Reincarnated into a Snow Griffin-Chapter 69

Even with my sense of urgency triggered by the possibility of Lily being in a cage at that very moment, hurt as the own paper says, I still find it in myself to get angry at the looking anywhere but me rascal.

"... was it you?"

"O-of course not." The few moments that I’ve seen him stutter is when I’m really angry at him, and it almost makes me think I forgot to put my veil on and he is under the full force of my gaze.

"...All clothes are dirty except this one... very convenient isn’t it?" I say, looking at my white and blue robes from the Sect piled up on the ground in front of my room, all dirty and taken from my wardrobe except a single golden gifted one.

"...Very, very convenient." I stare him down behind my veil as he laughs nervously.

"W-well, uhm, since it came down to this you might as well, you know, use it since you don’t have other option." He slowly says, as if that was not his intention from the beginning and as if I cannot hear the laughter in his voice.

"Or... perhaps I will go with the one I’m using right now?" I say, and he takes a moment to catch up only to look at the clothes that I’m wearing with hate and disdain, which is kind of funny and cute.

... Never mind that, he is not cute, just plain annoying, even when at lost like this when his ’flawless’ plan has been so easily overturned.

He is not the smartest, most aren’t for me, but I can tell he is brave, and not even for the missions he goes to all the time, out and about into danger, no, but the fact that he is not scared of being himself, of being truthful, of insisting in this, whatever this was, even if it meant that he started been lumped together with me in my oddity, even when the gossips started.

If I am an attentive overlooking owl, he is the proud crow eyeing me on the branch two trees away, over and above all.

His disappointment doesn’t last long, but at least keeps him quiet as we pass by the other disciples in the sect that give us a small bow, saying: "Good evening Senior Brother." "Hello Senior Brother." "Auspicious day to you Senior Brother." And so on and on, most obligated to be polite by ranks as seniority is not a matter of time itself in here since time is seemed as a lesser thing, especially when many untalented ones may pass hundreds of years cultivating and not reach the level of a young talented disciple, age only being counted inside the same group of same raking disciples, as if a ranking system inside the inner and outer disciple groups that already exist.

In resume there were few to whom I had to bow my head as well, but many who had to do so to me even if they were here years before me.

Ethan starts recovering from his pouting when we are already reaching the stairs leading downwards, as even if we had magical flying swords we would have to walk since there are forbidding spells and enchanting all over to stop anyone from attacking the sect from above, turning the flying swords into an aimless compass, and in my researches and wanderings I actually discovered that many runes were engraved in no other than the statues put all around the place, seemly without meaning or care, but actually fundamental pieces into protecting this place.

So not only there were the visible big ones all around, framing the stone stairs down the mountain, mostly of animals or guardian beasts, but sometimes shy ones deeper into the forest, all with the humming power of the runes that I’ve grown to perceive after meditating this much.

I can tell that my peace and quiet is about to end when Ethan changes the way he walks, approaching me as he starts smiling happily, dimples appearing on his cheeks. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

I say nothing, but notice every single change, keeping my straight posture and folded arms inside my long sleeves in front of me.

"... What are you so happy about?" I cannot help but ask when that smile does not leave his face and he actually starts chuckling for no reason from time to time.

"Hehe, no, is that, is so difficult to get you out of the mountain peak, it just makes me happy that we are finally going out together, it almost feels like a date!" I may add that he makes his intentions clear like this from time to time, but I’m sure this is all an amusing play to a boy like him, a challenge even, and if it wasn’t for the fact that I had something important to look for today I may have fastened my pace with my wind magic and left him behind.

Only thing is... I did not know the way, I barely set foot outside the mountain all this time, plus I did not have a good sense of direction since the incident with the lion, but I guess that know, with a better understanding of my own powers, it is time to get out and search.

And if Lily was there... then it was the start of my plans to search for my mother’s whereabouts too.

I remember not liking this city very much the last time I came here, it was just too full of people, a major city for conveying goods to the disciples of all the sects over the mountains, so one can imagine such the amount of goods and people coming and going all year round, but not only that but because they needed a way to transport their goods all around there are many made up stone rivers crisscrossing the city, their small boat with standing people pulling them along coming and going pass the up brightest streets of the city, their lights reflected at the water bellow.

And that was... just too much water all around.

Plus too many stairs too, but I got used to that since we live in such uneven grounds already, the worst is that there here little space in between, with two flour houses all around, shops with open fronts and dining second floors with open terraces and well crafted railings, red lanterns swinging in the wind as the night comes to bring forth their light, especially when there were no cons in using colorful wall paint, with many green and red and some white mixture in surprisingly harmony, all bringing even more life to this already bustling city.

There is much to walk still, which only makes me harden my expression as I wonder if, after all this time, I will find someone of my past... and how will they be fairing.

But knowing Lily she will only curse me straight up.

And that thought brings a rare smile to my face, thankfully hidden by my veil.