The bard fantasized again.

Chapter 177 Comparing Prices (5k1w)

The dark prison was completely sealed off.

The dampness of early autumn mixed with the underground made Anbi feel sticky all over.

The scattered firelight illuminated her fur, which should have been snow-white but was now covered in ash and dryness. Realizing that she was somewhat dirty, she subconsciously stuck out her tongue and licked it.

But that's something only a wild beast would do.

“Ambi is a human being, not a monster.”

Thinking this, she quickly shook her head, trying to peel away some of the beastly instincts from her mind.

Even though all the other 'compatriots' around them were doing the same thing—

They huddled in other corners, separated by several feet due to mutual distrust.

Suppressed bestiality forced them to breathe heavily, and faint howls like those of bears and wolves were squeezed out of their throats.

Perhaps it was the atmosphere of the entire prison that made them feel so at home.

This, in turn, suppressed the instinctive ferocity.

This is the first time I've breathed the same air as so many of my kind.

This feeling made Ambi somewhat apprehensive—

She felt that Golden Oak was her home.

But her scalding blood seemed to be telling her that the beast-like people in front of her, bound by shackles and chains, were her true 'family'.

She was unwilling to admit it, so she hugged her delicate legs even tighter.

"Relax, child. No one here will hurt you."

She heard someone comforting her in the shadows.

"Thanks……"

Ambition instinctively turned around and saw a woman wearing a white robe—

Her robe looked as if it had been torn to shreds, and was in a terrible state.

Soaked in blood and grime, with disheveled hair, he was the kind of dangerous person I would never normally approach.

But Ambion could sense her gentleness.

She only felt a similar tenderness when she was in her sister's arms, listening to her sister sing lullabies to help her sleep.

These were the few acts of kindness she could perceive.

So she nodded and said:
“Ambi is not afraid.”

"Your name is Ambiya? That's a lovely name."

The woman seemed increasingly concerned about her appearance, so she wrapped her loose hair to the other side.

By the firelight, the little girl could see clearly that it was the face of a kind, middle-aged woman—in her memory, her mother was this age.

Realizing that Ambition was no longer so awkward, the woman moved closer and introduced herself:

“You can call me Marianne, but my children will also call me ‘Mom’ or ‘Dean’.”

"children?"

Ambi asked, bewildered.

So you have many children?

"Yes, many. Deckard, Molly, Bird, Toby..."

She read out each child's name.

There are twenty-three children.

"I've seen Jasmine!"

Hearing the familiar name, Ambition's spirits lifted.

"She was wearing a hat, trousers, and leather boots, and her freckles were so cute."

"Jasmine is like a little parent among the children."

Marian never expected that the little girl she met in prison would have any connection with her.

Are you friends?

"Hmm, friends should be the kind of people who play together often, right? Then Ambly and Jasmine aren't friends."

In Marianne's view, it sounded like a little girl saying she had no friends.

This is normal.

No one wants to be friends with a restless child.

So she comforted her by saying:
"It's okay, Jasmine will definitely be willing to become friends with Amby."

Ambi, however, was puzzled by another question:
"So you have so many children, and they are all... beastmen?"

Marian looked around. Several of her fellow beastmen seemed to be fighting against their bestiality and had no interest in their situation.

The guards were also stationed far away at the prison entrance, not yet at patrol time.

So he quietly leaned close to Ambé's ear and whispered:

"Some are, some aren't."

"Then, can I ask you a question, Ambiya?"

“Of course, polite child.” Marian said, somewhat surprised. “What do you want to ask?”

Children are naturally playful, which often makes them more compatible with their animalistic instincts, and also more ferocious.

This means that the girl in front of you has received a good education.

"Ambi wants to know, why did you bring them into this world?" the little girl blinked, asking innocently.

“Born? No, I didn’t. I just ran an orphanage and became the only family to those children,” Marian explained, waving her hand.

"Is this so..."

Ambi was somewhat disappointed.

"So they are not beastmen."

“Some are, some aren’t.” Marian pondered for a moment, then asked, “Does that matter to you?”

"Because Anbi wants to know why her parents brought her into this world..."

She recalled the necromancer's disdainful mockery in the Dawn and Dusk Forest.
Some people say, "It is not a father's duty to let his offspring suffer the torment of bestiality and the cold stares of others forever."

"It seems your experiences are more complicated than I imagined."

Marian lovingly stroked Ambion's forehead.

The little girl was actually somewhat averse to such intimate gestures.

She only allows two people to touch her like that.

For some reason, when Marianne's fingertips touched her hair, she didn't feel any disgust.

"So why did Daddy do this? If Amby hadn't come into this world..."

Ambition hesitated for a moment, her nails digging into her palms, to keep herself from sobbing in front of others.
“Then Anbi won’t cause trouble for others—sister won’t have to be so tired, and Brother Tang Qi won’t have to worry about Anbi.”

"So you still have family."

