Swoosh! Petra was unceremoniously ejected from the black tent!
She hit the ground outside with a soft thud, landing lightly on her butt and skidding backwards, looking very undignified as she slowly came to a spinning stop! For a moment, she just sat there, blinking rapidly, her expression completely blank.
"…What?" What just happened?
Why…
She slowly pushed herself up, rubbing her sore buttocks, then turned to scowl at the tent behind her.
"Crazy old hag," she muttered, huffing as she quickly dusted herself off!
"The great me will remember this!"
Hmph!!
She stomped away in anger!
-
The moment Petra returned to the festival; her attention was instantly drawn by a series of loud voices.
She turned her head and spotted Lilly and Luna a short distance away, standing in front of a small stall piled with neatly arranged trinkets. Each item had a tiny price tag tied to it, and right now, the twins were clearly in the middle of an argument.
The story was simple…
While waiting for Petra, Lilly and Luna went and wandered around.
They found a stall they liked and browsed through its wares. Quickly, Luna spotted a delicate butterfly-shaped pin made of shimmering metal threads and a sharp sapphire crystal.
Lilly had gone to buy it, and naturally had to pick it up first…
She stretched out her hand.
But just then—
Just as her fingers were about to close, another hand had snatched it away from right under her nose!
Classic!
Now, standing across from them, was a young man in a cream-white robe. His expression was a bit annoyed, but mostly dismissive, with a weird arrogance that didn't match his age. He had black eyes and pale blonde hair, with a single white strip, and a green pin that contained some kind of emerald liquid. He clearly had no intention of listening, he was a right up snob, no, an entitled noble!
When the twins protested, futilely proclaiming that they had seen it first, he waved them away and gestured sharply as his armored guard stepped forward.
Before Petra's beautiful butlers could intervene, the little green-haired devil walked over personally.
There was a pause…
Then—
"Huh?"
—The young man froze when he saw her face!
Something seemed to click in his mind as he took another quick glance at Lilly and Luna, and after a stupidly long moment of stupification, he went silent. Instead of barking, he closed his mouth, then his eyes flickered past Petra, scanning behind her almost as if he were searching for someone…
Petra tilted her head.
What an unusual reaction!
"Hey, washboard," he asked with an indignant tone. "Where's my cousin? Isn't she with you?"
Lilly: "..."
Luna: "..."
The Butlers: "..."
Petra's eyes blinked rapidly.
What?
What washboard?
Was that directed at her?
She was going to commit a glorious genocide?
Mm…
No…
Not for now…
For some reason, this young master suddenly felt very cold. He shrank his neck unconsciously and frowned. After mustering up the courage to continue, he spat—
"Hay! Little brat! I'm talking to you! You're the brat with the big bounty, right? You have Wind, right??"
He glared at our little Petra!
At the mention of that name, the twins went silent. They finally recognized this youth as a second-generation troublemaker from the Gallon Family!
Things had suddenly become awkward…
Petra just stared up at the boy, confused. After all, she actually knew a little about Wind and the Gallon family's relationship. While reluctantly letting the previous comment pass, her mind slowly turned back to what she knew…
* * *
Wind had been adopted into the Gallon Family for her special trait as a 'White Whistle'. This was a strange 'skill' that some people 'just happened to have…'
It was a very strange thing…
It wasn't learned, cultivated, or granted, it simply existed inexplicably, like a recessive gene that had undergone atavism. The problem was, this trait appeared in all races, albeit very rarely, so it was impossible to trace its origins! It existed in the same 'unexplainable category' as seeing ghosts, lacking fear, or being born with an uncanny sense of danger! It 'didn't seem to' have anything to do with the 'Laws' or 'Rules' of the world, which made it very unique!
As for why the title of a 'White Whistle' was usually kept a secret, that was because these people were so rare that they were often hunted down. This didn't necessarily mean that they would be killed, no, some people would be killed, yes, but just as many would be enslaved, or refined into an artifact!
Anyways—!
White Whistles were just special people who could 'feel the wind' and instinctively sense the concept of 'Direction'. On the sea, they were basically born to be legendary navigators, capable of guiding ships through severe storms, blinding fog, and shifting currents without so much as a pause!
There was actually an old story about the White Whistles in the Hellion Empire! One time, long ago, an entire fleet of the Hellion Empire had once been saved by a single White Whistle! This 'entire fleet' just happened to be the first of the ten-year expeditions leaving the continent! If it were not for him, then perhaps the Cross Continent would be much more reclusive than it was today.
Also! Their usefulness wasn't only restricted to the sea!
On land, their ability was usually used for something 'very different'…
The White Whistles, by using their ability to 'feel the wind', could sense many things, such as the contours of the surrounding bodies, subtle changes in the air, they could feel around walls, through buildings, inside nearly sealed structures, they could hear whispers, screams, secrets, and concealed conversations, even from the other side of the city! In short, they could receive and perceive far more information than a normal human could!
This made them the perfect spies!
Unfortunately, it also made them an extremely volatile element, becoming a double-edged sword!
From the Empire's perspective, 'Wind V Gallon', as the adopted daughter of the Gallon Family, was an unkillable liability, an unpredictable eavesdropper, and quite possibly the core of an unstoppable information network that had the potential to grow right under their noses! Theoretically, her abilities were so extreme that it far surpassed the elves' ability to 'talk to nature', and the dwarves' ability to 'chat up an artifact'. When Wind grew up, if she wanted, she could single-handedly shift the power balance in the capital, a feat that not only worried the royal family, but also alerted the other three great families!
