Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1828, 1800. The Faded One

"Coming to Rodel to worship the Golden Tree?" Torisha's deep voice, hidden behind her veil, sounded intrigued. "How did you end up here?"

She was leading Lan En, Rongbuqiu, and Qilin away from the ruins that had been used as a flower garden.

After leaving the ruins, Lan En noticed a few perfumers dressed like Torisha, squatting on the ground tending to the flowers and plants, each accompanied by a hybrid.

It seems their clothes are a kind of uniform, and the perfumers' raw materials come from these exotic flowers and herbs.

“I’m the kind of person who saves the most important and wonderful experiences for last,” Lan En replied calmly. “So before the pilgrimage, I wanted to travel around to other places first, and well… I hope I didn’t cause you any trouble.”

"Troublesome? A little. But how big? Not really." Torisha turned her head and said in a relaxed tone. After getting to know her, Lan En felt that her personality seemed pretty good. "This is the perfumers' secret garden where they grow their materials, a secret location known only to perfumers."

"You call this not much trouble?" Lan En clicked his tongue. "I feel like you're taking us somewhere to silence us."

By this time, led by Torisha, they had already left the perfumer's secret flower garden.

Walking on this plain, which is covered in golden hues.

The weeds on the ground were yellow, and most of the plants on the plain were golden yellow. It seemed that all the vegetation and even the living things were echoing that magnificent golden tree.

Or, from Lan En's perspective: it was the power of the golden tree that permeated everything around it.

However, Lan En, being new to the area, had no idea exactly how large this 'surroundings' were.

According to information revealed in Torisa's conversation, this golden plain is called 'Asan', and the magnificent city under the golden tree in the distance is the [Royal City Rodel].

"Haha! What a joke." A muffled laugh came from behind Torisha's veil. "Lan En, are you still a comedian? How could you kill someone over something like this! Besides, after you returned to the tree, you still know what you need to know, don't you? Haha!"

[Returning to the Tree]?
'Considering what she said earlier, people here are said to return to the Tree after they die? Does that mean they return to the Golden Tree?' Lan En wondered. 'But what does it mean that after death, they still know what they should know? Is the concept of death different in this world?'

In detective stories, obtaining information from the dead would involve finding clues on the corpse. In reality, the work of a witcher is similar, and Lan En is very familiar with it.

But is it possible to obtain detailed and accurate information from a dead person?
Lan En's first thought was of his first collaboration with the Lady of the Lake: using the remnants of an Outer God's power to cast a Necromancy spell that wouldn't disrupt the balance of life and death.

Making the dead speak is an absolute taboo spell in the magical Middle Ages, but here... it seems quite common?

However, Torisia's words not only brought confusion with a lot of unfamiliar information, but also some optimistic points.

For example, she believed that killing someone because the location of the secret garden was exposed was an incomprehensible thing.

Lan En wasn't entirely clear on the skills of perfumers and the function of this profession, but just from the fact that they could cultivate and utilize so many exotic plants, this profession was certainly not simple.

Those plants were all faintly glowing under the [Spiritual Vision]!
To Lan En, killing for these secrets would be perfectly normal.

Whether it's in a magical medieval world, or the ancient Greek world, the world of fire, or the world of Arda... this will all be normal.

But Torishia felt that this was abnormal!
From her perspective, it seems incomprehensible that this would violate laws and order.

This means that in this land, the ruling kingdom, government, or whatever organization you may call it, has a very stable and ubiquitous rule that is deeply entrenched.

This strong rule brought about a stable order.

Lann hadn't encountered this kind of order in a long time. He lived within this order for the first nineteen years of his life, but then he was adrift in the magical Middle Ages.

No other kingdom or world has ever made Lann feel this kind of order.

On the country roads, you might encounter bandits who kill and rob; the mountains are home to many monsters' lairs; and if a traveler dies, it's considered bad luck...

So after sensing the presence of this order from Torisha's words, Lan En felt somewhat relaxed and familiar, but on the other hand, he also felt a little... strange.

Lann guessed it was because he had been in a chaotic environment for too long.

"So how did you preserve the perfumer's secrets?" Lan En asked. "Or rather, what should I do to make amends for my mistake?"

The Witcher was pretending to lead the Qilin forward, at least to make it seem like the ancient dragon was under his control, lest he scare people like a dog being walked without a leash.

After realizing there was no danger, the velvet ball sat peacefully on the back of the Qilin, bouncing up and down with the ancient dragon's steps.

The kitten would sometimes gaze at the distant golden giant tree, and sometimes squint its eyes, letting its calico fur feel the gentle breeze blowing across the Yatan Plain.

In this field, even the wind seems to become gentle and regular because of the presence of the golden trees, and it carries the unique herbal fragrance of those golden plants.

