By the end,
"Fine! I didn't expect the act from before to work so well. Was it because the psychic suggestion was applied too deeply?"
Leilin watched her break down in tears and felt utterly speechless.
But right now, what he needed was to keep a low profile. He couldn't go along with her and invite trouble. The beauty of those two sisters was the kind that could cause chaos anywhere.
Having realized this long ago, how could Leilin put himself in danger?
"Become mercenaries? Heh. Can you even afford the rent and prices of the
Leilin could only play the most pragmatic role, coldly shooting her down.
"Nick! You've changed! The old you would never have been like this!"
The harsh words left Belinda dazed. She stared at Leilin with a somewhat stunned look.
"I haven't changed! I've simply accepted reality! Leave!" Leilin waved his hand as if in resignation, then broke into a violent cough.
"Hmm! That's not right!"
Belinda stepped forward and pushed aside Leilin's hand, finally catching sight of the blood he had coughed up.
"Why has the life force in your body become so weak? And these symptoms? What happened to your power? Is it gone?"
Though Leilin still looked the same on the outside, the vitality that once radiated from him was steadily draining away. Compared to before, it was like the difference between a torch and a candle.
"Old injuries from my adventuring days. It's nothing!"
On this point, Leilin didn't bother concealing it. He couldn't have hidden it anyway.
This was precisely why he avoided conflict. His strength was in constant decline, and to recklessly provoke powerful forces on top of that—no word other than "fool" could describe it.
"I get it! You're scared! Scared of being a burden to me and
What Leilin hadn't expected was that his current state seemed to have triggered a very different association in Belinda's mind.
"You're afraid of holding us back? Don't worry, I'll definitely find a cure for you!"
Belinda gave Leilin a long, deep look, and her figure vanished into the moonlight.
Leilin stood in place, more than a little speechless: "She actually made that connection? Even though it's not at all what's going on..."
But if that was how she interpreted it, it didn't seem to do him any harm. After a moment's thought, Leilin decided there was no point in setting the record straight.
"Now... or rather, after today's appearance of the
After Belinda left, Leilin picked up the watering can again and carefully tended to the tender shoots in the flowerbed. His expression was calm and serene, seemingly unmoved by anything in the outside world.
Indeed, by the next day, Agnes returned gravely wounded, and an even more terrifying piece of news spread through the Holy City: Gluttony Beasts had appeared in the surrounding area.
Though the Mother of Myriad Serpents had detected the threat and initiated purification, Belusebabu's interference meant her plans had clearly failed.
However, the earlier purification efforts had some effect—at the very least, Agnes had managed to survive, though her injuries were so severe that even many of the serpentfolk guards were terrified.
According to Agnes's intelligence, a group of giant serpents corrupted by the power of gluttony had broken through to the Holy City's vicinity. Several half-serpentfolk settlements nearby had suffered tremendous losses.
Even the squad members who had accompanied her had all perished, their bodies completely devoured by those ravenous Gluttony Beasts.
After all, compared to ordinary food, the flesh of high-energy serpents contained far richer energy. The more powerful the serpentfolk, the more likely they became targets of those Gluttony Beasts!
Gluttony Beasts—this was the term Agnes had coined, and it was quickly adopted by everyone to distinguish them from other giant serpent species.
Any creature, once corrupted by the power of gluttony and driven into a state of indiscriminate, insatiable hunger, could be called a Gluttony Beast.
The Holy City authorities and the Stuart Family both took this intelligence extremely seriously. They immediately mobilized the city garrison, called up large numbers of reserves, declared martial law in the Holy City, and even posted high-reward missions for mercenaries and adventurers—all targeting the Gluttony Beasts encroaching on the Holy City.
Before long, the entire Myriad Serpent Plains were thrown into turmoil, and the chaos continued to spread across the Heier Continent.
What the ordinary residents of the Holy City of Myriad Serpents didn't know was that this situation would persist for a very, very long time. In short order, Gluttony Beasts would supplant all previous natural disasters and conflicts as the foremost enemy to their survival.
...
"Big Brother Nick! Sophia's here to see you!"
Sophia, who bore a striking resemblance to Belinda but looked much younger, pushed the door open and walked right in. She was dressed in a hunter's outfit, looking spirited and vigorous, brimming with youthful vitality—a sight that made Leilin feel a twinge of envy.
"You're here, Sophia!" Leilin greeted her with a smile, silently shaking his head.
