Chapter 105: Not on the Same Wavelength (Patreon)

Watching Odegulas hold the man up by the neck with one hand, Pandora had no idea what to say to express what she was feeling.

Pandora stayed silent, but the black-clad man didn't submit quietly. Holding his breath, he swung his dangling leg up at Odegulas's face, fast enough that it even carried a faint crack of splitting air.

Odegulas just raised her other hand and caught the seemingly unstoppable blow with a sharp smack, then flipped him over and pinned him to the ground.

The whole thing took only a few seconds, but it proved that Odegulas could absolutely serve as a "bodyguard."

Pinned to the dirt, the black-clad man seemed to realize he was hopelessly outmatched and stopped struggling.

"I..." he said, straining to lift his head, "I came to pay my tab. I was just passing by and thought I'd give it a try..."

Even through the mask, Pandora could tell he was grinning.

Pandora sighed.

"And the real reason? Still not going to say?"

"What are you on about? I already told you. Just passing by. Passing by."

Seeing how little he cared to answer, Pandora shook her head.

"Let him go, Miss Odegulas."

Odegulas arched an eyebrow at that.

"It's Odegulas. No. Miss."

"..."

Fine. Pandora admitted defeat. This one couldn't be handled by the standards you'd use on an ordinary person.

In the end, Odegulas let the black-clad man go. After all, even if it came to a fight, Pandora figured Odegulas could pin him down again.

"Weren't you going to pay your tab?"

Pandora waved a hand at the man lying motionless on the ground.

At that, he got to his feet without any hurry and dusted off his clothes.

"Ah, well, didn't you lot stop me?"

Looking at him, hands spread in a carefree shrug, Pandora lowered her head slightly.

"Not every person of power is like the ones you've met. You can't write everyone off because of a few."

It was the same with everything. A great tree has many branches, and the leaves on each differ in shape, size and veining. You couldn't say a tree had gone bare just because one leaf had fallen.

"..." The black-clad man was silent for a while after hearing that. Then he let out a derisive snort, a muffled sound that faded as quickly as it came. "I really don't know what you're talking about..."

With that, he pushed open the bar's door and walked inside.

Pandora said nothing more. She'd said what needed saying, and that was that.

She glanced at the faint light in the sky, then smiled at the others.

"Everyone, let's go."

The group answered eagerly.

"Mm."

"Yes."

"Okay."

Of course, Odegulas was the exception.

She only stared fixedly at Pandora, as if lost in thought, or perhaps just spacing out. She was as still as a statue, and only the faint rise and fall of her chest showed she was still breathing...

Pandora, already seated on the crouching Trekbear, pulled Louliana in front of her.

"Come on up."

As she spoke, she held out a hand to Odegulas.

Pandora had more or less gotten used to Odegulas being like this. In the bar, Odegulas's gaze had barely left her at all. (It felt much like Louliana's, only with a different meaning behind it.) She just couldn't figure out why. It couldn't possibly be...

…

(That's a bit of a stretch…

Then…

"I'm pulling you up."

Odegulas had rested her head right in Pandora's outstretched palm. Pandora watched her with a look of helpless resignation.

(How little common sense does she have? How has she survived this long...)

Pandora could hardly be blamed for the thought. Odegulas's "dumb-cute" behavior had simply upended everything she thought she knew.

Off to the side, Luluo and Saidela, already seated on their Trekbear, turned their heads the other way, finding it all a bit too painful to watch.

Odegulas gave a dull nod at that, then finally put out her hand.

"Sitting steady?"

"Mm."

Answering, Odegulas raised her brows and smoothed down the Trekbear's fur. She seemed completely at ease with it.

That caught Pandora a little off guard, but she didn't dwell on it. Maybe Odegulas had put all her talent points into animal affinity?

She shook her head to dispel the absurd thought and signaled Luluo, who was riding the other Trekbear with Saidela, to follow her. The "intel map" the bartender had sold them was still fresh in her mind, and with the power of Vainglory, memorizing something was about as easy as it got...

Just as the bartender had said, the places they passed were truly remote. A few ruined houses stood here and there among rotting, drooping trees. Aside from the Trekbears' footfalls, there was only the occasional gust of wind, and the whole area felt close to desolate.

Because of it, young Louliana instinctively treated the arms around her as a shelter from the wind.

Even so, nothing happened along the way. If anything did, it was only the bones by the roadside, weathered nearly to dust, and a few large wolves that were nothing but skin stretched over bone.

Even setting aside the Trekbears' protection, those wolves probably had no strength left to lunge at them. Whatever awaited them was simply death, creeping in with the passing of time.

"You all right?"

Feeling a slight tremor from the person behind her, Pandora glanced back, puzzled.

But Odegulas didn't answer. She still seemed lost in the scene they'd just passed.

Seeing that, Pandora decided not to disturb her and kept leading the way.

They rode on until the sky was fully bright.

"Gusteko... has a place like that?"

Only then did Odegulas ask.

Pandora was silent for a moment.

"Mm. But it isn't only Gusteko." As she spoke, she gazed toward the "dividing line" in the distance. "The other three nations have similar places. They're just different in nature.

"Beneath Lugunica's prosperity lies "poverty." Beneath Kararagi's flourishing lies "trade." Beneath Vollachia's might lies "strife."

"And Gusteko, then..."

Odegulas didn't seem to react to the answer, yet she was clearly deep in thought.

Perhaps this world was a bit different from the one she knew…