Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 659 - 23 Lina’s achievements_1

Chapter 659: Chapter 23 Lina’s achievements_1

"Pat, pat," the sound of heavy footsteps echoed recurrently within Chester’s home. The liaison from the Dragon Worship Clan, Mackervillain, and the Mayor of the town had already returned home. However, Old Dak refused to leave, insisting on waiting for the treatment to conclude so that he could bring his daughter home with him. Despite the efforts to persuade him to leave, they were forced to put him in a bedroom outside the basement, allowing him to wait outside. After all, the space above had a fireplace, which provided a warmer surrounding. Even after moving up to the room, Old Dak could not sit still. He paced around the room nervously, his heavy steps causing the wooden floor to continually creak.

Time passed slowly, the three moons rose from the horizon, crossing the pitch-black sky, and slowly descended from the other end. The edge of the dark night sky began to brighten with the white glow of dawn. Unbeknownst to them, the night had passed, and a new morning had arrived.

Chester, the perpetrator, was dragged from the basement to the ground floor and was now cowering in a corner of the room in a semi-conscious state. His fractured legs were bruised and swollen, twisted abnormally, a pitiful sight to behold. However, considering what he had done with his own hands, no one present felt any sympathy towards him.

The five members of the adventure team gathered in the room. Freya was sitting by the bed, holding an oval-shaped metal part up to her eyes with one hand, and a sharp tool in the other hand. She was inserting and twisting the tool into the tiny hole of the metal part, as if adjusting something. Vivian, who was physically weaker, lay spread out with a notebook on her chest, her limbs splayed out beneath her. She rested her head on Freya’s soft, relaxed thigh, slipping into a deep sleep. Catherine remained in her full body armor, with her sword and shield casually set aside. She sat properly on a chair, resembling a lady knight posing for an artist in a studio. Her attention was mostly on Chester, even as he slipped into semi-consciousness, there was no slackening to her vigilance. Clearly, the incident of Elrad’s escape in the Shining Forest had provided her with a valuable lesson. Since then, the young knight would never let her guard down out of underestimation, so as to prevent any uncorrectable consequences.

In another corner of the room, Pannis and Ava sat together a few pieces of soft animal skins pieced together. Ava curled up into a ball, her golden haze draped over herself made her look like a golden furball, she rested her head on Pannis’s crossed legs. Pannis stroked Ava’s golden hair with one hand, as if soothing a sleeping kitten, while the other hand toyed with a copper coin, flipping it on his fingertips, appearing and disappearing. Of course, he had originally planned to play this game with a gold coin, but after much consideration, he decided on a copper coin to protect his wealth. Despite the activity in each of his hands, his gaze was focused on the gradually brightening sky outside the window, lost in thought and oblivious to the world. As he pondered, his gaze darkened slowly, his expression becoming dejected and his movements slowing. The first to notice the change was Ava. The young girl whimpered in dissatisfaction, stretched out her hand fumbling in the air. Once her hand had found Pannis’s, she pressed it onto her head, rubbing her small head against it. Pannis was taken aback, he shared a look with Catherine who had been attracted by the sound, they both shook their heads in amusement. Pannis helplessly resumed stroking the girl’s golden hair. Only then did Ava grumble satisfyingly, she nestled her head more comfortably against Pannis’s legs and fell back asleep.

The room was very quiet. Besides the sound of Old Dak’s heavy footsteps and hushed grunts from Chester, the room was serene. If not for prior knowledge, no one could have ever imagined the horrifying sequence of human nature’s annihilation that had occurred within this peaceful house in the following days. Nor would anyone believe that this very house was a part of the venue where the worshipers of the Evil God held their ceremonies just a day ago.

Gradually, the tranquil town began echoing with stray dogs howling, followed by the lively activities of the townsfolk. It was the start of another new day, embracing the arrival of each individual with fresh beginnings. However, Old Dak in the room did not share a sense of joy in greeting a new day. On the contrary, he felt increasingly overwhelmed. As time went by, the old man began to sense a creeping fear. He wanted to rush and question the adventure team about the situation, about whether Little Betty still had a chance. But the old man knew that the adventure team had no obligations to assist his daughter. They could not be blamed even if they had ignored Betty. They had every right to let Betty die instead of spending countless hours trying to save her out of compassion. Understanding this, Old Dak suppressed his urge to enquire and continued to wait anxiously as time passed him by.

