Chapter 213: A Bit (3)

In the southwestern corner of the Autumn Continent.

There lay a small island that could only be reached by carriage from Syron for half a year, followed by a day’s journey by boat.

Chuaaack!

At dawn, a ship approached the island, churning white foam in its wake.

The tiny dock stood on a deserted islet that seemed uninhabited.

A figure disembarked from the vessel.

Thud.

The person who stepped ashore was a woman.

She possessed striking beauty, with peculiar silver eyes tinged with iridescent hues.

Her confident stride suggested frequent visits to the island.

Following a narrow footpath, she soon arrived at a modest log cabin.

The picture-perfect house exuded a dreamy atmosphere bathed in the warm morning sunlight. Judging by the piled-up firewood and smoke rising from the chimney, someone clearly lived there.

The woman hurried over and knocked on the door.

Knock, knock.

A small echo reverberated, and moments later…

Thud!

A tiny dwarf appeared beyond the door that had been flung open roughly. His face was adorned with a snow-white beard and wrinkled creases, while dark mushrooms sprouting across his features revealed his advanced age.

Upon seeing the woman standing before him, he grinned brightly and extended his hand.

“Heh-heh, the dog-eyed elf arrived first! Long time no see, Floria!”

The dwarf’s proffered hand gleamed with the metallic sheen of a crude prosthetic.

Floria smiled warmly despite the sight, clasping his hand in hers.

“Douglas, how have you been?”

Instead, she gently tugged on his arm and gave him a brief hug.

Thus passed the brief greetings between old friends.

Douglas glanced over Floria’s shoulder and asked, “Where’s the brat?”

“Heh-heh, she’ll be here soon.”

No sooner had Floria spoken than a massive shadow loomed over their heads.

Her smile widened. “There she is.”

A figure descended from the sky.

Whoosh!

A fierce wind whipped up.

Douglas grimaced as the wind stung his face, shouting, “You’re kicking up dust, you bitch!”

Douglas’s gaze landed on a red-haired woman with massive silver wings on her back.

The moment she touched down, her enormous wings neatly folded and shrank to the size of a small backpack.

As she nonchalantly approached the log cabin, Floria greeted her:

“Erica, it’s been a while.”

“Wow, Floria, you’ve gotten even prettier since I last saw you.”

“Heh-heh, you too, Erica.”

“But our dwarf here…”

Erica grabbed Douglas’s nose as she addressed him.

“What’s this smell? Where’s this corpse odor coming from?”

“Hey, you bitch! I’m not dead yet!”

Douglas roared furiously at Erica’s prank.

Whether in the past or present,

Whether they aged or remained youthful,

Floria could only smile gracefully at their unchanging demeanor.

After the commotion, the trio entered Douglas’s cabin.

Douglas skillfully prepared tea for them.

After taking a sip, Erica asked in a grumpy voice:

“Can’t you just move already? Do you know how hard it is to get here?”

“Move? You think it’s easy to move with this old body of mine?”

Erica sighed slightly at Douglas’s words.

What wasn’t widely known was that Douglas, Erica, and Floria held periodic meetings every five years.

Initially, these meetings began near Syron, but as Douglas’s physical condition deteriorated, the location gradually shifted to his home.

“That’s why we come here. And if you’re going to establish a base, shouldn’t you choose a place closer? You don’t even consider this your hometown, do you?”

“Heh-heh, it’s warm here. My hometown is too cold.”

Erica and Douglas continued their banter.

As the playful atmosphere persisted, Douglas set down his teacup and spoke.

“That’s precisely why I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Talk about something?”

”…?”

“I think… it’s time for me to start wrapping things up.”

”…”

Floria and Erica’s faces hardened.

They understood exactly what Douglas meant by “wrapping things up.”

“Douglas…”

“Shorty… Ah, did I upset you earlier by saying you smelled like a corpse? If so, I’m sorry…”

Douglas smiled at the concerned looks his friends were giving him.

His smile was that of an old man standing at life’s threshold.

“Heh-heh, I’m nine hundred and forty-nine this year. I’ve lived long enough.”

”…”

“I know my body best… I’ve got at most seven years left.”

“But dwarves typically live to five hundred!”

“Do you think life follows such neat arithmetic? Everyone has their own fate. I have no regrets. Heh-heh-heh.”

