Stormborne sighed within his heart. There wasn't much to talk about and it could have been done downstairs, yet they had somehow ended up having tea as well.
The tea was nothing special; however, it had a nice countryside taste. After taking a few sips, Stormborne said, "Miss Hannah, some six or seven years ago, a friend of mine with red hair arrived in this place with two girls, around eight years old, I think. Their names... I forgot."
"You mean Lyria and Livy, right?" Hannah clapped her hands, recalling the day when the tall, red-haired beauty had suddenly appeared at the orphanage. Although she hadn't been able to meet her personally, she still remembered the tall woman's back vividly, as well as the days after that. It had been quite fun taking care of two young girls who acted mature for their age, but who in truth were just depressed and lonely children.
She looked toward the ceiling and started wondering how Eric, Lyria, and Livy were doing. She hoped they hadn't kicked the bucket and weren't already disturbing Bella Noll in the afterlife. She chuckled to herself, imagining the scene.
Seeing Hannah disappear into her own world, Stormborne coughed to draw her attention and then continued, "Yes. I remember my friend mentioning that one has long lavender hair and matching eyes, and the other has amber eyes with deep brown hair. She also mentioned that both girls have Mana Vein injuries. I have already searched the entire town and still haven't found either of them anywhere."
Hannah sighed with some loneliness and answered, "They have already left, together with Eric."
"Eric?" Stormborne frowned. He was displeased; if possible, he didn't want to give any bad news to Christine.
Hannah quickly waved her hand, noticing that the town's hero was misunderstanding. "Y-you... Sir Hero, you misunderstand! Eric is their childhood friend from this orphanage and is the same age as them. He, Lyria, and Livy became Mana Wielders and left to go adventuring. I don't know where they have gone off to."
Stormborne nodded in acknowledgment, while the others tried to hold back their laughter at Stormborne being called 'Sir Hero'.
Stormborne finished the rest of his tea in a single sip and stood up. He had now completed Christine's task; he would later report it exactly as it was.
Since both girls had already left, there was nothing else to do here. If they met by chance later, and both the girls' talents and characters were good, he might even invite them to join his team.
Just as Stormborne was about to leave, Thalia suddenly asked Hannah with deep suspicion, "If they have Mana Vein injuries, how did they manage to cure the damage?"
She also came from a backward village and knew how impossible it was to obtain anything related to Mana while living in mortal society.
To cure Mana Veins, an Elixir was required, and it was not something just anyone could get their hands on, even in developed cities. Mana Doctors were only found in large cities, and they charged a massive sum of money to cure anything. None of that should be possible in such an isolated village; even Batley City, which they had recently passed by, shouldn't have either of those things.
"Ah... T-that's a secret! I will not tell you!" Hannah immediately panicked and was prepared to fight to keep the matter secret, as she had promised Eric.
All of them, except Stormborne, turned to look at Hannah with the same suspicious look as Thalia.
"It's fine, let's go," Stormborne said, not minding it, and started heading toward the door.
Thalia and the others quickly followed after Stormborne.
Thalia was not satisfied and complained after walking out of the office, "Captain, I think there is something dark and evil happening within this orphanage, and that blonde looks too suspicious."
All of them stared at Thalia weirdly. Just how much did she like to paint everything in a dark light?
Stormborne smiled and responded softly, "Don't worry, she looks honest and has a good heart. If my observation isn't wrong, it hasn't even been a year since she became a Warrior, and she is already at the mid-stage despite her poor talent. I can tell she has taken some elixir."
"My guess is that someone with these elixirs might have visited this town in the past and helped her and the two girls, or they might have just stumbled upon some fortune by lucky chance. No matter which it is, we shouldn't poke into their business. I can tell she wasn't lying about both girls leaving to go adventuring, and that's the end of our task here."
Everyone nodded. Thalia was still suspicious, but she trusted Stormborne's judgment, so she also dropped the topic.
While they were chatting, they came out of the orphanage and saw a huge crowd surrounding the gate. They didn't mind and started heading toward the exit.
A middle-aged man with mournful eyes, who had a spiritual base of a late-stage Rank 1, stepped forward from within the crowd and bowed deeply toward Stormborne.
Jarvis spoke loudly for everyone to hear, "Thank you, Sir! Without your timely support, we all would have died in such a cruel and unjust way."
"Thank you, Sir!" The crowd also bowed, seeing the town mayor bowing.
Stormborne nodded without any change in expression and then turned to observe Jarvis. This man had the highest rank among all the townsfolk and was also the person the Silver Elipseon was suppressing when he arrived.
"Are you the leader of this town?" Stormborne asked.
Jarvis stood up straight and confirmed, "Yes sir, I am Jarvis, the town mayor of Ringwood Town."
Stormborne nodded again. He probably would forget the name later. He narrowed his eyes and asked, "That silver-masked woman, what was she seeking and why did she arrive in this town?"
Jarvis shook his head. "I don't know. She wanted to ask me something but never had the opportunity before your arrival, Sir. Sir, can you please tell us your name? You will forever be our hero!" He had heard the name during both groups' conversation high up in the sky, but it was still better to ask formally.
Stormborne gently shook his head and sighed, "I am Stormborne, captain of the fifth branch of the Celestial Maelstrom. You don't need to worship me; I was just passing by. We are leaving now."
Jarvis took a deep breath, dropped to his knees, and bowed until his forehead touched the ground.
