番茄乐园

\'Today\'s a great day!\'

However, suddenly her feet stopped, and she scowled. A mountainous weight came crashing down onto her, pushing her heart into the pits of her stomach.

\'The… The day\'s not over yet. No, in fact, this could very well be the beginning!\'

She quickened her pace, running full speed toward the Healing Center! Mira has always followed the rule that "Fortune and misfortune come in pairs". Today, Mira received one of her life\'s most significant fortunes.

Conversely, what\'s the thing she treasures most in this world? Undoubtedly, her relationship with Maria.

Thus, her feet became a blur; before she knew it, she was standing in front of the Healing Center.

Maria\'s bright and colorful aura flooded Mira\'s senses, filling her with relief, but her brows were still wrinkled.

\'It\'s too early to let my guard down.\'

Mira barged into the building, opening the door with a "bang", then charged into Maria\'s office.

Maria jumped in surprise at the unexpected intruder, but joy took over, noticing it was Mira. However, that quickly changed into panic upon seeing Mira\'s injured body.

"Oh my god! Are you alright, Mira? Come here; let me heal you!" Maria ran over to Mira and began scanning her body, but Mira grabbed her hands to stop her.

"We need to leave the area, Maria."

Maria\'s body trembled for a second, feeling the seriousness in her voice. Still, Maria needed an explanation. She has a business to run, after all.

"What? Why? What\'s going on, Mira? What happened to you while you were away? I heard you went somewhere with Elder Sandra and that crazy guy who was killing everyone. Did Elder Sandra-"

Mira cut her off, "No, she didn\'t do anything to me. I fought against that guy and killed him. These injuries are the result of that battle," Mira pointed at herself, "What happened after is a bit complicated, and I\'ll explain on the way, but for now, please come with me."

Maria\'s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets!

\'Please? Did Mira just say please?! In all the years I\'ve known her, I don\'t remember her saying \'please\' or \'thank you\' a single time! What the hell is going on to get Mira so agitated?!\'

At this point, what else could she say? If she didn\'t leave with Mira right now, wouldn\'t that make her a bad wife?

However, before she could even respond, Mira had already picked her up in a princess carry, grabbed ahold of Hana, and flew off in the direction of their cave castle.

As they flew through the air, Maria asked, "Now that I\'m in your arms, can you finally tell me what\'s going on?"

Mira took a deep breath and said solemnly, "Too many good things have happened today. I fear that something terrible will happen soon, and I don\'t want you to be on the receiving end of this misfortune."

Maria\'s mind went blank, her mouth agape. She stared at Mira as if she was looking at an alien. Of all the things she thought would come out of Mira\'s mouth, that was not one of them.

However, sorrow shone deep in Maria\'s eyes. She felt that Mira\'s outlook on life was really depressing.

\'To not even be able to receive goodwill without correlating it to hostility… How… painful.\'

She still didn\'t know what happened to Mira, but from her tone, she could tell that it wasn\'t something small and probably affected Mira\'s future significantly. And because of Mira\'s belief that nothing is free in this world, she assumed that something bad would happen.

"Okay? That\'s not much to work on, but you seem serious. So, what should we do? What are your plans?" Maria asked.

"...I\'m not sure. For now, let\'s just get back home," Mira said, but the weight on her heart didn\'t decrease. Instead, it became so heavy that Mira felt it burdensome to fly.

\'Something is coming! I don\'t know what, who, or when, but a calamity is coming for me!\'

Mira turned and stared into Maria\'s eyes with a complicated expression. Maria stared back with eyes filled with unconditional love that seemed to say, "It\'s okay. We\'ll get through this together."

The two stared at each other for a while before Mira whispered in Maria\'s ear, "Let\'s focus on getting stronger."

Maria nodded, "Nn."

***

A few minutes later, Mira, Maria, and Hana appeared in the valley outside their cave castle. A few of her subordinates saw her flying through the air with Mira and ran over to greet her. Mira lightly nodded but offered no words.

When she landed, she let go of Hana and gave her a brief explanation of the valley.

"I\'ll come to get you in a few days. For now, get used to the area and the people, as this will be your new home, and they will be your students. If you need anything, find a person named Alicia. She\'ll help you out." Mira left these words with Hana as she carried Maria into their room.

After they were finally alone, Mira began explaining the events that happened over the past day while Maria healed her. She didn\'t leave anything out and even told her how the F.LD.I.L rewarded her.

By the end of it, Maria was at a loss for words! Mira had only been gone for half a day. How could so many life-changing events happen?!

"That… that… Wow. It seems like you\'ve had quite an eventful day, huh, Mira? Hahaha~" Maria chuckled, "But this doesn\'t explain why you kidnapped me."

Mira\'s eyes softened as she pondered how to put her feelings into words, "I\'m just worried. You should know by now that my luck isn\'t particularly good, and it has only worsened after accepting the F.LD.I.L. If so many good things happen to me all in one day, it\'s almost guaranteed that something terrible will happen. It might not be today, but one can never be too careful."

"I see…" Maria hummed, not taking Mira\'s words lightly.

She knew how reliable Mira\'s instincts were, especially toward danger. Not only that, but Mira would never lie about something like this. So, if she was this scared, then it\'s highly likely that something would happen.

"But what should we do about this? I mean, we can\'t very well live in this cave for the rest of our lives. Plus, you have to go on a mission in a month!" Maria asked.

"Hmph! What do you think? Obviously, we just need to get stronger! I wouldn\'t be worried about any upcoming calamities if I had absolute strength!" Mira proclaimed, but Maria gave her a deadpan stare.

"Do you really think I don\'t know that? Of course, we need strength! I\'m asking how we can get enough of it, so you stop feeling worried." Maria countered.

"I\'ll just ask Aelina to give you a bit of extra attention. I\'m sure she wouldn\'t disagree, either. You and Celaine are both extremely talented. Plus, you are an incredible healer. I can\'t think of any leader who wouldn\'t want to train someone who can potentially regrow limbs in the future."

Maria nodded. Everything Mira said made sense. It\'d be stupid of the Sect Master not to give her a little help.

"That will certainly be helpful, but I don\'t want to be given resources for nothing. I\'d rather the Sect Master give me a mission just like you! Better yet, why don\'t I just join you on your mission?"

Mira smiled, "What? Did you think you weren\'t coming with me? Do you even know just how useful that healing technique of yours is? I have to steal 5 Mid-Grade Spirit Stone Mines. Me and whatever group Aelina sends with me will inevitably be injured. If someone is there to heal us, that\'ll increase my chances of success by a large margin. Don\'t forget. I only have a month to complete this mission. I can\'t waste days healing my injured body."

Maria\'s smile became so bright that she was almost shining, "I had no idea you thought of me so highly! Hehehe~"

She embraced Mira, her laughs echoing throughout the room.

"Ahh… Well, y\'know… I have to give credit where credit is due. You will be essential for this mission. In fact, if Alicia and the others were strong enough, I\'d bring them as well. This would be a good experience for them, after all." Mira said while avoiding eye contact.

The two talked for a little longer until Mira decided it was time to search through the F.LD.I.L for items to pick out with her Abyssal Battle Points and the reward for killing Zander.