Volume 6, Chapter 42 – Nola’s Worries

Late at night.

A drizzle began to fall over Brinkat City.

Although the Weeping Mountains blocked the moisture from the inland sea to the south, Brinkat City didn’t lack water compared to other beastman cities. The lush forests within the Weeping Mountains acted like a giant sponge, storing a considerable amount of moisture for Brinkat City.

However, this only covered Brinkat City; for other places, it wasn’t even a drop in the bucket. The Fire Cat Tribe territory was located in southern Cold Night, where the terrain was rugged, with high mountains and few roads. North of Brinkat City were continuous mountain ranges. So, apart from Brinkat City where the Charm Cat Tribe lived, the entire Fire Cat territory was generally short of water. The rustling drizzle at this moment was a rarity for Nola, who lived permanently in the Fire Cat Tribe’s base camp.

Feeling the cold spring evening breeze blowing into her chest through her rolled-up pink curtains and cuffs, Nola subconsciously gripped her left arm with her warm right hand. The cool touch fed back from her skin brought her a burst of comfort. If someone who didn’t know Nola saw her standing by the window looking at the rainy night in the courtyard, they would definitely associate her with a sentimental young lady from a wealthy family.

“Hah—”

Having seen enough of the unchanging rain in the courtyard, Nola withdrew her gaze and sighed deeply. Her eyes swept over the white ring in her left palm. This was what the clerk gave Fia this morning, which Fia eventually gave to her. Although Fia didn’t say she was giving it to Nola, after seeing Fia buy jewelry without blinking, she vaguely felt that even if she tried to return it to Fia, Fia would only push it back to her.

Didn’t expect estrus to come so quickly.

Fortunately, I discovered it early. Otherwise, when it peaked, I might really do something out of line due to my psychological defense loosening.

The beastman estrus period was divided into several stages. The effect was mildest at the beginning. In the following days, emotions would become increasingly high and excited; that was the most dangerous stage. After the peak of estrus passed, the high emotions would slowly fall back, eventually returning to normal as if nothing had happened.

I must stick to my original intention these few days and pay attention to my distance from other women, especially Claire, to avoid accidents. I am the clan chief of the Fire Cat Tribe; I firmly believe that will can overcome instinct. I have to set an example.

That being said, Nola didn’t plan to rely entirely on willpower. To deal with the negligence of work when estrus arrived, beastmen had formulated a herbal medicine called “Anti-Passion Medicine.” Taking it could temporarily suppress the discomfort brought by estrus. Although it would also suppress attention and thinking, making reactions slow like a sedative, when it came to critical moments, it had to be used.

I hope it won’t affect normal activities.

Thinking this, Nola standing by the window sighed again. Estrus really came at a bad time, appearing just when she was solving the monster riot in the Weeping Mountains. What was worse, her Goddess wasn’t in the Weeping Mountains. She didn’t have the last resort to turn to if things went south.

Is this what it feels like to lose a safe haven?

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Nola couldn’t help but recall the helplessness of facing the vast wilderness alone when she escaped from the slave team in the past. It was just that the situation now was much better than then; she wasn’t lost or panicked at all. She could guess the reason for her calmness—Fia and Claire were both here. Although Claire already had her own family, and Fia wasn’t just her friend (but also a neighboring princess), if she begged them, they should still help her.

Putting down dignity was one thing, but having a final safety net was another. Without life, there’s no face to talk about. Not to mention she was putting down her dignity to fulfill her obligations as a clan chief for her clansmen. Even if she lost face, she only lost her own share.

“It’s just…”

Thinking of another matter, Nola frowned with worry, biting her lower lip lightly.

“I don’t know when the Goddess will return.”

Calista’s words from two days ago hadn’t left her unmoved. She had seen Calista’s determined expression countless times; it was the look she herself had when insisting on her own views. The two were practically carved from the same mold. An expression containing firm will could never be possessed by someone harboring ulterior motives. She believed Calista wasn’t lying; it was all truth.

In other words, either Calista’s god was playing tricks, or her own god was deceiving her. No, it should be said that she concealed her true identity.

