Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 549 - 17 The Kindness that Hurts_1

Chapter 549: Chapter 17 The Kindness that Hurts_1

"Eh, Vivian you..." Catherine choked on her words, unprepared for the unfurling scene before her. "Didn’t we agree on this beforehand? That there might be goblin technology hidden there, and if we found it, we could either sell it or share it with the Guild for a substantial income. So, we..."

"So you still think I’m an idiot?" Vivian looked into Catherine’s eyes and asked seriously, "Did you forget about my abilities? Don’t lie; your words don’t match your thoughts. I know you are just making excuses, and they’re so terrible that I can’t pretend not to notice anymore."

"Haha, no, I’m not making excuses." Catherine looked at the others for aid as her gaze jumped about nervously. Lina feigned deep indulgence in the thick novel on her lap while Freya sat elegantly with her eyes closed, inhaling the warm scent of tea from her cup. As for Pannis, he was busy engaging in a serious conversation with an ant on the windowsill ever since Vivian started talking. Catherine rolled her eyes in annoyance, "You jerks, don’t act like nothing happened! We agreed to keep this from her and now that it’s exposed, you’re leaving me to sort it out alone. Some friends you are! Hahaha, Vivian, don’t look at me like that. Are my excuses really that lame?"

"Remember the intelligent Mountain Apes we met in the Shining Forest, Big Sister?" Vivian asked while swinging her legs, a playful smile dancing on her lips. "What if I wrote about my research on the Magic Array and alchemical knowledge in a language they could understand and gave it to them? Would that be of any value to them? If they understood the notion of trading, would they pay for such knowledge?"

"Well, of course not." Catherine forced out a laugh, "They wouldn’t understand those concepts at all, so why would they pay for it? Even I wouldn’t be able to."

"Then, if I were to write about which type of stones could be more easily sharpened into axes, how to weave vines to create lighter baskets that can carry more, or how to maximize the benefits of eating wild fruit and meat, which would be more useful to them? Which option would they pick?" Vivian probed further."

Catherine sighed and fell silent. Vivian smiled and continued, "See, you also think your reasoning was poor, didn’t you? We were interested initially because we didn’t know what secrets might be hidden there, thinking it might be valuable, but Master Christo made it clear that it is Goblin technology’s leading biological technology research institute. If it were mechanical or smelting technology, it would have been better. But it’s biological technology. We modern people haven’t even fully cracked the basics of Goblin biological technology, so it’s not practically valuable, and no one will pay for it. Everyone here knew this, didn’t they? You still seem to think it made sense to journey six thousand kilometers for something currently worthless, risking all sorts of potential dangers, and then tell me this is none of my business? Do you still think I’m an idiot?"

"Vivian." Catherine reached out her hand, opening her mouth to speak, but was cut off by Vivian’s serious interruption.

"No need to explain, Big Sister. As soon as I heard ’Biological Technology Research Center’, I knew what was going on." Vivian’s eyes turned towards Pannis, who was enthusiastically chattering with the ants, "It was your idea, wasn’t it, Pannis? Neither Big Sister nor Lina would have thought of utilizing Goblin technology, and Freya wasn’t back with our adventure team at the time. You’re the only one who would have thought to use this method to find a possible cure for me."

"Squeak, squeak," Pannis conversed earnestly with the ants outside the window emitting incomprehensible noises.

"I can’t believe you, you idiot. That’s not how ants communicate," Vivian laughed exasperatedly, before turning back to Catherine, "I understand your thought process. You don’t want me to have high hopes and then face a massive disappointment. But at this point, aren’t you going to tell me the truth? Aren’t we family? Can’t we share our burdens? Why are you keeping this from me and shouldering the burden all on your own? Do you think I can’t handle it? Or do you think I don’t have the right to share this pressure with you?"

Catherine’s face turned serious, "My sister, since you’ve brought this up, it’s time for us to have a serious talk. You’re correct; we’ve been lying to you from the start since we took the Sea Race’s contract. When Lanna and Lamia came to provide the contract, Pannis and I stepped out for a private conversation where he told me about it. You should remember, after we returned, my attitude drastically changed and without any hesitations, I accepted the contract."

"So it was then," Vivian nodded. "I suspected you knew something then since everyone started acting out of sorts afterwards. I could sense your emotional state; all of you have been tip-toeing around this secret."

