Published at 13th of August 2019 3:00 pm

Volume 2, Chapter 6: To the South, Part Two

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

Translator: Jia Ling (proofread by Trespasserby; C/E edited by lucathia)

“Mannen?” Bai Saya was even more confused. This is already a matter from many months ago. Why would the Guild only start investigating now?

“Saya, Mannen went insane while dueling you two due to a small gem, right?”

Bai Saya remembered that when he was in Stella City’s Adventurers’ Guild, Dan had asked this same question. However, he had impulsively replied that there was no gem. Upon thinking of this lie that could be seen through the moment it left his mouth, Bai Saya instantly felt so awkward that his face reddened.

“Yes, there was a gem.” Even though it was very embarrassing, he still admitted it. After all, Dan had helped them out multiple times. Truthfully, even now, he was still trying to help them. The lie had also been seen through a long time ago, so stubbornly holding on to it was meaningless.

Dan hesitantly asked, “After the two of you took the gem, has anything unusual happened?”

“Anything unusual? Nope.” Bai Saya scratched his face. They had actually completely forgotten about that thing. He didn’t even know if Shooting Star had kept it. There was a chance that he might have sold it when they were short on money.

“Really? Do you really not suspect that your companion might be hiding something from you? After all, isn’t the gem not with you?” Dan’s tone was rarely as harsh as it was when he brought up the question. He added meaningfully, “That gem can allow a person to gain true power, just like Mannen. It was just that he did not use it correctly. Saya, are you sure that your companion doesn’t hunger for power?”

Hunger for power? Why do I feel that hungering for food describes Shooting Star’s personality much better? Bai Saya mumbled these words to himself.

However, seeing how serious Dan was, he didn’t dare to joke around. He only shook his head furiously. “No, we only picked the gem up offhandedly at that time. In these past few months, we’ve completely forgotten about it. Shooting Star is really childlike. He played around and created trouble this entire journey. He wouldn’t hunger for power.”

Upon hearing these words, Dan was silent in reply. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Bai Saya’s words. Knowing Bai Saya’s naive personality, even if he was tricked, he wouldn’t realize it.

When he saw Dan’s expression, Bai Saya couldn’t help but to start panicking inwardly. If Dan continued to hold suspicions against Shooting Star, there might come a day when he would hurt Shooting Star for Bai Saya’s sake.

“If you want, I can go fetch the gem for you right now!” Bai Saya blurted out.

After all, upon seeing what had happened to Mannen, he had always felt that the gem was unlucky. Since Dan seemed interested in the gem, then they might as well give it to him.

Dan hesitated for a bit.

The card that Ice Chess had sent looked like it only had Happy Birthday written on it. However, he had actually used a special type of magic that only allowed Dan to read the real hidden message.

Ice Chess had researched a lot of this type of weird magic. There were many useful ones. However, he wasn’t a generous person. He kept all of them hidden, only using them as bargaining chips when asking for favors.

Dan only had to think about the hidden content on the card and he would feel vexed.

The letter talked about how the Guild had uncovered the series of events regarding Mannen’s loss of the gem. However, Dan was not ordered to retrieve the gem. Instead, he was tasked with finding a way to make the current owner of the gem use it. It was to be a test to see if they were the rightful user of the gem. If they were not, they would naturally meet the same end as Mannen, the first user of the gem.

In his letter, Ice Chess repeatedly warned that “That Person” cared a lot about matters concerning the gem. He warned that Dan must carry out these orders. However, Ice Chess had managed to request the exception that Bai Saya be exempt from the test.

Dan had never liked to ask for help from Ice Chess. This was because the latter possessed a lot of research regarding magic. Everyone knew that whenever he needed a favor, he needed to pull out those magic spells in exchange. Especially this time, when the matter even involved “That Person,” Ice Chess must have given up an untold amount of magic research for this one exception.

Dan couldn’t ask for any more from Ice Chess, but Bai Saya was so concerned about his companion. He was trapped between a rock and a hard place. Just as he was hesitating and unsure of what to do, he glanced at Bai Saya’s face. It was full of panic, yet he was also afraid to disturb Dan’s thoughts. That pair of gentle amber eyes entreated him, full of expectation.

Dan sighed. “Give me that gem.”

Bai Saya was delighted beyond his expectations. He immediately replied, “All right! I’ll go get it immediately.”

The minute he finished his sentence, he jumped off the bed. Bai Saya didn’t even seem to care that he was still sea-sick. He stumbled for a moment, hurrying to Shooting Star’s room. If he didn’t remember wrongly, Shooting Star’s pouch should still be in his room.

Rushing into Shooting Star’s room, Bai Saya saw the tremendous mess within it. His dirty laundry was thrown about. There was a piece of half-eaten bread placed on the table, with a cockroach using the bread as a bed. The blanket was the same. It would have been fine if it was just tossed to the floor. But, the blanket is actually twisted into a roll, and it’s even under the bed?

How did his blanket end up in such a place? Bai Saya had a hundred questions but no answers. Besides, didn’t we just get on the boat two days ago? Shooting Star was actually able to make a garbage pile out of a sparse room with only a table, a chair, and a bed.

