Hearing the familiar crisp sound.
Minori stroked the hard, dry feathers of the eagle (Kuro) while turning his head towards the direction of the sound.
Yaraal came running over with a bright smile, her steps light and cheerful, showing her obvious happiness.
With the threat of the Gray Dwarf race, which had been weighing on the human race, resolved, all the humans in the oasis breathed a sigh of relief from the bottom of their hearts.
Since meeting Yaraal, she had always shown a maturity and composure beyond her age, but at this moment, Minori saw the liveliness that belonged to her age.
"Hero, why, why didn't you join the bonfire party? There's a lot of good food."
Yaraal opened her mouth happily, but her voice subconsciously lowered halfway through her sentence.
Gurgling~
Delicate water flowers from the Living Spring surged from below the surface, forming crystal clear water droplets that rolled in the moonlight.
The warm night breeze blew, stirring the branches and leaves of the trees around the water source, making slight sounds.
In Yaraal's view, Minori sat casually cross-legged by the Living Spring, while the half-man-high eagle quietly squatted beside the hero, very quiet.
The man and the eagle blended in a strangely harmonious way with the quiet environment deep in the oasis, and her sudden arrival seemed to break this atmosphere.
In this instant.
A touch of sadness flashed in Yaraal's bright eyes.
She suddenly realized that the hero did not seem to belong to this oasis, nor to the Valley of Despair.
Yaraal suddenly remembered that the hero seemed to have said "he was a traveler" when he introduced himself, and she had privately asked her father what a traveler was.
"A lot of good food? Then you should eat more." Minori laughed when he heard Yaraal's words, then shrugged his shoulders and said gently:
"I've already eaten. Speaking of which, you are too enthusiastic. I'm not used to this kind of warm welcome ceremony."
Yaraal was silent for a short time, glanced at him carefully, and whispered, "Can I sit here? Hero."
"Of course." Minori nodded.
Yaraal took a deep breath, pursed her lips, and sat down beside Minori, her beautiful and firm figure reflected in the moonlight on the water.
"Hero, your martial arts instructions are already giving me some clues." Yaraal said, hugging her legs, her clear voice ringing out.
A look of surprise flashed across Minori's face.
Whether it was "Four Light Consecutive Slashes" or "Instant Reflection", only a few days had passed, and Yaraal was already able to grasp some clues.
Her talent was even higher than he had initially expected.
"Thank you, Hero." Yaraal said softly.
"En?" Minori.
"Actually, I'm not used to everyone's overly concerned care and expectations either."
"From a very young age, everyone has been very tolerant of me, and no matter what mistakes I make, I can easily get everyone's understanding, and some mistakes, everyone will take the initiative to take them for me."
"Especially when I easily defeated the hunters in the clan by myself at the age of eight, the clansmen became more tolerant and expectant of me."
Yaraal hugged her legs tighter, her pointed chin resting on her knees, her bright silver eyes staring at the Living Spring in front of her:
"From that time on, I trained very seriously every day. I wanted to become strong, protect my father, and protect everyone in the clan."
"I want to respond to that expectation, and I don't want to disappoint everyone."
"But I know... I can't become a true powerhouse like Grandpa who can protect everyone."
"If you hadn't appeared at that time, Hero, I probably would have died."
Yaraal said here, raising her head slightly, her eyes becoming crystal clear:
"I'm not afraid of death at all, really, Hero. I just... I just feel sorry for everyone, sorry for the expectations of the clansmen."
"I didn't... protect them well."
Looking at Yaraal with tears in her eyes, Minori raised his palm, gently pressed it on Yaraal's silver short hair, rubbed it slightly harder, and said gently, "You have worked hard and done a good job."
Whoosh~
Yaraal suddenly raised her wheat-colored arms and hugged Minori's outstretched arm tightly, then rested her head on Minori's shoulder.
The sudden movement made Minori stunned.
For a time, the air became quiet.
Kuro, transformed into an eagle, turned its head to look at this scene, then turned its head away and moved to the side slightly.
[TL: Smart puppy]
The starry sky of the Valley of Despair was dotted with stars, and the moon moved to the top of the sky.
Minori felt Yaraal's breathing become smooth beside him, pondered for a short time, got up slightly, and picked up Yaraal around the waist.
He opened the wooden house behind him and gently placed Yaraal on the wooden bed.
Minori looked at Yaraal, who was turning her head to the side and whose face could not be seen because of the darkness, a trace of headache flashed across his face, then he turned and left the wooden house.
Thump!
Suddenly, Yaraal reached out her arm and grabbed Minori's palm.
