### Chapter 112: As Long as He Comes Back
As November approached, the ice and snow in the Royal City melted away.
Beneath the shining sun, the dry grass by the canal fluttered gently in the breeze, short trees swayed alongside, the water shimmered, and the sky was clear as a bell. Not far from the makeshift military camp by the riverbank, massive ships at the docks had lowered their sails and dropped anchor. Dockworkers clambered down the gangplanks, hauling box after box of goods, while vendors set up stalls nearby to sell their wares. Young girls strolled by the riverbank, stopping to squat at the stalls, picking and choosing.
The harsh winter was finally beginning to warm up, and people were dressing lighter than at the start of the month, with more pedestrians filling the streets.
It was now the afternoon, and on the west stretch of the Sabber River, a windmill’s fan was turning at the sandbar sluice. About a mile away, the giant northern city water gate, previously blocked by a terrifying wall of ice, had mostly melted, leaving only a few shards floating around, which some cheeky children eagerly scooped up and tossed at each other with all their might.
Rumor had it that the ice had disappeared overnight, alongside the frozen river’s surface, returning to normal by the next day. Connecting this to the earlier boat explosion incident, it was clear the Royal Merchant Association had crossed paths with someone significant. Apparently, the association’s president had offered apologies throughout the night; who knows how long the water gate would have stayed frozen otherwise, leaving fishermen without a meal.
Others claimed that on the night the water gate froze, they had seen heavenly flames bursting from the riverbank, lighting up the entire northern sky like a scene from a horror movie.
In short, the western stretch of the canal was back to normal. With the snow gone and the weather warming up, boat traffic was even more prosperous than before.
On the other side of the sluice, several little boats moored on the southern river segment were now stirring, swiftly turning their bows toward the shore. Apart from the drenched fishermen, one could vaguely see figures dressed in arbitration uniforms aboard.
The small boats soon docked, with someone laboriously dragging a fishing net ashore. Inside the net lay something heavy and bloated—a stinking corpse that had swollen up and turned white, with much of its skin and flesh falling away.
It was hard to tell apart the features and clothing; the stomach was torn, emanating an indescribable stench, and parts of it had been gnawed on by fish and shrimp, revealing white bones. However, one could still faintly discern it was the corpse of a young woman.
After the body was pulled ashore, a physician stepped forward to examine it while the arbiters nearby shooed away the onlookers.
Before long, Rect showed up with two members of the Sword of Kanli.
“Is this the last one?”
He looked down at the corpse, asking the gathered crowd. Someone answered, “Two men and a woman, one of them a child. Judging by the fabric of their clothing and the medium orb found on her, this is the female member of the Choir of Saints we’ve been searching for!”
The physician who had inspected the body stepped forward and handed Rect a handwritten report. As Rect perused it, he casually asked, “How did she d*e?”
“Similar to the last three—poisoned and pierced by a divine miracle. The fishermen discovered dead fish first and conducted a thorough search, finally finding this woman jammed between the rocks.”
“Hmm…”
Rect nodded. “So, it’s basically confirmed she died in a power struggle.”
“m*rder to silence her?” Rect’s sultry assistant frowned at the corpse.
“Pretty much. It’s possible they thought they couldn’t escape with these burdens, so rather than all d*e together, they decided to clean house—letting one of them live was the priority.” Rect shrugged. “After all, he’s a Pope Knight of the Water Order. Without that princess lending a hand, he might have gotten away.”
“That’s cold…”
Someone sighed at Rect’s comment.
“Devout followers are like that,” someone else scoffed nonchalantly.
“So that mysterious, powerful princess…”
His female assistant poked Rect in the side, pouting playfully. “Looks like you two are rather close, huh?”
“Naturally,” Rect shrugged. “Especially since that little woman cracked my nose in front of everyone, leaving me with zero dignity. I mean, I’m the captain of the Sword of Kanli in the Royal City! That’s a debt I’m bound to remember.”
“I can’t wait for the day I can outfight her…”
“Ha—”
Before long, as the fishermen prepared to carry the corpse away, a few more members of the Sword of Kanli rushed in. One leaned closer to Rect and whispered a few words in his ear.
Rect nodded, “Got it. You go notify everyone to gather outside Longdoll Street.”
