Chapter 223: To the North

“Oh? You just got here? In just a month, how fast.” Bluebird’s voice, dripping with sarcasm, could be heard from within Sila’s tent. Today was the day they set off for Belacia City. Based on what Bluebird said, it seemed the person they were waiting for had finally arrived.

“How can you say that, Big Brother? That was the most rushed trip I’ve ever had! Your guild’s teleportation service shut down and I couldn’t find a Crystal of Connecting that would take me to Grea City. I had to travel by foot from Colossia City,” Burapha complained in response.

Sila exited his tent and found Bluebird and Burapha. As they noticed him, the trio shared greetings.

“Hello, Big Brother Sila. I heard you drove a dragon away from the city? Achieving yet another amazing feat like always.”

Bluebird interrupted. “Oi, oi, I was the one who drove her away. You are talking to the current conqueror of Grea City, you know?”

“Erm... I think I know who really took her down,” Burapha replied.

Sila stopped the argument. “We both contributed to the result. If Blue hadn’t been there, we wouldn’t have been able to defeat Infernee.”

“See? Sila also said it himself.” Bluebird puffed up his chest.

Sila used the lull in the conversation to inspect Burapha, noticing he had changed his attire. Burapha was now wearing a long-sleeved shirt and ocean-colored pants. He also covered himself with a thick blue coat made of beast fur and a pair of leather gloves.

“Wow, I just noticed. You look rather cool today,” Sila complimented.

Bluebird expressed his opinion. “Heh. I bet you were spending your sweet time with Swan and forgot about your friends.”

“That’s not it,” replied Burapha.

Bluebird’s brows curved up. “Hm? Didn’t you spend time shopping with Swan? Are you sure? I believe this kind of costume can be found in Zhongsuyuan City. The one you are wearing is also the type that is likely to match her taste.”

Burapha’s face reddened for a brief moment. He wondered why Bluebird’s guess was so spot on. In fact, he really did purchase this costume with White Swan in Zhongsuyuan City.

“I mean... I made a mistake last time as I didn’t prepare enough. This time, however, I have prepared several sets of thick clothing, spare food cans, and even borrowed the Snow Bison from the Mountain Thieves League.”

Bluebird was quite surprised. “Whoa? Beluga let you borrow the Snow Bison? You two must really get along. The Snow Bison is good at traveling in areas with low temperature. The Mountain Thieves League only has one of them so they aren’t able to open up a transportation business in snowy areas.”

Burapha lifted up his right hand, showing off a white bracelet. “Correct. This way, we can rest in the middle of our journey. Even better, we can just ride on it all the way.”

However, Bluebird didn’t react to Burapha’s boastful attitude. He simply smirked and thought to himself.

‘Kuhuhu. Thick clothing? Riding a monster? You will know your place soon, Little Burapha.’

Seeing Burapha so well-prepared, Sila felt like he hadn’t prepared enough. All he did was ask Julia to prepare him a few bento boxes and food for Lookhin.

“Excuse me. I will go and prepare some more. I will also need more food for Lookhin and Mamon.”

Bluebird caught Sila who was going to enter his tent. “Don’t worry, Sila. Your preparation is enough already.”

“Hm? Really? More is better than less, I think.”

“Trust me, pal. I have been to Belacia City before. You will get it when you travel with me. Let Burapha be the only one to carry a lot of things.”

Burapha frowned. “It’s called being well prepared, Big Brother. How about you? What do you have?”

Bluebird said proudly, “Except for food, I’m not bringing anything with me.”

“Ah~ What an amateur. If you want anything from me during our trip, I will sell them to you at a special price, then. A special expensive price, that’s it! Hahaha!”

Bluebird simply smiled. “You shall soon see who is the genuine amateur, Little Burapha~”

“Shall we get going now?” asked Sila.

Burapha nodded. “The sooner, the better, Big Brother Sila. If we depart now while it’s still morning, we can travel a long distance before nightfall.”

