Chapter 278 — The Inspiration Brought by Solgilin
Blade of Dawn · Page 1 of 4
Kamal looked at the fragment of bone Tir handed him with some surprise, and for a long while said nothing. Seeing this, Tir smiled faintly and waved a hand with perfect unconcern. "No need to thank me. The truth is, I've never been interested in your empires and kingdoms that bloom for a day and then vanish. Helping you was no more than lifting a finger."
"No, I'm just curious—do you usually store your things inside your own stomach?"
Tir: "...Yes. Is that a problem?"
"No... no problem at all. The fault is my narrow vision," Kamal said, tucking away the bone fragment with the expression of a man staring into a hundred and forty lumens. "I'm still very grateful for your help, Miss Tir. But why did you pick up a piece of bone like this in the first place?"
"Honestly, I was going to have a taste of it at first, but then I thought—eating a human-shaped creature like this is a bit much, even for me. So I only picked up a piece of bone to keep as a souvenir. But it turned out this thing was decomposing fast the whole time, even inside my stomach it kept decomposing." Tir flicked the tip of her tail. "I was just about to find a quiet corner and spit it out, but since it's useful to you now, you may as well have it."
Kamal's expression darkened (literally). Suddenly he no longer quite wanted that sample—though Tir insisted she had brought the bone back as a collector's item, the whole account sounded far too much like something that had been half-digested...
And he had to thank Tir for accepting the thing...
The siren lady, however, guessed what was going through Kamal's mind. She simply felt that this troublesome piece of business was finally concluded, and the urge to go back to her room and sleep overwhelmed everything else. After a great yawn, the sea caterpillar arched her body and wriggled away from the administrative hall, hump by hump.
Gao Yang returned to his study and, without surprise, found Solgilin already waiting inside, while Betty stood beside him holding a large teapot, as though she had been tending to him there for quite some time.
"We discussed post-war production," Gao Yang said, ruffling Betty's head as he entered and sending the little maid off to rest next door, then seating himself behind his desk. "I actually meant to call you over as well."
Solgilin shook his head calmly. "Best not. My present status is still not that of a Cecil retainer—for the time being I hold the titles of Typhon commander and prisoner of war. It would be inappropriate for me to attend your meetings."
"You're always overly principled about matters that don't affect the big picture," Gao Yang said, glancing at him with some helplessness. "Even I, the lord of this domain, have said it's fine. What are you still insisting on?"
"Most elves are like this. We are, by nature, a race that takes things seriously," Solgilin said with a laugh. "Having dealt with elves so many times, you should long since be used to our principled ways."
He would have done better not to mention it—the moment he did, Gao Yang's mind couldn't help conjuring the image of a certain pointy-eared girl who deserved a good smack for her utter lack of principles. "...Not all elves are like that. Look at Amber—her bloodline must be fake."
Solgilin's face also turned helpless at the word Amber; that half-elven creature ran wild all over the domain stirring up trouble every day, and had clearly left a deep impression on this high ranger. "Miss Amber... she does indeed have half silver-elf blood, but her manner of doing things really makes one wonder how much that half is actually worth in her... Perhaps it has something to do with her other half."
"So anything good must come from your excellent silver-elf bloodline, and any bad habit must be the fault of the mixed blood," Gao Yang said, shooting Solgilin a glance. But he didn't press the point—he merely tossed off the tease and moved on. "Never mind that. What do you make of this battle?"