After leaving the upper floor room, Saul was preparing to return to his cabin.
But he saw a little girl at the corner of the staircase.
A tiny thing, about four or five years old, biting her left thumb while looking up at Saul with round eyes.
âBig brother, are you a bad person?â
Saul hadnât seen such a small human child in a long time. He crouched down to look at the little girl. âIâm not a bad person.â
âNot a bad person, then why did you go into that room?â
âIf big brother was a bad person, he wouldnât have come out.â
The little girlâs mouth immediately formed a perfect circle, looking as if she had suddenly understood.
Saul found it amusing, patted the little girlâs head, and stood up to go downstairs.
âDaddy!â
Saul froze, then looked down to see that the little girl wasnât calling him, but someone behind him.
He turned around and was surprised to see Paul, the wizard apprentice who had just interrogated him, standing expressionlessly in the hallway.
The adorable human child ran straight to Paulâs side and hugged his knee. âDaddy!â
Wizard Apprentice Paul remained standing in place, motionless. It looked as if he wasnât being hugged by a little girl, but rather wrapped by a giant python.
But Saul could tell that when Paul faced the little girl, it wasnât fear but a kind of nervousness.
Extreme nervousness.
âReally is a father.â Saul tried hard to control himself from showing an amused expression.
âAhem,â Paul cleared his throat, suddenly covered the little girlâs ears, then said to Saul, âIâll give you a piece of adviceâdonât trust the catâs gratitude. People who encounter it may become lucky at first, but they all end up drowning.â
âDrowning?â Saul thought of Mikeâs death.
That man who died in a thin layer of washing water.
Paul bent down and carefully but stiffly picked up the little girl like handling cream, no longer communicating with Saul, and turned to leave.
The little girl hugged Paul tightly, resting her chin on Paulâs shoulder while blinking her big eyes at Saul.
Saul waved at the little girl and silently mouthed âgoodbye.â
The little girl didnât respond, just buried her head in Paulâs shoulder.
âThis is the first time Iâve seen a wizard apprentice with a child.â Saul leisurely returned to his room.
Merchant Mikeâs death seemed to be deliberately suppressed.
During the rest of the journey, Saul heard no one discussing death, nor did anyone else have accidents.
After the airship flew steadily and boringly through the sky for a month, it finally reached Saulâs destinationâSky City.
âThis is Sky City.â
As they were about to dock with Sky Cityâs skyport, most travelers had packed their luggage and stood in the corridor on the top floor.
Although passengers still werenât allowed on deck before docking, the top floor corridor had windows for viewing the scenery.
Saul stood here for the first time, looking at the landscape ahead.
Two people stood beside him, one of whom seemed to have been to Sky City before and was introducing it to the other.
âSky City was originally an island on the sea, then the City Lord cast magic to move it into the sky.â
The other person cooperatively expressed admiration.
âWow! Like a place where gods live.â
Saul followed their gaze and saw, in a clear blue sky, a small island floating on clouds.
The entire island was quite large, with its lower half completely obscured by impenetrable clouds, as if floating on a sea of clouds.
The upper half of the island was a city built around a circular volcano.
A gray road wound spirally upward, leading directly to a water-blue castle at the highest point.
The mountain peak was capped with snow, while the foot was submerged in a sea of flowers.
White and pink petals were blown by the wind, swirling into local residentsâ homes.
Even viewing through a window layer, one seemed to smell the floral fragrance.
âIt does look like a paradise.â Saul praised silently, but his gaze fell on the lower half of the island completely shrouded in clouds.
The distance was somewhat far, and he couldnât see clearly what was beneath the clouds now.
But he knew that lifting an island would definitely require quite powerful magical formations for support and continuous resource consumption.
Actually completely unnecessary.
Saul shook his head secretly.
Expending massive magical power to lift an islandâcould it really be just for looks?
Appreciation aside, Saul didnât approve of such wasteful use of magical power.
Unless there were other hidden circumstances.
A few minutes later, the airship shuddered gently.
Two attendants came to open the door leading to the deck.
âPlease disembark in an orderly fashion, no crowding.â
People who could afford airship travel all had some wealth or status, and no one pushed or shoved.
Many people were even still in their rooms, planning to wait until most others had left before departing.
Saul, like an ordinary person, carefully carried his heavy leather suitcase in one hand and the orange cat in the other, stepping onto the not-very-wide gangplank and walking off the airship.
After following the crowd to the square outside the skyport, he didnât leave immediately but found shade under an awning outside a random shop and waited.
âLord Saul, what are you waiting for?â
Kate was placed on the suitcase to facilitate their conversation.
There were already quite a few wizard apprentices walking around here, so the weak magical fluctuations from their secret speech wouldnât attract othersâ attention.
âWaiting for a cat.â
âMeow?â
Saulâs lips didnât move, but his voice reached orange cat Kateâs ears. âAfter the wizard apprentice on the airship discovered Mikeâs body, he didnât find the white porcelain kitten. Only after I mentioned it did he become serious. Before that, he might have just treated Mikeâs death as an ordinary murder. What does this indicate?â
Kate smacked his lips. âIt indicates someone took that white porcelain kitten before Paul saw the body.â
He turned to look at Saul. âYouâre so interested in that kittenâwhy didnât you take it back then?â
âBecause I wanted to observe objectively.â Saul smiled. âLook, just like observing that attendant.â
The attendant who had once guided Saul onto the airship and brought him to Paul for interrogation was now hurriedly coming down from the airship, also carrying a suitcase.
Just as Saul was about to follow, someone suddenly approached him.
The newcomer was a wizard wearing a water-blue cloak with several flower petals on it.
The cloak was inscribed with concealment formations, preventing outsiders from determining the personâs strength.
But when Saulâs mental power swept over, he immediately detected that the other party was a true wizardâa second-rank true wizard.
The person raised her head, revealing a beautiful face.
âWelcome to Sky City, Lord Saul.â
Saul touched his face and asked without any pretense, âHow did you recognize me?â
The female wizard smiled brilliantly. âYour cognitive blur magic is cast very skillfullyâothers canât recognize you at all. I only knew you were here under the City Lordâs guidance.â
âCity Lord Ophelia? She actually pays attention to the skyport.â
The female wizard who came to meet Saul smiled. âIn Sky City, the City Lord is everywhere.â
(End of Chapter)
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