Brain bloom

“I don’t like revenge; being killed was incredibly foolish of me. But my death could be used to my advantage. The gates of Silvermoon City are open to us—isn’t that an opportunity? It’s a prosperous city… Don’t you want all your citizens to have a warm winter?”

Aureliano and the eunuch both fell silent, weighing the rain wizard's offer.

It's not that it's bad, but that permanently neutral city is not easy to mess with.

But before any conclusion could be reached, the Rain Wizard suddenly squinted, stood up, and walked towards the window, completely ignoring the cold wind, trying his best to see as far as possible—in the direction of Silvermoon City.

"what happened?"

"This isn't like you, old friend."

“Something’s not right. I don’t know, I can’t explain it… but something enormous has appeared.”

……

The ancient demon king suddenly stood up from the "bed" beneath him, still not used to the pillow that had been offered to him.

Having grown accustomed to sleeping on stones, he loathed this soft, girlish thing, finding it extremely uncomfortable to sleep in. Even in an ancient dream, he felt his body plummeting, a sensation akin to someone suddenly plucking his wings, leaving him deeply uneasy.

He slightly opened his pointed beak, as if trying to peck it open and replace the damned cotton inside with stones.

But the ancient demon king hesitated to take a bite, not only because it was a gift from his daughter, but also because he remembered that what had awakened him was not the soft pillow, but—

"A true god..."

He shook his balding wings, shaking off all his weariness. He planned to make a long-awaited visit to the human world, to go to his daughter's side and meet this suddenly appearing true god with her.

Through the feathers left on his daughter, the ancient demon king could clearly sense that the mysterious true god was beside Yuan. He was willing to pay any price to ensure his daughter's life could be as long as possible, and would never allow the enemy to harm Yuan in the slightest.

Go and show some fatherly authority!

"Gateway to the world, obey my commands—wait, why did it suddenly disappear again?"

That power suddenly vanished without a trace.

"Ha, I get it. It sensed my movements and ran away... As expected of a being at the peak of divinity, it is very intelligent and cautious."

Volume 1 #125: You think it's just me?

"Let me calculate... I probably lasted for about five seconds? Maybe even less."

On his way home, Mori counted on his fingers, calculating something very important.

"That means it consumes at least ten gold coins per second. If it lasts for ten seconds... it will cost a high-level magic scroll. What a waste."

She didn't know where her money had gone, but judging from its trajectory, it seemed to have no discernible pattern and had probably just flown away randomly. She could barely accept that the gold coins had ended up in the hands of a poor, kind person, but she worried that they might fall into the hands of bad people and become capital for them to do evil.

Ke Senshi was unable to verify this.

She then wondered if she would continue spending money if she were out of pocket. But no matter how much she looked through the title "Coffin Carrier," she couldn't find any more information.

With a little worry, Sen returned to the vicinity of the winery and happened to see Su Dai arranging things among the grapevines. His hands were very diligent and his work efficiency was high, but he was still an amateur when it came to grape care.

Upon taking a look, Mori immediately understood that it was a magic lamp set up to ward off the severe cold, and thought to himself that magic was indeed very convenient.

Although Su Dai would occasionally stop to jot something down on paper, Sen Shi didn't pay much attention to the erotic novelist's behavior and continued walking home.

Near the wine cellar, Aisalia sat thoughtfully, supervising several strangers, bundled up tightly, as they moved wine. Every detail about these people screamed "poverty" and "hardship," a label firmly etched on their faces.

Mori put on his hat and walked by silently, probably knowing that this was the person Yuan had invited. It seemed that the liquor business was going well.

Sure enough, as soon as we arrived at the wooden house, we saw Yuan and Dandelion sitting outside the door, looking like old ladies gathering to bask in the sun and chat.

"I'm really lucky." Dandelion fiddled with the thing in her hand.

"You dropped it yourself, didn't you? After all, this is your home."

"Who knows? Anyway, I didn't lose any money, and now I have an extra one. I'm just lucky."

Mori couldn't see clearly from that distance, but she could vaguely make out that what her princess was holding was a small golden trinket. However, judging from their conversation, Mori had a guess that she didn't know whether to laugh or cry: it might be a gold coin, or one of the coins she had just thrown out.

Never mind, I'll give it to the dandelion. If I could find something like this, it must be a lucky little item.

So Moritoki approached while speaking—

"What are you talking about? Could you get me a small bread roll or something? I'm so hungry... or could you help me water the plants?"

The sudden sound startled Dandelion and Yuan, who turned around together.

Their reactions differed; one expressed her delight as a matter of course, while the other smiled reassuringly at Mori.

"Hey, Mori, have all the enemies been killed?"

"You don't seem to be injured, that's good."

"Mori, what do you think it could be?"

"Uh?"

Without any warning, Dandelion suddenly asked a strange question, leaving Mori's greeting stuck in her throat. What was the princess asking? Mori wondered, was it about the shape of the bread to be baked later? She had no idea.

Seeing Mori's gloomy face, Dandelion felt a strong sense of sympathy:

"So even you didn't know? It's good that you're not hurt. After all, that aura came from the direction of the sea. I was worried about you. After all, you're right by the small pier, the closest one."

