After a long pause, as if she had finally made a certain decision, Ini took a deep breath.
Her exquisitely delicate and lifelike face showed a hint of bitterness and helplessness.
“Alright, I’ll tell you some things. It’s time to face them, perhaps your arrival is indeed the opportunity to make a change. If Elder Sister Ewan were here now, she would certainly make the same decision.”
Saying this, a self-mocking smile appeared on the chieftain’s face.
“No, she had already made her decision and put it into action long ago. It’s me who couldn’t let go.”
“?”
At Ini’s cryptic monologue, Violet and the others could only look at each other in confusion, while Eilush, who seemed to know something, just stuck out her tongue without explaining.
“Follow me, all of you can come.”
Leaving this sentence, the chieftain turned and left.
Since the chieftain had said so, there was naturally no reason for them to be polite.
Thus, including Violet and the little dragon girl, except for a few Spirit Puppet Tribe members who stayed behind, nearly ten people left the guest house and followed the two spirit puppets into the deep forest.
Walking along the now bustling tree-shaded path in the morning, they soon arrived at a somewhat familiar place.
“Here... the Spiritual Spring?”
Before the guides who had just stopped could speak, the priestess twitched her lips and spoke with a strange expression.
“Wait a minute, don’t tell me you’ve dug a tunnel underground and buried something down there again, have you? Come on... can’t you be a bit more creative? Is everyone here a mole?”
“But Miss Violet, speaking logically, if important things aren’t buried underground, where else can they be hidden? It’s not like they can be in the sky.”
“Wah, Theresa, you’re actually arguing with me! But somehow, what you’re saying makes sense...”
“What are you two muttering about over there...”
Miss Ini turned around with an exasperated look on her face and pointed to the surface of the spiritual spring, which was still emitting a misty vapor even during the day.
“We’re going down this way.”
“Uh, why do I feel like there might be another water route...”
“Stop talking nonsense and follow me!”
After glaring at a certain holy knight, who was still diligently helping to catch bugs, and cutting off her sentence, Ini exchanged a look with Eilush.
They nodded to each other in understanding, and the latter seemed to take something out and fiddle with it. Then, the two of them dove straight into the water!
“Plop, plop!”
With two decisive splashes, which stirred up a large spray of water, the figures of the two spirit puppets disappeared beneath the pale white surface of the spiritual spring, leaving no trace.
“Huh?”
Seeing this, Violet temporarily restrained her playful expression and stepped forward in surprise, staring for a moment at the rippling surface of the spring.
They actually disappeared?
It’s worth noting that they had just soaked in this spring together last night. It wasn’t some home fish pond—only about a meter deep. Even with Violet’s height, standing at the bottom would leave her head and neck above the water. How could they have...
Moreover, she hadn’t sensed any spatial magic fluctuations or anything like that. They just vanished as soon as they dove in, as if Ini and the others had passed through the stone wall at the bottom of the pool to reach somewhere else.
The little dragon girl also came to stand beside the black-haired girl, her usually impassive face showing a trace of astonishment and wonder.
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Clearly, even she couldn’t discern what method Ini and Eilush had used to suddenly disappear.
However...
“Master, their auras haven’t disappeared, there might be a path underwater.”
“Really...”
In any case, trying it out herself would reveal the truth.
Since Ini and the others had demonstrated it, copying their actions should be safe, even if the principle was unclear.
Looking back at the hesitant group, especially Theresa, who appeared the most reluctant, Violet smiled and said.
“It’s okay, if you’re too scared to jump, you can stay up here and wait for us to come back.”
“Huh? No, no, I’m not scared at all...”
“Is that so? Good, let’s go then. I’ll lead the way.”
Without waiting for the green-haired girl to say anything more, there was another crisp splash. Eager to figure out what was going on, the priestess had already jumped in at the spot where the two spirit puppets had disappeared.
The little dragon girl naturally followed right after. However, before she turned around, she seemed to glance at the stiff-faced Theresa out of the corner of her eye, a barely noticeable, enigmatic smile tugging at her lips.
Unfortunately, no one saw it.
“But...”
Watching the two ripples gradually expanding in the spiritual spring, the “but” that Theresa was about to utter remained unsaid.
Leila patted her shoulder helplessly.
“Alright, Lady Violet wouldn’t care about such things anyway. She’s already seen everything that needs to be seen. We’re all girls, so what’s the big deal? Let’s go, don’t keep the lady waiting.”
..............................
Beneath the spiritual spring, there was the expected hard stone wall. It didn’t seem strange, but Violet couldn’t find any trace of Ini and Eilush in the water.
The warm liquid naturally repelled off her skin, and with the protection of the 【Feather Robe Graria】, the pool water couldn’t permeate her body as long as Violet desired.
Following the momentum of her dive, she quickly approached the bottom of the pool. As she puzzled over the situation, she instinctively touched the pool bottom with her fingertips at that moment.
“Splash!”
Her hand went through the stone?!
The downward momentum didn’t change with Violet’s mindset. Starting with her arm, her entire body swiftly passed through what seemed to be a solid yet somehow insubstantial pool bottom.
After a moment of weightlessness, there was another gentle splash.
Violet resurfaced in the somewhat warm, clear water.
“You came down so quickly. Quite brave, aren’t you?”
Not far away, already back on the shore, Eilush was wringing out her soaked clothes nonchalantly, completely naked. She gave the bewildered priestess a bright smile and a thumbs-up.
“Huh? Wait, hey, cover yourself up a bit! You’re exposed, you idiot! Didn’t your core teach you what shame is?!”
Without taking a moment to observe her surroundings, Violet immediately turned away, her face flushing from the unexpected sight she had just seen.
“Exposed...? Pfft... hahahaha~ You’re so innocent, Violet! Can’t handle this? I’m a puppet, you know. My body is made of synthetic materials, it’s not a real human body. Besides, aren’t we all females here? We were just soaking in the spiritual spring together yesterday, so why act so distant now, hahaha!”
Like a mischievous child who found something amusing, Eilush didn’t bother to cover herself at all. Instead, she bent over, clutching her stomach in laughter.
“What’s so funny, you idiot! Even if you’re a puppet, it’s still the same! And yesterday, we were all in the water, mostly wearing towels, so we couldn’t see much... Anyway, just cover up! The others are coming down any minute now!”
“Hahahahaha~ You’re so cute, Violet! So cute, hahahaha! Ouch, what are you doing, number two?!”
The gloating third-in-command was suddenly interrupted by the second-in-command, who had somehow already dried her clothes and body at lightning speed and emerged from around the corner. She delivered a swift, righteous flick to the back of Eilush’s head.