"No need to worry, Mr. Dak," although the old man had not voiced his concern, Catherine, who was as noble as an aristocrat with an innate ability to perceive others’ emotions, had detected Old Dak’s unrest for a while. She took her attention off Chester briefly and reassured Old Dak with a comforting smile, "If there were any problem, Lina would undoubtedly come up and inform us. No news is good news, the fact that she has not appeared until now indicates that everything is going smoothly. So please relax, given the time that has passed, she should be coming up anytime now. And she will certainly return Little Betty to you safely, please wait at peace."

Noises were increasingly audible from outside the window. It seemed that the Mayor had already informed the townsfolk about the incidents from the last night. Some of the townsfolk passing by paused for a while when they noticed the lights still glowing from the room’s window. They sympathetically peeked into the room through the window, intending to comfort Old Dak before leaving. However, Old Dak in the room clearly was not in a mood to pay any attention to them.

"She’s coming." Pannis’s ears pricked up, he patted Ava’s head and raised his voice, "Everybody wake up, Lina’s coming up. Although it’s only her footsteps, judging by the sound, she must have succeeded. Let’s get up and welcome our hero."

"See, I told you there was no need to worry." Catherine’s smile had a calming effect, which gradually relaxed Old Dak’s trembling body. Once Old Dak had regained his calmness, Catherine addressed the others, "You all go ahead; I’ll keep watch over Chester here to prevent him from escaping in the chaos."

"What are you still staring at?" Freya paced forward, grabbed Chester by the collar and dragged him onto the floor, heading towards the room where the basement entrance was. His broken leg hit the ground, and the pain caused Chester to wake from his faint, again he let out a wretched howl. Yet, after Catherine had come up to briefly describe the scene below, regardless of what they saw, the girls would no longer feel burdened. Thus, acting as if she hadn’t heard his cries, Freya just dragged Chester away.

Catherine gave a bitter smile; her knightly creed made her unwilling to torment prisoners, but the beliefs of justice and human will told her that his treatment was what he deserved. Under the conflict of the two beliefs, she could only give a helpless bitter smile, shaking her head before following behind Freya. As for Old Dak, when Pannis announced that Lina was coming up, he had already dashed out in a manner that totally did not match his age, being the first to crawl into the basement. Hence, when everyone else arrived, they saw Old Dak standing by Lina’s side, rubbing his hands together, looking at Lina in anticipation like a child waiting for a gift, so nervous that he couldn’t even speak.

"Survived." Lina looked weary, the luster in her silver hair somewhat dim. Holding a spellbook in her arms, she looked at Old Dak, furrowed her brows, and in a slightly hoarse voice, said, "Don’t just stand here, go up and wait. Don’t ask so many ’whys,’ we need to clear up the mess down here."

The image of scattered pieces of flesh below and numerous tools that were used to torture Betty darted before Catherine’s eyes, causing her to twitch. She pushed Old Dak, saying, "You should go up first. This place really isn’t suitable for you. We will bring Betty up. You can wait above at ease. Trust me, it’s a knight’s promise."

Only after the old man left reluctantly, did Lina heave a sigh of relief, returning to her usual demeanor and saying tiredly, "I’m so exhausted. I’ve never felt this worn-out. I don’t ever want to do something like this again. It’s both tiring and frightening. Looking at the girl down there made me want to run. If it were not for them forcing me to stay, I would have already escaped."

"You’ve worked hard." Catherine walked over and hugged Lina, letting her lean on her chest for support. "You did what the rest of us wanted to but couldn’t do. We should all thank you."

"I did what I wanted to do. Even though I’m tired, I feel happy in my heart." Lina tilted her head up to smile at Catherine, her smile as pure as a saint. "She’s asleep now. Seems like she hasn’t slept for days, and after that torment, she’s just too exhausted. Freya, can you use your puppets to carry her up later? Let father and daughter meet to spare Old Dak from any more worries."

"How is she?" Catherine asked. "Can her father bear it?"

"In fact, she’s not too bad. She’ll definitely limp, and her arm cannot do any heavy work in the future. Her eyes probably won’t be able to see the light for two or three years, but other than that, there’s nothing much." Lina smiled, looking somewhat evil, "She’ll probably not go out to see people for about half a year, and after that, she’ll look as she used to."

"Huh?" Catherine was shocked. "But just now Ava said that you told Betty that..."

"Obviously, that was Tifa trying to frighten her," Lina grinned naughtily. "She said, to make her despair beforehand, and then to give her an extra surprise after the treatment, enabling her to live better. If it was the other way around, she’d probably lose the courage to live. I’m so tired, I need to sleep, big sister, I’m leaving the rest to you. Good night."