Seeing Prince Roland leave, Lightning pulled Maisie to a corner of the hall.
“Goo?”
Her hair almost dragged on the ground, moving like a floating ghost. Pushing aside the white hair blocking her cheeks, Maisie's cheeks were puffed out, with half a pork chop bone still in her small mouth, yet to be swallowed.
“I've found an interesting place,” Lightning whispered, “in the Misty Forest. I plan to explore it tomorrow. Do you want to come with me?”
“Glurp.” Maisie swallowed the food in her mouth, nodding repeatedly. “Okay, okay, what do we need to prepare?”
“The explorer's three-piece set... no, three most commonly used things,” Lightning realized that she occasionally spouted strange phrases that Roland was used to. “Flint, dried food, and bishou. It's not far, so a day's worth of food is enough. Don't fill your whole pocket like last time.”
“Okay, goo,” Maisie patted her chest. As she prepared to leave, Lightning stopped her again.
“Remember, this expedition is our secret. Don't tell anyone else,” the little girl urged. “We'll set off early tomorrow morning.”
Watching Maisie eagerly approach the dining table, she pursed her lips and began to think about tomorrow's plan.
Although the bombing was successful and did not disappoint Prince Roland, she found that she was not as agile in flight as before, as if something was restricting her movements. As soon as she picked up speed, Lightning felt as if a devil was always chasing her from behind.
This was an obstacle brought about by fear, she realized. The source was the trip to the Stone Tower. After seeing the terrifying figure at the entrance of the basement, she lost her composure and calmness, only thinking about escaping as soon as possible. After that, she began to doubt her identity as an explorer.
Fear is not terrible, what is terrible is the unknown. To overcome it, you must first approach it.
Lightning silently recited her father's teachings in her heart. There might be real danger tomorrow, but an explorer should not fear danger, let alone retreat. If she could not overcome this, she would probably find it difficult to fly freely in the future.
This was also why Lightning decided to keep it from Prince Roland and act on her own. According to Prince Roland's plan, the exploration of the Stone Tower would be arranged after the Evil Moon, and the First Army and a witch team would be sent to cooperate at that time. She worried that by then, even if she visited the Stone Tower again, it would be difficult to generate the thought of "conquering fear" — it was not an adventure to dare to approach danger only by relying on the courage of the crowd.
Afterwards, Prince Roland might scold her and confiscate her ice cream, and the sisters of the Witch Union would worry about her because of this, but she was still determined.
As the daughter of Lightning, the greatest explorer of the Fjords, Lightning could not accept a cowardly version of herself.
However, this decision was not the same as acting rashly. Compared to being unprepared months ago, she now had the revolving hand cannon given by Prince Roland, a greater understanding of the devils, and Maisie by her side.
Especially the last point... If they really encountered a group of devils in the tower, even if Maisie could not turn into a demonic beast to drive away the enemies, she could at least carry her away.
An explorer does not need a large group of people to embolden her, she thought, but she can have a few trusted teammates.
After the banquet, Lightning wrapped the honeyed meat slices she had saved up in a cloth bag, followed by weapons, torches, and a water bag.
Successfully completing the bombing mission had restored some of her confidence, and Prince Roland's encouragement and slightly stubbled cheeks had also doubled her courage. Strike while the iron is hot, and tomorrow would be the best time to set off.
Early in the morning, she flew to the top of the castle, where Maisie was squatting on the wall waiting for her.
“Check your package.”
“I brought everything you told me to, goo,” she changed back to her original form and opened the backpack slung across her waist for the little girl to check. This time, the food inside was reduced from a full pocket to half, but at least the bishou and flint were stuffed in.
“Okay, I'll consider you qualified this time... let's go,” Lightning soared into the air, carrying the pigeon towards the Misty Forest.
……
Lightning had repeated this journey in her mind many times, and she could find the right direction even with her eyes closed. The weather today was slightly gloomy, but it was much better than the cloudy weather last time. The color blocks that made up the earth moved slowly backwards, and the closer she got to the Stone Tower area, the more nervous Lightning became.
“Is the interesting place you talked about last night a new eagle's nest?” Maisie asked.
“No, it's much more interesting than that,” Lightning shook her head. “The goal of our exploration is an ancient ruin. It's the Stone Tower left over from more than 400 years ago. The basement has not yet collapsed, and we might be able to find some ancient books describing the situation at that time.”
“Ancient books?” Maisie shook her wings. “It doesn't sound as interesting as picking eagle eggs, goo.”
“An eagle's nest only has two or three eggs at most, and they'll be eaten in a few bites,” the little girl coaxed. “If we can really find such books and bring them back to Prince Roland, he will definitely be willing to reward you with a basket of eggs. Whether they are boiled or steamed is up to you. You can eat three every day for a long time.”
“Really?” Maisie immediately perked up. “Then let's hurry up and find the ancient books! Goo goo!”
Near noon, the two successfully arrived above their destination.
The half-cut Stone Tower covered with vines and moss still stood in the forest. Everything around it looked the same as it did months ago, with no changes. Lightning lowered her altitude and flew around the Stone Tower, confirming that it was safe before landing gently.
“Is this it, goo?” The pigeon lay on top of her head, clamoring.
“Shh—” Lightning made a silencing gesture. In the silent forest, the two people's voices sounded particularly loud. “Speak quietly. There might be devils here.”
“Devils?” Maisie's tail immediately stood up.
“You wait for me up there,” she pointed to the top of the broken tower and said in a low voice, “I'll go scout the situation first.”
Stepping on the gradually withered grass, her feet made slight rustling sounds. The entrance to the Stone Tower was not blocked by plants again. Lightning could still see the small cluster of vines that she had cut off with her bishou last time. She held her breath and entered the tower along the original route, approaching the basement passage in the center of the tower little by little. Looking at the stairs that disappeared into the darkness in front of her, she could even hear her own thumping heartbeat.
Fear comes from the unknown. Overcome fear, approach the unknown... The little girl constantly encouraged herself in her heart, lit a torch, and walked down the stairs step by step.
At the corner of the passage, she quietly poked her head out and took a look. The collapsed wooden door was already fragmented, and there was no sign of the devil at the entrance of the basement. Only the deep darkness behind the door remained, like a big mouth choosing someone to devour.
Just then, she heard a trace of sound drifting from the darkness, faint but incomparably familiar—
Lightning couldn't help but shiver, and the hairs on her body stood on end in an instant, almost uncontrollably wanting to turn around and run away! She gritted her teeth, forcibly suppressed the fear that surged from the bottom of her heart, covered her mouth, and listened again.
This time the shout was much clearer, and the tone was exactly the same as last time.
“Save me……”(。)