Chapter 3197: The Sun's Thoughts

"He isn't... what are you two laughing at?"

Because so much had happened this night, Claire Reinhardt was completely confused. The sound of waves churned beneath the sea cliffs, the whistling winter wind blew along the shore, and she instinctively curled up in Xia De's arms seeking a sense of safety. Xia De continued to heal her wounds and softly explained on behalf of the two laughing Great Witches:

"They're teasing you. I've known these two Great Witches for a long time, and we're on very good terms. Miss Reinhardt, you don't need to worry about my existence being reported to the Parliament. Sorry for hiding it from you before. When I ran into you today, I wasn't sure what your attitude toward me would be."

As he said these words, Xia De felt an indescribable sense of relief. After such a long time, he finally had the chance to say this sentence of his own accord:

"Yes, we've known each other for a long time. Tonight it was also he who sent word to the two of us, so we only learned you were on this island."

Vanessa looked down at Claire Reinhardt. She wasn't petty, but tonight's matters had been disturbed, and even someone with the best temper would be annoyed:

"This man actually belongs to the Sister. It was through the Sister that he got to know us. Out of respect for the Sister, and because he's helped us, we didn't report him, and our relationship with him is quite good. Tonight when something happened to you, we heard from him that there seemed to be Witches on this island, so we had him bring us here to find you. Look at the state you're in now, tsk tsk~ this handsome Mr.'s secret, let's keep it together."

Sylvia continued to hold back laughter:

"Don't reveal it to the other ten people. This is our shared secret."

The Sun's Great Witch's first thought was not that they had hidden such an important matter, but rather the joy that the secret of the out-of-town traveler currently healing her would not be reported. She looked again at Sister Sister Daifulin, wanting to verify their account:

"Sister, he..."

But Sister Sister Daifulin, who had already recalled her greatsword and scythe, paid her no attention. She only asked Xia De somewhat coldly, also "looking down" at him:

"The ashes left after the firewood transformed from 【Mindless Worms】 burned—do you want power or a weapon?"

"Keep it yourself, Sister, I..."

"Do you want power or a weapon?"

She repeated. Xia De, who was familiar with Sister Sister Daifulin, could of course tell that she seemed a little angry:

"Power, then. We'll discuss this matter later. Sister, look at Miss Reinhardt's condition..."

So the Sun's Great Witch realized belatedly what those flame cracks that had just appeared on Xia De's body were:

"Wait a moment... that flame is the Primal Fire! So you really are a member of the 【Spirit Cult Cult】! Sister Sister Daifulin, you actually found a hero who can inherit the flame?"

Then the Witch continued to realize that the 【Spirit Cult Cult】 could now be considered an affiliated organization of the 【Witch's Parliament】. In this way, the "man" touching her back had actually been "one of us" from the very start. A small joy welled up from within. Although so many unexpected things had happened tonight, it seemed not all of them were bad.

Sister Sister Daifulin still paid her no attention, and continued to ask Xia De:

"Someone offered you power, and you just took it, did you?"

The Miss sitting on the ground blinked, thinking he was being questioned about the "Thunderwave" matter, but Xia De knew the Sister was talking about the Fifth Epoch. Rescuing the missing Witch could not wait; Jia Lin Na and the others might not have explained things clearly to Sister Sister Daifulin earlier:

"No, she only suggested it. I said I wanted to ask your opinion."

The injured Miss pursed her lips, thinking Xia De was lying to prevent himself from being blamed. When he accepted the "Thunderwave," he certainly hadn't said anything about consulting others.

The silver eye-mask reflected the color of moonlight. Sister Sister Daifulin was silent for a moment, her voice very calm:

"You don't need to ask me. You can make this decision yourself."

Even Claire Reinhardt, who didn't understand the situation between them, knew this absolutely wasn't sincere. She wanted to warn Xia De not to say the wrong thing, then noticed her two colleagues standing behind Sister Sister Daifulin winking at Xia De:

"Their relationship with him... is it just acquaintances and friends?"

But Xia De didn't need their reminder:

"No, Sister, this matter I must ask you about. The flame proves the contract between you and me. I cannot casually accept someone else's power."

Claire Reinhardt blushed slightly. Sister Sister Daifulin lowered her head and "met his gaze" with Xia De for a moment, then gave a slight nod:

"I permit it. You may obtain power from her. Within one week, come see me once."

"No problem. We can discuss this matter in detail."

Xia De nodded. Although Sister Sister Daifulin sometimes hid her emotions, she meant exactly what she said. Since she said she permitted Xia De to obtain power from the ancient Sister, it certainly wasn't a "test" or "words spoken in anger."

【Note: she only said she permits you to obtain power from that Sister. So if you encounter a new ancient Sister, you still need to say something to her.】

A gentle voice reminded him in the sea breeze. Under the starlight, Xia De committed this matter firmly to memory:

"Sister, can you help treat Miss Reinhardt's injuries?"

The stern Sister then "looked" at her. This was the first time Sister Sister Daifulin had looked at Claire Reinhardt since appearing:

"The soul has not been wounded. Only the spirit within has been thrown into chaos by Whispers elements. Rest for one night and she'll be fine. I'll go explain the rescue situation to Adele Isabella."

