Chapter 638: 116. Eat
“Dongdongdeng!”
Perhaps no one knows what Fisher was thinking when he saw the golden carriage below, but undoubtedly, a warning of danger approaching must have crossed his mind.
However, it was probably not the time to be anxious and flustered; he was not afraid of Elizabeth. He had already decided to face her and fulfill the promise he made before leaving; he was just hesitating whether he should meet her now, before Heilson’s funeral.
Indeed, given that Elizabeth had been visiting Teresa for several years, if Fisher were to sincerely tell her, “At least everything should be resolved after Heilson’s funeral,” she would probably agree.
Yet for some reason, when he saw the white carriage below, Fisher felt a sense of palpitations within him that he had never noticed in Elizabeth before. This feeling did not come from the intensity of rank but rather from the psyche.
He always felt a psychological discomfort, as if he were being suppressed under the gaze of seven archangels in the Holy Realm.
He turned to take a glance at Emhart beside him, only to find him trembling all over, golden light unconsciously emanating from him, which made Fisher unable to help but whisper, “What’s wrong?”
“The relic down there seems a bit scary; I don’t dare to talk to her or let her notice me. Fisher, should we… should we leave first?”
Fisher raised an eyebrow. It was noteworthy that when they were in such danger at Nali Lake, Emhart dared to secretly talk to Pandora’s eye, yet now he was so scared that he couldn’t even speak. This made Fisher feel surprised, as if he caught a glimpse of something increasingly wrong with Elizabeth upon their return.
He remained silent for a moment and then decisively made a choice. He quickly walked in front of the little girl named “Alicia” and softly spoke to her, “Alicia, where is the thing that Heilson left for me?”
Upon hearing this, Alicia’s lips curled up a little. She looked at the crystal coffin where Heilson lay next to her, her gaze evidently carrying a sense of ethereality that should not belong to her age.
“Sure enough, big brother, you don’t want that big sister to ruin grandpa’s funeral, right? Come with me; there’s a magic for teleportation this way. I’ll take you to get the thing grandpa left for you.”
Holding a doll, Alicia said this, while looking at her petite back, the conversation below drew ever closer, the first to speak being Vaili’s husband with his distinctive Shivali accent in Nali.
“Your Majesty, thank you for coming all the way from Saint Nali to comfort us; we are truly grateful. Vaili is not feeling well today, so please forgive her for not looking too good.”
“I understand, but I heard that Heilson also adopted another granddaughter?”
“Don’t mention her! It’s her, she’s the one who caused grandpa’s death!”
“Dear, I apologize to Your Majesty, she hasn’t rested well these days, I’m really sorry. Quickly, take Vaili back to rest.”
“Your Majesty, it’s really her! Ever since she came, grandpa’s health has declined day by day; you should know he wouldn’t retire so early if it weren’t for her! It’s her, woo woo, she took my grandpa away!”
“Miss, calm down, you still have a child in your belly.”
“Let go of me… woo woo, grandpa.”
Vaili’s voice gradually faded away, and her husband’s awkward apology came a bit late, clearly aware of the issues related to Alicia yet saying nothing further. He simply explained to Elizabeth, “I apologize, Your Majesty, there’s a slight issue between them. That child is indeed very strange, but it’s fine. Your Majesty, please come this way; I’ll have a servant prepare tea for you.”
“No need, there’s a question. Have any guests come here before?”
“Guests? What guests? This place is protected by the guards you arranged; there’s really no one who has come in.”
“Is that so? Then let me see Heilson one more time; there will be too many ceremonies tomorrow. I want to talk to him alone, is that okay?”
“Of course, of course, please this way; grandpa’s coffin is just ahead. We didn’t dare to move grandpa’s body after the doctor confirmed the situation. We are waiting for the church and Your Majesty’s people to arrive.”
Upstairs, Fisher suddenly raised an eyebrow, the footsteps below slowly ascending the stairs. He hastily returned the book he was holding to Heilson’s desk, turned around, and saw Alicia standing right behind him, her face once again lacking expression.
She pointed to a side door of the office, and Fisher followed her inside, quickly discovering an open hidden magical teleportation door.
The sophistication of this magical teleportation door was clearly beyond what this little girl could inscribe; it must have been created by Heilson.
He glanced at Alicia beside him and noticed her gently extending her hand towards him. He raised an eyebrow, and before he could say anything, Alicia looked up and said to him,
“Hold hands, big brother.”
“The magic has already activated; Heilson’s teleportation magic is very precise and won’t cause any bumps. Don’t worry.”
Alicia stood still for a moment, and after a second or two, her cheeks puffed up slightly. Then she murmured,
“When grandpa was here, he always held my hand.”
“…”
Fisher opened his mouth, paused for a moment, and then slowly raised his hand to hold Alicia’s small right hand.
“Is that so?”
“Hey, Fisher, hurry up! I feel she’s getting closer and might discover us soon!”
Emhart’s urging came from behind, but Fisher had already stepped through the teleportation door with Alicia, and the magical formation inside the side door instantly vanished. Soon, not only the formation, but the cramped space outside the formation and the entire side door of the office were hidden, erasing all traces of their presence.
