Inanna turned around and saw, as always, the perfectly neat figure of Butler Eric.
Although he still wore his professional smile, Inanna sensed something unusual. The butler who had held her in his arms when she was a child seemed… nervous.
Could it be… there was some kind of secret here?
Her little head instantly filled with wild guesses.
Maybe Uncle Eric was secretly selling off items from the vault and was afraid of being caught?
Or… was the Dreamflower so precious that even one bloom couldn’t be touched, and he feared she might waste it?
But these thoughts popped like soap bubbles as quickly as they appeared.
Eric’s loyalty to the St. Clair family was beyond doubt—otherwise, Father would never have trusted him so deeply.
If one had to pick among the duke, herself, and Eric who was most likely to betray… although it was embarrassing, Inanna felt her own chances were higher than Eric’s!
Setting aside her imagination, she pulled out the excuse she had prepared:“Aidin said he wanted to try making a new tool with this flower, but it can’t be bought anywhere. I remembered our house might have some, so I came to check… Uncle Eric, am I not allowed to use this flower?”
She blinked her big eyes, gazing at Eric with expectation.
“It’s just a few materials, of course you may use them as you please, Miss,” Eric said, his eyes glancing at the two boxes in her hands, his tone sounding unconcerned.
Inanna nearly cried out “Yay!” in relief.
But then—
Eric suddenly fixed his gaze on her eyes, his voice sinking a little:
“Miss… have you been having nightmares lately?”
“Huh? Nightmares?” Inanna froze, bewildered. Then, reflexively, she began thinking back.
Recently she had been sleeping better than ever in the Mushroom Garden!
A comfy fungal mattress, surrounded by soft, fluffy Pujis—far from nightmares, her biggest struggle each day was not wanting to get out of bed!
The only rough night was before a journey, when her sleep was restless, but even then it wasn’t nightmares.
She shook her head. “Nope! I’ve been sleeping great! Uncle Eric, are you worried I’d have nightmares? If I really did, wouldn’t it be better to drink a prepared potion? Why would I come take raw materials…”
Eric stared at her for a long while, until she grew a little uneasy, before finally nodding.
“That’s good. But if you ever do have nightmares, you must tell me immediately,” his voice was calm. “Frequent nightmares can ruin your health.”
“Mm-hmm! I know!” Inanna nodded quickly.
But Eric wasn’t done. He reached up, took another box of Dreamflower from the shelf, and handed it to her.
“And one more thing, Miss. Next time your friend Aidin needs rare materials… it would be best if he came himself. The St. Clair family is large and wealthy—we can allow him to choose directly from the vault.”
Inanna instinctively lowered her head, pressing her lips together, not daring to reply.
Though Eric’s tone was gentle, she could hear it—he seemed dissatisfied with Aidin.
Still, she had the flowers in hand now. It should be fine…
…
Elsewhere, Aidin suddenly sneezed.
He rubbed his nose carelessly. All his attention was fixed on the dazzling reward before him—a shard of an S-grade magic crystal, gifted by the Boss.
Though barely the size of half a fingernail, it was still an S-grade magic crystal!
He had never imagined he could own one.
His head buzzed with possibilities.
A staff? Too small. Maybe a piece of accessory equipment?
Or… a one-use high-tier illusion tool?
Extravagant, yes, but tempting.
After all, at this rate, if he kept working hard for the Boss, maybe one day he’d even manage to obtain a legendary full S-grade staff!
Aidin brimmed with anticipation for the future.
—
In the Sacred Tree Dungeon.
Boom… rumble… The thunderous sound gradually faded. Aelawen crouched on a thick branch, watching the last massive “migration trees” vanish into the distance.
They were gone. The green barrier that had blocked the path out of the dungeon was finally cleared.
In fact, leaving the dungeon was now easier than ever.
There was no longer any need to skirt around territories claimed by high-level monsters. A brand new, brutally straight path had been carved through the forest by the migrating trees.
The once-tangled forest floor was ripped and shattered, leaving sheer earthen cliffs several meters tall on either side, marked with deep, brutal scars where roots had torn through.
Not a trace of the monsters that had once lived there remained—even their corpses were buried deep below.
Aelawen let out a clear, melodious whistle, signaling her two companions it was time to go.
A sharp cry answered as a brilliant blue shadow darted like lightning through the branches, landing precisely atop her head.
Parrot Feifei shook its feathers, and the first thing it did upon steadying itself was nip at her hair with its curved beak, urging her to move quickly.
After all, “that thing” was coming!
But Aelawen, bewitched by the “forces of evil,” only smiled and soothed it. “Alright, Feifei, just wait a little longer.”
Flap, flap—
Sure enough, seconds later, the blue-white “demon” fluttered clumsily down from the treetop with its mismatched little wings—the Scouting Puji.
Ignoring the parrot completely, it dropped straight toward Aelawen’s head.
Feifei bristled instantly, craning its neck defiantly and lifting its not-so-sharp beak like a knight defending its territory, prepared for a life-and-death struggle against the evil mushroom!
Never retreat!
…
Amid pitiful squawks, Aelawen sighed. With practiced ease, she reached up and rescued the bedraggled parrot from beneath the Scouting Puji’s round bottom.
“Ah, Feifei,” she coaxed, smoothing its ruffled feathers, “why must you insist on fighting for this spot? The little Puji’s so big, it can only sit there! Look, isn’t my shoulder just fine?”
She gently placed the still-indignant parrot on her shoulder.
Feifei chirped a few protesting “cheep cheeps,” but ultimately dared not peck at the Puji’s fungal feet so close by.
After all, in their recent battles, it had lost every time. Even its own elf had “betrayed” it, always smiling and mediating instead of siding with it!
Still, it had allies. Once this Puji was gone, it would rally Maoqiu, Paopao, and Douding to give that bad mushroom a good thrashing!
Just imagining the Puji, battered and bowing at its feet, made Feifei warble with delight.
Lin Jun had no idea what the silly bird was plotting.
The Scouting Puji just calmly clamped onto the elf’s head. With someone acting as a mount, Lin Jun barely needed to pay attention, leaving him free to relax.
At last, after leaving the dungeon and a full day’s travel through the forest, the Scouting Puji saw it—the legendary Elven City, far in the distance!