Chapter 181: The Bamboo House

“Their background, huh…”

Regarding this question, Edwina herself seemed a bit confused. After all, she hadn’t returned to the academy in nearly three years, and the people and affairs here must have changed significantly since then. It was only natural that she wouldn’t recognize these folks.

However, it was Alwen, the boss who had just intervened on her behalf, who, upon hearing this, appeared to be in deep thought and mused.

“I don’t know the guy leading them, but he’s probably a recent transfer, just some hot-headed rookie. But the person next to him…”

The green-haired girl gave a definitive answer.

“He should be from the Lambert Family. He’s come here to eat with his relatives before. I might not know him personally, but it’s obvious those people are from the same family, so it can’t be wrong.”

“Lambert Family’s folks, no wonder…”

Seeing that a certain Holy Knight quickly displayed an expression of ‘I see now,’ the clueless Miss White Fox, who had no idea about the internal affairs of the Holy Kingdom, could only rely on the pink-haired loli beside her, who was equally lost in the conversation, for warmth ———

——She picked up the little one and placed her on her lap, feeding her with chopsticks just like she would do with a cat while casting a curious, sparkly gaze towards the blonde girl across from them.

Sure enough, unable to withstand such silent pressure, Miss Edwina began to confess immediately.

“Ugh… alright, alright, the Lambert Family… how should I put it, they are also a prestigious family within the Holy Capital and hold quite a few positions in the Holy Church. But they are staunch supporters of the Lambert Family. To put it simply, their relationship is probably similar to that between our Cecelia Family and the Ulysses Family.”

With that description, Miss Priestess immediately understood.

“Oh… that’s why they’re targeting you. But from what we’ve seen so far, it seems more like unilateral actions from the Lambert Family, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, I think so too. The Lambert Family, being demigods, wouldn’t create obstacles for me at such a critical moment right before I lead the troops into battle. After all, we’re united against the demons.”

At this point, Edwina suddenly seemed to recall something and chuckled.

“However, I didn’t expect the Lambert Family would choose to give this badge to Miss Xī… that old guy Augustus is quite shrewd, knowing how to leave himself a way out. If Miss Xī is interested, she could actually reach out to them. Although I don’t particularly like that saintly Pope, it won’t do you any harm… ah, of course, this is just my suggestion…”

“Is that so?”

Edwina’s attitude was quite similar to that of the Saint of Bright Light when she saw the Redeeming Saintess badge being given to Miss White Fox previously.

Even though they were competing against each other, it seemed they did not reject Xī, or Vilyric, or the Lampert Family — the last demigods they were coming into contact with.

What on earth is the relationship between these three families of demigods?

But whether it was the previous Yulrin or the recently troublemaking arbiters, the affiliated families of demigods seemed to be quite different, especially the Lambert Family… it looked like this could be a good point of entry.

Brushing aside this matter for the time being, they sent off the arbiters who had come to cause trouble. After that, nothing else out of the ordinary occurred.

A lunch quickly wrapped up, and after enjoying their fill, Vilyric and the others prepared to take their leave.

That boss lady Alwen, while pretending not to care, was clearly reluctant to let Edwina go. After all, starting today, the Holy Knight would be embarking on a campaign to the east, and it would likely be a long time before they could meet again.

But it seemed, just as she had said earlier, she wasn’t planning… or rather, she couldn’t leave the Bamboo House. After reminding them to come visit her when they had time, she had to helplessly let the Holy Knight say her goodbyes.

Stepping out of the bamboo forest, the three girls returned to the main road of the academy.

Perhaps it was around noon, a majority of the students had completed their morning classes and had either gone home or returned to their dorms to rest, resulting in a significantly reduced flow of people nearby compared to earlier.

Holding hands with Eudora, Miss White Fox strolled along leisurely, seeming a bit curious as she casually asked.

“By the way, Edwina, is Alwen’s full name Minwen? That name is quite distinctive, do you know her background? Also, why does she seem so reluctant to leave that bamboo grove? Is it unwillingness or is it due to circumstances?”

The blonde girl, who was slightly ahead, turned back, casting aside her pensive expression and responding without hesitation.

“Yeah, Minwen is Alwen’s real name, and it certainly is unique. Moreover, Alwen doesn’t really like others calling her that, so we all just call her Alwen.”

“As for her background, I’m not really sure. When I first entered the Holy Academy and visited the Bamboo House, it already looked like this.”

“And according to a senior who joined the academy at least ten years before me, the Bamboo House had existed for at least ten years back then, and the boss lady has always been Alwen.”

“And regarding why she doesn’t leave the Bamboo House, well, that could be a bit complicated…”

After pondering for a moment, Edwina shook her head helplessly.

“You’ve noticed too, haven’t you, Miss Xī? Every time Alwen’s avatars appear, their outfits are significantly different from before. In terms of certain life signs, they don’t even resemble living humans; they lack both breathing and heartbeat…”

“Actually, calling them avatars is a bit inappropriate. To put it accurately, we can consider them her ‘sub-bodies.'”

“Sub-bodies?”

“Yeah, it’s like when you plant a part of bamboo in the ground, new young bamboo will quickly sprout nearby. Bamboo as a plant has an incredible ability to differentiate. As long as they have enough nutrients, they can continually generate new sub-bodies that are almost identical to themselves.”

After surveying the surroundings again, the Holy Knight covered her mouth as if she were a thief and quietly explained.

“Alwen is not human; in fact… the entire bamboo grove, including the Bamboo House itself, can basically be seen as parts of her body.”

“She is a type of plant-based magical beast known as ‘Bamboo Dragon.'”

“Bamboo Dragon…? Oh…”

From beneath the mask of Miss White Fox came a light gasp, as if she understood now.

No wonder.

As for the Bamboo Dragon, Vilyric had seen relevant mentions in some ancient tomes.

It was a creature similar to Xiao Lan, an ‘adaptive mimicry slime,’ which had existed since the mythological era, but due to environmental changes, it was now a rare species that was nearly extinct.

The main body of the Bamboo Dragon was said to be about half a meter long, roughly the diameter of an ordinary girl’s forearm; however, the area it grew in would inevitably lead to the development of a large bamboo grove and even humanoid guardians, acting as a cover and protection for its relatively fragile body.

The entire bamboo forest, including the guardians, was differentiated from the Bamboo Dragon’s main body and could be considered part of it, while the consciousness of the Bamboo Dragon spread throughout the bamboo grove like a ‘spirit of the earth,’ allowing it to instantly sense any disturbance in its surroundings and respond accordingly.

No wonder Vilyric had always felt a subtle, almost watchful presence in the Bamboo House before, yet had not discovered any power at the level of divine consciousness lingering around; it turned out to be this.

Because it truly was a gaze, merely the Bamboo House watching over them.

In fact, when Alwen had suddenly appeared before to block Edwina’s attack aimed at Yulrin, Miss Priestess had already noticed that Alwen, dressed in a cheongsam and holding a jade bamboo flute, had seemingly ‘grown’ straight out of the ground—instead of using some spatial transfer magic or super-speed movement abilities.

It’s just that the ‘growing’ process was so fast that it appeared as if she had teleported.

Interesting ~ Bamboo Dragon?

This was indeed a fresh specimen she hadn’t encountered before; it was just that the name Minwen brought about a peculiar déjà vu…

… Surely not, right?

That was… bamboo!

   

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