Jinzhou, Frontier.
"To Jinhsi: Seeing this letter is like seeing you in person. May it bring you joy upon unfolding."
In a room within the Grand Library, Jinhsi carefully and reverently read the letter Noah had sent her:
"I am currently in Ragunna City, Rinascita… This is a kingdom of Echoes… (a hundred-word introduction to the city's customs)… There are all kinds of Echoes…"
She suddenly gripped the letter tightly, raising her hand to press against her chest, feeling the rapid beating of her heart beneath.
Noah was introducing her to the city he was in. She desperately wanted to fly there and see him.
The longing that had built up over many days nearly erupted to its limit in this moment.
After great effort, she finally calmed her emotions and continued reading:
"How have you been lately… (a hundred words of concern)… I'm very worried about your current situation…"
Noah was concerned about her! Noah had her in his heart!
Pursuing Noah — she really had a chance!
Suppressing her excitement, Jinhsi continued to the end:
"I've entrusted Aalto to help me with some matters. It's a long story — I'll explain everything in detail once I've fully resolved them. In the meantime, I'd appreciate it if you could look after him a little…"
Jinhsi froze.
Aalto…
Mm… she had taken very good care of Aalto. She had treated him to three days of meals — don't ask what kind of meals.
If it weren't for Aalto, Noah would definitely still be in Jinzhou right now. To be honest, it was impossible for Jinhsi to not dislike Aalto.
"Sanhua!"
"Here."
"Go release Aalto and bring him to see me."
Watching Sanhua leave, Jinhsi finally reached the end of the letter:
"I'll probably stay in Ragunna for about twenty days. Oh, right — Rinascita has flight wings. I really like them. If I get the chance, I'll bring some back to Jinzhou for you to try…"
"That's all for the letter. If you miss me, just write back."
Flight wings?
Jinhsi frowned, her attention drawn to the term.
She had heard that, under the protection of Rinascita's Sentinel, everyone there could possess a kind of free-flight ability — though each flight was very short.
"No. Jinzhou is vast and abundant. Since Noah likes them, Rinascita has them — Jinzhou must have them too."
With her decision made, Jinhsi bent over her desk and began drafting a proposal, assigning Huaxu Academy to develop flight wing functionality.
After finishing, she took out another blank sheet of paper. Carefully choosing her words, she cautiously expressed her maidenly feelings and wrote a heartfelt letter to be sent far away.
Even though her heart surged like raging waves of longing, making her wish she could sprout wings and cross mountains and seas, as the Magistrate of a region, her duties would not allow her to act so willfully.
"It's fine. Just a mere twenty days. Noah couldn't possibly be swept away by some bad woman, right?"
Thinking this, Jinhsi couldn't help but find it amusing:
"How could that be possible."
On the other side.
Changli was also carefully reading a letter from Noah.
"Hmm… this city introduction was written in a rush. It looks copied."
"This part of concern feels a bit perfunctory — also copied."
"The ending… the ending was written very earnestly. It seems the only sincere part of the whole letter is this — hmph, men."
Igniting Separation Fire, she burned the letter. Changli let out a soft snort, her golden phoenix eyes narrowing:
"He just arrived in Ragunna and already heard about my close friend Cantarella drawing her sword to propose marriage, then wrote to me asking me to call my friend back."
"He even used Lollo Logistics' most expensive express delivery… Is he really that eager to marry my close friend?"
"Hmph, men."
Changli picked up a round mirror and gazed at the peerless beauty reflected within, unable to help but mutter to herself:
"I'm not inferior to my close friend in any way. Why doesn't he care about me the way he cares about Cantarella?"
She lowered her head and glanced at the grandeur before her chest, muttering again:
"Even there… it's about the same…"
"Strange…"
"What exactly is the problem?"
At the same time.
Zhezhi also opened the letter Noah had sent her.
The moment she unsealed it, Noah's portrait eagerly popped out of the envelope. The startling scene made Zhezhi fall flat on her backside in fright.
The portrait of 'Noah' loomed over her, pointing down with an open mouth. A line of text emerged from where his mouth was:
'It's been how many days already, and your matter still isn't done?'
"Ah… this…"
Zhezhi awkwardly pressed her two index fingers together:
"The court confrontation with those bad guys is tomorrow…"
'Get your act together! Don't embarrass me!'
Another line of text emerged from the portrait's mouth:
'Listen — if you lose to those guys, you're finished. I'll make you draw your own doujinshi and sell it all over Solaris!'
"No, no, no! That absolutely cannot happen!"
Zhezhi shook her head frantically, her face burning as if on fire:
"I will definitely complete the mission!"
The portrait of Noah finally returned to the envelope. The room fell silent. It took Zhezhi quite a while to calm her mixed feelings of joy and fear before her expression became conflicted again:
"But… if I attend the confrontation alone… I'm still a little scared. There's a chance I could fail…"
"How about… I just draw the doujinshi…" Zhezhi felt her face heat up rapidly again:
"If I draw the male lead as Noah, he probably won't force me to sell it, right…"
Thinking this, Zhezhi covered her face with both hands and let out a sneaky "hehehe."
As expected of her — so smart!
Knock knock knock.
The door was suddenly rapped. A mature, powerful male voice came from outside:
"Open the door! Midnight Rangers — Jiyan!"
…
Rinascita.
Averardo Vault.
In the original plot, after the Lorelai incident, Rover learned that only by obtaining the Laureate could one communicate with Imperator.
Both the Fisalia family and the Order were doing everything in their power to prevent Carnevale from taking place.
Rover alone couldn't oppose two major factions and needed to ally with the Montelli family, thus following Zani to the core of the Montelli family.
Upon arriving at the Averardo Vault, they unexpectedly encountered a rampaging Overlord-class Echo — the vault's Heteromorphic Armament. Fortunately, Carlotta intervened in time to prevent a major battle.
Now, with Noah arriving here, the journey had been smooth all the way into the depths of this secret vault.
"Welcome to the Averardo Vault — the heart and pride of the Montelli family."
At the reception desk in the grand hall, Carlotta gave Noah a slight bow, performing a standard noble lady's greeting:
"We meet again, Mr. Noah. Allow me to reintroduce myself: I am Carlotta Montelli, second daughter of the Montelli family."
The previous introduction had been as an individual. This time, it was on behalf of the family.
"In the name of the Montelli family, I thank you both for your assistance to our house."
"First, I need to hand over the evidence you've gathered regarding the Echo runaway incident to Mr. Capollo — my uncle."
"However, he is not here at the moment. Miss Zani, please deliver this evidence to the storage room."
After dismissing Zani, Carlotta led Noah to a relatively quiet area.
"Mr. Noah."
"Just call me by name. May I call you by yours?"
"Of course. Whatever makes you happy. After all, a name is just a designation."
After a simple exchange of pleasantries, Carlotta's expression turned serious:
"On behalf of the Montelli family, I hope to cooperate with you."