Otherwise, you can find another savior.

Jian hopes that by that time, he will not forget the sadness that goes with it, and the meaning of this sadness.

While the two were talking, they came to the ruins of the Rain Kingdom.

Continue walking forward and you will enter the city of the Rain Clan.

The once quiet and peaceful streets have now been battered by wind and rain, and have been reduced to ruins by more than three hundred years of weathering.

After all, before that, the city had been destroyed in the war due to the attack of four clans.

Walking on the snow-covered ground, Jian looked around at the devastated ruins. Vines covered the walls of varying heights. The houses that had lost their roofs were now overgrown with weeds more than a meter tall, and the weeds were covered with snow.

That was the plant that Shiomi personally grew with the power of life after he woke up and before leaving Orkney, as a form of burying the entire Rain Clan.

The wind blew through the street, the branches of the vines and weeds swayed in the wind, and rustling sounds echoed in the ruins.

Standing at an intersection where five roads intersected, Ash looked up blankly. She seemed to hear and see again the days that the Rain Clan had spent here.

She could still vividly remember the summer after the marriage was decided, when her hand was held in Shiomi's and she followed his footsteps through the streets and the fairies of the Rain Clan greeted her.

Tears slid down her cheeks. Before Jian could wipe them away, he reached out his hand to wipe them away for her. Then he held her face and covered her lips with a gentle and soft kiss.

Familiar temperature, familiar flexibility.

My heart, floating like a tumbleweed, is now firmly embraced in my arms, no longer filled with melancholy.

This peace of mind is my hometown.

Chapter 32 Hometown

Unlike humans, the bodies of fairies will turn into dust and mud after death and merge with the earth.

This is their uniqueness as the tactile terminals of the planets.

Therefore, after a goblin dies, no matter whether it is collected and buried in time or not, it will eventually disappear.

Therefore, when he returned to this place and wanted to pay tribute to the Rain Clan, Shiomi could only stand in front of the gate of the castle ruins with his hands clasped together to express his grief.

Jian didn't quite understand Shiomi's behavior, but he also followed Shiomi's example and stood there silently with his hands clasped together.

"What kind of ritual is this?" she asked after a long silence.

"This is the gesture people in my area use to remember their deceased loved ones at their graves," Shiomi explained softly. "But fairies don't seem to have such a custom. I wonder if this would be offensive."

"No." Jian smiled calmly, with a hint of sadness in his eyes. "Father, Mother, and Vivian all like things created by humans, so—"

Shiomi responded with relief: "That's good...that's good."

Listening to his voice, Jian suddenly understood why people should pay tribute to the deceased in this way.

It is not because it can be conveyed to the deceased, but because it can provide a place for grief, bring comfort to the living, and enable the living to continue to move forward with determination.

Even though he accomplished his revenge on the spot, Shiomi, who had no close ties with the Rain Clan and did not particularly like them, still regarded that catastrophic disaster as the result of his own lack of strength in a corner of his heart.

Even though he no longer needed to be responsible for this, he still took almost all the responsibility.

If I could kill three Yalings with a single wave of my hand, and if I could annihilate an army of tens of thousands of goblins in a single breath while chatting...

Ash knows it all.

When she put her hands together with him and paid tribute to the Rain Clan like this, she could feel his feelings more clearly.

During these three hundred years, no new atavistic Yaling appeared among the five clans, but what about the future?

During the time that Jian wasted his time, he never gave up practicing for even a single day. Even though he was no longer at the same level as he was three hundred years ago, Xi Jian still felt that his strength was not enough.

Because the growth of strength has become slow, as if it has reached a certain limit.

"Although you always tell me not to overwork myself," Jian frowned slightly, gazing at the ruins before him. "The same applies to Tianxi... You're already strong enough."

"Is that enough?" Xijian shook his head. "That's not the case."

The Axe of Marduk, acquired at the Uruk singularity, still wields him. However, even after three hundred years, Shiomi still lacks the ability to harness the power of this Noble Phantasm.

Marduk, the god of war.

Marduk, the king of the gods.

