Chapter 44-The Manga Pariah's Guide to Self-Salvation
"Saintess, we should go now."
Yu Tianming followed closely behind the furious Sykes, noticing that one teammate hadn't caught up.
Ye Zheng didn't have time to ask Wu Shu what she thought of the "return gift" before her teammate's urging forced her to say a quick goodbye. Seeing Wu Shu's somewhat excited expression, she figured she was satisfied.
Although, Ye Zheng couldn't see what was so attractive about Sykes.
"What are you looking at?"
Sykes felt her gaze on his back, turned his head, and stared at Ye Zheng, his expression terrible.
"I was checking to see if you were injured. His Holiness the Pope just instructed me to take good care of you."
Sykes scoffed. Having the gentle and delicate Saintess take care of him? She should worry about her own safety first... The sarcastic words were on the tip of his tongue, but then he remembered Ye Zheng's performance this time and fell silent again.
Hearing Ye Zheng mention the Pope, Yu Tianming's eyes flickered, and he glanced at the girl without a trace.
The royal family had sent a new carriage to pick up the Crown Prince. The mutated beast that pulled the carriage was lost, but no one paid it much mind. It was normal for a monster that couldn't understand human nature to run off; they could just send some people to capture it again.
Back at the royal team's temporary residence, Qin Lu, the team leader, was waiting in the main hall. Seeing the young people, she smiled and congratulated them, "Congratulations on conquering another Demonic Domain and holding firmly onto the number one spot on the rankings."
Qin Lu noticed that except for Ye Zheng, the other three didn't look very happy. She couldn't be bothered with the childish boys and pulled the gentle-looking girl aside, and the two chatted as they walked.
"I heard about your performance this time. What's wrong? Done with the act?"
As evening fell, the woman with a casual air strolled slowly with the girl in a quiet, deserted little garden.
"It was just a fluke. You know my marksmanship is terrible."
"Hahaha, very self-aware. That's why you had me prepare a gun with no rifling for you."
To abandon accuracy and use a gun purely as a close-quarters weapon... among her students, only Ye Zheng had such boldness.
Although she taught a marksmanship class at the Royal Academy, the students who came were all just trying to get credits. To these chosen ones, nothing was more powerful than their own abilities. The one who was actually willing to learn from her was, ironically, this Saintess from the Sei Curia who rarely came to the academy.
And Qin Lu was happy to give a good student some special lessons.
"There are no books you like here, nor a shooting range. Will you be bored? Speaking of which, I was surprised that you were willing to take this job, Teacher Qin."
Qin Lu grinned, her short hair tied into a small tuft swaying as she turned her head.
"My big nephew is a bit annoying, but the lower district is more interesting than I thought. No wonder you love running off to this place."
In truth, she had only just returned not long ago. She had heard the story of Ye Zheng risking her life to fight monsters and save the shelter from others. The lower district's attention to this competition had reached a fanatical level; the slightest news spread like wildfire.
Qin Lu found the attitude of the people here towards the competition interesting. They hoped for the Cloud-Soaring Squad to win, and the squad's every move was eagerly discussed, to the point where the teenagers were treated almost like saviors.
At the same time, they worshipped the invincible Crown Prince—the Cloud-Soaring Squad's greatest rival. People discussed with reverence how noble and powerful Sykes's demeanor was. His appearance meant the swift destruction of a Demonic Domain, and that those in desperate situations would surely be saved.
The only thing that was slightly more pleasant for Qin Lu to hear was the discussion about the Saintess. The hype of the ability user competition had briefly overshadowed this once-popular figure of the lower district, but after today, the amount of discussion about Ye Zheng in this competition would likely not be less than anyone else's.
Percy, Sykes, and Ye Zheng—these three young people had somehow become the collective spiritual pillars of the lower district.
One represented the miracle of a counterattack from the bottom, one represented the powerful protection from the upper class, and the only girl represented a transcendent, fair salvation symbolizing divine authority.
Qin Lu rubbed the bridge of her nose, amused.
Could these three truly coexist? She looked at Ye Zheng's softly defined profile, like a gentle evening breeze that could soothe everyone's anxieties.
Qin Lu didn't know what this good student of hers was planning, but she could tell that a storm was brewing within Ye Zheng.
"Ye Zheng, you—"
"Your Grace! Saintess!"
At the end of the path, an attendant with a panicked expression spotted them and hurried over.
"Don't panic. What is it?"
The attendant's voice was strained. "The... the competition is being suspended for a few days."
"My lords, please evacuate the lower district as soon as possible."
Ye Zheng's eyes widened slightly. The competition had only just begun a few days ago; how could this nationally anticipated grand event be suddenly interrupted? And they were being rushed to evacuate, too.
Qin Lu also realized something was wrong, her face tightening. "Speak slowly. What happened?"
"This afternoon, two teams from the upper district, Ailuo Academy and Central Academy, entered a Demonic Domain. Both teams sent out distress signals."
"The Royal Knights stationed in the lower district entered the Demonic Domain to rescue them... but there has been no word. An hour later, another group of knights went in to search, and they have not come out either."
Ye Zheng and Qin Lu looked at each other, seeing the gravity in the other's eyes.
The attendant's voice trembled. "It's still expanding. Everyone in the vicinity has fled, and the lower district is in complete chaos. Everyone is saying... they're saying the prophesied super S-rank Demonic Domain is coming!"