Marianne had already anticipated this answer when she realized the little girl's politeness.

"Then they must be very kind."

"They are the best people in the world!"

“Do you know what ‘the best’ means? It’s a title that can only be given to one person.” Marian couldn’t help but laugh.

“They often become one person… My sister thought Anbi didn’t know, but Anbi’s ears and nose are very sensitive! She can smell Tang Qi’s scent.”

"We should skip this topic."

Marianne didn't want to have this kind of conversation with a little girl.

"So you think you shouldn't have come into this world?"

“They would have it much easier without Ambi.”

Ambi said with certainty,
“Ambi can only survive by relying on her sister, but she could live better without Ambi’s sister.”

"No, child, please don't think like that."

Marian playfully pinched the little girl's ear, but her tone became more serious.
"That's just what you 'think,' but have you ever asked your sister what she thinks?"

"Ambi dared not ask..."

The little girl's voice became even weaker.

She was afraid that if she asked, she would receive a definite answer:

"And opinions can change. Ambly used to think George and Hogg were two big jerks, but now she thinks they're just two big idiots."

Perhaps at the very beginning, no one thought of themselves as a nuisance.

But as time goes by.

He was then sent to the execution rack in Star Plum Town.

As the guards led him from the Golden Oak to the prison...

When she becomes a burden time and time again, when she herself feels like a nuisance.

Who can be sure what other people are thinking?
"And my sister is a good person. She wouldn't tell the truth for fear of hurting Ambition..."

“But all of this is still your speculation, isn’t it?” Marian asked carefully.

"Correct."

“I don’t think they are that kind of people.”

"But you haven't met them yet."

"You're still a child, you probably don't understand what I mean."

Marian sighed and explained,
"Children are an extension of their parents."

"My sister is not my mother."

"What I mean is that a child's thoughts and beliefs are often influenced by the adults who raise them."

As the guardian of more than twenty children, Marian deeply understands this.

"You are likely to become like the people who accompany you as you grow up."

“But Anbi isn’t as smart as her sister…” She felt that she was just not cut out for math.

She also lacks her sister's beauty and eloquence, and is far less brave and confident.

“But I can see your sister in you—she should be a polite woman with strong boundaries. Most importantly, she is very independent and rarely relies on others to live.”

Anbi didn't understand these words, but she thought they suited her older sister well.

So he nodded repeatedly.

Marian said:
"It is precisely because she is used to taking everything on her own that you have developed a similar personality—a desire for independence, and therefore a fear of causing trouble for others."

So much so that you haven't even realized that, many times, the people you care about actually need you to 'cause trouble'.

"Why? Isn't 'trouble' a bad word?"

"That's a derogatory term, kid."

Marian answered with a smile.

"Relationships between people are very complex. But no matter what kind of relationship it is, it needs to be maintained through 'interaction'."

Through your interactions, you build and strengthen connections, creating a bond that is uniquely yours.

“Ambi doesn’t understand.”

This is still a bit too profound for a little girl.

Do you have friends you used to know very well, but haven't seen for a long time, and when you meet them again, you don't know what to say?

Ambition shook her head.

Marian could only sigh, glance around again, and quietly lean down to whisper in Ambi's fluffy ear:

"Then let me tell you a story?"

“Ambi likes to listen to stories.” The little girl nodded.

Consider it a comfort before death.

It's more reassuring than dying in turmoil and pain.

Marian sighed and said softly:
Many years ago, Long Jincheng was not as wealthy as he is now.

Back then, monsters from the underground world would always emerge from the Deep Well, slaughtering the citizens living outside the mine.

Although they were quickly suppressed by the city guards, the occasional scattered monsters still caused a lot of trouble.

Many of the children who lost their parents in this process were left without care and were eventually taken to an orphanage, where they were taken in by an old director.

He was a kind headmaster who always wore a white robe and had a thick, gray beard. He loved to compare the height of his beard with that of the dwarf.

Everyone trusted the old headmaster, and the lord allocated funds for his protection, allowing him to renovate the orphanage and make it a shelter for every homeless person.

That must be Dean Marian's 'father'.

Ambi thought to herself, "He's a really good person."

"Yes, until he had almost killed everyone he was protecting."

Marian nodded and continued her account, much to Amby's surprise and disbelief.

He was burdened with the [Beast Curse], and from the day he was born, he had been constantly fighting against his latent bestial nature.

He did a good job, maintaining his rationality for nearly a century.

But human sanity eventually dulls with age. In old age, on a night of two moons, a brief moment of carelessness can destroy everything a lifetime has upheld.

"Are all the people dead...?" Amby asked in a panic.

She was somewhat afraid that one day she too would become that terrifying beast.

"Some survivors lived and fled to different distant places. But one person chose to stay and stay by the side of that old beast."

"Isn't that person afraid of him?"

“At first she was scared, but she was even more afraid that if she left the old man who raised her, she would have nowhere to go—in her heart, the old man was her only family.”

