At this very moment, conferring a title upon a new meritorious noble had special significance for boosting morale, and naturally, propaganda spread along with it.
Of course, the content announced to the public was limited to the heroic deeds of Vera's squad stepping forward in times of danger and successfully preventing the mist from swallowing Golden Valley City. The truth about him bearing a "Virtue" was strictly kept secret.
After all, one could know even thinking with their butt that once the matter of the Virtue was exposed, the demons would inevitably find a way to kill Vera before he could grow.
Having suddenly obtained a title that others dreamed of, the three of them—Vera and the sisters—were not as jubilant as the outside world imagined.
Vera himself always felt he didn't deserve it and was uneasy at heart.
Fayling and Fayin were more worried for him personally.
Fayling was even somewhat cynical, suspecting that Duke Lorenzo probably harbored no good intentions and merely wanted to push heavy responsibilities onto Vera, so he could force him to use the ability of "Sacrifice" at critical moments in the future!
From a certain perspective, Fayling's suspicion was not entirely unreasonable.
It was just that, standing from Lorenzo's standpoint, what he saw was the continuation of the United Kingdom and the future of humanity.
Allowing a Virtue Holder with limitless prospects to waste his talents in wilderness adventures was the true mistake and waste.
Just as the three were harboring worries and feeling anxious about gains and losses, an old adventurer companion who came to offer congratulations upon hearing the news brought news that completely exceeded their expectations.
Sirian was still alive!
"It's absolutely true! I saw him with my own eyes at the Puchi House in the Mushroom Capital a few days ago! I was wondering why your squad split up at the time; turned out you got separated after encountering the mist!"
It wasn't that Vera and the others hadn't issued commissions to find Sirian, but in this era where information transmission still relied on notice boards and word of mouth, unless national-level power was mobilized, news rarely reached the majority of people.
At least, this adventurer friend before them clearly wasn't aware of Vera's squad's previous encounters and search efforts.
This sudden news made all three of them extremely pleasantly surprised.
Needless to say for Fayling and Fayin; they remembered every bit of adventuring with Sirian, and they survived the mist thanks to him.
Now hearing that he was safe and sound, although they had numerous doubts in their hearts, their joy over this was unquestionable.
Although Vera had lost his memories regarding the Elf, he had heard quite a lot from Fayling and Fayin during this period and had an excellent impression of this Druid teammate in the twins' mouths.
Moreover, although the hope was slim, he still held a sliver of hope that seeing Sirian might trigger him to remember something.
However, the conferment ceremony was imminent. The three couldn't leave Oath City to find Sirian right now, so they could only ask their acquaintance to pass a message if he encountered Sirian, agreeing to meet again in the Mushroom Capital.
What they didn't know was that Sirian was already on his way to Oath City.
After showing his hand to the Puchi, Sirian obtained a new pathfinding skill. Knowing Vera's location was extremely easy.
...
Somewhere in the wilderness between the Mushroom Capital and Oath City.
After Sirian dismounted, he patted the horse's neck, letting it go graze nearby on its own, while he found an area dense with fungal mat.
"Puchi, come out quickly!"
The surface of the fungal mat began to wriggle in response. Dense mycelia aggregated rapidly, and soon a Voice Puchi that looked like a ragged cloth popped out.
However, before Lin Jun had time to speak, Sirian was quick with his eyes and hands. Extending a finger, he pinched that ragged cloth mouth shut, forcefully blocking back the terrifying sound wave that was about to rush out.
If he let that sound come out, leaving aside that it was painful for him to hear, he feared the nearby horse would be startled into a stampede on the spot, fleeing this eerie fungal mat area without looking back.
Direct telepathic communication.
"Where are they now?"
"Still in Oath City, haven't moved!" Puchi Navigation said honestly. "But they went to that human Relic Association or whatever, and the matter of Sacrifice has been exposed!"
Mentioning this, a lingering resentment seeped out of Lin Jun's thoughts.
If not for the Divine Tree guy insisting on mixing in with Vera's squad, Lin Jun would have long since absorbed this trio with amazing potential into the Mushroom Garden as a hidden trump card. How could such important information like a Virtue be leaked to outsiders?
Lin Jun had even thought out the script.
Lin Jun would feed them well and raise them happily.
If everything went smoothly for himself, then everyone would have a bright future.
If one day they encountered an unmatched enemy, then throw the twins out into the demonic claws, then let Vera explode with Virtue and beat the crap out of the enemy. Perfect.
