Chapter 3131: Mili Marfoot

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

Location: Myriad Realms, Azorheim, Temporal Cave Valley Rest Stop, Aurzone Traven

Henricks looked at Mino and immediately understood what was going through the young Redfoot’s head. He could see the hope fighting with suspicion in those eyes. Mino wanted to believe him, but after everything that had happened to his people, trusting a stranger simply because he offered good news was a luxury he could no longer afford.

“If you’re okay with it, I can bring a few of the Redfoots over to Azorheim during my next visit,” Henricks offered. “Mili, for example. The Grand Elder’s great-granddaughter, she keeps asking me to find you every time I return with more Redfoot refugees.”

Henricks didn’t bother asking Mino to follow him to the Yellow Plains. He already knew the young Redfoot would refuse. After surviving the fall of RedAlps and spending so long alone in Azorheim, Mino had every reason to be suspicious of anyone suddenly offering him a way back to his people. Henricks suspected that if they hadn’t used food to lower his guard, Mino might not have even revealed his real name, let alone admitted that he was the last surviving member of RedAlps’s royal family.

Mino’s eyes brightened at the offer. For a brief moment, the possibility felt almost too good to be true. Mili was alive. Other Redfoots were alive. Somewhere out there was a settlement where his people had managed to survive.

But he quickly suppressed the excitement.

He would wait and see.

There was little harm in doing so. Even if Henricks and the others were hiding some ulterior motive, Mino wasn’t obligated to follow them anywhere. As long as he remained in Azorheim and didn’t allow himself to be led somewhere unfamiliar, he still had the advantage. He knew these mountain valleys almost as well as he knew his own home. He knew which paths were safe, which caves could be used as shelter, where food could be found, which places to avoid, and, more importantly, the rules one had to follow to survive here.

He had learned all of it the hard way.

Ever since the demons had forced him to flee RedAlps, these mountains had been his home. He had survived here, fought here, hidden here, and slowly learned how to stay alive without anyone to protect him.

So for now, he would listen to Henricks’s words, keep his guard up, and wait for proof.

Seeing Mino take too long to respond, Henricks spoke again.

“Mino, your people are waiting for a leader to arrive and guide them through their darkest hour. Most of them believe that, as the last surviving member of the Redfoot royal family, it is your duty. The Grand Elder still has your soul candle. Unfortunately, it’s only a low-grade one. It can only be used within a single realm, not across the Myriad Realms. That’s why they’ve been saving resources to purchase a proper one from the Dimensional Mercenaries. They’ll be more than happy to learn that you’re alive and well. They’ll want to bring you home.”

Mino remained silent for a while, his expression difficult to read.

“Fine. I will wait,” he finally said, his tone hard.

He stood, leaving the food he hadn’t finished behind. Then he looked at me.

“The caves from ES3003 to ES3500 are similar to Sector ES0012 of the Inter-Realm City. I use them.”

It was his way of repaying me for the meal without giving away any more than necessary.

“Thank you for the meal.”

He turned to leave, but stopped after a few steps and glanced back at Henricks.

“Next time, look for another guide unless you actually bring Mili over.”

With that final warning, Mino walked away.

Mino chose to distance himself from the two clients, giving them that information they sought as repayment, not because he genuinely believed they were conspiring against him, but because he didn’t want to hold on to the hope they were selling him on anymore.

For what seemed like an eternity, survival had become a routine. Stay alive. Grow stronger. One day, find the demons responsible for the destruction of RedAlps and make them pay for every life they had taken.

That was all he had left. This thirst for vengeance was all he had. It was the very reason why he kept going, fighting, crawling. He was going to have his revenge.

Revenge and hope couldn’t coexist peacefully in one’s heart. One would always weaken the other. Hope made him look backward, while revenge forced him to keep moving forward. If he allowed himself to believe that some of his people were still alive, that Redfoots had survived somewhere, that his homeland might one day be reclaimed, then the hatred that had kept him going would inevitably begin to crack.

Mino had witnessed the cruelty of the Myriad Realms firsthand. He had seen what the demons had done to RedAlps and to his people. It has been a long time since he had stopped believing that anyone was coming to save them. He had accepted that his race was dead and that his homeland was lost.

He needed to believe that.

Because if even a small part of him began to hope that the Redfoots had survived, homesickness would eventually overwhelm him. He would want to see RedAlps again. He would want to find his people. And the moment he returned, the demons would know exactly where to find him.

He couldn’t allow that to happen. So Mino had chosen revenge. To carry it through, he had to assume that he was the last Redfoot alive. It was a cruel lie, but it was one he could live with. Hope might have given him something to return to. Revenge gave him a reason to keep going.

Henricks looked at the little guy’s retreating back and said, “Your Highness, please don’t hold it against the kid.”

“Since when did I become that petty in your eyes?”

I narrowed my eyes at Henricks.

Apparently, I wasn’t annoyed with the kid anymore. Not that I was to begin with but now I was annoyed with Henricks.

“Don’t worry about the kid, worry about yourself.”