At the very least, he had to make his power reach the realm of that god, so that the Axe of Marduk would recognize his power and become his Noble Phantasm like Gungnir.

Snapped--

Shiomi clapped her hands gently as a signal to end the memorial ceremony.

It started snowing again. Although it was midsummer, Orkney was as cold as if it had already come to winter.

Because this wasn't ordinary snow, it was the tears of the Rain Clan, the remnants of the destroyed Rain Clan.

It is a warning to other clans and a poem of sorrow.

They are also tears of apology to the fairies of paradise.

Because of this, Orkney only has winter all year round, and neither the resurgent northern elves nor other clans in the south are willing to approach this harsh environment.

In a sense, Orkney has become a peaceful place where you can remain undisturbed.

"It's started snowing again. Let's find a place to rest before going to the bell hall." Xijian reached out to help Jian put on his hood.

“But everywhere…” Jian was confused for a moment.

"There is a place where you can rest. I hope you won't be too surprised when you see it." Xijian thought for a while before speaking.

Jian didn't quite understand why he hesitated, but she held his hand without hesitation and held it in his sleeve to keep it warm. Then she followed his footsteps, walked around the castle in twists and turns, and entered through a collapsed wall.

After clearing away the snow and weeds, a house covered with vines, which looked like it had been abandoned for a long time, appeared before her eyes.

It's her library.

After Xiomi pulled off the vines that covered the walls and windows, Jian pushed open the door, revealing its true appearance again. As she walked in, she subconsciously raised her sleeves to cover her mouth and nose, but there was no dust as she had expected.

The entire Rain Kingdom was destroyed, and the clan leader's castle was only slightly spared. A broken outline stood on the land of Orkney, and the interior was in ruins.

Only her beloved library remains the same as before.

Books are quietly arranged on the bookshelf, and in the magic workshop in the corner, items are neatly arranged.

The answer is simple.

The entire library was shielded with runes and then secured.

"Not... destroyed?" Jian dropped his arms and walked around the library blankly.

"It was almost there." Shiomi said.

Because he launched a counterattack, the goblin coalition that was setting fire and killing people in the city was attracted by the battle and did not further destroy the castle.

Before the fire spread to Ash's library, the city was greeted by heavy rain, which put out the flames.

Before leaving Orkney with her, Shiomi returned alone to inspect and clean up the mess, and found that the library was only slightly damaged.

With the thought that "perhaps I will come back here in the future", Shiomi repaired the damaged parts with runes and sealed up the entire library.

It will not accumulate dust as time goes by, nor will it fade due to weathering, and will always maintain its original appearance.

Finally, it was able to welcome the return of its original owner as it is now.

"Is that so...I see...I see."

Jian fell down on her favorite cushioned bench, lowered her head deeply, her entire face covered by the hood, making it impossible to see the sadness and joy in her expression at the moment.

"Sorry, am I being too nosy?" Xi Jian was a little flustered and sat beside her to comfort her.

He wasn't sure whether it was a good thing or a bad thing to let Jian see this place, so after entering, he was always worried about her unknown reaction.

"No, I'm very grateful to Tianxi... for letting me see this place that originally belonged to me." Jian threw herself into his arms, her hood sliding down. "Let's stay here."

Xijian stroked her hair and said, "It's snowing outside again. Let's rest here first. After we're ready, we can go to the bell hall."

"Ah."

The fatigue from two days of traveling gradually set in, and Jian curled up quietly in his arms, closing her eyes slightly to rest.

Chapter 33 "Star Seed"

The hot springs in the snow have a unique flavor.

Jian couldn't help but think so in his heart.

She did not forget the purpose of this trip. She wanted to take a simple rest and then go to the bell-ringing hall when the weather was better. However, Xi Jian persuaded her again and again, saying things like "How can you have the strength to ring the bell for the pilgrimage if you don't rest well and refresh yourself?" Jian really couldn't resist his kindness and finally joined in enjoying it.

