Departure
Departure
It didn't take long for the day of their departure to arrive, and Evelyn couldn't help but feel a little melancholic as she threw the blue metal ball into the lake, watching Nadia shoot off to catch it before it could touch the surface.
Although it may not be as good as some of the specialized artifacts that she could have found if she looked for them, probably, Evelyn still wanted to give Nadia something she had made herself.
It wasn't particularly difficult to make, as she simply had to reshape the blue metal into a big hollow ball, and the whole process took barely a minute. The only thing precious about this ball was probably the material it was made from, but that was also something she obtained from Aurora.
Nevertheless, Evelyn was happy to discover that Nadia liked to play 'fetch the ball' in the lake, chasing after the ball 'leisurely' before bringing it back. Of course, for everyone but herself, Nadia's leisurely speed was already like a bolt of lightning, and the fact that it didn't even seem to disturb the water's surface only made it more eerie.
Thankfully, her friends soon got used to Nadia pretty quickly, and while the mermaid seemed to not pay them much attention, Evelyn could tell that she was quite proud to receive all the attention.
The only thing Evelyn found unfortunate was that none of them would be able to stay behind with Nadia to keep her company, except for Aurora.
As for her teacher… although she seemed to get along with Nadia too, Evelyn noticed that they never really tried to communicate. Compared to the little mermaid's excited appearance whenever she saw Evelyn, and the smug look when meeting her other friends, her interactions with Aurora were almost confusing.
Whenever the two of them were left alone, Evelyn noticed that Aurora only dipped her feet in water and stared at the sky, while Nadia just saw around leisurely, not paying her any attention at all.
Of course, the fact that Nadia didn't retreat to the bottom of the lake was already an 'acknowledgment' of some level, and Evelyn couldn't find it in her heart to push her further.
Anyway, she hoped that the two of them would be able to keep each other company, and neither her teacher nor Nadia would be so lonely without her.
Evelyn could only sigh in her heart. She didn't even know how long it would take her to return, so she couldn't even make a promise with either of them. Instead, she could only selfishly ask for a promise from her teacher, making her swear to take care of herself.
As for Nadia, she could only leave her with a goodbye hug, and hope that the little baby wasn't too distressed later, and she was able to convey what she wanted from their soul link.
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After obtaining the 'Champion's Chariot', Evelyn had already modified its interior to her liking. After all, she and her friends would be traveling in this thing for quite a while, and there was no need to make themselves uncomfortable.
The default size of the chariot's interior was only five feet wide and ten feet long, but at the cost of using an extra point of spirit power every hour, Evelyn was able to change it to twice that size.
Of course, this was still far from enough to be luxurious for long journeys, but she believed that it would be sufficient for the few of them to be able to rest comfortably.
The requirements for a team entering Lumenzarha's 'Trial By Fire' were strict, and Evelyn obviously preferred to have her friends follow her rather than having to recruit some strangers.
Although there hadn't been any 'great opportunities' in the trial so far, Evelyn believed that Gwendolyn wouldn't make such a joke with her at this time.
Therefore, either she would enter a place that was completely different from the rest of the trial takers, or the trial itself would be different this time.
In either case, Evelyn wanted to let her friends decide for themselves whether they wanted to take this opportunity to grow alongside her, or let some strangers take it instead.
Of course, even if Evelyn had to recruit strangers in the end, she would have parted ways with them shortly after the trial. As for what they do later… it was none of her concern.
But none of her friends refused her invitation, despite her repeated warnings of the possible danger ahead.
It wasn't that she didn't want them to follow, of course, but Evelyn believed they must at least know what they were getting into.
Of course, this included her status as a throne.
Evelyn couldn't help but shake her head with a smile as she recalled their reactions, or lack thereof. Aside from the shock and admiration from Amber, the others either didn't really understand or seemed to have expected it.
She still remembered Cecilia patting her head with a smug grin, saying 'as expected of my wifey', but for the first time that day, Evelyn felt like her words weren't teasing at all.
In the case of the Gilmore sisters, Amara and Vivian, they had already followed her all the way in everything, and Evelyn could only accept their company with gratitude.
As for Ruru and Bree… needless to say, even if Evelyn tried to separate from them, they wouldn't agree. Although Bree's mentality had recovered to an extent, she was still somewhat of a 'child', and her dependence on Evelyn wasn't reduced at all.
The only change that the pink-haired girl noticed was that her words were more concise, and her thoughts were also more elaborate than before.
Evelyn thought that just like her body, her mind should have already recovered to her early teens, or maybe it was even completely restored.
What was keeping her from completely 'healing', however, was the remaining fragmentation in her soul, which was probably blocking her from accessing her full memory. Evelyn already had a few ideas in mind to get through that issue, though none of them could be implemented immediately.
In the end, the one who surprised her the most was Amber. Although they had already established some 'friendship', Evelyn didn't believe that the little redhead should be able to give everything up to follow her to Lumenzarha.
In fact, she had already been reluctant to tell her about it in the first place, but considering how her enemies probably already knew her status, Evelyn decided to do so anyway. The only thing she didn't tell the girl was where they were going, except that it would be extremely dangerous, and she was very likely to die.
Shockingly, though, the more Evelyn persuaded her otherwise, the more determined Amber became, and the pink-haired girl finally realized the feeling of hitting a wall.
Amber assured her that her reasons for following her really weren't just out of attachment, but also because she had a desire to grow. She didn't want to be so weak and helpless in the future, and hoped to stand shoulder to shoulder with the strongest.
Evelyn didn't have anything more to say after that, and decided to let her follow. Anyway, in her heart, she had already considered Amber to be a candidate for a position on her team, or she wouldn't have mentioned the matter to her at all. The only reason she had been reluctant was the girl was still too young, and too weak.
With the seven of them, normally the space would be quite congested, but Evelyn didn't decide to expand it further.
After all, although Bree's body had changed to be slightly older now, she was still able to revert back to her puppy form at will, and Ruru barely took up any space, whether it was in her fox form or the thumbelina form. In fact, had it not been for their bond, she would be worried about the little thing getting lost between the cushions.
So technically, there were only five girls in the carriage, and two little plushy toys.
Cecilia couldn't help but gasp in amazement as she entered the chariot. She had been prepared to squeeze in with everyone else for a long, uncomfortable ride, but this was far from what she was expecting. "Wow, these sofas are big enough for us to sleep?!"
Evelyn smiled. "Of course, this is where we would be sleeping whenever there is a need to do so, after all. So you better get used to it."
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