The magic tower was very tall; the husband of Vaili leading the way was already panting. Behind them, Elizabeth remained calm and composed, as if it was merely a simple walk.
In her golden dress, as she reached the top, her sharp eyes swiftly scanned everything here, locking onto any potential prey like a hawk.
Unfortunately, there was nothing on this floor, only Heilson’s deserted office and the narrow coffin he currently resided in.
Elizabeth blinked, a glint of light flashing in her hollow eyes. Then she waved her hand and said to Vaili’s husband,
“You may go; I’ll speak with Heilson.”
“Alright, Your Majesty. If you have any matters, just let me know; I’ll be downstairs.”
Elizabeth didn’t even glance at him but walked into this quiet space, looking at the silent Heilson in the coffin. Her pale fingers seemed ready to reach out but were dragged down by a hint of guilt in her heart. Finally, she could only say,
“Sorry, Heilson, I don’t want to disturb your peaceful sleep, to make use of your last funeral in the mortal world. But I’ve waited too long—since he left, I have waited for four and a half years. During this time, I have endured and changed. But what I received in return are women proclaiming their claim on me one after another. Yes, they were possibly all mistakes he made in the past; I might have initially thought so. But where is he now?”
Heilson was already dead, and Elizabeth’s once power-soaked, dignified and beautiful face became extraordinarily cold.
“I even started to doubt that the letter he left for me was merely a delaying tactic. He never intended to return to marry me; he never meant to give up on other women. He is either waiting for me to surrender and beg before time runs out, willing to accept those women he is reluctant to part with, or he has already abandoned me and his past, running off to enjoy himself elsewhere.
“And I will not accept either possibility.”
At this point, Elizabeth’s sharp words suddenly softened; perhaps she realized she shouldn’t say such things in front of Heilson. After pausing for a moment, she changed the subject and said,
“However, Heilson, you wouldn’t want Fisher to throw away everything from his past, right? He will come back, and when he does, he will inevitably have to face me, for I will not give up on him. So this time, Heilson, at your funeral, if he comes, then perhaps I can adopt a gentler approach. At least, this means he hasn’t forgotten you. But if he doesn’t even attend your funeral, then I will have to resort to more extreme measures.”
“…”
Heilson’s corpse did not respond, and Elizabeth had already finished speaking. Now that she had become Empress, she no longer needed to pretend to be a devout Mother worshiper, nor confess her sins before the Mother God statue.
But at this moment, everything she was doing was also a kind of confession, akin to every murderer from Nali being held on trial, often seeking psychological comfort by speaking with a priest in the church before their crime.
She breathed out a sigh and wandered over to Heilson’s desk. Strikingly in tune with Fisher, Elizabeth was almost instantly captivated by the neatly placed book titled “Complete Theory of Magic” on the table.
She slowly reached out to take the book, seemingly wanting to casually flip through Heilson’s magnum opus. However, since she was not a professional in magical studies, she obviously wouldn’t evaluate the book’s value from an academic perspective.
So, the first page she opened was the book’s title page.
Once again, she saw the intense emotions and wisdom Heilson had while writing this book; she saw his longing for his deceased lover and his hopes for the future of his two granddaughters.
Of course, there was also his concern for his only disciple who was in exile.
But Elizabeth noticed something extra; her hollow eyes flickered, sharply perceiving a slight crease on the paper.
She lifted the book parallel to her line of sight and, after comparing it several times, she quickly realized something, her pupils narrowing ever so slightly.
After a moment of silence, she suddenly recalled the discomfort her eyes had felt upon entering this magic tower, as if her eyes were reminding her that someone was visiting above.
The corners of her mouth lifted slightly, like a shark smelling blood in the sea, a sharp glint of excitement and coldness lit up in her hollow eyes. She rubbed the position of the crease on the page and softly murmured,
“You’ve returned, Fisher.”
In the next second, the page she was staring at underwent a strange transformation corresponding to her current hard-to-hide emotions, turning inch by inch into cold stone.
“Phew, it’s good that we ran fast, Fisher! You may really have to weigh the matter of reconciling with Elizabeth; my ‘danger radar’ is generally very effective. Even when you were led by Raphael to meet Jasmine last time, I didn’t think much of it, but this time…”
Emhart let out a long breath and spoke. Although Fisher didn’t know when he acquired this so-called “danger radar,” he indeed felt that sense of danger earlier; it wasn’t just bravado.
He merely looked at the petite little girl in front of him and asked,
“Your name is Alicia?”
At this moment, Fisher, who had instantly teleported from the magic tower to the suburbs of Qiter, found himself in a dense forest, getting closer to the border of Shivali, hence appearing desolate.
Fisher didn’t know what Heilson intended by inscribing this teleportation magic for the petite girl before him, but observing her familiarity as she led the way indicated she had been here many times.
Upon hearing Fisher’s question, Alicia in front nodded, clutching her doll while grasping a tree branch for support, as she walked across the small wooden bridge over the creek, while Fisher leaped over, reaching the other side even before her.
