Chapter 2354: Chapter 2355: Tears of the Soul

Mist Belt, Reef Island.

"Cindy has been gone for almost an hour now, why hasn’t she awakened?" The chubby apprentice muttered with his greasy mouth as he ate grilled fish, "Could she have gone off to eat, drink, and be merry?"

When the chubby apprentice mentioned "eat, drink, and be merry," his eyes clearly glimmered. He was fortunate enough to visit that mysterious Dreamy City once and tasted incredibly delicious food, reportedly made by a culinary apprentice, and even the ingredients used were of the magical food variety.

Most importantly, one only needs to take on some ordinary construction tasks, and meals are free!

Those foods that would cost at least a hundred magic crystals in reality are provided for free. For the food-loving chubby apprentice, this Dreamy City is simply a luxurious paradise.

So he judged Cindy based on his own indulgences when she hadn’t gone offline for a while.

"Hmph, do you think everyone is like you?" The purple-robed apprentice scoffed.

"I, what did I do wrong? Are you looking to start a fight again?"

The purple-robed apprentice snorted coldly, "Did I say anything wrong? As a Wizard Apprentice, the most important thing is insight. Do you still not understand what kind of person Cindy is, and instead, you equate her to your low level? Isn’t that laughable?"

The chubby apprentice, glowering, was about to retort, but the female apprentice interrupted irritably: "Are you planning to argue like this every day? Quarreling over nothing? It’s getting annoying. If you have the guts, wait until Ferro returns and argue in front of him."

"Hmph." Both the purple-robed and chubby apprentice snorted in disdain, turning their faces away from each other.

The female apprentice rubbed her temples helplessly, then looked at Cindy, whose eyes were tightly closed, "Cindy definitely didn’t go to indulge herself. However, the chubby one has a point; Cindy has been gone a long time this time. A report should only take a few minutes..."

At this moment, the female apprentice’s expression slightly showed concern, "Sigh, I’m a bit worried."

"Worried? Worried about what?" The chubby apprentice asked, confused, "The Wilderness of Dreams is so safe, and we’re guarding her physical body, so what’s there to worry about?"

The purple-robed apprentice said irately, "I say you’re dumb, and you won’t admit it. Think carefully, who did Cindy go to report to this time?"

"Lord Nis... Nis! That old lecher!" The chubby apprentice suddenly realized.

"Shh." The female apprentice made a shushing motion; despite being disgusted by Nis’s personal ethics, he is still an Official Wizard. If their words got out, they would be doomed.

Realizing this, the chubby apprentice quickly covered his mouth and looked pleadingly at the female apprentice and the purple-robed apprentice, hoping they wouldn’t spread what he’d said.

The purple-robed apprentice was too lazy to respond, while the female apprentice sighed lightly, "Why did Ferro give the log-in device to Cindy before leaving, not to either of you? It would have been better."

If a man went to report, Nis would never give a glance. But Cindy, that’s different.

"Don’t overthink it, maybe Cindy just got delayed for some reason," said the purple-robed apprentice quietly, though the tone was not firm.

Just as the atmosphere grew heavy and everyone was worried, a voice with an icy texture called out: "What are you guys talking about? What did I get delayed on?"

They all turned their heads suddenly, seeing that Cindy, who was lying by the campfire asleep, had now opened her eyes and was sitting up.

Because of their previous discussion topic, they looked a bit awkward.

"I’m asking you, what was delayed?" Cindy sat up, removing the chain from her brow. — The chain on her brow clasped a blue gemstone, the log-in device to the Wilderness of Dreams. In Ferro’s hands, the blue gemstone clasp was an earring; after Cindy got it, she added a chain to turn it into a brow chain.

After carefully putting away the log-in device, Cindy hadn’t gotten an answer, so she looked at them with confusion, "If you won’t say, never mind. I have something to do... where’s Reynold?"

"Nothing, the chubby one said you didn’t go offline for so long and must have gone to indulge. We were all just reproaching him." The female apprentice didn’t hesitate to sell out the chubby apprentice: "Reynold, he’s sitting over there on the rock, daydreaming."