Even though I would accept anyone who saved my life, regardless of identity. Even if they were a Darkborn, there are harmless types like the Wandering Knight. Beastmen aren’t like humans. Even if the other party saves them, humans decide their attitude based on the other party’s race—if a higher race or same race saves them, humans will thank them; if it’s someone considered a lower race like a beastman, they will only take it for granted or even demand more. Beastmen only repay kindness with kindness.

My Goddess must know this. In that case, why conceal her identity from me?

Nola couldn’t figure it out.

If someone stood beside her right now and asked if she believed her Goddess would deceive her, she would definitely answer “impossible” without hesitation and claim that Calista’s god was the false one. However, she knew in her heart that this was just self-hypnosis. In reality, she was vaguely worried that her god didn’t trust her as much as she imagined, and even kept quite a few unspeakable secrets.

The more she thought about it, the more uneasy she felt. It felt like fire was roasting her heart, so anxious she couldn’t calm down.

No…

The Goddess went beneath the World Tree Continent to fight a decisive battle with Chaos, striving for the survival of all living beings on the World Tree Continent. How can I doubt here whether the Goddess concealed her identity? It’s basically like a traitor infighting when facing external enemies. Regardless of whether the Goddess trusts me, it is an indisputable fact that my life was saved and I became a Holy Son.

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What I really should do is work hard to improve my strength until I can help the Goddess. Then I can fight side by side with the Goddess, living up to her cultivation. Maybe the Goddess will even return to the World Tree Continent a few years earlier because of my existence.

—Wait.

Maybe I don’t have to wait until I grow to the eighth or ninth rank. A qualified helper is right in front of me.

The figure of Fia using [Spatial Rift] appeared in Nola’s mind.

Wanting to improve herself to the eighth or ninth rank offered no hope without ten or even decades. One must know that even in the neighboring wealthy Silvar Kingdom, the number of people who could cross from the sixth rank to the seventh rank could be counted on one hand, including the Elf King and Fia.

She accidentally reached the seventh rank because of the god’s gift; otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to reach this level in her entire life. To make her complete the even more difficult leap from the seventh rank to the eighth rank… the difficulty was like finishing a marathon blindfolded—she couldn’t even determine the direction.

Therefore, rather than working hard alone, telling everything to someone more capable, like Fia, and letting Fia help the Goddess, was the faster and more effective means. If the Goddess failed, the World Tree Continent wouldn’t be any better off. This also concerned Fia’s own survival; Fia shouldn’t sit by and watch. Moreover, with the strength Fia displayed in easily killing an eighth-rank undead, she was definitely a capable helper who could be useful. It could be said that it was hard to find a powerful positive figure like Fia on the World Tree Continent.

Like a castaway who had endured hunger for days at sea finally seeing an island, hope suddenly appeared in Nola’s vision, so much so that her thoughts became active, and joy appeared on her face.

However, this state only lasted for a moment before Nola’s expression stiffened and she felt down again.

The Goddess specifically instructed her before leaving not to spread the news of the Goddess fighting Chaos. She didn’t understand why the Goddess said that, but it didn’t prevent her from seriously executing the Goddess’s order. Like a soldier executing a superior’s order, violating an order was betrayal.

Better not do unnecessary things. Maybe the Goddess doesn’t need help from outsiders at all; I’m just overthinking it.

Suppressing her worried heart, Nola took a deep breath of cold air.

Doing my job well is the best help to the Goddess. Focusing on expelling the monsters running out of the Weeping Mountains is the thing I should do most right now.

She let down the curtains and turned to face the bed.

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“Mm—”

At this moment, a strange idea popped into her mind.

The Goddess has always hidden under the golden light screen and never appeared in person. Every time I went to see the Goddess, that light screen would appear opportunely. Now that the Goddess isn’t in the Weeping Mountains, if I deliberately pass through that golden light screen, will I see things the Goddess hid? Like furniture or portraits… maybe I can spy traces of the Goddess’s life from them.

No, Nola, how can you have such rude thoughts!

Stopping her thought midway, Nola quickly denied herself and blushed with shame at the thought of peeping at the Goddess. Leaving aside that sneaking into a room when the owner wasn’t there was impolite, spying on the Goddess itself was unforgivable. Thinking from another angle, if she knew someone sneaked into that golden light screen without the Goddess’s consent, what would she think? She would definitely be furious, like a fanatic knowing someone insulted their faith, wishing to skin the offender alive.

