Chapter 263: Echoes of the Past

  He knelt before the grave, bent down, pressed his face into the earth, and took a deep breath. The scent of the soil flooded his body, lingering for a long time. This was the most respectful and solemn rite of the people here to show their highest reverence to the earth for the deceased. Straightening up, he looked at the grave before him, silent and lost in thought.

  A slender hand reached out and gently wiped the dirt from his face. Aimee stood beside him, watching him quietly and saying nothing.

  "Your father's? He seems like a very ordinary person," Talise said, looking at the grave.

  "Mmm, he was a very ordinary person to begin with. He spent his whole life in this basin, forging iron, selling weapons, raising me, and then... he died," Ethan replied faintly, his gaze distant, his eyes slightly moist.

  "And your mother?"

  "I don't know. Probably very ordinary too."

  "You don't know?"

  "It seems she died before I was born."

  "How is that possible? What nonsense," Talise scoffed, thinking Ethan was talking nonsense. "For such an ordinary person to raise a monster like you, the Lord in heaven truly... perhaps it was a slip of the hand."

  "I'm also very ordinary... At least, I feel I'm far from being my father's equal. He was great; I am selfish," Ethan sighed softly. He bent down and placed his forehead on the tombstone. His warm skin felt the cold, rough stone—its gentleness within the cold and roughness, the greatest power of all. He straightened up, put on his mask, turned, and said faintly, "Let's go."

  The three left the cemetery. Ethan led Talise and Aimee toward the village. Occasionally they encountered villagers, who would give them a curious glance before losing interest. A year ago, the dwarves had carved a path to the Barbarian Highlands in the northwest of the basin, facilitating the transport of ore and weapons. So, besides those bounty hunters, these outsiders were not an uncommon sight.

  Ethan didn't speak again, and Talise remained silent as well. The three of them walked silently along the village path.

  "I can't remember what my mother looked like either, and my father is just a very vague impression," Aimee suddenly said softly, breaking the silence.

  "From the time I can remember clearly, my brother was the one who fed me. He helped find things for me to eat everywhere, begged on the streets, helped thieves resell stolen goods, helped them sneak through sewer vents to steal from warehouses, and many times he stole and deceived himself... He wasn't much older than me... It wasn't until we were adopted by our grandfather that things got a little better... Grandfather too, he was a priest expelled by the Church. He actually didn't want to join the Merchants' Guild, but he did it to raise us... And in the end..." Aimee spoke calmly, but tears were already streaming from the corners of her eyes. "So I understand how you feel, big brother Ethan..."

  "I also have a responsibility in what happened to Yabin. After I've dealt with this matter, I will definitely..." Ethan sighed, looking at this girl, who was originally delicate and slender, and now so haggard and emaciated from the past few days. A feeling of protective affection, rising from the very depths of his heart, surged. He reached out toward Aimee's shoulder.

  But Talise's hand was a step faster, pulling the young girl into her embrace. The female knight first shot a glare at Ethan's hand, which was suspended in mid-air, then lovingly pressed her face against Aimee's head and said, "I already promised your brother. I would help him take good care of you."

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  "Now that you don't have your brother, you can treat me as your older sister." Talise gently stroked Aimee's cheek and kissed her forehead. "Don't worry, I will always protect you, little sister."

  Ethan gave a wry smile and helplessly shrugged, retracting his hand. The female knight was a full head taller than Aimee. With her hair coiled up and tucked into the hood of her adventurer's cloak, she looked just like an exquisitely handsome young knight kissing a pitiful maiden, reminiscent of an illustration from a knightly novel.

  "Mmm," Aimee nodded, forcing a smile, then looked at Ethan. "And big brother Ethan will also take care of me. Now that I have my sister and big brother Ethan to look after me, brother will surely be happy in heaven."

  "Stay away from this guy. He's not a good person," Talise said, protectively pulling Aimee closer and giving Ethan a threatening look. "I know about your filthy thoughts. I'm warning you, you are not to touch little sister Aimee, or I won't let you off."

  Ethan was speechless and shrugged. He suddenly remembered to ask Talise, "What about your parents? In Celeste?"

  "No, I have no parents," Talise replied expressionlessly.

  "How come? Are you an orphan too, sister?" Aimee asked, looking up.