Although Bai Saya had already gone through one tribulation after another, and he felt his headache get worse upon seeing this tremendously messy room, he still resigned himself to searching through the garbage pile for the pouch.

“Kiki?”

Bai Saya was stupefied. The noise sounds like it came from under the bed? Don’t tell me there are rats, too?

Without waiting for him to move closer to investigate, a small, pale-gray creature scurried out from under the bed. It grasped Bai Saya’s body and started to climb, finally coming to a rest on his shoulder.

“Bones, you gave me a fright.” Bai Saya smiled weakly.

“Ki?” Bones turned its large head. Its eyes, made of flames, flickered. It seemed to be indicating how innocent it was.

Bai Saya smiled helplessly, stroking Bones’s head with his hand. Bones seemed to enjoy it tremendously. Its flame pupils even curved into a crescent shape, which looked like a pair of eyes curved in enjoyment. Upon seeing this, Bai Saya was shocked.

Bones always surprised Bai Saya. Although it was like a normal pet most of the time, it was occasionally so uncommonly intelligent that it made Bai Saya suspicious if it was really a pet… Eh, a set of bones doesn’t seem to be a very normal pet to begin with.

Some day, he should probably ask Shooting Star what was up with Bones… Wait!

“Isn’t this Shooting Star’s pouch?” Bai Saya eyes clearly spotted a small red pouch hanging from Bones’s neck. It was exactly what he was looking for.

“Bones, I’m looking for a blue gem. Is it inside the pouch?” Bai Saya asked directly. After all, this was Shooting Star’s personal belongings. If possible, he didn’t want to open it himself to check. Being able to directly retrieve the gem would be the best outcome.

Bones tilted its head to express its confusion. It jumped onto the table. Pulling the pouch open, Bones tipped it over. Some small objects clattered onto the table.

Bai Saya didn’t know whether to cry or laugh. If he had known this would happen, he would have just looked for it himself. That would have prevented Bones from messily throwing the objects on the table.

The pouch did not contain many objects. Bai Saya quickly spotted the eye-catching blue gem. He put the gem aside and began to tidy up the remaining objects.

Among them was a very intricate black pentagon necklace. It looked to be made from a gemstone, which was deep black. However, it shone with threads of silver.

When Bai Saya picked it up, he realized that the pentagon was upside down. He was intrigued by the silver dots on it. Upon taking a closer look, he saw that the silver dots were actually inlaid into the patterns decorating the upside down pentagon. He didn’t know what material they were made from, but they glowed a soft silver. Furthermore, the patterns were carved in a complicated and intricate fashion. Even Bai Saya, who didn’t know anything about accessories, was able to see that this was not an ordinary object.

However, how could something so valuable appear in the pouch of the perpetually dirt poor Shooting Star? Bai Saya really didn’t dare to think more about it, afraid of coming to the conclusion that his companion was something along the lines of a thief or a bandit.

Although, to be precise, they had even snatched Alan away. The two of them could long have been considered first rate bandits.

At that moment, Shooting Star and Alan could faintly be heard arguing outside. Bai Saya hurriedly swept the upside-down pentagon and the other objects into the pouch, only leaving the blue gem.

Just as Bai Saya hung the pouch back around Bones’s neck, the floor suddenly shook. The table slid all the way to the bed and smacked into it. The blue gem on the table fell, rolling about on the floor. Bai Saya also stumbled for a while before he was able to regain his balance.

What happened? It can’t be that Shooting Star has really burned down the boat!

After picking up the gem and putting it away, Bai Saya immediately went to the ship’s deck.

“Ah, ah! I’m so bored.”

Shooting Star finished throwing the last of the fish bones and pouted. He rested his chin on the mast, looking extremely unhappy!

“Xiao Bai is seasick, and Alan is ignoring me. There are so many people here, so I can’t have an undead creature like Bones come and throw things with me, sigh! I’m so pitiful. There isn’t anyone to play with me!”

Shooting Star lamented to himself. To think he had spent so much effort to capture two pets, but one ended up falling seasick, and the other was ignoring him. I’m angry! Angry! So, so furious!

Some of the sailors were carrying weighty wood, some were scrubbing the deck on their knees, and there were those who were using the last remnants of their strength to pull on the sail. Upon hearing this person who didn’t know just how easy he had it, they all glared vilely at Shooting Star’s back, wishing they could burn a hole in it. However, the skin on the latter’s back and face had similar thickness. Without a dragon’s fire, it was useless to even think about burning through it!

Shooting Star impatiently paced back and forth for a minute. He then rested his chin on his hands on the side of the boat for another minute. Once more, he began to lament for another minute.

He impatiently ruffled his flame-colored hair again and again, tugging it over and over. Finally, he howled at the sky, “No! I’ve got to find something to do, or I’ll grow mad from boredom!”

It was just past three minutes since he had finished throwing all the fish bones.

Shooting Star had on a serious expression. He decided to do an important thing that should be done every day!

If he didn’t do it, his eyes would dry up and become itchy!

If he didn’t do it, his hands would start to tremble and shake!

If he didn’t do it, his heart would start wanting to cause trouble!

