Chapter 957: A Challenge from Mystery Moon
“Thank you.” With only Margaret and Nightingale close by, Thunder let the false smile drop and spoke to Roland without pretense. “I’m very glad to see her like this. I know I made the right decision. I’ll leave her in your care.”
“She’s grown up,” Margaret said softly, with the quality of someone who has watched it happen and can’t quite believe it. “The way she mimicked an adult’s tone—you just wanted to hold the poor child.”
That’s what you’re actually thinking, isn’t it. Roland kept that to himself and said instead, “Lightning hasn’t given up on her calling. She’s formed her own Exploration Group right here—only three members, but that’s how it starts. Unless you lock her away, she’ll catch up eventually. You know that.”
“If it’s unavoidable, then it’s her destiny.” Thunder forced a smile. “But not yet. I want her to live a happy and safe life before that day comes.”
Unspoken between them: the Battle of Divine Will was not far off. Even if Lightning never returned to the sea, she wasn’t safe. Once Neverwinter fell—the first line—the entire human race would fall with it. Roland had never told Lightning about the scale of the crisis bearing down on them. He knew her too well. She would see in it the most magnificent adventure of her life, and no argument would keep her on the sideline. He didn’t want to burden her with the weight of what was coming before she had to carry it.
“Rest assured,” Roland said at last, and laid a hand on Thunder’s shoulder. “I’ll take good care of her.”
“What did he say?” Lorgar set Maggie—who had been perched in her arms—back onto Lightning’s head and asked. “Did you learn anything about your father?”
Lightning shook her head. “As I expected—nothing concrete. But don’t worry. I’d rather find him myself with my own team. That would be more interesting.”
“Coo, agreed!” Maggie flapped her wings.
“By the way—is Mystery Moon here yet?”
“Nope.”
“What the heck.” Lightning twitched her lips. “Is she bailing on us? She promised with such confidence.”
“What exactly was the challenge she issued?” Lorgar asked.
“I have no idea, coo!”
“Huh?”
“We, the Exploration Group, are ready to accept any challenge, whatever form it takes,” Lightning declared, with the unshakeable satisfaction of someone who has thought this through and found it entirely reasonable.
“Coo, coo!” Maggie seconded, stretching her neck upright.
Lorgar clapped a hand over her forehead. She was starting to understand what kind of group she’d joined.
“Sorry I’m late—” Mystery Moon’s voice came from behind. Lorgar turned and saw her trotting over with Lily close behind, followed by Summer and Sharon.
“I thought you weren’t coming,” Lightning said, arms folded.
“Why wouldn’t I?” Mystery Moon protested. “I was tied up with investigative work. It was necessary preparation for the contest to run smoothly.”
“Alright then.” Lightning shrugged. “So what is the contest?”
“I’ll explain that. But first—allow me to introduce my team.” Mystery Moon spread her arms and pushed the three girls forward. “I hereby announce the official founding of the Neverwinter Detective Group! These are my newly recruited members!”
The reactions scattered in every direction. Lorgar and Maggie both stood in blank confusion. Summer and Sharon exchanged uncertain glances. Lily alone spoke—loudly, and with annoyance:
“I am not a member!”
“His Majesty! It was His Majesty!” Mystery Moon said hastily. “Wendy told me His Majesty knows about our investigation of the academy arson. He gave me the concept—uncovering the unknown, searching for truth—and a special title. He called it… front-load…” She scratched the back of her head. “Front-load washing machine. But Wendy didn’t know the exact meaning either.”
“Really?” Lightning looked skeptical.
“Searching for the truth of crimes,” Sharon murmured, turning the phrase over thoughtfully. “If it helps with Neverwinter’s security, I’d be willing to be a part of it.”
“Would there be any problem with me joining?” Summer pointed to herself. “Miss Nightingale said I’m already a member of the Security Bureau.”
“That’s fine.” Mystery Moon gave a thumbs-up. “Lightning scouts for the First Army from time to time too. As long as His Majesty’s orders come first, there’s no conflict.”
“Please leave me out of it.” Lily rolled her eyes. “I have samples to record, and the mushroom cultivation has to be doubled again. I don’t have time for your games. Call me a traitor if you like. It won’t change anything.”
“Traitor!”
