Chapter 654

Chapter 39: Mese’s Mark Part 1

“Betty.”

“Hmm!”

“Um, the inheritor. What exactly is that?”

I sat by the campfire, holding an ice cube in my hand and nibbling on it with a “crack crack” sound as I asked her. The little girl was adding dry branches to the fire. When she heard my words, she paused slightly.

She seemed somewhat surprised. After a moment, she lifted her head and asked me in return, “Sister, don’t you know what the inheritor is? Then how did you eat the divine body and gain the favor of the goddess?”

“…Favor?”

“Yes.”

Seeing that I truly looked puzzled, Betty was even more surprised. She raised her eyebrows, tilted her head slightly, and her small face showed great confusion. However, after thinking for a moment, she still explained to me, “Sister’s current body is fused with the goddess’ divine body, this is what Miss Elona said. Ah, she told Grandpa, but I was there at the time, so I heard it.”

The little girl played with the strands of hair by her temples. Midway through her explanation, she seemed to recall something, and her delicate face frowned deeply, “Sister… When you first arrived, you were really scary. It was like… like a huge, soft tumor, an un-hatched monster egg, red all over, constantly bleeding. When it was placed in the cellar, it would thump, thump, thump. The first time Betty saw it, she almost wet herself out of fright…”

“…?

Tumor?

Who? Me?

Ah???

I was really confused, my head full of question marks.

On the other side, seeing that I didn’t speak, the little girl thought I was upset by what she said. She shrugged her shoulders, stuck out her tongue, and quickly changed the subject, “Sister was brought back by Miss Elona, carried in the black coffin. They say it took a lot of effort, mainly because the church knights in the West Continent were checking rigorously. Betty doesn’t know the details, but when I followed Grandpa on the first day, I saw you.”

“Miss Elona placed you in that cellar and talked to Grandpa a lot. Most of what Betty couldn’t understand… After that, no one was allowed to enter. Grandpa guarded it every day. A few days later, Miss Elona carried you out again, heading west, probably to the Sand Valley…”

“…Sand Valley?”

That means Elona carried me, a big tumor, in the coffin, brought me back, fiddled around in that cellar for a while, and then carried me away again after just a few days… to the Sand Valley?

What kind of place is that Sand Valley?

Ah, my head is getting muddled…

“Yeah, Sand Valley.”

The little girl explained, “Sand Valley is on the west side of the village, near the Amikil Mountains.”

“Amikil Mountains?”

I was slightly stunned when I heard this name, as I was very familiar with it.

“The west side of the town is the Amikil Mountains?”

I remembered this place.

I had seen it mentioned in books long ago, and there were also references to it in Elona’s notes and documents. The Amikil Mountains were the home of the legendary immortal clan. I had never specifically looked into where this place was, but I hadn’t expected it to be located in this desert, west of Mese Town…

“There, it is the sleeping place of the goddess.”

The little girl nodded at me, “And Sand Valley is located in the central canyon of the Amikil Mountains. Legend has it that if one can pass through that area, they can reach the divine mountain landscape where the immortal clan lived hundreds of years ago. But it is very dangerous, and Betty doesn’t know why it’s dangerous, but the townspeople have listed it as a forbidden zone, and no one is allowed to go there, except for Miss Elona.”

Amikil Mountains, Sand Valley… Immortal clan…

The sleeping place of the goddess…

…Essence所在

I scratched my hair in mild agitation.

The little maid continued, “Grandpa told me that Miss Elina took the successor over there, and Betty didn’t know what she was doing. After more than half a month… almost a month later, Miss Elina returned. When she came back, the black coffin had already disappeared, but she was carrying a girl with black hair and long eyelashes, quiet as if she were asleep. That person was you, sister.”

“She put you back in the cellar again, just like before, not letting anyone get close. Only Grandpa stood guard at the door. Later, Grandpa told me that you had eaten the divine body and become the successor of Lady Goddess, which also caused you to fall into a deep sleep. Now that your body has recovered, you still need to sleep for some time to wait for the stabilization of divine power…”

“Betty didn’t quite understand Grandpa’s words and couldn’t really comprehend them, but he wouldn’t explain more to me. Perhaps… even Grandpa didn’t know many things himself. But after that, he asked me to take care of you all the time, just… changing the bedding, washing your body, and so on…”

As the little maid spoke, she became absorbed, hugging her knees and sitting on the ground, forgetting to add more dry grass to the bonfire. So, I took over the task, using a long branch to poke the flames, making them burn brighter, while frowning deeply and quietly listening to the little girl’s slow narration.

“At first, I was very reluctant… because I was afraid of you, sister…”

After saying this, the little maid suddenly felt awkward, smiling bashfully and lowering her head shyly: “But later, I saw you sleeping motionlessly all the time, and gradually, I gained a bit more courage. Although I did gain some courage, I was still a little scared… I didn’t dare to get too close to you… Occasionally, when I changed your clothes, I always felt nervous, fearing that you might suddenly wake up and grab me… and eat me… hehe.”

She laughed dryly twice: “Now I know that you won’t eat people; it was Betty who was too scared and misunderstood when she was thinking wildly…”

Yes, that’s right.

I won’t eat people. You can continue to misunderstand, it’s fine.

“Where is Elina? Where was she after that?”

I asked her. The little girl answered honestly, “Miss Elina seemed to be very busy. Betty rarely saw her. At the beginning of the year, she would disappear for several months… Grandpa didn’t let anyone else enter the cellar, so only I could get close to you. At that time, Betty found it very strange… Sister, you couldn’t wake up, didn’t drink water or eat anything, and… well, you were like a lifeless doll…”

“You never felt hungry, never felt thirsty, nor did you get fatter or thinner… you just lay there sleeping. Betty was very puzzled and couldn’t help wondering why you were like this, how you could sleep without eating or drinking. So, later, I mustered up the courage to pinch your nose once—”

“Stop.”

This girl, she wandered off-topic…

Who wants to know about you secretly pinching my nose? Do you really want me to hit you on the head?

I acted casually, asking her again, “What about Meser Town, everyone is there. Why are you living here? Why do you know so much, and why did you choose… to help the Door of Truth, such an organization.”

“Oh! Well…”

When Betty heard my words, the smile on her face froze, then gradually faded away, becoming hesitant and stammering, looking somewhat embarrassed.

She hesitated for a moment and whispered to me, “Grandpa warned Betty not to tell you…”