Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 284: A Chance Encounter

The highest peak in the Ash Mountains was called “Wick Peak”.

It was located on the border of Alban, with nothing but wasteland covered in gray gravel nearby. This place was extremely barren, and had always been the domain of voles and reptiles. Not only humans, but even subordinate demons were reluctant to come.

“There’s something wrong with you!” the gray parrot muttered.

Nemo could clearly split space, but he insisted on going on an adventure into the wilderness with Oliver. They stayed in this damn place for four days, and all it could eat was dry bird food. Its feathers were completely filthy and covered with sand and dust.

However, those two were able to stick together and camp like this place was some kind of wonderland.

Finally, a village appeared in front of them.

Though, calling it a village wasn’t quite accurate; it was more like a small settlement, with fewer than a hundred residents. The houses were as gray as the wasteland, and, at first glance, they looked like ruins. This “village” wasn’t marked on any maps, and it didn’t even have a name.

“I’ve heard stories about this place from bards.”

Ollie walked into the town square curiously. “Every summer, fire steel can be mined near Wick Peak. The people living here are miners and mercenaries.”

Only in summer did the steel mine that was crushed in snow emerge. People would flock here like migratory birds and live here temporarily.

It was the beginning of summer and the settlement should be bustling with activity, but it was deserted, with only windblown sand and dust.

“Next time, remember to find a place with berries. Really, a date is a date. Why try to investigate some demon incident…”

A gust of wind blew, and the gray parrot tried to squeeze into Nemo’s robe to protect its smooth feathers.

Nemo smiled and pulled it out, pressing it back onto his shoulder.

There was only one inn in the settlement, its door frame covered in rags of spiderwebs. When they entered, the innkeeper was listlessly wiping a glass, which was far cleaner than the towel he was using.

“Mercenaries?” the innkeeper looked at the two men for a long moment. “You look too delicate and tender to be miners… Are you also here for that demon?”

“Also?” Oliver and Nemo looked at each other.

“Yes, the monks of the Laddism Church came to investigate.” The innkeeper shrugged. “They say some foolish guy is deliberately summoning demons. Maybe the Knights of Judgment will come visit too. Oh…”

At this point, he looked at the two of them mischievously and said, “Those two monks have booked the best rooms, so you two will have to put up with it.”

“No problem.” Ollie calmly took out his wallet.

They just need to avoid the monks and get rid of the culprit as soon as possible.

They heard that when the broken fire steel was exposed to the surface, the sunrise at the top of Wick Peak was very beautiful, and that was the main purpose of their trip.

Unfortunately, before nightfall, a crack appeared in their beautiful plan—they ran into one of the monks in the hotel corridor.

“May Zenni…” the man’s fake “pious” prayer was choked back before it could even come out.

His smile twitched and he slowly took a half step back. “…Really.”

“Yes, what a coincidence. Your blessing is not necessary,” Nemo said gravely.

Jesse Dylan sighed pitifully. “They’re just a few demon worshippers. Why bother with that? Leave this kind of thing to me and Adri.”

You think I can trust you? When did you become so ‘pious’?

Nemo politely kept silent, but he couldn’t help hide his doubts.

“Since you’re here for business, I’ll leave the demon case to you.” Oliver took over the conversation briskly. “Nemo and I are going straight to see the sunrise.”

Jesse blinked and said, “Oh, I won’t bother you.”

There was a strange, tacit feeling in the air.

Nemo’s face showed even more suspicion, while Oliver said nothing and just simply smiled and nodded.

From what Oliver knew about Jesse, there was a 99% chance this guy had tricked Adrian into coming to see the sunrise under the pretext of “dealing with a few demon worshippers” and even packaged it as a surprise.

Since Oliver also wanted a world of his own, he didn’t intend to expose the thoughts of a certain god.

Well, the top of the mountain was quite big. They can just look at the sunrise separately!

…However, their tacit understanding didn’t even last three minutes.

Adrian returned to the inn with someone by his side. The moment it saw the person clearly, the gray parrot instinctively shrank back, and Jesse’s sweet smile froze on his face.

“Ann!” Nemo rushed forward in surprise.

Ann had recently abdicated her throne and had been away travelling with Gallagher. They kept in touch through letters but hadn’t seen each other for nearly a year.

Ann had sent them a letter not long ago saying that she was resting in the capital and Nemo thought he would only see her at the year-end party.

At the moment, Ann was still dressed as a mercenary, carrying a light bag on her back, and her hunting spear had been replaced with a better one… and there was no sign of Gallagher.

“Shouldn’t you be in the capital?” Nemo suddenly felt a little worried. Maybe something unpleasant had happened with the people in the capital…

Ann obviously saw his worry.

She looked at Nemo and Ollie who were stuck together, and then at Jesse who was smoothly clinging to Adrian with a subtle smile on his face.

“Humans need quality time alone,” she said. “Of course, this may be difficult for some people to understand.”

“I heard something was going on here, so I came for some relaxation and happened to run into Mr. Cross.”

