Mystical Journey

Holding the banister with his hand, the smooth and cool wooden handrail was soft, and soon began to grow warmer under his fingers. It was rare for him to find time to relax, Garen stood there on the balcony, and fell into a slight silence.

After some time.

"Lucian, why did you run all the way here?" The balcony one floor beneath him just happened to face the second floor, and a young man's crisp and clear voice came from below.

"I just wanted to calm down a bit by myself." Another calm and cool man's voice spoke, his tone was not particularly icy, but it gave one a feeling of cool distance.

"Bales and the others are here, as are Violet and Corin, aren't you going out to meet them?" The clear young man's voice asked softly.

The other person did not reply.

"Don't be so shy, won't ya?"

"..."

"It's so rare to see so much good food, normally it's hard to get even a bite, if it weren't for you bringing us in here, we probably still wouldn't be able to touch such goods stuff, come on, join us." The clear young man seemed to be yanking him now.

"Good food? You guys won't really let yourselves go and eat…" This time the cold young man finally seemed to express some emotion. "Did you think I worked so hard to get four invitations just so you could come in here and eat?"

"Don't be so petty, we're all partners through thick and thin." The clear young man patted the other person's shoulder, "We can't match the important guys on the second floor, in that case, wouldn't the good food on the table be more practical?"

"Lucian, your old man's asking you to go to the second floor." Suddenly there was a clear voice cutting through the hustle and bustle of the first-floor hall, it was a sweet young girl's voice.

And then on the first floor, Lucian covered his face with his hand. The people on the first floor fell silent for a second, and then burst into laughter. Those who could make it here were either well-bred nobles or merchants with a considerable background, or eminent scholars, but under the presence of Garen and the Black Swamp Palace, everyone acted completely proper, so in such a high-level noble banquet, Lucian instantly became famous.

His old man was also an upper-level noble, with considerable power, and Lucian had been a model among the original Kovitan nobles of his age, he was handsome and dashing, with extraordinary powers, and his snow-white skin earned him the nickname 'Snow Prince'. When he was escaping to the Kingdom from his territory, he had made friends with some common folk from the villages, and this story had been the popular gossip among the nobles for some time now.

To think he even dared to bring some village bumpkins to such an upper-class banquet, and his father allowed him to mess around like that.

Listening to the commotion from the hall downstairs, Garen could not keep his lips from curving upwards. These people reminded him of his life back then in Vanderman's estate, although that life was short, it was unprecedentedly peaceful, just like the Secret Technique World.

"Why are you here alone?" A mild young girl's voice came from behind him.

Garen did not reply, he merely continued to look at the distant scene of the mountains at night, enjoying his rare bit of peace.

The girl behind him walked up to his side of her own accord, and also put her hands on the banister.

"Could it be that even someone as powerful as Lord Garen has troubles that he cannot solve?" The girl stood on Garen's right, wearing a long white dress that showed off her small waist, full breasts, long and slender legs, her soft body fragrance, and her fiery-red waist-length hair cascading behind her, tied with a white hairband in the middle.

This was a very pretty and confident young girl, no more than seventeen or eighteen years in age, in the middle of her most glorious age.

"I'm human too, I will also have common worries and troubles, is that very strange?" Garen said calmly.

He turned his head to glance at the girl.

"Your heart is beating very fast."

The girl's face stiffened slightly, and she tried her best to smile naturally.

"I'm just slightly excited to see my idol."

She was confident that she had the purest appearance out of everyone in the banquet, she had investigated before, Garen should be fondest of this type, pure, cute, and understanding.

This was her chance to make it big, as long as she caught hold of this opportunity, her ailing family would instantly be resurrected from the dead, she was an ambitious woman, as long as she could make it with the Black Swamp Palace Master, no matter what price she had to pay, she was mentally prepared for it.

But seeing Garen's clear gaze and mild attitude, she was beginning to suspect if something had gone wrong with her attractiveness.

"You're still young, there are many paths in life, don't bet everything you have before you can see everything clearly." Garen looked at the girl in front of him, for some reason he suddenly thought of his younger sister from the Secret Technique World, Ying Er, abruptly he noticed that other than their hair color and their personalities, the two of them were eerily similar in their appearances and their auras.

I will go back there.

He decided in his heart, it had only been three years since he transmigrated to this world, he still had a chance. He just needed to discover the secret of the Black Smoke Pot.

If he could settle the threat posed by Hellgate, after that, he could truly start investigating the mysteries of the Black Smoke Pot.

Garen reached out his hand and patted the girl's hair.

"Go back."

A gentle power pushed the girl away lightly, rendering her speechless.

The girl's face was slightly pale, after looking at Garen's back, she eventually decided to turn around and return to the hall.

Not long later, a familiar figure walked onto the balcony. She wore a black evening gown with a corset, it was a clean and pretty long-legged woman, with legs unnaturally long, especially when compared to a normal woman's proportions, her long brown hair tied into a ponytail that gave her a handsome look.

