As soon as Tonkotsu finished speaking, everyone saw the Wyverian girl's body go rigid, and her whole person turned ashen at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Turning her head somewhat mechanically, the Wyverian girl's eyes went empty and lifeless, and she just stared at Tonkotsu.
"He'll—he'll come back, right? He just stepped out for a short while, didn't he? He'll be back soon, right?"
At this moment, the Wyverian girl truly wasted the beautiful looks unique to the exotic charm of the Wyverian race, and also wasted that gorgeous and noble Velkhana set she wore. Her whole person was filled with a sense of despair as she looked at Tonkotsu, hoping to hear some good news from his mouth.
"Well, meow, the Fire Wyvern boss said he'll be going out for about a year, meow, maybe even longer, so he probably won't be back in the short term, meow."
Tonkotsu spoke in a muffled, booming voice.
Just hearing his words, the Wyverian girl's body trembled slightly as she lowered her head.
Looking at the gem in her hand, she was, for a moment, filled with endless regret.
"I—I can put the gem here first. When your Fire Wyvern boss comes back in the future, you can remind me, and I—I'll leave for now." After hesitating for a long time, the Wyverian girl still felt that her own little life was more important than the old Wyverian's prophecy.
Therefore, the gem she had originally planned to deliver with her own hands turned, this time, into something she took the initiative to leave behind.
Only, the Wyverian girl was no longer someone who could leave just because she wanted to.
"The gem can stay, meow, but you cannot leave, meow!"
At a glance, that gem was clearly something brimming with energy; who knew whether it might have some bad effect on the Fire Wyvern boss in the future?
As the captain of the Fire Wyvern Guard, Tonkotsu, upholding the idea of cutting off all substances harmful to the Fire Wyvern boss, rejected the Wyverian girl's request.
Moreover, once they knew the Wyverian girl's target was actually the Fire Wyvern boss, regardless of the reason, the Fire Wyvern Grimalkynes had only two attitudes toward the current Wyverian girl.
Either deal with the Wyverian girl and throw this gem far away, or hand it over to the Research Commission for study.
Or keep the Wyverian girl and the gem together under strict watch, and wait for the Fire Wyvern boss to return and decide.
As for why they would not allow the Wyverian girl to leave with the gem, one could only say: who told her target to be the Fire Wyvern boss?
Since the cats already knew this, even if there was only a one-in-ten-thousand chance, the cats would still cut off the formation of this uncertainty factor.
Seeing the cat guard squad faintly closing in at Tonkotsu's gesture, the Wyverian girl put away the gem, thought carefully about her own combat strength, and confirmed she had no way to escape under the encirclement of so many Palicoes and a large group of mutated Fire Wyverns.
This trapped-beast situation instantly ignited her anger; in extreme fury, the Wyverian girl flared up hard.
Then she spread her hands and shut her eyes.
"I won't leave—will that do?"
Although she wore the Velkhana set handed down from the civilized era—the only one left in her tribe—and although the Wyverian girl had a record of solo hunting high-niche monsters, that was one-on-one!
But here, this group of cats alone was enough for the Wyverian girl to be in for it, to say nothing of those Fire Wyverns outside.
So, no matter how unwilling she was, she could only choose to back down.
She could only pray silently in her heart that that so-called Fire Wyvern boss could come back a little earlier.
At the side, after Tonkotsu said that sentence, the Third Fleet Master, who had quietly stepped back a few paces, let out a breath when she heard the Wyverian girl's answer. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she began thinking about how, in the days to come, she should coax that gem over to study it.
Or should she coax the person over to Astera?
Given the relationship between the Grimalkynes and the Research Commission, they should agree, right?
Having made up her mind, the Third Fleet Master poked Tonkotsu's cat ear. When Tonkotsu turned his head in confusion, she bent down and quietly whispered her idea once through.
"Mm, meow, that works too, but the premise is that the Research Commission has to keep a good watch on her, meow."
Seeing Tonkotsu and the Third Fleet Master whispering over there, and even casting their gazes on her from time to time, the Wyverian girl immediately let out a wary inquiry.
"I already agreed not to leave—what else do you want to do?"
Looking at the Wyverian girl, who was like a startled rabbit, the Third Fleet Master's lips curved in a slight smile, and with that gentle voice she invited the Wyverian girl to go to Astera.
"Astera? Never heard that name."
The Wyverian girl looked warily at the Third Fleet Master, then at Tonkotsu, who had his arms folded and no expression at all.
Something just felt off, only being able to leave this unusual Ancient Tree did indeed make the Wyverian girl a bit tempted.
Out of caution, she still planned to ask.
"The Astera you're talking about—won't it be like here too, with that many monsters?"
"No," the Third Fleet Master shook her head slightly, smiling.
"I see."
The Wyverian girl bit her lower lip. She did not know why—clearly, no matter how you looked at her, the Third Fleet Master was an intelligent and gentle big sister—yet at this moment she made the girl feel a chill at the bottom of her heart.
Although the people of this world were very simple and did not have that much of a dark side, that was, after all, a strange, unknown place. The Wyverian girl felt she still needed to be prudent.
Still, to be able to leave the Ancient Tree—
"Oh, right." At that moment, the Third Fleet Master suddenly thought of the Chameleos and spoke again. "Although we don't have any groups of Fire Wyverns, we do have two very gentle Chameleos over there~"
"Chameleos? The Mist-Hidden Dragon!!!"
The Wyverian girl, who had just been a little tempted, instantly felt her heart turn cold. Her small head shook like a rattle drum.
"No, no, no—I'm not going, absolutely not going!!"
As a native of the New World, living in this Elder Dragon–frequent region, the Wyverian girl was very aware of how terrifying Elder Dragons were. Although there were not many records about the Mist-Hidden Dragon in the tribe's archives, the few that existed were never good ones.
After all, in ancient times, the Wyverians of the whole world were nothing like they were now—obedient to nature and protectors of the ecosystem.
Massive ecological destruction and the active hunting of Elder Dragons were the daily routine of those ancient civilizations recorded in the old texts.
Therefore, to go stay with the Chameleos—in the Wyverian girl's eyes—she might as well just stay here at the Ancient Tree!
Although she didn't understand why the Wyverian girl suddenly became so resolute the instant she heard there were Chameleos, the Third Fleet Master still refused to give up and kept trying to persuade her.
Saying things like how the Chameleos had a very good temperament, and that the little Chameleos even occasionally showed up begging for food, and so on.
But no matter what the Third Fleet Master said, the Wyverian girl remained completely unmoved, shaking her head furiously.
Elder Dragons coexisting with humans?
You could kill every old Wyverian in her tribe, and she still wouldn't believe it.
Having lived in the New World for decades, the Wyverian girl understood all too well how cruel the word "ecological niche" was.
After losing the dragon-machinery of the old days, both Wyverians and humans held an absolute disadvantage in ecological standing compared to large monsters. Only those known as Resonant Ones—who could communicate with Elder Dragons—had the qualification to converse with them.
But it was only that—a qualification. Whether an Elder Dragon actually wished to pay you any attention was still another matter entirely.
Moreover, many of the so-called Resonant Ones could only sense the emotions released by an Elder Dragon.
---
I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> patreon.com/TitoVillar
---