[Daily Quest: Revisiting Old Places has been completed.]
[Daily Quest: Revisiting Old Places·Two has been completed.]
[...]
[Daily Quest: Revisiting Old Places·Ten has been completed.]
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, ten days had passed. Every day, Noah was either placing anchors, hunting down various Tacet Discords to their ninth generation, or being called out by Yangyang, Chixia, and the others to play.
During this period, if he was lucky, he would occasionally encounter members of the Fractsidus.
The only regret was that no new Chronicle Quests had refreshed in Jinzhou. He could only do daily quests to barely get by.
"Dear Tall Chestnut… The sales of independent terminals are very promising. During the sales process, the Montelli family unexpectedly discovered that compared to the independent Echo function, people seem to prefer using Quick Tone …"
In the early morning, Noah ate the xiaolongbao that Jinhsi had prepared before staying over while reading a letter from Rinascita.
"After careful consideration by the Montelli family, we have produced an affordable low-spec terminal. Sales have risen exponentially, and Quick Tone has become a craze in Rinascita…"
"Tsk tsk, sales are so good. Little Potato probably needs to consider building another vault again."
Setting Carlotta's letter aside, Noah glanced at the letters on the table from Brant, Cantarella, Roccia, Phoebe, and others. He picked up Cartethyia's letter:
"Dear Laureate, when you read this letter, I am aboard the ship heading to Jinzhou—Huh?"
Noah's eyes widened in surprise. He read the sentence again. Just as he was about to continue reading, his terminal suddenly rang with a communication signal.
Speak of the devil. The Saintess's efficiency was truly something.
He answered the call. Cartethyia's lively and excited voice came through, along with the sound of waves lapping against the shore:
"Laureate, I'm almost at the dock in Jinzhou City! The people here are so friendly. They helped me carry my luggage and taught me how to connect to Huanglong's terminal signal."
"Little Card, wait for me at the dock. I'll come pick you up right now."
A friend coming from afar brings joy.
...
Whining Aix's Mire, Dock.
The morning mist had not yet dissipated. The dock was bustling with noise. A man and a woman disembarked among the crowd.
The woman had an extremely beautiful figure, with skin as fair and delicate as mutton-fat jade. Her long golden hair cascaded like a waterfall over her shoulders. Her deep, azure eyes were like dazzling stars, and her exquisite face seemed like a creation of the gods.
The man was somewhat handsome on his own, but standing next to Cartethyia, he only barely qualified as human.
"Beautiful lady, you brought so many things. Are you traveling to Jinzhou alone?"
"Yes."
Cartethyia looked at the man's arms bulging with veins as he carried two suitcases and asked with concern:
"Is my luggage very heavy?"
"No no no, how could it be!"
The man denied it vehemently. His originally slightly bent back immediately straightened, assuming a carefree posture:
"I heard that the scenery of Mt. Firmament is exceptionally beautiful, so I came specially from the New Federation. If you are also alone…"
"Eh—"
Cartethyia seemed to see something. Her eyes lit up. With light steps, she passed through the dense crowd and ran toward the young man waving at her in the distance.
"Laureate, you came to pick me up right after we hung up the call!"
"You came from so far away. Of course I have to pick you up as soon as possible." Noah smiled and handed over half a basket of steaming xiaolongbao:
"You've had a long journey. Little Cart, are you hungry? Eat some first to fill your stomach. I'll take you for something good later."
Taking the xiaolongbao, the tempting aroma immediately made Cartethyia's mouth water:
"You are still so considerate."
Cartethyia did not eat immediately. Instead, she picked up a xiaolongbao with two fingers and gave Noah a sweet smile:
"Let's share it half and half. Here, you eat first."
"No need, no need. I've already eaten." Noah shook his head slightly and looked toward the man who had walked over and was standing beside Cartethyia:
"Who is this?"
"Just a passerby who helped me carry my luggage."
"Oh, I see."
Noah suddenly understood. He took the two suitcases from the passerby, shook his hand, and said:
"Thanks, brother!"
