Shepherd Tantra

Chapter 303 The carvings on the tree

Under the night, Yingjia Village is unusually quiet.

Not to mention the sound of fighting outside, not even the chirping of insects and birds could be heard.

But this is obviously unreasonable.

Aiwass had long been aware of the inconsistency.

Because in a rural area like this, there should be a lot of insects, snakes, birds and beasts.

It is different from the situation on Glass Island where the inspection bureau often comes to inspect the sanitation, and various pest control companies and rat removal companies hand out flyers on the street.In a village like Yingjia Village, which is located deep in the forest, it is normal for wild wolves to wander around the village in the middle of the night... It is not impossible to see a snake under the quilt when you get up.

Not to mention all kinds of little bugs.

Even if songbugs are not active in winter... But after a few days in Eagle Point Village, Aiwass didn't even see a single ladybug, spider, or slug.

Not only were there no howls of wolves or meows of cats, there was not even the sound of birds flapping their wings.

"Are there no hunters in your village?"

Aiwass asked Haina.

Haina hesitated for a while: "Well...maybe, maybe not."

"This is the most outrageous reply I've heard this month."

Sherlock complained: "It's either there or it's not. How can it be 'maybe'?"

"We are in Muwan County."

Haina, who was walking back and forth in the room, responded with her hands on her hips confidently: "If you want to eat meat, you have to find herdsmen. There are a lot of herdsmen herding sheep and cattle. Although there are occasional game in the village, it may be from bagpipes. Maybe it was bought back from the town or exchanged for it from another village."

Now she's not sure whether the fighting outside is over, so Haina doesn't dare to go home.

But Haina had nothing to do, she was very energetic and extremely excited... so she could only circle back and forth in the room, and then run to tease the gryphon who was about to fall asleep from time to time.

Lizzie almost fell asleep three times while lying in the corner, but Haina woke her up every time.

The key is that after waking up, Haina didn't need to do anything with it. Instead, she quickly touched its head and soothed it to sleep.Then he walked around the room a few times and couldn't help but look for the griffin to play with.

This is no way.

After all, the three people besides her - Aiwass, Sherlock and Lily - were not easy to disturb.

Lily is introverted and quiet. Even if she chats with her, Lily will just smile and listen without saying a word.Only Aiwass was slightly more responsive when chatting with her.

She really wanted to play with Aiwass, but now Aiwass, as the minister regardless of the matter, is really a high-ranking authority for Haina - she was afraid of Edward as the inspector general at the beginning, but now Aiwass is comparable Edward is much better.

And there is no need to mention Sherlock.

He was reading a book over there... Haina went over to look at it and found that it was actually a book about astrology.

There were so many letters, numbers and symbols inside that Haina felt dizzy just by looking at them.

Of course, if she was forced to recite it, she would probably be able to memorize it all.But it’s hard to understand.

What made her happy was that even Sherlock, who was on the path of wisdom, could not easily understand this book.The little Sherlock frowned and thought hard, looking like his younger brother working hard on his homework, which was very cute.

But maybe it was because Sherlock also got a headache from watching it - Haina's rhythmic behavior of passing behind him made Sherlock put down the book with an angry thud, raised his head and cursed a few times. .

He hated Haina's restless behavior of walking around people in the middle of the night and making noise, and he called her an "energetic donkey warming up for tomorrow's grind."

So Haina didn't want to get close to Sherlock.

Stupid is stupid, she knows that she is indeed not smart compared to Sherlock.But the donkey was not happy to hear it.

——She is more or less a pretty girl who is popular with everyone in school. Being called a donkey is too much!
At least it has to be a cute animal like a horse or a dog!

"Speaking of which," Aiwass on the side was thoughtful, raising his hand to stop Haina who was spinning around, "When you were young, you would run around with your friends, right?"

"Of course, otherwise there wouldn't be much fun here." Haina nodded.

"Have you ever been near the forest?"

"We often play in the forest."

Hana replied.

Hearing this, Sherlock suddenly frowned, raised his head, and asked, "Are you guys playing in the forest?"

"...Yeah, what's wrong?"

Haina felt guilty, wondering if she had said something wrong.

"That's a huge problem."

Sherlock frowned like a little adult: "You adults just let you run around in the woods like this?"

"What's wrong," Haina was a little confused, "It's not like we're going to the swamp, what's the danger... The swamp doesn't let us go. But it's no use just saying, we still go every month, haha... "

Haina said something like "As long as you haven't been discovered, you haven't been there" and "No one has really had any accidents anyway", and she wanted to talk about her childhood adventures with great interest.

But her words were directly interrupted by Sherlock: "Aren't you adults worried about bad people or wild beasts and poisonous insects in the forest?"

Hearing this, Haina was stunned for a moment.

Only then did she vaguely react: "Probably...ah, didn't Aiwass say that our village is in a fairy barrier? That should be the reason, right?"

"Then they are not afraid that you will be captured by goblins?"

Sherlock asked further.

Hearing this, Haina finally fell silent.

She hissed lightly, also falling into confusion.

Yeah, why?

Aiwass vaguely guessed something.

He asked warmly: "Senior, how much do you know about these forests?"

"Ah, Aiwass, it's better not to call me senior sister, I have already graduated..."

Haina waved her hands awkwardly: "Just call me Haina."

Now she felt like she was sweating just listening to Aiwass's polite and affectionate address.How could she have so much respect for a young powerful minister, the current patriarch of the founding family, a member of the Round Table Hall... and possibly even the future Prince Regent of Avalon and the future Speaker of the Round Table Hall to call her senior.

