Volume 6, Chapter 65 – Unease and Restlessness

It was that dream again.

The smell of burning filling her nose made Nola twitch her nose. She came to this night she hated incomparably again. The sky-high fire illuminated the silent night sky along with rising sparks. Burning thatched cottages were like towering pillars of fire, roasting her skin until bursts of burning pain rose. Everything was saying this place would turn into ruins.

No…

Standing in the fire scene, Nola frowned deeply. The current dream was slightly different from the dream she had seen countless times, but the changes were not obvious enough, so she couldn’t say what was different for a moment.

She stood in place thinking for a long time. It wasn’t until the collapsing beams beside her made an explosive sound again that she finally realized the difference.

The village is too quiet.

Usually when she came to the dream, besides the big fire, there were also people’s miserable screams—people crying for mercy and soldiers’ cruel laughter. But now she hears nothing. Except for the burning of flames, there were no other sounds. The air was frighteningly quiet.

Strange.

Although she hated this dream exceptionally, when the dream changed without warning and became another strange dreamscape, she still felt worried. She subconsciously turned her head to look around, then found she could actually act in the dream. She was no longer that wooden stake who could only watch the tragedy happen helplessly. This meant she could change this dream with her own power.

Even if this was just a dream and couldn’t affect reality, the pleasure of revenge with her own hands also welled up in her heart. Intense ecstasy urged her to run in the fire scene, desperately searching according to the images in her memory. She felt hot blood rushing to her limbs along the blood vessels. Her whole body seemed to have inexhaustible strength. Even the wind was pushing her forward. Excitement almost made her forget who she was.

Then, she saw herself crawling in the fire scene. But she wasn’t the only one here; there were other people from the village. With burning houses as the background, Fire Cat villagers with faces covered in dust and black smoke stood together. Opposite them were Fire Cat soldiers forming a semi-circle. The soldiers, who should have been perpetrators, seemed to be afraid of something. Their breathing was exceptionally rapid. Eyes reflecting the sky-filling flames were full of fear. Even their legs trembled uncontrollably.

Everyone, including Nola, focused their gaze on that person between the soldiers and villagers.

That was a black-haired elf wearing a black formal dress, revealing elegance and coldness like a fairy of the night. The raging flames around became her best foil. It seemed this elf maiden was born from the flames, an incarnation bringing death to all unclean things. That beautiful, fair, and reserved profile was full of indifference, as if everyone was an ant in front of her.

Dofilia.

The familiar appearance made Nola’s breath hitch.

She watched Fia holding the young Nola with one hand, while the other hand slowly pulled the sword out of the noble’s body in front of her. It seemed the noble blindly provoked Fia, so Fia killed him with one sword strike. This noble’s eyes were wide open, his face full of disbelief. He opened his mouth wanting to say something, but couldn’t make a sound. The soldiers’ fear also came from this. Killing a noble was a serious crime involving the whole family in Cold Night; ordinary people dared not even think about it.

But the Death God born from flames didn’t stop. She swung her long sword, throwing the noble aside like throwing garbage. Then she raised her chin slightly, looking at Nola who just arrived here. Those magnificent ruby-like red pupils didn’t carry any emotion, so much so that even the seventh-rank Nola felt like falling into an ice cellar, her heart trembling fiercely.

“Do you know why I am called the Witch of Calamity Flame—”

Bang.

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Her heart contracted violently. Nola felt like missing a step on the stairs; her whole body shook violently. The scene in the dream receded like a tide, and she woke up from the dream.

“Ugh…”

Familiar headache.

As if blood vessels in her head swelled by a whole circle, the groggy feeling and distending pain attacked her nerves together. She felt her throat was dry, hoarse, and painful as if smoking. Her limbs were also soft and weak without strength. Besides that, there was an unpleasant smell of alcohol in the room. The fumigating smell made her frown repeatedly.

She had experienced such a situation before. That was the experience of a hangover when she was Fia’s maid in Blossom.

Wait, I drank alcohol?

Fear welled up in her heart. Lying on the bed, Nola shuddered all over, sitting up directly from the bed.

I got drunk again!

“Hiss…”

Violent pain surged in her head. Nola couldn’t help closing her eyes, holding her temples painfully. Only after the pain gradually retreated did she regain the ability to think. The discomfort in her throat made her pick up the water cup on the bedside table to take a sip. The clear and sweet water moistened her throat, and she relaxed her whole body, recalling last night’s events.

First she saw the Goddess’s true form, felt suffocated in the room all afternoon, until Fia came to find her. The two sides almost fought, and she finally recovered for some reason.