"I don't know..."

“I see. It seems it didn’t originate from your battlefield.” Yuan offered his insights. “That’s right. While the people of the Holy Coffin Kingdom are not weak, they are not strong enough to trigger the power of a true god.”

A true god? Mori seemed to understand. She rubbed her face vigorously with her two small hands, trying to wipe away her embarrassment, but worried that she would give herself away and be discovered by Dandelion.

"A real god? That's really amazing. He can sense things from this far away." Her words were a little unnatural, but she had done her best.

"That is to say—oh right, there's another thing, I've been incredibly lucky today, so please praise me."

"What?" Mori looked puzzled again.

Dandelion laughed heartily, opened her palm, and lay a gold coin quietly in her hand: "I just found it."

"...Let me see?"

"Of course, no problem. I just found this. There was a golden glint in the grass, so I ran over and found it was a gold coin. Lucky me, right?"

Upon receiving the gold coin, Mori didn't even need to examine it; she was immediately both amused and exasperated. This was definitely the gold coin she had scattered… it had indeed ended up in Dandelion's hands.

She silently returned it, and Dandelion happily took it back, saying, "You want bread, right? Then I'll splurge a little and add some unique jam. Just a moment."

"Yes, thank you, Princess."

Dandelion happily ran off to the cabin. Mori felt a mix of emotions; at least for now, they weren't exposed, which put him somewhat at ease. As for the future... he'd just have to keep it a secret for now.

After she left, Mori sat in the chair in front of the dandelion, successfully completing this dynastic succession of sunbathing and chatting.

She took off her hat and lazily soaked in the sun, while Fufu popped out of her pocket and began to sunbathe on her shoulders.

"Sen, the leaves on your head have grown so much."

"This is normal."

"Oh, by the way. How's the battle going? Those enemies didn't pass through this area, which means... meeting you was a terrible thing?"

"Probably, it wouldn't be wrong to say it was tragic, there was blood everywhere."

A little intimidated, she immediately said, "Well, we're in the same boat now, so let's get along well from now on?"

Mori squinted and immediately realized what was going on.

It seems the princess and Yuan have reached a deal, agreeing to let her participate in that Wing Cloud thing. This is good, after all, even now, Sen Shi still can't see through Yuan's level, which is undoubtedly a good thing.

So Mori straightened his languid posture and said sincerely, "Thank you for joining us. With you here, I feel very at ease."

"I'm at ease knowing I don't have to become your enemy."

"Have you finalized the wine deal with Dandelion?"

"That's right. But what about you? What are you planning to do now? You've made enemies with so many countries..."

"It's not a big problem; the situation is improving."

Sen Shi was exceptionally confident because she had an extra powerful trump card; if a real fight broke out, she wouldn't be afraid of anyone. Thinking of this, she reached into her bag and took out the Holy Skull.

"I'll have to trouble you again to conceal your presence..."

“That’s right, I’d completely forgotten about this—” Yuan suddenly looked up and shielded her eyes from the light with her hand. “When Mori was there, weren’t there two shiny things in the sky? What kind of natural phenomenon is that?”

"Yes..."

Sen Shi had excellent eyesight; when he looked up, he saw two bright spots, like stars, in the blue sky.

It looked familiar… She suddenly looked down at the holy skull in her hand. The fleshless skeleton seemed to be smiling at her, and then said, “You think it’s just me? It’s not over yet.”

"Yuan, have you ever observed dandelions? Do they wear socks?" Mori had completely lost her appetite for sunbathing...

……

(I revised this chapter several times before it finally came out, sorry.)

Volume 1, Chapter 126: A Pair Arrived

"Wearing a very nice pair of white socks."

"Yes, a pair... that is, both of them are white."

Sen Shi finally understood why there were two points of light in the sky, flying from the same direction, not far apart. Her face turned pale, and she silently tossed the holy skull into her bag, looking at the sky with a helpless expression.

Whose bones are these this time? Does every time she does this, all the important figures in the Holy Coffin Kingdom who have died and are now just bones have to come and follow her?

With concern, she asked, "Mori, is this person also here to see you?"

"That's probably it... Don't ask me why, I don't know either, it's none of my business anyway, yeah! That must be it."

"I think so too."

Yuan's face clearly showed disgust, just like her reaction when someone told her "you have cockroaches in your house".

"There's a rather unpleasant holy aura about it; it must be from the Holy Coffin Kingdom. I really don't know why they've come looking for you. Are they here to apologize?"

"In short, this thing that flew over out of nowhere will only deepen the Holy Coffin Kingdom's hostility towards the Four Seasons."

Although that's what he said, Mori Toki wasn't actually too worried. As the vanguard of the "Gourd Slayer," he had become her loyal little fan, and he would definitely explain things clearly when he returned to report. Therefore, this latest arrival could actually serve as strong evidence that Mori Toki was the one who delivered the coffin.

She felt more confident in persuading the Holy Coffin Kingdom to pledge allegiance to her.

Mori sat back in his chair, basking in the warm midday sun, and waited for his followers to arrive while gazing at the horizon.