For Wind, this fate was already rather troublesome… but what made matters even worse was—
A certain third princess, Rolilly Hellion!
Rolilly was never a reasonable person! For her, the Third Princess of the Hellion Empire, the innate ability to 'feel the wind' carried a meaning far more visceral than it did for others!
To her, it wasn't just about the potential that Wind carried, nor was it the utility she possibly possessed, no! Her problem came when it revolved around 'the body!' To 'feel the wind' was also to 'feel the lack thereof!' This meant that Wind could basically feel 'everything' when she was nearby 'something'.
This naturally included the contours of the human body!
In Rolilly's twisted little mind, she was constantly being groped!
To her, when Wind was nearby, it felt the same way one might describe fine fingers brushing against bare skin. It was like something was crawling beneath her clothes, a slow and deliberate stroke, like a snake coiling just out of sight, wrapping her body, tighter and tighter, slowly tightening until it eventually became impossible to ignore! The sensation made her nauseous. It made her skin crawl, and no matter how often she tried to ignore it, the feeling never fully faded! That discomfort festered and became an obsession, and from that obsession, their so-called 'conflict' was born!
That's right! It wasn't political! Rolilly held no grudge against the Gallon Family!
As for the question of whether this was caused by Rolilly's overactive imagination, or a genuine level of sensitivity far exceeding that of normal people, we'll never know…
Regardless, to Rolilly, Wind's existence was an intolerable offense!
Even after she had 'dealt with Wind', Rolilly went on to exterminate every remaining White Whistle she could find on the cross continent!
One by one, she thoroughly slaughtered them all!
After everything was done, she even regretted letting Wind live…
She should have killed her like the others!
Wind wasn't sold into slavery because she was disowned, no, she was sold into slavery because she was lucky! Rolilly was too young back then, and through some quirk of fate, she had chosen to threaten the entire Gallon Family instead of directly assassinating Wind!
It really was just that unreasonable!
Mm, anyways…
There was one final thing about the White Whistles that needed to be addressed!
This was often forgotten, but another reason why the White Whistles were silently feared was because they would all inevitably fall into madness! As their perception sharpened, the 'whispers of the wind' would inevitably begin to blend together. At some point, even inanimate objects would start to 'speak' to them, flooding the white whistle with meaningless information, until they were overwhelmed and forgot their identities, and their understanding of the world unraveled into pure 'Chaos!'
Eventually, they would go insane…
This was unavoidable!
The reason why Wind secretly loved being around Petra so much was because the poison she, and everyone else around her, was constantly emitting seemed to almost 'disturb' her innate trait, interfering with its growth, and diluting its development! It was difficult to put into words just how important this was, especially for Wind, who had an 'abnormally high level!' among the White Whistles.
Of course, she would never tell Petra this!
In the beginning, Wind was an extremely arrogant person, no different from a traditional tsundere. She just generally hated people, and this only worsened with time, especially after the Gallon Family 'abandoned' her…
Fortunately, after meeting Petra, one after another, each of the servants Petra 'took in' were monsters, and over time, her ego was slowly shattered and reforged.
This seemed to be an ongoing trend for all of Petra's servants…
In truth, Wind was one of the weakest servants under Petra's umbrella.
Excluding some of the Beast Girls, all the others were stronger than her! This was something Wind had learned the hard way, especially after getting her egotistical little ass kicked back into place by the 'dumb dog', 'lazy cat', and poor little Poya—
But that was, er… an 'interlude' for another time! (No, it probably wasn't…)
* * *
Back to the harbor, the youth from the Gallon family was still looking for Wind!
Everyone knew the situation.
Petra's face was incredibly famous, and she made no effort, despite her abilities, to conceal herself. With her outstanding bounty, her known companions were also displayed, so Wind's face and last location were easily available to anyone who wanted to know!
Therefore, this young man knew that Wind should be with Petra.
He didn't care about Petra at all, but—
Many people within the Gallon Family, especially among the 'younger generations', were very grateful that Petra had 'taken her in'. Wind had been kind, useful, and despite her disdainful personality, strangely relaxing to be around, so she had been well liked in the family.
Unfortunately, this sentiment didn't extend throughout the whole family!
To the 'older generation', Wind's existence was a nuisance, with many of them outright despising her! The reason for this was because her mere proximity made it difficult to scheme in the family's territory. For a large family like any of the Four Great Families, this was actually a pretty big problem! It forced the family to revolve around her, turning Wind, this adopted daughter, into the core of the family! So, when the topic of abandoning her finally came up, it was relatively one-sided.
When the youth finally confirmed Wind wasn't there, he just snorted in irritation and turned away, signaling his guard to follow him and leave.
He radiated a naïve arrogance!
Petra watched him go, her head tilting slightly in contemplation.
He was annoying, entitled, and arrogant—
But probably not worth killing…
With that decision, the faint red mist that had begun clinging to the youths' clothes thinned, then vanished, unnoticed by anyone but Petra and the butlers, who seemed incredibly alert.
He walked away, completely unaware that he had escaped a life of eternal hell...
He got off lucky this time!