The monster bird, now lying on the ground with its body charred black, struggled to rise.
Nolan naturally took advantage of its vulnerability, showing no mercy. He sheathed his Dull Blade into the air, assuming a sword-drawing stance and gathering energy for a few seconds.
Then, with a sudden burst of force from his legs, he shot forward like a teleportation flash. When he stopped, he was still standing, but the Dull Blade had moved from its "sheathed" position on the left to the upper right, its tip trailing a line of blood.
Behind him, the monster bird that was struggling to get up suddenly froze, then its head separated from its body!
[Defeated A Powerful Enemy, Obtained 2751 Adventure EXP.]
"Phew, finally done. Taking down this demon bird wasn't easy," Nolan said, sheathing his Dull Blade and wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.
"But that earlier...," he mused, looking towards the forest's edge.
"Honorary Knight brother, Sucrose sis, Klee is here to help you!" A small red badminton uh, no, Klee, came running in from outside, with Noelle following behind.
Sure enough, it was her, a bomb with such awesome power was something only this Spark Knight carried around in large quantities on a regular basis.
"Ah, Klee, why are you here?"
Sucrose had just been slightly surprised at the Wind Chime Bird that had been taken out all of a sudden.
However, after seeing this well-behaved, cute, but somewhat playful little girl she started to understand.
No doubt, Klee had sneaked away from Jean again to go fish-blasting at Starfell Lake. This often resulted in her getting grounded.
"Klee came with Noelle-san to go fish-blasting," she said.
"We just happened to see you guys fighting with this bad bird that almost blew Klee's hat off, so Klee came to help you!"
Klee pointed at the now-dead Wind Chime Bird, her face showing a hint of anger.
"I see," Sucrose adjusted her round half-rimmed glasses and, still puzzled, asked, "Noelle, did you come too? Aren't you worried about Jean, uh, grounding you?"
"Well...," Noelle clasped her hands behind her back, her gaze shifting to the ground, unsure how to respond.
When Little Klee ran out, she wanted to stop her, but in the end, she couldn't argue with her and could only accompany her.
She was a soft-hearted girl.
"Hehe, as long as Sucrose sis doesn't say anything, Noelle sis doesn't say anything, Honorary Knight brother doesn't say anything, Dodoco doesn't say anything, and Klee doesn't say anything, then Acting Grand Master Jean won't know!"
Klee swung the fluffy white doll hanging from her backpack and flashed an innocent smile.
"Ahem, Klee is right. Since we're already out, we might as well have fun. Even if Acting Grand Master Jean finds out and grounds us, it'll be worth it, right?" Nolan nodded and smiled.
"Exactly! Honorary Knight brother, you get it!" Klee nodded vigorously in agreement, even clapping her hands.
"Uh, Miss Sucrose, what brings you here? Running into such a powerful monster is quite unexpected," Noelle asked, touching a strand of her silvery-gray hair, her fair face showing a puzzled expression.
"Ah! Right, I almost forgot to pick the Philanemo Mushroom!"
Sucrose started to answer Noelle's question but then remembered that the Wind Chime Bird was defeated, and she could finally retrieve what she came for.
She glanced shyly at Nolan, then lowered her head, staring at her toes.
"Alright, you two talk. I'll go pick it," Nolan said with a smile, stretching his sore neck.
Despite their friendship, Sucrose's bashful nature made even simple requests a challenge for her, like asking for help to pick a mushroom.
"Th-thank you," Sucrose mumbled, her fingers intertwined, and her pale face flushing with embarrassment.
[Sucrose Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 226 Affection Points. Current Affection Level Lv.5 (106/500)]
The affection notification popped up again, and Nolan couldn't help but appreciate Sucrose's shyness—it had its advantages, like making it easier for him to earn her affection.
The once turbulent forest, now calmed by the wind, settled down. Nolan approached the large tree from before and climbed up using the vines.
The beige mushroom, resembling an unfurling flower, lay undisturbed in its original spot. Nolan reached out and pinched its bottom, feeling its soft, bread-like texture, then gently plucked it.
At the same time, his gaze inadvertently glanced over to where the bird had been standing earlier. With the bird gone, Nolan's eyes penetrated through two or three trees and spotted a nest made entirely of dry branches and leaves.
There seemed to be a fist-sized egg with a blue-cyan surface inside.
"This is... the Wind Chime Bird's egg?"
Nolan felt confident in his guess; after all, the colors matched perfectly. His adventurer's instinct told him it was something valuable.
However, he didn't rush to take it. Instead, he jumped down from the tree and decided to consult with Sucrose, the resident biologist, first. After all, handling a monster egg might be different from handling ordinary bird eggs.