He begged with a loud voice, which was filled with uncontrollable pain that made it sound like he was about to burst into tears at any moment, "SIR, PLEASE HELP US! A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE DIED; A LOT OF CHILDREN HAVE DIED! PLEASE SAVE US!"
Stormborne's expression didn't change, but everyone else's expression changed drastically.
Hannah, who had just walked out of the orphanage, heard what Jarvis said. Her expression turned horrified as she realized that perhaps her own child might be among them!
She could guess when the children had died; it was when everyone was knocked unconscious and nearly suffocated due to the spiritual pressure.
The townsfolk around were also shocked. Many of the surrounding parents who had lost their children started weeping while tightly hugging their motionless kids in their arms.
Kairos and the others were also surprised. They had never noticed any attack strike the town; even the buildings didn't take any damage and were in perfect condition, so how did so many die? Was it the spiritual pressure before their arrival?
They were confused but remained mostly indifferent—not because they were heartless, but because they had witnessed too many deaths. Just the Everwood Village they had recently passed by, which had been taken over by Crimson Tide Spiders, was completely annihilated.
Only Aria frowned. She might be called stone-hearted, but children dying due to a Mana Wielders' battle was one of the most painful things to her. This was also the reason she had chosen to become an Alchemist and a Mage.
Stormborne looked at the prostrating Jarvis and just sighed. He didn't say another word and started walking toward the gate.
Most townspeople's eyes were red with despair, while some held deep respect and reverence for the power Stormborne possessed, but everyone subconsciously gave way for them to leave, never coming closer than a few meters to the group.
Jarvis noticed Stormborne leaving and started sobbing quietly. An entire new generation of his town had been wiped out; how could he not feel heartbroken? He didn't really know why he was begging for such an unbelievable miracle from their hero, but he had to try.
Aria, who was at the back of the group, hesitated for a moment. In the end, hearing Jarvis's silent cries, she sighed to herself.
She pulled out a sealed bottle filled with deep blue liquid, then took out another empty bottle and filled it to about one-third before throwing the new bottle in front of Jarvis.
She then continued walking toward her team while saying, "This is... Never mind. Just drop the entire contents of that bottle into about 10 gallons of water. After mixing it, you can feed it to the dead mortals. As long as they don't drink more than a teaspoon, their physical bodies aren't too gravely injured, and no more than an hour has passed since they died, they can be brought back to life."
Jarvis and the others were startled; even Stormborne was stunned.
He knew the elixir Aria had given away was actually her own life-saving treasure, passed down to her by a very reputable alchemist. What surprised him was that once the bottle was opened, just like most elixirs, it would only remain effective for six months before expiring, even if it was kept inside space storage.
Aria had actually sacrificed her own life-saving treasure to save the townsfolk's children, who had nothing to do with her. Stormborne had to admit he was impressed.
Kairos and the others were amazed, as they had no idea Aria possessed such an incredible elixir. They didn't say anything and silently followed behind Stormborne toward their airship outside the town.
The townsfolk stood utterly dumbfounded by such a miraculous possibility. They had never truly thought it was possible to save someone after they had died. To them, this was a truly magical and godly item.
By the time they came to their senses, Stormborne and the others had already left.
Jarvis gently picked up the bottle lying in front of him, bowed toward Aria, who had long since walked away, and whispered with deep gratitude, "Thank you!"
Right at this moment, Wilburn jumped over the orphanage wall and appeared within the compound. After spotting Hannah, he dashed toward her, holding their daughter, Nahurn, in his arms. His eyes were wet with tears.
"O-our daughter..." he stammered with deep sorrow.
Hannah came to her senses. She gently took Nahurn into her arms. Gazing at the lifeless body, she could no longer hold back and burst into tears. Her fears had indeed come true.
Looking at the couple, Jarvis knew there was no time to waste. Too much time had already passed; maybe they only had half an hour left before it was too late.
While tightly grasping the bottle, Jarvis hollered out, "Hannah, prepare a large bucket of clean water quickly! Let's use this miracle potion before it's too late!"
Hannah took a deep breath, knowing exactly what Jarvis was talking about. She quickly placed Nahurn back into the hands of the confused and heartbroken Wilburn and charged inside the orphanage.
After a short while, Hannah brought out a big bucket filled with water from the kitchen.
Jarvis poured the entire contents of the bottle into the water and proceeded to mix it.
Hannah then opened Nahurn's mouth and, with a quivering hand, fed her daughter a teaspoon of that water.
After a short moment, Nahurn frowned unhappily and started squalling over the terrible taste that had woken her up.
Hannah and Wilburn rejoiced. They pulled Nahurn into a tight hug and started crying together with her.
Jarvis's tear-soaked eyes brightened. He couldn't explain just how relieved he was.
He quickly turned and roared at the onlookers, "Quick, bring all the deceased children here! Only children first, then the elderly!"
Everyone came back to their senses and scattered in every direction to spread the news and to bring the deceased children as fast as they could, while those already present with their dead children stepped forward with newfound hope.
That day was the most shocking, depressing, and yet rejoicing day for the entire Ringwood Town.
They had witnessed a battle of gods.
Then later, they saw the miracle of people coming back to life.
Their entire perspective of the world had changed.
Ringwood Town would forever remember this day, and it would be written down in the history of the town's annals to be passed down to future generations as one of the greatest events that changed their destiny.
In the coming future, they would produce great figures whose names would thunder across the world, starting with the three who had already left some months ago.
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End of Arc 4: Norther Plains Arc
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