Nephis looked in the window and remained silent for a while. Her face was distant and still. After a while, she lightly shook her head.
"No… not yet."
Cassie seemed to be surprised by that answer.
"No? But… why?"
Changing Star sighed.
"The… Fire Keepers. That is what people call the Awakened who follow you, right? They all look up to me, do they not?"
The blind girl silently nodded.
"Of course! We… they have been waiting for your return ever since escaping the Forgotten Shore. Even though the Dreamer Army was an alliance of convenience, the bonds that were forged between its members are real. Their bond to you is real, too."
Sunny sipped his coffee with a strange expression. Neph, meanwhile, lingered for a moment, and then said:
"But they want more than just to welcome me back. They expect me to lead them, like I did on the Forgotten Shore. Am I correct?"
Cassie nodded once again.
Neph looked away.
"How can I lead them when I don't know where I am going? I… I need more time to figure things out before I face them."
The blind girl remained silent for a while, then sighed.
"I… I understand. I think."
did not
what she was going to do, so she could not offer the remnants of the Dreamer Army guidance. She could not become their general again until she decided on the
one to allow her hesitation to slow her down. More than that, she had spent two whole years alone in the Dream Realm… if he knew anything about her, he knew that she must have dedicated a considerable amount of that
there was a lot of new information that became available to Neph after she came back. That had
she
not know, and was not sure that he wanted to know… yet.
was something else that
Cassie and then said, his voice
here for a week. Shouldn't you at least ask me before deciding to
let Changing
and looked at him with an unreadable expression. After a
if I stay for a
then glanced away in
Glad to have you, and all that.
***
up to speed about the state of the Fire Keepers and the renovations they were making to the Immortal Flame manor, and then left. Running a prominent Awakened organization was not an easy task, so she had a lot on
Neph were
hesitated for a few moments, and
really had one, more or less, before buying this house. But if I did, I imagine
glanced at him, then slowly shook
not really my home. We were moving a lot while I was growing up. Sometimes because our financial situation
for a few moments, then
of home. But they are all gone now, one way or the other. So, there's nothing for me
the conversation he once
is, to be honest. And who those people were. You once said that you were raised by your
Changing Star nodded.
clans. You could have called it a great clan, even, although that distinction was not established yet back then. Apart from the immediate family, the clan also encompassed hundreds of other people. Professionals to manage our properties, craftsmen, mundane soldiers, Awakened retainers, their dependents… a Legacy clan is more than just a few powerful warriors. It is a… a large,
silent, and
