Author: 冬瓜茶仙人 / Winter Melon Tea Immortal

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 208

“The sun is setting,” Shel said as he crushed a large, poisonous beetle underfoot. He raised an eyebrow and asked, “Are you sure you don’t want to go home?”

The two boys, about six or seven years old, looked at him warily without speaking.

“If you don’t want to talk, that’s fine. It’s not bad to have someone keep watch for us,” Alfred said deliberately. His sharp features and strong presence, coupled with his role as a commander in the knight order, made him look very intimidating—especially to children.

Spin felt a bit uncomfortable watching Alfred scare the kids, who looked only a bit older than Young Master Arnie. Although they were almost certain these children were from the Nawen tribe, Spin found it hard to be stern with children of such an age.

But he knew Alfred was doing it on purpose. These two kids had been trailing them since the afternoon, thinking they were being stealthy. However, even in unfamiliar territory, well-trained knights wouldn’t be easily followed by children. They had initially planned to lose the kids and then follow them back to the Nawen tribe’s settlement, but it seemed the kids had wandered too far and lost their way. After some chaotic wandering and almost falling into a bear’s den, they had been “captured” by the knights.

Now that it was getting dark, it was impossible to let them wander off in the forest, so they kept them.

The two kids were quite brave, surrounded by three strangers. They didn’t cry or speak, but their expressions of heroic martyrdom were exaggerated, as if they were about to be cooked in a witch’s cauldron.

Shel, unfazed by the lack of response, helped Alfred set up a tent suspended between several trees to avoid the dampness and bugs of the night forest, while Spin tended the fire to keep wild animals at bay.

The magical device they used to find Young Master Arnie had been malfunctioning since they entered a certain distance into the forest. It was easy to guess that the magic was being interfered with. If it wasn’t a large-scale magical barrier, then the Nawen tribe must have a mage more powerful than the creator of their magical device to block its sensing capabilities.

However, this also indicated that they were likely heading in the right direction and that Young Master Arnie wasn’t far away. It just required more patience and time to find him.

But…

“Do you think they’ll come looking for them?” Shel asked Alfred in the local Lemena dialect.

Whether it was a reclusive tribe like the Nawen or the citizens of the Empire, the next generation, who represented the future, was highly valued. In this era, population was almost synonymous with wealth and power. Losing two children would surely alarm the Nawen tribe.

“Most likely.” Alfred grinned.

Their magical indicator had failed, but with these two kids, the Nawen tribe would come to them. In the dark forest, their fire would be a beacon, easy to find even in the pitch black.

“Should we give them some bread? Their stomachs have been growling.”

“We can try, but they probably won’t eat it. They might think we’ve poisoned it.”

Spin, closest to the kids by the fire, felt like laughing at his companions’ blatant conversation. The boy sitting cross-legged by the fire looked expressionless, but his stomach was rumbling loudly, sounding like a boiling kettle. Yet, he remained unfazed, which Spin found amusing.

“When you’re done, check if ‘that’ has recovered,” Spin called out. “We can’t keep wandering around here forever.”

The two boys couldn’t understand their conversation but exchanged a glance and curled up to lie down—they were actually very tired.

While keeping an eye out for snakes and other bugs, Spin rummaged through his pockets. Lemena was wealthy, and few Brandenburg Knights were poor. Even on this rushed trip, they had brought many things. Spin remembered having an auto-igniting magical pipe in his pocket. It was a trivial item, but Spin liked it because it didn’t require a flame to light up.

However, this time, the pipe didn’t work. No matter how much Spin shook it, the tobacco wouldn’t light. He pondered for a moment and called Shel over.

“Shel, don’t you have a small multi-tool that turns into a knife and fork?”

Shel was puzzled. “That’s my utility cutlery. Why?”

“Take it out and try it.”

“Are you interested in buying one? It’s from the old man with the beard.”

“Just try it.”

Shel shrugged and took out the tool. “You’ve never been this interested before… Huh?”

He found that no matter how he manipulated it, the cutlery wouldn’t transform.

Alfred noticed and walked over, making the two pretending-to-sleep boys tense up. “What’s going on?”

“We didn’t notice earlier,” Shel whispered. “It seems all our magical items have stopped working.”

Alfred raised an eyebrow. “What?”

He looked up at the now fully darkened forest. One magical item failing was understandable, but nearly all of them? He doubted any mage could achieve that, not even the grand magus in the palace.

And since they had worked fine the previous day but failed today, this change likely wasn’t due to the forest. Besides, who had ever heard of an elf-chosen forest that naturally blocked magic? Not even a fool would believe that joke!

The three men fell silent, with only the crackling of the firewood breaking the silence.

“These little gadgets are trivial,” Alfred finally said. “Stay alert—if we’re lucky, we might catch a big one tonight.”

