“All right, it’s time for us to get ready to depart.”
The petite and adorable Captain Larian approached from another direction. It seemed that all the members of the Knight Order were prepared, just waiting for Colin and the others to be ready.
Seeing this, Colin exchanged some greetings with her before returning to inform everyone to gather together.
“How do we enter the labyrinth? I don’t see any entrance that looks like it leads inside,” Lavinia asked with a puzzled look. Eireno shared the same confusion—they hadn’t been present earlier and didn’t know how “Yiqiu” had gotten inside.
In response, Sifni gave a brief explanation: “‘Yiqiu’s’ entrance isn’t here. It’s deep underground, who knows exactly where it’s buried.”
“Then how do we get in?”
Lavinia looked even more confused after hearing this, while Eireno seemed to understand Sifni’s meaning.
“It’s through a teleportation array, right?”
“Exactly. Nearby is the underground entrance to ‘Yiqiu.’ As long as we activate the special teleportation array here, or use a particular special item, we can be transported directly inside. There’s no need to tunnel underground to find the entrance.”
Lavinia finally understood and said, a bit surprised, “I didn’t expect this labyrinth to be so advanced, with a dedicated teleportation array!”
Hearing this, Liam couldn’t help but mutter to herself: Well, of course it’s advanced! It even has magic to turn men into women—how could it not be?
“This isn’t just ‘advanced’ in a simple sense. I’ve never heard of magic like this before; it’s probably some ancient magic unknown to the world. My research on this is going to be massive.”
As she spoke, Sifni sighed, already imagining how exhausting the work ahead would be.
“You really have my gratitude, Sifni. If you weren’t here, I honestly wouldn’t know what to do. You truly are an indispensable talent in our team!”
Colin’s timely praise was meant to lift Sifni’s spirits, hoping she wouldn’t be crushed by the challenges ahead.
And indeed, Sifni did perk up, though her reason for doing so was somewhat different from what Colin imagined.
Colin just complimented me! He said I’m indispensable, no one can replace me! This, this, this is way too straightforward! No doubt, Colin definitely has feelings for me!
Though outwardly calm, Sifni’s heart was bursting with joy. She increasingly felt that she had a real chance. Maybe one day Colin would just confess his feelings outright.
Lost in her blissful yet unrealistic daydream, she only snapped back to reality when she bumped into Azurien’s armor walking ahead.
“Ah, Miss Sifni, are you alright? I’m so sorry—I didn’t realize you were so close behind me.”
“It’s nothing! I just—was a little distracted. It’s not your fault at all, I’m really fine!”
Sifni rubbed her head and stopped Azurien’s apology, knowing it was her own fault for not paying attention.
“This is the spot to activate the teleportation array?”
Liam looked at Azurien, who had stopped, and asked. She noticed that nearly all the Knight Order members were lined up here, fully prepared to depart. This must be the teleportation activation point.
“That’s right, Miss Liam. Once everyone gathers here, we’ll activate the array and enter the labyrinth.”
Liam glanced around and found the place as ordinary as anywhere else. It was only a short distance from where they had been preparing, just a few minutes’ walk. If that was the case, why hadn’t they gathered here from the start?
Curious, Liam directly asked Azurien this question. Unexpectedly, Azurien hesitated and stammered, but Colin answered in his place.
“It’s nothing serious, just a small sense of ceremony.”
“A sense of ceremony?”
Colin’s answer only made Liam more baffled. Why bother with such a ceremony?
Colin sighed lightly. “That’s a quirk of the captain. Whenever she thinks something is important or meaningful, she insists on having some ceremony. Otherwise, it feels too dull.”
Hearing this, Liam was speechless. So this old man… is actually a little girl now. Who would have thought she had such a hobby? You really can’t judge a book by its cover.
“So are we leaving now? Isn’t everyone already here?”
Lavinia asked curiously. Everyone in the camp seemed to have gathered; logically, it should be time to set off. Were there still preparations to be made?
Colin closed his eyes and explained, “…I told you, it’s because of this small sense of ceremony.”
Lavinia frowned. “What do you mean?”
“The captain plans to give a brief speech here before departure, officially welcoming you to the team now that you’ve joined.”
Well, that’s quite a strange interest. Liam didn’t quite understand Captain Larian’s tastes, but she didn’t care much. It was just a short speech, wouldn’t take long, and wouldn’t affect the exploration. Let it be.
Lavinia and Sifni thought the same way, so when they heard Azurien’s explanation, they didn’t pay it much mind, just waiting for Captain Larian to finish and activate the array.
But Colin and Eireno had different reactions. Colin first stared into some empty space, his eyes gradually becoming unfocused, as if his thoughts had completely stopped.
Eireno clasped her hands in a prayer gesture, pretending to pray to the “Holy Light” but in fact taking the chance to rest a bit. It seemed they had done this often enough that it had become an unconscious reflex.
Liam clicked her tongue at this. Was it really necessary? It’s just a speech, why not just listen for a little while?
She only realized it wasn’t so simple when Azurien also began staring off into space like Colin.
At that moment, Captain Larian was already standing on a makeshift podium, beginning her welcome speech to Colin’s team and outlining the upcoming labyrinth exploration.
At first, Liam tried to pay close attention, but after more than ten minutes had passed and Captain Larian had only covered less than a tenth of her speech, Liam gave up. She adopted the same method as Colin and drifted off mentally.
After an unknown amount of time, Liam snapped back to reality when she saw Colin waving his hands right in front of her.
Seeing no change around them, Liam asked with some confusion, “How long has it been? Has Captain Larian finally finished her speech?”
“She just finished. Now she’s preparing to activate the teleportation array.”
Watching Colin snap back so precisely right when Captain Larian finished, Liam curiously asked, “How did you manage to realize that so accurately? She just finished and you noticed right away?”
Colin replied expressionlessly, “Practice makes perfect.”
Liam’s mouth twitched. It seemed Captain Larian’s little quirk had trained Colin into developing a special skill. Maybe this is a blessing in disguise?
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