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Hmm? “What’s wrong, Softie?” I thought she was going to teleport Ri out of here. I guess she knew my decision was right and changed her mind. Why wouldn’t Ri want to stick around? If she gets lucky again, she can pick up a few thousand contribution points for free! Mm, I’m not sure what she could buy with those points, but I’m sure she’d like having them more than not having them.
“I can’t teleport,” Softie said. A wrinkle appeared on her forehead. “There’s something stopping me.”
Eh? Can’t teleport? “Let me try.” Mm? I can’t? Hrngh! Nope. Nothing. “I can’t teleport either. Did you do something weird, Ilya?”
“Why do you pin the blame on me?” Ilya asked and frowned. She shook her head. “I can’t seem to teleport either, but my formations are still operating. In Bloodmoon’s and Fairy Lin’s memories, there was a formation that locked down space. If the invaders are here to catch Bloodmoon, there’s no way they’d forget to employ something like this.”
Lock down space…. “That means…?”
“It means teleportation isn’t allowed,” Ilya said. “Also, depending on the type of formation, it’s possible no one else can enter this area. I don’t believe a bunch of quasi-immortals can afford something like that, and they wouldn’t have expected people to come reinforce Bloodmoon. They’re likely using a one-way barrier. People can come in but can’t leave until the core of the formation is destroyed.”
That’s a lot of words to explain something I still don’t understand. I’ll do what I always do when it comes to things I don’t understand! Ask Ilya. “In that case, we should…?”
“We should get ready for an attack,” Ilya said. “If they deployed this formation, then that means they’re already here. The longer the formation stays up, the more energy is drained from the core. I’ll take Ri and Sophia to my watchtower to keep them safe. Also”—eight dead people appeared out of nowhere—“I’ll use these corpses to poke around for weak points in the formation.”
Alright! Ilya will do that, and I’ll…. “Uh, what do I do?”
“Pretend you’re in your territory; actually, you don’t have to pretend. We’re in your territory right now.” Ilya cleared her throat. “Some people come to invade your lands uninvited. What do you do?”
That’s easy! “Tax them!”
“There you go,” Ilya said. “As for Mrs. Feathers and Softie, come with us to the watchtower. Softie’s a bit too weak to have any meaningful impact in this upcoming fight, and since we can’t teleport, Mrs. Feathers is the fastest and safest mode of transportation. Once you bring us there, you can join Lucia out here.”
“Can’t I stay in the watchtower with you?” Mrs. Feathers asked. “I don’t think Boss needs me. She can run faster than I can fly.”
Mm, that’s true, I can. I haven’t taxed anyone in a while. Mm, Scarry and Baldie don’t count. A lot of the people I see are part of the sect, and Ilya says I shouldn’t rob sect members. It’s been too long since I’ve taken someone’s stuff! Even my tail is twitching in anticipation. Huh? Where did everyone go? Did they leave without saying anything…? Oh. I see Mrs. Feathers; she’s a dot in the sky. They really left without saying anything! Grr. Wait until I’m done taking my taxes, Ilya! I’ll teach you to walk away from me. Hmph.
“Excuse me, Senior.”
Ah? A group of people are approaching! I don’t recognize them at all. Were they talking to me? Mm, alright, I’ll wait for them to do something before attacking. If I attack them now, it’ll make me the aggressor and a bad person! And everyone knows I’m not a bad person. “Hi! What’s up?”
A woman stepped forward. She seemed awfully jumpy. “We mean you no harm. The other day, it must’ve been hard to see what was going on with all the lights flashing from the formation, so I understand you’re not an evil person who slaughters at will. You were thinking of protecting your realm, and I respect that.”
What is this lady saying? But she’s absolutely right! “Mhm. I’m not an evil person, and I definitely don’t slaughter.” Ah? What about me wanting an acorn that required me to kill people to get stronger? Pssh. Does it look like I have an acorn like that? Obviously not! I’m a good person. It has nothing to do with the fact Sophia got the only acorn.
The lady smiled at me. She still looked terrified though. She was practically shaking in her boots, ah, in her slippers. She wasn’t wearing boots. “I’m Junior Qin Ruan from the Flowing Water Sect, one of the seven great sects in the immortal realm. May I have the honor of knowing your name?”
“I’m Lucia Fluffytail from the Shadow Devil Sect.” Mm? My messenger just beeped. “Hang on a second.”
“You’re not wearing your sect token, so you didn’t receive the message.” Ilya’s voice came out of the messenger. “I renamed the sect. We’re the Righteous Holy Sect now.”
…Can a sect be renamed that easily? “Never mind. I’m Lucia Fluffytail from the Righteous Holy Sect.” Wait a minute. Can Ilya hear me from her watchtower? I never knew her ears were that good. I’ll have to be careful with what I say around her.
“Right….” The lady smiled at me, and a bead of sweat rolled down her neck. Even she wasn’t buying the name change! “Since you’re part of such a righteous sect, surely you’re here to subdue Demonic Lord Bloodmoon, right?”
“Demonic Lord Bloodmoon…. Never heard of him.” Nope. His name doesn’t ring any bells at all. Who the heck is that guy?
“Then … are you here to assist Fairy Lin? We’ve heard rumors she was being confined here by Demonic Lord Bloodmoon.”
“Fairy Lin…. Who’s that?” Why do these strangers expect me to know other strangers’ names?
The lady looked like she just swallowed a bug, and not the tasty kind of bug. “Then why are you here?”
Ah! I almost forgot my original purpose! “I’m here to expose my daughter to lots of death and carnage. Mhm.”
“P-pardon?”