Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 1258 - 44: The Girl’s Confusion

Chapter 1258: Chapter 44: The Girl’s Confusion

The evening on Fox Street was already tranquil and peaceful, with the sunset’s afterglow spilling from the horizon, casting a beautiful red hue on everything in the street. Wisps of cooking smoke rose from each building, stretching straight towards the sky. The white mists carried the scent of food, making the whole street feel alive with the breath of life. From afar, the cheerful noise of children playing reached the ears, marking the time when schools let out for the day. Freed from a day of study, the children ran and roughhoused in the streets, unleashing their youthful energy. On the street, passersby heading home were a common sight. For the adults who had worked hard all day, there was nothing happier than a leisurely stroll on the way home, looking forward to the smiling faces of loved ones as they opened their front doors.

The storm that Vivian had stirred up in the city seemed not to have touched this quiet street; or rather, to these neighbors who often saw the mage girl, there was no difference between the mage girl who caused a sensation in the city and the one who was usually gentle and approachable. In everyone’s heart, even if she had become the center of attention, people still wished to see Vivian as the kind girl who lived among them, the one who, despite her frailty, rarely refused requests for help and was willing to solve many of the troubles they encountered. Therefore, even when they met the mage girl on the street, the neighbors consciously avoided behaviors that might overly expose the girl’s identity. They greeted her as usual, chatting for a bit like old friends, no different from encountering an ordinary neighbor. The people on the whole street, although they had not previously arranged it, naturally used their own ways to protect the girl, hoping she could at least be free from too much external disturbance on this street.

"So," said the mage girl, walking ahead of Pannis with her hands behind her back and bouncing along like a real little girl, "I like this street and these adorable neighbors." Ever since she had cured her own long-standing illness, she especially enjoyed this vibrant and youthful way of walking. Pannis followed closely behind like an older brother taking care of his little sister, smiling at the mix of bliss and confusion on the girl’s face but not offering any commentary. The girl wasn’t expecting Pannis’s comments and mused to herself, "Every time I come back to this street, I feel extraordinarily relaxed, so relaxed that even if I completely cut off contact with the outside world, I wouldn’t have to worry."

"Well, I think you’ve always cut off contact with the outside world wherever you were," Pannis habitually said what others least wanted to hear, grinning teasingly, "That’s why you need to be led by a rope... Hey hey hey, don’t be mad, and you’re reacting all wrong! You’re a girl, after all. Other girls would just turn their heads and ignore me in anger, but you? Why do you start raising fireballs without a word? Hey, calm down, calm down. Look, the neighbors are watching and laughing at you, put it down."

"They’re clearly laughing at you," the girl made a face at Pannis, dissipated the fireball in her hand, and waved at the passersby as if greeting them. Amidst the teasing and friendly chuckles about doing daily quests, she grabbed Pannis’s hand and ran forward, not slowing down until all the witnesses had been left behind. Then, walking more slowly, she said in a low voice, "All the way here, I’ve been thinking about what could be wrong with me that’s preventing me from being as happy and excited as I imagined I would be."

"Oh?" Pannis raised an eyebrow and, stroking his chin, asked, "So, have you come to any conclusions?"

"No conclusions," the girl shook her head, without appearing too confused, and said casually, "At first, I thought it might be the emptiness that comes from having achieved everything, losing the thing I had been pursuing for many years."

"Hmm, that could be part of it," Pannis said noncommittally, "Losing one’s goals, having attained everything, tends to make people feel empty and confused. If one’s mindset isn’t adjusted properly, many would sink into depression and fall, never returning to their original spirit."

"Hmph, you know that’s not true," the girl snorted softly but didn’t show any dissatisfaction with Pannis’s feigned mysteriousness. Instead, she tightened her grasp on Pannis’s hand and drew him closer. "At first, that’s what I thought, but I quickly rejected that idea because I haven’t lost my purpose. There are still so many things I want to do. I haven’t finished paying off my sister’s debt, haven’t helped Lina reunite with all her friends, haven’t saved Freya who was deceived by false doctrines, haven’t helped Ava become completely normal, and most importantly, I’m still waiting for... Hmph, you idiot, dimwit, I should just kill you."

"Hey, hey, we were talking just fine, how come it suddenly turned into a fight." Pannis dodged the girl’s light punches, speaking in a dazed manner, "I haven’t even said anything, why am I getting beaten up."

"Because you deserve it, and you know why," the girl said, punching Pannis a few times on his back before regaining her composure: "Anyway, I have far too many goals to pursue to ever fall into that so-called post-success decline, so I quickly dismissed that guess. Huh, why did they close up shop so early today? Usually Nicole and Rachel would still be tallying inventory in the store at this time."

"Who knows, they must have had something else to do." Standing in front of the closed door of Nicole and Rachel’s ancient artifact store, Pannis shrugged indifferently, "Maybe they snuck off to get married at the church."

"What nonsense are you talking about, they’re both women." The girl glared at Pannis, but upon recalling the way those two typically interacted, she couldn’t help laughing herself. Blushing, she shook her head vigorously, "In any case, you’re not allowed to say that."

"Alright, alright, you’re the boss," Pannis sulkily said, "I won’t say it."

"Although I still haven’t figured out what the problem is, I have a vague feeling." The girl gazed at the western-style house behind the metal fence and said softly, "I feel like, maybe, I’ve been wrong all these years."

"Is that so?" Pannis pushed open the metal gate in front of the western-style house’s front yard. Everyone seemed to be busy; it was silent inside and out, as if there was nobody there. Closing the gate behind him, and walking on the gravel path, Pannis asked in a casual tone, "Wrong about what?"

"I don’t know yet, it’s just a hunch." The girl shook her head and reached out to open the tightly closed door of the house, "But I think, one day, I will figure it out."

"Bang, bang, bang," an explosion of loud noises abruptly erupted beside the girl, joining into one.