Chapter 270: 46. The Beast in the Cage
“Cough cough, your father really hits hard.”
Inside the tavern where Fisher had left, Helena was dragging the unconscious Phoenix Knights and roughly throwing them at the street corner, still thinking about how to transport them away. In the room, the now-conscious Paz had already started to curse at Helena standing at the doorway.
She rubbed her own fleshy shoulders, subconsciously glancing at Old Jack lying beside her, then felt a surge in her throat and leaned against the wall.
Hearing the voice from outside, Helena smiled slightly, completely ignoring it. Paz had previously served as her military instructor, but unlike Alagina, her relationship with Paz wasn’t very good; she merely regarded her as an unfamiliar subordinate of her mother.
“Are you waiting for that Nali man?”
The Myia warship was getting closer, and many gang members from Pat Sulshen Island had gathered towards the port. This was also why Fisher had hardly seen any local gangsters when he visited the hotel where the Nali people lived.
Helena was not worried that Myia would do anything to them. For Myia, the size of Sardinia was too great; as long as they didn’t主动去找对方, they definitely wouldn’t dare to move against her. Thus, Helena’s tone was relaxed and she felt no regret over the failure of her mission.
For some reason, her mood improved after she had fought with her sister.
At that moment, Helena turned to look at Alagina, who was standing at the tavern door, her clothes stained with blood and her face a bit disfigured. Alagina had been staring in the direction where the Nali man had left, seemingly lost in thought.
Behind her was her Cangniao tribe subhuman guard, Aoxi. Without her cloak, Aoxi had to wrap her body with her wings, missing a foothold for her steel knife, making her awkwardly remain perched on the eaves above the tavern, tilting her head to also look toward the direction Fisher had left.
The sight of one person, one subhuman, and one parrot all looking in the same direction made Helena suspect that the Nali man was the husband of all three of them.
Upon hearing Helena’s words, Alagina completely ignored her, not even turning her head. Helena didn’t care; she was just planning to drag the Phoenix Knights away from here.
“That man is not suitable for you. Especially for someone like you who lacks ambition, a virtuous and proper kingdom lady would be more fitting. He knows a lot, sees a lot. Do you expect him to stay by your side as a good husband for the rest of his life?”
“Well, that’s fine too. I can’t wait to see you being abandoned by him, crying in your room.”
“.”
Alagina still didn’t turn her head. The tall Helena was already dragging several unconscious Phoenix Knights towards the other side of the street, seemingly headed for a specialty brothel catering to Sardinians on the island.
She had no extra hand to wave goodbye to Alagina, or rather, the two sisters did not need such formalities. Their communication today could be considered strange; she came to knock out Alagina’s crew, then had a fierce fight with Alagina, and left as if nothing had happened.
Yet no one noticed that Alagina, standing still, slightly pursed her lips after hearing Helena’s words, even her severely injured fingers could not help but tighten again.
Although Helena looked like a bear, neglecting her sharp thoughts was clearly unwise. Just as the plump Paz had a shrewd inner heart.
Alagina indeed felt that there were many mysteries about Fisher that she did not know. She had no idea what he intended to do or not do; this feeling of uncertainty regarding his thoughts brought her a strong sense of unease, as if Fisher were a mist that she could not grasp no matter how hard she tried.
Yes, even a strong Sardinian woman like Alagina sometimes felt insecure.
Even though Fisher’s appearance, the feeling he gave her, and his personality were all very captivating to Alagina, only that uncertain, ethereal feeling suddenly led Alagina to have an unrealistic doubt.
Could it be that he regarded her merely as a plaything?
Could it be that he had never taken her seriously in regard to his feelings?
Could it be that even for the agreement he made with her before, he had never cared about her opinions or feelings at all?
Every time she thought of these things, a chilling feeling would quietly spread in Alagina’s eyes, completely freezing that layer of blue ocean.
Until at this moment, when the Nali gentleman wrapped in Aoxi’s scarf reappeared in her line of sight, that layer of frost quietly melted away, restoring Alagina’s expression to its usual state.
She quickly walked toward Fisher, just in time to meet his question for her,
“What happened to Paz and Old Jack? Did your sister leave?”
Alagina nodded in reply,
“They… are fine.”
Only after escaping from danger did Alagina suddenly notice the scarf belonging to Aoxi around Fisher’s neck, a hint of an unclear sentiment flashed in her eyes, and she silently reached out to untie the scarf from him under his gaze.
She carefully unwound Aoxi’s scarf from his shoulder with her blood-stained fingers, causing Aoxi behind her to unconsciously tilt her head slightly towards her wings, appearing somewhat shy.
“What were you doing just now?”
“Nothing, just handling some personal matters regarding Nali, and it’s not entirely sorted out yet.”
Thinking of Elizabeth gave Fisher a headache; even though he was a long way from Saint Nali on Pat Sulshen Island, he felt as if he were playing a game against her from afar. Besides, he was unsure what method she would use to find him next and whether Erwind had leaked anything about his actions on the Iceberg Queen.
Alagina glanced at Fisher’s contemplative expression and, for some reason, suddenly felt that what he had gone to do was related to the new queen of Saint Nali.
Elizabeth Godlin, the newly crowned Nali Empress, was not only a refined Nali lady from the same place as Fisher but also far more distinguished than herself, a wandering pirate.