Cindy cast a cold glance at the chubby apprentice, saying nothing. She knew him well; his mind was mostly about eating and playing, so it was no surprise he’d say such things.

"Lord Pat asked me to go offline to ask Reynold something. After asking, I need to go back online to report." Cindy stood up and walked over to Reynold.

Hearing Cindy’s words, the others breathed a sigh of relief. They knew exactly who Lord Pat was, and if it was him, there was no need to worry about Cindy having any trouble. This lord’s reputation in the Barbarian Cave was always good, at least in the eyes of the witches, infinitely better than Nis.

Cindy arrived by Reynold’s side.

Reynold was still sitting mindlessly on the reef, gazing at the ocean concealed by mist in the distance.

"Reynold," Cindy called.

Reynold turned his head blankly, "Huh?"

Cindy didn’t waste time on pleasantries. Seeing Reynold turn toward her, she directly asked, "I have a question for you and you must answer truthfully."

Reynold: "I’ve lost many of my memories..."

Cindy: "I need you to answer honestly. Even if you’ve forgotten, you must tell me you’ve forgotten."

This was Angel’s order, and Cindy dared not slack off, her expression and tone extremely solemn.

Reynold thought for a moment, then nodded: "I’ll do my best, but what I can say, I’ve already said before..."

Cindy didn’t wait for Reynold to finish, she directly asked her question: "Never mind the rest, I just want to ask you if you know Nausicaa?"

As soon as Cindy asked, Reynold instantly froze, as if time itself had stopped.

Seeing Reynold unresponsive, Cindy thought he hadn’t heard clearly and repeated her question: "Nausicaa, full name Nausicaa Asberu, or King of Blackberry. Have you ever heard... of her?"

Initially phrased as a question, Cindy’s voice softened on the last word as she noticed a shimmer of moisture in Reynold’s eyes.

A soul, with a glint of moisture in its eyes?

While Cindy was stunned, she didn’t know that within Reynold’s consciousness at this moment, various fragmented images were swirling around.

These images were like broken puzzle pieces; he had tried piecing them together before but could never find the starting point, so he let these memory fragments continuously sink deeper and deeper.

But as Cindy mentioned the name "Nausicaa," these sunken puzzle pieces in the depths of his consciousness found a guiding thread. They began to light up in the dark and gradually followed some unexplainable order, flying out piece by piece, starting to piece together before Reynold’s eyes—

Inside Fangling Hall.

"Is there really something I need there?"

"Yes, I saw with my own eyes hands of humans, humanoids, even magical creatures, and demons. Among them was a right arm with patterns, supposedly from a powerful Witch."

On the coast of Flourish Continent.

"Have you really made up your mind? Though what you seek— the transplantation organ may be there, it’s also a dangerous place, a deadly gamble."

"I’ve come this far; how could I turn back now? Besides, didn’t you already decide to assist me from the inside? As long as we choose the right moment, our success rate is still high."

In front of a valley on West Sidor Mist Isle.

"Why is there a number tattoo on your face, an × here and a 1 there, what does it mean?"

"This is a mark brought from the World of the Dead, engraved upon my soul. It has given me a powerful soul, but it has also become a shackle that imprisons me. Every time I escape from the laboratory, I am brought back because of its presence... The valley you see before you was blasted out years ago when they pursued me."

In the depths of the Mist Belt.

"Ahead is the destination; you still have a choice now, to leave or stay. Once you take this step forward, you will have no chance to regret it."

"I said I wouldn’t regret it. If there’s a glimmer of hope, I’ll seize it."

In the chaotic laboratory.

"Damn, we’ve been discovered... Number 17 actually left a backup! No, it’s the young of that creature! We can’t fight it, even an Official Wizard might die! We must retreat, I have to break free!"

"Run!"

"It’s chasing us!"

"I... It’s my fault. You go first, leave the rest to me."

"What are you going to do? Are you going to try that weapon? No, it’ll kill you!"

"This is our last chance to escape, run, run... You must survive, Nausicaa..."

The imagery of memory halted abruptly.

Although many fragments of memory have not pieced together yet, what Reynaud has seen is already enough to make him remember many things.

He now finally understands why he keeps gazing out to sea.

