No?
Me? As Magistrate of Jinzhou?
Noah pointed at himself, his face showing three parts shock, three parts confusion, and four parts bewilderment.
Is this appropriate?
"It's only temporary Magistrate. The specific duties will be shared by Sanhua and others. You don't need to worry about being unable to handle this responsibility—please don't refuse."
Now Noah understood.
It's just temporarily being Jinzhou's figurehead—purely a mascot, no real work, no difficulty.
If he becomes Magistrate, can he mobilize the whole city to help find Rover?
The whole city searching should be more convenient than him alone fumbling around like a headless fly.
"In that case, for the sake of calming the citizens' panicked hearts after the disaster, I won't refuse. Once the turmoil settles, I'll return the Magistrate position to you."
"Thank you, Noah."
Jinhsi exhaled deeply. Her gaze dimmed, reluctantly handing over the Magistrate of Jinzhou's credential—a jade seal—to Noah.
Noah toyed with this fresh item he had never encountered in the game, then straightened his robes and put on an official air:
"Cough cough, Comrade Jinhsi, during work hours, please address by title."
"Ah?"
At that, Jinhsi was stunned, then awkwardly spoke:
"Al...alright, Magistrate Noah."
Seeing Jinhsi's embarrassed appearance, Noah couldn't help chuckling inwardly. He extended his hand:
"Pleasure working together."
That small hand covered in dragon scales gripped his. He seemed to feel the slight tremor she was forcibly suppressing.
"Yes, pleasure working together."
Time passed swiftly. Soon, the people from Taoyuan Vale arrived one after another at Jinzhou City's ruins.
Jiyan, Yuanwu, Taoqi, and some Jinzhou citizens who had been rescued earlier, along with Mortefi, were all gathered in the center of Jinzhou City's ruins.
"Report to the Magistrate—everyone is here."
"Good."
Jinhsi nostalgically surveyed all the citizens of Jinzhou City. Everyone subconsciously held their breath, afraid to disturb her.
In an instant, Jinhsi thought of many things.
She thought of the Sentinel, of Mt. Firmament, of Jinzhou City Hall, of the morning market's little dragon buns, and finally... she thought of Jinzhou Theater.
Every time Jinzhou Theater performed a happy-ending play, everyone would smile from the heart in satisfaction after watching.
Jinhsi liked how everyone looked when they smiled, so Jinhsi wanted everyone's ending to be perfect.
She hesitated no longer and stepped forward, standing in the center of the crowd.
Her hands clasped at her chest, silver-white eyelashes gently closing. A profound aura emanated from Jinhsi, resonating with the entire Jinzhou City.
"O stars... Heed my calling!!"
Her silver-white long hair fluttered without wind. The Tacet Mark on her back lit up. As the power of time manipulation was mobilized, a pair of dragon horns grew from her head.
Resonance energy surged like tides into her palms. Among it, an ancient ring glowed dazzlingly.
Buzz!
A hemispherical light wave spread out, from near to far, enveloping the entire Jinzhou City. Time within the light wave seemed to suddenly slow down.
Everyone around froze in their original poses, like statues.
Farther away, the pained expressions on the faces of the citizens polluted by the Whisperin Erosion completely halted.
Gentle golden light filled Jinzhou City, and time actually began to reverse bit by bit.
It might have reversed one minute, or perhaps one hour. Except for Jinhsi, no one could clearly perceive how much time had rewound.
Jiyan's wounds gradually healed. Collapsed buildings floated up into the air. Even the pained expressions on the polluted citizens' faces slowly eased.
"Urgh... cough cough."
Jinhsi coughed up a mouthful of stagnant blood. Her body trembled uncontrollably. Dragon scales gradually climbed from her neck to her cheeks. Each scale's growth brought heart-piercing pain.
At the same time, the splitting white light on her torso grew brighter and brighter, as if countless steel needles shuttled through her body, or like being cut by countless sharp blades.
"Hold on... Jinhsi... hold on... Magistrate Jin!"
Jinhsi trembled as she encouraged herself. Though her body was already overwhelmed and nearly shattered completely, she poured even more force into infusing Resonance power into the ancient ring.
"I... cannot give up."
In this time-reversed Jinzhou City, everyone's condition was improving. Only she endured indescribable pain, her situation worsening.
Buzz!
The golden light suddenly vanished. The ruins that had been suspended in mid-air crashed down. The people around instantly regained consciousness.
Jinhsi's expression instantly turned panicked. She desperately urged the ancient ring in her hands, but her drained body, no matter how squeezed, could no longer provide any power of time manipulation.
She had clearly given her all—yet she still couldn't do it?
Suppressing the Whisperin Erosion earlier had already pushed Jinhsi's body to extreme Overclocking. Now activating the Sentinel creation to trace back time had completely overdrawn this vessel's energy.
But the citizens of Jinzhou City had not yet recovered, everyone's homes were still broken. Thinking of this, Jinhsi's heart twisted like a knife.
She despaired, she suffered. Two clear tears slid down her cheeks.
"I... am unworthy of Jinzhou."
"No, Jinhsi—you are worthy of the name Magistrate."
A hand tightly gripped Jinhsi's clasped hands. Surging Resonance power poured in torrentially.
Like a parched river refilled with sweet rain, vibrant vitality arose spontaneously.
The gentle golden light spread across Jinzhou once more. The collapsed ruins floated up again, rebuilding bit by bit, healed by a power called time.
Jinhsi stared dazedly upward. Through her hazy tears, she saw Noah gazing intently at her, his eyes holding a trace of reproach:
"You had already prepared to go to your death alone—that's why you handed the Magistrate position to me, right?"
"Noah... how did you..."
"How could I not know? Dragging your Overclocking -wounded body—how does it not look like leaving last words?"
He took out the jade seal representing the Magistrate of Jinzhou and slowly hung it on the white ribbon at Jinhsi's waist:
"The responsibility behind the Magistrate position is too great—it's better left to someone whose virtue matches it."
"So, Magistrate Jin—you must live well!"
As his words fell, even more vast Resonance power surged toward Jinhsi's body.
Snow-white dragon scales grew from beneath Noah's skin.
Compared to the pain of growing dragon scales, Noah felt more lingering fear at this moment.
From when Jinhsi proposed handing over the Magistrate position earlier, he had sensed something wrong.
That was Jinhsi—the one raised to be Magistrate since childhood. Becoming a qualified Magistrate was her lifelong goal. How could she casually hand it to a stranger?
From then, Noah guessed that using the Sentinel creation would surely make Jinhsi pay some price. He had waited nearby early, ready to act.
When Jinhsi infused energy into the Sentinel creation, he perceived the charging method through perception.
Noah was preparing to lend a hand, but as soon as the Sentinel creation activated, he was time-stopped!
That was awkward.
He didn't help at all.
Fortunately, Jinhsi had a slight mishap and interrupted the time stop. Otherwise, even if Jinhsi died from Overclocking, he wouldn't have known.
"Jinhsi, next time you encounter something, don't force yourself alone."
Those words pierced straight to her heart, making Jinhsi burst into tears again. She covered her cheek with one hand, trying to maintain the dignity of a Magistrate, yet still resembling a little crybaby.
Cryhsi.
"During work, address by title wuwuwuwu..."
"Got it, Magistrate."
Under the gentle golden light, the ruined Jinzhou gradually restored to its original prosperous, peaceful border city.
[Main Quest: "When the Waves Whisper" has been completed.]
[Currently possess Radiant Tide *20, Lustrous Tide *30, Astrite *1800, Shell Credit *380000.]