Chapter 831: Red-Haired Kins
A giant shadow swept past the bright sky above Devilâs Water.
It was Swan, who was traveling swiftly using a pair of feather wings that were originally her arms.
âMiss Swan? Can-can we do this in another way? You can hold me with a rope or something,â Helen spoke while sitting on top of Swanâs back, blushing.
âWhat, itâs not comfy up there? And call me Swan. Donât let me remind you again.â
âItâs nice. JustâŠâ
This is too embarrassing!
Helen thought.
âQuiet now. We have arrived.â
Helen looked below and saw they were flying above a colorful island full of flowers and simple structures that blended in with nature quite well.
During her years working on The Limpet, she never went too far inside Summerdew Ridge to see such a sight.
âHere we are, Summerdew Ridge.â Swan slowly descended and gently dropped Helen at the edge of the island where a small port was built. âIâll take you to Lady Payne for a talent test in a while. Remember, be polite and obedient to everyone you see on the island, especially Lady Payne and Miss Summerdew.â
âI understand.â Helen nodded.
They soon saw a group of people approaching them, led by a tall woman in an elegant black dress. She looked rather fierce because her cheeks were full of scars.
Swan quickly went down on one knee while telling Helen to do the same. âGood afternoon, Lady Payne.â
Payne glanced at both of them and nodded. âThis is the talent you mentioned?â
âYes, maâam.â
âI see you like her. You gave her the bottle of Potion of Austere Night you received from Master, didnât you?â Lady Payneâs nose twitched when she sensed the smell of magic potion coming from Helen.
âHelen once saved me. Iâm repaying the kindness.â
Payne then turned away and headed to somewhere else at the port while the group of apprentices she brought all followed behind her.
Swan showed a confused look and dragged an apprentice to her. âWhatâs going on today? Why is Lady Payne out here?â
âI think the island is expecting someone important in a moment. Lady Payne asked us all to come and present a good welcome.â
âSomeone important? Who is it?â
âDunno. But I heard that it should be a guest from the Valley of Hurricane.â
Swan frowned. There should currently be someone from that place visiting the island. Why was there another guest?
She suddenly felt a gust of wind beside her and quickly saw one additional person who just showed up next to Lady Payne. It seemed the âfirst guestâ she just thought about also came.
Next, everybody saw a small dot in the sky approaching them. It was probably the second guest they were expecting.
âHow time changes peopleâŠâ Lady Payne spoke to the flying woman who just landed in front of her. âYou look way more hard-working than before.â
âLady Payne.â The red-haired woman spoke from behind her strange mask, âIâm afraid I canât say the same. You look exactly the same as a hundred years ago.â
âHeh heh.â Payne covered her mouth using a hand fan. âDid you not see this horrible face of mine? I used to look more charming than this, Irisa.â
âI never judge someone by their looks.â
âTsk. That mask⊠Are you still acting like a man?â
âBeing a man or woman makes no difference to me.â Irisa didnât seem interested in this subject. âBesides, I think you have more than one way to mend those injuries and find your old glory within a day, Lady Payne.â
Payne wanted to offer Irisa a room to stay in, but Irisa rejected it.
âThereâs no need. I have other matters to tend to later. Iâm only here to tell something to Red. Iâll be on my way soon.â
Payne looked between Irisa and the other guest on the island, which was a red-haired man with an unfriendly look.
âAlright. Iâll leave you to your own business.â
Payne then took everyone away so that only Irisa and âRedâ remained behind.
âCome with me,â the man said as he dragged Irisa into a narrow pocket dimension.
Irisa didnât seem bothered when she was inside the strange space full of chaotic elements. She simply found a chair from somewhere and relaxed on it by crossing her legs, allowing her white thighs to get fully exposed.
The man showed an impatient look. âHave you forgotten all the manners you learned before, Irisa? A woman should behave like a woman.â
Irisa rolled her eyes even though no one could see her doing so. âI thought youâd get more open-minded after living with Eureka for some time. Why are you still so stubborn?â
âIâm not living with Eureka. Weâre temporarily working on the same goal, and that is all.â
âAnd you think Iâll buy it?â Irisa scoffed. âYou arenât supposed to adjust your necktie and look around randomly when telling a lie.â
âSay what you will. Whether you believe me or not makes no difference.â
âActually, I believe part of your relationship. You like her, but she didnât know it, right? Donât deny it. This is why you asked me to help you throw all those fake crowns here and there.â Irisa chuckled. âJust think, if people know that THE famous Thewis betrayed Goman King and sided with someone he was tasked to kill, the magazines will create so many stories out of you that they wonât worry about not finding enough materials for their readers until the next year.â
The red-haired man was Thewis, a wizard from the Valley of Hurricane, and Irisaâs older brother.
The matter Thewis was dealing with was more complicated than what Irisa surmised. Although he wasnât going to explain as doing so wouldnât help with anything.
âWhatâs Goman Kingâs situation right now?â asked Thewis.
Irisa put up a serious look as she explained, âHe isnât doing anything in particular yet. But as you might have guessed, having the Crimson Crown missing has caused countless troubles in the southern wizarding region. I think Goman King is suspicious of you now. He already sent another wizard to the Marginalized Island. I suggest you take caution.â
Thewis took a moment to think over what he just heard.
âWho did he send?â
âI donât know about that.â Irisa shrugged before she moved closer to whisper into Thewisâ ear. âBut I know another clue you may need.â
âWhat clue?â
âI learned this one by accident. It seems the Crimson Crown is enchanted with a magic array called âBloodline Retrackâ. It allows the original owner of the crown to use his blood he left on the crown to tell its location no matter where it is taken to. Thatâs probably why Goman King can find where Eureka is every time.
âHowever, this magic array has a great risk to use, that when the item is damaged or destroyed, the owner of the bloodline will suffer from a powerful backfire. Judging from Goman Kingâs character, Iâd say that he did not use his own bloodline on the crown.â
âWhat does this mean to us?â Thewis frowned.
âMaybe we can come up with a nice plan to divert his attentionâŠâ Irisa revealed two items in her hands, a Crimson Crown replica and a vial of blood.
Thewis took the items and checked with a surprised look. âThis⊠is the best duplicate Iâve ever seen. But why are you showing me this?â
âAs I said, you want me to pass fake crowns around random people to confuse Goman King, but this is useless because he can always use that magic array to tell where the real crown is.â
âYour point?â
âNow listen, the crown youâre holding is different than the other ones we had before. It has the same âBloodline Retrackâ effect on it. The bottle I gave you contains the bloodline of a royal member I found in the Goman Kingdom. If Goman King truly used the bloodline of someone close to him to locate the crown, then we might use this to fool him.â Irisa suddenly showed a disappointed look. âWhen I got this crown, I thought about applying a Mystery property to it so that it would look exactly like the real deal. But then I found it impossible to do such a thing.â
Thewis quickly made up a plan in his mind.
âAre you absolutely sure about the magic array you described?â
âI am. The alchemist who helped me isnât a master yet, but when it comes to enchantment alchemy, I can say heâs already better than many masters.â
âSince we now know the secret on the crown, can we do something to erase it?â
âHuh? Oh goddammit. I forgot to ask!â
Thewis gave Irisa a âreally?â look and sighed. âAlright, Iâll keep these and try something out with them once I get back to the Old Earth. In the meantime, you should return to that alchemist and ask him about that question. Now that I think about it, you rarely spoke so highly of people before. Which alchemist are we talking about?â
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