“Morning? The sooner the better? Hahaha.” Bluebird laughed, which caused the others to give him a strange look. Slightly embarrassed, Bluebird let out a dry cough and opened his system window to check the time. “Um. Let’s wait another hour and a half before leaving. We’ll meet up at the north gate. See ya.”

***

Although he was told that, Sila had already finished up with everything he needed to do here. Well, there was still one more task left for him to do. It was a small task which he had been deliberately avoiding. He would rather fight Infernee again than deal with this. However, he knew that the problem would escalate if he left it unattended.

“The message was sent. I can only wait,” Sila said to himself.

The location where Sila was waiting was above the gate leading to the underground city—Lost Grea City. No one was interested in it and it wasn’t destroyed when Infernee came to the city. It was a suitable meeting place.

Sila opened his system window and read the information regarding Belacia City. Even though his eyes were staring at the text, none of it entered his head. He was too restless to comprehend the words. He felt like he was in danger of being attacked at any moment, and was awaiting a battle that wasn’t coming

“Sila? What’s wrong? I thought you left for the north already.”

Finally, she had arrived. His most formidable opponent who was greater than even the eight dragons combined. The person whom Sila had no idea which skills he should use against or which element of Five-Attributed Cloud Qi could gain an edge over her.

“Nam... Err, the weather is nice today, isn’t it?” Sila turned to Varee.

Varee furrowed her brows. She looked up to the sky. “Today is too cold, and the clouds are too thick. The city is currently empty without buildings so the wind from the north is blowing in. If the city walls aren’t built soon, parts of Grea City will be buried under the snow.”

“I-Is that so? Haha.” Sila let out an awkward laugh.

“Is there something wrong? You are acting strange. Ah? Could it be that you are planning to do some risky things again? What is it this time?”

“Er, no... Well, it’s quite risky if I really think about it. The thing is...”

“Could you please stop murmuring? Just tell me what you want to say.”

“It’s about what you asked me last time,” Sila said in a soft voice.

Varee was thinking about something else, so she didn’t realize what Sila was talking about. “What I asked you last time? What was it?”

“Err... that time before I went into the Single-Horned Dragon Forest.”

Finally understanding what Sila wanted to talk about, Varee’s cheek turned slightly pink. “Ah, about that... Erm... I thought you would take longer... since you asked me to give you time.”

“I will have to go to Belacia City soon, and I think it will be a long trip. That’s why I want to tell you first.”

“Um... I see.” Varee nodded lightly. Usually, she tended to bug him a lot and that annoyed him. It was perplexing for Sila to see her being speechless like this.

“Varee? Are you okay?”

“I'm fine. By the way, you don’t need to be so rushed. Even if we are not facing each other, we can still keep in touch using our system windows.”

“Oh, you’re right! The system window! I completely forgot about it. Well, let’s talk using the system window later, then.” Sila hurriedly spoke and prepared to leave. However, Varee pulled his sleeve.

“Wait. Since you and I are here anyway, you should say what’s on your mind.”

Sila turned back. “Are you sure? You may not like the answer though.”

“Do you know what kind of answer I’m expecting? Aren’t you being too cheeky?”

“Eh? You were the one asking, so I think—” Sila scratched his head, feeling confused.

“Teehee. I’m just kidding. Just tell me honestly.”

Sila took a deep breath and calmed his mind like a pond without any ripples. He slowly spoke with a firm voice.

“To be honest, I’m still not sure about my feelings. Actually, we barely know each other. The only thing I know is that being with you, I don’t have to be overly cautious and can do whatever I want. Well, it may seem self-centered in your perspective. I neither dislike nor hate you. Erm... I also don’t know if this kind of answer is too self-centered.”

Varee fell silent for a few seconds before replying to Sila in a similar manner.

“Actually, I asked you that question because I felt the same way. Sila is childish and self-centered. You always do stuff without considering how worried the people around you will feel. I must admit that, in the beginning, I thought of you as a hindrance that my dad asked me to take care of. Considering how old you are, Sila should act more mature. Although you got better lately, you still never stop making me worried about your risky behavior.”

“Why does it sound like I only have flaws... hey, wait, I’m not childish.”