"No… you're welcome…" The passerby glanced at Cartethyia's excited expression, then back at Noah. Forcing a smile through gritted teeth: "Then I'll be going first."
After a simple farewell, the passerby slowed his steps and pricked up his ears. Only after hearing Cartethyia mention "he is a good person" did he give up and quickly leave.
On the other side, since using teleportation in a crowded place would be too high-profile, Noah led Cartethyia toward a less populated area while chatting:
"How are things in Rinascita?"
"It's alright. The Fisalia and Montelli families often attend meetings at the Order. Phoebe has been confirmed as one of the candidates for the next seat."
"But according to Cantarella, Phoebe's achievements are not enough to secure the position. She will probably lose the election."
"Oh right, the most competitive candidates for the seat were all assassinated. So this election has been postponed to a month later."
Tsk—
Just from listening to Cartethyia's description, one could imagine the intense power struggles happening within the Order of the Deep right now. Fortunately, Phoebe avoided disaster because her competitiveness was weak.
Noah shook his head and asked about another matter:
"What about Fenrico?"
"He's dead."
Cartethyia sighed with emotion:
"The pilgrimage ship carrying him — the last pilgrimage ship in Ragunna's history — had just left the port when it burst into raging flames. The people on shore all clapped and cheered."
The people of Ragunna do not thank Fenrico. Noah lowered his eyes, feeling inexplicably heavy. He let out a long breath:
"Does Imperator know about this?"
"The Sentinel raised a high wind, wanting to save Fenrico, but he refused."
Cartethyia did not fully understand the meaning, but she added:
"The Sentinel said that once Rinascita is completely stabilized, It will secretly assist in publishing Fenrico's life story so the truth is not buried. In the future, merits and faults will be fairly judged by a just crown."
"I see…"
Noah fell silent for a moment, then nodded:
"That's good."
At least, the final pilgrimage ship paid homage to the true Saint in blazing flames.
...
Jinzhou, City Hall.
"Lord Magistrate, here is today's work, this is the report from General Jiyan, this is the file handed over by Counselor Changli, and some public tip-off letters…"
"Alright, put them here."
Sanhua listened to Jinhsi unconsciously tapping the desk. She thought the Magistrate was thinking about how to handle official business, but in reality, Jinhsi was thinking about what excuse to use today to stay at Noah's house.
Her own room was unusable due to deep cleaning, so she had no choice but to stay at Noah's?
No, that excuse had already been used before.
Pretending to deliver clothes to Noah and staying until late at night until he took the initiative to invite her?
No, she couldn't think of anything Noah's house was currently lacking.
Ah— what should she do?
"Sanhua, report where Noah is."
"Yes."
Sanhua left, then returned.
"Reporting to Lord Magistrate, the honored guest is currently at the dock."
"Good— wait, what did you say!"
Jinhsi had nodded subconsciously but suddenly reacted. She stood up abruptly:
"What is Noah doing at the dock? Is he leaving again?"
"Sanhua, within one minute—"
"I want to know all information about Noah at the dock."
"Yes."
Sanhua left, then returned.
"Reporting to Lord Magistrate, the honored guest went to the dock to pick up a friend."
"Oh, that's fine then. Noah's friend is my friend."
After confirming that Noah was not leaving, Jinhsi finally relaxed. She went from tense to calm and composed again.
"Lord Magistrate, as the Magistrate of a state, your subordinate believes you really should not be so… worried and concerned about one person."
Listening to Sanhua's loyal advice, Jinhsi realized this time that she indeed placed too much importance on Noah, to the point of losing composure.
But what could she do? Emotions were not something that could be controlled. Even a casual compliment from Noah could make her happy for days.
When you truly care about someone, no matter what that person does, you will feel it is dangerous.
Clearing her throat lightly, Jinhsi decided not to ask about Noah's whereabouts today and regained the dignity of a Magistrate:
"Sanhua, you are right. I will consider it seriously."
Just as she was about to sit down to handle official business, another sentence slipped out uncontrollably:
"By the way, who did Noah pick up?"
"A yellow-haired one."
After a pause, Sanhua added:
"A woman."