“You—”
“Wait, wait. Let me finish.” Mystery Moon pressed on. “I’m serious this time. You all know Roland received guests from the Fjords tonight, yes?”
“Evidently.” Lily’s tone was sharp. “What do you think this feast is for?”
“But here’s the thing—there’s a witch among the guests.” Mystery Moon lowered her voice. “I was at the port when they arrived, inspecting the illumination—”
“You were idling around. Nobody turns on lights during the day.”
“—and I noticed her.” Mystery Moon ignored the flaw Lily had exposed and continued, “The Fjord visitors are staying in Neverwinter for several months. The witch is staying too. So she’ll be the subject of our contest.”
“Tell me,” Lightning said, interest kindled.
“The first team to successfully persuade her to join their group—wins!” Mystery Moon announced. “The Detective Group is currently the largest organization under the Witch Union, with four members. The Exploration Group was founded first, so we’re tied. This competition will determine which of us is truly the stronger.”
Lorgar nearly bit her tongue suppressing a laugh. Competing to recruit a stranger? She’d been in many contests, but never one with this kind of setup. It was equal parts ridiculous and charming.
To her surprise, though, Lightning and Maggie both looked grave. Maggie in particular was alert, tail straight up.
Can I still withdraw? Lorgar wondered silently.
“I don’t think team size is the right measure of strength,” Lightning said, “but I accept the challenge.” She tapped her chest. “We’re in.”
“Coo, coo!”
“Don’t take it lightly.” Mystery Moon raised a finger. “First—the witch named Joan can barely speak, which makes communication difficult. Second—she’s frightened enough that any invitation from a stranger reads to her like danger, same as it did for us when the Church was hunting us. It’ll take time. The rules are simple: whichever team wins her over first, wins. Agreed?”
“No objections,” Lightning said.
“Hang on.” Lorgar made one last effort to remove herself. “If what you’re saying is true, she’ll only be here a few months. Does it matter which group she ends up with? It won’t make much difference to her either way.”
“It will,” Mystery Moon said, without a trace of her usual playfulness. “If we can help her walk out of the shadows—open up to people—that’s worth everything, regardless of the outcome. To anyone else it might mean nothing. But to her, it will be the light that changes her life. That’s what His Majesty did for us in the first place.”
Lorgar’s heart gave a sudden lurch. These girls, she realized, were not as juvenile as they sometimes appeared.
“Who exactly told you all this?” Lily narrowed her eyes, then looked sharply at Summer. “Did you—did you use Summer’s ability to eavesdrop on His Majesty?”
“No, no!” Mystery Moon said quickly. “We only went back to when they visited the dock. Everything His Majesty said there was in front of everyone. Completely public.” She shot an embarrassed glance at Lightning. “I swear it on the power of electromagnetism!”
“That was still out of bounds. I’m reporting this to Wendy.”
“Trai—no, I swear I’ll never do it again!”
“I don’t believe you!”
“I’m completely serious!”
“You always say that!”
“If I lie again, I’ll give up Chaos Drinks forever. Hey—don’t walk away!”
While the Detective Group dissolved into internal conflict, Maggie abruptly lifted into flight and crossed the hall in a low, purposeful arc.
Only Lightning and Lorgar saw her go.
The pigeon glided to a round table, picked up a piece of barbecued meat, and landed on Joan’s shoulder. The girl startled—then stilled, drawn in by the warm, ridiculous little bird.
She accepted the meat Maggie offered.
Lorgar’s wolf ears swiveled, tracking the conversation that followed across the hall.
She caught almost none of it.
“Coo.” “Ya.” “Coo, coo—coo!” “Ya ya.” A pause. ”…”
Seven or eight minutes later, Maggie rose, crossed the hall, and settled back onto Lightning’s head.
“She agreed to join the Exploration Group, coo!” Maggie announced, neck stretched with triumph.
Chapter 957: A Challenge from Mystery Moon
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
“Thank you.” When there were just Margaret and Nightingale around, Thunder dropped his fake smile and said to Roland sincerely, “I’m very happy about her current status. Now I know that I made the right decision back then. I’ll leave her in your care.”
“She’s grown up…” Margaret remarked impressively. “The way she mimicked the tone of adults made you just want to press the poor little thing to your bosom.”