Though he and Belinda had come to a tacit understanding, Sophia clearly didn't know the full picture. Neither Leilin nor Belinda could tell her the truth, because with Sophia's level of intelligence, keeping a secret was simply beyond her.
So despite the fact that Belinda had largely stopped visiting, Sophia still remembered her "Big Brother Nick" and came by from time to time.
"Big Brother Nick! Has your illness still not gotten better?" Sophia moved closer to Leilin, worry clearly visible in her eyes.
Leilin now looked visibly ill, close to death. Though his appearance hadn't changed dramatically, the faint wrinkles emerging on his forehead and the backs of his hands, along with the ever-fading life fluctuations from his body, all spoke of this frame's steady decline.
"Cough, cough... It's fine! Cough, cough..." Leilin pulled out a white handkerchief and pressed it to his lips. His once-straight back had even begun to stoop.
"You're clearly like this, and you still say it's fine? The Spring of Life that Sister Belinda asked me to bring you last time—are you still using it?"
"Of course!" Leilin smiled, then picked up the watering can.
A stream of milky-white spring water, rich with a thick fragrance, seeped into the soil.
The tender shoots that had once been in the flowerbed had already grown into a small tree, its emerald-green leaves looking even more vibrant after the irrigation.
"Oh! This little tree has grown so much?"
Sophia looked surprised. "But... Big Brother Nick, why are you pouring all the medicine on the tree? Is it sick too?"
"No! In truth, it needs it far more than I do..."
Leilin's gaze deepened, but he offered no further explanation. Instead, he picked up a small garden trowel and began slowly loosening the soil and pulling weeds, like a diligent gardener.
Sophia seemed entirely accustomed to Leilin's behavior. She sat down beside him and began chattering away: "The Gluttony disaster has gotten even worse lately! According to Sister Agnes, many garrison units have suffered devastating losses. The front line once reached the edge of Crescent Lake, which isn't far from the Holy City at all. And many giant serpents have been corrupted—even the sixth-level serpent families haven't been spared. Right now, nearly half of the Myriad Serpent Plains has been overrun by Gluttony Beasts..."
"The entire Myriad Serpent Plains barely has room for us anymore. Lately, even many Holy City residents have started fleeing, which is giving Sister Agnes a terrible headache..."
"And Sister Belinda—she's been taking on missions nonstop. I heard she's trying to exchange for the highest-grade Holy Light Crystals. She even took on a very dangerous mission for it and is heading out tomorrow..."
"Oh!" Leilin's hand paused briefly, then resumed its motion.
He was somewhat aware of Belinda's recent activities. She had been continuously taking on Holy City missions and using her wartime merits to exchange for items rich in life force, which she then secretly delivered to him.
Though these things were almost entirely useless to him. Otherwise, with Leilin's abilities, there would have been no need to remain cooped up here.
"Holy Light Crystals, huh?" Leilin shook his head. These life crystals were brimming with life force and had excellent purifying and suppressive effects against various curses—making them top-tier materials on the Heier Continent. Even with Belinda being a fourth-level powerhouse, obtaining them wouldn't be easy.
More importantly, this material was of no use to him in his current state. It might have some positive effects on the Seed of Wisdom, though.
"Bang bang! Guard inspection!"
At that moment, a rough voice bellowed again.
"Sigh..." Leilin sighed and walked to the door. "Come in, gentlemen."
Watching the large squad of guards barge in rudely, Sophia stuck out her tongue. "So many people! Sophia doesn't like them. Goodbye, Big Brother Nick!"
The young girl prepared to take her leave, and the guards followed suit—fully demonstrating that they hadn't come to inspect anything at all. They had come to send a warning.
Leilin could only manage a bitter smile.
Though over the past year, leveraging the Stuart Family name and Thomas's reputation had spared him quite a bit of trouble, Sophia remained a significant vulnerability.
Leilin could sense it: as Sophia's visits grew more frequent, Thomas's patience was wearing thin.
"Sigh... How does Belinda manage her sister?"
Leilin rubbed his temples in helpless frustration.
He had a very bad feeling. After Thomas had discovered Sophia's vague infatuation with him, and after several failed attempts to court her, the previously cordial relationship between Thomas and Leilin was gradually fading away for good.
And his standing in Thomas's eyes had likely shifted once again—from "useful tool" to "rival" or "competitor."