"Master." The woman stood behind Garen, and spoke softly."

"Sylvia, how are things on Sofea's side? Is Jenny(1) still okay?" Garen turned around and asked softly.

Since Sylvia was given to Garen by the First Princess, and the parasite in her body was removed, Garen arranged her to stay by his cousin Hathaway's side, returning to her previous life, it was just that her job changed from the Palace District to Garen's subordinate. She constantly updated Garen about his cousin's safety on that side.

"Everything is okay on Miss Sofea's side, and Miss Jenny has entered the White Phoenix Forest Academy, and is a lot more reserved now." Sylvia was staying next door to Hathaway now, so they were more or less neighbors.

"That's good, about the First Princess…"

"The First Princess has cut all connections with me." Sylvia had been sold to the First Princess as a slave back then, and now that she had been passed on to Garen, she had become Garen's female slave, but thankfully Garen did not make any terrible requests of her. After some time without seeing him, if Manager Lala had not suddenly summoned her, she would have more or less forgotten that she was a slave after all.

"Alright, that's all." Garen nodded his head to show he understood. "Oh, yeah, call Lala in here."

Sylvia bowed and retreated. Soon enough, Lala walked onto the balcony, dressed in a long white dress with silver trimmings.

"Have you found the person I asked you to find?"

"Not yet…" Lala frowned and lowered her head, "Sorry, milord, but according to the way Lord Leila acted when he left, it didn't seem like he was returning to Obscuro."

Garen mused, "Continue putting people to it, inform me immediately once you find him."

"Understood."

"Also, get Kid to come here."

"Kid?" Lala was slightly confused, but she quickly realized what he meant, and smiled bitterly. "Understood." Kid was always mysterious in his appearances and disappearances, and it would not be easy to find him in such a short time, but since the boss had already asked for him, the people underneath would naturally have to work harder.

Upon returning this time, Garen had handed the job of exchanging the Glittering Water with the Cthulhu King for Cthulhu's Origins to the other people in the Black Swamp Palace, Lala was in charge of sending specific people, to secretly head towards the Cthulhuism Society's base to meet with them. He no longer needed to handle this matter personally. The remaining time was to be spent researching the secrets of Kid and that little girl in red next to Cody once more.

Just thinking about that strange little girl with her snake-like tongue, for some reason, Garen's heart felt mysteriously uncomfortable.

After Lala left, the hall behind him began to slowly quiet down for some reason.

The time ticked by, and after goodness knows how long, Garen suddenly frowned, and turned around slowly.

Just then, on the ground by the entrance into the hall, there was a small black cat with red eyes. It sat crouched on the floor, licking its lips occasionally, its large red eyes staring at Garen curiously.

"How did you get in here?' Garen stared at the red-eyed black cat, frowning as he asked.

Meow~~

The black cat meowed adorably.

"Stop pretending!" Garen frowned even deeper, and a black wind rose out of nowhere, blowing onto the black cat with a whoosh.

Amidst the splashing sound of water, the black cat suddenly stiffened, and its body actually started to melt within the next few seconds, like a candle baked at high heat. In an instant, it had become a puddle of black water on the floor.

"It hurts…" A clear little's girl's voice came from the black water.

Garen narrowed his eyes, and saw that before he knew it, a pair of bright red lips had formed in the black water, and that was where the voice was coming from.

From the small mouth, it was as though the black water reversed in time, going back one step at a time, to form blood, bones and flesh from the black water, finally forming a completely naked, pure white little girl.

The little girl wore nothing at all, her pale red hair falling over her shoulders, her height about half of Garen's, her slightly developed body particularly child-like and tempting. She was not embarrassed in the slightest, however, and just stared at Garen curiously with her blood-red eyes.

"Your existence makes me feel very uncomfortable." Garen grasped his right hand.

Bam!

The little girl instantly exploded into countless bits of minced meat and blood, spraying all over the floor.

Strangely, the countless minced meat gathered together again, once more forming the little girl's body, and she walked towards Garen, one step at a time.

Garen's eyes flashed vaguely with the violence and bloodlust of the Nine-Headed Dragon, a faint black mist appearing around his body.

He did not know how this little girl found him, but it was very likely to do with his meeting Cody that morning. Now it looked like she was trying to give him a warning? Or was she here to test his strength and attitude?

The surroundings around him seemed to have become an illusion, but it did not feel like an illusion at all, rather than calling it an illusion, it seemed to be a sort of separation, a spatial separation.

"Why?" The little girl looked at him curiously. "Why don't you like my body? Aren't you guys all like this?"

"Did Cody send you here?" Garen asked in a low voice. "You do look somewhat strange, but why did you come looking for me?"

"Have you seen the Door to Heaven?" The little girl did not reply to his question, and instead asked another strange one of her own.

"The Door to Heaven?"

Translator's Note:

He keeps saying 珍妮, but I'm pretty sure he means Dani...