I am truly shameless.

This must be the fault of estrus.

Cursing in a low voice, Nola buried the thought in her heart, stripped naked, and crawled into the quilt.

◇

“Move faster! Don’t wait until the monsters rush over to work seriously!”

“Dig deeper here! Is this all the strength you Bear-folk have?!”

Although a drizzle was falling from the sky, outside Brinkat City was a busy scene. Especially the narrow path of only fifty meters between the two canyons was in full swing. Hundreds of beastmen held pickaxes and shovels to dig trenches along the edge of the canyon. The remaining beastmen carried soil and gravel on their shoulders and backs, transporting construction waste away. In addition, there were large logs and stones hauled by donkey carts and ox carts. Just the transport team moving from the city formed a long line like ants moving house.

These people were building a checkpoint along the canyon Fia cut open. The reason personnel could respond within a few days was that Nola wrote to Tsukuyomi before coming, asking Tsukuyomi to prepare for building city walls—before Chazo attacked the city, Nola already knew about the monster riot in the Weeping Mountains. If Chazo hadn’t appeared, her army would have marched to the foot of the Weeping Mountains.

Although it had changed from building city walls to building a checkpoint, for the workers, the content of the work actually hadn’t changed. The function of the checkpoint was also to block monsters; compared to a city wall, it just had an entrance and exit.

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As for the city walls that should extend along the canyon on both sides of the checkpoint, this part hadn’t started construction yet. First, there was no time or manpower. Building a city wall four kilometers long would take a long time even for beastmen with physiques different from ordinary people. Second, they were waiting for the magic casters from the Silvar Kingdom. Some work was more time and labor-saving when left to magic casters, such as digging foundations.

Especially reinforcing foundations and setting up warning magic circles underground, which could basically only be done by magic casters. Using magic called [Petrification] and [Metalization] could turn loose soil into special materials with both hardness and toughness, stronger than ordinary foundations. The barriers used for warning could prevent monsters with digging ability from attacking from underground. This was already an established rule among countries on the World Tree Continent.

It must be mentioned that not far from these beastmen, Fia’s group was fighting monsters in the forest.

Originally, seeing the rain, Fia didn’t plan to let Liti, Milu, and Tilulu go into the forest to fight monsters. But Claire suggested she could cast [Rain Protection Blessing] on everyone. This way, raindrops would slide aside on their own before falling on Liti, as if she were wearing an invisible raincoat. Since the tested effect was quite good, Fia let Liti and Milu’s trio continue killing monsters.

Although Anastasia thought this spoiled Milu too much and wasn’t conducive to actual combat—she thought the [Rain Protection Blessing] should be lifted to let Milu practice in the rain, as real battles don’t allow one to choose the weather, and maintaining usual combat levels even in harsh environments is the quality a warrior should have—Fia still kept the [Rain Protection Blessing] on everyone. Of course, it was better not to get wet if possible. Moreover, [Rain Protection Blessing] couldn’t make the puddles and mud underfoot disappear. The slippery and soft ground was enough for training purposes. Stepping into a mud pit was annoying just thinking about it.

“Anastasia, can you come over for a moment?”

Standing under a tree, Fia called out to Anastasia from afar. The latter was serving as a teacher and protector with Claire in front, supervising the trio’s battle with monsters. These monsters were pulled out of the forest by Fia using [Telekinesis] and matched the trio’s rank; they had to be watched by someone to be safe.

“What are your orders, Your Highness?”

Stepping through puddles to arrive in front of Fia, Anastasia bowed obediently like an elegant maid to ask.

Although Claire had cast [Rain Protection Blessing] on Anastasia, Anastasia still habitually wore a waterproof emerald green cloak. Only a few strands of blonde hair flowed out from the hood. Combined with the mithril sword slung at her waist, she looked quite like an elf knight from a manga, except Anastasia wasn’t a foolishly straightforward idiot, but possessed feminine softness.

Fia scratched her cheek in embarrassment, handing the prepared paper bag to Anastasia while glancing at the bushes to the side.

“Um… how should I say this… Can Anastasia accept this?”