Chapter 110: Grey: Why Did It Turn Out Like This!
“Received the captain's signal, cross-referencing with the real-time movement from the gaseous familiar—”
“The predesignated first destination has been changed from the ladies’ clothing store to the Black Lily Street's Wandering Circus.”
“The captain’s distress signal was probably due to the long wait at the Wandering Circus... Based on the current queue, the estimated wait time is over two hours.”
…
Above the royal city, a hundred meters in the sky.
A gaseous familiar was hidden within the swirling clouds, its detection core condensed from gas focused downward, observing every move of two figures in the inner city of the royal capital.
At the same time, real-time intelligence was being transmitted via the soul circuit linking the gaseous familiar to its master... all the way to a wooden cabin in the suburbs.
Inside the wooden cabin, members of the Shoreguard squad were closely monitoring the information relayed by the gaseous familiar, working in a frenzy of coordinated effort.
“Use money to open the way, directly bribe the owner of the Wandering Circus and have the circus cleared—how about that?”
“Rejected. Queen Helen may lack common sense and be unfamiliar with the ways of the world, but she’s not a fool... A direct clearing would seem too deliberate and may alert the target, making her suspect that everything around her is being manipulated by outside forces.”
“Then what’s the new plan? The captain is deliberately slowing his pace, but he’ll reach the entrance to the circus in no more than ten minutes. We have to fix this within that time.”
“If the files are accurate, the third outpost we planted near the circus is manned by someone with the same long-tier sequence as the vice-captain—a ‘Shadow,’ who also possesses the ability ‘Whisperer.’”
“Could we use ‘Whisperer’s’ bewitching power to spread rumors among the queueing crowd that the circus performance is extremely boring, to quickly reduce the foot traffic?”
“Accepted. Notify the third outpost immediately via resonance crystal and ensure the dispersal is completed within five minutes.”
“Understood.”
In the suburban command center, one proposal after another was raised, questioned, revised, optimized, and discarded.
Until the final plan was confirmed, and the instructions were rapidly transmitted through resonance crystals, from the suburban command center straight to the Shoreguard posts within the royal capital.
One could only say—the Shoreguards truly lived up to their name as the most powerful order-aligned force on the continent.
Although they were accustomed to battling beast tides, Iron Cross units, and cults... When they first heard the plan from Shadow—“Go on a date and make her blush”—they were briefly bewildered by the unfamiliar concept.
But once the plan began to roll out, this Shoreguard squad still exhibited remarkable professionalism.
As a unit heavily favored by Sisel, given unrestricted access to the Watchtower’s main resource pool and personnel...
Even though this era lacked convenient modern tech like walkie-talkies or drones, the Shoreguards could still use extraordinary items and abilities, sequence powers to achieve similar results.
The gaseous familiar floating among the clouds, like a hybrid between a drone and a spy balloon, monitoring movements below...
Each squad member had a resonance crystal capable of sending coded messages in real-time, using the Shoreguards’ internal cipher book...
All necessary configurations were fully in place.
Under the leadership of vice-captain Shadow, even for the mission that sounded absurd—“assist Captain Rast in wooing Her Majesty the Queen”—the Shoreguard squad executed their tasks with exceptional precision.
“Clearing complete. Based on intel from the gaseous familiar, Queen Helen herself has not noticed any anomaly in the crowd decrease.”
“Captain Rast and the mission target have entered the Wandering Circus... If they watch the entire show, they’ll probably exit in about an hour and a half.”
“A new signal just came from the captain. All preset destinations are to be canceled. New destinations are to be selected based on the queen’s preferences—the circus, the opera house, the adventurer’s tavern, the detective agency, and the divination club.”
“Also, with such a packed schedule today, they might not have time to sit down for a proper meal.”
“Even though both the captain and Queen Helen are of a rank that no longer requires food to maintain their energy, sharing food is still an essential part of a date…”
“Street food stalls, hawkers selling pancakes, grilled fish balls—get them all ready!”
“Yes, ma’am!”
“Report!” someone interjected.
