104: Lycia

In the midst of the rainstorm, the bearded Soldier caught the small cloth bag thrown at him, his face filled with confusion, unsure of what it meant.

At that moment, Lister, whose face was hidden within his armor, said in a deep voice, "This is your reward for watching over the Yellow Sprite. When your lord arrives, I believe you will know what to say."

Huh!

A reward!

Was this how things were supposed to go?

Shouldn't the reward have been given by Lord Bazel? How did it end up being given by this mysterious knight of unknown identity?

For a moment, the bearded Soldier was completely stunned, his mouth hanging open as rainwater beat inside, not knowing what to say.

In fact, when Lister and the others first appeared, the thought of whether he would be silenced had crossed his mind.

After all, this was a Yellow Sprite, known as a 'God's Gift'!

As long as he was killed, no one else besides Lister and his group would know what had happened here.

By the time Baron Bazel arrived with his team, Lister and the others would have long since vanished, leaving the Baron with nothing to do but rage impotently.

But after sensing that Lister and the others had no obvious killing intent, he felt strange, but the heart that had been hanging in his throat finally settled down.

After all, being alive was better than being dead; besides, his little lover was still waiting for him at home.

Snapping back to his senses, he hurriedly opened the bulging cloth bag in his hand.

Since they couldn't carry torches while patrolling on rainy days, Soldiers would carry bottles filled with fireflies as a light source.

By the reasonably bright light, he saw the reward in the bag—a full several dozen silver coins.

Immediately, a look of wild joy appeared on his face, and he was simultaneously incredibly shocked by Lister's generosity.

The next second, he quickly looked up and thanked him, "Thank you, Sir Knight! Thank you, Sir Knight! This lowly one will definitely keep his mouth shut."

Perhaps fearing that Lister and the others wouldn't believe him, he added, "I swear by the holy light god that if I dare reveal even a bit of information about you lords, I shall be torn apart by magical beasts."

Hearing this, Red, who had been gripping the longsword at his waist ready to draw it at any moment, finally relaxed his hand.

Ignoring the bearded Soldier, Lister rode his horse to the Yellow Sprite, who was still taking shelter from the rain under the tree.

Looking at Lister before it, the Yellow Sprite immediately felt a familiar and close aura.

The next second, Lister opened his visor, revealing his handsome face, while a cute little head emitting a green glow poked out from the armor opening at his shoulder blade.

"Iya iya!" The Yellow Sprite immediately chirped with joy.

A good-looking person and a fellow Pixie!

Lister smiled gently, took out a pastry from his storage ring, held it out to the Yellow Sprite, and asked, "Little one, are you willing to become my contracted Pixie?"

"Iya iya!" The Yellow Sprite took the pastry, hugged it to her chest, and nodded impatiently.

Immediately, a touch of holy white light condensed at her forehead and instantly merged into Lister's consciousness.

Feeling the success of the contract, Lister was in a great mood. Red and the others watching from the side also showed looks of admiration and joy.

The next second, Red's expression suddenly tightened, and he whispered, "Lord Lister, the aura of a magical beast and faint hoofbeats are approaching."

"Let's go."

Lister immediately had the Yellow Sprite crawl into the armor opening on his other shoulder, then led Red and the others away quickly on horseback.

After their figures disappeared into the rainy night, the bearded Soldier's expression turned fierce. He used a small knife to make a cut on his arm... immediately, blood slowly flowed down his arm, mixing with the rain and dripping onto the ground.

He had originally intended to make a few more cuts, but because he was afraid of the pain, he gave up on that idea.

A moment later, the owners of the hoofbeats Red had mentioned—the team led by Baron Ferguson—finally appeared.

Scanning the area and finding only the bearded Soldier with an injured arm and the large crater caused by the Pixie's fall, Ferguson asked sternly, "Where is the Yellow Sprite?"

"I-I'm sorry, My Lord, this lowly one failed to guard it properly," the bearded Soldier said nervously. "A magical beast suddenly appeared just now. I fought back with all my might, but unfortunately, I was no match and my arm was injured, resulting in the Yellow Sprite being eaten by it."

"What did you say? Eaten by a magical beast!"

Ferguson immediately cried out in shock, while an indescribable rage surged to his head. He questioned, "Where is that magical beast? Where did it go?"

"It went... went..." The bearded Soldier was momentarily at a loss for words.

Realizing something was wrong, Ferguson said with a fierce expression, "You dare to deceive this Lord? If it were a magical beast, how could you have survived?"

"This lowly one wouldn't dare, it went..."

The bearded Soldier, who was nearly scared into telling the truth, somehow... suddenly had the image of Lister's generous act pop into his mind, contrasted with Ferguson's high-and-mighty attitude, showing no concern for the life or injuries of his subordinates.

This comparison made his expression instantly firm as he said, "Lord, this lowly one wouldn't dare lie to you. That magical beast seemed to have come only for the Yellow Sprite and had no intention of killing me."

Just as Ferguson was about to continue questioning, a cold flash of light appeared from the Mist Forest before him, heading toward the bearded Soldier.

The bearded Soldier, who was nearly killed, slipped onto the muddy ground without warning, luckily dodging the fatal blow.

"It's a Shadow Leopard! Everyone, protect the Lord!"

Seeing the black, intimidating body reveal itself, Ferguson's Knight Captain's face changed, and he immediately drew his longsword and shouted.

Ferguson, who had fallen off his horse in fright, was dragged by the bearded Soldier and quickly escaped behind the Knight Captain.

Then the Soldier turned to look at the Shadow Leopard and said in a certain tone, "That's it, My Lord! That's the Shadow Leopard that ate the Yellow Sprite!"

At this moment, Ferguson had no choice but to believe it. His face turned Red as he said, "How dare it eat my Yellow Sprite! Kill it! Kill it for me!"

Feeling the Shadow Leopard's powerful aura, the Knight Captain, though his face was bitter, had to obey Ferguson's command.

The next second, under his lead, a group of knights and Soldiers began a fierce battle with the Shadow Leopard in the dark, rainy night... Ironthorn Territory, the Lord's room on the third floor of the castle.

Looking at their new little companion, Bai Ze and the other little ones happily circled around her.

Seeing this, Lister suddenly realized he hadn't given the Yellow Sprite a name yet.

After thinking for a bit, he looked at the Yellow Sprite and introduced, "They are all your partners: Bai Ze, Lihuo, Lianna, and Livia."

"As for your name, it shall be Lixia. How about it?"

"Iya iya!" Lixia began to fly about happily, clearly liking the beautiful name.

Not far away, the five Magic Cloud Eagles still in their nest suddenly began to cry out loudly.

Feeling curious, Lister glanced at Bai Ze, who immediately let out an 'ao' sound.

Understanding the meaning, Lister gave a helpless smile; it turned out the five little ones also wanted him to give them names.

After racking his brain for a while, he looked at the five little ones and said, "Cloud, Rain, Wind, Snow, and Moon. I'll call you Eagle Cloud, Eagle Rain, Eagle Wind, Eagle Snow, and Eagle Moon."

He had originally thought of names like Eagle One and Eagle Two, but felt it was a bit perfunctory and wouldn't show his cultural literacy, so he came up with these names instead.

Hearing these names, the five little ones happily turned circles in their nest.

Watching them play together, Lister's mind moved, and three divination messages slowly surfaced before his eyes.