Realizing this, Nola’s facial muscles twitched stiffly. She remembered what Fia said to her yesterday: if she insisted on having someone she could trust no matter when, then Fia would be that person who wouldn’t abandon her… Fia who said this sentence truly had courage. If it were her, she definitely couldn’t say such embarrassing words. No, just being a listener, she already felt her face burning like fire.

A blush surged on Nola’s face. She still had the self-awareness of being a female. Although Fia was also a woman, those handsome words and that determined expression made her blush and heart beat faster, uncontrollably wanting to believe Fia, even having a sense of insignificance standing before a god.

Calling it charisma wouldn’t be an exaggeration, right?

“No… better not think about her.”

Shaking her groggy brain, Nola threw the appearance of Fia making a serious promise out of her mind. That was really a scene that would make one’s heart beat faster. If it were other adolescent girls, they would definitely have offered their hearts with both hands, thinking that was their Prince Charming.

After that, I went to Tsukuyomi’s tavern with Fia. Midway Fia was even treated as prey by a group of Charm Cats. Then Fia and I almost quarreled over the confession matter. And then…

Nola’s expression gradually became stiff, and her face also turned pale.

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She couldn’t remember what happened after that clearly.

She only remembered she drank quite a lot of wine. And because of the sweet taste of Silvar fruit wine, she didn’t notice the alcohol content was actually very high. She could only recall some fragmented memories, like Fia covering her mouth not letting her speak, and her feeling Fia was overly gentle, saying to Fia how good it would be if Fia weren’t so gentle and so on.

Wait a minute, why would Fia cover my mouth?

Nola suddenly realized this serious problem. With the painful lesson of going crazy in the bathhouse, she had realized the fact that she was a bad drunk. Fia wouldn’t act without reason. Covering her mouth meant she definitely said something explosive, something that would even make her image collapse.

… What exactly was it?

Curious and fearful, intense thirst for knowledge crawled on her body like ants, making goosebumps rise all over her body. She tried hard to rummage for things deep in her memory, then dug out some words she completely couldn’t agree with, words she simply wouldn’t say.

For example, assuming she was a man, she would definitely marry a perfect woman like Fia. Also if she was as strong as Fia, she would definitely marry both Fia and Claire home—

What stupid talk.

Marrying Claire is still reasonable. How could I have thoughts about that crow elf? Must be said by someone else.

Nola suspected Tsukuyomi or Ying without hesitation. Such frivolous words coming out of their mouths had no sense of violation at all.

But what exactly did I say to make Fia cover my mouth?

Even though Nola racked her brains, she didn’t come up with any possible result. For a moment, she thought maybe she said something extremely embarrassing, and Fia covered her mouth to save her face. Then she started thinking about what things would make her embarrassed.

Like when she almost died under the Demon General of Gluttony, it hurt so much she wet her pants. And the matter that she felt Fia was very charming, sometimes even she would be captivated by Fia for a moment. But these two things were secrets she intended to take to her grave; she wouldn’t say them even if she died. She didn’t think she would say them after getting drunk. Even if alcohol gave courage, it wasn’t this kind of way.

Probably only by asking others could she know the answer. Right, should learn from last time’s lesson, first ask the Charm Cats in the tavern if she lost her composure last night to sound them out. If she lost her composure, she would hurry to find Fia to apologize. If not, she could safely pretend nothing happened. That way at least she wouldn’t be played like a fool.

Trembling with fear to the point of bones softening, Nola picked up her clothes shakily and put them on. This wasn’t her room in Tsukuyomi’s mansion. The surroundings revealed Charm Cat’s flirtatiousness everywhere—pink everywhere, even the bed was an ambiguous heart-shaped large bed. This meant she was drunk to the point of unconsciousness last night, and Ying or Tsukuyomi arranged for her to spend the night in the tavern on the spot.

As a Clan Chief, actually lying on such a bed…

Not wanting to stay a moment longer, Nola dragged her swaying body out of bed. After casually tidying up her appearance in the mirror, she walked to the door. However, before opening the door, she instinctively felt something was missing. Looking back, she found her Flame Greatsword wasn’t in the room. The Flame Greatsword was a god-given weapon and couldn’t be stored in storage items. Probably Fia or Ying put it away for her.

Missing the usual heavy weight behind her, Nola couldn’t help feeling uncomfortable all over. Not until this moment did she feel Fia’s act of stopping her confession last night was truly foresighted, even understanding her better than herself. It was her impulse at that time. If she really said it, she would definitely regret it now, feeling ashamed of carrying the Flame Greatsword.

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“Phew.”

Go out first.

