Free Web NovelIn truth, while still in the air, Vieya had already seen everything happening on the ground with perfect clarity.
From the moment the pursuit began, she had recognized the hooded girl as one of her former teammates.
Tiya.
In the squad back then, aside from Flaviel, she was the only one who had actively come knocking on Vieya’s door and asked to form a party together.
She was a student of the Western Border’s Grand High Priest, proficient in all kinds of divination arts—prophecy, foresight of the future... Her direct combat power might not have been outstanding, but she possessed an astonishing arsenal of talismans, weapons, and techniques for dismantling and reconstructing equipment.
For example, if Vieya herself tried to draw a talisman, she might spend an entire day producing nothing more than some useless ghostly scribble. But for Tiya, it was as easy as eating and drinking. Talismans, weapons—she only needed a single glance to analyze their production process and then carry out a flawless replication or repair.
You could say that aside from pure “life skills,” she had maxed out virtually every auxiliary skill tree.
Unfortunately, their last farewell had been six years ago. Seeing each other again now meant six full years had passed.
Vieya had recognized her immediately—but she hadn’t rushed down. Instead, she had dragged Aislin along to watch the entire chase from above.
Partly to see how much Tiya had changed in those six years, and partly to see why she was being hunted in the first place.
The reason was ridiculous—and yet Vieya couldn’t laugh.
A “hundred sons competing for succession” was practically a tradition in the Western Border. Ancient, long-standing, and so commonplace that no one found it strange. No one could stop it, and no one could change it. Only after the winner emerged from this brutal nurturing ground would a new Great Khan gain the recognition of the tribes.
They... were the complete opposite of the elves’ election system. One was cruel and ferocious; the other was slow and leisurely, like a holiday festival.
After all, when there’s a throne to inherit, this sort of thing is understandable.
But according to grassland custom, the orthodox priestly lineage was forbidden from actively participating in succession wars, and likewise could not be dragged into them. Since ancient times, they had remained independent and aloof, only emerging to offer assistance after the new Great Khan was born.
Yet from the conversation just now, it was clear that this rule had already been trampled underfoot and ignored.
Vieya didn’t really care. She simply felt a bit wistful—like a witness standing at the turning of the ages, watching the end of one era with her own eyes, and the budding of another.
“From what you said just now... the Great Khan is already dead?” Vieya asked, lowering her head to look at the young man kneeling before her.
“Yes...” the young man replied. “The Great Khan’s lifespan came to an end two days ago. Surrounded by thousands of wolf riders, he fell into eternal sleep on this grassland.”
“So he really died.” Vieya sighed. “Back then, he and I even drank together, hunted monsters together... and now I didn’t even manage to offer him a single white flower.” fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
Her expression of sorrow left the elven princess beside her staring blankly. Emotionally, it didn’t seem fake—but rationally, she knew this slime wasn’t sad at all.
Hearing Vieya say this, the young man suddenly burst into tears, wailing through sobs. “Woe! The Great Khan was my most respected father. He devoted himself entirely to the grasslands, toiling until death. And now that he’s gone, he leaves us children behind—”
“...Actually, I was his enemy.” Vieya interrupted his funeral crying.
The young man wiped away his tears and said righteously, “The Great Khan held his position yet failed to fulfill his responsibility. The grasslands’ current decline cannot absolve him of blame! Now that he is dead, and seeing that you, Great One, also harbor deep resentment toward him, why don’t we unite—forming alliances and joining forces—to build a world without oppression, without children going hungry? Wouldn’t that be wonderful?”
“......” Vieya fell silent for a moment, then gave him a strange look. “Do you want to live?”
“I do,” the young man said. “And if the Great One has any command, whether climbing刀山 or plunging into火海, this worthless life of mine is willing to be used to pave your road.”
“Alright. Then I’ll give you a task.”
“I am willing to serve you like a dog or horse!”
“The dead deserve respect. Buy a bouquet of white flowers for me, and give it to your father.”
“......”
“...Yes.”
“Good. You can go now.”
“!”
The young man was stunned. He jerked his head up, instinctively trying to see who it was he had been kneeling before—but the instant he did, he slammed his head back down again, his heart filled with terror.
Before him stood an elf and a human. And that human was none other than the Holy Sword’s wielder who had appeared on the western coast not long ago—the very reason the Great Khan had gone out that day despite his severe illness.
In that instant, countless guesses and questions flashed through his mind. Was this Sword Master an enemy or a friend of the Great Khan? Why was she here? Where did the elf at her side come from? And—had his answers just now stepped on some invisible landmine?
He knew none of it.
He only knew that today, he was not taking away the next Grand High Priest. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com
As for whether she had been chatting with him all this ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) time just to toy with him, or out of genuine feeling, he no longer had the mind to discern. He simply slammed his head down twice more, hard.
Bang! Bang!
Then he scrambled to his feet and fled in a panic, not daring to look back even once—as if a demon were chasing him from behind.
The forest fell quiet for a moment.
Vieya shifted her gaze to the hooded girl, looking her up and down twice with curiosity. “And you? Stranger girl. Aren’t you going to come over and kowtow, begging me for mercy?”
“?”
Tiya froze for a second, then put on a frightened expression, clutching her two-meter hammer and crying out in alarm.
“Y-you—what are you going to do to me?!”
That reaction... was off.
Had she already come into contact with Aurora? Did she know my background?
Vieya’s mind worked like silk threads. The playful expression vanished from her face, replaced by a serious calm, as she asked flatly, “Have you met Aurora and her sister?”
“What are you planning to do to them?!” Tiya immediately bristled, treating Vieya as a great enemy. She planted her hammer on the ground and assumed a battle stance. “I am a priest of the grasslands! I will stop your wicked alliance from harming the grassland’s people!”
“Miss, you’ve misunderstood,” Aislin finally couldn’t hold back and stepped in to explain. “We’re adventurers just passing through. We mean no harm.”
“Oh, a pure-blood elf.” Tiya pondered for a moment, then slid her hammer back into the cloak behind her and nodded. “Your people’s reputation is quite good. Perhaps you’re worth trusting.”
Then her tone shifted sharply, redirecting her spearhead back toward the slime.
“But as for this evil white creature, I advise you to stay far away from her. Tsk—she’s saturated with ominous, chaotic aura!”
Vieya: “......”
“Miss, if you have objections to my friend, then we should part ways here,” Aislin said, her once-friendly tone turning displeased. “No matter what, it was my friend who saved your life just now. Saying such hurtful things is extremely rude.”
“Little Vieya, let’s go. Don’t mind what she says. Just ignore her.”
With that, Aislin grabbed Vieya’s hand and turned to leave, unwilling to stay any longer or exchange another word with the hooded girl.
“......”
The hooded girl fell silent for a moment—then lifted her foot and followed after them.
As if playing some kind of tailing game.
She crept along in the shadows behind them, the dark, crawling follower—while her targets were the two white-haired figures ahead, one large and one small, moving through the forest.