  The female knight didn't answer directly. She looked dazed for a moment, then gave a faint smile and said, "A knight who seeks truth and justice doesn't need things like parents or family."

  Ethan looked at the flicker of daze on Talise's face and sighed softly. Even recalling her past foolishness and immaturity, born from her overly strong sense of justice and her obsession with being a knight, no longer seemed ridiculous or annoying to him now.

  When a person excessively clings to one thing, it might only prove that they have nothing else. Everyone needs to hold onto something in their heart. The pitiful must have something hateful, but then again, those who seem hateful and detestable often have their own pitiful aspects.

  Aimee's eyes sparkled. "But now, sister Talise has me as a little sister, don't you?"

  "Hehe. Protecting you, my little sister, is my most important mission as a knight," Talise laughed, and her smile was very gentle and warm.

  "Alright, let's go, you two good sisters," Ethan said, smiling at the two of them.

  "You didn't just come here to visit your father's grave, did you?"

  "Of course not. I also came back to find someone. I want to ask her about some things."

  "Oh, you still have friends here?"

  "Not a friend. She should be considered my first, and most important, teacher." Thinking of this person, Ethan couldn't help but smile. "She taught me almost all of the most basic things I know. And the reason I didn't inherit my father's craft and left home... I think a part of it was because of her."

  "Oh, I'd really like to see what kind of person this teacher of yours is, to turn a very ordinary little blacksmith into the villain who's now turning the continent upside down."

  Hearing Talise's words, Ethan couldn't help but be taken aback. But he immediately smiled again and said, "How could that be? It must be my own reasons."

  The three of them didn't walk for long before they crossed the village and arrived at its rear, seeing the lone little hut. It was a very exquisite hut. Although simple, it was not crude, and in many places, one could feel a strange and unique charm.

  "Aunt El, are you in?" Ethan stood outside the door and knocked. Although he could now use his senses to know that no one was in the hut, this was a habit he had developed for nearly twenty years—to stand outside the door and call out like this.

  "Grandma isn't home. Maybe she went to the town outside. Let's go in and sit and wait for her." Ethan pushed the door open and walked in.

  Needless to say, outsiders, even the local villagers rarely passed by here when they had no business. And according to the simple folk customs of the Harmondale area, few people would lock their doors tightly. The door of the small wooden house was the same; it opened with a push.

  The furnishings inside were still the same, seemingly unchanged in twenty years. Besides some simple furniture and daily necessities, the most conspicuous things were two rows of cabinets. One side held various curios, while the other was filled with stacks and stacks of books.

  Everything here was as it was. Ethan could even recite all the curios on the left cabinet from memory. He also knew that the fifth book on the bookshelf on the right was an animal atlas, and its first two pages were missing—he had torn them off during a fight with another child when he was six... Time in this wooden cabin seemed to have stood still for twenty years, never having passed.

  "Oh, your teacher was an adventurer?" Talise and Aimee entered the house and were also surprised by the furnishings inside.

  "Yes, she used to be a very remarkable adventurer and traveler. After she retired, she settled down here." Ethan pulled a wooden stool from under the table and sat down. He had sat on this tattered little wooden stool for over ten years. If there was a most familiar place in the world, it was probably here. He even had the illusion that he had returned to the time before he had left the basin, listening to Grandma's stories and teachings here.

  But at the same time, he had a strange feeling, as if something was not quite right in this little hut. But upon careful inspection, everything was indeed as he had long been familiar with. The aura, the scent, had not changed in the slightest. But sitting here again after such a long time, there was a strange, discordant feeling.

  Talise saw the curios and the canned specimens on the cabinet with great interest. First, she looked at them one by one, then couldn't resist picking them up to examine them closely, occasionally letting out a small gasp of surprise: "This is a Dragonfly from Tatalia... no, it should be the tail specimen of a Dragonfly Queen... so rare... what is this... Medusa's hair? Your teacher is amazing..."

  When he was a teenager here, listening to Grandma's stories and looking at these collections, Ethan had felt that they were amazing. But it wasn't until he went out and saw more that he understood the power represented by these collections and the knowledge behind them. He knew that this old woman, who had always seemed so ordinary, must have been an extraordinary adventurer and traveler in her past. That's why, when he was now at a loss and without a clue, he thought of this place directly.