Upon hearing the news, Yvette let out a soft “Ah,” surprised at the outcome. Ice Rain, unable to contain her curiosity, asked, “Mr. Ed, how long ago did this happen?”
“At least ten years, I’d say,” Ed paused to think. “Aberrant creatures frequently come to Fusjiang and nearby areas to hunt. Although we reside atop the ‘Water Tower,’ we can’t avoid going down forever; otherwise, how would we train? During that process, unexpected incidents can easily occur.”
Had it really been ten years since her passing?
Yvette was momentarily speechless, but she quickly reminded herself that given the mechanical clan’s circumstances, this must have been a common occurrence.
After all, their channels of communication were primitive and isolated. Lacking a stable messenger, they depended on manual deliveries and were naturally long-lived, making them less sensitive to the passage of time…
Hmm, isn’t this situation reminiscent of her own circumstances?
Though mechanical parts could age, her own vitality was seemingly endless, showing no signs of deterioration. If she were to face a similar situation, it might even be worse for her than for the mechanical clan.
However, she reassured herself that her own disciples had already surpassed the theoretical lifespan limits recognized by the Origin Civilization, so these thoughts shouldn’t be taken at face value…
She mentally dismissed those annoying musings about lifespan and straightened her emotions, then said, “Mr. Ed, could you take us to Miss Bellflower’s grave? Since I can’t deliver the message in life, I would like to bury Mr. Copper Skin’s letter with her.”
“Wait, did you say the sender’s name is Copper Skin?” Ed asked in surprise.“Yes, what about it?”
As Ed and his aide led the way, he continued, “I remember Miss Bellflower used to tell us that she left home after having a huge fight with her lover, and that lover’s name was also Copper Skin…”
“Ah?”
At this revelation, except for Abella, Yvette, Ice Rain, and even Dugrabi all stared in shock, simultaneously visualizing the image of Mr. Copper Skin—the sturdy iron drum, round head, and a face with only two glowing circular eyes, devoid of any true facial features. He looked like a simple, silly little robot with a rather serious personality…
What was going on? This big-eyed fellow actually had a romantic relationship? And he had a quarrel with his partner? Did he even hide it from everyone else?
Yvette suddenly felt that the mechanical clan wasn’t as straightforward as they appeared.
If they had learned the art of concealment, what was next? Mastering the core human skill of lying?
…
The cemetery of the Water Tower Kingdom lay in the wilderness outside the city, scattered with heaps of earth, each crowned with wooden stakes. These seemed to imitate simple human-style burial mounds, each marked with various little ornaments for identification.
Miss Bellflower’s grave was adorned with clusters of blue-purple flowers, easily distinguishable. After burying the letter into her grave mound, Yvette completed her task of delivering the message, yet felt a sense of regret at not having communicated directly with the intended recipient.
Meanwhile, Ice Rain and Dugrabi were rather disruptive to the somber atmosphere as they gossiped about how Copper Skin and Bellflower formed their bond and who had courted whom first.
As their debate heated up, Abella interrupted, saying, “They weren’t in a romantic relationship.”
When the two turned to her, and even Yvette glanced her way, she smiled and added, “It should be that Miss Bellflower had unrequited feelings. She simply wasn’t understood by Mr. Copper Skin. There were likely some disputes too, perhaps about moving the kingdom away from Kux. Ultimately, she got upset and chose to leave.”
“How do you know? You don’t even know Copper Skin,” Dugrabi questioned skeptically.
Yvette quickly reacted, “Did you read the letter?”
“Yep.” Abella showed no shame, even appearing somewhat smug.
“Miss Abella, that’s quite impolite! How could you snoop on someone else’s letter?” Ice Rain interjected immediately.
“That’s true,” Dugrabi added with a disdainful expression.
“So what?” Abella dismissed their concerns, “As a Godkin, I don’t need to adhere to such etiquette. I’m not human.” She turned back to Yvette, sincerity radiating from her as she declared, “All my loyalty lies with my Mistress! Nothing else matters!”
“…Understood,” Yvette replied.
Having completed the letter-delivering task, Yvette mused that if Miss Bellflower had any other letters waiting to be delivered in her lifetime, she wouldn’t be sending those either.
Although it was fine to go back, with the long road ahead, there would surely be another chance to meet again. Accepting such unpleasant facts might only add to Copper Skin’s pain.
It was better to let these feelings drift away with the wind and forget them in the rivers and lakes.
After everything was tidied up, Ed warmly invited them to stay in the Water Tower Kingdom for a while, intending to express his gratitude for the late Miss Bellflower.
Yvette readily agreed, both out of curiosity about whether this border city of the Rustbone Free Territory would yield any information related to the Spirit Sect or necromancy, and because it seemed that powerful aberrant nests were suspected to exist nearby, presenting a good opportunity for hunting.
Moreover, she was nearing the final stages of her “Wind Magic Compendium” compilation and needed to concentrate her attention, making lengthy travels unsuitable.
…
In the Water Tower Kingdom, Yvette ended up staying for two years.
During this time, she completed the “Wind Magic Compendium” as well as the third volume, “Pure Water Magic Compendium,” the latter emphasizing water magic and encompassing the subordinate branch of ice magic.
Throughout this prolonged compilation, she incorporated insights on etching magical circuits and began attempting to fashion the core of the magic compendium into a special type of magical equipment.
If successful, “Wind Magic Compendium,” “Wind Magic Compendium,” and the future “Pure Water Magic Compendium” would be more than simple knowledge texts.
They could evolve into magical terminals possessing formidable combat attributes. By connecting them with mental power and mana, one could easily cast the recorded spells, greatly enhancing usability.
In desperate situations, they could even autonomously fight like floating cannons, achieving total firepower coverage.
Of course, to accomplish such military-grade automation effects would require additional supporting mechanisms, such as chips.
Fortunately, due to some foresight from her past, Yvette had stockpiled a large number of elemental chips during her dreams in Agasha, making them perfect for the central core of a magical book.
She also possessed an intact intelligence core retrieved from the wreckage of mechanical dolls discovered during their travels—essentially an AI chip capable of caching information, simplifying many tasks.
Thus, combined with other small components like elemental capacitors, the first magical equipment that incorporated all the essence of her magical engineering knowledge after five hundred years was slowly about to take shape in this devastated yet vibrant drowned city.