“Hey, that’s what you’re really thinking, isn’t it,” Roland said within himself. Then he said, “But Lightning hasn’t given up on her undertaking. Although she lives here, she formed her own exploration group, despite that there are only three members. She would eventually catch up unless you lock her up now.”
“If that’s unavoidable, then it’s her destiny.” Thunder forced a smile. “But not now at least. I hope she can live a happy and safe life before that day comes.”
Having said that, the Battle of Divine Will was right around the corner. Even Lightning stayed away from the ocean, she was not safe there. Once Neverwinter, which was at the very front of the battle, fell, the entire human race would be doomed. Roland did not tell Lightning about this greatest crisis that human beings would ever encounter, for he knew the war itself was the most magnificent adventure Lightning would ever run into. She would definitely not miss the opportunity to personally participate in it. Since he could not persuade her to withdraw from the upcoming battle, he did not want to burden her with such an unnecessary premonition of imminent disaster.
“Rest assured, I’ll take good care of her.” At length, Roland patted Thunder on his shoulder and said slowly.
…
“What did he say?” Lorgar put Maggie, who was perched in her arms, back onto Lightning’s head and asked, “Did you hear anything about your father?”
The little girl shook her head and replied, “As I expected, there’s nothing about his whereabouts. But don’t worry, I prefer to find him myself with my team. That would be more interesting!”
“I agree, coo!” Maggie flapped her wings.
“By the way, is Mystery Moon here yet?”
“Nope.”
“What the heck.” Lightning twitched her lips. “Is she just going to bail on us? She promised us with such confidence before.”
“By the way… what’s the challenge she issued to us?” Lorgar was curious.
“I have no idea, coo!”
“Huh?”
“We, the Exploration Group, are ready to accept any challenge, no matter what they are,” Lightning said triumphantly.
“That’s right, coo!” Maggie chimed in while craning her neck.
“Ugh…” The Princess of the Wildflame Clan clapped her hand over her forehead, totally speechless. She started to wonder what a chaotic group she had joined.
“Sorry, I’m late…” Just then, they heard Mystery Moon’s voice coming from behind them. Lorgar turned around and saw Mystery Moon and Lily trotting toward them, followed by Summer and Sharon.
“I thought you weren’t coming.” Lightning folded her arms.
“Why wouldn’t I?” Mystery Moon cried. “I was just tied up with some investigation work. This is also a necessary step for the contest to run smoothly.”
“Alright then.” Lightning shrugged indifferently. “Now can you tell us what the contest is?”
“Of course I will. However, before that, I’d like to introduce my team first.” Mystery Moon opened her arms and pushed the other three girls forward. “I announce that this is the date for the official establishment of Neverwinter Detective Group. These are the new members I just recruited!”
“Huh?”
“Detective… Group?”
“What’s that, coo?”
“No, I’m not a member!”
The witches reacted differently to the remark. Lorgar and Maggie both stood stupefied, having no clue as to what was exactly going on, whereas Summer and Sharon were clearly confused. Lily, on the other hand, yelled in annoyance.
“It was His Majesty! His Majesty!” Mystery Moon explained hastily. “Wendy told me that His Majesty knows that we went to the academy to investigate the arson. He then taught me this word, which means uncovering the unknown and searching for truth. In addition, he gave me a special title as well.”
“Really?” Lightning looked incredulous.
“You can ask Wendy. I remember it’s called front-load… front-load washing machine.” Mystery Moon scratched the back of her head. “But Wendy doesn’t know the exact meaning either.”
“Searching for the truth of a crime…” Sharon muttered ponderously. “If it helps with the security of Neverwinter, I’d like to be a part of it.”
“Would there be any problems if I join?” Summer pointed to herself. “Miss Nightingale said I’m already a member of Security Bureau.”
“It would be fine.” Mystery Moon gave a thumbs-up. “Lightning also needs to scout for the First Army from time to time, doesn’t she? As long as we put priority on His Majesty’s orders, there shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Sorry, but please don’t count me in.” Lily rolled her eyes. “There are tons of samples I need to record in the laboratory, and the size of the mushroom plant has to be doubled again. I really don’t have time for your game. Call me a traitor if you like, but it won’t change anything!”
“Traitor!”
“You…”
“Wait, my bad. Let me finish.” Mystery Moon nagged. “I’m serious this time. You should all know that His Majesty received some guests from Fjords, right?”
