"Gwen!"

"Debbie!"

The two girls looked at each other's cheeks.

Surya observed the exchange, his face full of kindness, and his heart finally returned to its usual rhythm. Considering Henry's merciless sentence against Mark, keeping his Cucu Perempan with his old friend was no different than sending Merino to a tramp's den. In this way, during the first half of the day, Surya showed a dirty and dissatisfied attitude, while Gwen made a mess of things and cast a temperamental shadow over the fiasco, and all his assistants, including Deborah, fled from his contempt.

Around noon, Suya received a text message spell from Kielroy. He listened, his face sometimes stunned, sometimes calm, sometimes ecstatic. Eventually, he was given permission to build a teleportation circle on the estate. Such a thing could cost as much as triple digits in HDM Crystal, but given her situation after Blackheath, Sulya preferred that Gwen not take public transport for a while.

As the sun went down, Surya's servant served dinner. The locals who work for the mage, they are apprehensive at first, but when they realize that the "dangerous" mage is just a gentle, eccentric artist, they stay.

And just like that, the five sat in front of the infinite garden – Sulia, Gwen, Deborah, Melissa, and Tess – enjoying a delicious meal of roast meat and heirloom vegetables. Surya's assistant doesn't know Gwen's secrets, and Deborah doesn't know all the secrets, so the conversation is always lighthearted and full of sweet words. Sulya praised Deborah for her excellent performance in learning the bronze skin technique, and she will be of great help in the future. In his opinion, the strong, serious girl got along well with his two other apprentices, and together they created some ambitious new works. After dinner, the classic Pavlova is served with fresh strawberries and cream, accompanied by a glass of sweet Moscato dessert wine, to complete the evening. As in the highlands, even when the sun sets on the horizon, the air is still muggy. The girls didn't touch their glasses at first, but when they saw that the glass was filled with wine, no one seemed to care, and began to sip the fragrant amber juice sinfully.

For Gwen, Friscente was a godsend. Instead of supernatural mead, Sofina offers real alcohol, pure, clear, natural, and full of pleasant hum. When was the last time she drank? Gwen couldn't remember, it was a lifetime ago. She stole a small bite from place to place, her glass had been on top due to Tess and Mel's evil design, and she was probably wondering if there was still a Gwen lurking in her composure.

When the last drop of the three bottles finally came out, the four girls laughed like old friends. The sun dies in a glorious red, forming an eternal inland panorama of burning plains and burning skies. Surya announces her retirement and stumbles to sleep in his studio, and Mel and Tess return to their room in the West Wing. Deborah also stepped back, leaving Gwen alone to think about the insignificance of humanity below the horizon of the galaxy, wondering if it was the same constellation as her previous world.

"The one who is at the helm for me...... Guide me on course......" She didn't say anything special to anyone, because she was too sleepy to recall the rest of the lines. At this time, her face was flushed and she was sweating profusely. The night on the plateau was unpleasant at best. She had to ask Opa for a cooling glyph in her room. Just sitting here, motionless, she felt beads of sweat in the folds of her cotton clothes. She also needed more clothes to live in for a month, but for now, she could borrow from Tess and Mel.

Gwen staggered to her room in the dark, undressed, and collapsed comfortably on the bed. She felt that the fermented musk made her blush and light-hearted. With so many knots untied, Gwen felt safe for the first time since coming into the world.

The sheets were rough and stuck to her skin, but her mind was already elsewhere. She thinks about her parallel lives, measuring one against the other. Although Gwen rejects Gwen in this world for the first time, her alternative life grows in her. In Old Sydney, she left many regrets. Of the four furnaces of family, health, career, and friends, Gwen completely shut down a stove labeled as family, directing her time and energy to health and wealth. She rarely even has time to spend with friends, and her romantic quests are a horror. Now, in this world, she has reached a kind of balance through the trials of uncertainty and the ordeal of life-threatening ordeals.

For friends, she has Yue, Elvia, and now Deborah. As a mentor, she has her master, Henry. In terms of family, she has Opa and she gives her a sense of belonging that she has never enjoyed in her parallel life. As for her career, that's uncertain.

Physically, she lay comfortably in the double bed, ready to fall into a pleasant sleep. Deep down, her heart wanders in the dark, inadvertently touching this and that.

She froze and slowly turned her head.

In the dim light, she meets Deborah's fiery face.

"Uh... I think I'm looking for the wrong room. ”

It's a fact. The east wing of the complex has six identical bedrooms, hoping that one day the family will come together to celebrate the Huang family's material achievements. Unfortunately, this particular project was ignited when Suliya, Helena, and Kwan Wing-Shan burned the bridge. As a result, the eastern flank of the estate was completely unaffected by human occupation. Moreover, the door is neither labeled nor easily recognizable in the dark.