……

Charlie sat by the window, teaching Arnie some basic elvish. He knew Arnie had a natural talent for languages. While he wasn’t certain how many languages the grown-up Dwight knew, he had seen books written in elvish among the Duke’s unnecessary luggage at the beginning of their journey.

But the first elvish word young Arnie learned was from him, and this thought made Charlie a little proud.

“Weird pronunciation,” Arnie commented.

“It’s related to their magic system. Elvish language and spell words are the same, so it feels a bit odd for ordinary humans to use,” Charlie explained. “If you study magic, it will feel more natural.”

“The Dwight family isn’t particularly talented in magic.” Arnie shook his head. “I prefer swordsmanship—but Priscilla likes magic. Mother said she was sad for a while because she had no magical talent. The steward knows magic but didn’t join the Mages Association. He said it wasn’t necessary, as Brandenburg also employs long-term mages.”

Charlie smiled and flicked his fingers, making a small light float out, fluttering like a little butterfly in front of Arnie.

“Only girls like this,” Arnie said stubbornly, though his eyes were wide with interest.

“You’re right.” Charlie was about to teach him the elvish word for “butterfly” when there was a knock on the door.

A young Nawen tribe member had brought up a late-night snack.

“Where’s Wind?” Charlie asked.

The boy looked into the room but couldn’t see Arnie clearly since his chair was far from the door. He could only see a small pair of legs swinging rhythmically, suggesting a good mood.

“He has other matters,” the boy replied, neither warm nor cold, handing over the snack before jumping down the steps. The night was so dark that it was unclear how he navigated the small landing spots.

“Wind isn’t here,” Charlie said to Arnie. “Maybe many people are looking for the missing children.”

“Will Alfred fight them?” Arnie stood on the chair, waving his fists. He would never do this in Brandenburg because nobles had to “maintain their dignity at all times”. But without the steward and Elaby around, and since Oscar never imposed such rules, Arnie had gradually become more carefree, refusing to sit properly.

“They have many people,” Charlie said objectively. “And the Nawen warriors are strong. It’s better not to fight.”

“Alfred is also very strong!” Arnie retorted. “Did I ever tell you the story of how he killed a lion alone?”

“But the Nawen are people—do you really want to see Alfred fighting and bleeding against Wind or Green?” Charlie asked patiently.

Bleeding… That wouldn’t be necessary.

Arnie calmed down, climbed off the chair, and looked a bit deflated. “When will he come to rescue me? Is Father already here? I want to go home.”

“Not interested in seeing the elven relics anymore?”

“I want to go home,” Arnie said, lowering his head. Charlie felt that if he weren’t there, the little guy might have started to cry. He sighed and hugged Arnie.

“You’ll be able to go home soon,” Charlie said.

Arnie pouted, saying nothing. He felt Oscar was just trying to comfort him and didn’t notice that Charlie said “you” instead of “we”.

“Really,” Charlie assured him. “Don’t you want to know what the seer told me privately? It was this. He promised on behalf of the Nawen tribe that they wouldn’t harm you and would safely return you to your family.”

“But they said my father is a thief.” Arnie still couldn’t let it go.

“They’ve been communicating with the Imperial Capital. The treasure isn’t in Brandenburg. Alger lied. He deceived the Nawen tribe into thinking the Duke had it to mislead them. In reality, he planned to present it alone to earn a title.”

Since the unification of Pennigra, there hadn’t been much change in the ranks of the Empire’s nobility. A branch member like Alger had no hope of inheriting a title, and his wealth would only decrease over time. But his vanity wouldn’t let him settle for being an ordinary person, especially with more successful examples in the family—the Duchess, his sister Emma, was his primary object of envy and jealousy.

“The Emperor is both just and generous. He agreed to return the treasure on the condition of your safety. There were probably other terms as well, which the seer didn’t detail, but it seems the Nawen tribe accepted them.” Charlie patted his cheek. “So don’t be sad. Cheer up a bit.”

Arnie looked up from his embrace. “What about the hidden realm?”

Recovered quickly, didn’t you? Charlie teased him with a smile. “Didn’t you say you didn’t want to go?”

“I can’t go alone,” Arnie said seriously. “But if Father or the knights go with me, it’s fine.”

Then, looking a bit smug, he added, “If you want to go too—then I’ll consider it.”

Charlie pinched his cheek. “Consider! After everything we’ve been through together, you need to consider? Am I good to you or not? Am I?”

Arnie’s cheeks were pulled into a funny shape, and he laughed. “Then you can come too.”

Charlie hugged him tightly, ruffling his soft, light blond hair.

Arnie couldn’t see his expression but could still hear the smile in his voice.

“That’s better,” Oscar said.

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