Chapter 95: The Desire of the Thornworm

"Old Phil, prick your finger and smear your blood on this bottle," Liszt commanded without room for argument. Philip was already dead, and there might not be many Dodo Islanders left. This old leatherworker was likely one of the few survivors.

As for whether or not he possessed the bloodline of a "Descendant of the Sun," Liszt had no way of knowing.

He could only try first.

Though the old leatherworker was puzzled, he had to follow Lord's command. He pricked his finger with a needle, squeezed out some blood, and smeared it onto the beautiful golden bottle.

Liszt had already activated his Magic Eye.

He fixated on the metallic drift bottle.

The moment the blood touched the metal bottle, his vortex-like pupils dilated as he witnessed an incredible sight—the bottle seemed to be stirred by the blood, releasing a faint magic aura that followed the engravings on its surface, swiftly outlining the shapes of a sun, a tree, a bow and arrow, a lyre, an eagle, and a bear.

A man composed of lines emerged from the bottle, picked up the bow and arrow, and shot an arrow at the sun.

A woman composed of lines also appeared, picked up the lyre, and gently played it under the tree.

The eagle landed on the man's shoulder while the bear nestled against the woman. The magical lines on the bottle came alive, imbuing the scene with vitality.

In the blink of an eye, the sun pierced with arrows plummeted, and a well constructed of lines emerged, spurting a fountain that soared straight towards the bottle's neck.

Snap!

A crisp sound echoed.

All the magic-infused lines dissipated, leaving no trace of magic on the metal bottle. The once seamless bottleneck had astonishingly cracked open. List gently tugged at it, and the cap came off. He turned the metal bottle upside down and shook it lightly, causing something that had rolled up like a tiny rod to fall out.

It was a delicate and thin parchment. List unfolded it.

Upon it was a line of tiny figures - or rather, accurately speaking, a line of Sunrunes. List was familiar with these figures but couldn't decipher their meaning.

He had many puzzles to unravel in his heart, yet he didn't show any outward sign of urgency. Instead, he rolled up the parchment and glanced at the old leatherworker. "Old Fill, are you related to Philip?"

"I'm not sure, my lord. Perhaps we are. Philip mentioned that we're both descendants of exiled criminals."

In truth, they were indeed relatives.

Gazing at the old cobbler's hunched figure and weathered expression, Jesse felt that he should have fulfilled the previous task announced in the mist – at least, he should have given the old man a son or facilitated a bond of adoptive fatherhood between him and Jesse. Morally, as well as for the sake of the quest, it was the right thing to do.

"Old Fillan, what do you think of Jesse?"

"Jesse is a fine lad. He always comes to help me, diving into the water, sweeping the floor... Thanks to him, the tannery smells much better."

"Did you know that Jesse is an orphan?"

"Yes, I did."

"Have you ever considered becoming his adoptive father through a binding contract?"

"What? This..." The old cobbler seemed startled. "Jesse is a servant of the castle, while I'm just an old cobbler. He has the chance to live a better life. I don't wish to be a burden to him. Lord Liszt, Jesse is a sensible boy. He enjoys his work at the castle and strives hard. I'll tell him not to come here anymore so as not to hinder his duties."

He believed that his relationship with Jesse had displeased the lord.

"You misunderstand. I didn't mean to blame Jesse; it was merely a suggestion." Liszt suddenly realized that his involvement in this matter might not be fitting for a noble. Was it the lord's duty to meddle in the petty affairs of commoners?

Rising from his seat, he prepared to leave the tannery. "It's up to you two to decide. I'll entrust Mr. Carter to oversee the matter."

Success or not, it was merely a suggestion.

After returning to the castle, he casually mentioned it to Carter before dismissing those trivial matters and delving into the translation of the message in the bottle.

With the "Diary of Philip, Descendant of the Sun" as a reference, he deciphered the meaning behind each tiny drawing one by one.

Soon, he finished translating the entire message.

"The tower has fallen, the Tree City is ablaze, XX has perished. The Son of the Sun shall rise with flames, and the wandering children, you are free."

The "XX" was a sequence of Solar Script, but there was no corresponding explanation in the diary. Moreover, the style of the drawing was rather abstract, so Liszt couldn't determine its exact meaning. However, he could roughly guess that it represented the habitat of the Son of the Sun—possibly a kingdom or even a continent.

In other words, the message in the bottle brought grim tidings.

"Which country's nobles call themselves the Son of the Sun?" Liszt had read over a hundred knight novels, but none of them mentioned anything about the Son of the Sun.

He rubbed the parchment in his hand.

Suddenly, he felt that this country might not be from the continent. "Parchments on the continent are made from animal hide, thick and hard to preserve, and not convenient for writing. But the parchment in my hand doesn't seem to be made from animal hide. It's very thin and light. Such technology hasn't appeared on the continent yet, has it?"

However, apart from the Continental Kingdoms, the Sapphire Duchy was the first nation to establish itself overseas.

Then, a possibility occurred to Liszt.

"Could it be that the Son of the Sun isn't a human from this continent but someone from the other side of the Billowing Sea?"

The eastern coast of Flower Town faced the Billowing Sea, and on the other side of it was the fabled Devil's Sea, where no one could navigate.

Legends couldn't always be trusted.

If this otherworld were also a planet, akin to Earth, perhaps the so-called Devil's Sea was merely an ocean far vaster than any sea.

Beyond that ocean, there might lie another continent.

Between these continents could stretch an impassable sea, and on that other landmass, humans might also reside.

"Alright, too little information for any meaningful deductions. For now, I'll assume there's a continent on the other side with humans called Children of the Sun," Liszt reined in his wandering thoughts. "For me, it's currently beyond my capability to unravel this enigma shrouded in questions."

He stowed the metal drift bottle away into his Gem Space, but left the lid off—just in case he couldn't open it again.

The thin parchment was also stored in the gem space, along with the diary titled "Philip, Descendant of the Sun."

"Now, it's time to focus on the Thorns Bug!"

An eight-year-old Thorns Bug, unwilling to wither away in solitude, sought a final burst of effort. Lithur sensed that this particular bug was indeed somewhat different from the others.

He arrived at the insectarium tended by Carter and saw the Thorns Bug sleeping soundly in its box – elves could sleep for 24 hours straight.

A faint mental connection allowed Lithur to be constantly aware of his elf bugs.

"Little one, I can sense your aura of decline and your desire for evolution. Even though I know that the chances of advancing you are slim, I'm still willing to help you with all my might, not just for the Thorns Herb or to complete the Smoke Quest," Lithur whispered to himself as he gently stroked the bug's grayish-white body.

Seemingly sensing Lithur's presence, the Thorns Bug opened its tiny black sesame-like eyes and turned its head to look at him.

Among the seven elf bugs, it was the ugliest, with a duller hue than the others and a thinner, harder body – bugs born from shrubs, trees, and woody plants always appeared coarser than those born from herbaceous plants.

Its black eyes revealed no particular expression.

Yet, Lithur could sense the thornworms' affinity and gentleness toward him.

"I've instructed Gort to halt the distribution of compost to all settlements for the time being. They'll be prioritized for your use as long as your wormherbs can utilize them."