“Dwarf… if you go too…”

Erica cast a conflicted glance at Douglas.

Both Douglas and Floria knew well that beneath Erica’s tough exterior lay a tender heart. Whether it was when their guru died or when Victor perished, Erica had always been the one to suffer most.

Douglas gently placed his hand over Erica’s tear-streaked fingers.

He gently patted Erica’s hand and said, “Hey, friend. Let’s enjoy the remaining time.”

Seeing how his wrinkled, rough hands contrasted with her own youthful, delicate ones, Erica forced back tears. She tried to keep her face bright as she replied, “What’s this, you old codger! Since when are you my friend?”

“You… you bald-headed bitch. You talk like a proper lady.”

Watching them bicker again, Floria sighed softly and asked, “So what will you do next?”

“We’ll head to Syron first. Need to settle some things there… then go home. When the time comes, I want to be buried in my homeland’s soil.”

”…We’ll go with you.”

“Yes, don’t think you’ll go alone.”

Douglas couldn’t refuse his close friends’ offer to accompany him on his final journey.

From the start, it wasn’t easy to reach Syron with an old body. Having the help of close friends would make things much smoother.

He nodded. “If you’re willing to help, that would be great.”

“Then we’ll all go to Syron together after so long? It’s been about 30 years for me.”

“I think it’s been 40 years since my last visit.”

“You’re right. We should have visited more often. Do you know how lonely it was for me, guarding the tower alone?”

“Ugh… I hated how the kids clung to me too much… Those sparkling eyes following me around, showering me with praise—it was just too embarrassing.”

“Floria, I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have made you carry the burden alone.”

“Huhu, it’s alright. Honestly, I can’t remember the last time I got involved in tower affairs. Now I just let the youngsters handle things and enjoy my leisure time. You could call me the old man in the back room.”

“Eh, Floria being an old man in the back room! Have you ever seen such a beautiful old man in the back room?”

“Well, unless it’s something major, we should let the children take the lead. How long can we keep doing everything ourselves?”

“Frankly, aren’t they a bit too old to be called children? Ah, dwarves. So when will we depart?”

“In a few days. I have many things to prepare myself.”

“Would you like me to help?”

“No need. Everyone should rest.”

Douglas lightly waved off Floria’s suggestion and rose from his seat. Though not reaching Syron, the journey might take half a year or longer with his aged body. He’d been preparing for this day, but still had much to sort out - after all, this departure meant never returning.

On that day when Grand Masters gathered after so long, Douglas began preparing for his final journey. Erica and Floria could only gaze wistfully at their friend’s retreating figure.

Unbeknownst to them, while they were away from Syron, something terrifying was unfolding there.

Louis followed William into an alleyway and immediately activated his spatial distortion field.

He quietly trailed behind William, maintaining a fixed distance while observing him.

Oh-ho?

At first glance, it might have appeared as though William was simply walking down the alley. But Louis detected that he was constantly scanning his surroundings to check for tailing.

Let’s see… His cultivation level is roughly tier 2, isn’t it?

The attribute he sensed seemed to be of a mental nature. Within Louis’s sensory domain, William’s perception area flickered. Its radius was approximately 10 meters.

Louis effortlessly penetrated William’s sensory field. Normally, any ordinary being entering this area would have been immediately detected, but William continued on his path as if sensing nothing.

The Domain of Perception isn’t absolute.

Louis’s method to deceive William’s perception was simple: he copied the surrounding space and superimposed it directly onto William’s sensory perception. This was literally something only Louis could accomplish.

Having deceived William in this manner, Louis pursued him closely.

This bastard… even here, he’s still circling the area?

To be precise, William was repeatedly circling the alleyways.

He’s genuinely concerned about being tailed.

The purpose of circling the alleys was to confuse any potential pursuers.

What could he possibly be hiding to warrant such caution?

Louis’s curiosity intensified even further.

After that, William continued wandering through the complex alleyways.

Louis maintained his patience and continued to tail William.

After a considerable time, a flicker of relief crossed William’s face.

As they entered an alleyway, William veered off in a different direction from their initial destination.

This shift caught Louis’s attention.

He’s moving.

The new path likely led to William’s true objective.

Louis intensified his vigilance as he pursued.

Then…

Creak.

Louis raised an eyebrow at William entering an old, shabby shop.

That place…?