Gwen blushes with embarrassment and tries to get out of bed, but the psychedelic sensation of the wine causes her to roll off the bed. She screamed and fell on the wooden floor, face up, writhing in pain.

"Oh my God, are you alright, Gwen?" Deborah's voice was a little off, lacking the usual tenor and clarity. In the dim starlight, Gwen spotted her friend's face.

Debra kept crying.

Debra sat down beside her. Her friend got up too quickly and was equally out of balance. She stumbled to the floor, her knees and elbows rolled over, and rested next to Gwen.

The two of them lay side by side, awkwardly silent.

Maybe it was because of the alcohol, but Gwen soon broke the solemn moment with a laugh. Deborah joined in a moment. Before they realized it, they all laughed out loud, albeit quietly - because it was too hot to move.

Finally, Gwen managed to think of something to say.

"I'm sorry......" she apologized and pulled you into the middle of it all. ”

Deborah didn't say anything, just breathed rhythmically, trying to cool down on the icy wooden floor. In the darkness, Gwen could see the outline of her friend's body, well-defined in the silver light. Inadvertently, Deborah's peaks and valleys, mounds and waterfalls all tremble a little from the emotion beneath her honey-like skin.

"I didn't know you came from such an amazing family, Gwen ......" Deborah murmured at the end, with a look of desolation and loss in her tone I had always thought you were like me, we were very close. ”

"Just grandpa," Gwen admits trust me, you won't want to see the rest of the family. ”

She thought about what she had said, and then added an appendix.

"Richard is fine. He's an interesting guy. ”

Deborah didn't listen.

"I want to ...... I thought we were no different. I just need to work harder. Before that, I met Master Henry, Alesia, and that Gunther guy......" Deborah's voice became more and more influenced by each word. Beyond her, Gwen felt Deborah's emotions rise as she breathed erratically, her chest heaving, expanding and contracting. "They're not ordinary people, they all want to help you. This means that you are no longer an ordinary person. You're in another world, how can I catch up?

Her voice was hoarse.

"You'll be so far away, so far away, out of reach. I don't even know what I'm doing, Gwen. Why am I working so hard?"

"Debbie ......" Gwen wants to comfort her friend, but she has nothing to add. Whatever comforting words she said were nothing more than sophistry. Would she have promised Deborah to take her? That would be extremely arrogant and insulting, and would only make things worse.

In the darkness, Deborah turned to face her. The girls' eyes were hot with uneasiness, leaving snail-like marks on the sides of her cheeks.

"What does it feel like for a mortal to ask to join your party?" said Debbie, grief-stricken, her tone bittersweet and desperately painful. "Isn't it fun? Are you having fun with the girls?"

"No, of course not, Debbie......" Gwen scanned her memory for something she could understand, but her brain was overwhelmed by the amber heat of musk, and her mind seemed to sift through cotton.

"When I think of you, Yue and Elvia, see the world, go over the shield wall, continue your adventure, and head to the first-tier city. I'm trapped in this horrible frontier town, right next to that horrible snake – I just ......" Deborah sobbed, a silent heartbreak wail.

Gwen suppressed a sense of guilt. Deborah didn't know that the snake was kind, and she couldn't tell Deborah the truth. Gwen understood, though. Even when she was drunk, she understood exactly why Deborah felt so distant, helpless, and alone. Her friends are tenacious, stubborn, and competitive. Competing with themselves has always been a motivator, especially after they have awakened. However, she is now out of reach, completely out of reach, forever. Is there anything she can do? She wasn't sure, but she wanted to try. Gwen searches her memories for her missing maternal memories and discovers that including Percy, whimpering at night because their father is working and their mother is gone. She was holding him, brother and sister, and his face was pressed against his chest. She rubbed his back and held the baby until he was exhausted. The next morning, Percy was like a newcomer.

Gwen didn't know what else to do, she stretched out her slender arm and pulled the crying Deborah in, one hand stroking her hair while whispering a few kind words in a hoarse voice.

"Shhhh It's okay, Debbie - everything will be fine. You can go to the same university with us. We can even join the same military unit. We will go through adventures big and small together. I don't know if we'll ever be together, but when we're together it will be fine

When Gwen spoke about the serenity of the future, Deborah held back her tears.

The room is now getting unbearably hot. The spread of emotions makes it both stuffy and stuffy. They had to take a break outside and cool down.

Her friend withdrew from Gwen's embrace and pulled far enough away that the two fell asleep facing each other.

