Makoto laughed for a while after hearing this.
“How can you make someone look forward to something when there’s not even a shadow of it yet?” Clementine didn’t answer, but her tail patted the ground twice.
Makoto had no choice but to change her tune.
“Alright, no problem.
If you’re giving me a gift, of course I should look forward to it.” The Electro Dragon only gave a hum on the surface, but secretly wagged her tail twice.
She probably hadn’t noticed that the other person present was fully focused on this traitorous indicator of her mood.
Makoto secretly thought this behavior was very cat-like, but she didn’t expose the fact.
The two of them simply continued their casual conversation amidst the mountain breeze and the night scenery, watching the fireworks and festivities of the night.
The east was already beginning to show the pale white of dawn; a new day had arrived in such a harmonious atmosphere.
Only then did the two realize the passage of time and find they had to set off to return, moving from the leisure of the night back into reality.
Clementine stood up and walked around a bit, then turned back and reached out her hand to Makoto, signaling that she should also get up to return to Tenshukaku.
Makoto followed her kindness, standing up with her help, and even leaned over to ask for a hug.
The Electro Dragon gave her a light embrace, while her tail secretly brushed against her back twice as if to soothe her.
The embrace didn’t last long; the two soon separated and prepared to set off on the return journey.
Makoto gave a small sigh.
“Alright, we have to go back to business.
Speaking of which, how is things going over at Ritou?
You’ve been going there as a supervisor these past few days, so the Kanjou Commission hasn’t even reported the progress to me.” Clementine replied with her hands tucked in her sleeves: “Progress there is good.
The Kanko Commission is quite enthusiastic about this matter and has coordinated a lot of manpower and resources; they are capable.
Regardless of whether she had any ulterior motives when proposing this plan, the result is good.
As you said, ‘no taboos.’ she wants to take the opportunity to raise the Kanjou Commission’s status within the Tri-Commission, and I’m temporarily turning a blind eye, treating it as a special case.” “It’s just that we can’t invest everyone into this one thing, so I pushed back their plan to have Ritou’s completion coincide with the next festival organized by the Kanko Commission.
It seems they didn’t tell you about this.
I thought they’d think I was delaying the project and being disrespectful to the Archon.” “Hmm, I guessed as much.
With you there, there certainly shouldn’t be any problems.” Makoto first nodded to show her understanding before responding to the latter half of the joke.
“Now, I’m afraid no one dares to say anything against you.
After all, they aren’t sure what our relationship is, so they can only default to your opinion being my opinion.” “Hmm, and so?” Clementine pressed further.
Makoto was a bit puzzled, not understanding what this follow-up question was referring to.
Clementine didn’t explain further; she simply closed her mouth and reached out her hand to Makoto again.
Makoto first took the hand the Electro Dragon offered, and then asked what was wrong.
Clementine replied solemnly: “They don’t understand that while the struggle for power is important under centralized rule, when a monarch can decide almost everything, the most important part of vying for power is closing the distance between oneself and the ruler.” She then shook their joined hands.
“I am closing that distance.
Let’s go, I’ll take you back.
I fly faster.” Makoto wanted to argue against her strange logic, but before she could speak, they were back inside the familiar inner chambers of Tenshukaku in a flash of dazzling golden light.
Surprised that the other could now teleport directly into the room, Makoto asked about Clementine’s schedule for today.
“Going to Ritou again today?
What exactly is so attracting about that place?” Clementine hummed and replied: “I’ll be back in the evening.
Or, if you want me to stay and accompany you, I can do that too.” Makoto muttered with a bit of dissatisfaction: “Why do you make it sound like I’m a child?
It’s fine, go ahead.” Clementine said her goodbyes and soon vanished on the spot.
Her teleportation skills had indeed been improving day by day, and activating them required almost no preparation.
She did indeed make an appearance at Ritou as usual, wandering around like a strange spiritual symbol whose mere presence made the Kanjou Commission feel full of confidence.
But her destination today wasn’t entirely here.
she also needed to find that gift worth giving.
The books on Makoto’s desk and shelves were never hidden from her, and she would occasionally flip through them when she was bored.
From them, she learned that at the westernmost edge of the archipelago, there was an island covered in thick fog.
Due to the geographical advantage of the heavy mist, it had never been explored; it also seemed to prefer being isolated from the outside world and had not attempted to establish more contact.
This island was Clementine’s true target today.
With the mindset that ‘the skilled are bold,’ she planned to go directly to the island for a look.
Before the journey even began, she encountered a problem.
Her teleportation ability relied on the Thunder Sakura and the Ley Lines, and the location of this Misty Island was clearly beyond the coverage of this system.
Even in her attempt to sense a teleportation point, she discovered that the Ley Lines on this island possessed an abnormal chaos.
It seems this place is getting more interesting.
Thinking this, Clementine chose the nearest foothold she could reach via teleportation and flew directly there.
The golden Electro Dragon soared into the sky, possessing a natural momentum of riding the clouds and chasing lightning as she leaped.
She flew very fast and reached the skies above the Misty Island in no time.
Passing through the clouds, Clementine circled several times at high altitude.
Looking down from above, the thick fog seemed to block her entire field of vision.
Losing the greatest advantage of descending from the sky, she simply chose to land and explore this unknown territory from the ground herself.
Stepping onto this land, Clementine reverted to her more convenient human form.
She looked around; the thick fog was still everywhere, making her visibility very low.
The golden light in her eyes lit up again, and this time the flickering of the light was more intense than ever, as if it would drop from her eye sockets in the next second.
The Electro Dragon’s first attempt didn’t allow her to successfully see through the thick fog, but it wasn’t without results.
She vaguely observed the traces of powerful energy flowing on this land.
Clearly, on this small island hidden deep in the mist, there was also a powerful existence hidden deep in the mist that had not been discovered.
It could be a Archon, or a special creature like herself.
Clementine closed her eyes and withdrew the power from just now; golden lightning was instead summoned into the air, leaping and surrounding her.
The Electro Dragon floated slightly, and the Elemental Power around her converged toward her, causing her clothes to flutter even without wind.
Under the pull of a mysterious force, the golden lightning wove into a huge sphere, wrapping her in the center.
Afterward, the sphere suddenly expanded, spreading rapidly in all directions and bringing a vast area within the range of the golden lightning’s patrol.
The mist was not dispersed, and Clementine still had her eyes closed, but through the Swirl of the golden lightning, she gained more ‘eyes.’ The information they sent back vaguely formed a blurred pattern in her mind, allowing her to’see’ the nearby paths, withered trees, and the huge arch-like building ahead.
“So people actually live here.” She opened her eyes with interest, having developed a bit of a plan for her desired gift.
A few points of light appeared on the road ahead.
Clementine, with the attitude that even if it were a trap it probably couldn’t do anything to her, stepped forward to investigate.
They turned out to be stone lamps that had been built long ago.
Clementine observed them closely and found that these lamps were driven by Elemental Power.
They probably couldn’t continue to shine before because of a lack of Electro Element; it was her unintentional probing that had reactivated them.
The lamps she had unintentionally lit seemed to vaguely outline a path.
Perhaps there were other stone lamps ahead that could point the way to a place where people were.
Thinking this, Clementine continued to walk forward.
It might not seem tempting right now but who knows what the future holds?
“And If you’re enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!”