As night fell, a few people were graciously hosted by Fuen, but in the end, it was just a repeat of the first night’s banquet.
Scattered figures sat around the long table, and there weren’t many attendants in the room either. By comparison, it seed sowhat empty, and their conversations echoed endlessly.
Bologue noticed these issues on the first day. As the core of the Clarks, there were too few people here; besides the guards, it was still just guards, looking like a heavily fortified military stronghold.
According to Fuen, it usually wasn’t like this. Many Clarks family mbers and employees lived here, but due to the ongoing disturbances from the Night Race, the Fortress of the Morning Wind had entered a state of war. To avoid accidents, many non-combatants had already been evacuated.
"How are you all enjoying yourselves?"
At the end of the long table, Fuen asked with concern.
"Not bad, the Wind Source Highlands is a great place," said Bologue. "If I had the chance to retire, I would definitely choose this place."
Fuen burst into laughter; he enjoyed Bologue’s humor.
A retired Undead? Fuen couldn’t imagine a reason for it.
Fuen didn’t participate much in the conversation; he knew that no matter how composed and friendly he was, he would ultimately bring so pressure to the group, especially to Palr.
Palr was extrely fed up with his hypocritical father; sotis Palr felt like he wasn’t the product of his father’s love but just a toy born along his life path.
After a few polite exchanges, Fuen left the dining room to the young people, which was a setting he had intentionally created for them.
"Apologies, everyone, the introduction was too rushed yesterday."
Vasilina raised her glass towards the group, her expression extrely restrained, hovering between a slight smile and indifference, with a cold quality to it.
Unlike Bologue’s cold deanor reminiscent of a psychopathic killer, Vasilina exuded a more noble, untouchable aura.
"Vasilina Philrad."
Vasilina reintroduced herself.
During the day’s leisure stroll, Vasilina did not appear. It wasn’t until the banquet that she showed up again; for this reason, her ti with the group wasn’t long, aside from her appearance, Bologue and the others didn’t get to know her any better than before.
Palr kept his head down, like a scolded child, chanically eating.
During his dayti conversation with Bologue, Palr gradually ca to understand his own strange feelings and ridiculous thoughts.
Unfortunately, a wide gap existed between understanding and acceptance; even though Palr understood everything, he still appeared extrely weak when facing Vasilina.
"Actually, we can be considered old friends."
Vasilina spoke openly to the group, her gaze flitting across their faces. "I’ve heard about your stories from Palr."
Bologue replied, "So have we."
Relying on Palr as a dium, their stories lingered in each other’s minds. For Vasilina, she didn’t even need Palr’s introduction to recognize who they were easily — they were like the most familiar strangers.
The cold-faced, debt-collector attitude, unfocused eyes belonged to Bologue, Palr’s current partner. The ordinary-looking, forgettable figure was Church, Palr’s previous partner. As for the one with a halo in their eyes, no need to guess, it must be the Alchemy Puppet Aimou.
Vasilina was curious about Palr’s life in Oubos of Oath City, perhaps wanting to cross-check whether Palr had lied to her over the phone.
"Um... you guys continue, I’m feeling a bit tired."
Just as the conversation was about to delve into off-duty leisure activities, Palr suddenly stood up.
Without waiting for the others to respond, Palr turned and left imdiately, walking quickly down the hallway. As he rounded the corner, he broke into a run.
It’s over, it’s all over.
In conversations with Vasilina, Palr portrayed a remarkably healthy daily life; what Undying Club? What hangovers? Palr had no idea! Right?
But now it was different; Vasilina suddenly put him on the spot, not giving Palr a chance to align his stories, and besides escaping, he could think of no other way.
He hid all the way back to his room, locking the door for fear Vasilina would burst in; he even moved the cabinet in front.
It wasn’t until this mont that Palr relaxed, lying on the bed, his mind a chaotic ss.
Upon returning to the Wind Source Highlands, many issues he’d put aside ca flooding back, leaving Palr extrely restless. On the one hand, he was delighted to reunite with Vasilina, but on the other hand, he desperately wanted to return to the Order Bureau and shelve these problems again.
In a state of disarray, Palr curled up on the bed and fell into a deep sleep.
The banquet turned into a night chat; they discussed Palr amidst the candlelight. Even though Vasilina maintained her smile throughout, upon hearing about Palr’s revelries and relentless hangovers at the Undying Club, even her controlled expression showed a slight crack.
After Palr, Church was the next to leave.
"I have to go back to handle so work; tomorrow I will first return to the Order Bureau."
Church had work to do; he should have returned to the Order Bureau imdiately after acquiring a copy of the "Dawn Oath," but he delayed for another day at Fuen’s invitation.
After Church departed, the night chat wound down too; everyone returned to their respective rooms. Since it was on the way, Vasilina walked off with Aimou, while Bologue strolled alone in the Fortress of the Morning Wind.
It was not just incidental, as Vasilina had an intense curiosity about Aimou; after all, such an alchemical being was rare.
Aimou could sense Vasilina’s curiosity because, at one mont, Aimou felt Vasilina’s gaze resembled Belli’s but much more restrained.
"So your true form is still an Alchemy Puppet?"
Vasilina squeezed Aimou’s arm while speaking. It was soft flesh, not cold tal.
Aimou nodded, "Yes."
"The state of flesh and blood then is more like a reflection of a Steel Body," Vasilina’s eyes sparkled. It was rare to see such new phenona as Aimou in the Wind Source Highlands. "If the flesh suffers a wound, will the injury also reflect?"
"That’s right."
Vasilina gasped in amazent, "Wow... that’s fascinating."
"So, if properly maintained, you could keep running forever? For hundreds, or even thousands of years?"
Vasilina suddenly realized this aspect; from the chanical perspective, Aimou could be considered a unique type of Undead.
"I’m not sure about that; from the ti I was created to acquiring the Blessing·Doppelganger, only a few years have passed."
Aimou shook her head; her "experintal records" were pathetically sparse; after Teda’s death, she had to explore herself, and her understanding of her peculiarities was limited.
"Marvelous, truly eternal."
Vasilina remarked aningfully.
Aimou didn’t grasp the emotions laced in Vasilina’s words, but she had a long-pondered question she wanted to ask Vasilina at this mont.
"May I ask you sothing?"
"Hmm? What is it?"
"How did you fall in love with Palr?"
Aimou admitted Palr was quite nice, despite being rather unfortunate, sotis neurotic, and often lazy at work... but honestly, he’s a good person. Discovering he had a fiancée surprised Aimou, sparking curiosity about Vasilina.
Additionally, hearing Palr’s love story from Bologue, Aimou always thought Vasilina was just as wacky, decked out in masks, shouting nonsense about robberies during fun tis.
In reality, however, Vasilina and Palr were complete opposites; casual chat revealed Vasilina was responsible for the logistics operation of the Fortress of the Morning Wind, proving her work capabilities were exceptional. She was dignified, composed, and the absolute opposite of Palr.
Is this what people call complentarity?
Hearing Aimou’s query, Vasilina chuckled lightly, covering her mouth to hide her amusent.
"Well..."
After calming herself, Vasilina spoke with a hint of mystery.
"You probably won’t believe this."
"I will!"
Thinking for a mont, Vasilina whispered.
"It’s because Palr is so silly."
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