Chapter 1286: Section 1287 Feature Report
Wunong Duchy is one of the central nations of the Flourish Continent. It is also known as the Forest Kingdom because over 90% of its territory is forest.
However, in the Wizards’ Realm, Wunong Duchy is universally acknowledged as the Fairy Kingdom, for it hosts the largest gathering place of Flower Fairies in the Southern Domain.
Flower Fairies are mostly frail and their abilities are generally weak, like the Moonbell Sprites, who can only use their powers to brew nectar and wine and might even struggle against ordinary humans. Of course, just because Flower Fairies cannot defeat ordinary humans doesn’t mean humans can easily find them. Whether through invisibility or Illusion Technique, they can easily confound the average person.
At least to the eyes of ordinary people, there are no extraordinary powers in Wunong Duchy. Even the “Flower Fairies” are but legends in storybooks.
Nevertheless, in reality, Flower Fairies have been living in Wunong Duchy for many years.
And Genoa is the largest settlement of the Flower Fairies.
...
It lies deep within the Evernight Forest in the heart of Wunong Duchy, an Aquapolis built upon Mildwinter Lake.
Because of the frailty of the Flower Fairies, wizards don’t actually covet them, but they do enjoy the food, beverages, and honey they produce. Therefore, many Flower Fairies are dependent on Witcher Organizations.
Even Genoa was constructed by a Witcher Organization.
One day, a figure suddenly streaked across the sky above Genoa—a noblewoman dressed in elaborate court attire, her red high-heeled shoes stepping out beams of rainbow light through thin air.
With her arrival, the air was filled with exotic fragrances.
The scent attracted a group of Genoa’s Flower Demons who fluttered their wings and danced around, yet these Flower Demons dared not approach and only went to collect the lingering fragrance in the air after the noblewoman had flown away.
All along her flight, a subtle fragrance wafted through the air.
It was only when she entered a large cathedral-like building complex that the Flower Demons no longer followed.
Called a cathedral indeed, its appearance resembled one—with statues, openwork, bas-reliefs, diverse floors, spired domes, and colorful windows, it looked like a multi-faceted grand cathedral; however, the building didn’t exude solemnity.
Firstly, because its color was dark green and many vines and bright flowers climbed its walls. Secondly, there was a calming and relaxing energy pulsating through the place, making visitors feel quiet and at ease.
At this moment, close to evening, you could see a considerable amount of glowing fireflies emerging from the vegetation around the building, further enhancing its breathtaking beauty.
The noblewoman alighted directly onto a balcony atop the structure and barely had she settled down when she heard laughter near her ear, “Song, is that the ‘King of Flowers’ Tears’ fragrant mist you’re spraying, the one from Lianna? I thought you treasured it. You didn’t even use it while we were in the Abyss, so why have you brought it out now?”
“It is the ‘King of Flowers’ Tears.’ I was thinking since Lianna is hosting the next Tea Party, I also just got word that Lianna said there’s still stock, so I’ll just buy some when I go next time,” Song, the Witch, said.
“I see,” the one speaking now revealed herself leisurely from among the vines—a woman dressed in a black work attire, holding a wooden clipboard and wearing a flat-brimmed hat, displaying an image of efficiency.
This person was none other than Rivetta, and this place was the headquarters of the “Glowing City Night Talk” magazine.
Establishing Genoa and sheltering this group of Flower Fairies was the Witcher Organization behind “Glowing City Night Talk”: Forest of Night Whisper.
Rivetta had returned from the Abyss two days ago and immediately immersed herself in the task of organizing manuscripts, determined to prepare the latest issue of “Glowing City Night Talk” by the first half of the Deep Slumber Moon, as there were so many events to report and so many explosive news items from her trip to the Abyss that required categorization and organization.
Now that the preparation was nearly complete, save for writing up the articles, Rivetta decided to relax a little and came outside for some fresh air. That’s when she saw Witch Song arriving from the sky above Genoa.
Rivetta glanced at the Flower Demons still chasing and collecting the ‘King of Flowers’ Tears’ fragrant mist in the distance and said with a laugh, “With these hardworking Flower Fairies, it won’t be long until we see the ‘King of Flowers’ Tears’ honey wine. We’ll bring it to the next Tea Party at the Barbarian Cave and sell it back to Lianna!”
Upon hearing this, Witch Song had a bittersweet laugh, “Even if it’s the ‘King of Flowers’ Tears’ honey wine, it won’t sell for much.”
Annoyed, Rivetta replied, “It’ll be satisfying enough to spite her for setting such high prices. It’s because of Lianna’s exorbitant pricing that I didn’t want to sell it at the last Fragrance Appreciation Conference on the Manluo Plane.”
Witch Song responded, “Lianna told me that the ‘King of Flowers’ Tears’ gets its raw material from the fragrance of the Demon God’s Maneater Flower in the Nightmare Realm—it’s not easy to come by, so the high price is understandable.”
“Of course, you take her side because you’re close to her,” Rivetta said with some irritation. Then, turning around, she continued, “I’ll get back to sorting through the news. There are so many headlines this time. If sales go well, I’ll take care of the ‘King of Flowers’ Tears’ for the next Tea Party!”
Witch Song smiled helplessly. Although she had become an Official Wizard many years after Rivetta, she always felt like Rivetta was more of a little sister.