Unlike her old world, there is no light pollution in the hinterland. Above, the Milky Way shimmers with a ray of hope, an ocean of stars that surrounds from one boundary to another. The moon itself hung round and bright, emitting a faint white light.

In that hanging light, Deborah's eyes were as bright as the amber flutes of Muscator they had tasted, glittering with hope in the silver light of the glittering sky. Opposite, Gwen's elf-like face was as pale as fragile milk.

Then Deborah kissed her.

"Gwen," Deborah pleaded, her eyes filled with panic.

"I'm fine, Debbie......" Gwen replied softly. She didn't want her friends to feel bad.

"I'm sorry," Deborah began, trying to get to her feet.

"It doesn't matter. "I'm kind of lost. Gwen admitted, controlling her own pace.

Deborah tried to stand up, but she still stumbled to her knees and shivered. Maybe Debbie was afraid she would hate her now? If Gwen was a special woman, she could make Deborah's life hell. Still, the news came as a big surprise to learn about Deborah's family and their religious service for Sunday Mass. But then again, does Deborah like her? Gwen wasn't sure, but she's an adult here. She understands adolescence and all its confusing hormonal contradictions.

"Good, Debbie. Gwen leaned over.

"See you tomorrow. ”

There was silence as Gwen retrieved her clothes and walked to the door.

She opened the door and waited.

"Thank you," Deborah replied, her voice filled with comforting gratitude.

Gwen also breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good night, Debbie. ”

"Good night. ”

Gwen found the room next door. She double-checked and saw that there was no one inside, and finally went to bed.

This time, it's a peaceful sleep.

Gwen had the pleasure of sleeping until noon. After everything that happened to Blackheath, her body finally regained the hours of fatigue that Golden Mead and adrenaline had prevented.

She was half starved to death, and politely asked the peasant servants to make her a cold-cut sandwich with the leftovers from the previous day.

Then, she sat next to the infinite features and thought about what she should do.

There was a feeling of emptiness in her fingers. She lost her locker ring, and by the same standard, she lost the notebook that Henry and Sulya had worked so hard to make for her. Of course, she had memorized these conventions, but she wanted to keep them as a keepsake. In short, the only thing she kept was the jade pendant, and she had to thank Kaliban.

Gwen shuddered.

Near the craft area, Opa came out of his steaming foundry with his assistants. He smiled expectantly.

"Good afternoon. ”

"Good afternoon, Opa. ”

"Did you get a good night's sleep?"

"Yes, Opa. ”

"Good, good ......"

When the drink appeared, they joked for a while.

Surya rummaged through the bags of her work bag and finally pulled out a small wooden box. He opened it and showed it to Gwen in a gorgeous way. It was a diamond ring.

"Give. He threw it at her, commissioned by the ten masters themselves. ”

Gwen grabbed it with one hand and opened her palm, scrutinizing the elaborate piece of jewelry. The "diamond" is the core of a creature, of course, simply prepared in the style of a bright square jadeite, reflecting a shimmering pattern made up of four different quadrants.

Gwen marveled at its brilliance. Diamonds are, after all, a girl's best friend, even in a world of dragons and underground.

"It's an inscription for a bastard. The centerpiece is your master's private collection. All I had to do was inscribe it and board it. Try. ”

Gwen placed the ring on her main ring finger, and the ring shrunk into place.

"It's a medium-sized storage ring!" Gwen gasped as something else. ”

"It's the usual teleportation beacon," Surya suggested in a proud tone at his work that the core was strong enough to withstand more spells, so I also put water breath and feather drops inside, you know, it was unexpected. ”

"Oh, Opa! Thank you!" Gwen hugged her grandfather and made a note to thank her master. A storage ring with an extra symbol! If not a thousand, HDM companies are worth hundreds!

"Hee-hee, hee-hee......" Surya grinned, having a charm that was very pleased with herself, so it looked unremarkable. Don't worry about showing off. ”

They further discuss the purpose of the ring, how to activate it, and important considerations.

"So, do you want to do some work, or do you want to get fat from Opa's turf?"

"Of course, I like to work part-time," Gwen whispered happily, how could I help?

"Well, Henry has sent a magic book for detection, messages, and some useful transfiguration spells to get your Foundation started, but you'll be working in private. At the same time, I had a problem, and now the lakes are all dry. The damn thing tore my fence open and I wanted to go here and find water. ”

It's no surprise that even in her previous world, kangaroos had turned into a pest.

"I'll ask locally. You and Debb might go around and do some captivity and picking. Roosters are also very good to eat, and their fur is worth a good value from LDM. With that ring, you can bring home at least two or three. ”

"How many chickens are we talking about here, Oba?"

