The direction of escape for those from Antler Tavern was consistently pointing east.

Ronald and Fei'er sought out and pondered the various tracks left behind by the others, tracking them all the way to the center of the city, close to the lake below the Great Waterfall.

They continued progressing along the lakeshore.

At this time, the signs of battle surrounding them had nearly vanished.

Only from far behind could one hear the loud, mingled sounds of fighting.

Another few hundred meters passed.

On the street ahead, it was possible to see buildings that were almost perfectly preserved; Ronald's reconnaissance magic also simultaneously detected many citizens trembling in fear inside these buildings.

In the attack on Waterfall City, which had swept through the entire city.

Due to being deep within the city and without any important administrative institutions in the vicinity, this area instead became the safest place in the entire city—a last refuge for ordinary people or neutral individuals.

Ronald and Fei'er walked amidst them.

It even seemed as if no war had transpired here, but rather the city had simply fallen into the silent calm of deep night.

Of course, this illusion was ultimately mere appearance.

Because as they progressed along the road, the lakeside also reminded them of the city's condition. The exaggerated novelistic depiction of blood flowing like rivers wasn't found here, but the originally clean lake water was now stirred and muddied beyond recognition; merely standing by the shore, one could detect an odd stench rising from the lakebed.

"..."

"Mr. Ronald, I, I, I..."

After continuing for over a hundred meters, Fei'er suddenly stopped in her tracks.

The young girl, using her keen observational abilities, had tracked all the way here, and had been proving her correctness through discoveries along the way.

But upon discovering the traces left by those from Antler Tavern once more, Fei'er's body began to tremble.

—Fei'er seemed to have realized some harsh reality.

—So much so that she lost the courage to continue tracking forward at this moment.

"..."

This time, Ronald also fell silent.

He heard the tension in little Fei'er's current mood.

To perceive more of reality means encountering more truths. The situation Fei'er was facing at this moment was perhaps the worst news of tonight's searching journey!

"Father, Father, he seems to be in trouble..."

Little Fei'er tried hard to suppress her trembling, then spoke again.

The seriousness of the situation matched Ronald's speculation.

After saying this sentence, the child could no longer keep up the pretense, so she leaned tightly against Ronald, grasping his coat for the strength to continue speaking:

"When Father was speaking with Uncle Tyke, I overheard—he cherished his cufflink dearly, saying it was a high-end craft product bought from Grad. As long as he could still move, he wouldn't let it fall to the ground."

Ronald followed Fei'er's gaze.

On the town road along the lake, a subtly elegant cufflink lay wedged between two cobblestones.

The time was late at night, and the surrounding environment did not allow for detailed searching.

Only someone like little Fei'er, with super ability-level insight, could discover the cufflink on the ground under such circumstances.

"..."

Ronald said nothing, then extended his hand forward; the exquisite and delicate cufflink immediately flew into his hand.

—Everything Fei'er said was correct.

Ronald had once lived in Grad for a year.

Though he couldn't claim to know every aspect, he was quite familiar with the cufflink culture essential to such interactions.

The cufflink now in his hand was intricately crafted and made from exquisite materials, clearly created by a renowned craftsman.

All of this matched Fei'er's previous description.

And more distressingly, there were traces of dark red blood on this cufflink.

Ronald stepped closer for a look.

In fact, around the two cobblestones capturing the cufflink, there were also long streaks of scraped blood.

A vision immediately appeared in Ronald's mind.

—In the firestorm of Waterfall City, Fei'er's father was gravely wounded during the battle at Antler Tavern. Although his companions successfully escorted Fei'er's father away from Antler Tavern and brought him here, he had already lost consciousness and could only be dragged along, causing the cherished cufflink of Fei'er's father to fall on the darkened street amid the blood.

Besides the conjecture about this scene, Ronald felt a deeper sense of helplessness.

—He was able to deduce such things.

—Then, someone like Fei'er, with stronger observational and inferential abilities, surely had already deduced it too, perhaps even more than Ronald knew.

After all, the child's insight and reasoning skills were indeed extremely strong.

Was awakening super abilities in little Fei'er truly the right choice?

While Ronald was feeling dejected from this realization.

Little Fei'er, clinging to him, suddenly shook his body and spoke in a trembling and fearful voice:

"Mr. Ronald, let's keep going."

"I want to keep looking."

"..."

"Alright, I understand."

Ronald nodded, but his tone was somewhat heavy.

Little Fei'er's current state was evidently terrible, so he naturally wouldn't let the child continue walking on the ground; instead, he directly extended his hands and once again took Fei'er into his arms.

They continued onward, and soon, the bloodstains on the ground began to increase.

Both Ronald and Fei'er knew what this meant.

Fei'er's father's companion tried to help him stop the bleeding, but eventually, the wound ruptured again, leaving these ever-growing traces.

And based on the state of the blood—

The bloodstains had completely lost their vitality, indicating that Fei'er's father had been injured for quite some time.

"..."

In silence, the two continued forward.

Finally, after crossing another street, Ronald came to a halt.

This was an ice sculpture gallery.

In Ente Rod, the ice sculpting techniques, which arose from the local resources, were highly appreciated by the people, so there were also related professionals in the city who made a living from this. The house built by the lake served both exhibition for the public and direct material acquisition, presenting ideal advantages.

And in Ronald's mind, the reconnaissance spell that had remained active was reminding him that the target they sought was now inside.

"Fei'er, we've arrived."

Ronald spoke softly, but Fei'er had no intention of responding.

The young girl simply raised her head to glance at the building, her gaze briefly sweeping over the entrance, before burying her head in Ronald's chest.

"..."

Ronald could feel Fei'er's body trembling.

The young girl had confirmed reality, causing her grief to render her unable to respond.

"Hoo—"

Ronald sighed heavily but did not give up hope.

Because besides little Feier's anticipated harsh truth, he also sensed a concealed magic fluctuation within the building.

There was another caster inside.

If he could inquire about the situation from them, perhaps the result would be unexpected.

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