Adrian: “We are here because of the demon worshippers.”

“Oh?” Ann raised her tone, glancing at Jesse from the corner of her eyes. “Well, let’s just go with that then.”

“If you’re worried, we can act together,” the former Knight Commander said seriously.

Nemo raised his hands happily. “Since everyone is here, let’s all go together!”

Jesse sighed quietly beside him.

Those poor demon worshippers. They were about to encounter the most terrifying battle in the world.

……

Early next morning.

“I thought you were on my side. Isn’t it romantic to watch the sunrise with your lover?”

Jesse approached Oliver and whispered wistfully, “Ann must have guessed our plan. She was mocking me with her eyes the whole time… Why do you insist on acting as a group, Captain?”

“Because Nemo wanted to go, and I missed Ann. Don’t you think this is a great atmosphere?”

Oliver dusted off his hands—the demon worshippers had been reduced to ashes, and this was the last of them.

Jesse curled his lips and continued to grumble.

He walked back to Adrian and began to describe the sunrise at the top of the mountain with great interest. The latter listened patiently with a smile on his face.

“Sunrise? I’m not going. I have other plans.” Ann scratched her chin.

“Huh?” Nemo said a bit disappointed. “I thought…”

Ann huck the bag she was carrying behind her. “Don’t worry. I really have something to do for a bit.”

“Wait until the run comes out, and then we’ll all go down the mountain together. I know a nice tavern. My treat. And I’ll have to ask you to teleport me there.”

“Okay,” Nemo muttered.

Ann stretched out her hand. Nemo thought she was going to pat his shoulder, but instead she snatched the parrot away. “I’m borrowing this thing. Just some entertainment to relieve my boredom.”

“Damn, you unreasonable—”

Lord Bagelmaurus tried to rebuke her harshly, but Ann immediately wrung its neck completely stifling its squawks.

“See you later!” Ann held the gray parrot tightly as she waved to Nemo.

As soon as Ann left, the remaining four people separated instantly.

“Let’s go over there and watch.”

Jesse hugged Adrian’s waste tightly and pulled him in the opposite direction. “Just enjoy the sunrise here. We won’t disturb you.”

Nemo nodded with a mixture of annoyance and amusement.

At sunrise, the morning glow illuminated the mountain of steel.

As the snow faded, the mineral gravel revealed a brilliant golden-red hue, resembling stars falling from the mountains. Combined with the molten-gold clouds, the magnificent scenery was truly out of this world.

So beautiful.

Nemo exhaled a puff of white steam and glanced at Oliver besides him, meeting his eyes.

…In the end, none of them could concentrate to see the end of the sunrise, and instead it ended with a warm kiss.

“Speaking of which, what do you think Ann is really doing here?”

After the long kiss, Nemo said, “She definitely has something important to say—even if she wanted to watch the sunrise around, she wouldn’t beat around the bush and make excuses.”

“I don’t know,” Oliver smoothed Nemo’s messy hair.

“However, she didn’t deliberately avoid us. We’ll probably find out sooner or later.”

On the other side of the mountain.

The gray parrot kept on chattering. “It’s been so many years, Savage. If you could just respect me more, I would…”

“Shh.” Ann rudely pinched the bird’s beak.

At sunrise, a beam of sunlight shone through the gap between the peaks, like a golden hour hand.

Ann took out a shovel and swung it, hitting the tip of the “hour hand”.

After a few minutes, the sun left the horizon and the beam of sunlight dissipated with it.

Ann walked over to the shovel and dug a hole. The gray parrot stopped squawking, its eyes flickering back and forth, following Ann’s movements.

Ann quickly dug a deep pit, took out a box full of protection magic from her sack, and buried it solemnly at the bottom of the pit.

The box was beautifully craft, and the lid bore the personal emblem of “Blood Queen Andrea Alastair”.

“What are you doing?” Curiosity got the better of Lord Bagelmaurus.

Even though there were many seals between them, the gray parrot could still sense there were valuable magic items in the box.

“It’s a hidden treasure. Isn’t that obvious?” Ann said disdainfully, and quickly restored the land to its original state.

“That’s what I want to ask!” the gray parrot puffed up its feathers. “Why are you hiding treasure in this damn place when you have nothing better to do—”

“Not just here. I’ve hidden them in many other places as well.” Ann stretched out lazily. “I’m just sitting around anyway, and I can’t use those treasures, so it’s more fun to hide them.”

“Where’s the fun?!”

“Those things are worth a lot of money. They’ll become legends in a hundred years… Well, maybe in a thousand years, someone will find my treasures.”

Ann said, “Think about it, until then, you will still hear from me unexpectedly and run into me by chance. Isn’t that great?”

The gray parrot fell silent.

“Please keep this a secret from Nemo and the others. This is a surprise.” Ann stretched out her muddy fingers and patted the parrot’s head.

“……Tsk, fine.”

“Let’s go find Nemo. I’ll treat you to a big dinner.”

“I want roasted nuts and fresh cranberries.”

“Okay, okay.”

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