FVN Chapter 1991: A Brief Farewell
Chapter 1991: A Brief Farewell
"Meow~"
The door closed. Mia lightly jumped onto the bed, settled by the pillow, looking like she wouldn’t leave again.
So, that night, already having experienced a series of shocks, Shard got ready for bed:
"What are all these things... Tomorrow night we’ll go home and sleep, home is always better. I knew something would happen sleeping outside, only home is truly safe."
He said to the cat, and after the cat meowed, he turned off the gas lamp, pulled up the covers, rested his head on the pillow, and closed his eyes.
Then, both the cat and Shard were startled by a loud bang in the room.
At the foot of the bed, a portal swirling with black and gold colors suddenly opened, and then Miss Sylvia and Miss Benanis stepped out in their nightgowns, followed by Ciris. The golden-haired girl hid behind Miss Benanis, making eye contact with Shard, both looking a bit at a loss.
This reminded Shard of what Miss Benanis did with him after she left following her promotion to the Twelfth Rank after listening to music last time.
"Hevy was taken away by Galina to check on the little princess, Megan and Audrey are shyly hiding in the room, you won’t see them until tomorrow morning."
Miss Benanis flicked her hair, explaining as she snapped her fingers, making the curtains close and the room door lock with a click.
As for what happened next, only Mia, who slept in the cat bed again, knew best.
In any case, on Friday morning, after Angelina’s scream woke most people, the little princess, who boldly barged into Shard’s bedroom to say goodbye, was reprimanded by her sister and aunt:
"Are you still the lady nurtured by the Cavendish Family? Why are you so taken aback so early in the morning?"
"But, but in Shard’s room..."
"Even if his cat turned into a cat girl overnight, it’s not worth such surprise."
Miss Galina cast a glance at Miss Sylvia and Miss Benanis, who were also at the table having breakfast.
After a somewhat chaotic night, Angelina was finally transformed into a Gifted One under the stimulation of the relic... at least that’s how she explained it. After breakfast, Miss Sylvia opened a portal to send Angelina, Miss Galina, Lecia, Tifa, and other maids who weren’t supposed to be there away, making the breakfast a farewell of sorts.
Of course, Dorothy also left together with them. Staying here no longer had any meaning for her, and it could be explained as accepting the princess’ invitation to return home together.
The train journey from Green Lake City back to Tobesk City departed on Tuesday this week, as it was a special train line with no stops, it was expected to arrive in Tobesk City at around Friday evening, which is today evening. Once back, Lecia would immediately contact Zaras Literary Academy, and the inauguration ceremony for Angelina could be completed either tonight or tomorrow morning, as Zaras Literary Academy would likely be more anxious than Lecia.
In other words, tomorrow Shard would be able to know what Angelina’s Core Spirit Rune is, which would decide whether any other witch would want to train her as an apprentice.
He did want to chat with Angelina, but at the breakfast table, the little princess kept her head down, avoiding eye contact with anyone, refusing to talk about last night’s events. Even Lecia at the table couldn’t get her to speak, and when Shard looked at Lecia and Dorothy, they were similarly silent.
"Miss Sylvia, after you send Galina and the others away, could you help open a portal to Tobesk to send the doctor and priest back?"
Shard said while cutting bacon, mentioning that the two of them came without official status, so there was no need to return with anyone specific.
"No way, it’s too far. Galina and Margaret could return because they had set up a beacon ritual in advance. Moreover, Tobesk being such a large archdiocese, the church constantly monitors space fluctuations. Your solitary space teleportation is fine, but my long-distance space-crossing ritual would easily be detected."
Said the Grand Witch of Space, pointing to herself:
"However, once I formally advance to the Eleventh Rank soon, opening portals will be easier... Why does it feel like I’m turning into your portal-opening tool?"
She slightly frowned, which made the ladies at the table laugh, though Megan agreed to help buy two train tickets.
"Three tickets, Durut Giles will travel back with them."
"Miss Sylvia, in the past, was long-distance space teleportation this troublesome too?"
Dorothy, sitting beside Shard, asked curiously, as she didn’t know much about the knowledge of witches. Miss Sylvia explained:
"If you mean the Fifth Era, almost one-third of the witches above the Tenth Rank had the ability of long-distance teleportation. But the Witch System and Circle Sorcerer System are not quite the same, and the spatial environment at that time was also different from now."
