Chapter 1259: 16. Grief and Fury

Rustle.

The tent flap was lifted, revealing a corner of the splendid, flourishing sky in the distance, but it vanished again in the blink of an eye, leaving behind only an aftertaste filled with deathly silence and loneliness.

“Welcome.”

The old woman enthusiastically turned around: “Precise divination, one thousand Aimier per reading, if it’s inaccurate, no......”

“Give it a rest.”

The old man casually tossed aside the trench coat covered in the smell of cheap spices and perfume, then swaggered over and sat down on the chair opposite her: “I wouldn’t dare let an old witch like you divine anything for me. If you accidentally divined the location of my private collection again, wouldn’t I suffer a huge loss?”

“So it’s you, you old bastard.”

After seeing clearly who had come, the old woman immediately rolled her eyes: “You say it as though anyone cares about your collection. Isn’t it just some alcohol? You think I care? You think I don’t have good alcohol here?”

As she spoke, the old woman took out a bottle, tilted her head back, and gulped it down. After finishing, she took out a tray from the side, poured a little less than half a glass into the wineglass on it, and handed it to the old man.

“Here.”

“Thanks.”"

The old man reached out to take it, but at the very last moment flipped over the tray, revealing the crystal ball concealed beneath it with magic.

“And you still say you haven’t been thinking about my collection?” the old man roared angrily.^

“Don’t misunderstand my good intentions. I merely wanted to give you a physical examination through divination.”

“Bullshit. Since when can your divination check someone’s physical condition? If you’re that damn amazing, why don’t you become a doctor?”.

“If you want......”

The old woman pulled out a license and said with complete seriousness: “I can also be a doctor. Up until now, not a single patient I’ve treated has ever given me a bad review.”/

“......”

The old man glanced at that veterinary license and took several deep breaths before suppressing the urge to snatch away the wine bottle and smash it into the old woman’s face.*

“Let’s talk about serious business.”

He leaned back in the chair, but his gaze passed through the gap in the tent curtain toward the distant sky, which had already returned to tranquility:'

“You divined for those two just now, right?”

“Yes, I did.”,

“What was the result?”

“The result......wasn’t very certain.”/

“Oh? Monis Enid, one of the top diviners of the Church of Life and inheritor of the title Eye of the Nineteenth Prophet, actually says she isn’t certain after this kind of contact divination. That really is rare.” The old man looked surprised.

“Hmph, normally speaking, that really would be almost impossible, but don’t you see what kind of people those two are?”

The old woman named Enid sneered: “Forget about that blond brat. Do you know that when I was divining for the other one, my hands were trembling? At the time, I even had the illusion that if I looked even the slightest bit deeper, she would immediately kill me!”

“......”

The old man fell silent for a moment: “So......that person really is the calamity?”

“Oh? You’re asking me that? Didn’t you come into contact with her even earlier than I did?”

Enid crossed her arms over her chest and mocked: “What, the dignified Daigby Branch President of the Adventurers' Association, Nora Blaze, doesn’t even dare investigate her proactively?”

“You know I’m only a branch president. Even if our main association president came personally, I doubt he’d dare casually do something like that.”

Blaze smiled bitterly: “To tell you the truth, if Muen Campbell hadn’t come looking for me on his own back then, I wouldn’t have fucking noticed anything wrong with those two at all......I don’t know whether you noticed it, but that famous ‘Dragon’s Bride’ looks far more terrifying now than he used to. Although he isn’t a Crowned One, for some reason, the pressure he gives me isn’t any weaker than that of a Crowned One.”

“You’ve met him before?”

“About five years ago. Back then, he was still a hopeless wastrel of a noble brat whose greatest hobby was lifting the skirts of his own maids.”

“Then for you, his change really is rather large.”

Enid sighed: “But what matters now isn’t that ‘bride,’ it’s the other one, right? As the true protagonist of that bride-snatching incident that caused such an uproar some time ago, that person has actually really come to the human world.”

Not merely passing through, but truly coming into the world that belonged to humans, truly entering a city for an extended period of time......According to the records, something like this had not happened for several hundred years.

“Yes. If this matter spreads, the entire continent will experience an unprecedented shock.”

The two looked at each other, both realizing the seriousness of the matter.

Unlike most ordinary people, who were still immersed in gossip about an evil dragon abducting a bride, people like them, who possessed at least some status and strength, would instead genuinely feel solemnity and fear toward this matter.

Because through those vague legends and stories, they still knew just how terrifying that calamity......actually was.