“What’s up?” his assistant asked.
Rect lowered his voice. “We’ve gotten a lead on Hogtus’s hideout…”
…………
Royal Academy of Christie.
Dressed in a simple quilted outfit and wrapped in a black cloak, a girl stepped out from the tallest tower of the academy, boarding the waiting War Chariot at the entrance.
Once the curtains were drawn and the carriage started moving, she took off her hood to reveal a face as delicate as a doll. She parted the curtain slightly, gazing at the towering structure receding in the distance, her brow furrowed and expression blank.
This was already the third time she had been summoned by Principal Melville in recent days—the reason was simple: the disappearance of the Divine Reliquary known as “Word of the Ancient Deity.”
No one could prove that the relic had been taken by the girl; after all, aside from the deceased Chris, no one had witnessed that moment.
But there were those who knew—she had privately told Rect and Viki. Those two were in the loop, knowing the relic was somehow in the girl’s possession, though she had not specified how, and they hadn’t asked. As far as they were concerned, it wasn’t returning anytime soon, and that was that.
As for the academy, the girl hadn’t intended to deceive them; it just wasn’t something she could explain. Eventually, she decided to team up with Rect, who had been instructed by Her Majesty the Queen, to jointly inform Melville that the relic was missing.
In some sense, this wasn’t really lying.
Once the bone fragment was snatched from Chris and fused into the white light emanating from the branches, at that moment, the relic had ceased to exist, transforming back into divine power and retreating into the “world” of the white branch.
This process was irreversible.
The girl could no longer “retrieve” it, nor could she return it to the academy. She could only maintain a straight face and tell the teachers she hadn’t found a thing—Chris had already been killed.
The academy wasn’t foolish, of course, and they didn’t buy it.
Before his d*ath, Chris had demonstrated the relic’s power throughout the city; whatever the extent of its might, the commotion it caused was clear to anyone, anywhere in town.
Thus, this matter dragged on for ten days, and finally, today, it seemed to be coming to a close.
Ultimately, the academy accepted it; what else could they do? The relic wasn’t fully theirs, and the party with ownership had already seemingly given up—though perhaps Her Majesty the Queen simply wanted to take this opportunity to reclaim it outright. That seemed unlikely, and even if it weren’t, no one was keen to lay all their cards on the table.
In short, the girl and the palace firmly declared that the relic was nowhere to be found, adopting a nonchalant attitude that left the academy utterly powerless; it was practically their own misplacement anyway, so they had to swallow the bitter pill.
However, staring at Principal Melville’s fretful face, the girl felt a twinge of guilt. Just today, she shared a hint of wanting to compensate the academy—intending to comfort the old man by saying that losing the relic wasn’t so bad since she had graduated from here and would think of ways to see if she could find another.
To her surprise, the kind and benevolent old man suddenly perked up at her suggestion.
He immediately rejected her proposal, as if he had grasped her thoughts. Laughing heartily, he said, “You can forget about the Divine Reliquary, but you just mentioned you’re a student from here after all! Remember, if the academy has any needs in the future, you must make sure to come back!”
The old man wore her down with charm and authority, eventually getting the girl to agree.
Time for a little update
After two days of burning up, I thought I was good. Woke up to a little over 37 degrees today, thinking I could finally resume updating, but lo and behold, I was proven wrong and the fever started climbing again…
*sigh* Just when I thought I had the final outline sorted and was ready to go all in to finish it, I barely started and got interrupted again… so annoying.
Gonna take some medicine and see how things look by tonight. I have a feeling the latest by tomorrow, I should be back in action; after all, I’ve been in a daze for three days now—should be enough misery, right?
To everyone commenting with similar woes, don’t panic! Drink plenty of water, rest well, eat properly, and keep your body in fighting shape. If the fever gets high, take some ibuprofen or similar to bring it down; just be careful not to exceed dosages or mix medications improperly—just Google it and you’ll find what you need.
That’s all!
Now to lie down again, my bones feel like they’re going to fall apart…
Strangely, many people are complaining of sore throats, describing it as feeling like their throats are being sliced, and their voices sound noticeably different, but my throat feels fine…
What I do have, though, is a throbbing headache…