What if the person Fisher truly loved was Elizabeth and he deeply cherished her image in his heart?
Moreover, it seemed that the empress also took a liking to Fisher; otherwise, she wouldn’t offer such a high bounty to capture him alive.
Alagina felt somewhat uncomfortable, but still managed to ask Fisher,
“Is there anything I can help with?”
In reality, the biggest dilemma facing Fisher right now was not Elizabeth, but the madman Erwind, who had a completion manual. He had no idea why Alagina would weirdly associate the problems he faced with his lover Elizabeth.
Fisher did not want to involve Alagina in the conflict regarding the completion manual; he merely glanced at Alagina and saw her face severely injured from the earlier fight with Helena, prompting him to suddenly remember something and take out the rings the Mechanism had given him from his pocket.
He checked what magic was inscribed inside and unexpectedly found pleasant surprises.
The Exploration Company was indeed the wealthiest company in the entire Western Continent. Among these magic rings were not only healing magic for treating injuries but also various attacking and defensive magics.
Among them, there were two higher-tiered spells, one being a sixth-ring storage space magic, quite similar to those previously placed in Fisher’s carriage, capable of storing items by compressing space; the other higher-tier magic was also an old friend, the eighth-ring gravity magic【Gravitational Heaven Ring】, which he had used before to drain the lake water for Raphael.
After checking, he counted one healing magic ring and then shook his head, saying,
“Nothing serious. Moreover, you have injuries; let me heal you first.”
Alagina looked down at her disheveled clothing and stood silent for a second, then nodded. This dress was not meant for combat, and if it came to a fight, it would get torn easily, which was why Alagina currently appeared somewhat ragged.
“Let’s first take the other crew members to a safe place. The people from Myia will come to the island soon, so it’s best not to conflict with them.”
“Okay.”
It was unclear what sort of agreement Myia had reached with the pirates on the island, but now the entire island was eerily quiet, and this silence cast an ominous layer over the atmosphere on the island.
Myia, this small country, had already paid dearly for that piece of rare ice, daring to confront Sardinia and Nali directly with a military ship. This was likely something everyone had not anticipated, and even the Phoenix Knights had decided to avoid the dangers, as no one knew what they would do for that piece of rare ice.
If Myia were just a small country, like those on the eastern side of the Western Continent, it would still have to consider its own strength. However, Myia was different; behind it stood a powerful figure in the Northern Region – the Turan Family, a force that Sardinia could not easily offend.
Alagina remained cautious, and together with Fisher, took Paz and the crew to another hotel on the island to rest temporarily, before notifying Aoxi to fly out to sea and inform the Iceberg Queen not to approach the island for the time being to avoid conflict with Myia’s warships.
Alagina booked several rooms in one breath to provide resting places for the crew, while she stayed in the last room at the end of the corridor with Fisher.
Healing magic could not entirely replace medicine, but it was extremely useful in emergencies, although it was best used in conjunction with some medication.
Fisher bought her a change of clothes downstairs, and after she washed the blood off her body in the room, he came in to treat her.
“Your wounds are somewhat severe, especially on your hands; this part won’t heal quickly even with magic.”
Fisher assessed the ugly wounds on her hands while casting the healing spell and explained her injury situation.
Since she couldn’t wear a magic ring due to her severe hand injuries, Fisher used a small rope to tie the ring and placed it on her chest, then used the only trauma herbs available on the island to treat her other visible wounds.
As layers of green light emerged from the ring, even Alagina’s dull perception could feel like soft hairs were scratching her wounds; despite the obvious itch from the healing, her expression didn’t change at all. She merely gazed at her clothes and, somewhat regretfully, said to Fisher,
“I’m sorry for saying I’d help you buy clothes before; it turns out to be you helping me buy clothes now.”
Hearing her exceptionally innocent words, Fisher raised an eyebrow and placed the already applied medicine on the nearby table, nonchalantly saying,
“It’s alright; Nali men don’t care about these things.”
“By the way, I saw you wrapped in Aoxi’s scarf earlier?”
“Mm-hmm, what about it?”
“Did you… say anything in the room?”
In fact, when she saw Fisher wrap in Aoxi’s item, she felt a bit uncomfortable, but just now, she engaged in the Sardinian women’s proud tradition of feigning nonchalance and acted as if it didn’t matter.
But now, in their private interaction, as the atmosphere became quiet again, that uncomfortable feeling started to haunt her, making her feel quite restless. Thus, Alagina brought up the matter.
She also understood that it was likely Fisher and Aoxi hadn’t done or said anything in the room; she didn’t believe her loyal guard would do anything wrong, so she couldn’t help but feel that asking this question seemed a bit unreasonable.
But she just wanted to know.
Her conflicted feelings intertwined, causing Alagina to slightly turn her face as she spoke, not daring to make eye contact with Fisher.
That façade of indifference, which betrayed how much she actually cared, suddenly made Fisher find her very adorable. The faint scent of sea salt that arose from her after washing made Fisher’s throat tighten, and his gaze unconsciously fell upon her fair skin.
The burning sensation gradually surged, darkening Fisher’s gaze, like a beast attacking its cage.
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(This chapter ends)