"Hero, are you leaving... I, I..." Yaraal's weak voice sounded in the darkness.
"Get a good night's sleep, Yaraal."
Before Yaraal could continue speaking, Minori held Yaraal's soft hand, covered with calluses, again, and while putting it back on the wooden bed, he said gently:
"This will be a good sleep."
After speaking.
Minori walked out of the wooden house, closed the wooden door smoothly, stood quietly by the Living Spring, and calmly watched this oasis.
Time passed little by little, about half an hour later.
The figure of Patriarch Yarman appeared in the center of the oasis, and when he saw Minori standing by the water source, his eyes were obviously stunned, and then he walked over quickly.
"Hero..." Patriarch Yarman hurriedly said respectfully.
But halfway through his words.
Patriarch Yarman inexplicably shivered, only feeling that the temperature of the surrounding air seemed to drop several degrees at once.
"Patriarch Yarman, the bonfire banquet just ended, right?" Minori's faint voice came.
Patriarch Yarman carefully raised his head, just in time to meet those emotionless eyes, which made Patriarch Yarman tremble all over, too scared to answer.
It took a long time.
"Yaraal, her grandfather is, was a powerhouse in the hero domain, she has the blood of a 'hero'…" Patriarch Yarman's voice trembled.
"Okay, I'm not interested in your thoughts."
Minori raised his hand to interrupt Patriarch Yarman's words, his tone still without any fluctuation:
"I have something for you to do."
...
The next day.
In the early morning, the scorching sun re-illuminated the Valley of Despair.
One human member after another stood on the edge of the oasis, looking at Minori, who had already walked out of the oasis with an eagle on his shoulder, with a strong look of reluctance on their faces.
Patriarch Yarman stood at the very front of everyone, he had long expected that Minori would leave, but he did not expect it to be so fast, and could not help but sigh faintly.
"Gray Armor Knight!!"
Someone in the crowd suddenly shouted, and the next moment, a huge shout resounded through the desert,
"Gray Armor Knight!"
"Gray Armor Knight!"
"...!"
"Gray Armor Knight!"
Patriarch Yarman even bowed down, worshiping with the highest etiquette of the clan.
Accompanied by Patriarch Yarman's actions, the rest of the humans also bowed.
"Really." Minori showed a helpless look on his face when he saw the actions of this group of humans, and shook his head.
The yellow sand rolled up.
Minori's figure had disappeared.
It took a long time before everyone raised their heads again to look in the direction where Minori disappeared, and a depressed atmosphere permeated the crowd.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a figure rushed out of the oasis from behind and came to Patriarch Yarman.
"Father, has the hero left?" Yaraal raised her slender neck, constantly looking in the direction where Minori left, and asked.
Seeing his daughter's knowing look.
Patriarch Yarman's eyelids jumped: "Yaraal, I remember that you have never overslept, and always get up early for training."
"What, did you oversleep this time?"
Faced with the teasing in her father's words, Yaraal looked depressed and did not reply at all.
Patriarch Yarman twitched the corner of his mouth, glanced at Yaraal resentfully, then turned around and looked at the equally depressed clansmen behind him.
"Everyone, speed up the clearing of the Gray Dwarf Oasis, and after moving all the supplies back from the Gray Dwarf Oasis, withdraw from the Gray Dwarf Oasis completely."
Patriarch Yarman opened his mouth loudly, his expression serious, and then continued:
"Next, we will form a team and prepare to go to the Orc Oasis to give the Gray Dwarf clan's oasis to the Orcs."
As soon as these words were spoken!
The crowd immediately boiled over, and noisy voices rang out from all directions.
"Father! What are you doing!" Yaraal was the first to look at Patriarch Yarman, her face showing an ugly look:
"This was taken down by the hero for us, how can we give it to other races!"
Faced with Yaraal's questioning, and the boiling noise of the clansmen in front of him, Patriarch Yarman's expression was very calm instead.
"This is the hero's arrangement!"
Patriarch Yarman took a deep breath and shouted loudly again.
Everyone quieted down all of a sudden.
"Our population is too small. The hero explained that even if we can take down the Gray Dwarf Oasis, we can't defend it. Instead of doing so, it's better to give it to the Orc race."
"In addition, with the help of this matter, we need to investigate and collect information about the Orc race and outside the Shadow Valley for the hero." Patriarch Yarman's voice rang out again.
Everyone's faces showed a dazed look.
Yaraal's silver pupils lit up, staring at Patriarch Yarman: "Father, do you mean that the hero will come back?"
"Of course."
Patriarch Yarman looked at Yaraal, who had regained her spirits in the blink of an eye, and curled his lips.