Chapter 249: Everything is Fate.

"I believe you'll find your brother," Shu Li said sincerely.

As the saying went, even the hardest stone would yield to unwavering determination.

With enough resolve and perseverance, any obstacle could be overcome.

"Thank you." Nasha's expression grew resolute. "No matter how much time or effort it takes, I'll keep searching for my brother."

"Don't worry," Seriu said. "The Entrin Association is very efficient. They might have news for us by the time we get back."

"Really?" Nasha asked excitedly.

Seriu nodded with confidence. "I found my sister through the Entrin Association."

"Your sister?" Shu Li asked. Seriu had mentioned her earlier when telling them about his past.

"Yes. My sister, Cecil." Seriu no longer bothered to conceal the truth. "She now goes by the name Ximu and travels from country to country with a performing troupe, persuading various factions to support our cause and help us take revenge."

His sister was far more capable than he was, and she had a broader perspective when considering their situation.

Danton Trik had an entire nation behind him, with thousands upon thousands of soldiers at his command. Not only did he have necromancers fanatically loyal to him, but he also commanded Black Knights who killed without hesitation. Against such overwhelming power, the two siblings were hopelessly outnumbered. Trying to confront him through their own strength alone would be like throwing an egg against a rock.

That was why his sister had begun secretly building alliances long ago, gathering every force she could to stand against Danton Trik.

"Ximu!"

"A performing troupe?"

The Little Fairies and Nasha exclaimed in surprise.

Seriu blinked. "What's wrong?"

"Hehe! We know Troupe Leader Ximu really well!" Budno grinned, revealing a row of pearly white teeth.

"Troupe Leader Ximu just loves exploiting us!" Dixio crossed his arms. "She talked us into performing onstage, then took half the money we earned!"

"And she loves stealing our roast meat," Amanda complained bitterly.

"Troupe Leader Ximu... is actually your sister?" Nasha murmured in disbelief.

Troupe Leader Ximu was her benefactor. Without the cover provided by her performing troupe, Nasha would never have reached the royal capital or met her aunt, Queen Helati. Without Ximu's help, she would never have made it to the Central Court to attend the magic academy.

Moreover, during the eight years Nasha had spent in Adilan, Troupe Leader Ximu had looked after her from time to time. She had offered advice and encouragement like an older sister, helping Nasha adjust more quickly to her unfamiliar surroundings.

Nasha looked at Seriu guiltily and apologized again. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have treated you with such hostility earlier..."

"There's no need to apologize." Seriu looked astonished. "You all know my sister?"

"We do." Shu Li smiled. "What a coincidence!"

What were the odds? The world really was tiny! After all their twists and turns, everyone somehow turned out to be connected.

He reached out and poked Falm, who was sprawled across the table, snoring away, then turned to Nasha.

"You asked me earlier why Ilio and I went to Adilan eight years ago to find the queen. Well, now I can tell you."

"It was because of a curse," Shu Li explained.

"A curse?"

His human teammates stared at him in surprise, utterly confused.

"That's right, a curse." Shu Li sighed helplessly, then slowly recounted how he had been cursed and how he had eventually broken it.

It had all started when he traded with a three-headed water monster and received a little treasure chest. Delighted, he opened it, only to be cursed by the mage whose soul was attached to it...

The more Nasha listened, the more shocked she became. She couldn't help covering her mouth to keep herself from crying out.

So Amo and Mr. Al had sought out Queen Helati to lift a curse?

And the mage who had cursed Amo was none other than Claude Bull, the royal Grand Mage whom her mother had sent to seek help!

To request reinforcements from the Dalia Empire, Claude had endured countless hardships and traveled through numerous places. After finally boarding a ship bound for the empire, he had encountered a tsunami and lost his life in the Danaga Sea.

Clinging to one last shred of hope, he had attached his soul to the treasure chest, praying that a miracle might occur.

And a miracle really had happened.

A powerful, high-ranking three-headed water monster had swum into the sea to collect treasures and happened upon his chest. Through an extraordinary coincidence, that very chest had eventually ended up in the hands of a Little Fairy.

The innocent Little Fairy had opened it with great excitement, only to fall victim to the curse.

He could have lifted the curse simply by destroying the mage's soul. Instead, Amo had chosen to deliver the mage's letter.

Tears slipped down Nasha's cheeks before she could stop them.

When the Kingdom of Cecilia invaded Pedam Kingdom, her homeland had been isolated and helpless. Not a single neighboring country had offered assistance.

Never in her wildest dreams would she have imagined that, far away in the western Faerie Forest, a tiny Fairy would voluntarily venture into the Human World, risking his own safety to deliver a letter for people who had absolutely nothing to do with him.