“That’s quite obvious.” Lily snapped impatiently. “What do you think this feast is about?”
“But my point is that there’s a witch among them.” Mystery Moon continued, “I was inspecting the illumination at the port when they arrived…”
“You were just idling about, weren’t you? Nobody would turn on lights during the daytime.”
“Ahem, and then I noticed her.” Mystery Moon ignored the blatant flaw that Lily had just pointed out in her story and said, “I’ve heard that the Fjord people will be staying at Neverwinter for quite a few months, and this includes the witch. So, she’ll be the very subject of our contest.”
“Oh, really?” Lightning was intrigued, “Tell me about it.”
“The first team that successfully persuades her to join their group wins the game!” Mystery Moon proclaimed. “The Detective Group is considered the biggest organization under the Witch Union because we have four members. However, since the Exploration Group was founded earlier, I would say we’re tied for now. The winner of this competition will thus decide which team is the stronger of the two!”
“Haha.” Lorgar almost bit her tongue. She could barely suppress her laughter. “To team up with a stranger witch?” Although she knew the contest did not have to be as formal as a holy duel, she was both amused and astonished at the playful manner in which they set up the competition.
To Lorgar’s surprise, however, both Lightning and Maggie looked grave, particularly Maggie. She was apparently in a state of alert, as her tail was high up in the air.
Princess Lorgar cried in silence. She wondered if she could still withdraw from the competition.
“Although I don’t think you can judge a team by the number of its members, I accept the challenge!” Lightning patted her chest.
“Coo, coo!”
“Don’t ever take it lightly.” Mystery stuck out one finger. “First, the witch named Joan can barely talk, so it’s hard for her to communicate with others. Second, she’s so frightened that the poor thing senses danger from any invitations from strangers, just like us back then when we were wanted by the church. So, it’s going to be a time-consuming project. As for the rules of the game, whichever team that first wins her over wins the game. How does that sound?”
“I have no issue with it.” Lightning nodded.
“Hang on… I have a question.” Lorgar made the last attempt to get herself out of the contest. “If what you said is true, she would only be here for a few months. In that case, there’s no point to argue which group she would join
eventually. Whether it’s the Detective Group or the Exploration Group, it’ll make no difference to her.”
“That isn’t true.” Mystery Moon refuted gravely. “If we can help her walk out of the shadows and open up to us, everything would be worthwhile. Perhaps, it means nothing to an ordinary person, but to her, it will be the sunshine that lightens up her life, and this was also what His Majesty did for us in the first place.”
In an instant, Lorgar’s heart missed a beat. It suddenly occurred to her that these girls were probably not as juvenile as she had thought them to be.
“Hold on, who told you all this?” Lily drew her brows together.
“Well…” Mystery Moon was at a loss for words.
“Did you—” She cast a suspicious glance at Mystery Moon and then at Summer before she uttered an exclamation of surprise. “Did you ask Summer to use her ability to eavesdrop on His Majesty?”
“No, no!” Mystery Moon explained quickly. “We simply went back to the time when they visited the dock. It was nothing confidential, as His Majesty made a speech in front of everybody!” With these words, she stole an embarrassed glance at Lightning. “I swear in the name of electromagnetic power!”
“You were way over the line this time. I’m going to report to Wendy!”
“Trai — no, I swear I’ll never do it again!”
“I don’t trust you!”
“I’m serious!”
“You always lie to me!”
“If I lie to you again, I won’t have any more Chaos Drinks. Hey, don’t go!”
While the Detective Group was experiencing an internal conflict, Maggie leaped into flight abruptly and flew to the other side of the hall.
Only Lightning and Lorgar saw her leave.
Lorgar saw the pigeon flit across the hall and descend on a round table. It picked up a piece of barbeque meat with its beak and landed on Joan’s shoulder.
The girl seemed to be startled at first, but she was soon attracted to the bird. Afterward, she even took the barbeque meat the bird offered her.
The wolf girl turned to Maggie and lifted up her ears.
Shortly afterward, she captured the conversation between them.
However, she could barely understand it.
“Coo.” “Ya.”
“Coo, coo—coo!” “Ya Ya.” “…”
Around seven or eight minutes later, Maggie rose in the air and landed on Lightning’s head again.
“She agreed to join the Exploration Group, coo!” Maggie announced triumphantly.