She gave an example:
"Because of its special nature, and the sealing jointly applied by Shard and Sister Delphine, this island can be considered the most suitable place in the Material World currently to exhibit spatial abilities. But even so, it still can’t compare to most places in the Material World during the Fifth Era."
Dorothy nodded thoughtfully, while Shard thought of how he spent most of his time in the Fifth Era in those weird and terrifying places, so he didn’t have much chance to truly experience what the world of that time was like.
Short farewells need no formal goodbyes, so Miss Galina and her party’s departure didn’t include a formal farewell to Shard, but rather many instructions were left with the other Grand Witches.
Shard did not go to see them off when they left, but instead returned to the Green Lake Hotel in the city and went to visit Dr. Schneider.
Priest Augustus hadn’t returned yet, but upon hearing that Shard had already prepared train tickets for them, the recuperating doctor smiled:
"I like adventures like this, where even though I’m injured when it’s over, I don’t have to worry about returning. Shard, once we get back, I’ll start preparing for my advancement to the Eight Rings. I’ve really gained a lot from this trip; Circle Sorcerers do need adventures and battles to better understand their power... Of course, this time, it did go beyond the usual scope of an adventure."
Shard anticipated that Priest Augustus would certainly return before the end of the week, so he prepared train tickets for them for the following Monday, by which time the doctor’s leg would also heal. And the two hotel owners, Mr. Soren Green and Ms. Helena Green, had also returned to the hotel from the Peace Chapel in the city this morning.
The Church confirmed that they were still ordinary people and their mental state was unaffected, though they had lost most of their memory from that night, so they weren’t troubled further. As for the matter of the siblings inheriting Green Lake Central Island, it is still under discussion.
This matter is very complicated, involving not only the Church but also secular royal authority. Now that the island’s dense fog has almost dissipated, allowing residents to live normally, the island located on the border is quite important to both the Draleon Kingdom and the Kingdom of Carsonrick.
But the island’s ultimate ownership shouldn’t be an issue, as those land deeds and house titles are real, and Miss Galina will also help mediate on their behalf.
Also, since Ms. Helena Green had returned, Shard didn’t have to worry about there being no one to care for Dr. Schneider. The lady, who indeed has an island, continued to express her subtle affection for the doctor, who was quite at a loss about it. He didn’t have any negative thoughts towards Ms. Helena Green, just felt that he wasn’t suited for having a significant other:
"I will bring harm to everyone with whom I’m in a close relationship."
This was what the doctor said as Shard sat by the bedside peeling an apple. It reminded Shard of those burdened by demons in Mr. Sean Asmon the Demonologist’s stories, so Shard did not persuade the doctor to accept Ms. Green’s goodwill.
He didn’t stay long with the doctor. Upon returning to the Green Lake Hotel on Green Island, Miss Galina and her party had already left. Luviya was also saying goodbye to Shard in the hotel’s first floor. Her luggage was packed into a suitcase placed to the side:
"I’m heading back to the city’s association now. The association will arrange for me to return to Tobesk City next. We’ll see each other again then."
She gave Shard a hug, then her violet eyes glanced at him with a smile:
"I know you surely can’t stay idle, but don’t overwork yourself. When I finish with my tasks, I’ll return to Tobesk too, and I can apply for annual leave from the association. Then, I can accompany you for a walk outside the city. Spring is ending, and I’ll miss the spring of 1854."
After saying goodbye to Luviya, Shard still wanted to find Grace and Helen to talk. Granny Cassandra’s party would take the Sunday train back to Midshire Fort, and Shard still thought about last night’s events, feeling he needed to have a chat with the sisters.
But he searched the whole hotel and couldn’t find a trace of the two little butterflies. When he asked Granny Cassandra, the old witch just smiled and said nothing, and when he asked Miss Rita Swift, the flaxen-haired girl shook her head vigorously:
"I don’t know."
Which meant she knew, just that Grace and Helen told her not to say anything.
Shard’s "Butterfly Seeker" didn’t last long, as Sister Delphine soon found him, wanting to have a private talk.
So the two walked through the woods again, and arrived at Shard’s most familiar pier on the northern part of the island.
The sky was a deep blue, with clouds adorning it like cotton. After dawn, the black rocks that appeared so terrifying in the darkness of night now just looked like ordinary natural scenery.
The green hue of Green Lake’s water had completely faded, but even now, there were countless monsters lurking at the lake’s bottom, making this great lake much more dangerous than the island’s surface.