Chapter 66: At This Moment, Silence Falls

Elise looked at Peiya, who was curled up, and it was the first time she had seen the little girl so down.

She reached out and gently smoothed the wrinkles on Peiya’s clothes, then said softly:

“It’s okay. You’ve already done very well. You shouldn’t put all the pressure on yourself.”

“Huh… r-really?”

Peiya raised her head, then quickly lowered it again. Her voice became quieter and quieter.

It felt like all the air in her chest had been emptied. A scene from a few days ago in the library appeared in her mind.

She suddenly understood why this mission felt so different.

It was like there was now a biggest variable by her side, Elise.

Before, she would also consider the possibility of her teammates getting hurt, but not as seriously as now.

Why was she doing this…?

What was happening to her?

Elise crouched down and reached out, wanting to touch Peiya, but Peiya had curled into a ball, her face buried between her knees.

“You’re not talking? Then I’ll tell you a joke. Actually, I’m not good at telling jokes.”

Elise spoke gently, placing one hand on Peiya’s shoulder.

“But I guess you’re smiling.”

“I’m not.” Peiya raised her head, her eyes showing a bit of caution and hidden panic.

Her face was pale after the color had faded, but she still tried to act calm and curled her lips slightly.

She subconsciously used her fingers to fix her slightly messy hair, trying to return to her calm, analytical self.

But soon she realized… she had been tricked.

Because Elise was looking at her with a big smile.

“I found the joke, the little crybaby.”

Peiya lifted her chin, her eyes bright.

“I’m not a crybaby. I have a name. And I didn’t cry, I just got something in my eyes from the wind.”

Peiya adjusted her expression again and wiped the dust off her face.

“So, tell me your judgment. This place isn’t safe. New monsters will come here soon, and they can’t be killed endlessly.”

Elise paused for a moment, then said seriously:

“Let’s find a place to set up camp and rest first. It’s going to get dark soon, and it’s not safe to enter the mine now.

Also, we’ve already traveled a lot today. For me before, this distance would take two days, but because of your planned route, we reached it in just one day.

We should use this extra time to rest well. There’s no need to gamble on an uncertain future. As long as we find a good base and hold it, we won’t let other adventurers get ahead of us.”

“Okay.”

Peiya took out the map and found a high point that could overlook the Calamity Forest but wouldn’t be affected by its dark energy.

It was actually a sloped hillside, and from there, they could even see the faint shadow of a church in the distance.

“What are you thinking about?”

Elise walked over carrying a bundle of firewood.

“You… what are you doing?”

Peiya shifted her gaze to the firewood in Elise’s arms. Something so dirty, and she was holding it right against her clothes.

Clatter—

Elise threw the firewood onto the ground.

“Pick up some sticks and start a fire. Isn’t that common sense?”

“That’s not the point. The problem is you’re holding it with your arms, you’ll get your clothes dirty.”

Elise tilted her head in confusion. “So what? It’s getting dark. If I don’t carry the firewood now, should I hug you to make a fire?”

Peiya’s body trembled.

Was she serious with that answer?

There’s no way hugging her would start a fire.

She’s not something that can burn.

“That’s so strange. Why do you keep saying weird things lately? Is teasing me really that fun?”

Thinking about it carefully, Elise had been teasing her a lot more recently.

That wasn’t a good sign.

“It is, Miss Peiya. Come warm yourself by the fire.”

Elise picked up some fallen leaves, lit the dry branches with magic, and stuffed them under the pile of wood.

The fire suddenly flared up. The rising flames even blew the dry grass on the ground into the air.

Looking at the flickering flames, Peiya also sat down cross-legged. Based on experience, she leaned back a bit on purpose.

If there was one biggest “benefit” of becoming a girl, it was that now she didn’t have to worry about “roasting the chicken” when sitting by the fire.

Yeah, right!

Even without that, the area between her legs still felt uncomfortably warm near the fire.

Peiya took a stick and poked the fire, pressing down the flames that were about to rise too high.

“What do you want to eat tonight?”

After adjusting the firewood, Peiya looked at Elise. They had only eaten some rough bread today.

Because they had been traveling the whole time, they hadn’t had a proper meal yet.

“Something simple is fine. I’m not picky.”

“Okay.”

Peiya took out cooking tools from her bag and set up a simple rack over the fire. Then she threw the chopped ingredients into a pot all at once.

She turned her head to check the fire, making sure it wasn’t too strong so the soup wouldn’t become too bitter.

Some of the ingredients shouldn’t be cooked over high heat.

After finishing with the pot, Peiya noticed her hair had brushed the ground earlier and got a bit dirty.

When she had short hair before, she never had to worry about these things. But now with long hair, it had become the most troublesome part.

Why is this so annoying?

Maybe she should just cut it all off.

But then her scalp would be exposed.

As for… short hair?

She hadn’t tried that before. If it was too short, it might look ugly.

Wait, why was she even starting to care about this?

She didn’t need to be pretty.

Peiya felt a bit confused inside as she continued cutting the remaining ingredients, using a small dagger that gave off a faint blue glow.

She had always liked this knife. It had been a reliable companion she carried with her since childhood.

After using it for a long time, she had slowly become familiar with the knife. Using any other knife now felt a bit uncomfortable.

Peiya picked up the small cutting board and put all the ingredients into the pot. She scooped a small spoonful of the golden soup, blew on it to cool it down, and tasted it.

“It’s ready. It’s still a bit hot, wait until it cools before drinking.”

Peiya placed the bowl of vegetable soup on the ground in front of Elise. Most of the ingredients had been prepared earlier, and some were gathered nearby.

Of course, not from the Calamity Forest.

The things inside there were basically all contaminated by monsters. Who knows what would happen if you ate them?

Peiya had chosen a small open area next to the forest instead.

Under the sunlight, some wild vegetables had grown in the small clearing.

In the wild, some of these vegetables are great for filling your stomach and can also be quite delicious.

There are even special “food adventurers” who follow strong teams into forests just to find rare ingredients.

Some people even take risks and go to dangerous places to pick mushrooms.

But Peiya would never do that. When you’re outside, it’s best not to pick mushrooms you don’t recognize. If you get sick, you could collapse at any moment, and might not even be saved.

“The soup should be cool enough now. Try it, does it taste good?”

Peiya scooped a spoonful, took a bite, and showed a satisfied expression.

Elise copied her and tasted a small spoonful.

With just that one bite, she was completely won over by the rich vegetable flavor.

The aroma was strong, filling her mouth with the taste of the vegetables. Each time her tongue moved, she could taste something new.

It felt like the soup had locked all the freshness of the ingredients inside. You just couldn’t stop drinking it.

The more she ate, the more she felt that Peiya’s cooking was really good.

When Elise went on adventures before, she had never eaten anything this nice.

Usually, she just brought some bread and water and made do.

Forget hot meals. If she tried cooking, it would probably turn into some strange “mystery dish” that could destroy anything.

And it would have zero bad reviews.

Because anyone who ate it… didn’t survive.