As she spoke, she turned to leave, but Vanessa and Sylvia stood in place without moving.

But the Sister was called to a halt by the somewhat ashamed Witch:

"Sister Sister Daifulin... could you not mention that I'm on Fatumonster Island? And Vanessa and Sylvia, I..."

The Sister clasped her hands together in front of her, head slightly lowered. With her back to the snowy mountains and facing the sea, the silver eye-mask and the cold moonlight seemed to merge into one. She didn't say a single word, so the Miss being supported by Xia De said embarrassedly:

"Sorry, this request is indeed excessive. I will later explain to the Madam President why I appeared here. Thank you for your help tonight. Also, I recently hired this Mr. on the island to do some things for me. Please allow me to temporarily borrow the strength of the Fire-Bearer you have chosen. Something terrible is happening in my homeland."

"The Fire-Bearer's actions depend solely on his own will."

Sister Sister Daifulin said in a cool, clear voice, though the oppressive pressure from earlier was gone.

She turned and left. After two steps, she transformed into a streak of firelight and flew toward the sky, quickly disappearing into the night. The Sister had come in a hurry, and left in a hurry as well. She didn't care what new relationship Xia De had with the Witch, but she could not ignore Xia De's contact with the ancient Sister.

Having now obtained from Xia De the promise that he would consult her opinion, Sister Sister Daifulin was reassured.

So only the three Great Witches and Xia De remained. Vanessa and Sylvia drew closer to the two of them. Vanessa took Xia De's hand, Sylvia grabbed Miss Reinhardt's hand, and helped them both stand up together.

Miss Reinhardt had originally wanted to explain her situation with the man beside her, but she hadn't expected that after Xia De stood up, he would be hugged directly by Vanessa.

The Thirteenth-Tier Great Witch said gently:

"It's been so long. This time you specially sent word looking for me—I thought you were missing me."

"Yes, it's really been a long time. You, this traveling writer, wander all over the place. Catching even a glimpse of you is really not easy."

Sylvia said the same. After letting Xia De support Miss Reinhardt, she also gave Xia De a light hug.

"You..."

"What? He's allowed to hold you, but we're not allowed to hug him?"

Vanessa put one hand on her hip:

"What our relationship with him is, you can figure out for yourself. But remember, this is our shared secret. We're all the same."

When she said "the same," she blinked with particular meaning, which almost made Claire Reinhardt feel as if her little secret thoughts at the bottom of her heart had been seen through.

"Alright, let's head back to the Council and report in too. Honestly, having to go out this late—I miss my warm bedroom."

Sylvia and Vanessa thus waved their hands and left as swiftly as Sister Sister Daifulin had, but Xia De was almost certain the two of them were still nearby. He could even imagine them huddled together, watching this spot while whispering to each other.

Only two people remained on the sea cliff. When Xia De's gaze fell upon the witch, her face flushed red at once:

"I'm actually the Sun's Great Witch within the 【Witches' Council】. I'm sorry—I didn't know you were one of the 【Spirit Cultivators' Order】 before."

The witch said this to Xia De in a low voice, and Xia De apologized again. He understood what Vanessa and Sylvia meant—the witches were going to play some different games this time:

"Between me and them... that was a long time ago, and so was the story with Sister Sister Daifulin, but I swear I never meant to harm the Witches' Council. I'll tell you about those things later—can you stand on your own right now?"

Somehow, after learning that others had already had 'intimate' contact with Xia De, and that doing the same herself would surely be fine, Klara Reinhardt became quite bashful when facing him:

"It's fine, I can stand on my own."

Though she said so, when Xia De let go, she still stumbled. Xia De hurriedly steadied her, and the Miss with platinum-blonde long hair declined once, then stopped refusing.

The moonlight tonight was very bright; the waves were striking the reefs, the cold wind blowing across the snow mountains—the scenery was quite lovely.

"Since you know about us... then the Witch's Curse."

"They've talked to me about it, but no one knows why the Witch's Curse has no effect on me. Let me state again: I'm quite certain I'm male."

Klara Reinhardt pressed her lips together and nodded, not quite daring to look at Xia De. When they had first met in the daytime, a faint feeling had stirred in her heart; after the rescue just now, she was fully certain of that feeling's existence.

Originally she had been wary because she didn't know his true identity, but now with Sister Sister Daifulin's confirmation, this identity was truly fitting. The 'forbidden' thoughts she had once harbored would still be suppressed by the Council's rules, but since others had already 'broken the rules' first, then she...

"This doesn't count as stealing someone else's thing—after all, Vanessa and Sylvia only know him, and clearly haven't made up their minds yet..."

The fiery Miss had fiery thoughts; she suddenly felt that this trip home wasn't so bad after all. The snow mountains always seemed to shelter her—even though she had been away for years, the moment she returned home, they were already giving her a surprise.

?? PS: I may post a ten-million-character reflection later—thank you all for your support along the way.

? (End of this chapter)