Today's Haina is no longer as young, immature and high-spirited as she was when she first started working in the Supervision Bureau.She has grown up a bit now and understands more things.And she didn't have that much contact with Aiwass... The reason why they formed a close relationship was simply because Aiwass shared with her the taboo secrets about the Silver Crowned Dragon becoming the Pillar God.

From then on, they were accomplices.Because they both hold a forbidden secret, and they both know that the other also holds it, and they also know that the other did not report them immediately - so they become grasshoppers on a rope.

It was also from then on that Haina was forced to join Aiwass and Sherlock's many plans.As a result, she knew more and more, and now she couldn't run away.

But now that she fully understood what the name Aiwass meant in Avalon, she wished she could go back in time and punch herself twice when she was so stupid back then.

Aiwass just smiled and easily saw through what Haina was worried about: "It's okay, senior sister. From the first time I called you senior sister, you gave me a kind reply... From then on From now on, I can call you Senior Sister.

"I later called you by your name 'Haina' to show closeness; but now the situation is different. Calling you by your first name has become business-like, and calling you senior sister has become closeness. So of course I I’ll choose the one that’s closer to me.”

"But……"

"Nothing but."

Aiwass's fingertips lightly tapped the table, and the tapping sound gently interrupted Haina's words.

Although he no longer uses a wheelchair, the habits he inherited from that time still remain.

"You are a close disciple of the Great Arbiter."

Aiwass said lightly: "At the age of 22 and two months, he is a genius who has already touched the fourth energy level wall.

"Who can say...that you are not the next great arbiter?"

"Oh no no no no no, I can't, I can't, I can't."

Haina was so frightened that her face turned pale and she shook her head and waved her hands.

She didn't feel the strong fighting spirit inspired by her ambition at all, she only felt the tremendous pressure.

Even though Haina doesn't understand politics, she can still intuitively realize that the Grand Arbiter is a powerful protector of Avalon today.Without the Great Arbiter, I am afraid that Avalon will be immediately dragged into the war.

So what does the Next Grand Arbiter mean?
It means that I have to shoulder the important task of "protecting the country"!
In other words, if Avalon is dragged into the war when the position of the Great Arbiter is in his hands, it will be his own responsibility!
——That’s all because my strength is not as good as the teacher’s fault!
Thinking further, if Avalon destroyed the country because of this... wouldn't he be a sinner!

Haina felt that her hands were numb when she thought that future history books would list her as the direct cause of Avalon's demise.

How could she possibly bear this level of responsibility...

Aiwass smiled and did not continue the pursuit.

Instead, he changed back to the previous topic: "Senior sister, did you carve a knife into a small tree on your way to school?"

"Ah, did you notice it?"

Haina was a little embarrassed: "Sure enough, its position is still too prominent... Yes, when I was in middle school, I carved that small tree on the way to school. When I came back a few days ago, I found that it was still there. It turned out that the place, the position of the tree, and the position of the tree mark were all exactly the same as before. I was really moved, as nothing seemed to have changed."

"...carved a knife?"

Sherlock suddenly realized something.

He raised his eyebrows, closed and put the book down, and sat up straight.

"You're not using that tree to record your height, are you?"

"...No, can't you?"

Haina hesitated.

She has a terminal illness that makes her feel guilty whenever Sherlock questions her.

"Are you sure?"

Sherlock just asked rhetorically.

"Pretty accurate."

Haina was a little confused.

"Are you sure the width of the mark is the same as when you carved it?"

"It's the same, I remember it very clearly. The depth is the same, it's just a layer of scarring."

Haina replied firmly: "Not only are the carvings, but also the shape of the tree crown is exactly the same. That tree is very beautiful. I rarely see trees that look like trees... There seems to be something wrong with this, you guys Just understand the meaning!”

Sherlock took a breath: "No, have you never suspected that there is something wrong here?"

Even Lily couldn't help it.

She spoke softly: "Haina... Small trees are different from fully developed trees, and trees are different from people. The scars on people will not grow with age, but the scars on small trees will not grow with age. The marks will gradually become wider. Although the speed is very slow, the marks you left in the past will definitely deform.

"It won't rise, but it will get longer and thicker..."

"——No. Senior sister probably won't understand what you are saying."

Aiwass sighed: "When a person lives in a village where 'trees will not change' from birth to thirteen or fourteen years old, how can she realize that trees will grow? "

"What are you talking about? Of course I know trees will grow..."

Haina said casually.

But she suddenly froze, covered her head, and murmured in a low voice: "No, wait..."

The common sense in her mind keeps changing - her hometown remains unchanged and trees grow.

Two completely different common senses rose and fell repeatedly in her mind, making her feel for the first time that the world was so illusory.Her pupils kept overflowing with a faint yellow aura, and then were defeated by the clear blue.

Seeing Haina's fierce reaction, Sherlock looked at Aiwass with some admiration but also some confusion: "When did you find out?"

"Just now."

Aiwass replied: "Because I know very well how close the explosion was to the woods and how powerful it was.

"But after the explosion, a deep hole was left in the ground. But the trees were unscathed, and not even a few branches fell."

He looked at Haina, who was holding her head and her pupils were shaking violently, and said softly: "So you two actually don't understand what I mean.

“I didn’t want to tell Haina, ‘The tree will grow, so the marks you leave will be distorted’, ‘The small tree that year should not look exactly the same as it does now’.

"——I want to ask, senior, what did you use to leave the carvings on the tree?"

　Chapter 1 is nearly [-] words!
　　Waiting for the cat to have a meal, and Chapter 2 Meow~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)