Chapter 52: 51. The One Who Descended from the Sky

51. The One Who Descended from the Sky

Spark Port is a bustling port in the Ignis airspace. It is located beside the shipping lane leading to the Floss airspace, and since many goods are distributed here, the local Finat family has made a fortune.

On the open ground in front of the airport, the honor guard stood ready. Officials of all ranks from Spark Port were all in place, lined up to guard the various nobles as they prepared to welcome the third son of Count Finat, who was about to return.

Unlike his two brothers who cultivated the local territory, Wenders Finat carved out a path that belonged solely to him. He bravely charged into the blue sky, becoming one of the top sky knights, and even a member of the number one ranked sky team.

This reputation alone brought the Finat family many collaborations, reaping benefits both in the open and in the shadows.

Hearing that Wenders was returning to the territory, Count Finat decided to suspend part of the port's operations to specifically hold a grand welcoming ceremony.

Not only were officials and nobles from all walks of life present, but even commoners could obtain free high-quality food and drinks from afar, standing in suitable positions to get a full view of the ceremony.

Most of the ordinary people and passing travelers were just there to join in the fun, but the officials of Spark Port knew clearly that this was not a rare case of extravagance by the shrewd Count. Wenders had actually returned a few days ago and was only away to attend to imperial affairs, and would return in the afternoon.

The Count simply wanted to use this ceremony to promote his style and make a name for him when Wenders arrived. In this way, in the new order of the future Empire, this son returning from the sky team would have the opportunity to lead the family to a higher status.

The parade had been going on since the morning, and music played throughout the entire process.

Dorothy stood at the edge of the group of officials.

She was expressionless and did not speak to anyone, as if all interpersonal relationships, fame, and status had nothing to do with her. Watching those who took the opportunity to socialize and exert themselves, paired with their deliberately chosen finery, she felt as if she were looking at clowns in a circus.

"Ms. Dorothy, may I occupy a moment of your—"

"No."

"Beautiful lady, I am—"

"You are impressive. If you go to the parade, you will surely be able to kick your legs straighter than those soldiers."

"I just returned from the Holy Capital and have seen many sky team members. Lady, do you know what differences there are between them and Lord Wenders?"

"Do they have a third leg?"

"..."

Dorothy felt that she had already deliberately acted unsociable. She did not dress up and intentionally wore plain clothes. If it weren't for her status, she would not want to stand here at all.

On a rare holiday, she just wanted to brew a pot of tea, catch up on a serialized novel in a magazine, then sleep, go out to watch the latest movie, try a new dessert, and then... then no matter what, she just didn't want to stand here.

She did not want to be baptized by the gazes of the people around her, which carried all sorts of meanings. Even though she had made a gesture of refusal, she was still being accosted with various motives.

Some people wanted to squeeze into the class she naturally belonged to because of her background, some were simply casting a wide net for broad socializing, and some people's motives were simpler—they were after her herself.

Perhaps some of these people knew who she was, but that didn't matter. It was not uncommon for a lady to be dignified in public and dissolute in private; why couldn't she be one?

Even though she simply coiled her hair into a bun, deliberately asked the hairstylist to add cool tones when dyeing it, dyed it a crude ginger yellow, and wore inconspicuous brown contact lenses—which she had to ask someone to buy from the Magic Capital—these efforts instead earned her compliments like, "You are so good at accentuating your sweetness."

What was infuriating was that no matter what clothes she wore, they looked seductive in the eyes of others. They whispered that if there were one less part, she would be gaunt, and if there were one more, it would be superfluous.

She wore long-sleeved gloves, a long dress covering her body, thin cotton socks with ruffles at the shoe opening, and a choker necklace, trying her best not to reveal any skin other than her face.

Dorothy didn't hate others praising her; she just equally disliked talking to others.

So annoying, so annoying, so annoying, so annoying... Why am I here... The detestable Finat family... Is it necessary to hold a ceremony to welcome a monkey?

So noisy, so noisy, so noisy... Can you play the music like something a human would listen to? Wow, those parading soldiers, their steps aren't even in sync, they're even moving the same hand and foot, so stop thinking about winking at the lady on the side... Damn, they're looking at me.

Dorothy missed being wrapped in her quilt even more. She lowered her eyes, trying to isolate the intrusion of others from her body.

Suddenly, she felt the people beside her start to move in one direction, and the shoe tips that had been vaguely probing and stopping in front of her also turned.

Has Wenders Finat returned?

Her eyelashes lifted quietly, and she saw the crowd looking up at the sky in surprise. The commotion drowned out the fading music.

In the firmament, a large airship was surrounded by a dark blue storm, and even on the deck, there were swirling pillars of wind.

A large, robust griffin carried its knight, charging from the air toward the deck. Clearly, his enemy was there.

It's Wenders! He's fighting someone!

Some shouted confidently, some cursed that anyone would dare challenge the majesty of the Finat family, some clamored from the perspective of the "Empire" that Dorothy detested, some thought it was a show, and some didn't care if it was a show but believed this was an opportunity to demonstrate Wenders' power.

Am I the only one who sees a very beautiful big snake on that ship? That's not an ordinary monster, right? Dorothy thought to herself.

She felt that things were not that simple.

However, she didn't care about the specific details either.

She only felt that it would be even better if Wenders could be beaten to death by someone.

Count Finat called for manpower, urging them to take soldiers to the nearby berth to start the airships and provide support from above.

Dorothy kept cheering for the invisible enemy in her heart.

Especially when Wenders finished his charge and launched another one. Others might be cheering or praising Wenders' power, but Dorothy thought in her heart: You missed, you definitely missed, come on, knock him off the griffin.

Her annoyance from the morning was swept away, and she only realized her fists were clenched when she felt the silkiness of the glove fabric against her palms.

Just as she was about to be unable to suppress her voice, a low, aged voice sounded behind her.

"Miss, you should know the family's expectations for your development with Lord Wenders. Please do not display an attitude that would invite criticism from others. Behave yourself."

Dorothy immediately felt her light, soaring mood being strangled by something. It was clear, heavy, and cold, slowly pulling her back to the ground of reality.

This voice did not belong to an irrelevant other, but to the butler who had followed her from home to prevent her from delaying the family's grand cause due to "not behaving herself."

Dorothy spent a little effort adjusting the breath in her chest before successfully and smoothly converting it into the short sentence, "Understood."

She still looked at the sky, yet after the reminder, she understood once again that she should not have expectations for fate.

All expectations and fantasies had never been realized; how could the hope that a member of the number one sky team like Wenders would be defeated ever come true?

Wenders launched another charge, and the crowd's excitement grew even higher, as if it were a grand performance specifically presented for today.

But when the serpentine monster emitted an explosive flash of fire, Wenders did not fly back into the sky on his griffin.

The intensity of the cheers suddenly slowed.

The supporting airships reached high altitude, triggering another battle, and the sky fell into chaos.

Following a shockwave of energy and an explosion, quite a few people were blasted off the ship and fell freely, while someone leaped down from the sky.

No, that wasn't just one person, it seemed to be—

The crowd screamed and ran to avoid it, leaving only Dorothy standing blankly in place, watching the figure of the falling person.

On the morning of May 23rd, in the 300th year of the Guild Calendar, in front of Miss Dorothy Campbell, Wenders Finat was stepped on by Li Ang, who descended from the sky, his head driven into the ground.