Chapter 2002

Ajielina could clearly state the location of the "neighboring" Goodman family. Before leaving the club, when Xia De took out the city map he carried with him and asked Ajielina to identify it, that map miraculously showed a building that didn't originally exist between "Yodel Palace" and the "Kingdom Parliament Hall," and it was even labeled as "The Goodman Family's House."

This was not a normal way to label a map at all.

When Princess Lei Qianya noticed the anomaly on the map, for a moment she also thought it was normal. But the power of one-quarter of the Chosen, combined with the normal memory of Dorothy, who shared her thoughts, quickly made her realize something was wrong.

"Cognitive rewriting, and cognitive pollution; this is not just a change in memory."

Princess Lei Qianya said worriedly, while Xia De and Miss Miss Jia Lin Na were unaffected:

"It seems to be at least a Keeper-level relic."

Thus, half an hour later, Miss Miss Jia Lin Na, accompanied by Difa and two seven-ring maidens, appeared on Silver Cross Avenue with Xia De, Princess Lei Qianya, and Ajielina.

The gas streetlights made Silver Cross Avenue look quite bright at night. It was already 8:30, and there were no other pedestrians on the street.

Miss Miss Jia Lin Na held Ajielina's hand—a rare behavior—and walked in front, with Xia De and the others following behind them. Under Ajielina's guidance, the group walked north along the outer wall of Yodel Palace. If they turned east at the next intersection, it would be the road to St. Deran Square; continuing forward past the intersection would be the Kingdom Parliament Hall.

But at the outer wall of Yodel Palace, which should have been the end of the street and right next to the intersection, there was now a three-story apartment building that Xia De had never seen before. This apartment building had squeezed itself between the intersection and Yodel Palace. Before Ajielina pointed out the location of that house, not only Xia De, but even Miss Miss Jia Lin Na had not noticed it. And when the building appeared in everyone's eyes, even space felt displaced because of it.

"A newly descended relic, not yet fully stabilized."

The knowledgeable witch reminded softly, then pointed diagonally across the street:

"Otherwise, the church Ringed Shushi who protect Yodel Palace, and the diviners of the Prophet Society, could not possibly be unaware."

Ajielina vaguely sensed something was wrong, but still couldn't understand what. So Miss Miss Jia Lin Na let go of her hand, Princess Lei Qianya pulled her back, and then Xia De and Miss Miss Jia Lin Na stood side by side and knocked on the door—

Knock, knock, knock~

Originally, there was no light in the windows of this house; even the gas streetlights and moonlight could not illuminate the interior at all. But when the knocking sounded, all the windows of the entire house showed lights that turned from dim to bright, the whole process eerily strange.

Then footsteps sounded behind the door, the door opened, and Mr. Goodman, the neighbor who was very familiar to Ajielina, appeared with a smile. Only to Xia De, the witch, and the others, it was a faceless man with no facial features who opened the door.

At this moment, the whisper elements clearly manifested. Princess Lei Qianya, who was holding Ajielina's right hand, suddenly hugged her tightly, and Difa stood on Ajielina's other side and leaned against her as well. Of the other two maids, one was responsible for guarding the rear, and one was at a slightly further distance, prepared to deal with the worst outcome.

"Welcome, my neighbor Miss Cavendish, you brought your fiancé? Would you like to come in and sit for a while?"

The faceless man asked the witch enthusiastically; he had no mouth, but could still make sound. Although the twelve-tier Great Witch frowned, she was still unaffected by the cognitive rewriting and pollution. She shook her head seriously:

"We have no neighbors, so leave here at once."

In the foyer behind the man, illuminated by the lights, the faceless woman also walked over, with a... whatever it was, but definitely not a sheepdog, a blurry mass of flesh following at her feet.

The cat in Xia De's arms poked its head out, meowed quite unhappily, and was pressed back into his clothes by Xia De. And that mass of flesh, which Ajielina saw as a sheepdog, quickly retreated back into the house.

"Aren't we friendly neighbors?"

The newly appeared faceless woman also stood at the door smiling and said, reaching out toward the outside:

"Come in and sit for a while, Miss Cavendish, you haven't been here to visit us for a long time. Oh, let your fiancé come in too; look at him, he really is handsome."

Her hand touched the pitch-black chain that darted out from Xia De's sleeve in mid-air. Before the chain could bind her right hand, the hand retreated into the house as flexibly as a living snake, so Xia De did not let the Sin Chain enter the room rashly.

The bright lights in the room became somewhat gloomy at this moment. The smiles on the faces of the neighbors Ajielina saw for some reason made her feel a bit terrified.

"We have no neighbors."

