Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1928, 1900. Melina

Qilin isn't usually very reliable, which is something Lan En has gotten used to.

Therefore, he had no choice but to verify the claims of the Ancient Dragon of the New World.

He could only shake his head and purse his lips, then look down to see how the naked woman who had appeared out of nowhere was doing.

But then Lan En sensed something was wrong.

Because the girl lying on the ground wrapped in a cloak, after her gaze shifted from the velvet ball to herself, seemed to fix her open eyes on her.

And it was visibly clear that the confusion and bewilderment on her face were fading rapidly.

That calm and indifference began to surface and became conspicuous in contrast.

Almost solely based on the change in her expression, the girl appeared to have matured by more than ten years in Lan En's eyes.

Lan En frowned as he watched this scene, but he continued to communicate with the velvet ball and the Qilin.

"She was completely clueless, and you two just led her all the way here without even bothering to find her a change of clothes?"

Lan En is now at the city gate of Rodel's inner city, some distance from the independent fortress of the Round Table Hall located within the city.

"Huh?" The kitten opened its mouth wide. "I thought you might have something urgent to do, boss! Besides, neither Qilin nor I have any large-sized clothes in our pockets, meow."

The plush ball's space expansion pack is filled with things it usually uses, such as a small cape, a small stew pot, and a small kettle.

The pack on the unicorn was large, but the camping tarpaulin was a bit too big and troublesome to take out.

The time it would take to pull her out and put her clothes on could have been enough to get to Lan En's place. They were in a hurry to get there, and although they wanted to help the girl on the way, it was simply impossible for them to take that long.

"Besides, meow!" The fluffy ball of fluff stuck its little paws to its waist. "There's no one around along the way! They've all been hiding!"

Although a new audience ceremony with the King of Rodel was held today, the wavering of the blessing, the damage to the Golden Tree... these successive anomalies have caused serious panic among the residents of Rodel.

As a result, the once pristine white streets, teeming with tourists, are now deserted.

Of course, this only made the girl who suddenly appeared at the alley entrance seem even stranger.

"And besides," the fluffy little cat said with an adorable teasing look, nudging Lan En with its shoulder, "Boss, you probably aren't interested in little girls like this either, meow!"

"Qilin and I saw that Margarita, Tisaya, and Cassandra all wore the same style!"

As it spoke, the fluffy ball took two steps back, its little paws circling its chest and bottom. Its furry body swayed, seemingly trying its best to display a 'charming' posture.

Unfortunately, the way it sways back and forth is only as cute as a kitten dancing. It's neither alluring nor flamboyant.

The Qilin nodded repeatedly beside it. Although its aesthetic sense was different from that of humans, it could still classify things well.

Lan En remained expressionless, pointed a finger at the kitten's forehead, and pushed the 'dancing' plush ball over with a meow.

He then looked down at the girl who was staring at him, and half-squatted to create some distance between them.

Then he asked, "What happened to you, miss?"

The girl with light reddish-brown hair seemed not to hear, only staring at Lan En, her only open eye... well, it could be said to be blank?

"Do you need help?"

Lan En asked again, waving his hand in front of her, but she still didn't react.

"What can we do, meow?" The plush ball wasn't annoyed at being pushed over; it was just a game anyway. After getting up, it leaned over again and said, "Should we let her go back to Rodel City by herself?"

Lan En's large cloak served as a kind of clothing to cover the girl's body.

"Let her go back by herself?" The witcher clicked his tongue in dismay. "In the royal city now, who would open their doors to help someone? Everyone's panicking. If she wants to find clothes, she'll probably have to rummage through those ruins herself."

The ruins mentioned here are still the buildings that collapsed during the Black Knife Night, affected by Fulsancus's attack.

The people there... or rather, the living corpses, have all been cleared out, but the collapsed buildings and objects are still left in the ruins.

The perfumers of the royal city are now doing their best to heal the group of screaming corpses.

The hope is to alleviate their suffering through treatment, in cases where death is not an option.

However, the effect was minimal. The truly effective medicine was the one in the Red Dew Holy Grail Bottle, but unfortunately, the supply was insufficient.

"Let's go back to the Round Table Hall and settle in first."

Lan En shrugged and said to the velvet ball and the unicorn, "Anyway, it won't take long to go back and forth."

Although the situation is tense now, and we're basically entering a state of war, it shouldn't be too difficult to pull out a set of women's clothing from the Round Table Hall.

As for more... it's hard to say.

The Round Table Hall is, after all, a military and violent organization, not a relief agency.

But just as Lan En was discussing things with the other two, Rongbuqiu and Qilin...

"Melina."