“Just swear an oath to the gold,” Torisia said casually as she turned around. “Swear that you will not reveal the location of the perfumer’s garden. If you refuse to swear an oath, then our Perfumers’ Association will take you to the Mount Gemir Mountains.”

Even if one refuses to take an oath, the result is only a lawsuit, without considering more violent and direct actions.

Lann didn't know what Mount Gemir was, but he guessed it was something like a court or the Ministry of Justice.

Lan En once again felt a sense of familiarity, and slight unease, with the stable and powerful order of this land.

But whether it was because Torisha suddenly realized something, or because Lann's attitude towards 'death' on this land had indeed been abnormal, Torisha stopped abruptly this time, turning to look at Lann seriously, and said, "Wait!" This time, Torisha didn't just turn around casually while speaking; she abruptly stopped and looked up at Lann intently. "Were you serious about what you just said?!"

Torisha was visibly stunned for one and a half seconds.

Lan En was certain that for at least a second, she was simply staring blankly at her own face.

But the Witcher is used to this kind of thing, so there's not much to say about it.

What puzzled him was that Torisha had determined something about herself in just the remaining 0.5 seconds.
“Your eyes,” Torisha’s voice sounded very surprised, “are just naturally amber? You are… no, you are the Faded One?!”

'Eyes?'

Lan En immediately understood the problem.

Because Torisha's irises are golden, and that golden color is slightly luminous.

He had only seen Torisha's eyes before, and he didn't know if this was a characteristic of her or a unique feature of the perfumer's profession.

But now it sounds like—everyone here is like this?!

But after I was called a 'faded one,' the title immediately became respectful... Is this misunderstanding a good thing or a bad thing?
At the moment, Lan En cannot make a judgment.

Arriving in a new and unfamiliar world, he didn't want to miss the opportunity to get help.

No, I don't know what you're talking about.

As he spoke, Lan En took a step back and slightly turned his face away, changing the angle of his gaze so that his eyes were not visible.

This is called 'neither admitting nor refusing'.

First, adopt a wary and denying attitude, but don't actually take any substantial action to resist. Even if it's later discovered that you've made a mistake, you can claim that you denied it from the beginning.

This tactic is commonly used by scumbags, but Mr. Lan, a good young man, simply adapted it for this situation.

As he spoke, Lan En tugged at the Qilin, wanting it to act out a scene with the plush ball.

Unfortunately, neither the calico kitten nor Gu Long could grasp the essence of Mr. Lan's teachings.

"Huff?"

The Qilin shook its head as it was pulled, and the velvet ball on it just obediently squatted on the saddle and tilted its head.

"Boss, what's going on, meow?"

Fortunately, the fact that the two guys couldn't keep up didn't affect Mr. Lan's excellent performance.

Just as Lann had estimated, Torisha believed that their current little commotion stemmed from a sudden sense of alertness and resistance.

"Oh, I see!" The perfumer's eyes, visible only through her veil, revealed sorrow and感慨. "So that's how it is. The loss of the golden blessing from your eyes has had such a profound impact on you? You must have forgotten many things, many matters."

"You actually managed to wander from the Weeping Peninsula on the border back to the Altar Plateau, all because of your loyalty to the Golden Tree! Thinking about it this way, perhaps your appearance in our secret garden is also a sign from the Golden Tree!"

Torisha's tone was full of reverence, as if the Faded Ones she spoke of were some kind of heroic figures.

“But how could this be?” she said, adjusting her headscarf, still puzzled. “The era of His Majesty King Griffith’s conquests has been over for so long… How long have you been wandering like this?”

Lan En knew absolutely nothing about the Golden Blessing, the First King, Griffin, or any kind of conquest.

So he answered honestly.

“No,” Lann pressed his forehead, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Torisha. Please stop arguing.”

Lan En's expression was calm, but beneath that calmness seemed to lie a sense of forced restraint and suppression.

This expression, combined with Lan En's aura, was incredibly powerful. Almost instantly, Torisha seemed to understand something.

“I understand, Lann.” Torisia sighed with a hint of regret behind her veil. “After all, what Queen Marika did back then… was too sudden.”

"But it's alright! Now that you've arrived in Rodel guided by the Golden Tree, let me help you find the Round Table Hall! The Faded Heroes will surely welcome their former comrades!"

"Um?!"

Lan En blinked.

Wait, no… I was thinking that fading beings are quite rare, given your strong reaction just now! So there are people residing in the royal city of Rodel, right?!
I did consider pretending to be stupid after I made a mistake, but is it really that fast?
However, regardless of what Lan En was thinking at the moment, the enthusiastic Torisha stubbornly led the way, turning back every few steps as she walked towards the city at the foot of the golden tree in the distance.

(End of this chapter)