Even more remarkably, Amo and Mr. Al had encountered Ximu's performing troupe. With the troupe providing cover, Nasha and Rosen had managed to escape the pursuit of the Hemon Knights, enter Adilan successfully, and meet the queen.

Every part of the story was almost too incredible to believe. It was as though an invisible hand had been guiding them all along, bringing them together through a series of extraordinary coincidences.

"Amo, thank you," Nasha said from the bottom of her heart.

"Hehe, helping people is its own reward!" Shu Li scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Besides, how was I supposed to know opening a treasure chest would get me cursed?" ℯℯ𝑙.

"Hehe! Sperien's terrified of treasure chests now!" Dixio teased, waggling his eyebrows.

"Why?" Amanda asked.

"Three years ago, we traded with that three-headed water monster again and got an enormous treasure chest." Budno spread his hands to demonstrate its size. "No, actually, it was a coffin."

Kumandi paused his note-taking and looked up at Hector.

"This has something to do with you."

"A coffin? Me?" Hector froze. A sudden nervousness seized him as a possibility occurred to him.

It couldn't possibly be that much of a coincidence... could it?

His silver-gray eyes shifted toward Shu Li, silently seeking confirmation as he waited anxiously for the answer.

"That's right," Shu Li said. "The snow wolf totem painted on that coffin was the crest of the Snowvo family. We were trying to figure out how to send the coffin home when the Saint Mage arrived."

There was no need for him to explain what happened afterward. Hector understood everything.

His eyes reddened, and his nose stung. He raised a hand to cover his face, his voice choking with emotion.

"...Thank you. Thank you so much..."

He was grateful for the Little Fairies' kindness, which had allowed his father to return home and finally be laid to rest.

The others couldn't help sighing at the story.

Sitty sighed inwardly. Looking at the weeping Hector, she said apologetically, "I'm sorry. If it weren't for the Valley of Wind... your father wouldn't have met with that accident."

Over the past ten thousand years, the Valley of Wind had swallowed countless adventurers. How many heartbreaking tragedies had it caused?

Sitty clenched her fists, determined to uncover the reason the Valley of Wind had formed. She would solve the problem at its source and prevent tragedies like this from ever happening again.

Hector wiped the tears from his face and managed a slightly embarrassed smile.

"You don't need to apologize to me. Even without the Valley of Wind, there are plenty of other dangerous places, like the Uniba Swamp or the Ergoja Desert. The heirs of the Snowvo family are required to undergo training in dangerous places every year. Accidents are inevitable."

He simply hadn't expected his father to leave him at such a young age, without even giving him the chance to see him one last time.

What saddened him even more was that, after his father's death, his standing within the family had plummeted. If not for the Mage Sovereign's influence, he probably would have been denied even the opportunity to attend the magic academy.

"Thank you!" he said to the Little Fairies once more.

"It must be fate," Shu Li said.

Even he hadn't expected that a few small things he'd done while living in the Faerie Forest would affect people in the outside world, ultimately bringing them together through the strange workings of destiny.

His eyes darted toward Ace, who had been quietly listening to their stories.

"Do you have any stories involving me?" he asked tentatively.

"Me?" Ace smiled.

Falm, who had been pretending to sleep, lifted an eyelid and glanced at the Elven King disguised as a human.

There were more than enough stories connecting the Little Fairy and the Elven King. The only question was whether the king was willing to tell any of them.

"Yes!" Shu Li stared at him expectantly.

"I do," Ace replied. "You saved my life."

"Huh?" Shu Li blinked in surprise.

Ace spoke gently. "Bandits robbed me and left me with nothing. I nearly starved to death by the roadside. You and the others saved me."

He gestured toward the other Little Fairies and the young dragon.

"It was nothing, really." Shu Li blinked. "Anyone who saw you unconscious by the roadside would have helped."

Ace shook his head. "Not necessarily. Most people are afraid of getting dragged into trouble, so they prefer to avoid strangers."

"Fairies really are a kindhearted people," Hector remarked.

Shu Li chuckled again. "Helping people is its own reward!"

Kumandi finished writing the last line of his notes and looked up at Shu Li's radiant smile.

The most important lesson Fairies were taught was to stay away from humans.

Only Sperien insisted on doing things his own way, often making choices that no one could have anticipated. Yet those very choices had quietly changed the destinies of others.

Ace tapped a finger lightly against the tabletop and asked Shu Li, seemingly offhandedly, "You mentioned that after your curse was lifted, the queen of the Dalia Empire gave you a small box?"

"That's right."

Shu Li took hold of the storage ring hanging against his chest, retrieved an exquisite little silver box, and placed it on the table for everyone to see.