“Enemy or friend?”

“For now, she seems to be a friend. She hasn’t shown the slightest hostility for the time being, and everything she and that Muen Campbell have been doing along the way looks very much like......a date.” Blaze’s expression became strange. When Muen Campbell had approached him and asked him to help out a little, he really had been startled.

A calamity coming to participate in an eating contest had directly shattered his worldview even further.

If he hadn’t still possessed some reason, he would have wanted to record that scene. Maybe in the future it could even make its way into a history book or something.

Of course, the idea of a calamity dating a human was even more outrageous. He still hadn’t managed to convince himself to believe that.

“But since that person doesn’t seem to have any intention of causing trouble, I can finally breathe a little easier.” Blaze placed both hands behind his head and sighed: “Recently, reports from all across the continent say that the activities of Evil God believers have suddenly become more active. I’ve even heard that your teacher, that famous Grand Astrologer, has once again issued a warning about the apocalypse.”

“These are already troubled times. I really don’t want to encounter another calamity stirring up trouble or anything like that. Peace is good, peace is good......These old bones of mine just want to quietly enjoy a festival.”

“Quietly?”

Enid also raised her head, looking through the gap in the tent toward the sky outside, where the fireworks had faded away, leaving nothing but pitch-black deathly silence: “I actually think tonight might not be so easy to keep peaceful.”

“Hmm? Didn’t you see nothing at all from those two?”

“Did I say that? I only said I wasn’t very certain. I never said I saw nothing.”

“......Stop keeping me in suspense.” Blaze’s face turned stern.

“Alright, alright. You still can’t take a joke.”

Enid spread both hands, “Actually, regarding that person......what I saw really was extremely blurry. I only saw a faint, indistinct splash of blood somewhere in the future. But as for that other playboy......”

She paused, then said with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile:

“The words ‘bloody calamity’ weren’t something I made up, and tonight......they’ll probably come true.”

“You mean......”

“That’s right.”

Enid restrained her smile, her gaze fixed tightly on the crystal ball in her hands: “Before, I was only suspicious, but through Muen Campbell, this strangely special existence for some unknown reason, I accidentally managed to confirm it.”

“——The intelligence we received earlier was correct. Rats......have infiltrated this city!”

......

......

Clang.

The sound of something falling onto the ground was unbelievably clear.

So clear that in an instant, it disturbed the chilly silence left behind after the fireworks faded, pulling Muen back from the brilliant beauty from just moments ago. He subconsciously turned his head toward the sound.

Then he saw the girl covered in dust and grime, her entire body battered and ragged as though she had only just gone through a life-or-death battle. Her face was pale, and her lips trembled slightly.

That face was so familiar, familiar enough to make Muen’s heart stop for a moment.

The atmosphere once again fell into deathly silence.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds......

Only after several seconds did Muen suddenly turn his head away, slap his forehead, and mutter to himself:

“Damn it, the fireworks were too beautiful. They actually made me hallucinate. How could Ariel possibly be here?”

He and Miss Dragon had secretly come here. Logically speaking, there shouldn’t have been a single acquaintance who knew he was here.

A chance encounter?

Impossible. Absolutely impossible.

His luck might be a little bad, but it couldn’t possibly be this bad.

In this vast sea of people, if he could still happen to run into Ariel......then this fucking wasn’t something luck could explain anymore!

“......”

“......”

“That human woman seems to have been staring at us this entire time.” After a moment of silence, Hamreign spoke.

“Don’t......don’t mind her. We’re probably just too conspicuous.”

“Is that so? She looks as though she recognizes you.”

“An illusion......It’s all an illusion.”

Muen stared straight ahead, unable to tell whether he was trying to convince Miss Dragon or himself.

That’s right. This was all nothing more than an illusion.

Even taking ten thousand steps back, even if that girl really was Ariel, even if Ariel’s luck really was heaven-defying enough that she could meet him among this vast sea of people, things still hadn’t reached the point where they were completely beyond saving.

After all, he and Miss Dragon were currently completely disguised. The current Ariel shouldn’t be able to recognize him!

She couldn’t recognize him. She definitely couldn’t......

“Muen......”

But in the end, that call still flowed trembling from between her lips, winding and lingering, carrying emotions too complicated to unravel.

“Why are you here, and also, what are you......doing?”

“......”

Something’s wrong something’s wrong something’s wrong......

Cold sweat poured madly from Muen’s forehead. He wanted to pretend he hadn’t heard, but how could he possibly fail to hear a voice that had already drifted over on the wind?

