Free Web NovelChapter 524: Chapter 525: Forbidden Big Brother_1
Two hours later, at the border of Sunset City and the neighboring cities, in a corner of the deep mountains and forests.
"This is the place," Lamia spoke, her throat wound completely healed thanks to the Wordless Code. freewebnøvel.coɱ
Aiden looked up following her gaze, only to see an extremely rudimentary treehouse.
"Your hideout is downright ugly, like a giant bird’s nest," Qiqimora remarked. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
"In the wild, without using magic, I’m still top of the food chain, and I wouldn’t even bother with this hut if it weren’t for shelter from the rain," Lamia retorted, "Having a roof over your head is good enough; stop complaining."
"Start a fire, fetch some water, and it would be best to find some food too," Aiden said, turning around to the slim figure keeping their distance, "Don’t just stand there, come over quickly."
Tony Dodge hesitantly walked over.
With the help of Qiqimora’s "Invisibility" magic, they were able to escape from the chaos of the Sunset City base smoothly.
In order to put enough distance between themselves and Mister Bloodcoat, they had traveled non-stop, not daring to return to the city area, but instead fleeing in the opposite direction away from the city. Ultimately, they arrived at one of the temporary hideouts Lamia had set up on her way to this city before.
Continually traveling on foot like this, their physical strength should have been rapidly depleted, but none of them fell behind due to exhaustion until the very end, which was clearly also the effect of a rule from the Wordless Code.
"It looks like that maggot has given up on tracking us. Judging by the direction and distance, he hasn’t left the base," the illusion of the Goddess of Vengeance said, folding her arms next to Aiden.
Aiden was slightly relieved, at this distance, Mister Bloodcoat should no longer be able to sense him.
"Seriously though, what should we do with the corpse?" Lamia shifted her gaze towards the mercury amalgam golem carrying the body.
Aiden thought for a moment and turned to Tony, "Do you want to, bury your father in this forest?"
"This..." Tony clearly resisted the idea of just burying his father in a random hole.
"Under these circumstances, we don’t have the conditions to transport the body over a long distance; it’s better to bury on-site. But I’d advise you not to hope for a proper grave for your father anymore. He’s already a fugitive wanted by the Empire, and after today, Gistas will probably also secretly hunt for him, not to mention so many others yearning for power and organizations. Your father’s fake grave created by the Empire has already been dug up; I’m not trying to alarm you unduly," Aiden suggested.
Although, the one who dug up that grave was Heinz Hoffman, the head of the secret police who Aiden had hired.
Tony pondered for a long time before quietly saying, "Alright."
"I know of a place nearby that looks decent; I can help dig the grave," Lamia volunteered, swooping in, "But first, let me confirm, has your father really transferred all his divinity to you?"
Tony stepped back, frightened by Lamia. Her beastly form was indeed quite intimidating.
"What are you scared of, kid? You’re not exactly in a normal human body either," Lamia bluntly pointed out.
"Sorry..." Tony apologized with his head lowered, obviously not accustomed to speaking with others and quite shy in front of people.
Lamia sidled up to Aiden and chuckled, "Looks like this kid should be easy to trick, maybe we should think of something..."
"Don’t start scheming right away; if you’re not careful and he uses his sole authority to obliterate you, I won’t be sympathetic," Aiden coldly replied.
"What’s so honorable about fighting for the power of authority?" Lamia seemed somewhat dissatisfied with the response.
Aiden sighed inwardly; although they were in a cooperative relationship, his values were still quite different from those of the witches.
"If you must confirm the remains of my father, send a representative," Tony said cautiously, then raised his hand pointing towards Aiden, "Big sister, you go."
Although he didn’t have much experience with people, perhaps due to years of observing others alongside his father, he had developed an intuition for judging people.
Whom to trust, who harbored ill intentions--by observing a little more, he could usually discern some clues.
In his eyes, Aiden seemed more trustworthy than the other two.
"Thank you for your trust," Aiden nodded, "but I must clarify something before we proceed, I’m a man."
To deceive Mr. Magic’s sense of revenge, Aiden had maintained the appearance of a goddess of vengeance.
Actually, it wouldn’t matter if he didn’t clarify it here, but being called big sister by Tony inexplicably gave Aiden the creeps.
"Eh?" Tony was momentarily confused, "Then this appearance is, is... female..."
"It’s not cross-dressing, just a disguise. For certain reasons, I have to fake my appearance. It’s a mere illusion, don’t let your thoughts run wild," Aiden hurriedly clarified.
"Oh..." Tony blinked, clearly still not quite comprehending, "So I should call you... big brother?"
"No!" Aiden waved his hands, not knowing why, but this title made him feel even more uncomfortable, "Just call me Mr. Gaload."
"Then Mr. Gaload, please do the confirmation," Tony said.
"You don’t mind?" asked Aiden.
"I don’t want my father’s grave to be dug up after he’s been buried," Tony sighed, glancing at Lamia and Qiqimora.
Aiden also glanced back and indeed, both Great Witches were the kind of people capable of such acts.
"Alright." Aiden moved a little closer and attempted the spell to draw out the divine essence.
"Indeed, it’s gone," Aiden immediately provided the answer, "your father really left everything to you, huh."
"Dad had mentioned a few times before that if he accidentally died..." Tony stopped mid-sentence and shook his head, "Never mind, please pretend I didn’t say anything."
He didn’t seem keen on recalling the past in depth at the moment.
Seeing this, Aiden didn’t inquire further and simply said, "Let’s go then."
"Okay."
...
Under the joint work of the Mercury Golem and Lamia, a grave of appropriate depth was quickly prepared under a beech tree. Tony struggled to lift his father’s body—he insisted on being the last to send his father off, and the hardest part was lifting him from the ground. The effort nearly twisted his frail body, and it took some time before he managed to successfully cradle his father and walk slowly into the grave. Aiden worried several times that he would stumble in.
Fortunately, Professor Dodge was eventually laid to rest, firmly in his son’s embrace at the bottom of the grave.
"Dad, I’m sorry..." Finally, standing by the grave’s edge, Tony softly left his last farewell, "And then, thank you."