Shaking her head, Witch Song suddenly paused as if remembering something important and quickly called out, “Wait, don’t be in such a hurry, hold on!”
Rivetta looked back, puzzled, “What’s up?”
Witch Song spoke up, “I almost forgot the main reason I came here while we were talking about the fragrance.”
Rivetta stopped and looked at the Witch of Song, “The main purpose? Could it be that you’ve also seen the light and are ready to accept an official position at the magazine publication?”
The Witch of Song quickly waved her hand, “Forget it, I’m not interested in these matters. I came to tell you something. In the next issue, are you planning to use ‘Angel’s’ story as the big scoop?”
Rivetta looked at the Witch of Song with confusion, “Of course, his exploits should be the biggest scoop. I plan to feature it in the latter half of the magazine. Didn’t I tell you this when we were in the Abyss?”
“Don’t rush to write the article just yet. I have some information that you might want to consider,” Lianna paused. “Didn’t I mention that I contacted Lianna because of the Tea Party issue? I learned something from her.”
“The message from Lianna, is it concerning the Barbarian Cave? Are you referring to the failed Fusion with the Plane or the mysterious relics on the Pamiji Plateau? If it is about those two matters, there is no need to mention it; Editor-in-Chief Diescher has already taken care of it.”
“It’s unrelated to those, I already told you it’s about Angel,” the Witch of Song shook her head and didn’t keep Rivetta in suspense, “According to Lianna, just a few days ago, Angel returned from the Abyss to the Barbarian Cave with Illusion Demon. However, he has now left again with Illusion Demon and his whereabouts are unknown.”
Hearing this news, Rivetta was suddenly stunned.
“Angel has returned to the Southern Domain?” It took a while for Rivetta to come back to her senses, “How is that possible, wasn’t he already dead?”
The Witch of Song said, “When we were on the Sky Island in the Abyss, we all thought Angel was dead. Under those circumstances, with the horror of being restrained by the grotesque alien form and chased by the Demon God, indeed, it would be very difficult to survive.”
“But his life or death was just our speculation, without any certainty. Maybe Angel had some luck and escaped by the skin of his teeth? Anyway, Lianna told me personally that Angel is perfectly fine and, from the tone of her voice, it seems that Angel’s strength might have even improved.”
Rivetta was completely baffled, Lianna had no reason to lie about such things.
So, Angel really isn’t dead?
She had originally planned to report Angel’s death as a major story and had even drafted the theme ‘Fall of a Rising Star’. But now she was suddenly being told that Angel was very much alive?
That was utterly inconceivable. Rivetta couldn’t believe how, in a situation with enemies before and behind, Angel could have survived.
And he had even returned to the Southern Domain earlier than her!
After confirming several times, Rivetta had no choice but to believe the fact that Angel truly wasn’t dead and had returned from the Abyss!
The implications of this revelation spawned one doubt after another in Rivetta’s mind. But undoubtedly, Angel had come back, which meant all the drafts she had prepared earlier were now useless.
And she believed, there must be plenty more secrets with Angel.
For example, where did that ugly alien form end up, the whereabouts of the Primeval Flame, as well as matters concerning the Demon God… and so on. There must be a huge story here!
Rivetta, like a bee drawn to the scent of flowers, had her eyes full of gossip, “Quick, tell me, what other news did you get from Lianna? Did Angel mention what he experienced in the Abyss? And, how did he manage to escape from the predicament?”
Rivetta thought that Angel might not disclose these details. She was prepared for the eventuality that she would learn nothing, but even so, it didn’t matter. The news of Angel being alive would provoke some reaction from the Frostmoon Alliance, and that was also good material!
However, what Rivetta didn’t expect was that the Witch of Song nodded, “Angel already told everything.”
“He did? He really told?”
“Yes, Lianna confirmed to me that Angel had shared his experiences with the Tree Spirit, and many wizards witnessed it.”
Rivetta was still somewhat incredulous, “He didn’t lie?”
“In front of so many wizards, and with the shrewd Tree Spirit beside him, Angel couldn’t have lied.”
“What exactly happened then?” Rivetta’s eyes were sparkling. Angel’s supposed death might have ended as a regrettable point, but his survival only made the story more intriguing!
Previously with the theme ‘Fall of a Rising Star,’ it could now completely shift to ‘Rise of a New Star,’ considering that Vifette had mentioned Angel was still under the favor of the Thief of Time!
With all these hooks, as long as Angel stayed alive, the story could potentially keep the topic hot for decades!
The Witch of Song said, “Lianna didn’t tell me the specifics, but she said that the internal publication of the Barbarian Cave, ‘Mirror,’ will publish these events in the next issue. Rivetta, why don’t we wait for a while, and after ‘Mirror’ is published, we combine their news and then release ‘Glowing City Night Talk’?”
After much pondering, Rivetta shook her head, “We need to publish before ‘Mirror’ to create a bigger sensation. No, I have to contact Wallace. ‘Mirror’ is an internal publication; as long as we offer enough benefits, we should be able to secure an early release. It’s an opportunity that we absolutely must not miss!”
Rivetta mumbled to herself and, without waiting for the Witch of Song to react, she took out the spellcasting materials and tore through the air, opening a rift in the Plane Corridor, and then disappeared.