"I heard from Miss Carina that there are no Chocobos in the entire council now. Don't you have any other mounts? I've seen the undead skeleton horse summoned by Miss Aurora."
Shade said curiously, the witch walking beside him had a familiar "smell of witch" perfume. Miss Benanis's perfume smelled even colder, and Shade couldn't tell what kind of flower it was.
"I would love a unicorn."
The blonde witch's tone was quite pitiful, but this could not bring them a unicorn:
"Mr. Hamilton, you are probably laughing at my idea in your heart. But just like when boys are young, they often fantasize about having a sharp sword and a tall white horse, the fantasy of a unicorn is also the childhood wish of beautiful girls."
But when outsiders were young, they didn't dream of owning a sword. Shade's fantasy back then was cannons and rockets.
"Unicorn..."
The two continued to walk along the river, with snow-covered land and forests on both sides. Occasionally, they would encounter animals running on the snow, but they would spontaneously avoid the two. Shade regretted leaving the lazy cat in Tobesk. The cat should have seen this scene, and it would probably be very interested in the rabbit.
"Unicorns are ranked in the same category as dragons in St. Byron's dangerous creature rating."
Shade recalled what he had learned, and then found that the Witch's Echo, Orlan Nord, gave more knowledge about unicorns. Miss Orlan Nord's one-eighth elven bloodline is the bloodline of the long-leaf elf royal family, so her mount is a unicorn. Obviously, the Witch's Echo gave only some knowledge about witches, but when thinking of "unicorn", the image of a heroic pointy-eared witch riding a snow-white little beast and running in the vast snowfield immediately jumped out.
This was not Shade's imagination, but a picture that the witch deliberately left for Shade.
“Yes, unicorns in fairy tales are often persecuted by evil, but in reality these sacred alien creatures have extremely powerful powers... but they are really beautiful.”
Miss Benanis certainly didn't know what Shade was thinking:
"Although the unicorn population has not disappeared, it has moved away from areas where human civilization gathers, just like most other alien creatures. If possible, I really want to touch a unicorn. I wonder if they are cuter than your cats."
Unicorns only approach pure girls. Although the celibate Miss Benannis is a little older, she also meets the requirements. Shad probably does not meet the requirements. Although his own gender is always mistaken by others, he should not be considered "pure" after experiencing several "Red Butterfly Days".
The two walked and talked, and arrived at the surface of Lake Eldron at about 10:20 in the morning. In such cold weather, no one would walk on the ice. There were only boats moored in winter and people in the small village near the lakeside dock. There was a small town further away, but most of the people who went ice fishing gathered on the other side of the lake, so they would not disturb them.
Miss Benanis chose to land from the east, and the two crossed the lake and entered the Creek Forest. There were trails trampled by hunters and loggers in the forest. Shade wanted to go to the places that were rumored to be related to the "Saint Perry Cemetery" first, maybe his high perception could find something.
If you don't pay attention to the time, it will always pass quickly. At 12:30 noon, they were ready to stop for lunch. Although they didn't get anything in the morning, they didn't expect to find anything so easily.
Miss Benanis threw out three little paper figures and turned them into servants to look after the horses, set up the camp and collect firewood, while Shad was responsible for lighting the firewood and building a bonfire in the camp.
At this time, they were in a clearing at the edge of the forest near the upper reaches of the Yin'ao River. This was where loggers temporarily stored wood. The forest was cold in winter, but the sunlight that shone through the gaps in the treetops was particularly warm. After the blonde witch summoned three little paper servants, she sat on a stone by the campfire and watched Shade busy cooking.
Although he didn't have any cooking skills, he had no problem heating up the food, as Xia De had plenty of food on him.
Shade had no complaints about the witches not helping him. In his opinion, witches were not the kind of people who would cook for themselves. Miss Benanis watched Shade busying around, and a smile appeared on her lips. Then she realized that this smile was a little inappropriate, so she turned her head and pretended not to look at him, thinking about Miss Carina's compliments to Shade:
“He’s really useful.”
"The primordial fire?"
The flame was ignited, and the heat almost immediately enveloped the whole body. After Sister Devillin turned the evil creatures of Pantanal that the demigods and witches had defeated into firewood, Shad was able to use more of the power of the First Fire. One of the characteristics that appeared was that the bonfire he ignited could better restore physical strength and provide heat.