"This is it."

The others leaned closer to examine the box carefully.

It was also the first time Dixio and several of the other Little Fairies had seen it. Curious, they reached out and poked it with their fingers.

"What's inside?" Angel asked.

"Is this some kind of mechanism?" Budno asked, gently sliding one of the little compartments along the side.

"Is this the queen's gift of thanks?" Nasha asked, puzzled.

If it was meant as a reward, it seemed rather modest.

She had seen the queen reward people for meritorious service before. Gold coins, precious gems, crystal ore, silk, luxurious mansions—the list went on and on.

Yet Amo and Mr. Al had not only brought her news of Pedam Kingdom, but had also saved the lives of the queen and the little princess. And all they had received was a small silver box?

A box made of pure silver wasn't worth much. Unless, of course, it contained something extraordinarily valuable.

"Yes."

Shu Li deftly slid the little compartments along the side of the box. It took him only a moment to solve the mechanism.

Click!

The lid sprang open.

He took a map from inside, picked up the supposedly sleeping Falm, and moved him to the corner of the table to make room. Then he carefully spread out the map.

"This is a treasure map of the labyrinth in the Kingdom of Snow."

"A treasure map!"

Everyone gasped.

Now that was something valuable!

It was the kind of treasure countless adventuring parties dreamed of obtaining.

Since ancient times, adventurers had fought bitterly, even shedding blood, over a single treasure map.

For the queen of the Dalia Empire to give Sperien such an extraordinarily rare and coveted item was an incredibly generous reward.

"The Snow Mountain Labyrinth?" Ace studied the treasure map, running a slender finger down its surface. At a glance, he noticed something. "This map is incomplete."

Shu Li gave him an admiring thumbs-up.

"You're right! According to Ilio, the Snow Mountain Labyrinth has nine levels, but this map only covers the first seven."

Dixio looked terribly disappointed.

"Can you even call it a treasure map if it's incomplete?"

"Do you know how many years it took to map those seven levels?" Shu Li asked.

Dixio shook his head.

"A thousand years." Shu Li sighed. "Countless adventurers risked their lives over an entire millennium, and they only managed to map as far as the seventh level."

Everyone was astonished.

This truly was a treasure map of extraordinary value.

Ace considered it for a moment.

"Do you intend to visit the Snow Mountain Labyrinth?"

Shu Li folded up the map and returned it to the little silver box. He made no attempt to deny it.

"Yes."

"Why?" Ace asked. "The Snow Mountain Labyrinth is fraught with danger. Even a Saint Mage who ventures inside has little chance of coming out alive."

Determination shone in Shu Li's gray-green eyes.

"I have a reason I absolutely must go."

Kumandi frowned. "What reason?"

"I found information in an ancient text saying that the Water Spirit is in the Snow Mountain Labyrinth," Shu Li explained. "If I want to become stronger, I have to earn the Water Spirit's recognition."

From the moment he had decided to seek out the elemental spirits, he had committed himself wholeheartedly to the undertaking. No matter how difficult the road ahead might be, he would keep moving forward.

Where there's a will, there's a way.

He was determined to win the Water Spirit's recognition.

The young man's gaze was sharp and unwavering, his delicate features filled with resolve and determination. Despite his slender frame, he radiated a fearless confidence, shining like a blazing sun whose light seemed to reach everyone around him.

Without realizing it, the others found themselves swept up in his conviction. Warmth surged through their chests, and their hearts swelled with excitement.

"Sperien, we're going with you!"

The Little Fairies spoke in perfect unison.

"Me too!" Amanda eagerly raised his hand.

Points of light sparkled in Ace's green eyes, and the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.

"If we're to be heroes, then we must stand together through whatever comes."

Seriu, Hector, Sitty, and Nasha exchanged glances. Each saw the same determination reflected in the others' faces.

As though sharing a single thought, all four raised their right hands and placed them over their chests, solemnly offering Shu Li their oath.

"I, Seriu!"

"I, Hector!"

"I, Sitty!"

"I, Nasha!"

"We pledge to become heroes, to fight alongside you, to protect the Austin Continent together, to destroy the dark forces, and to prevent the Dark God from returning to the Human World!"

Previously, they had hesitated, unable to make such a commitment. But now, after learning everything the Little Fairy had done, their gratitude had swept away their remaining doubts.

The party of heroes had gained four new members!

Shu Li was beside himself with excitement. He extended his hand.

"That's wonderful! Welcome to the team!"

Ace was the first to reach out, placing his hand over the back of Shu Li's.

"May the Light God grant us the strength and courage to overcome the darkness!"

One after another, the others placed their hands on top.

"May the Light God grant us the strength and courage to overcome the darkness!"