T1I1m3OT1tcAYRKvseGjBMKHFdtqb4dxnKFWpO6UPeiDus3Er26g0E8BDrlRembafTN+toZLH83ofNUsyb8RrE+RRXs90h6xWLqN7C4PzzxrdDKWUvXWYVDMZpSme/61/cDOZVppE2ndEdfJWU/z6ZxSQKJxxcArbSx6ksJoOgsiCOQpCH/HG+JNhbGtxNyBp3cdlNSAA31tzVaKxKIxDZlN8xjMsWCok2t6Ts98Yk28aUc/iy1zHvKuxamirdiSXxMISt6wFtqs5HEvIwZ9FB0cdApn6igxq6R5rQvugRwW0CL8x95aMNBKWYNdggSNZsj30ty57bHWnnZ3VWmh56+HLx/JDiwLQsgeCpz29KBFnMKD0ct0nB5NLqxnz7ncjqWHNzabS2qkjy39BHH+0nSaaXw1D/Xbo6r4gYQzMcGreC/4xD/rQ9OjfKK2TcNn2V5ItV0TPisIjZVW21WEXXyNCXsVHlIJk3l1lsYJ9P+LLssZHDj3PVnRn8+YtfM2YF5S7fepRFz2Q4Y+JyCFmCSlNSateRoXm7nrOzjm67J1RdLrKBy+QMgPjIBItQexO5GqHfssOg/kVGbZPqSlOmdgTQiP7nBbkUZKNQPckEKQkM5iNbj2A9wfT7X7gOPg3/xOR+90n95eqAcQ3G0NFYZi0nFdZpy1+1c17lfQMB6ZtQlb6FqZ6s7xL9jIE9synMajPP9pxW5kj7R8s/TlLR9fsPGJLpgkAiRkW2KFYg83QebyqUsQnRfXbwBlU7FdhfbrF3axZvk5l2v2LzD5n5hnDebrSpfZGSqK1J6ty8lepcsknGmGEf25rhm/h5Ac3I0gI21qANDppEeSbkCXh/sTZjM3okdyp5RRAGyWDkAWwGwZ1T+dEL7FXA5af4eja3Mj8Cqp7c7DbMYBdDfJlQIj8gYTaj9UlPtGoFazIouHia+6RJfJ8qN8p6WxX6S7a9/m/uuOjAMhBkT6yMcBYW7vlBEPJAfYsrRUfU1B9EM1sTHAf4105Ier/g1fzmbiUmwgHxdZRwK04gtwSbYAGKAk1ivMnfnj8Ups2R4IKxE3zsMM4wUz+503nO1QfDk04D8quizCDNvFSzgjlg8lwxBKuynKxpLYJNDiV4YjcCl+HCfXTINjxkW90UWPpE0ai1Lv16PuMGWj+6+TOpe5lyp8nZ+RjwtPYFqhrKnNZ/u2tE/AwovQnrMPJVFI2q/3jP6RQH3SbneTpS2iX27jOCaLTgxQlQUVJ3Nxsv7K+o2xo4Lh9behiquJK8JOx1Z70U6/iLO4xuMQdjhSNd1b7rVanJLKGzWw4j+MPqSguFo6bUndugkOnwCiRLb9OLHQnw1YZqQLw+FBNzmCXdYAIm3JuHoPElBXjo9pJRPx/JT20DI4hv7evLIK8xtmA82EApeE2hK/dUjVSq2ZwE4ym1+U23iQkpsPsI01EiE9vuTfd+FQn5U3iPa71lB5rQnETz9XcwRPsJJJvge9GcpFtzpNFjffwPrDcWWHVilkRgmvLNqKc8aW39/bfNVjo5Kjg/G5VTznvYaWs7184HnNuBWMXT6ugehE1sOMKMg7XcCx6y2Ia8AQ0e4VolCZCQJjUp5WAsqJEz+Te+dMWc1P7wrcfq4i5KmW7yPbpLlyjEok3ZbPaJ6NfQDNaf3qS0cj6obMQ3b6tokci51/oHDgB5thA7P3XZFvvv3Z22nqk8mAHRcCzJ4vsFt4CVUe/6ern1KBXFND2f8fhlQ1U+iP71ug1x/TeRV4qXe6iEmEeNszZ08McNdxaSBUWzEgf3XmWWec7cP7p1IHSPsI+0agGQXcQJH/ggxVqbgS8QGmt4DUz/DP4aqRbeV5rdB4ifftN0UZFzXEuUQa7AXuiwF8p4UGWJmYMOk6ivCGRmfwVEDQdPhZ8gfycPdp/bqjbDcg/MQ0CCqY5PMRTM8wCQSFpYF8N0luqGOTxwxz1G14weM67gH33XhbPLNqYvHI2aewm3PmiNa7ShPDZe0kkyWbjuE+0DhmUQgF183VuyFhr8JLnyE6KUXODcUg3s/o7V+K+UcLM913npuckInklI0CmtEItJ30zEAigUJcZB5ZlTtitGUEk2olccRs751oJowyTv7AAXwepPxZdSLvTumrBXpMp6gMvsGmDKDiK6tQC8tlDgG8U8nm9wandSLtz84qVwXCM5zPVbfpIFvbfgN7m5Lm5zuN3jh3BB5zVLUjM1K2fghQV1Q1V5zkcPDEBTvR7ZGIR3xXNaZCXo84KJcsSJ85P6hrSyhHJ3kBJepyFxN8EWifVXiA2tCZ6lo52QWfNIBwRXrlfWkVV8UcD1Fx8oCGfuNT+BD05zvk4e6Ag2hdDVDXvkCYDQJLAVn5TbaU/inQhxx9TykeoXV61JqRxnmGDBLnXnGz5t2rvCJJFc8EqtYVCtvCDSdC8VYJeb1RGIxubJ3hwq79Ah1j0LTnt88VkD5mmxi3iqthYUXcvhe6CEoKzZJimKt3IUbwAyb0OFDBr9FdifGv92DPyZwb2H5H3hIi6sRt9REMCpOyQ6K3Xu6O9QfyC7LITsNOqGZNg65Cfy0uduTT1cW8RbJhbQzAZxEwYgiRUvuOCvrDicXGSohio1FKJQ6FsXBYoXBJmzl/twxeK1+1I1+QkfGZ8zc4nEqVW0aJnQ//6wi1xsBWthMrAWWvzvaFhgUeLvkDuvZhuloHiFc1v8BchqJ38CQToqYPae/72ENu3mWhMqwO2PMAg5EVDCLUn+UjC+yu1/5s/zCmNPoNRwnoZEVzdQTP/UYSfJdmEy4dg3FhGKazoNeXlo9XsNPMbIlsqWo5XCYMeXZH6KwpcY2LmdIQpAPzbOkrJc6wk49pChiPWKz9z1GQvmqOyuX3cowQvOIOu8gZl5A1nGX2Evgm05777uLicmT5s+DwANFFVwza3ArOjzgFJM3ESL7dlMsSvLNeZlDb+FWQ/n//nQFpqxmkgFFgIB75Uih+YvVHrZxzskcUlkzS38utljWlO9nEijp3kC7uULzWdEdhaHJoHnva4Xz+6n51T/T5G4A3+cuNQoWmzzQA2HOsdqZA7WxP1L6OxjbPoIE423YRpyA3zvM7+aLPFdwvqrGIuQU4u9VZSITuCuijjekO12Pe/f0yvKAlmJuRCtJ6rPoad1TlbxgzOGSK4jXf3aVmUcgcD6kG2s88tTejnGGsmGxALWCOPWuZaud0axHkHniTEl1Lpo8Lt7QlNhMCIBM1XLFmas3rE1vNOyHBH2+tsmg22c//irXYHOxsVxMLYcYti7jSR9mLROxCoIKnTIpNB4OkzKt87qV1CGAezqc8+hKEkOaQmvSrYpz3gCTNeDXML8IFH2RzJcP6jHTJccbiw2eRPs4xkYKcfYeFRdPoYgpG73dT8RnRDALW5by3L6BsC1K2X2f2UBEdHW9x5JB/eaLcd+d26PMrXx2ZQw0vxTVItSBsbbGwwVaqfg+IiriA4AFyquN+sdB6/OCyq63y8DPogda4DJIsMtPsOnh0rESF9V5+TAWXIXoi8KnUeFTzPPRAZcbwnyCVsxEA2XVp3ZW4XO5nyBDSA+zbHj5nS4VHxNf9bWO1PPCyFvi2xAgX
The Novel will be updated daily. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!