He didn’t understand. He was obviously disguised, so why could she still......

Muen turned his head and directly met a pair of special eyes......

Damn it, he had completely forgotten about this!

The girl was covered in dust and grime, but only her pair of eyes remained incomparably clear. Indescribable colors flowed within her pupils. Everything in this world, every falsehood and illusion, could not escape the gaze of those eyes.

Able to ignore any disguise, any falsehood, able to spot you at a glance even while you were disguised among a vast sea of people......True · Chosen Protagonist · Standard Cheat · Delusion-Breaking Mystic Eyes!

Alright.

There was no need to doubt anything now.

That voice, that appearance, and those eyes.

In the entire world......there probably wasn’t a second person with exactly the same configuration.

“Hi, Ariel. Good evening.”

Muen hurriedly waved his hand and greeted her gently: “It’s so late......and you’re still awake.”

“Answer. My question.”

Colors flowed through the Delusion-Breaking Mystic Eyes, yet they seemed to have lost all their light. Ariel staggered forward two steps, her gaze moving to Muen, then to Hamreign, and finally lowering to look at......the hands the two were holding.

“Muen, what are you doing? Are you......dating her, dating this dragon?”

“No, no, no......you misunderstood. I......”

“Dating?”

Before Muen could even deny it, Hamreign coldly interrupted him from beside him.

“Human woman, do not use your foolish way of thinking to speculate about our actions. Muen and I share a sacred and pure relationship as eternal companions. The word dating is something only the brief and pitiful romantic relationships between you humans would use.”

“Com......panions?”

Ariel slowly tilted her head bit by bit, her movements stiff like those of a puppet: “Then tell me, what did you two do tonight?”

“Tonight?”

Hamreign merely frowned slightly, then completely ignored Muen, who was frantically making gestures beside her, and with the coldly proud bearing of someone with nothing to hide, said: “We did nothing more than exchange items with each other, participate in an eating contest, have our fortunes told, stroll around the night market for a little while, and finally watch fireworks. Is there anything strange about that?”

“......Exchange gifts? An eating contest? Fortune-telling? Strolling around the night market? Watching fireworks?”

Her already lightless pupils became even deeper. Ariel’s delicate body began trembling little by little, like an active volcano about to erupt: “Isn’t that exactly a date? And these things......these activities......they’re clearly all things I’ve wanted to do but never had the chance to do, and they’re all things I’m good at!”

“Hmm?”

Hamreign asked in surprise: “You’re also Muen’s companion?”

“......”

It’s over.

Muen slapped his forehead again.

He couldn’t even tell whether this dragon was deliberately mocking her or whether she genuinely thought that way, but regardless......how could you possibly say something like that at a time like this?

If you say that......won’t she completely explode?

“......Companion? I’m not a companion. Obviously......Obviously......”

Sure enough, as Hamreign’s words fell, inexplicable sorrowful bgm began echoing through the desolate night.

Ariel dropped to her knees and slammed her fists into the ground. Those fists, capable of punching through even a bronze golem, now seemed so weak and powerless.

“Obviously......I was here first......”

“No, Ariel, you really misunderstood. I didn’t......”

“......Muen.”

“Eh......I’m here.” Muen hurriedly responded. The death warning was buzzing frantically at this moment, yet he didn’t dare make the slightest unnecessary movement.

“Do you know? In order to save you, during this entire period I kept getting stronger and stronger. Just now, I even spent only a single day breaking through the entire ruin.” Ariel spoke softly, the ragged hem of her skirt seeming to prove the bitter battle she had just endured.

“So......so amazing!”

Muen hurriedly applauded, moved to the point of tears and snot streaming down his face: “Ariel, you’re incredible. For you to do this much for me, I really......don’t know what to say!”

“I worked this hard because I wanted to save you from this evil dragon. I was terrified that she would torment you, bully you, so I kept thinking faster, faster, if I could just be a little faster, then I could save you sooner......

But I never imagined that while I was painstakingly breaking through the ruin, risking my life in a desperate battle, you......you were actually dating this dragon!!”

“I already said......this isn’t......”

“Isn’t this just like a wife who works herself to the bone coming home from work, only to discover that her husband has gotten involved with the person she hates most?”

“That’s not right. No matter how you look at it, there’s no need to use that kind of analogy......” The corner of Muen’s mouth twitched.

“So......I refuse to accept it!”

Ariel suddenly raised her head, her eyes slightly red, like a furious little beast:

“This alone, I refuse to accept!!”