The center of the vortex was deep and gloomy, while its edges constantly twisted and rotated, stirring the surrounding clouds and emitting bursts of low roars.
Tike looked up, gazing at the huge vortex that appeared abruptly in the sky, his expression becoming solemn.
Although he still wasn't sure what it was, from the depths of that vortex, he smelled a scent from the same source as the Green Pepper Monster just now.
With the appearance of the vortex, the remains originally scattered on the ground suddenly turned into specks of emerald-green light particles, converging toward the vortex in the sky.
Even the fragment Tike was holding in his hand began to melt rapidly, turning into light specks drifting away from between his fingers.
(Recycled?)
"Looks like there's a mastermind behind this mission. This isn't a request that can be solved with a mere 200,000 Jewels."
Tike grinned, his fingers sliding gently in front of him, outlining the trajectory of Space Magic, preparing to break into the source of that vortex to investigate.
But he had only drawn halfway when the huge black vortex in the sky suddenly contracted inward, finally disappearing completely, leaving only the calm night sky with only moonlight sprinkling down.
"...?"
The movement of his fingertips paused slightly in the air. Tike raised his eyebrows slightly, then continued to draw.
Buzz—!
Accompanying a slight spatial tremor, a circular spatial teleportation gate emitting faint blue light formed rapidly in front of him, revealing the scene on the other side—a boy with short blue hair was doing something with his back to the teleportation gate.
The blue-haired boy instantly sensed the anomaly behind him and ran without hesitation!
"Don't even think about running!"
Tike snorted coldly. Several emerald-green vines shot out from the soil on the ground, entangled the blue-haired boy's body, then pulled backward, dragging him from the other end of the teleportation gate involuntarily.
Tike scrutinized the blue-haired boy tightly bound by vines and asked: "Are you the mastermind behind this incident?"
Hearing Tike's interrogation, the blue-haired boy hesitated for a moment but ultimately chose to speak: "I came to stop them."
(Hmm? Not lying? Did I bind the wrong person?)
Realizing he caught the wrong person, Tike smiled awkwardly, and the vines binding the boy loosened accordingly.
"Sorry about that. You are from Edolas, right?"
"How do you..."
"Again..." Tike touched his forehead, feeling slightly helpless. "I've been to your world, so I remember the 'scent' of Edolas people."
"..."
The blue-haired boy didn't ask for details, just looking at Tike with complex eyes. Quietly putting his hands behind his back, an imperceptible magical fluctuation spread centered on him.
"Sorry, I can't have too much contact with people of this world. You guys just rest we... why aren't you asleep?"
"To keep watch at night, I slept enough during the day."
As Tike spoke, he adjusted his posture slightly to support Wendy, who was already leaning on him sleepily, scooped up Alice, who was also asleep, and placed her on his head. Then he looked at the boy in front of him with extremely dissatisfied eyes.
"I smelled the 'scent' on you wasn't too bad, so I let you go. And you turn around and try to knock us out?" His voice carried a hint of danger. "Do you like being tied up? If so, it's not like I can't satisfy your special fetish."
Following his words, the vines that just bound the boy became active again.
The boy waved his hands hurriedly, expressing apology again.
"Sorry, I'm just used to this..."
To reduce interactions with people of this world as much as possible, using sleep magic or illusion magic to get away quickly was his most commonly used handling method.
Tike curled his lips and didn't continue to pursue it.
"Forget it this time. Let's talk about business. Who are the 'they' you just mentioned? And what are you here to stop 'them' from doing?"
Facing Tike's pressing questions, the blue-haired boy lowered his eyelids, pursed his lips tightly, and chose silence.
Seeing he refused to speak, Tike had to make a blind guess.
"Could the mastermind be your family?"
"..."
The boy still didn't answer aloud, but the scent on his body became subtly disordered.
Just relying on this subtle change, Tike had already found the answer.
"Really is. Let me guess again... is it your father?"
"!"
The boy raised his head abruptly, a trace of complex emotion flashing in his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by a kind of determination.
"I will solve this matter alone. Please pretend you saw nothing tonight. Goodbye, Tike."
After speaking, his figure began to blur and quickly disappeared from the spot.
"Hey! You..."
"Phew..."
Tike subconsciously wanted to chase after him, but dismissed the idea due to the slight rise and fall brought by Wendy's even breathing on his shoulder. He could only mutter discontentedly:
"What's wrong with this guy?"
If his attitude were a bit better, considering he was doing something good, Tike might have considered helping.
But the other party put on an attitude of keeping people a thousand miles away from start to finish. Not only did he keep his mouth shut about key information, but he also tried to dismiss them with sleep magic.
"As expected, he still treats me as an ordinary child. Forget it, ignore him."
Tike shook his head, threw the matter of that boy to the back of his mind, turned to carry Wendy on his back, walked to the edge of the field, and continued to guard the field that had just experienced a commotion. In his boredom, he couldn't help thinking about that boy again.
(How did he know my name? Or does he know the me from Edolas?)
---
Early the next morning, the old village chief of Sunflower Village rushed over with an excited look.
"It worked! It worked! All the tomatoes in the field turned back this morning! You defeated that monster, right?"
Tike stretched lazily and yawned casually, looking like it was only natural: "Yeah, handled easily."
Wendy, awakened by the village chief's voice, rubbed her sleepy eyes and nodded groggily along.
"It's just that his corpse..."
Tike was about to mention the strange disappearance of the magical beast when the old village chief waved his hands repeatedly, wrinkles on his face smoothing out with a smile.
"Oh my, that doesn't matter! The corpse doesn't matter! As long as the crops are restored to their original state, that's fine. Thank you so much!"
To express his gratitude, the old village chief specially picked a small basket of fresh and plump tomatoes from his own vegetable garden and handed it over as his personal thank-you gift.
"Then I won't be polite!"
Tike naturally wouldn't refuse. After taking it, he casually picked one up, wiped it on himself, put it directly into his mouth, and tasted it with relish.
"Mmh, this tomato is sweet and sour, tastes very good. Wendy, do you want to taste one too?"