Lin Jun himself would suffer a bit and bear the infamy of sacrificing others for himself.
Unfortunately, the Divine Tree wouldn't let him interfere too much.
Now, he could only watch helplessly as Vera was tied down by that short, fat Duke with a Viscount title.
Tsk, what does a Viscount count for?
He didn't know how many Viscounts from the Empire side he had dealt with. Wanting to bind Sacrifice with just this bit of sweetness?
It made Lin Jun furious just watching.
Hearing that Sacrifice was exposed, Sirian wasn't surprised, only feeling somewhat emotional about Vera's almost foreseeable future.
Subsequently, he pressed the Voice Puchi back into the fungal mat and continued rushing toward Oath City.
However, when Sirian finally arrived at Oath City travel-worn and met Vera, who had just completed the conferment ceremony.
The scene of the reunion seemed... a tiny bit different from what he had anticipated.
...
"Vera! Finally found you!"
The Elf's clear and melodious voice came from in front.
Vera, who was subconsciously tugging at the collar of his brand-new noble formal wear, lamenting that this outfit was far less comfortable than leather armor, looked up at the sound and froze on the spot instantly.
That was a beauty beyond the limits of imagination, something he had never seen before.
This Elf, just standing there, seemed to make the surrounding air clearer by a few degrees.
However, Vera didn't indulge in this shock for too long.
Soon, some dream fragments that had been almost forgotten seemed to overlap with the reality before him.
Sirian stepped forward with a smile, opening his arms, wanting to give this long-lost teammate a warm hug.
But Vera suddenly shuddered violently. His body reacted before his consciousness—he took a half step back.
The Elf's open arms instantly froze in mid-air. The brilliant smile on his face solidified, squeezing out a confused look.
The gazes of the surrounding people were naturally attracted by this combination of the newly promoted Viscount and the beautiful Elf. Witnessing this strange scene drew even more curious and inquiring looks.
Presumably, various gossip and speculations would spread in the taverns of Oath City tonight.
No. 5 was originally trying to climb up along Vera's cloak, wanting to occupy the familiar spot on top of his head.
But upon seeing Sirian, its mushroom body trembled instinctively, as if a small animal encountering a natural predator. With a whoosh, it shrank back behind Vera, only daring to poke out half a mushroom cap to observe in secret.
Puchi?!
Sirian had a few guesses, and his smile became increasingly forced.
Fortunately, this suffocating awkwardness didn't last too long.
"Sirian! It's really... it's really you!" Fayling and Fayin rushed up from behind, one on the left and one on the right, tightly hugging this partner whom they thought had long been buried in the mist.
Fayling's eyes were red, holding back tears swirling in them. Fayin lost control of her emotions even more, burying her face in Sirian's shoulder, unceremoniously rubbing tears and snot onto his clothes.
Only then did Vera scratch the back of his head, trying hard to suppress the inexplicable chill surging in his heart. With apology and uncertainty, he tentatively called out that name: "Si... rian?"
"He is...?"
Only then did the twins quickly explain the sequence of events regarding Vera triggering the "Sacrifice" Virtue, leading to memory loss.
"So," Sirian listened quietly, his gaze falling back onto Vera, his tone complex, "Just forgot about me?"
Vera nodded embarrassedly, though he didn't mention the strange nightmares he had about him afterward.
It was truly too embarrassing to mention, so he just treated it as a side effect of using Sacrifice.
"I also noticed," Sirian changed the subject, his gaze seemingly inadvertently sweeping behind Vera, "You have a small new companion by your side?"
Taking the opportunity of Fayling introducing No. 5, Sirian smoothly extended his hand, gently cupping that Puchi which was trying to hide and appeared somewhat reluctant.
On the surface, he was getting to know this new team member affectionately.
In telepathic communication.
"You guy, did you do it on purpose?"
"Eek—! Sorry! Sorry! I don't know anything!" The sudden telepathic dialogue scared No. 5 out of its wits. Its entire mushroom body trembled violently, curling inward, and in the blink of an eye, it rolled itself into a shivering Puchi ball.
Sirian: "..."
It took him some effort to finally confirm that this guy in his palm, scared to the point of fainting, was not that guy whose speech could kill people.
However, on the level of soul perception, the two were almost identical.
Sun Stone, huh?
Actually actively splitting his own soul...
Madman!
...
On the other side, Lin Jun satisfyingly crossed out the record of the Divine Tree saying his voice sounded ugly for the first time.
(End of Chapter)
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