Thus, the serious-faced Shooting Star slowly reached and pulled out—a comb!

While joyfully skipping toward Alan, he sang a nonsensical tune, “I’m going to go comb the little elf’s hair! My pet should obediently let his master comb his hair. My pretty hair~~ Your master is coming!”

This ear-splitting tune immediately made Alan feel the danger behind him toward his hair. He abruptly turned. His pair of blue eyes contained the onslaught of a storm. His shimmering golden hair was carried by the sea winds, whipping around violently. The elf, who was as elegant as a gazelle, actually emitted an air of extreme evil in that moment.

Shooting Star’s feet were shoulder-width apart, his legs as steady as a meteorite. His right hand held the comb, while his left hand formed the perfect protective position. His stance looked simple, but it allowed him to change tactics in response to his opponent at any moment. It could be considered the most practical V-sign.

The battle between man and elf seemed to be imminent. All of a sudden, the sea winds started to blow, creating a sense of strengthened heart and determination.

“Ptooey!” Shooting Star stretched out his tongue and licked his lips. “This wind is quite salty. Pretty tasty.”

“You glutton, even eating the wind!” The elf was unable to keep watching. Earlier, he had already thought that Shooting Star’s appetite was unreasonable. Now, it had gotten even more ridiculous. He wasn’t even letting shapeless things go.

Shooting Star replied flippantly, “I’m not like you, an elf who eats even less than the wind to be full! In the future, I might as well feed you with the wind. Would you like a breeze, a blast of wind, or having your mind blown away?!”

“Nonsense! We don’t eat the wind. Elves can eat fruits, vegetables, bread, meat…”

Alan was so angry that he listed a whole bunch of examples of foods elves ate. Right now, one of the things he hated the most was mankind’s various misunderstandings regarding elves. Because of these misunderstandings, he had been forced to eat fruits as his meals for a whole half year during his captivity.

Even though Alan did like fruits, there was no race who could bear eating the same thing for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a whole half year!

“Who says! Elves don’t eat meat. Everyone knows that elves love animals, so they never eat meat!” Shooting Star immediately retorted, ignoring the fact that Alan was an actual elf, while he himself was not one at all.

Alan worked hard to overthrow these stereotypes that humans held about elves. “There is no such thing! It is true that we elves love animals. However, compared to animals, we love plants and trees more. Yet we continue to eat plants in spite of that. So, how could we not eat meat just because we like animals?”

“You are very long-winded!” Upon listening to the whole spiel, Shooting Star said unhappily, “Can’t you directly say ‘We love creepers, but we still eat them, ya know?’ You used five sentences to say what you could have said in one. You’re wasting my valuable youth!”

Alan narrowed his eyes dangerously and said, “Elves never use coarse language, or words that can easily cause misunderstandings…”

Shooting Star yawned. What? Alan isn’t done speaking yet?

“…It is ungrammatical, ugly language without any style or imagery!”

Therefore, the reason every elf was so serious and taciturn was because the minute they opened their mouth, they would need to speak in long strings of beautiful, grammatically correct, and vivid language.

Get out! Just “thinking” about these strings of words caused Shooting Star to feel as though his brain was twisting itself into several knots.

“I don’t care!” Shooting Star shouted, “I didn’t come to chat with you anyway. Bring your head over here! I want to comb your hair.”

Bring your head over here? Alan was displeased by this. Such ugly and unpleasant words simply should not be inflicted on anyone’s ears! Furthermore, his hair was not for humans to use as entertainment!

The elf was so angry that he turned his head to ignore Shooting Star. He didn’t even want to say a single word.

“Hey!” Shooting Star protested loudly, with dissatisfaction, “You are my pet. Do you know what a pet is? You have to obediently obey me. You should sprawl on the floor and let me pet your fur, and then you need to wag your tail and bark a few times to show how happy you are!”

Do you take me for a dog?

The elf was truly riled up. His body was surrounded by numerous small sparks of lightning. Shooting Star only needed to say a single thing more, a single thing more, and the violence-hating elf would not hesitate to send a bolt of lightning over.

Given Shooting Star’s personality, words that would cause a tremendous lightning storm to descend upon himself were probably about to escape at any moment.

“You…”

Shooting Star’s face was mocking. He was only able to say one word before the deck under his feet suddenly shook violently. The sudden development meant he was unable to react in time, causing his entire body to fling forward.

Just as he slid to the side of the boat, another violent shake up and down caused him to fall on his face. Half of Shooting Star’s body dangled out the boat. He was about to fall off the boat, just like how the fish bones had been thrown into the ocean. In that moment, Alan grabbed Shooting Star’s waist just in time and prevented the latter from experiencing the same fate as the fish bones.

Shooting Star patted his chest quite a few times in fear, tightly gripping on to Alan’s forearm. This finally helped him calm down. His voice returned and he shouted loudly in displeasure, “What the hell! Steer the boat properly. I almost sailed overboard!”

Not a single sailor bothered to pay him any attention. Everyone was gazing in a single direction. Naturally, Shooting Star and Alan also looked over to where everyone was looking at.

Shooting Star and Alan’s faces changed.

“That’s…”

Share