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Chapter 121
The Sun of the Tribe
When Ann entered the portal, she felt a very nauseating feeling, the sensation that everything around her was warping around.
And when that sensation disappeared and she breathed in the very fresh air, she opened her eyes reflexively and sucked in a deep breath.
The scenery in front of her was very otherworldly.
Though she was already in another world, this was like being in yet another world while being inside another world.
The sky was clear, the air was the freshest she’s ever felt, the forest was so alive and green, the scent of grasses and leaves and nature was so invigorating.
The next thing she noticed was how there were settlements around the forest, and there were a lot more people with characteristics similar to Nymnienna all around the place. There were also some monsters living alongside them.
To sum it up, it was as if the Imparie tribe was coexisting harmoniously together with nature.
Something that was almost never seen anywhere else, not in the modern Earth as well as the current world she’s in.
The scenery was so dreamy, as if they had just been transported to a heavenly world.
That illusion was immediately broken as they passed by the area with Nymnienna as their lead.
The people of the Imparie tribe who noticed them immediately had a change in their expression. They looked at them with eyes full of guard and suspicion, some even muttering to the others something like, “Why are there humans here?!”
…As if they didn’t consider themselves as humans.
Officially, they were listed under the human race, only that they were a separate tribe.
Perhaps since there were little differences between them, and their number wasn’t that many to be considered a different species altogether.
It’s clear that nobody welcomed Ann and the party, even though they were obviously traveling with the crown prince of the Siegcrest kingdom, nobody seemed to bat an eye, nor even welcome them warmly.
Nymnienna didn’t say anything, she just silently escorted them to the place where the tribe’s current leader was.
There were gasps when the other Imparie tribe members seemingly noticed where they were going. As they moved forward, there were less people and settlements around.
They arrived in front of the dense part of the forest with what seemed like a torii gate, with two guards standby on the gate’s left and right side: one male and one female.
Nymnienna stopped in front of them, giving only eye signals before the guards saluted and moved away, giving way for them to enter.
They followed the oddly natural path lying ahead. The path was so unnatural yet natural in a way that it seemed as if someone had ordered the trees and grasses to steer away from the path they wanted.
Eventually, they arrived in an empty round ground surrounded by trees and grasses, and a lone figure kneeling in the middle of the said ground, seemingly doing something like a prayer.
Due to the solemn atmosphere from the moment they stepped after the gate, they adjusted their walking so that it wasn’t noisy at all, following Nymnienna’s example. And the moment they reached this odd place with a lone figure in the middle, they immediately stopped.
Even so, the figure in the middle of the ground slowly rose up from the ground, turned around, and calmly approached them, as if their arrival had been informed to this figure before. Of course, that wasn’t the case though.
The figure approaching them was a woman with similar brown skin as Nymnienna. She was adorned in their tribe’s traditional outfit that was similar to the ancient royal outfit from East Asia, her hair was tied above her head with some kind of cloth. Though she looked youthful, the little part of the hair and the strands of the hair peeking through the cloth tie was all white. Her forehead was exposed, with a bright amethyst jewel embedded in the middle of it. They couldn’t see if this woman also had horns like other Imparie tribe members, but assuming that she also possessed a pair of horns, they were covered by her cloth tie around her head. Golden headdress was placed just above her cloth tie.
At first, she walked solemnly with her eyes closed, her left hand carrying a magician staff that was seen as a walking cane in the beginning. When she opened her eyes, her eyes were the color of a very clear water.
Compared to Nymnienna’s vigilance and cool beauty aura that emitted a hint of viciousness, the woman walking towards them had a motherly aura.
The mesmerized Ann quickly snapped out of it when Nymnienna and the rest of her party walked forward to meet that figure in the middle.
“I greet the sun of the tribe,” Nymnienna did a knight’s salutation, half-kneeling, in front of the motherly figure in front of her.
“Rise,” The motherly figure said. And so Nymnienna rose and briefly explained the matter to the person in front of her. The woman nodded, and Nymnienna introduced the woman standing before her.
“This is our tribe’s leader, Rakiasha Minaralei fa Fiel XV.”
“Nice to meet you, I’m Kiehl Velt Griffiths, the crown prince of the Siegcrest kingdom,” Prince Kiehl was the first one to respond as he introduced the rest of the party.