“According to our earlier reconnaissance in the capital... there are plenty of taverns, but none of them actually have adventurers.”
“The adventurer profession, along with detective agencies and divination clubs, are remnants from the Golden Age before the Cataclysm—now only preserved in a few bustling cities... Paradise Capital doesn’t have any.”
“That’s not a problem?”
Shadow shot a disdainful look at the subordinate. “If the taverns don’t have adventurers, then we’ll be the adventurers.”
“We Shoreguards, seasoned and traveled, aren’t we the best adventurers?”
“Who doesn’t know how to boast in a tavern? Slay a lizard with a hint of dragon blood and you can call yourself a dragon-slaying hero.”
“As for the detective agency and the divination club, even if they don’t exist in reality—”
“If Her Majesty the Queen likes them, then we’ll set them up from scratch, right here and now.”
“A few hours left—move! This operation must not fail! Don’t let Captain Rast’s sacrifice of dignity and self-respect be in vain!”
“Understood!”
That squad member nodded solemnly, fully convinced, and left to carry out the orders.
…
Inside the wooden cabin serving as the command center, it was a scene of bustling activity—every Shoreguard had their role.
At the inner side of the cabin, Grey sat at a wooden table, listening to the heated debate of the ongoing meeting on the other side, while her pen flew across the page, recording the details of this operation.
Line after line of elegant handwriting unfolded across the parchment used for Shoreguard records, but an underlying sense of irritation could be felt in the strokes.
Tap—
Grey’s pen paused slightly on the page. She realized she’d written another wrong character.
“Little Grey~”
“Ever since you learned about the mission's real objective, you’ve seemed out of it.”
“When you first joined this squad, weren’t you always full of energy?”
A crisp female voice rang beside Grey’s ear.
It belonged to a girl about the same age as Grey, wearing her hair in a long ponytail.
She leaned in close to Grey, her eyes filled with concern.
“Back during trainee training for new Shoreguards, you always got full marks in cultural courses—I’ve never seen you write a single wrong character.”
Grey glanced at the ponytailed girl beside her and sighed lightly. “I’m fine, Yanice.”
Like Grey, Yanice was also one of the new batch of Shoreguards. They’d known each other since their trainee days and had maintained a good relationship.
Yanice’s ability was “Familiarization,” which allowed her to embed her soul circuit into various materials and refine them into familiars under her command.
Thanks to its outstanding applicability in reconnaissance, Yanice was selected by Shadow to join Grey as one of only two rookies in the “Lost Paradise” operation.
The gaseous familiar floating over the city, monitoring Rast and Helen’s movements in real-time, was crafted by Yanice.
Since both Grey and Yanice were new and low-ranked Shoreguards...
Shadow had them remain in the command center for their own safety.
Yanice was in charge of controlling the gaseous familiar, and Grey was tasked with documenting the operation for the archives back at HQ.
And at this moment, Yanice seemed to have picked up on Grey’s uncharacteristically low spirits and leaned over with concern.
“My body’s fine... I just don’t know why, but lately I’ve been feeling really irritable.”
Grey sighed again, her pen gliding over the parchment, erasing the previous mistake and continuing the writing.
“Body’s fine, but mentally off?”
“Little Grey, according to the Shoreguard manual, this could be an early sign of corruption from an evil god—soul degradation must be taken seriously.”
Yanice’s expression turned stern. “I’ll go report this to the vice-captain immediately.”
“No, that’s not it!”
Grey quickly reached out and grabbed Yanice. “I really am fine…”
“It’s just—”
Her gaze drifted unconsciously out the command center’s window, toward the inner district of the royal city.
“Lately, it feels like something’s weighing on my mind. I just can’t concentrate. I’m constantly distracted.”
This feeling was something even Grey herself struggled to describe.
But ever since the vice-captain had briefed her on the mission—how Brother Rast would have to seduce the queen of the Underworld for the sake of the Shoreguards’ greater cause—her heart had felt hollow.
As if... something precious had been taken from her.
“Absent-minded, listless, and even now while talking to me, you keep spacing out…”
Grey could feel Yanice’s suspicious gaze lingering on her face.