If mishandled, it could lead to its death, causing its value to plummet—a regrettable outcome.
"What? The Wind Chime Bird's egg?!" Sucrose, who had just finished explaining to Noelle that she was out looking for "Philanemo Mushroom," was surprised to hear the news brought by Nolan.
Such a rare monster's egg was incredibly valuable material for an alchemist like Sucrose, who specialized in biology.
"Wow! An egg! That's great! Klee wants to eat it!" Little Klee was equally excited, though her interest in the egg was quite different from Sucrose's.
"Ah!" Sucrose was shocked by Klee's suggestion, waving her hands frantically.
Her round, half-rim glasses even slipped down to the tip of her nose. "No, no, you can't! This egg is very important for research; it can't be eaten."
"Aww, but Klee wants to eat the egg," Klee said, looking forlornly at Sucrose.
"But, but..."
Sucrose couldn't handle it at all, she was shy and a bit soft-hearted like Noelle, she didn't know how to say no at all.
But she also wanted the Wind Chime Bird's egg so badly that her eyes were so red with anxiety that she was almost about to cry.
"Uh, haha," Nolan scratched his head, thinking of how to defuse the situation.
After a few seconds, he spoke to Klee, "How about this, Klee? Let's give this egg to Sucrose, okay? Then, Sucrose and I will take you to blow up some fish, and we can have a barbecue with that big bird we just defeated. How does that sound?"
Klee's eyes lit up, sparkling like the sun. "Yay! Barbecue and a picnic!" She then turned to Sucrose with a smile, "Hehe, since the big bird egg is very important to Sucrose Sis, Klee won't eat it."
"Phew, thank you," Sucrose patted her slightly heaving chest, wrapped in her dress, and looked gratefully at Nolan.
[Sucrose Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 180 Affection Points. Current Affection Level Lv.5 (286/500)]
"No need to thank me. Klee is quite understanding," Nolan replied with a smile.
"Here's the mushroom you wanted. Do you need help with that bird egg? Is there anything special I should know about?"
"Please let me do this one on my own as, the wind chime bird's egg is only good if it is warmed with a warm breeze for a while when it is put away in the Vision or when it is moved."
Sucrose said, her hidden furry, light green beast ears twitching slightly.
Nolan had no objections. He believed that professional matters should be left to the professionals.
However, when Sucrose followed him to the tree with the bird's nest and attempted to climb, she found the bark too slippery, providing no good footholds.
"Miss Sucrose, do you need assistance?" Noelle approached the girl, smiling gently.
"Yes, please, Noelle," Sucrose replied, lowering her head with slight embarrassment, her glasses slipping down her nose again.
"All right, please step on my hand," Noelle said, quickly crouching down. Her rose-colored skirt spread over her legs, and the white lace brushed the ground lightly.
She clasped her hands together, palms up, and placed them on the ground, indicating for Sucrose to step up.
Sucrose knew Noelle was strong, so she didn't hesitate to step onto her hands.
"Make sure you stand firm," Noelle said, steadily lifting Sucrose without a hint of wobble.
Sucrose tried to balance herself, her legs encased in semi-transparent stockings trembling slightly with the fear of falling.
"Wow, it's like a crane, Kagome wants to play too!" Klee, with her backpack, exclaimed, her eyes sparkling.
Noelle had her hands raised above her head, and Sucrose was just about to grab the tree trunk when Klee's sudden outburst distracted her. She lost her balance and wobbled precariously.
"Ah, careful."
Noelle tried to adjust, but her movement threw Sucrose completely off balance, causing her to slip and fall backward.
"Ah!" Both girls cried out in surprise.
Seeing this, Nolan quickly moved behind Noelle and caught Sucrose as she fell. His left hand supported her back while his right arm was pressed against her soft, stocking-clad legs. The warmth of her skin seeped through to his skin.
Sucrose adjusted her glasses and saw herself cradled in Nolan's arms. Her pale face turned a deep shade of red, her mind almost overloaded. She bit her lip, momentarily speechless.
"Whew, it's good that Miss Sucrose didn't fall."
Noelle said, turning around and placing a hand on her chest with a sigh of relief.
[Noelle Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 230 Affection Points. Current Affection Level Lv.3 (30/300)]]
"Klee sees Sucrose Sis being held. Klee used to be held by Mommy like that when she was little," Klee said, tilting her head in confusion. "Why does Sucrose need to be held now that she's grown up?"
"Um that, please please please put me down first."
Sucrose's face looked even more ruddy when she heard Klee's words. She had taken a long time to muster up the courage to speak.
"Hehe," Noelle chuckled softly, covering her mouth with her hand.