The sign above the door captivated Louis’s attention:

Astrology Supplies Shop

Astrology?

In this world too, fortune tellers existed.

Predicting the future, reading New Year’s fortunes, assessing love prospects…

People who read various fortunes.

Of course, such astrology ultimately fell under superstition.

It meant there was no difference between this world and Earth, whether extraordinary abilities existed or not.

A high-ranking official of the Holy Tower was visiting an astrology accessories shop?

Let’s see, what could they possibly be hiding there to sneak in so stealthily?

As the situation grew increasingly intriguing, Louis used space movement to enter the old shop.

It’s quite spacious inside.

The interior of the shop was larger than expected.

And just as it appeared from the outside, it was very old and shabby.

Dust and cobwebs were everywhere, as if the place hadn’t been used for ages.

Louis’s eyes pierced through the darkness to find William.

He stood before a shelf not far away.

What is he doing?

The shelf where William was standing held spheres of various sizes.

After briefly glancing around, William picked up one of the spheres from the shelf.

Soon, red light began to flow from the sphere he had picked up.

No, to be precise, the light was coming from the sphere’s stand.

That’s…

It was a very familiar wave of mana.

There was no way Louis could fail to recognize it.

A communication stone?

As if confirming Louis’s speculation, a voice emerged from the sphere:

“You’re late.”

The sphere that had turned red was indeed a communication stone, as Louis had expected.

To be exact, it was a communication device created by improving a communication stone.

The voice that emerged from the sphere was muffled and riddled with static, its quality woefully poor. Yet comprehension remained unimpeded.

I’ve been waiting thirty minutes.

William’s features twisted at the chiding tone.

“Blame that on your choice of this godforsaken location.”

Isn’t this the best we could manage under the circumstances?

“You can afford to spout such nonsense from the comfort of your home. Establishing a connection point in Central Earth? Have you lost your senses?”

You’re woefully uninformed. Using an uninhabited area would make things far more complicated if discovered later. Central Earth allows us to fabricate plausible alibis with minimal effort.

“I beg you to choose the next meeting place with more care.”

“Hmm… Is it already time to change locations? Very well, I’ll give more thought to selecting the next meeting spot. But… how is the work progressing?”

“Sigh… It’s not easy.”

“Didn’t I hear the same excuse last month? Do you realize we’ve been at this for half a year now?”

“Don’t rush us. We’re doing our best.”

“Hmm, does such a thing truly exist?”

“Wasn’t that matter already settled?”

“It’s only natural to be suspicious. Could something the Master himself couldn’t find possibly be in the Tower of Wishes?”

“Perhaps… it might not be in the tower at all.”

What’s that sound?

“It’s not certain yet. I’ll let you know once I’ve investigated further and confirmed it. So wait. And I’ll say it again… believe me. It really exists.”

If you’re that confident… well, I’ll consider it. But remember this: our patience isn’t bottomless.

“Hmph, that’s hardly amusing. Toss aside your empty threats.”

Exactly! Instead of threats, I’ll cheer you on. May you obtain that technology… and when you bring it to us, unimaginable wealth and honor will be yours.

“That’s somewhat acceptable.”

Then I wish you luck. And I’ll contact you with the next rendezvous point.

“I’ll wait.”

With that, the conversation between William and the mysterious entity came to an end.

A moment of silence followed.

William then hurled the sphere to the ground.

Crash.

The sphere shattered upon impact. William ground the fragments underfoot before scanning his surroundings once more. After confirming no one was there, he cautiously opened the door and stepped out.

He had barely taken a few steps when…

”…?!”

A sudden chill ran down his spine. He whirled around, but sensing nothing, he relaxed his guard.

“Huh… I must have misperceived something.”

He attributed his heightened senses to the cause of his mistake and resumed walking. As he departed from the old shop, the air rippled, and Louis’s figure emerged from the darkness. He strode toward the shattered remains of the sphere.

Creak, creak.

The ancient floorboards emitted strange groans. Soon, Louis placed the completely crushed fragments of the sphere beneath his feet. His face hardened as he stared down at them.

Louis recalled the conversation between William and someone through the communication sphere that had just taken place here. The meaning behind their exchange was simple.

William, you bastard…

Murderous intent flickered in Louis’s eyes.

An industrial spy?!

William had revealed a secret he shouldn’t have, and to the one person who absolutely must never discover it.