Because.

He is watching, he is praying, he is waiting... for the miracle to appear.

The inner thoughts of Reynaud are known only to himself. In Cindy’s eyes, she sees Reynaud standing still as a statue.

Only the eyes, gradually filled with moisture, tell her that what she sees is not a statue.

"Is he crying?" At this moment, others also came forward; the female apprentice looked at Reynaud in confusion: "Why is he crying? Do souls have tears?"

"Souls have no tears. However, the form of a soul is controlled by one’s own obsession; his tears might also be a projection of his emotions," said the apprentice in the purple robe.

"So, you’re saying he’s sad?" guessed the female apprentice.

"Crying is not only due to sadness; one can cry when joyful too," instinctively argued the chubby apprentice.

"Do you think he’s shedding tears of joy now?" the apprentice in the purple robe remarked speechlessly, the air was so thick with sorrow it was almost visible!

The soul is a very pure energy body, and the emotions it emits can even be perceived by mortals. So without a doubt, Reynaud is crying due to sadness.

But what could make Reynaud so sad?

Everyone unconsciously looked toward Cindy because Reynaud had seemed fine until Cindy said a few words, and then he ended up like this.

"Cindy, what’s going on with him?"

"I don’t know." Cindy shook her head, looking puzzled. She just asked a question, so why did he start crying?

Reynaud’s silent tears made the atmosphere somewhat peculiar.

This peculiarity lasted for several minutes until Reynaud moved, breaking this eerie atmosphere.

Reynaud lifted his head, looking at Cindy with a face full of tears: "Find her... save her..."

Everyone was puzzled, while Cindy stepped forward quickly, coming beside Reynaud: "What do you mean, are you talking about Nausicaa?"

But Reynaud did not answer, seeming lost in spirit, muttering repeatedly: "Find her, save her."

Apart from this, there were only silent and sorrowful tears.

...

In the Wilderness of Dreams.

"Is that all he said, nothing else?" Nis asked Cindy, who had come online again.

Cindy nodded, "That’s all."

Nis frowned, "Didn’t you think to continue asking?"

Cindy: "I did try asking Reynaud more, but he had no reaction, just kept repeating those two sentences."

Nis: "Then just put the Log-in Device on him, force it on, let him enter the Wilderness of Dreams himself, and we can ask him."

At this point, Angel said, "Cindy should have already given the Log-in Device to Reynaud, but he hasn’t set foot on the Dream Bridge."

Angel sensed earlier through Authority that someone was near the Wilderness of Dreams, but the person remained at the initial position of the Dream Bridge and did not move any further. This person must be Reynaud.

Cindy nodded quickly: "Yes, just as Lord Pat said, I gave Reynaud the Log-in Device, but even forcibly activating it showed no signs of him sleeping. I even mentioned Lord Pat’s name, but he had no reaction. Helplessly, I could only enter myself and report to you."

The person does not wish to enter; even Angel is powerless since he can only control the inside of the Wilderness of Dreams while this person remains on their Dream Bridge.

Nis frowned: "So what do we do now?"

Angel remained silent, lost in thought. On the other side, Ironclad Granny spoke up: "Although Reynaud spoke very little, these two sentences reveal something."

Find her, save her.

Reynaud had this reaction because Cindy mentioned the name "Nausicaa," so there is a high probability that "her" refers to Nausicaa.

Reynaud’s evident sadness suggests that Nausicaa might be in a dire situation.

However, since he also mentioned "find her and save her," perhaps Nausicaa is not yet dead, and there might be a glimmer of hope.

Nis: "I haven’t seen Reynaud’s situation myself, but the soul can’t become a fool for no reason; as long as it hasn’t degenerated, his consciousness should still be clear. I guess he may be affected by emotions, which shouldn’t last too long."

Nis paused: "My suggestion is to talk with Reynaud in detail once his consciousness clears."

Ironclad Granny looked at Angel: "What do you plan to do?"

Ironclad Granny and Nis are not very concerned about Nausicaa since she is just a dispensable apprentice. Yet, since Nausicaa is Angel’s friend, ultimately, Angel’s attitude matters the most.

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