Miss Miss Jia Lin Na said quite seriously:

"Never. So, please leave here. Sage-level relic 【Friendly Neighbor】, I know you. As long as you are not acknowledged, you cannot continue to exist. Someone must continuously recognize you for you to become more and more real. When you are denied, this reality will be diminished. Now, let me tell you—"

Except for Ajielina, everyone else said together:

"Yodel Palace is the palace complex where the Delarion royal family resides. Since its completion, there have never been neighbors here, and there will be no need for neighbors in the future."

"Meow~"

Little Mia poked her cat head out from the gap in the coat buttons again, and was then pressed back by Xia De's finger.

Thus, in Ajielina's eyes, the smiles on the faces of the kind Mr. and Mrs. Goodman slowly disappeared. They glared fiercely at the witch, and the witch glared back at them without showing any weakness:

"At the descent stage, do you dare to walk out of this house?"

Pressing her hand to her chest, the witch's gold necklace emitted a faint light, and the Great Witch's aura looked truly astonishing. Thus, the "Goodman" family glared fiercely at Ajielina again, then pulled the door shut and retreated back into the house together.

The lights in the three-story apartment building disappeared one by one. When the last light went out, with the appearance of spatial distortion, the entire house disappeared completely as if swallowed by darkness.

Ajielina watched this scene with her own eyes. At first, she felt very uncomfortable that a building was missing here. But soon, the scene without the house evoked all the memories of the past seventeen years, and the feeling of something being wrong in her heart rapidly magnified until she realized the true situation. When the rewritten false cognition returned to normal, the little Princess gave a surprised "Ah~", and then the emotion of fear surged up instantly:

"We really have no neighbors!"

Her trembling body was gently hugged, and Princess Lei Qianya embraced her sister with some pity:

"It's okay, we will all protect you."

Snowflakes fell from the sky, but it wasn't Xia De opening a mystery to make it snow for the sake of the atmosphere; it was really snowing again.

"High-efficiency spatial perception."

The spatial position centered on himself appeared clearly in his mind. Of course, considering that the Prophet Society was not far away and Yodel Palace was also protected by the church, Xia De only exerted a little effort:

"It's fine now, that house has completely disappeared."

Miss Miss Jia Lin Na breathed a sigh of relief, turned around, and saw Ajielina still in Princess Lei Qianya's arms, so she patted her shoulder gently:

"Alright, it's fine now. Do you know how dangerous this world is now? But compared to the vacation in Green Lake City last month, this incident shouldn't be considered very big."

"Perhaps it's because last time she was always with us, with Xia De's cat, and in a strange place. This time, she encountered the relic's influence alone in familiar Tobesk, which broke her sense of security."

"Sister, can I sleep with you tonight?"

The little Princess tried hard to calm the fear in her heart and asked softly. She actually wanted to spend the night with Miss Miss Jia Lin Na or Xia De more, but she was still very afraid of her grandaunt, and as for Xia De... she knew no one would agree.

"Alright, alright, you're a seventeen-year-old girl, this is the last time."

Princess Lei Qianya said helplessly, but for some reason, she thought of when she was little, so she allowed Ajielina's little act of being spoiled. However, she glanced at Xia De again, looking as if she originally had other plans:

"Grandaunt, did that thing just now leave completely? It shouldn't appear again, right?"

Princess Lei Qianya asked this question, intending to soothe Ajielina so she could sleep peacefully tonight. But Miss Miss Jia Lin Na thought for a moment and shook her head at her:

"This is the kind of relic that cannot be contained by any means at present. Once it appears, it will stay in a settlement of intelligent life for at least two months. We drove it away this time, only making it change targets in this city. After all, it is an event-type relic; although it is the worst kind of Sage-level, it is still Sage-level... When was the last time we encountered a Sage-level relic not released by humans so close to Yodel Palace?"

"This is not a good signal. We must step up precautions regarding the surroundings during this time."

Xia De said, walking side by side with Miss Miss Jia Lin Na in front toward the entrance of Yodel Palace. He intended to send the ladies back before taking Mia home. Of course, he would also mention the matter of meeting Director Anluosi; it was also difficult for him to find that elusive superior.

After Ajielina's emotions calmed down slightly, she followed behind the two holding Princess Lei Qianya's hand, with Difa and the two seven-ring maids behind them. Xia De was still discussing the recent situation with Miss Miss Jia Lin Na. Ajielina looked at their backs, actually feeling very happy in her heart that so many people were caring about her tonight, and her sister's embrace could still bring a sense of security just like when she was little.

"But..."

She thought silently in her heart:

"If I also had power, I could be the one to protect them."

No one knew what she was thinking. Although the arrival of the Outsider had changed many things, in the end, there were still more things developing along their original paths.