Seeing little Sophie eating, suddenly her small mouth quivered, and tears started to fall "plink plink."
Andrew, who was a bit addicted to feeding: "?"
Did the Water Spirit Technique fail? Did the grapes not become sweeter but rather more sour?
Little Sophie's tears became even more uncontrollable: "Waa waa... Brother Andrew... I don't want you to die..."
The grapes were very sweet, not sour at all.
Yet the sweeter the grapes, the more upset little Sophie became.
Since last night, Andrew had been thinking about how to gather enough strength to take down Hubert before the "day of death" predicted by the old wizard arrived.
In the minds of others, he was just a young man with not much time left.
Although last night Andrew had told little Sophie, "Your brother Andrew won't die," who would really believe it in the Flame Realm?
"Waa waa waa! Brother Andrew! Brother Andrew waa waa waa waa—!"
Little Sophie's crying reminded Andrew of "the hope of the entire village" from the world he had crossed from.
Aunt Sofia next to them didn't say anything, but her eyes were a bit red, and she looked at Andrew with gratitude.
As for the camp residents, their gazes were filled with regret and pity.
"This..."
Andrew scratched his head, not quite sure how to handle the situation.
The presence of the old wizard was like an invisible yet enormous shadow looming over Andrew's heart.
To say there was no pressure would be lying.
But if I say that I have more than a forty percent chance of taking down that bastard old wizard, would you believe it?
If today's battle preparations go smoothly, the success rate could increase to over sixty percent. Would saying this make everyone feel it's a bit of a fairytale?
"Ah, come on, stop crying now. You've become a little cat."
Andrew raised his hand to wipe away little Sophie's tears and said, "The grapes aren't sour, right? As long as they're not sour, that's good (meaning there's nothing wrong with my 'Water Spirit Technique')!"
Honestly, comforting isn't my strong suit.
There's no choice... just have to divert attention!
Andrew truly felt that if he continued to let this little girl cry, it would wipe out all the good mood that Ivan brought!
Crying as if I'm already gone, how am I supposed to continue today's fire extinguishing plan?
Hmm, divert attention, divert attention...
Andrew stood up and, on purpose, said: "Want more grapes? If not, I'll be going out later."
Sure enough, little Sophie was startled: "Going out again?"
Her little hand subconsciously grabbed Andrew's shirt hem, looking up with tears still on her cheeks.
If it weren't for the tears and a bit of snot, this cute little look would be absolutely perfect!
Aunt Sofia next to him was also startled and then asked somewhat curiously: "So early... Andrew, where are you going?"
Before Andrew could answer, other camp residents began to urge: "Stay in the tent and rest well, don't wander around!" "Yeah, yeah! Rest well, maybe your illness will get better!"
Andrew was touched internally and smiled, saying: "It's okay... cough cough, I'll just go out for a stroll. Thank you all for your concern, really thank you, cough."
Looking again at Aunt Sofia: "These grapes, can you put them away for me? I'll eat them when I return."
"...Okay."
Aunt Sofia saw Andrew was determined and didn't ask more questions.
She took the grapes and went back to the tent to put them away for Andrew.
When she came out of the tent again, Andrew had already left the temporary camp.
Little Sophie pitifully asked: "Mom, do you think Brother Andrew can survive the week that Grand Mage Hubert predicted? Last night, Brother Andrew told me he wouldn't die, that he would live well. Was he lying to me?"
"Of course... he wasn't lying. Your brother Andrew said he could live well, so he definitely can!"
Aunt Sofia said these words against her conscience.
There was no way, even Ivan, after receiving partial treatment from Andrew, didn't dare to completely believe Andrew could cure him.
In this Flame Realm, lung burn syndrome was a terminal illness, which was almost an unspoken rule in everyone's mind.
A camp resident then asked: "Hey, Sofia, did Andrew say where he's going today? Going out so early..."
Aunt Sofia shook her head: "I don't know."
This was genuinely unknown to her.
It seemed as if Aunt Sofia still didn't know why Andrew went to find Ivan last night. It was very strange!
That kid wouldn't possibly be using his body for food as she did...
Eh? Wait a minute!
Aunt Sofia suddenly looked down at the grapes she was holding, which hadn't been distributed yet.
Andrew ran to find Ivan in the middle of the night...
Brought back a box of grapes when returning to the camp...
This—!
Aunt Sofia's expression became indescribably strange, feeling that she might have uncovered some astonishing truth.
The camp residents were still chatting at this time:
"Didn't you notice, that Andrew seems to be different from before?"
"In what way? That he saved little Sophie from the sea of flames last night? Yeah, indeed, it's not quite like Andrew's usual style. You couldn't tell that kid would have such courage and compassion at a critical moment."
"I think it's not just about saving people; Andrew as a whole seems... unusual."
"I feel the same, you say he's about to die, but he looks so calm. Yet, if you say he's fine, he's been coughing all the time. And the prophecy of Grand Mage Hubert is always accurate..."
Aunt Sofia continued distributing the remaining grapes while listening to these discussions.
Like others, Aunt Sofia also increasingly felt that Andrew wasn't quite the same as the one in her memory.
But, thinking too much is meaningless.
After distributing the fruits, Aunt Sofia held her daughter's hand and returned to the tent, gently instructing: "Stay in the camp tent, don't run around. Mommy has to go work in town today, and we need to quickly save money to move back to a regular house. Staying in this temporary camp isn't good."
Little Sophie sensibly said: "It's nice to live here, everyone is together, it's lively. Don't work too hard, Mom."
Aunt Sofia couldn't help but lovingly pat her daughter's hair.
This was her reason for thinking that speculating about "how Andrew has changed" was not really meaningful.
After all, life has to go on, right?
But...
A quick glance at the camp gate where Andrew left, Aunt Sofia couldn't help but "overthink" a little: "Where on earth is Andrew going? Why do I feel it's not as simple as just 'going for a stroll'..."