Chapter 671: The Game of the World Tree (Part 3)

Audrey pressed close to the misted glass window and suddenly noticed a little girl curled in the corner; she wore thin‑looking clothes already covered with a layer of white snow and clutched a woven wicker basket, its contents indistinguishable.

Noticing Audrey's gaze, Lei Kedun glanced out the window and casually asked:

"Do you want to help her?"

Audrey only then came to herself; the little girl's figure made her inexplicably sad, and she lowered her tone to ask, "Is she also part of the story? It looks like a rather sad story?"

"Yes." Lei Kedun lightly nodded in response.

Klein, seated opposite at the dining table, also noticed this, his eyes following Lei Kedun's and Audrey's toward the window, where he saw the little girl curled in the corner.

He asked with a strange expression, "The little girl who sells matches? How should we interact with her—help her strike matches, or give her food?"

Lei Kedun shook his head, not answering the question directly:

"This requires you to explore on your own; perhaps with your help the little girl will finally see her grandmother, or perhaps, with your help, everyone in the town will see her grandmother."

"Is this the little girl who sells nuclear bombs?" Klein's mouth twitched; he found it absurd, yet thought Lei Kedun could truly do such a thing.

He was about to ask more when Lei Kedun suddenly stood up and said:

"Other people are arriving; I'll go to the square to guide them. You may explore freely, leave or stay in this town. Enjoy your experience."

As his words faded, Lei Kedun's figure instantly dissolved into streams of "light" composed of tangled pure knowledge, surging away from here.

"What shall we do next?"

Audrey looked toward the magician‑dressed "World"; whether from his recent familiarity with the story or his adventurer status, he was undoubtedly the most experienced of the three.

"Go out and have a look," Klein replied after a moment's thought.

He then rose from his chair, took a piece of toasted bread from the table, and walked toward the restaurant's exit.

Audrey immediately followed; Leonard rose reluctantly, unwilling to linger in the heavy snow in thin clothing without the physique of a superior being—the weather outside was truly deadly cold.

Just as they reached the restaurant door, a server stopped them, requiring payment before they could take the food out.

Klein, expressionless, carried the plate of toast back to his seat; behind him, Audrey looked embarrassed while Leonard tried not to laugh.

After suppressing his smile, Leonard asked, "What now? Go straight out to find that little girl?"

Klein shook his head and said, "We should first consider how to get out of this restaurant, unless you have money to pay for the meal."

"I don't even know what this world's currency is."

Leonard shrugged, yet reached into his thin clothing, trying to find some gold coins or anything to pay the bill.

Audrey helplessly glanced at her lavish evening gown, which had not even a pocket.

She never imagined she'd one day be unable to pay the bill and be forced to stay in the restaurant; what a strange experience. Her thoughts drifting, she looked at the magician‑dressed Klein and asked uncertainly:

"Mr. World, you're a magician now; you should have some gold coins as magic props, right?"

Klein nodded heavily and said:

"Yes, but they can't be used, just like the wandering poet's harp—it's part of my identity and cannot be discarded or traded."

"Are we supposed to run a tab?"

Leonard stared at Klein in disbelief; even though this wasn't a real world, his moral standards wouldn't allow such a deed, especially with acquaintances present.

The three exchanged wordless glances, then after a silent moment Klein suddenly looked at Leonard and said:

"There's another way: find Pa Li Si·Suo Luo Ya Si De; he will most likely sense some of your circumstances."

Leonard silently answered Klein with his eyes: "Do you think this is reliable?"

While they were tangled in indecision, a rabbit dressed as a postman, carrying a crossbody bag and riding a bicycle fitted with two wheels, burst through the wall into the restaurant.

Under the puzzled, curious gazes of the three, it pulled from its bag several gold coins whose front bore eyes surrounded by stars, the reverse showing varying numbers of carrot designs, handed each to them, and said:

"This is your initial capital, my apologies—I'm not yet familiar with the fairy‑tale route, so I arrived late."

As the words ended, the post‑rabbit rode its perfectly sized bicycle, burst through the wall, and left the restaurant.

