Vol 4. Chapter 128: Heading to the Forbidden Palace
Inside the Beast Taming Garden,
As the enormous Abyss Demon was carried back to the underground containment facility with great fanfare by a group of staff members, the farce involving the rampaging Abyss Demon finally came to an end.
While letting out a long sigh of relief,
Yeze couldn't help turning his attention back toward his new homeroom teacher.
The fact that Teacher Rain had effortlessly dealt with an Abyss Demon had indeed made this young student see her in an entirely new light. There was no longer the slightest trace of dissatisfaction in his eyes.
However, although his dissatisfaction had disappeared, as Yeze observed the black-haired girl, a hint of confusion gradually emerged in his brown eyes.
"I can't help feeling..."
Wasn't the relationship between their new homeroom teacher and their class monitor a little strange?
To verify his suspicions, Yeze curiously approached the elven princess Shaina, who was standing nearby.
"Hey, Shaina."
"What?"
"Don't you think there's something a little strange about our class monitor and Teacher Rain?... Look... The class monitor keeps sticking close to Teacher Rain. She never used to act like that before. And... I don't know if it's just my imagination, but it seems like the class monitor doesn't want anyone getting close to Teacher Rain?"
"......"
After remaining silent for a moment in response to Yeze's words, Shaina nodded slightly without expressing any particular opinion.
"Yeah, you're not imagining things. I've noticed it too."
The class monitor seemed...
A little too protective of Teacher Rain.
It was making things rather difficult for her, since she wanted to establish a good relationship with Teacher Rain on behalf of the elves but couldn't find an opportunity to approach her...
Thinking this, Shaina couldn't help twirling a strand of her beautiful emerald-green hair in frustration.
"Why are you suddenly asking about this?"
"Oh, nothing, nothing. Just a little gossip."
Yeze waved his hand indifferently.
"Speaking of which, didn't the class monitor say before that she already had someone she liked?... Someone she met while she was in Skyvault... Don't tell me... it's Teacher Rain?"
"Well... Maybe... it is. I'm not entirely sure... but... your guess might be right."
"Then aren't you going to do something?"
"Do something? Do what?"
"Aren't you a member of Miss Mengxi's Personal Guard Squad? Didn't you say before that you'd tear apart whoever stole Miss Mengxi's heart?"
Hearing this, Shaina rolled her eyes at Yeze without the slightest hesitation.
"You..."
"Hm?"
"Are you trying to get me killed on the spot?"
"Hehe, I'm just kidding! Don't take it so seriously, Your Highness, the Elven Princess~. But... seriously, aren't your elves going to form a marriage alliance with the Asumos Church soon? Once you've secured the support of a powerful organization like the Asumos Church, you shouldn't have to be afraid of the Black Rose Family anymore, right?"
"......Who knows......"
Shaina quietly averted her gaze from Yeze, looking up at the clear blue sky with a somewhat melancholy expression.
...
--
Listening to the whispered discussions of the other students and looking at the silver-haired girl who kept clinging to her arm in search of 'comfort,' Lady Yumo couldn't help feeling rather helpless.
And just as the black-haired girl was struggling to figure out how to deal with the situation, a sudden change in an aura within the Beast Taming Garden caused Lady Yumo to furrow her brows slightly.
Then,
The girl turned her head in confusion and looked toward the forbidden grounds in the central area of Yexinlian Royal Academy.
Hm?
That little girl Yuan'er...
What's she...
Trying to do?
--
At the same time,
In the central area of Yexinlian Royal Academy, accompanied by a surge of black light, an adorable little girl with delicate, doll-like features and an innocent face practically radiating the words 'cute and well-behaved' suddenly leaped out of the forest and landed atop a massive boulder.
Standing on the boulder, the pink-haired girl blinked her beautiful heterochromatic red-and-blue eyes and curiously examined the forbidden palace before her.
The structure was predominantly silver-white and closely resembled an ancient ceremonial temple.
"Wow~ So this is the place?"
Hmm...
It should be, right?
Otherwise, why would there be so many people guarding the outside?
Recalling the human defensive lines she had carefully bypassed earlier, Yuan'er gradually became more certain of her guess.
And as her confidence grew, an excited light immediately appeared in the little girl's eyes.
That thing...
What was it called again? The 'Heart of the Holy Dragon'?
It's inside here, right?
According to Mother,
The reason Sister Mengxi was studying so hard at Yexinlian Royal Academy was to obtain this thing?
"The Heart of the Holy Dragon..."
As she quietly murmured the name, the little girl clenched her fists in anticipation.
In Yuan'er's opinion,
Feelings were supposed to be mutual.
If she wanted Mother and that big sister to be together, both of them needed to treat each other well.
After all, you couldn't clap with just one hand.
Recalling how her mother had been holding the butterfly earrings and smiling happily after Sister Mengxi left last night, an idea suddenly occurred to Yuan'er.
Sister Mengxi had given Mother a pair of earrings that Mother liked so much.
Then, shouldn't Mother return the favor by giving Sister Mengxi a wonderful present too?
After thinking it over,
Yuan'er felt that
The Heart of the Holy Dragon might make an excellent gift.
After all, apart from this thing, Yuan'er genuinely had no idea what else Sister Mengxi wanted.
If Mother gave the Heart of the Holy Dragon to Sister Mengxi, wouldn't their relationship become even closer?