Suddenly, Yanice clapped her hands. “I got it! Little Grey!”
“In the romance novels I’ve read, this is exactly how it goes.”
“Whenever a young girl reaches the age of yearning and secretly falls for someone but can’t confess it, she starts acting like this.”
“It’s too accurate! You look just like the descriptions in those books!”
Yanice circled Grey with curiosity. “So who is it?”
“John? Powell? Among our batch of rookies, only those two are even halfway handsome.”
“But during training, you didn’t seem interested in either of them...”
“Yanice, what are you even talking about!”
A flush like burning clouds instantly spread across Grey’s pale and delicate cheeks—she turned into a steaming maiden on the spot.
“Hahaha, just joking, just joking!” Yanice giggled mischievously.
After a round of teasing between the girls, Yanice finally seemed to ease up.
“Sigh... Just shows how inexperienced you are, Little Grey. Falling so easily.”
“If you ask me, what’s the appeal in boys like John or Powell who haven’t even grown their facial hair?”
“I much prefer someone mature like Leader Sisel—more dependable and gives a greater sense of security.”
Yanice rested her chin in her hands, daydreaming.
Grey: …
You talk big—does Leader Sisel know about your fantasies?
Already fantasizing about the boss when you're just a rookie? I’m kind of scared of what you’ll do once you become a high-ranking Shoreguard.
“Anyway, seeing you like this, so listless and drained, let’s talk about something fun.”
Yanice suddenly perked up and changed the subject. “Remember our Captain Rast? His whereabouts are always so mysterious. The few times we’ve seen him, he’s always in a hood, just a fleeting glimpse—we don’t even know what he looks like.”
“I used to think for someone to outrank the veteran vice-captain and lead our squad, he must be either a wrinkled old man or someone horribly disfigured—otherwise why hide his face?”
Yanice lowered her voice conspiratorially. “But this time, through my ‘Cloud Puppet’s’ long-distance zoom… I finally saw—Captain is so young and handsome.”
“No wonder they had him carry out the so-called ‘beauty trap’ plan. I thought maybe he had some special charm or seduction ability…”
“Rast bro… Captain?”
Grey instinctively looked at Yanice.
Their connection in Frostwater Town wasn’t known to the others in the squad.
Nor did Grey want them to know.
In her heart, it was a secret memory she shared only with Rast—a bond that allowed no intruders.
But hearing Yanice mention Rast's name still stirred her immediately.
“Little Grey, let me show you something juicy.”
Yanice grinned mischievously. “I had the Cloud Puppet spend a long time focusing and adjusting to capture this HD photo… I almost drooled. I’m totally framing this in my room.”
As she spoke, Yanice picked up a blank piece of paper.
The next moment, a vivid image began to sketch itself onto the page through Yanice’s “Familiarization” ability.
She wasn’t exaggerating—the photo was sharply focused and well-composed.
The background seemed to be a crowded street.
A black-haired, black-eyed boy stood in the morning sunlight, tall and straight, his profile sharply defined.
He was the kind of boy whose very presence could take one's breath away—he was a sight to behold, even just standing on the street... No wonder Yanice had spoken so excitedly.
But what truly caught Grey’s eye was not the main subject of the photo.
It was the girl on the other side of the frame.
She had long ice-blue hair and a cold demeanor that instantly evoked the snow mountains of the Far North.
Her slender figure was wrapped in the Shoreguard cloak—identical to Grey’s.
Perhaps afraid of being separated by the surging crowd… her right hand tightly clutched Rast’s left.
The two drifted through the flow of people, their hands never parting.
And Rast’s right hand was protectively placed in front of the girl—despite the crowd, not a single passerby brushed against her.
Staring at the scene where the boy stood unwaveringly in front of the girl…
Grey froze.
Rip—
The parchment in her hand was suddenly torn by her steel pen.
Her guard shattered!
Her first mission as a Shoreguard…
Her first time working alongside Brother Rast, finally getting a chance to help him…
The two joys combined should have created a dreamlike moment.
But why...
Why did it turn out like this!