Reaching out to the door handle, Nola pulled open the wooden door. What came into view was a bright and empty corridor. The air was incomparably quiet. It was morning now; there were few guests in the tavern.

“Good morning, Lord Clan Chief.”

Seeing Nola appear, the two Charm Cat maids waiting by the door bowed immediately. These two maids were people arranged by Tsukuyomi to keep watch at night. Recalling her business, Nola feigned calm, responding as seriously as possible.

“Thank you for your hard work.” She hesitated slightly, asking cautiously, “After I got drunk last night, did anything special happen? You must answer me truthfully.”

“Special happen?” The Charm Cat maid tilted her head gently, dazed for a moment. “Seems not… Lord Clan Chief fell asleep after returning to the room. No one disturbed you all night.”

I’m not asking if anyone disturbed me, but asking if I lost my composure.

However, Nola couldn’t make her words clear. She opened her mouth, stopping on the verge of speaking, finally only waving her hand gently.

“I understand. You may leave. Where are Fia and Ying?”

“Should be in Lady Tsukuyomi’s mansion, checking the hostages brought back yesterday.”

“Speaking of which, I didn’t expect Darkborn dared to be sneaky right under Lord Goddess’s nose. Is this called the most dangerous place is the safest place? Fortunately, Lord Clan Chief and Her Highness the Princess discovered it in time, otherwise who knows how many more people would be poisoned.”

While speaking, the Charm Cat maid cast a respectful look at Nola, pink eyes carrying a trace of a maiden’s admiration.

However, this only made Nola feel stung. She didn’t help Fia last night, even dragging Fia down. Without her, Fia and Claire’s speed of solving demons would have been even faster.

Plus the Charm Cats were still kept in the dark, Nola’s conscience was uneasy. She wasn’t willing to stay longer. After dismissing the Charm Cat maids with a few sentences, she went straight out of the tavern. Now half of spring has passed. The sunlight became dazzling and hot. Pedestrians on the street walked silently with their heads down. Under the warmth of sunlight, she felt her spirit was much better than before, and the headache from the hangover also eased slightly.

Although she didn’t get a direct answer from the maids, their reaction was enough to show she didn’t lose her composure last night. Nola felt relieved, starting to think about what to do next while walking.

Regarding hostages, follow Claire’s suggestion last night, sending hostages back to their tribes. As for the captured demon captives, kill them after prying all intelligence from their mouths. Then wait for Fia to let Helian down from the air to confirm the truth of the matter.

What she could do was actually very little. Pushing further back, it was nothing more than waiting for the Silvar army to capture the Cold Night capital using the excuse of Cold Night declaring war, then pushing Tilulu to be King, and she would assist her following the trend. Fia was right; changing the status quo of Cold Night’s poverty and weakness through Tilulu was also a means, even much better than the method of treating Tilulu as a puppet. Nola admitted she wasn’t a smart person. If she became King, there would definitely be situations where the original intention of the policy was fine, but the execution deviated from the status quo. Someone being able to stand up and oppose her was a good thing.

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Not to mention after Tilulu became King, Cold Night could get Fia’s support. Having a powerful and violent backing was more reassuring than anything, saving a lot of trouble.

It was just that, where exactly did this uneasy and empty feeling in her heart come from…

Teeth biting her lip lightly, Nola’s eyebrows knitted slightly. Clearly everything was arranged properly, even the optimal solution. She was about to return to normal life, yet she felt empty in her heart, unable to calm down. But she just couldn’t find where the problem lay, only feeling inexplicable nervousness and restlessness.

Could it be caused by estrus? But estrus shouldn’t make people uneasy.

“Yo, you’re awake. Why the long face?”

Just as Nola was recalling, a brisk voice that made her stop thinking immediately came into her ears. She raised her head to look at Fia walking toward her, then blushed uncontrollably.

She didn’t realize it before, but now seeing Fia’s face reminded her that she just had a dream of Fia saving her. That cool and elegant appearance was really unforgettable, so much so that even she, of the same sex, was attracted, feeling Fia was full of charm.

Probably because she subconsciously felt Fia was very strong, and Fia appeared twice when she encountered danger, so she dreamed of Fia in the morning. Forming a conditioned reflex of thinking of Fia as soon as encountering danger, hoping such a hero would come to save her.

Clearly that annoying crow elf, but I can’t hate her at all.

Nola was annoyed at her own lack of backbone in her heart.

Another unspeakable thing added for the future.

She curled her lips unwillingly, snorting lightly as if being awkward.

“Nothing, just in a bad mood.”

Translator Note

ugh i want more of the previous dofilia TvT