After a moment's thought, Nolan decided not to put Sucrose down immediately. Instead, he supported her back with one hand and grabbed her thighs with the other, lifting her up onto his shoulder like riding a horse.
His hands couldn't possibly hold both of Sucrose's legs entirely, so he applied a bit of pressure, his fingers sinking slightly into the soft skin of her thighs, just above the knees.
With Sucrose perched on his shoulder, Nolan's head was nestled against her lower abdomen, while his cheeks brushed against the snow-white skin of her thighs. The warmth from their bodies exchanged through the contact of their skin.
His hands rested on her round knees as he spoke, "I'll jump up in a moment, and you grab onto the trunk above to climb up."
"Ah, o-okay," Sucrose's hands were clasped over his head. She hadn't expected Nolan to suddenly lift her up like this and have her ride on his shoulder like a child.
Standing nearby were Noelle and Klee. Sucrose felt incredibly embarrassed and childish, like a little kid. How could Mr. Nolan be so rough? Sucrose blushed, silently complaining.
Thankfully, only Noelle and Klee were present. If there had been more people, her brain might have overheated and she would have fainted from embarrassment.
So immature!
"Wow, it's like riding a horse!" Klee's eyes sparkled with excitement. She turned to the apprentice knight beside her, "Noelle Sis, Dodoco and I want to try too!"
"Huh? Okay," Noelle readily agreed to such a small request.
Once Sucrose was ready, Nolan bent his knees and gently leapt up. Sucrose easily grabbed the tree trunk and climbed up.
She quickly forgot the embarrassing moment as she looked at the bird's nest and the blue-cyan egg inside.
What kind of genetic material would this rare magical creature have?
If she could combine its genes with those of the knights' white horses, could she create a pegasus?
If she wanted to create a fairyland that was uniquely her own, an existence like a Pegasus should be a must, right?
Creating her own paradise had been her dream since childhood and the reason she studied "biological alchemy." But limited by her skill and lack of materials, she was stuck with quadruple-sized sweet flowers and sixfold dandelion seeds.
She was still far from creating the fantastical creatures of her dreams.
Even with the Wind Chime Bird's egg, she needed to finish her current research on a hemostatic ointment first.
Sucrose gently nurtured the egg with wind elemental energy.
After about ten minutes, the egg looked more vibrant, so she stored it in her Vision.
According to the book, after being nourished by wind elemental energy, moving the egg wouldn't harm it. However, it should be settled within a day, or its vitality would weaken.
"Sucrose, should I catch you when you come down?" Nolan called up, seeing Sucrose hesitate.
"Hey no need, I'm also a bit strong, it's not so bad that I can't even jump down from a few meters high tree, and isn't there still the Wind Glider!"
Sucrose's fair face turned red again. She was about to spread her Wind Glider when the tree trunk she was standing on wobbled, and she slipped.
"Ah!" she cried out as she fell, first landing on the tree trunk with her soft rear, then tumbling headfirst towards the ground, forgetting to open her Wind Glider.
"Careful!" Noelle shouted, concerned. Even though Vision holders wouldn't get hurt from a fall, it would still be painful and messy.
Luckily, Nolan was quick to react.
He easily caught the falling girl in his arms.
"Phew, that was close," Sucrose pushed her glasses up and said with relief. She might have been fine, but her glasses could have broken.
[Sucrose Has Developed Good Feelings towards You. Obtained 200 Affection Points. Current Affection level: Lv.5 (486/500)]
"Sister Sucrose, be careful when you stand on trees from now on!"
Klee, sitting on Noelle's shoulders, advised like a little adult.
"Um, got it," Sucrose, embarrassed, shifted her gaze to the ground, nervously rubbing her hands together.
"Alright, we have the bird egg and the mushroom. So next…"
Nolan looked at her like this with some secret amusement in his heart, then thoughtfully said.
"Blow up fish! Picnic!" Klee cheered before he could finish.
"Uh, that's right!" Nolan said with a smile on his face as he nodded.
Next.
They then headed towards Starfell Lake with the dead monster bird. When they arrived, it was noon, time to prepare lunch.
Noelle accompanied Klee to the small island with the Statue of The Seven in the lake's center to blow up fish.
Nolan and Sucrose collected some sticks and built a simple campfire by the shore, preparing to grill the bird.
As they plucked and cleaned the bird's feathers, they also cut the meat into pieces and skewered it on sticks.
The continuous explosions from Klee's bombs echoed across the water. As time passed, the meat was cooked.
Klee and Noelle returned with their catch of fish.
However, none of them noticed the red, furry Abyss Mage in the nearby forest, watching them in astonishment.
(End of Chapter)
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