"Then Ambition won't leave either."

"So she helped the old woman escape the pursuit and the city, and took her to the forest in an attempt to care for the dying woman."

She was rejected.

The old man used his remaining reason to comfort her—

'You are a good child, but I am a monster. Let me die in this forest, so that my soul may find eternal rest.'

"Did you say yes?" Amby asked.

"What a smart child."

Marianne was, of course, telling her own story.
Of course I didn't agree to his request.

I said to him—

'You are such a selfish person. You selfishly gave us a better life, made us dependent on you, and now you selfishly want to drive us away. But without you, where can we call our home?'"

"But wouldn't the old director be afraid of hurting you?"

"So I chose to drink his blood and become the same as him."

Marian pointed to the beastmen around her.
"Only when we are facing our own kind do we not feel the urge to bleed. This makes it easy for us to feel close to our own kind."

"So what happened to him in the end?"

"Actually, he left not long after."

"Will you regret your choice?"

"How could that be, child?"

Marian shook her head.
"The sense of identity is a topic that we beastmen must face throughout our lives."

To humans, we are like beasts.

But for wild animals, whether or not humans exist is not important; it is simply a matter of food and predator.

The reason why beast-like beings like us still choose to struggle in human society is precisely because we crave this 'sense of belonging' and yearn for a sense of belonging—

So I understand very well that it was only from the moment I chose to become a beastman that 'father' finally gained that recognition.

Only then can you leave this world with a smile.

And I felt genuinely happy that I was able to help him find relief.

"Then of course I won't regret this choice."

……

So how will you choose?

Stella crushed the mirror in front of Tang Qi, causing it to dissipate like smoke.
"Before the night of the twin moons, Leon stirred up a frenzy of beastification, thus legally capturing every beastman in the entire DragonGold City."

He hasn't taken any further action yet, because what he does is entirely up to you—

Hand over Eve, or flee DragonGold City?

"what will you do?"

Tang Qi countered with a question,
"You probably don't want me to hand Xiaolong over either, right?"

“I would advise you to let go of all this and leave with Eve.”

Stella said calmly,

"I guarantee that after leaving Longjincheng, he will be unable to do anything to you, allowing you to write the 'Guide' in peace, make a name for yourself, and eventually return to your hometown in glory."

"The Starlight Mage Academy will forever stand behind Donch Weinberg," the nobles of the Terran Empire will receive this warning.

Tang Qi was not surprised that his background had been investigated and found out.

Not to mention facing a spellcaster:
"Do the mages of Dragon Gold City have any say in the Terran Empire?"

“Long Jincheng can’t do that, and neither can Leon. But the mages of the Golden Kingdom can.”

"What do you mean?"

“There was more than just one Dragon Gold City that split off from the Golden Kingdom.”

Stella beckoned with her finger, and immediately a wisp of smoke appeared before Tang Qi's eyes, splitting into two wisps that landed on the east and west sides of the map respectively.

"What about the people around me? What will happen to them if I leave Longjincheng?"

“I will help take care of it. Even if the Golden Oak is not under the protection of the law, I can guarantee that Leon will not do anything to it or that girl.”

As for that beast-like being, I can preserve her soul and, using the same ritual as the princess, transfer it into the embryo of another newborn.

"So she's doomed." Tang Qi was not satisfied with this answer.

“I can only act within the bounds of the law—she has lost all her freedom. And on the night of the double moon, when she can no longer suppress her animalistic desires, she will receive the same order to be executed as everyone else.”

Stella yawned and waved to him during her narration.
"Or you can ask Leon and compare prices from different vendors."

See which side can bring you more benefits.

I don't mind you doing that.

"So it seems you don't care that much about this little dragon?"

"No. It's just like I told you, in the dream world, we can see the past, present, and future, even if it's not accurate."

Stella's voice gradually faded, and everything before Tang Qi's eyes seemed to turn into a hazy mist in an instant.
"But it was enough for me to understand a person."

So I know exactly what you'll choose.

A "pop" sounded in my ear, like a bubble being popped.

The ground supporting Tang Qi suddenly collapsed, making him feel as if he were in an abyss during a fall.

The feeling of weightlessness stimulated his pores, urging him to be alert with nowhere to hide, which made him suddenly wake up halfway through the fall.

Tang Qi suddenly sat up on the lawn where irises were in full bloom.

Looking at the dawn beside them, which seemed to have just woken up, and then at the magnificent academy beside them, which resembled a dark purple palace, they realized that from the very beginning, they had never been able to step into the academy.

"Then why not just let me appear in your dream while I'm sleeping in the tavern?"

Amidst his confusion, Tang Qi heard the thumping sound of iron boots.

A deep, resonant voice answered his question:

"Would you like to have a chat, Mr. Donch Weinberg?"

He looked back.

I saw a lion.

(End of this chapter)