The Witch of the Earth keenly sensed the unusualness of the flame. Shade, who was taking a toy out of his pocket, nodded:
"Yes, Sister Devlin and I also know each other. Mother-in-law Cassandra introduced us. The sister said that I was a hero of the Fire Bearer and gave me some power."
He said it lightly, but Miss Benanis knew that there was something unusual about it, such as how did Shad meet Sister Develyn. She wanted to ask, but then she remembered that she had just lost the horse race, and was a little embarrassed to speak. Then she saw Shad picking light wooden toys to turn into cold meals, and then planning to heat them up over the campfire.
"Come to think of it, last week's puppet called you the Toy God's Curler."
She held her face and said to Xia De, while Xia De was thinking about what to eat for lunch, which was the most difficult problem for him in the day:
"Yes, Miss Carina probably said that I am a student at St. Byron's School of History and a time investigator. I was fortunate enough to meet that god in the past... Yes, yes, using the time key to travel through time and space should not have allowed me to contact those people in the past, but gods are different, aren't they?"
Shade smiled and looked up and asked, and Miss Benannis nodded slightly:
"I heard from Jialina that it only took you half a year to advance to the fifth ring. It's really unusual. Even witches can't reach such a speed."
The rapid leveling period for witches is about three to five years. If they cannot continue to improve after that, it is almost the end of their talent. Miss Carina's end point was originally around the eleventh ring, but because of her cooperation with Luvia to open the Death Gate to rescue Shade and his party, and to come into contact with the Light of Enlightenment of the Chosen, these two unique gains allowed her to break through the limit of her talent.
And Vanessa Benanis in front of us is also a witch stuck in the eleventh ring.
“The time adventure experience helped me a lot.”
He said half-truthfully, and then remembered another thing:
"By the way, Miss Benaness, do you know poetry? I want a poem praising butterflies, the earth, and spring. If you are willing to help me, can you help me choose one from the existing poems?"
This was the mission of the Time Key this time. He also planned to entrust Dorothy and Leicia, and then choose the best one from their answers. After all, in Shade's opinion, writers and actresses should have a high level of artistic appreciation.
"Last time it was a ballad, this time it's a poem... no problem."
The witch in the cloak nodded slightly, and her palms were facing the campfire to absorb the warmth. It was still snowing when she set out in the morning, but now the snow has almost stopped:
"So, how are you going to thank me?"
She asked jokingly.
Xia De didn't hear that this was a joke. After thinking for a while, he reached out his hand to the air beside him, took out a translucent book with strange starry sky colors, and handed it to Miss Benannis:
"Last week I used a time key and heard three very good ballads. They were sung by an ordinary man, a twelfth-level witch, and a nun from the Church of the Sun."
Miss Benanis raised her eyebrows in surprise, then opened the strange book and read the lyrics. This was the language of the Fifth Age, but fortunately she could understand it.
Shade's Moon Library ability can only display text, and cannot provide various display methods like the real "Silver Moon Library". So in order to display the three songs, he also needs to hum the tunes. As a ring sorcerer, his memory is quite good, and the magic of the sound of music seems to have enhanced his limited musical talent.
Having a tune in your head doesn't mean you can restore it. But fortunately, there is "her" help. At Xia De's request, "she" sang softly in his ear, and the sound almost made Xia De intoxicated.
And one by one, Xia De hummed along, and he managed to hum the tune.
The man's voice echoed in the forest, making the slightly silent snow forest seem like a warm spring breeze. A big-tailed squirrel holding pine nuts picked up from somewhere stared curiously at Shade humming in the treetops, the sun shining on its brown fur, and it flew briskly over the treetops until the voice stopped.
Miss Benanis held the book in her hands and looked at Shade. It was not until he sang all three songs that the witch said softly with some emotion:
"Can you tell me in detail about the circumstances under which these songs were created? I felt a lot of complex emotions in them. It's really amazing that three people with completely different identities could create such different, but equally charming ballads with the same theme."
The three witches, Blackett and others, did not dare to use other people's songs to dedicate to the gods. Except for Miss Perry's lyrics which came from "Song of the Earth", the other tunes and lyrics were all original.