"But this also prevented his magical abilities from developing further, remaining at the same level as before without much change. My father, who was once a close friend of his, advised him to devote more effort to this area, at least to prolonging his life, but he always refused, saying he didn't have the time. As a result, his health has been deteriorating day by day for the past two years, alas..."
I nodded thoughtfully, then suddenly remembered something, found it, and handed it to the other person to look at: "Do you remember this?"
The old butler glanced at the object in my hand with some surprise, then looked at me again and again. His lips moved slightly, about to speak, when he was suddenly interrupted by a surprised voice from behind him: "Huh? Isn't this the gift I gave to Big White?"
Turning around, I saw a young man, his outer garment loosely draped and his attire somewhat frivolous, stride up to me, his gaze fixed intently on the object in my hand. His face now bore almost no trace of the anger he had displayed earlier; instead, it was a mixture of obvious joy, regret, and many other complex emotions.
"Hello, I am Anran, the lord and city lord of this place."
"Thank you for accepting my humble invitation, Mr. Yumi. I have heard of you in many places, but this is our first formal meeting. And, it's good to meet you again, Miss Hikari of [Dawn]. I hope your mission goes smoothly."
After a polite greeting, he first sat down, poured himself a glass of water, and drank it down his throat. He repeated this three times before finally smacking his lips a few times, still wanting more, and then looked at the wooden comb I had placed on the coffee table.
An Ran, the young city lord, looked nostalgic: "Back when Da Bai came here with his family's caravan, he was only thirteen or fourteen years old. I never thought so many years would pass in the blink of an eye."
"You two know each other?" I asked doubtfully.
An Ran nodded: "Our two families have been friends for generations."
"You know Big White has a white dog, right? That big dog was originally a gift to me, but he saw it before I even got to visit. I was busy studying at the time, and seeing that he liked it, I let him have it. Later, I heard that he raised it like a child, but I don't know if it's true or if it's still alive. As for this comb, I got it from Mr. Moore, who used to do wood carving in his spare time—ah, that old man from earlier, he's also the long-time guardian of our city, a respectable elder—as a souvenir."
"I never expected to see you again now, it's just a pity that it was interrupted."
“It sounds like you and Mr. White have a really good relationship,” Hikari suddenly interjected.
An Ran agreed, "Yes, we were very good friends back then. As for now... we just occasionally send each other packages or send each other some novelties, just to pretend that we are still maintaining contact."
He seemed to have not seen his old friends for many years, and his tone was somewhat melancholy as he stared blankly at the empty teacup still steaming.
"You seem puzzled as to how I confirmed that this comb is the same one I gave away back then?"
He suddenly spoke, his deep gray eyes fixed on me: "Yes, the Sacred Tree Barrier produces many wooden products, and quite a few combs are made from dead branches that have fallen from the World Tree. But this one..." He pointed to a slightly shallow dent on it, a smile appearing on his face, "This is where I left this dent when I was begging Teacher Moore to teach me how to plan wood. Because I used the wrong force, I damaged some of the wood, so I had to plane away more, which resulted in this dent."
I looked in the direction he pointed, which was exactly where the break was in the middle. Dense tree-shaped engravings bloomed on the beautiful wood grain, splitting into two halves at the crack.
Without the guidance of the person involved and careful observation, I would hardly have been able to confirm, due to the interference of the engraving, that this area was indeed slightly recessed compared to the surrounding wood.
"Perhaps that's why this comb split open from the middle?"
He pushed it back into place and looked at us again: "Did you come from Piss City to help Big White repair this comb?"
"That's part of the reason," I nodded, "but it's mainly for other things."
"And, we did not originate from Piss City."
"...What is that?"
His right hand, hidden beneath the table, clenched slightly. Though the movement was subtle, I still noticed it.
I know very well that from this point on, the hypocritical act of currying favor with each other can finally come to an end.
From this point on, the main event begins.
“Then, Lord Anran,” I said bluntly, “you must already know about the impending crisis here, right? Aren’t you worried?”
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