The artificial hot spring set up in the forest outside the city was where Ash and Shiomi had their tryst. No other fairies knew about it and it also survived the disaster. After Shiomi cleaned it up a bit, the hot spring can be used again.

Using the boiling hot spring water to wash away the dust and fatigue on his body, even though it was not in line with the atmosphere of the ruins of his homeland, Jian could not help but enjoy it.

However, taking a hot spring bath together is bound to cause complications. Perhaps it is because the initial spring passion occurs in the hot spring. As long as Jian enters the hot spring, he will have the illusion that his body becomes hotter than the temperature of the hot spring.

Spring blossomed in her mind. Was she pestering him, or was he pestering her?

The difference between the two is not important. What is important is that in this snowy season, you can hug your loved one tightly and warm each other with your bodies.

Until one side is exhausted.

——Although she was always the first to lose her strength.

——However, using the combined mirror for transfer to travel back and forth between the hot spring and the library made Ash feel a little sorry for the magic itself.

This was her favorite library. Shiomi spent some time clearing out a space in a corner of the room and made a bed that was barely big enough for the two of them to sleep together.

Thinking about the things in the hot spring, she was now wearing thin underwear, lying on the bed very comfortably. Shiomi was sitting on her back, pressing her body with his hands slightly hard.

"Ah... so comfortable..." Jian groaned lazily, then turned her head to the side and teased, "Can you be a little harder? Is my husband tired?"

"I'm just worried about hurting you by using too much force." Xi Jian curled his lips helplessly, and suddenly used force with his hands.

Jian suddenly screamed in pain: "Ouch!"

"See?" Xijian regained his original strength.

"No, that doesn't seem right." Jian pondered for a moment, "Husband, could you repeat it?"

"Come again?" Xijian thought she was showing off.

As a result, Jian turned slightly sideways and waved his hand gently to signal him.

Reflecting the lights in the house, it looks like a fluttering white butterfly, its wings flickering.

"It won't really hurt me anyway, so try again," said Jian.

"Okay." Xijian agreed and exerted force again.

This time, Jian didn't scream as miserably as before. It was as if Xi Jian had changed the strength without warning, catching her off guard.

"Ah...it's indeed more comfortable if I use a little more force. Will it feel like this from now on, my husband?" Jian's face flushed with joy.

It slipped back slightly, and the half-exposed shoulders were also stained light pink.

"It seems you've improved a lot. When I first pressed you, you cried out in pain when I used even a little more force." Xi Jian laughed heartily, his hands moving more carefully. "I wish your strength could improve like this."

"Oh, well..." Jian looked as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

She was thinking about how to explain to Shiomi.

At around the age of 20, her body stopped growing. As a fairy from Paradise with a longer lifespan than British fairies, she would remain young forever unless she chose otherwise.

But the opposite is her combat capability.

After the end of his studies, the theory of magic continued to deepen, but his qualifications as a magician were also affected.

Especially in terms of magic power, it has reached its limit.

It's not a bottleneck like Shiomi's where one can only improve slowly, but one where one can't go any further.

As for the reason, it is actually very simple.

This is one of her characteristics as a fairy from paradise.

"'Fairies of Paradise', as the name suggests, are fairies sent from the inner sea of ​​​​the stars... Avalon. But as I said before, the mission itself is very vague. I heard only one voice when I was born. That is, I was entrusted with the words 'Go to Britain and correct the mistakes.'" Ash began from the beginning.

"Well, so did Avalon do anything to you to avoid any accidents?"

"Perhaps 'adjustment' would be a more appropriate word. 'Fairies of Paradise' are 'star seeds' that flow from Paradise to Earth. With luck, they take root and sprout on Earth, emerging as juveniles. Before becoming adults, they grow like humans, making them 'capable of growth.'" Ash's voice trailed off. "As you've seen over the past three hundred years, even if I try hard to disguise myself as an ordinary fairy, the purer-blooded fairies within each clan will inevitably dislike me."

Just like the patriarch of the Wind Clan, after seeing Shiomi, he showed his intention to abduct him.

Even though the look lasted only a moment, Jian still noticed it.