. He then turned to the small lady again. “So the Citadel will send someone again soon?”
The girl nodded innocently.
When looking at the green figure sided with white cream milk, Angor somewhat got a feeling that everything was looking tasty.
“Yes. The grand ceremony was the day after tomorrow.” The girl suddenly looked confused and asked, “Hey, Hat Uncle, why did they suddenly change the schedule?”
Hat Uncle?
Angor exchanged a puzzled look with Shadow. Angor already removed his top hat, so the girl had to be referring to Shadow now.
Shadow took off his wide-brimmed hat. “Do I look ‘uncle’-ish to you? Come on, call me big brother.”
“Oh, um, Brother Hat?”
“Okay fine, enough with the hat stuff. Call me Diablo,” Shadow said. He then looked at Angor and said, “That’s my real name. Won’t you introduce yourself too?”
Angor glanced at Shadow before he spoke to the girl, “I’m Angor. What’s your name?”
“Angor, huh?” Shadow searched his mind and didn’t find anything he needed.
The little girl licked her lips clean. She then used a small handkerchief and did a curtsy. “I’m Papaya from Seedling Village, kind sirs from Citadel.”
“So, the Citadel changed the date for the ritual?” Shadow asked.
“Yes. I was planning to take it easy, but they just moved the date two months earlier. That’s why my granny asked me to practice early in the morning. Why did you do that, Brother Diablo?”
“Oh, it should be a secret. You’ll see soon enough,” Shadow said. He then quickly changed the topic. “Your grandma asked you to sing so that you can make a show during the ritual?”
Papaya looked both timid and proud. “Right! The choir chose me. I’ll leave for Hippocrotee tomorrow. I never thought I’ll actually meet someone from Citadel today. Are you the one choosing singers for Sky Choir, Diablo?”