Wrapped in Lan En's large cloak, the girl, who had just gotten up from the ground, suddenly spoke softly.

"what?"

The Witcher instinctively asked a question, still not quite understanding.

“Melina,” the girl repeated, “my name.” The girl’s voice, like her demeanor after emerging from her daze, was calm and indifferent.

At this moment, she pressed one hand against her chest, pulling on Lan En's large cloak, and used the other hand to support her upper body as she stood up.

The fabric of the cloak that hadn't been hung on her shoulders slid down her fair and delicate skin, exposing angles of her body, arms, chest, ribs, and abdomen.

But the girl in front of him showed no signs of naivety or shyness.

Even if she had already woken up from her confusion and bewilderment, it would still be the same.

Like a mature woman with rich experience, she calmly adjusted her posture before starting to straighten her disheveled cloak, covering her exposed body.

Of course, just like the feeling of a velvet ball: Lann doesn't like this kind.

Therefore, the Witcher simply watched calmly.

After she had straightened her clothes, Lan En smiled at her.

"What?" The Witcher waved his hand with some delight, half-squatting forward and pinching her chin to observe her pupil reactions from side to side. "It seems your brain isn't broken after all, thank goodness!"

"Thank goodness, meow!"

The fluffy ball also peeked out from under Lan En's shoulder, shouting happily.

Beneath the towering golden tree, fallen leaves drifted like a dream, and the Witcher suddenly approached to check on Melina's condition.

So the girl in front of him suddenly turned her head away and averted her gaze.

"Do you remember if you have anyone to rely on in Rodel?" The Witcher was on a mission and wanted to settle the girl down as soon as possible. "Rodel has been closed for several days. You should at least have a place to stay, right? Hurry up and get dressed."

“No, actually…” Melina continued in a detached voice, “Rodel doesn’t make me feel… safe.”

Lan En frowned slightly upon hearing this.

“If I may,” Melina said calmly, looking at the Witcher through her pale gold right eye, “I would like to make a deal with you.”

At this moment, he was only wearing a large, ill-fitting cloak.

But the girl in front of him still stood up gracefully, then unfolded her wrinkled cloak and knelt on one knee in front of Lan En with great style and rhythm.

This posture even made the calico kitten unconsciously straighten its helmet and armor.

"Please protect me during this time so that I can stay by your side."

In return, I will answer your questions during our time together.

"You sound like you're not so simple." Lan En had initially just wanted to help others, but now he immediately adjusted his mindset and became serious. "You talk as if you know everything."

“I am not omniscient.” Melina shook her head gently, her cherry-colored lips parting to speak, “but I am indeed quite knowledgeable. I am confident that I can introduce you to what you see and what you wonder about in this border region, and broaden your horizons.”

“Even…provide guidance.”

Lan En remained silent for a while, and the velvet ball and the Qilin also walked to the side.

Now, they both realized that this person must have come looking for them, rather than being someone they happened to meet.

But since she came specifically to us, what was the point of her initial bewildered look?
That blank look on your face means your mind isn't working at all, right?
While Lan En remained silent, Melina, a girl who looked very young, remained so composed that her expression did not change at all.

They simply waited calmly for Lan En's reply.

After frowning in silence, the Witcher tentatively spoke.

"If I'm not mistaken...you're a...spirit?"

"Meow?"

"Huff?"

The plush ball and the unicorn were clearly surprised, after all, they had both been in contact with Melina before, and the girl had a real sense of touch and weight.

It really doesn't match the first impression of the word 'spirit'.

However, Lan En knew that there were many kinds of spirits, which had different forms and characteristics in different places.

The spirit before me is more like a soul that can fight and provide support in the world of fire.

Melina herself didn't react much, except that she frowned when Lan En realized she was a spirit, and the expression in her right eye became even more profound.

"A spirit from the Golden Law era...tsk." Lann clicked his tongue, as if he had thought of something. "You weren't one of those people who died in that collapsed building during the Night of the Black Blade, were you?"

Even if the Golden Law has loopholes, there must be a specific time point. I don't know how long after Godwin's death it was.

However, before that point in time, the people of the Golden Tree whose physical bodies have been destroyed will still be able to return to the tree, but after that point in time, given the current situation, they will not be able to return to the tree.

Those who suffer fatal wounds but do not die are clearly trapped in their bodies by their souls.

But Melina's appearance... could it be that her physical body just lost contact with her soul, and as a result, the Golden Tree stopped accepting her soul, leaving her stuck outside?

Lan En looked at the girl in front of him with a complicated expression.

If that's the case, then he really doesn't know whether Melina is lucky or unlucky.

(End of this chapter)