After securing some private time together, Talulah pulled Alina back to her residence.
Only after lighting a candle in the dim room did Talulah finally get to the point, looking at her friend seated across from her.
“So, Alina, what exactly happened to you today?
And what’s the deal with Little Griseo?” “Don’t be so impatient, Talulah.
Those are exactly the things I wanted to tell you about.
Let me think about where to begin…” Hearing Talulah’s slightly agitated voice, Alina smiled reassuringly at her.
Then, without hiding anything, the little deer slowly recounted everything she had experienced and the miraculous events of the day in her calm, gentle voice.
“…” And as it turned out, hearing the story was worse than not hearing it.
Talulah’s emotions rose and fell like a roller coaster before ultimately settling into…
complete bewilderment.
“?” Wait, where exactly did you say you were taken?
And where did you come back from?
After hearing the end of Alina’s account, Talulah looked at her in disbelief.
Could someone in this world really cross thousands of miles in an instant?
If they could do that without any side effects, they could hardly be called human anymore—they’d practically be a god.
Not to mention helping others fulfill their wishes…
Or was there truly a god standing behind that child?
Talulah knew that gods existed.
She had read plenty of Yan’s historical records when she was young.
She had simply never seen one herself.
Of course, compared to theories involving gods, Miss Dragon Girl was currently more inclined to believe that Alina hadn’t lied—but that she had been deceived.
Some sort of illusion?
Or something else?
As Talulah’s closest friend, Alina could roughly guess what she was thinking without needing her to say a word.
“It’s rare to see such a surprised expression on your face, Talulah.
Let me guess—you think I might have been fooled, right?” “…” Having her thoughts exposed, Talulah rubbed her nose and responded with guilty silence.
But just because she didn’t answer didn’t mean Alina would stop talking.
“Actually, that Miss Elf I mentioned earlier—the one I met in the shop—probably anticipated that concern long ago.
She gave me something.” As she spoke, the little deer reached into her pocket.
A silver-colored metal coin, glimmering under the candlelight, appeared in her hand.
“What’s that?” Looking at the coin engraved with a moth, Talulah asked curiously.
“You could call it a token from that elf.
She said that with this, I can visit them anytime and trade with them.” At that point, Alina paused before pushing the silver coin toward Talulah with a smile.
“Would classmate Talulah like to give it a try?” “…” Talulah didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, she picked up the coin and carefully examined it.
Yet no matter how she inspected or fiddled with it, she couldn’t discover anything special about the moth-engraved coin.
“I’m starting to feel like Teacher Alina is already standing on the other side.
Aren’t you going to explain yourself to your student?” Matching Alina’s teasing title for her, Talulah now returned the favor by calling her “Teacher.” “Heh~ Not at all.
I just don’t think Little Griseo and the others are bad people.” Alina smiled helplessly.
“She really is a very well-behaved child.
I won’t deny that.
But whatever exists behind that child isn’t necessarily trustworthy.” “Talulah, I won’t deny your viewpoint either.
After all, I’ve never actually met Little Griseo’s guardian.” The main reason Alina believed Griseo’s side had no designs on the Reunion Movement wasn’t merely because of Griseo’s kindness.
It was also because she felt they had no reason to target them, nor did the Reunion Movement possess anything worth coveting.
However, that perspective wasn’t absolute.
Especially when there was such a large information gap between them.
So the little deer understood her friend’s concerns.
“…” In the end, because they simply lacked sufficient information, neither of them continued dwelling on the topic.
Gradually, the conversation shifted toward what sort of gift they should prepare to thank Griseo.
—————————— Meanwhile, while Talulah and Alina were discussing various matters in the room, Griseo’s side was considerably livelier.
Around the warm campfire where dinner was being prepared, the Snowpriests had somehow started telling stories while working on various tasks.
And who was the primary audience for these adventure stories?
Obviously not the Snowpriests themselves, who had already heard them countless times.
Rather, it was the little loli sitting beside FrostNova, who had somehow ended up wrapped snugly in the latter’s white cloak.
How should one put it?
A warm campfire, a warm cloak, and interesting stories.
Griseo was genuinely enjoying herself.
“And then…
what happened at the end?” Curled up inside the cloak, the blue-haired little loli softly asked the Yeti storyteller about the ending.
“Well, of course we won!
Our Big Sis is amazing.
Once we regrouped, how could we possibly lose?” The Yeti didn’t beat around the bush and directly revealed the story’s conclusion with a grin.
“Mm-mm…
ah~” Griseo instinctively nodded along after hearing the ending.
But a sleepy yawn quickly interrupted her.
Only then did the little loli finally realize it was already quite late.
Without noticing, she had spent the entire evening at the Reunion Movement camp.
Even today’s two missions had been completed quite some time ago…
“Sleepy?
Eat something first, then you can rest.” Seeing the layer of moisture gathering in Griseo’s clear eyes from her yawn, FrostNova reached out and gently patted her head.
As FrostNova spoke, the other Snowpriests quickly chimed in as well, some of them clearly curious.
“Yeah, you’ve got to eat something.” “Come to think of it, why hasn’t Talulah come back yet?
What are those two talking about for so long?” “I think that other girl was injured.
She’s Talulah’s friend, right?
It’s normal to be worried.” “…” After hearing FrostNova’s suggestion, Griseo thought for a moment before raising her head.
“Mm…
I’m okay.
But speaking of food…
꒪꒫꒪)” She paused briefly.
Then, as though performing a magic trick, the little loli pulled out an enormous jar of candy from beneath the oversized cloak wrapped around her.
“Mm…
I’ll treat everyone to some candy…” “?” Looking at the giant jar of sweets held high above Griseo’s head, the wrappers reflecting brightly in the firelight, every Yeti present arrived at exactly the same question.
Wait.
Where did you even pull out such a huge jar of candy from?!
★ ★ ★ T/N: If you spot mistranslation, do tell me!
★ ★ ★ Shilling time!