NOVPUBThe silhouette of the distant city of Nanwantina gradually sharpens in the thickening dusk, like a tacit agreement before nightfall.
Lanci Hyperion and Talia still sit on the long bench in the Heartbeat Plaza, staring at this stratified city-state from afar.
They’ve been leisurely chatting, and it’s almost dinner time before they’ve realized it.
"We’ll leave when we hear the six o’clock chimes, and we should be home in time for dinner," Lanci turns his head towards the clock tower in the plaza and says to Hyperion and Talia.
"Being with you makes me feel utterly unproductive," Hyperion leans back on the bench, staring at the sky, tinted golden orange with some purplish red, and murmurs to herself.
She could do many things on a typical afternoon at Ichrite Academy but led by Lanci, the afternoon flew by without her noticing.
Talia still sits quietly.
Although her face doesn’t reflect her feelings, she seems calm.
Hyperion glances at Talia’s face, wanting to tell her she has figured out their relationship.
Then Hyperion shakes her head lightly, deciding to explain it slowly when she’s alone with Tata at the Welfort’s home tonight.
Thinking about it, she looks at Lanci on the other side again.
She notices that Lanci hasn’t moved since a while.
Even after staring at his cheek for a long time, there’s no response from him.
Lanci, with his eyes half-closed, seems to be staring at a figure on the lower-lying street far away, observing her very seriously.
Hyperion straightens her body and looks in the direction of Lanci’s gaze.
After a long while,
Hyperion finally identifies the figure Lanci is watching, a young girl wearing a delicate woven bodysuit, soft in color. Her skirt sways gently with her steps, her hair is long and smooth, and she has an excellent figure.
Talia’s eyes instantly turn cold.
"What are you looking at?" She asks Lanci, turning her head.
"That person…" Lanci frowns slightly, lowers his voice, looks puzzled, and spells out the word "rebirth" with his fingertips on his knee.
Although Lanci doesn’t understand why, he strongly feels that the woman carries the [Certificate of Rebirth].
While relieved, Talia emits a slightly sharper aura.
She knows that many Rebirth Believers want to harm Hyperion. Last time, she caught a Priest of Destruction who came to the Boss Cat Restaurant.
"I’ll be right back," As Talia is about to stand up and arrest the Rebirth Priest, Lanci grabs Talia’s wrist indicating her to wait.
"She seems to have just arrived in Nanwantina and hasn’t noticed the three of us yet," whispers Lanci to Talia.
Given her direction, she seems to be heading to the northwest of Nanwantina, where Welfort’s house is located, rather than tracking them or approaching them. She seems to be completely unaware of their existence.
"?" Talia’s puzzled look seems to ask: Did you not find her through surveillance, but randomly discover her?
Lanci nodded.
"I don’t know why, but I have a strong intuition that she is definitely a resurrection priest…"
Lanci eventually attributes this inexplicable and unfounded sensation to intuition.
Before leaving the Northern Continent, he had similar feelings about the Grand Priests of the Hegemony Branch.
But he was already well aware of the identities of the Grand Priests of the Hegemony Branch, so it didn’t surprise him.
But why, when he returned to the South Continent, can he still feel the presence of a Grand Priest even if they are not from the Hegemony Branch?
Although Hyperion’s heart starts pounding, hearing Lanci’s explanation relieved her a bit.
Hyperion thought so too.
If the other party discovered that Tata, an unfathomable figure, was by Lanci and Hyperion’s side, they would not dare to openly "spy".
"What should we do?"
Talia sat back down, but her aura returned to that cool, ruthless demeanor of someone who could strike at any moment.
If they do not hurry to catch the other party, they might escape, making it difficult to find them later.
She knew Lanci’s instruction made sense—leaving them behind might put them in danger, but approaching together could cauase the enemy to flee or alert others associated with them.
"Tata, it’s wrong to have a mentality where you want to act against anyone you see."
Lanci winked at them, indicating they should follow his action,
"We of Nanwantina always maintain simplicity of manners, and can’t do something uncivilized or unfriendly. Look at how I do things."
...
Half an hour later.
In a forested road on the northwestern side of Nanwantina.
A slender young woman with a slight frown on her face shivered in the back seat of a car parked on the roadside. Her eyes slowly opened.
Her memory was somewhat blurry. 𝔫𝖔𝖛𝖕𝖚𝔟.𝖈𝖔𝔪
Like just waking from a dream, she couldn’t clearly distinguish which were dreams and which were unfinished tasks in reality.
Her name is Eileen, a high priestess of the Destruction Branch. She had come to the city of Lord Nanwantina after receiving orders at Nox Mountains’ base in the morning. Her mission was to stay in a mansion not far from the Welfort family’s house and keep surveillance while standing by.
Earlier, a driver named Rocky McCarthy parked his car beside the road and asked if she needed a lift. He said he was familiar with the area, and used to be a driver for the Welfort family. After being fired by that young scoundrel from the Welfort family, he started doing his own thing.
There were two other women in the back seat who were carpooling. It seemed safe enough.
Thinking there was a rare chance to obtain information related to the Welfort family, she got in the car without hesitation.
Her memory seemed to cut off at this point.
Eileen felt a sharp pain in her head and tried painfully hard to recall events.
She was convinced that she didn’t naturally fall asleep, but was knocked unconscious by a slender hand that covered her mouth and nose.
Obviously, she had gotten in a black cab.
Wasn’t Nanwandtina known for its good public safety?
Why did it seem like she, a grand priestess of Resurrection, was about to get abducted as soon as she arrived?!
Eileen jolted awake like a startled bird and instinctively tried to save herself, but the next second, she felt her body become immobile again!
Just like being pinned down by a ghost, her mind was aware but her body wouldn’t move.
All she could feel was a terrifying, mysterious creature controlling her from beside her. The enclosed space within the car seemed to become pitch-black. Only a pair of demonic golden eyes were extraordinarily distinct, making her feel extremely small.
At the moment when Eileen was terrified to the extreme.
She saw.
The driver in the front seat glanced at her, then looked at the statue placed in front of the car.
He put his hands together, lifted them above his head, and bowed to the Statue of the Goddess of Fate.
Immediately afterwards.
"Welcome to Nanwantina."
Lanci took off his sunglasses, turned his head, and spoke to Eileen.
Hyperion, sitting beside him, felt as if a fishbone was stuck in her throat. She always felt that praying to the Statue of the Goddess of Fate should not be done like this. Why it also gives off the intimidating effect of human traffickers?
"..."
Eileen’s pupils trembled incessantly, wondering what happened to the public security of the Hutton Kingdom.
The gentle-eyed man in front of her seemed to be pleading for the Goddess of Fate to forgive her, as if at the same time, he was absolving his heart of guilt in advance.
Are you really worshipping the gods, or just indulging your inner greed?