“What matter is it that you want to talk about?” Rakiasha didn’t beat around the bush and went straight to the point.
Ann felt that it was odd how Rakiasha seemed to have this gentle motherly aura, yet she also had a majestic air around her that seemingly forced them to immediately feel deep respect towards her, especially when she opened her mouth.
They then proceeded to tell Rakiasha and Nymnienna about Ann’s story.
During when they narrated Ann’s story, Ann could feel that Mila was looking at her with sharp eyes that seemed to say, ‘I don’t buy any of those.’
Ann could only pray that Rakiasha and Nymnienna didn’t notice Mila’s look of distrust since it’d be detrimental to their mission.
Luckily, Mila’s expression was only visible from Ann’s angle of view, as if she purposely arranged it to be that way.
“If this humble priest may say it, I believe that the fact the honorable Mythical Bird of Transcendence forced this girl into contract with her in order to help with our cause,” Elder Matthias said as he walked forward with Birdie perched on his hand.
Rakiasha opened her arms as if to welcome Birdie.
Birdie, who was usually wary of strangers, immediately hopped onto Rakiasha’s finger when she noticed that Rakiasha was there, beckoning her.
“Chirp, chirp!” Birdie chirped happily
“This bird…,” Rakiasha said as she examined Birdie closely, from all angles and touched Birdie gently.
“Chirp!”
“This bird is indeed the Mythical Bird of Transcendence that occupies the highest hierarchy among all of our Companions,” Rakiasha said carefully.
The leader of the Imparie tribe confirmed Birdie to be the legendary bird!!
Ann was in awe.
Back then, she only believed 50% in Elder Matthias’ confirmation. But now that they had verified it with the original source of information, her belief about Birdie’s identity soared to 100%.
It’s true that we can’t underestimate anyone. This puny blob of pink furball is actually this awesome?!
“But she seems to be so young. I wonder why she would appear when she is this young. Normally, they would appear in front of others when they have reached maturity,” Rakiasha slightly frowned.
“Chirp chirrpp?” Birdie tilted her head.
“But the most important fact remains that Birdie is the Mythical Bird of Transcendence whose fate and life is intertwined with your tribe, right?” Allen asked.
Rakiasha turned her line of sight towards Allen and nodded, “It’s true.”
“Then, will you be able to help us with our request?” Allen asked. Rakiasha frowned.
Seeing this, Prince Kiehl stepped forward and said, “We won’t ask for anything and follow your lead. As long as you can help us hold the ritual successfully, we will comply with anything you ask.”
“……,” Rakiasha only frowned and proceeded to move her hand and observed Birdie from many angles once more.
The situation was so tense, with only silence surrounding them.
After a while, Rakiasha’s voice rang.
“We refuse to accept that this bird is fated for that human girl over there. She’s too young to understand things, she hasn’t interacted with any of us and strayed to the filthy human world. As such, I believe that she chose the wrong person due to her inadequate knowledge. We also don’t know if you just made up the story in order to steal our ritual to do vile things with that knowledge in hand. After all, her story comes a little bit too… far-fetched. We will take this bird under our care to find her true fated partner and will reward you accordingly for finding her for us. You can retreat now and I will find a way to break the contract established between this bird and that girl.”
The coldness in her voice caused chills to run down their spine, and before they could even react, Rakiasha had already turned around and walked away from the premise. She walked leisurely, but she immediately arrived at the other side of the round ground, and just when they were wondering where she’d go, a path opened up in front of her, though it was just a dead end before.
“Birdieeee!!” Ann ran quickly to chase after Rakiasha, not noticing Nymnienna’s very cold stare.
Allen was the one who noticed it and immediately held Ann back.
If any of them dared to walk past Nymnienna, it was unmistakable that Nymnienna would slash them without any hesitation. It was a stare that Allen had known so well. One with murderous intent.
“Birdieee! Give her back to mee! Birdieeee! Come to meeee!!”
Ann shouted like crazy, but there was no reaction whatsoever from Rakiasha, and Birdie who was currently in her hands.
Ann continued to shout more frantically when she noticed that Rakiasha’s figure started to disappear. Her body struggled more, and Allen had to tighten his embrace around her.
“Birdiee! Come back here!! Birdieeeee!!”
Yet, nobody answered her desperate call…
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