"Oh, you know, swarms of bugs, hundreds, thousands? Who knows? they're just big grasshoppers. The Noem family likes to eat stray dogs, but the big red men are too big and powerful for them to fight. So, when you're out and about, be sure to let the local farmers spot you. ”

A flock of two-meter-tall red kangaroos, Gwen grimaced. Doesn't sound too dangerous. It would be an added bonus if she could improve the diet of the locals.

"Alright, I'll get ready, Opa. However, I need to buy some suitable clothes, is there a store nearby?"

"You have to go into the city, do you have crystals on you?"

Gwen shook her head, alas, penniless.

She put on her best face and winked expectantly at Opa.

Su Ya grinned, savoring Gwen's pleading expression. He passed a hand over the table expensively, handing out a small pile of high- and low-density crystals. Another pass and a few rolls of green bills fell onto that pile of paper.

"Happy shopping. I'm going to tell Tess to drive the car. You know, you should work on Transfiguration, and on the third layer you can cast Fly! Once you and Deborah can fly, you can go anywhere. ”

Gwen gave Opa a big wet kiss. The old wizard was half drunk, and walked away with a light step, like a jogging tiger.

"Shopping!" Gwen slammed her fist into the air. She couldn't wait.

"Oh my God, where is Tacto?" whispered Stevo's herd of cattle roaming the plateau.

"I don't know," Jaco shot back, his voice hoarse in the dry air for me to go see them, etc. ”

He patted the sides of his gray mare, which galloped away and ran towards the back of the herd. He found their third cow behind the last, and began and stopped, looking back with a sense of frustration and uncertainty.

"What's wrong, man?"

Taco turned to his friend, wrinkles of worry on the tanned leather of his face. Young Jaccarlo's name is real, Taco. No Japanese with a lot of self-esteem would call themselves "octopus". His real name was Takahashi, and when his parents moved to the border, they told him to go with the flow.

"Something is following us. Taco squinted and covered his eyes, the path was not right. ”

Yatsko grabbed a male goose, kicked his horse and made a small circle around the suspect area. There is plenty of evidence that the main Orurke cow has passed away, but there is little sign of a monster.

"I think it's good, man. All I see is, ha!" Yatsko laughed. Taco is a nice guy, but he's a little nervous and always scared of this and that. Sometimes a guy just needs to relax.

"I'm serious, Yatsko," Taco replied, and though he saw Yatsko's clown, clown, he couldn't help but laugh!

Taco squinted. There was a small gray flag coming towards them.

"Yatsko, stop! What's that?"

Yatsko stopped his mare and looked at it, squinting at it.

"Looks like ......," he began, and something flashed through his mind. The old tramp told such stories, which he exchanged for fools in the bar. "Impossible......"

"Yatsko!" Tacko began to turn his horse. "Fucking it's coming this way! Run, man! Run!"

"A-, fuck it!" Yatsko slammed his horse and lunged at the herd. "We need to get the bison back to pasture!

The thing that was coming towards them was diving in the red earth at a ridiculous pace, and somehow it caught up with the gallop of the horses.

But how long could it keep going at this rate? It was a pickled sandwich, and Taco knew that their horses were so exhausted from the sun that they couldn't run for a few more minutes.

Bawang!

Suddenly, there was the sound of something emitting. The jackal looked back and saw a huge monster, more shark than a land beast, with a smooth head covered with a hard carapace and a tip like a sharp cone. Paradoxically, it looks like a rhinoceros was crossed with a tiger shark and then given 10 doses of poison. Without much effort, the object leaped through the air, hitting the ground not with a thud, but with the soft sound of sand fluttering. When it reappeared, it was moving faster, and it was closing in on them!

"How did that bastard run so fast?!" Yatsko shouted, his horse running well, but he noticed another "fuck!" Taco slowing down.

"Yatsko, my horse is going mad soon, drive the herd out! tell Stevo to take them to the farm! I'm going to try to get it away!"

"No, man, nonsense, don't do that!"

"There's no time! Gotta go! Come at me, you bastard!"

Taco turned, whistling, and blowing for a whole while. The shark circled in mid-air and pounced on the noisy rider. Taco changed direction again, and the creature was missing a few inches, spewing out a puff of red dust and sand.

"I'm heading for the Deathstone!" he shouted to Yatsko as he galloped away. "If I live!

He dodged another jump from the creature.

Tucker's horse was starting to foam, and she couldn't hold out for long.

He had to ride her as far as he could, and then run on foot while it fed his beloved mare.

"I'm sorry, Betsy. "Taco leaned over and patted his horse and kissed it on the neck, this will be our last journey, man. ”