"Yes, after that, we secretly told Lina and Freya, but continued keeping it from you," Catherine confirmed solemnly. "As you’ve said, we have no certainty, everything relies on conjecture and speculation. The possibility of disappointment is much higher than hope. We unanimously decided to keep it from you until we could confirm things and then tell you the truth. If you hadn’t figured it out, we still wouldn’t want to tell you, because there’s no guarantee of a method to cure you at the institute. Even if such a method exists, we’re uncertain whether our Fourth Epoch technology could accomplish it. If it turned out we couldn’t, we can only imagine the torment. It’s cruel to create hope and then take it away ruthlessly. It’d be too cruel, even more so than outright telling you we had no hope."

"This is my illness, so I should bear some of the pain." Vivian, who was sitting next to Catherine, reached out and took Catherine’s hand, saying solemnly, "Promise me, no more of this. My sisters, do you know that if I hadn’t guessed, if I had really gone from hope to despair, the thought of your pain and sorrow hurts me. You always told me we were family, that we were your beloved sisters. If that’s the case, can’t we bear this pressure together? Promise me, if something happens, you must tell me; otherwise, I’ll be very upset."

"You make it sound simple, but what have you done yourself?" Catherine gripped Vivian’s hand, stared into her eyes, and asked through gritted teeth, "You ask us to see you as family, to share in both the joy and the pain, but have you lived up to that? Have you treated me as your sister? Have you shared your joy and pain with me?"

"Me?" Vivian was taken aback, instinctively leaning back into her chair, creating more distance between her and Catherine, and said in bewilderment, "I didn’t do anything."

"Nothing?" Catherine scoffed, "Alright then, let me ask you this; recently, you’ve been visiting Lina for treatment less and less, is this really because your bones have been piercing your skin less frequently? Then why do you often sneak off to other temples for healing, under the guise of going to Starshine Tower? If it weren’t for a priest who happened to be good friends with Lina inadvertently telling her about this, we’d still be unaware. Can you tell me why?"

"And what about your worsening headaches? You used to only get them after long stretches of adventuring, but what about now?" Catherine, not giving Vivian a chance to breathe, asked, "Remember the couple of days before the deep-sea mission? There were two instances where you ran off from the basement lab in the middle of the night, straight into the garden, holding your mouth and groaning. Do you know why? You didn’t realise, I was up and happened to see you from the window."

"And while we’re on the deep-sea mission, a funeral procession passed by our house one day. The moment they appeared, you stared at them until they disappeared out of sight. You had never paid this much attention to a funeral procession before. Not only did you watch them that time, but even an idiot could tell your eyes were red the next day. Can you tell me, what were you crying about?"

"I also want to ask, we calculated, you have been sleeping only four hours a day, either out adventuring or at home for the past four months. Particularly when you were home, no matter how tired or unwell you felt, you would spend all night, every night in the lab. You’ve always been dedicated to your research, but these past few months have been extraordinary. As if you are scrambling for every second. Why? Could it be because you’ve noticed your physical health deteriorating more and more, so close to collapsing, so you want to complete all the research you have been looking forward to, finalize the improvements on those three potions before your body gives out? You would rather not sleep, but to make everyone a backpack like yours. Is it because you think you might not wake up any day now, so you need to get these things done before then?"

"Did you ever think about sharing your pain and pressure with us?" Catherine’s eyes were red and teary, her voice grew louder, until at last she practically yelled, "You pretend that everything is fine, joking and laughing with everyone. We see it, and it hurts our hearts. You hide your pain, yet ask for us to share our stress with you. Don’t you think you’re being selfish?"

"Huh." Startled, Vivian stood up abruptly, reaching for the Code Disk that had been previously placed on the coffee table, said in a fluster, "I’ll, I’ll go analyze this Code Disk in the lab. See if there are any other clues. You guys can continue the discussion. I better get going."

She scampered towards the stairs leading to the basement, tripping slightly on a carpet seam as she opened the door.

"Why do people have to hurt each other.?" Freya shook her head, blowing away the mist on her teacup.

"Pannis." Catherine, her eyes still red, was silent for a while before she softly said, "I’m counting on you."

"I understand." After some thought, Pannis nodded and followed Vivian out, "I’ll do my best." (To be continued. If you enjoy this novel, please vote and recommend on qidian.com. Your support is my biggest motivation. If you’re reading on a mobile device, please visit m.qidian.com.)