Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1996 1968. Abnormal Growth
"Are you in trouble?"

Lann raised an eyebrow, and Dolores straightened her slender body. Without saying a word, she simply beckoned to the Witcher, then got up from the pedestal of the sculpture she was leaning against and walked out.

Lan En followed, and the two walked through the narrow passage towards the exit hidden by vegetation.

One of the Rodel Knights, who hadn't taken off his armor the whole time, glanced in their direction. That was Christopher, the Ancient Dragon Knight.

Seeing that it was two faded individuals about to leave, he turned his helmet back.

The status and authority of the Faded Ones have always been very high within the Golden Dynasty; they are entitled to free access to this highly secure garrison.

Lann followed behind Dolores, still somewhat puzzled.

After all, based on his understanding of women dressed as men, Dolores was kind and warm-hearted, just like Tolissa, and the two of them became friends because of this commonality.

However, as a veteran who fought his way up from the battlefield since the Age of Titans, Dolores was clearly much more independent than Torisa, who came from a better background and lived in a more stable era.

They are more assertive, opinionated, and persistent. They generally don't ask for help from others.

Good people are mostly like this: they are afraid of causing trouble for others, yet they can't repay the favors they've received, and they have to keep them in their hearts.

After receiving help once, they feel an urge to immediately help return the favor.

After all that effort, the other person thought it was a deliberate attempt to distance themselves.

Dolores is clearly that kind of person; it's not common for her to ask for help.

After leaving the garrison, the woman dressed as a man continued walking, simply shaking her head at Lan En behind her, while supporting the quiver on her back with her hand: "Look."

The arrows in the quiver rattled and clattered as they shook, much like any other archer.

But Lan En's eyes saw something different in the dim light.

"【Sleeping Arrow】Dolores," the Witcher said jokingly, "now you're using ordinary feathered arrows? Trying to push your skills to the limit?"

The woman dressed as a man immediately noticed the difference between herself and Lan En, and a smile appeared on her lips.

Responding in a similar tone, "This is a battlefield; now is not the time to challenge yourself."

As she spoke, she pressed her hunting hat and gave a wry smile: "Or rather, it was indeed a challenge. It was just that it challenged the limits of my resource management abilities."

Dolores's Torina Arrows are running out.

Strictly speaking, the title "Sleeping Arrow" was mainly earned by Dolores through her skillful use of Torina's arrows.

She wielded these arrows, imbued with supernatural hypnotic power, with unparalleled skill.

Of course, this 'hypnotic' ability is different from that depicted in some bizarre fantasy works. It does not allow one to arbitrarily command the victim, but rather it is hypnosis in the literal sense, that is, to make someone fall asleep.

The 'hypnosis' in those fantasy works looks more like 'seduction'.

Dolores's Torina Arrows had never required much of her attention. The Round Table Hall, supported by Rodel, would take care of all the consumables she needed.

The Perfumers' Guild has a nursery specifically for planting Torina water lilies for her. When Lann first went to the Round Table Hall, Torisia took the opportunity to bring Dolores news of a new batch of herbs that had ripened and been harvested.

However, it is clear that the consequences of the broken legal system and the collapse of the Golden Law era are manifesting themselves in a collapse-like manner.

The Perfumers Guild's secret garden outside Rodel City can no longer supply the city, and without the garden that perfumers adjust and control daily, it will enter a period of unchecked growth.

If this period of time is too long, the entire garden may be ruined.

Those weeds will crowd out the flowers in the garden to the point of regional extinction.

So unsurprisingly, the supply of Torina's water lilies in Dolores was cut off.

Due to a shortage of raw materials, coupled with the accelerated consumption rate during wartime, the quiver of the mighty [Deep Sleep Arrow] is now mostly filled with ordinary feathered arrows.

In fact, based on Dolores's experience and background, she actually used ordinary feathered arrows most often in her combat career.

The Torina water lily is a plant that only appeared suddenly more than two hundred years ago.

It appeared around the same time as the Michaela Water Lily, which accompanied the demigod Michaela.

But now that we are at war, which soldier wouldn't want to be in peak condition at all times?

Emerging from the narrow exit, Lann and Dolores stood in the shade of the dense vegetation near the exit.

At night, the golden leaves of various tree species also turn dark gold.

On the distant open plains, a patrol of knights from the demigod alliance, carrying torches, slowly advanced along the horizon.

The enormous moon and the branches of the golden tree hung in the sky above them, making their black silhouettes against the golden plains appear incredibly magical and surreal. "You need to find the Torina Water Lily," Lann and Dolores muttered, watching the passing patrol in the distance from the shadows. "Uh, I haven't even asked yet. Even if you find the Torina Water Lily, can you make the Torina Arrow yourself?"