“How about following my line of thinking? Self-centered, unreasonable, inattentive, and always acting like you are alone in your own world. Do these traits make you childish?”

Sila couldn’t dispute any of what she said, so he kept his mouth shut.

Varee seemed to remember something. “Oh, right. Please unblock me from your contact list, otherwise I won’t be able to contact you.”

“Do I still have you blocked?” Sila opened his system window and gave a dry smile. “Ah, that’s true.”

“...Inattentive,” Varee muttered.

Sila pressed his finger on his system window. “I know. I know. You don’t need to repeat that... You’re unblocked now.”

Varee released a heavy sigh. “Like you just said, maybe we don’t know much about each other. Except what my dad told me about you, we only met a few times and seldom have good conversations. I think we should learn more about each other and let time decide where we go with this.”

The problem was that Sila wasn’t sure he was ready to do that. Time was the thing he lacked the most. His mission regarding the Wulin Masters Association was too great for him to spare time for anything else.

“I don’t have time. The war event is coming but I still have tons of things to do. Furthermore, I will have to keep practicing to catch up to Montra. You should know how strong Montra is, and he will be even stronger the next time I meet him.”

“Time is what we equally have, Sila, even more so in Monster Soul. You just make poor use of it. Isn’t it tiring to be constantly running? You should take some time to rest as well. I believe no one has told you not to. Nam always saw Sila either practicing or fighting. It’s like that’s all you have in your entire life. It’s sad.”

Varee swept the floor next to the metal door on the ground. “When will you depart?”

Sila sat next to her. “Bluebird said in an hour and a half.”

“That means we have a whole hour and a half. We have a lot of time. Nam will tell you my story, and you should tell me yours too.”

“What kind?”

“Anything you want to tell me.”

Varee started telling a story about her when she entered the game. Sila listened to her, sometimes attentively and sometimes without focusing. Naturally Varee sulked every now and then because of it. Her emotions were always surging up and down like tides. Similarly, Sila was too quiet and inattentive like a stone.

When he was with Sangdao, Sila felt he became a talkative person while attentively listening to every word she said, afraid that he would miss even one sound. He thought deeply over her interpretations regarding a lot of things. He longed for the few words from her mouth and tried his best to make a precious memory out of his time together with her.

On the other hand, his time with Varee passed quickly. The two of them swapped their roles between speaker and listener constantly. The more they talked, the more they came to know each other. Their time together was neither romantic nor philosophical. In fact, there were some silly moments. Sila lost track of time and let the conversation dictate the flow of what they were talking without thinking ahead.

He didn’t know which was the right answer. In fact, there might have never been a correct answer since the beginning.

***

“So late. Where is Sila?” Bluebird complained as he waited for Sila. Although he delayed their departure, it seemed he became the most enthusiastic person before everyone knew it.

Burapha leaned against his large backpack. He used it to collect items in addition to his system window which had already reached its full capacity.

“It’s not yet the appointed time. Anyway, it doesn’t matter even if we depart a bit late.”

Bluebird replied, “If we miss this period, I think we should depart tomorrow instead. I don’t want to take a detour.”

“Why are you so serious? And what detour? The trip to Belacia City is straight to the north, isn’t it?”

Bluebird was still looking for Sila. He was contemplating whether he should send tailorbirds to get him when he saw Sila walking from afar.

“Sila, quickly. We are about to be late!” Bluebird shouted, which caused Sila to quickly close the remaining distance.

“What’s going on? Late for what?” asked Sila.

Bluebird smiled. “You will know soon. Are you sure you’re not forgetting anything?”

Burapha was about to open his backpack. “Let me check my items again. I’m not sure how many blankets I have with me—”

“Oi! Don’t bother! We will be late if we wait for you. Let’s hurry. Don’t blame me if you lose your way,” Bluebird said and clad his feet with magic power reinforcement before leaping forward.

“Let’s go.” Sila used qinggong to quickly follow Bluebird, followed lastly by Burapha who had to run roughly with his large backpack behind him.