Klein, Audrey, and Leonard exchanged a glance, unsure where to make a quip. After they paid and brought the food from the restaurant into the alley outside the glass window, the little girl who had been curled in the corner had already left.

"This—" Audrey froze, her eyes scanning the street rapidly.

Soon, she spotted the little girl in front of a bakery's floor‑to‑ceiling window, staring blankly at the cakes inside while constantly swallowing saliva.

"She's over there."

As she spoke and stepped forward, the little girl's figure suddenly shattered, turning into a dim yellow flame that the wind and snow extinguished.

When she came to herself, Audrey saw a smoldering matchstick had appeared in her hand.

She anxiously turned her head toward the "World" and "Star" behind her, finding them looking at her with puzzlement.

Klein noticed the burnt match in Audrey's hand, recalled a mysterious reenactment Lei Kedun had once used, and said:

"You just fell into an illusion, or perhaps we all did; it's similar to a mysterious reenactment that a mystic can master—I've seen the White Tower use it before."

"Mysterious reenactment? If she has such a powerful match, why is she still starving?"

Audrey didn't understand the little match‑selling girl's behavior.

Klein shook his head and guessed, "Perhaps it must follow the original storyline."

He paused two seconds, then added:

"I suspect the truly effective knowledge spoken of by the White Tower refers to this kind of power‑drawing knowledge that enables mysterious reenactments; if we seek such knowledge, we will inevitably be affected by the power it contains."

"It seems that merely trying to find her isn't an easy task."

Leonard pursed his lips and sighed; suddenly, a crisp bell rang from afar in the snow‑filled sky.

Ding—ding—... As the bell grew nearer, the three saw several reindeer pulling a red sled across the sky; the carriage carried a plump elderly man with graying hair and beard, dressed in bright red, his head topped with a red pointed hat bearing a white ball.

Behind him he carried a massive red cloth bundle packed with large and small gift boxes; his sled was also piled with countless red gift boxes, so many they seemed ready to tumble out at any moment.

"Santa Claus?" Klein muttered incredulously.

He recalled the Santa story, then reached his hands toward the passing sled in the sky. Since this was a mysterious reenactment, perhaps even adults could receive gifts.

In his line of sight, a red gift box indeed fell toward them, landing in the hands of Miss Justice, who was also extending her right hand.

Klein blinked, finding it hard to comprehend. Does this make sense? We're all adults; is the Snow Queen really more noble than the magician? After a brief inner scolding, Klein reluctantly accepted that Santa had indeed treated them specially, and curiously looked at the gift box in Miss Justice's hand.

Ao Daili looked at the heavy gift box in her hands and, for a moment, said blankly:

"What is this? A gift for me? Or did it fall off a sled—uh, reindeer carriage—?"

"Since it ended up in your hands, it must be a gift for you; let's see what's inside," Ke Lai En replied calmly.

Ao Daili nodded, tore open the ribbon decorating the gift box, and a slip of paper fell with the ribbon, bearing a line of runic words:

To the most noble Ice‑Snow Queen, Merry Christmas! "What kind of holiday is Christmas?"

Ao Daili asked curiously, then opened the box, revealing a sled model inside.

Ao Daili took the model in her hands and sincerely praised, "What an exquisite model; it's no less than the works of the masters."

Ke Lai En stared at the model composed of three reindeer and a sled, thought for a moment, and suggested to Ao Daili:

"Try using the magic of this identity; since it's a gift from Santa to the Ice‑Snow Queen, it shouldn't be too weak—perhaps it's a special artifact."

"I'll give it a try."

Ao Daili nodded, cupped the model with both hands, and tried to focus, invoking the Ice‑Snow Queen's magic in the manner of using extraordinary abilities.

A thin layer of ice swiftly covered the model's surface, suddenly grew heavy, fell from Ao Daili's hands, and upon touching the snow it expanded, becoming a real sled carriage.

"How marvelous," Ao Daili sighed, feeling a faint connection between herself and the sled carriage.

Lun Na De looked at the sled that had just become solid, and, incredulously, said, "Was that Santa just now a powerful 'craftsman'? Every gift he hands out turns out to be a magical item."

(End of chapter)