Chapter 250: Busy

Chapter 250: Busy

The fluctuation of Mana woke Bran and the Ancient Tree. They immediately broke free from their spiritual entanglement with each other and turned their attention to Huahua.

Before their eyes, countless tiny black sparks of electricity danced among Huahua’s fur. They kept splitting and intertwining, slowly forming a black cocoon that enveloped Huahua. When the black cocoon fully closed, Huahua, along with the cocoon, vanished from Bran’s embrace.

In surprise, Bran raised his hand and patted the spot. His palm met no resistance and landed on his own chest and stomach with a light slap. His connection with Huahua remained. The Resonance caused by Mana still echoed between them, but he could neither see nor touch her.

Sensing Bran’s confusion, the black cocoon slowly opened a slit. A cat’s eye peered at him through the gap. It was like an eye had grown from the Void. The cat’s eye hung suspended abruptly before Bran, making him shudder.

Taking a deep breath, Bran pointed his finger towards the cat’s eye. As his finger approached, the eye shrank back a little, making way for the finger. Then, the small section of finger that entered the cocoon disappeared. After a brief pause, Bran pulled his finger out and held it up to his eyes for a close look.

Perhaps having played enough, or perhaps Bran’s action piqued Huahua’s curiosity, she jumped out from the Void, crouched on Bran’s chest and stomach, and examined the finger alongside Bran.

After a long while, Bran finally snapped out of it. He gave Huahua a tight hug, and Huahua responded with a purr. Knowing Huahua was safe and sound lifted a weight off Bran. A wide smile spread across his face. His joyful mood even affected the entire Northland City. Mana churned and danced excitedly in the city, and many spiritual things began to respond with various cheerful sounds.

Due to this incident, neither Bran nor the Ancient Tree were in the mood to continue their mental connection. The two Ancient Trees decided to take a leisurely stroll through the city for amusement. Holding Huahua, Bran decided to rest for a while, relaxing the tension that had built up over the past few days.

…

Danny, who was busy, looked up and revealed a faint smile. Bran’s joyous feeling had reached here. The Single Blade on the desk trembled slightly, as if trying hard to suppress its own laughter to avoid disturbing her work. She raised her hand and lightly flicked the scabbard. The blade inside the scabbard, following the flick, stopped suppressing itself and let out a light hum.

Seeing this, Mary couldn’t help but curl her lip. “Only thinking of his own happiness. When does he plan to stop dragging his feet about my wedding?”

Danny shot her a disdainful glance. “You were the one who insisted on a grand ceremony.”

“I changed my mind!”

“Too late.”

“I feel like I’m being used. Had I known, I wouldn’t have made such a fuss.”

“Too late.”

“Please plead with him for me.”

“Say that now? He’s already sent out the invitations,” Danny raised an eyebrow. “Think about it. The Northlands has never seen such a magnificent wedding before.”

Mary made a bitter face. “Those people aren’t coming for me. Is this his wedding or mine?”

Danny shook her head, not intending to engage with Mary’s complaints any further. But Mary wasn’t ready to give up the chance to vent. “And with so many people coming, how many cows are they going to eat?”

“Don’t worry about how many get eaten. Bran never planned to keep those anyway. After the wedding, aside from the ones given as gifts, most will be released back into the wild.”

“What?” Mary found it hard to believe. “No way, some of those are my dowry.”

“You really think about herding them every day?”

“We can hire someone.”

“Hire who?”

Hire who? Mary couldn’t think of a suitable candidate for a long time. By the time she wanted to continue the discussion on this topic, Danny had already resumed her work.

Unlike Mary, who only thought about being a bride, Danny had been organizing information about the various Delegations. Compared to the Delegations, the conditions here were uniquely advantageous because the Ancient Tree could provide detailed records of everything in the city.

The Little Tree in the City Manor courtyard provided support for Danny, helping her sort through these messy, scattered words and actions and organize them into concise, orderly information.

Although Mary had exceptional memory and observation skills, she still needed practice in summarizing and organizing. Danny herself was only barely adequate. She relied on sheer perseverance, stiffly recording, comparing, and deleting items one by one. And Mary’s desire for the wedding currently made it impossible for her to focus on work.

Northlanders all had good observation skills, a result of Evolution over millennia. In the wild, spotting potential dangers early from the slightest movement of grass in the wind was a required skill for Northlanders. The slightest dissonance in the natural environment would trigger their alertness. Those who didn’t inherit this talent—one Trial was enough to send them into the embrace of Death.

But when faced with the words and actions between people, although they could sense dissonance, it was hard to pinpoint what exactly was wrong. And trying to go a step further to turn intuitive feelings into clear text was even more troublesome.

These records weren’t meant for Bran to read; they were more for providing a reference for their people.

Bran didn’t need these. He could communicate directly with the Ancient Tree on a spiritual level and get the details more quickly. But things couldn’t always be done with Bran as the reference. This city would ultimately be governed by many of their people. A more universal method was needed for information to spread among them.

Danny had her own view. She knew Bran was in the process of detaching from this world, getting used to viewing and handling everything in the way of a Wizard. And over time, this habit would become deeply ingrained, making his behavior gradually drift away from common sense, becoming increasingly incompatible with the world.

She had to prepare early, to become the bridge between Bran and this world. While Bran sheltered her from wind and rain, she also had to try her best to relieve pressure and clear obstacles for Bran. Danny didn’t like sitting in the City Manor. She preferred quietly staying by Bran’s side, enjoying the peace between them. It was just that things had been too hectic lately, leaving less and less time for the two of them alone.

Bran must have sensed her feelings, otherwise why would he assign Mary as her assistant?

Furthermore, the Old Fairy taking over here—Mikkel—had arrived and made a home on the Little Tree. He was currently leading several young Fairies who came with him to look around the place.

Bran said Fairies made the best stewards. Hopefully, his judgment wasn’t wrong.