Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 539 - 8: The White Poppy Flower_1

Chapter 539: Chapter 8: The White Poppy Flower_1

The morning in the City of Freedom was immersed in a bustling atmosphere, with bands of mercenaries visible everywhere. These mercenaries, laden with heavy gear, were running neatly along the city streets. As they ran, they continuously swung their blunt-edged swords, executing cleaving movements. Being a mercenary, no one would be foolish enough to slack off during morning training. There’s a saying in the mercenary industry: one extra step in training means one step further from the Grim Reaper. Everyone believed in this saying, as those who didn’t had already perished.

However, although the mercenaries’ steps were uniform, discipline in other aspects could be disregarded. On their running route, numerous young women would throw provocative glances at them. The bold and unrestrained girls in the City of Freedom often gathered in clusters along the streets, pointing fingers at the passing mercenaries, even passing comments on their appearance and physique from time to time. Mature mercenaries would certainly not show weakness, constantly blowing their whistles and making all sorts of teasing remarks. As the girls blushed, their sparkling wide eyes didn’t miss a single ounce of the rugged men.

The citizens of the City of Freedom had long been accustomed to this. This city, which tolerates all activities not violating the law, was rather tolerant of such behavior. The few pedestrians on the sides of the street only met this blatant young group with benign laughter, occasionally cheers of encouragement for the girls could be heard.

Accompanied by the uniform sound of footsteps, a new day in the City of Freedom began. In this city, people were always happy. Even if the overall conditions of the city were not as good as the City of Knowledge, and social welfare was not as good as the Falar Empire and Neville Federation, the residents were still willing to stay here. After all, people become picky once they have tasted the joy of freedom.

On the streets, horse carts loaded with goods constantly passed by. Whenever this happened, training mercenaries would consciously clear the way. After hundreds of years of mutual compromise, mercenaries and civilians have grown accustomed to accommodating and compromising with each other, rarely leading to intense conflicts.

In the Second Residential Area, inside a nondescript small inn, Pannis gently pushed open the inn’s door, squinting his eyes against the morning sun: "What a nice weather."

Next to Pannis, a group of mercenaries ran past, curiously observing this odd figure at the door. Today, Pannis was still dressed in an ordinary black swordsman outfit covered with a thin black cloak, regular black boots for his feet, and a black wide-brimmed hat on his head. This outfit resembled formal attire yet also seemed like adventuring gear, making for a strange combination. It’s no wonder passing mercenaries cast puzzled gazes. However, the City of Freedom was, after all, the City of Freedom. After a few glances, the mercenaries simply disregarded Pannis’ odd attire as it wasn’t intriguing enough to hold their interest for long.

Pannis was obviously aware of this outcome, so he did not pay mind to the mercenaries. He signaled to a rental horse carriage waiting nearby for customers. A carriage quickly stopped in front of Pannis. Pannis got into the carriage, whispered a location to the coachman, who hesitated, reconfirmed the destination, then steered toward Pannis’ destination, brandishing his horsewhip.

"Rattle rattle," the clear and monotonous rhythm of the hoofbeats echoed. The carriage was swaying gently at a steady pace, emitting faint creaking sounds. Sitting in the carriage, Pannis leaned against the carriage wall, slid his hat lower to shade his expression. Today, Pannis seemed rather solemn. Occasionally, during the carriage ride, he would let out almost imperceptible sighs.

As the time passed, the surroundings didn’t get busier but quieter instead, voices from outside the carriage were gradually diminishing, indicating the carriage was moving away from downtown towards the outskirts. The rolling wheels became especially noticeable in the quiet surroundings, as if this was the only carriage left in the whole world. After a while, the carriage turned onto a small road. After not too long, it finally slowed down and stopped. The coachman lowered his voice and said, "Sir, we’ve arrived."

"Thank you, you’ve had a hard time." Pannis stepped off the carriage, tossed the coachman a gold coin, "Stay here and wait for me for a while. It won’t be long; one or two hours at most. This money should be enough, right?"

"Alright, sir." The coachman drove the carriage to the side, "I’ll wait for you here then; it’s a very obvious spot."

Pannis nodded, turned around silently and walked toward his destination. Only when the carriage had moved could the location be seen clearly. To everyone’s surprise, it was a graveyard. The graveyard’s scale was not small, but only half-filled now, with five or six hundred tombstones arranged orderly within. Neatly trimmed grass swaying with the wind around the tombstones, giving the graveyard an indescribable serenity and emptiness.