Hehehe~
Thinking this, the smile on little Yuan'er's face grew increasingly radiant.
For the sake of Mother's future happiness, the little girl had decided to take a risk and venture into these forbidden grounds to retrieve the Heart of the Holy Dragon for her mother~
However, after looking at the four majestic barriers floating outside the forbidden palace, each radiating an incredibly powerful aura, Yuan'er quickly revealed a troubled expression.
After happily imagining all sorts of wonderful future scenarios, the little girl suddenly realized that there was one very serious problem.
Namely,
How was she supposed to get through these barriers??
"Well... Hmm... These barriers? What should I do about them?"
Clearly,
Our adorable little Yuan'er hadn't thought that far ahead...
It was only after seeing the barriers that she suddenly remembered this problem and realized that she had absolutely no idea how to break through them.
And if she couldn't break through the barriers, she wouldn't be able to obtain the Heart of the Holy Dragon.
Which meant her entire plan would fall apart...
"Umu... What should I do now..."
Folding her arms across her chest and pouting, little Yuan'er complained in a troubled voice.
Forget it.
I'll just take things one step at a time!!
Having made up her mind, the adorable little Yuan'er slowly raised her hand and summoned a portion of her black mist.
In the martial arts bedtime stories Mother had told her, assassins, killers, and wandering heroes would always wrap themselves entirely in black whenever they undertook covert operations, allowing them to move through the darkness.
Yuan'er had found this behavior rather fascinating, so naturally, she decided to imitate it.
She concealed her entire body within a mass of black liquid.
Yuan'er was extremely satisfied with her disguise.
The little one even couldn't help letting out a delighted "Hehehe."
It had to be said,
The little girl's disguise really wasn't bad.
If she were moving around at night, it would genuinely be difficult to spot her.
However,
There was currently one rather unfortunate objective problem.
Namely...
It was daytime...
And so, our adorable little Yuan'er, behaving much like someone covering their ears while stealing a bell, wrapped herself in a mass of black liquid and began moving across the lawn under direct sunlight.
Step by step, she made her way toward the forbidden palace...
...
Then,
Unsurprisingly, the first barrier immediately detected the little one's movements.
In an instant,
Dozens of enormous crimson energy eyes constructed from magic suddenly converged from every direction, opening wide and locking their gazes firmly onto Yuan'er.
Along with these energy eyes, hundreds upon thousands of magical cannon barrels also appeared.
Countless pitch-black cannon muzzles immediately aimed at the pink-haired little girl as crimson magical power continuously gathered within them.
A terrifying force rippled outward, as though the little girl would be swallowed by raging flames in the very next instant.
Clearly,
This was the first of the four great barriers protecting the forbidden grounds: the Blazing Fire Barrier.
And this barrier had already activated.
The cannons began charging their attacks. If Yuan'er made even the slightest further movement, they would unleash their furious bombardment upon the intruder without hesitation.
For a moment, the atmosphere became incomparably tense.
It seemed as though flames would erupt from the ground in the very next instant, and everything nearby would be swallowed by raging fire and terrifying black light.
Eh?
"So... as expected... trying to walk straight inside... isn't... really possible, huh..."
Looking at the pitch-black cannon muzzles,
Little Yuan'er couldn't help clenching her fists.
The Shadow of Silence Power within her body, along with the surrounding black liquid, began surging violently like a raging sea.
Clearly,
Yuan'er was considering whether she should simply confront the barrier head-on and tear it apart by force.
If nothing else, at least this first barrier didn't frighten Yuan'er in the slightest.
In the little one's opinion, as long as she released her power, breaking through the barrier shouldn't be particularly difficult.
The only thing troubling our adorable little Yuan'er was how she would explain herself to Mother afterward.
After all, Yumo had specifically instructed her to behave herself and not cause trouble...
She absolutely mustn't imitate Second Brother.
That was also the warning Sister Karina had given her.
...
...
However, just as the little one was feeling extremely conflicted, something completely unexpected happened.
The continuously accumulating fire-attributed magical power suddenly fell apart, transforming directly into countless tiny crimson magical particles that scattered into the sky with the wind...
?!!
"Eh?... Wh-what... happened?"
In an instant,
Under little Yuan'er's utterly bewildered gaze, the cannons that had been poised to attack just moments earlier suddenly withdrew their offensive power without the slightest warning.
One after another, the cannon barrels retreated underground.
The menacing magical energy eyes slowly closed before abruptly disappearing amid a ripple of red light...
And it wasn't just the outermost Blazing Fire Barrier.
The other three magical barriers behind it also deactivated their defenses.
Everything returned to complete tranquility in the blink of an eye.
"Eh??"
Faced with this sudden and unexpected development, Yuan'er was utterly confused.
All she could do was raise her hand, scratch her adorable little head, and look around blankly.
"Wh-what's going on?"
Yuan'er couldn't figure it out no matter how hard she thought.
However,
As far as the little one was concerned, if she couldn't understand something, she might as well stop thinking about it.
Although she didn't know what had happened, given the current situation, at least nobody would stop her from taking the Heart of the Holy Dragon, right?
If that was the case, she could just keep walking without worrying about anything, couldn't she??
And so,
Little Yuan'er simply ignored the strange events around her.
Surrounded by swirling black liquid and mist, she happily scampered toward the depths of the forbidden palace...
"Heart of the Holy Dragon, here this young lady comes~"