Chapter 42: I’m Not Running
“Yes, I know,” Bai nodded. From their brief encounter, she had already sensed something was wrong.
Although she had known they were investigating, she hadn’t expected them to be so determined, to bring so many elite soldiers, as if they had already known something.
And more importantly…
“I didn’t expect Commander Arnold to be leading them… a miscalculation.”
“Hmm? You know him?” It was Norma’s turn to be surprised. Since they were all familiar faces, there had been no formal introductions.
The trouble Norma had mentioned was Commander Arnold.
“…I’ve heard of him,” Bai said, lowering her head, not wanting to elaborate.
Norma, seeing this, didn’t press the issue. “If you’ve heard of him… then you must know his Authority.”
Bai nodded, her expression grim.
—Authority: [Redraw].
A functional Authority, mostly useless in direct combat.
So, although Arnold was stronger than Prince Kruse and Lady Caroline, he was still in the lower tier of the Legendary Knights, no match for those with combat-oriented Authorities.
But in exchange for combat prowess, he possessed an almost… perverse functionality.
He could rewind time in a specific area, revealing past events, creating psychic silhouettes of the people involved.
Although the silhouettes were blurry, they were still recognizable.
And Bai’s features were so distinctive, she would be easily identified.
In other words, her exposure was only a matter of time.
“They have troops stationed all around the Twilight Marsh. If you want to escape, you could head deeper into the Bewildering Forest, but I can’t guarantee the other regions will accept you…”
Norma hesitated. Not everyone was as familiar with Dream Demons as she was, or as… sympathetic.
Bai was silent for a moment, then shook her head. “I’m not leaving.”
“Do you have a plan?” Norma asked, her voice low. “Even if you escape into a dream, you’ll still reappear in the same spot… and if everyone in the Twilight Marsh knows you’re a demon, not every elf will be as understanding as Eleanor and I.”
“Not yet, but… I might have one soon,” Bai said, touching the tail hidden beneath her cloak, the image of the fox-kin woman from the border flashing through her mind.
“I can’t guarantee your safety, Bai. I can only do my best,” Norma sighed, then went inside and returned with a small, dust-covered booklet, handing it to Bai.
“You were wondering why I was so kind to you? This book will answer your questions. It’s been passed down from my ancestors.”
“Ancestors? That long ago?” Bai asked, taking the booklet and opening it curiously.
Norma nodded. “Yes. But my ancestor’s true name has been erased from history.”
Bai had never heard of a name being erased from history, but Solor was a strange place.
The booklet wasn’t thick, and as she opened it, she realized it was a picture book.
The art was crude, almost like a child’s drawings.
It told a simple story, of a little green person and a little blue person, holding hands, going on a walk, and meeting a little pink person.
The little pink person had nine crooked tails, a clear indication of a Dream Demon.
But the art was so strange that Bai couldn’t make sense of it.
The middle section was a jumbled mess of green, blue, pink, and a large black splotch.
On the last page, the little pink person was waving goodbye to the little green and blue people, with a short inscription.
“The little fox is a kind and cute little thing…”
Bai, with her limited knowledge of ancient elvish, barely managed to translate the sentence.
“My ancestor received a great favor from a Dream Demon, which saved our clan from annihilation,” Norma explained. “But that’s from other, more… reliable historical records. This picture book is just something my ancestor drew.”
“It’s… very casual,” Bai said, looking at the book again. With Norma’s explanation, she finally understood what the little people and the black splotch represented.
It was a depiction of them working together to overcome a great disaster…
“It took me a lot of time and effort, piecing together fragments of information from various sources, to figure out that the ‘little fox’ was actually a Dream Demon from the Abyssal Demon Realm, a race that is now extinct,” Norma said, her gaze fixed on Bai. “But what I don’t understand is, at that time, the Abyssal Demon Realm hadn’t yet made contact with Solor. How did a Dream Demon appear in the Bewildering Forest?”
“That… I don’t know,” Bai said, scratching her cheek. She was, after all, a “counterfeit,” and her knowledge of Dream Demons was probably less than Norma’s.
“I was hoping you would have the answer. It seems I was wrong,” Norma said, a flicker of disappointment in her eyes, then she smiled. “But you are, as my ancestor said, a kind and cute little thing.”
“…I wouldn’t call myself kind,” Bai said, closing the booklet, intending to return it, but Norma pushed it back.
“My ancestor intended to give this book to the little fox, but she could never find her again. Since you are also a little fox, I’m giving it to you, to fulfill her last wish.”
“But I don’t think I have any use for it…”
Seeing Norma’s insistence, Bai had no choice but to accept it.
“What are you going to do now?” Norma asked softly.
Her warriors had already reported that the human knights and beastkin soldiers had crossed the border and were heading towards the site of the explosion.
Even with the sacred lands’ envoy delaying them, they would reach the explosion site in a few hours.
And then, Arnold’s [Redraw] Authority would reveal Bai’s involvement. Norma would have no reason to stop them.
She was the leader of the Twilight Marsh. She had her responsibilities. Even with her goodwill towards Bai, she couldn’t risk everything for her.
“Where’s Eleanor?” Bai asked suddenly.
“She’s… probably still asleep,” Norma said after a moment of thought.
With Eleanor’s lazy habits, she wouldn’t be up until at least noon.
“Tell her… the little fox had to leave. Perhaps we’ll meet again,” Bai said, then turned and walked towards the door.
“Where are you running to?” Norma asked, watching her go.
Bai stopped, her voice low.
“I’m not running.”