The arrangement of tombstones in the graveyard was orderly. Pannis directly walked toward a semi-isolated area, slowly scanning each tombstone. This semi-isolated area contained fewer than ten tombstones. Pannis looked at each one, easily finding the tombstone he was seeking.

This was a solitary marble tomb, meaning that only the master of the tomb was buried here, without the company of a spouse. On the cyan-white tombstone, there should have been words engraved about the achievements and life of the tomb’s owner. However, on this tombstone, the only engraving is a sentence––waiting forever. Above this line of text, as per custom, was the portrait of the tomb’s owner. The portrait had apparently undergone special magic treatment, making it as crisp and clear as new, even after a very long time.

In the portrait, a middle-aged woman in formal attire was sitting dignifiedly on a chair, staring in the painter’s direction. The woman in the painting had fair skin and beautiful, dignified features. Her golden hair laid on her shoulders, and her charming eyes held a touch of sadness that seemed unreachable. Even though her expression was smiling, the melancholy within her smile was evident.

"So, after that, did you finally grow your hair out?" Pannis gazed deeply at the picture on the tombstone, his gentle voice as if afraid to disturb the eternal rest of the deceased. "Adelaida, my...friend."

As he looked at the portrait on the tombstone, Pannis seemed to have traveled back in time. One more time he saw the young, pretty, vibrant girl with short hair; one more time he seemed to hear the girl’s cheerful voice beside him in the onomatopoeic sentences of the common language peculiar to Neville: "Brother Kyle, it has been so long since you visited. Have you forgotten about me?"

"Sorry, little sister Adelaida." Pannis lifted his gaze from the portrait, looking up at the clear blue sky. Yet, once his gaze moved away, the memories deep down in his heart irresistibly surged up, one after another.

"Brother Kyle, I really regret it. Why didn’t I pursue a professional career when we were young? If I were an Upper Rank professional, I could go on adventures with you and Sister Nellie."

"Brother Kyle, tell me stories about your adventures. I really want to know the interesting things you encountered."

"How great it is to hear these stories. Brother Kyle, having these stories will enable me to accompany you guys on your adventures in my dreams, so all of us could be together forever."

"Brother Kyle, you came to see me only twice this year. Why? Did I do anything to upset you? Or was it because of Sister Nellie? I like Sister Nellie a lot too. Why can’t you visit me more often? When I can’t see you guys, I always feel like I am missing something."

"Haha, Sister Nellie, I like you so much. Your long hair is so beautiful. I wish I could have such beautiful long hair too. Um, when I grow out my hair, you can help me braid it, okay? Deal, no take backs."

"Sister Nellie, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I think, I think, I think I have a crush on Brother Kyle. No, don’t laugh, Sister! I’m not planning to compete with you, and don’t tell Brother Kyle either. I am happy just like this, being able to see you guys often is enough. Really, I don’t want anything else, just noticing you guys more. We agreed not to laugh, I’m not joking. I really need nothing else, as long as you guys are happy. Just please don’t tell Brother Kyle."

"Silly girl." Pannis took off his hat again to cover his face, whispering, "Even your Sister Nellie didn’t know. I heard everything you two were talking about. Why do you think I haven’t seen you for three years? It was to make you forget about me."

"Brother Kyle, you haven’t visited me in so long. Have you forgotten me? But you are here, which is great. I guess you heard my words last time. But don’t worry, I won’t cause trouble for you and Sister Nellie. Look, I am strong. I haven’t cried once in three years. Aren’t you proud of me?"

"Brother Kyle, Sister Nellie told me that next spring, you guys will take me to the Spring Festival. Are you guys fooling me? Is it true? Ha, that’s great. I wish I could wake up, and it would be next spring."

"Brother Kyle, why are you back so soon? Uh? You’re going to fight the Undead? What should I do? There must be huge risks. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have come to tell me in such a serious manner. No, I don’t want any Spring Festival anymore. I just hope you’ll come back safe. Please promise me, both of you, you will come and see me once you are back. Let me know that you are okay. You have to come back to see me; otherwise, I won’t rest in peace."

"Huff." Pannis took off his hat, clenched it tight to his chest, and whispered almost inaudibly, "Little sister Adelaida, I... I’ve come to see you."

Barely able to speak aloud to the deceased, Pannis kneeled down on one knee, pulled a pure white poppy from his black coat, and gently placed it before the blue gravestone. As he gently caressed the tombstone, he let out a sigh after a long while, "My sins are even deeper than I imagined. Wouldn’t you agree, lady behind me?" (To be continued. If you like this novel, please vote on qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com.)