Tears streamed down the round-faced girl's face as she bowed. Ye Zheng watched her tears fall onto the grass. She helped the young attendant stand up straight, her gaze reassuring.
"I am the Saintess of the Sei Curia. I understand the first Pope's prophecy better than any of you. This is not the Demonic Domain from the prophecy."
The round-faced young attendant cautiously raised her eyes, glanced at the Saintess's calm face, and stopped crying.
"R-Really?"
"Really. Tell your companions and families that it's just a stronger Demonic Domain. As long as they stay away from it, they'll be fine."
The young attendant nodded vigorously. If the city lord or some other official had said this, she would have suspected they were just trying to placate the public and cover up the truth. But the Saintess looked so reassuring; could what she said be wrong?
The young attendant straightened her back and left, relieved. But the gentle smile had vanished from Ye Zheng's face.
Ye Zheng didn't want to leave the lower district, but unexpectedly, the royal family directly ordered all contestants from the upper district to evacuate temporarily, until this Demonic Domain, which had been rated A+ in danger, was completely dealt with.
She sat on the train with her eyes closed, resting. It seemed those two teams were likely doomed. Otherwise, the royal family wouldn't be so nervous. As far as she knew, those two teams included the children of many top-ranking nobles.
And they were the most valued elites of their families.
If they truly died in the Demonic Domain, not even the royal family and the Sei Curia working together could easily quell the wrath of these nobles.
Even so, this evacuation was laughable. The purpose of the third stage of the competition was to appease the lower district and showcase the grace of the empire's chosen ones. Yet, they fled so shamefully at the first sign of trouble. Ye Zheng felt embarrassed for the cowardly decision-makers.
The girl's eyes suddenly snapped open. The appearance of this Demonic Domain was too coincidental, as if it had come specifically to slap them in the face (a Chinese internet slang for public humiliation)—to show that you elites with powerful talents and noble births are nothing special, fleeing even more hastily than the common people of the lower district.
A Demonic Domain that devoured a group of the empire's noble children, shaking the entire empire... this plot seemed somewhat familiar...
"System, is this also part of the original plot?" Ye Zheng suddenly asked.
[It's a common trope in shonen manga for something to go wrong during a competition.]
[And I did remind you before, people will die in this arc—it won't be your turn for now, so don't worry too much.]
"Thank you so much for the considerate spoiler."
Ye Zheng got off the train. The Ye family's car had been waiting for a long time. By the time she arrived home, it was late at night.
In the main hall of the mansion, late at night, someone had left a light on for her.
"Zhengzheng! You're finally back... you're back."
Shu Wan trotted to the door and threw her arms around her returning daughter.
The always elegant and dignified middle-aged woman rarely lost her composure like this. At least, after that incident, Ye Zheng had seldom seen her mother so openly emotional.
It seemed she had already heard about what happened in the lower district.
Ye Zheng let Shu Wan hug her, stiffly patting her mother's back.
"It's alright, Mother. I'm back."
Shu Wan slightly loosened her arms, her eyes filled with a worried and pleading emotion as she looked at her tall, beautiful daughter. Ye Zheng's expression seemed exceptionally calm.
"Promise Mom, don't go to the lower district anymore, okay? I can't lose you again..."
Ye Zheng gently pulled away from the embrace.
"This is something I must do as your daughter and as the Saintess of the Sei Curia. You don't need to worry so much. I always enter Demonic Domains with the powerful and noble Crown Prince. Isn't this what you and Father have always hoped for?"
Ye Zheng paused, then added softly.
"I am no longer a little girl who can be trampled on by anyone."
But Shu Wan staggered back a step, her eyes shimmering with tears.
"You still haven't moved on from that incident..."
"You... you still won't forgive Mom, will you?"
Ye Zheng lowered her gaze to her mother's emotional face. This was the second person she had seen cry today. Her fingers brushed away her mother's tear, crushing it heavily between her fingertips.
"You haven't moved on either. That's why you don't want me to go to that place."
"But if I don't go there, I'll never be able to move on."
"It's late. You should go rest."
"Good night, Mom."
Hearing the long-unheard "Mom," Shu Wan let go of her daughter's hand and dazedly watched her figure depart.
Of course, she couldn't move on from that incident. In her dreams at night, Shu Wan wondered countless times if things would have been different if she hadn't been so willful back then. Her parents, Ye Zheng's grandparents, wouldn't have died in that incident...
Shu Wan's expression was a bit dazed. Ye Zheng was not like her proud younger self, nor was she like the hypocritical and pretentious Ye Fanjing.
Back then, she had wanted to name her much-anticipated daughter with the character 'zheng' (争), which means to strive or fight. However, because Ye Fanjing wanted a daughter who was a proper little lady, she disguised it with a homophone: the beautiful character 'zheng' (筝), which means zither.
Later, Shu Wan realized this character—representing the idea of wanting to strive but not daring to—had become a footnote for her own life.
Ye Zheng stood in the shadows at the top of the second-floor staircase, looking down at the distraught woman in the hall below.
Only after the woman had also left the hall in a daze did Ye Zheng return to her bedroom.
Author's Note:
The next chapter will reveal a bit of our baby's past...
Comments
Post a Comment