Chapter 20: The Beings Yearning for Light

Wait, if that’s the case…

The moment a similar thought flashed through my mind, before Miss Priestess had a chance to react, the once calm surface of the Star River suddenly churned up massive waves!

“Whoa!”

“Oh no, my snacks! What’s going on?!”

The rolling waves rocked our little boat back and forth, and Tilysha instinctively waved her hands, trying desperately to maintain her balance. Meanwhile, Renée, who had been happily sitting by the side, munching on skewers and enjoying the river view, accidentally dropped the bamboo sticks in her hand into the water. She quickly patted her backside and stood up angrily, looking around.

“Master, there’s… a lot of things approaching underwater.”

Little Dragon Daughter stealthily moved in front of Vilyric, adopting a protective stance, while the Priestess, hearing her quiet warning, could only smile wryly.

“No way… you can’t be serious…”

In the next moment, hundreds of shimmering and elegant figures leaped out from beneath the water, igniting a shower of golden light!

“I-I can’t believe this, my goddess…”

The old man steering the boat widened his eyes, losing control of the oars due to shock, causing our little boat to gradually slow down without him realizing it, as he stood frozen, as if afflicted by a petrification spell.

The multitude of boats crisscrossing above the Star River had at least thousands of people simultaneously witnessing this incredible spectacle—a sea of flying stars rising into the air like a golden rainbow suspended above the river, scattering into countless stars, all dancing joyfully around an inconspicuous little wooden boat before plummeting back into the water with plops.

“Great… this is going to be a huge mess.”

The black-haired girl, seemingly the instigator, could only facepalm, and even Miss Vilyric, usually unfazed by big events, felt a hint of uncertainty. After all, this was entirely unexpected, and being on the flowing river made it hard to run away.

As the flying stars made no signs of aggression, the earlier commotion on the river seemed to just be their collective swimming causing unintentional disturbances. Little Dragon Daughter remained alert but didn’t attack immediately, instead frowning at the massive shadow beneath the surface.

Clearly, the flying stars weren’t leaving anytime soon, seemingly drawn to something below.

“V-Vilyric, what’s happening here?”

Tilysha, fumbling to stabilize herself by gripping the edge of the boat, gaped dumbfoundedly at the recently departed magnificent spectacle, while unfortunate Renée looked as if she was on the verge of tears, seemingly mourning the skewers she had splurged on before boarding, which she hadn’t been able to eat.

A more composed Leila quietly approached the Priestess, whispering in a tone only they could hear.

“Lady Vilyric, was this your doing?”

The black-haired girl could only shake her head in bemused resignation, responding similarly in a low voice.

“If I’m not mistaken, in a way, I suppose it is related to me, but honestly… this kind of incident was never my intention…”

“I see…”

Leila seemed more composed than the Priestess herself, as if she had long grown accustomed to such situations, though she absently glanced at the old fisherman still frozen in shock and quickly surveyed their surroundings.

“There are many boats approaching us; they’re probably attracted by those flying stars. Lady Vilyric, if we want to avoid trouble, we need to leave quickly.”

“Ugh… at this point, that seems to be the only option. Thankfully, this isn’t the Kingdom of Azure; most residents can’t fly…”

Without much time to think, Vilyric tossed a few gold coins into the nearby fish basket, signaled to Little Dragon Daughter, and then picked up a certain blue-haired girl who hadn’t reacted yet, while Leila quickly tugged at her sister’s sleeve, indicating to her.

Although they had artificial flying wings, there wasn’t time for Tilysha to slowly equip them now.

“Eh? Miss Vilyric?!”

“Whoosh~”

With her long white wings unfurled, the group of girls swiftly took to the air from the fishing boat, vanishing into the clouds at a legendary speed in mere moments.

It wasn’t until quite a while later that the old fisherman finally regained his senses from the series of shocks, looking at the scattered gleaming coins in the fish basket with a dazed expression.

“By the gods, could it be… that I just encountered an angel…?”

…

The Star River is wide, and originally the old fisherman had suggested it would take at least an hour to traverse from east to west to reach the opposite bank. However, due to the huge commotion caused by the flying starfish, the Priestess and her group, who had to make a hasty exit, completed the crossing in merely a few minutes thanks to flight.

While they couldn’t experience the river crossing in a manner more aligned with local customs, they at least witnessed an incredibly astonishing scene, so it was a mixed bag.

Upon reaching the riverbank, the girls found a secluded little grove to land, and after releasing the stiff girl in her arms, Vilyric awkwardly smiled.

“Sorry, Tilysha. Time was tight, and I was a bit rough. Hope you don’t mind.”

“Eh? Did we already arrive?”

The little girl, still grappling with the situation, stood still before suddenly reacting, her face filled with shock.

“S-So what just happened?! Why did such a large group of flying stars suddenly appear?! Didn’t we agree it would be a rarity for years?!”

“Ahahaha…”

She scratched her face awkwardly, and Vilyric didn’t hide it but instead chose to share her guess honestly.

After listening, Leila nodded thoughtfully.

“Well… it’s pretty similar to what I imagined, Lady Vilyric. The Holy Empire isn’t like other places; this is the stronghold of the Church of the Goddess, the heart of the light worship. To be honest, even if you don’t actively use your holy light power, your presence here just stands out too much. If you intend to keep a low profile while traveling, it might be quite challenging.”

“You’re not wrong there…”

Even though she had considered such potential problems before arriving, to have it happen right upon entering the country was a bit too much of a test for the Priestess’s heart.

Although the flying stars were incredibly unique and rare beings, there must be plenty of things sensitive to light elements within the Holy Empire. With Vilyric’s high affinity for light elements, if she wanted to avoid becoming major news wherever she went, she’d need a plan.

“Hmm…”

Oh right, speaking of which…

Vilyric reached into the void, rummaging around for a moment, and soon pulled out a cute little white fox mask.

Upon seeing this item, Xiao Guang instantly raised an eyebrow.

“Master, this isn’t…”

Like she suddenly stumbled upon something fun, the Priestess nodded with delight.

“Yup, the Mask of the God Fox. It seems… it’s time to set our previously drawn plans in motion ~”

   

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