Three hundred and tenth chapter – Arrival
The black cat solemnly instructed Shalia, to which Shalia could only nod in disappointment after hearing the words.
“Ugh… I understand, Grandpa.”
“Hmph, you little girl, you need to suffer some losses before you realize that you can’t trust people so easily…” The black cat said angrily as he looked at Shalia.
Just as the black cat was about to send Shalia back to bed, he seemed to remember something and asked her again.
“Oh right, you mentioned something earlier about the name of the society that targeted that black dog, didn’t you?”
“Yes, according to that Akha follower who called himself a detective… The society that wanted to harm the black dog is called the Eight Pinnacle Nest, Grandpa, do you know such a society?”
Hearing Shalia’s words, the black cat paused slightly and chuckled.
“The Eight Pinnacle Nest… Huh… This is one of the tendrils of the Spider Queen in this world, actively targeting the Prit Kingdom… What are they trying to do?”
As he pondered Shalia’s words, a faint light seemed to flicker in the black cat’s eyes as he gazed out the window at the night sky.
…
Time passed quickly, and soon the moon rose and set over the Prit Kingdom, bringing night to day.
In the northern suburbs of Tivyán, the rain continued to pour down on Green Shade Town during the morning hours, with drizzling raindrops pattering against the wet ground. The cold air permeated the gray mist of the rain.
Inside room number 17 of Green Shade Town, the firewood crackled in the fireplace, and the raindrops pounded heavily on the windows. Dorothy, dressed in her sleeping clothes, sat by the fireplace holding a cup of hot tea. She recalled the events of her dream last night and tallied her gains.
‘Whew… It seems I had quite a good harvest last night. Not only did I k*ll a black earth from the Eight Pinnacle Nest, but I also protected Gregor and could use him to gather intelligence about the Eight Pinnacle Nest. I’ve established a connection with Gregor; if anything urgent happens to him, he can pray to Akha, and I will know about his situation.
‘And I also learned about the little fox’s ability, a dreamwalker associated with ‘Shadow’… If it’s related to dreams, it likely follows the path of ‘Shadow’ complementing ‘Enlightenment’. Isn’t it rare for people to practice this path now? I’ve already encountered three people practicing ‘Enlightenment’ in this way; is it really that coincidental?
Dorothy thought to herself, apart from ‘Silence’, there are only four paths that complement ‘Enlightenment’: ‘Stone’, ‘Cup’, ‘Lamp’, and ‘Shadow’. Now she has encountered three of them, which seems too coincidental…
‘Odalrich, Adele, the little fox… These are all extraordinary individuals practicing ‘Enlightenment’. They have met me in various ways and formed connections; is this just coincidence, or is there some other underlying factor at play?
Dorothy pondered, but currently, she lacked the means to verify this. So, she merely kept these thoughts in mind and began to think about other matters.
During this dream journey, Dorothy gained another significant insight: she defined the identity of a dragon in the Dream Realm as Akha’s messenger. This was mainly to elevate Akha’s status, making it more fitting for a divine existence in others’ eyes. After all, having a dragon as a messenger would make Akha’s divine status more credible. Of course, others wouldn’t know that both the god and the dragon were actually Dorothy.
While assigning the dragon a name, Dorothy specifically chose Patunax, the name of a dragon from the Elder Scrolls universe. He was the guide for the Dragonborn player, the leader of the Greybeards, and ultimately led the player to defeat the boss Ondoleth, freeing him from the dragon king’s shell and restoring his position as a destroyer.
It should be noted that dragon names are in the Dragon Language. Worried that Patunax’s pronunciation might carry poison in this world, Dorothy translated the names of the little fox and Gregor into Prit language phonetically. Similarly, she named Akha as an abbreviation for Akasha.
Akha is Dorothy’s designation for Akasha, and conveniently, the time dragon deity in the Elder Scrolls universe is Akatosh, which can sometimes be referred to as Akha. All dragons are fragments of the Time Dragon, so setting Patunax as Akha’s messenger makes sense.
Now, to make her fabricated Akha more convincing, Dorothy started preparing some settings.
Listening to the sound of rain outside and the crackling of the firewood in the fireplace, Dorothy sat quietly in the living room thinking. Finally, after a deep breath, she took a sip of her hot tea and gazed out at the rain, murmuring:
“Hmm… It’s quite pleasant to warm up by the fire on a rainy day at home… But I hope my brother can review and grant me some freedom soon, and the weather might be better. After all, it’s been a while since I last invited him for a meal…”
Dorothy said, then looked at the calendar hanging on the wall, calculating how long it would take for Gregor’s train to reach Tivyán.
…
Two days later, the gloomy sky still hung over Tivyán. At the West Tivyán Railway Station, a long steam train slowly decelerated and entered the station. Amidst the dispersing white steam, the massive iron beast gradually halted its wheels beside the platform.
The train doors opened, and passengers who had traveled long distances rushed out through the narrow doors of each carriage, stepping onto the platform. The crowd around the second and third-class carriages was dense, while only a few people disembarked from the first-class carriages.
On the platform, the train conductor stood next to the train, anxiously telling station personnel about the disappearance of a train attendant. A middle-aged man carried a large suitcase and stepped off the second carriage of the first class, glanced furtively behind him twice, and then hurriedly disappeared into the crowd.
Not long after, a young man in a coat and a short hat, full of vigor and ambition, finally descended from the first-class carriage. With a suitcase in hand, Gregor stepped onto Tivyán’s soil, looked around, sniffed the air, and frowned.
‘Sigh… The smell is a bit strong. This kind of odor can only be found near industrial areas in Igwente, and it’s even noticeable at the train station here… The air in the capital seems quite poor…
Gregor thought, and at the same time, he began to worry about Dorothy’s health, concerned that studying in such polluted air might affect her well-being.
Just as Gregor was deep in thought, a figure approached him.
“Excuse me… Are you Mr. Meyshos?”
Hearing this voice, Gregor paused and turned around, noticing a casually dressed man standing beside him. Although they were dressed simply, Gregor could sense their extraordinary demeanor.
“Excuse me, who are you…”
Gregor asked, and the lead man showed a badge with a crescent moon and wind patterns, saying:
“We’ve been waiting for you for a long time, Mr. Meyshos. Please come with us.”