Arrow making is a craft in itself, although most archers can make some rough arrows. But arrows like Torina's arrows, which are infused with supernatural power, are undoubtedly much more difficult to make.

However, Dolores was much more confident than Lann thought.

"I learned how to make Torina Arrows from Faris! I just really lacked the raw materials!"

The Witcher chimed in with a compliment: "Wow, you've come from a prestigious lineage."

Faris was a master craftsman, and it is largely thanks to him that so many uses of the Torina water lily, a plant that has only existed for two hundred years, have been discovered.

Just as the Mikaela water lily is a plant that appeared because of the demigod Mikaela, the Torina water lily seems to have appeared because of a saint named Torina.

This saintess was elusive, almost ethereal. Faris was captivated by her, relentlessly pursuing her and expressing his feelings through objects, which led to the creation of so many uses for the Torina water lilies during his journey.

He compiled these methods into a book called "Farris's Making Notes." It contains various methods for making hypnotic props using the Torina water lily as a material.

"Don't joke around, I'm serious!" Dolores coughed and nudged Lann's side with her elbow. "I only told you this because I was confident. We just didn't have enough manpower before, so we couldn't implement it. But now you're here to help, aren't you?"

"Okay, you're confident... I bet you don't even know which way the water lilies of Torina bloom."

The Witcher muttered the second half of his sentence in a low voice, clearly complaining.

But without a doubt, even though the woman dressed as a man doesn't have ears with enhanced hearing, she can still hear clearly from such a close distance.

She glared at Lan En, but pursed her lips without saying anything in response.

Clearly, although she knew how to make props using the Torina Water Lilies because of her past training with Faris, she didn't know how to plant or pick the flowers.

“Alright, I can keep an eye on them for you.” Lan En raised his chin, pointing in the shadows to the passing demigod alliance patrol. “But you’re going to the perfumers’ secret garden to pick Torina’s water lilies? Do you even know where that is?”

Speaking of which, Lann did know the location of a secret garden. At the time, Torisha even threatened him, saying that if he violated the confidentiality agreement and revealed the location, she would take him to the Volcano Mansion to sue him.

As a result, even the Volcano Palace has rebelled, and the Grand Justice has even threatened to the gates of Rodel City...

"I don't know where Torisha's secret garden is, but I don't need to know," Dolores said casually. "I'm lucky. For some reason, a lot of Torina water lilies have appeared around here these past few days, and they're all in full bloom, so I can pick them as many as I want!"

The woman dressed as a man appeared relaxed, but Lan En gradually frowned after hearing her story, looking at her suspiciously.

"Are you sure you're not mistaken? Torina water lilies are considered a relatively high-grade and rare medicinal herb. It's impossible for them to just grow in large patches in the wild. And for them to suddenly appear."

Dolores only knows how to make props using the Torina Water Lily, but doesn't know the details of the flower's planting and growth process.

However, Lan En's speed of absorbing information determines that his knowledge will be far broader than others, and he knows about the flower's condition.

"I don't know how to plant it, but at least I won't make a mistake." The woman in men's clothing waved her hand and smiled. "Please, Lan En. Do you take me for some clueless newbie? What year is this? What's the current situation? Would I do something reckless?"

“It’s not that I’m worried you don’t understand the situation…” The Witcher’s brows furrowed slightly.

He promised Tolissa that he would end the siege as soon as possible. He also made a new promise with Melina that he would take her to the foot of the Golden Tree.

Therefore, I take it very seriously.

He didn't doubt Dolores's abilities; what he doubted was that the situation itself might be abnormal.

The legal system is now broken, and the world order is collapsing.

The birds of death, long gone, from bygone eras, soar proudly through the sky. The unborn are born from death…

Who knows what it means when a large number of water lilies suddenly appear nearby?
Shaking his head, Lan En really couldn't figure it out. After all, even the figure of Saintess Torina was vague in many records, as if she were a dream or an illusion.

He could only coordinate with Dolores to have the two of them take turns going out to collect Torina's water lilies.

See if it's true, as she said, that large patches of these flowers have inexplicably bloomed nearby.

Several days passed in the blink of an eye. Lann and Dolores's gathering process went very smoothly, and Dolores's title of "Sleeping Arrow" was once again well-deserved.

But even the woman dressed as a man began to feel inexplicably worried.

Even she noticed it: it seemed like they were picking more water lilies now than when the perfumer had planted them specifically for her.
Lan En returned with a large bag of Torina water lilies, making his brows even more furrowed.

Especially after returning this time, the Witcher stood in the shadows at the entrance, his hand slowly moving to the hilt of the knife at his waist.

"who are you?"

After a moment of silence, from the equally deep shadows, a tall and slender figure with a full head of white hair slowly emerged from a pool of blood.

(End of this chapter)