“Yeah, I heard grandpa gave me this name; it’s nice, isn’t it?”
Fisher squinted at her, nodded, and replied,
“Indeed, ‘Treasure,’ it’s a very meaningful name.”
Alicia’s pronunciation in Nali sounded like “treasure”; he didn’t know if this was a beautiful coincidence or if Heilson had done it on purpose.
After all, Hela once said that the child adopted by Heilson might be related to the clues of the Life Completion Manual. Yet, several years ago when he left Nali, Heilson had directly named her “treasure…”
This made Fisher’s image of Heilson enveloped in a layer of mystery. He just didn’t understand how Heilson, as a human, could have anticipated secrets only someone at Hela’s level would know.
Fisher had thought this way ever since Heilson developed the dual-ring initial magic that touched the mythical rank; the more he learned, the more unshakable Heilson’s status became in Fisher’s heart, embodying a sense of “your teacher is your teacher.”
Hearing Fisher say this, Alicia, walking in front, suddenly halted in her tracks. Fisher looked at her, noticing she had tightened her embrace on the doll. He couldn’t help but ask,
“What’s wrong?”
“Um, it’s nothing; we’re almost there, big brother.”
“Where are you taking me?”
“To where I normally live.”
Alicia continued to walk forward, but this answer left Fisher a bit puzzled.
“Don’t you live in the wizard tower?”
“I think I lived there for a while when I was little, but I haven’t since I grew up. My sister seems to dislike me, so grandpa built me a small wooden house out here in the suburbs, and I can use the teleportation array to see grandpa.”
Recalling Vaili’s somewhat uncontrolled voice earlier, he couldn’t help but ask,
“Why doesn’t your sister like you? By the time Heilson adopted you, she should be in her late twenties; she shouldn’t be so harsh on you.”
“…”
Alicia didn’t respond immediately; at this moment, she had taken Fisher and Emhart to a secluded place in the woods. Fisher keenly sensed the presence of magic ahead, and Alicia raised her doll at the next moment.
“Buzz buzz buzz!”
With a wave of resonating energy, a small wooden house abruptly rose from beneath the ground, opening its door to Fisher and them.
“Big brother, please come in.”
Once the tree house appeared, Alicia neatly tucked the doll back into her arms and led her guests into the place she lived every day.
The inside was simple but very cozy; aside from basic furnishings like a bed and table, the most significant items were various books and fabric dolls. Alicia carefully placed the doll she was holding on her bed and squeezed her petite body into the pile of books on the floor, searching for something while explaining the question he had just asked,
“My sister says I’m very strange, and I think I’m strange too. I often sleepwalk; whenever I dream, I tend to sleepwalk, and I often talk to myself, saying strange things and doing dangerous things. Like I almost cut my hand with a knife and even hurt grandpa’s body.
“But when I dream, I often dream about people and things I’ve never seen before. Just like you, big brother; I seem to have seen you in a dream before. You feel familiar, but I don’t remember it too well. Ah! Found it, big brother, it’s this.”
Alicia wiggled her little butt in the book pile for a long time and finally found a gray notebook deep within. This notebook was quite old, with nothing written on the cover, seemingly Heilson’s personal notes.
She walked back to Fisher, holding the notebook, placing it in his hands while blank-facedly saying,
“So, I can understand why my sister dislikes me; I don’t like myself either. Now that grandpa is gone because of me, I feel very guilty and sad.”
Fisher took the notebook and was slightly taken aback. Then he frowned and looked at Alicia, who was lowering her head and seemed somewhat self-reproachful. He quickly asked,
“Did you say Heilson left because of you?”
Alicia remained still, only saying to herself,
“My sleepwalking and dreaming have become increasingly serious. Sometimes, not only can I see scattered memories and fragments, but also people and things from another continent. And… and it seems I can talk to something in my dreams; it calls itself ‘the Usurped Vessel.’ In dreams, I’m not called ‘Alicia’ but called… ‘the Base.’
“It taught me many things in my dreams, and every time I feel it in my dreams, I end up sleepwalking, hurting grandpa, hurting my sister, hurting myself… I really don’t want this to happen; grandpa has become weaker because he helped me. In the end… woo woo.”
The more Alicia spoke, the more moved her flawless face became; her youthful soul seemed to be tormented by the concept of “self-reproach.”
“But, big brother, because I can often hear its voice, I know now that you are seeking something that can help you. That something is the so-called ‘Treasure,’ right?”
Emhart was completely dumbfounded, but listening to the little girl’s words, Fisher suddenly felt an extremely ominous premonition.
“Alicia, you…”
“Actually, big brother, I am the ‘Treasure’ you are looking for. It doesn’t want me to meet you, and my sleepwalking and dreams have been getting worse. I have been struggling not to sleep, but still… still let grandpa…”
Alicia hesitated, agonized, and ultimately spoke in a tender voice, pleading with Fisher,
“So, I have been waiting for you, big brother. I’ve been waiting for you to come and eat me, waiting for you to take away the ‘Treasure’ you want.”
(End of chapter)
