Chapter 585: Edward and Amalia

Having been addressed directly by name, the old couple looked up and to their right to find a familiar face looking towards them.

Overjoyed at this unexpected meeting, Edward and Amalia both performed a proper noble bow to their old friend and benefactor, "Aunt Farah, it has been far too long."

"It really is you two!" Farah exclaimed in a rare moment of surprise, never having thought she would randomly run into the former Baron of Redwood Town and his wife here in Misty City.

However, after giving it a little thought, Farah realized she shouldn’t have been surprised at all.

Although Edward and Amalia had left Redwood Town more than a decade ago to pursue their cultivation in the more prosperous parts of the kingdom, they had never failed to write to Charles, their youngest son, every few months.

Farah suspected that their somewhat overprotective attitude stemmed from the loss of their eldest son, Frederick, Charles’ older brother.

Fred had been quite similar to Charles in terms of personality, preferring to laugh and work together with farmers than attend parties with nobles, but he was also much more responsible, making him perfect as an heir to a small barony.

Unfortunately, not long after taking over as Baron from Edward, Fred and several of the townsfolk had been out trying to help a family which had become trapped in their home by the rising river during a heavy storm when the building suddenly collapsed, killing everyone involved.

That tragedy had occurred some 15 years ago, but the sight of their mangled son’s body was probably still extremely fresh in Edward and Amalia’s minds.

Although there were some exceptions, the loss of a child tended to be incredibly difficult on their parents, even among nobles and cultivators who quite often had many offspring over their longer lives.

What’s more, unlike most noble families Farah had encountered, the Newtons tended to have far fewer children.

Edward was the only child of Robert, the first Baron Newton Farah had ever met, while Fred, Tracy, and Charles were the only children of Edward and Amalia.

Glancing over at the young man, who had belatedly also performed a proper boy, Farah was able to see traces of Charles’ older sister in his face, making his identity fairly obvious.

Farah wasn’t certain if the brave little girl who had asked her to let her ride on her shoulders when she was just 4-years-old had other children of her own now; but, if Tracy was anything like her parents, even if the answer was yes, there probably weren’t many of them.

Low numbers, coupled with their generally easy-going personalities, made the Newtons a rather tight-knit bunch, another oddity amongst noble clans.

In that sense, Edward, Amalia, and this boy whose name she didn’t yet know being here made perfect sense.

The fact that it had taken them nearly a year after the disaster to arrive also wasn’t too surprising. If anything, they had been fairly quick to figure out that Sasha and Eris were here given the speed information tended to circulate around the Rockwell Kingdom.

Whatever the case, Farah was quite happy she had run into these old acquaintances, enough that a big smile actually appeared on her face, a rarity for the usually aloof town butcher.

Quickly striding over, Farah helped both Edward and Amalia up, "There’s no need for any of that between neighbours."

Seeing that familiar smile, and hearing that familiar voice again after so many years, Edward and Amalia couldn’t help smiling as well, their eyes turning a bit misty even.

Farah had helped them many times throughout their lives, especially when Edward’s parents had passed away and later when Fred had tragically perished.

Whenever they ran into a problem too big or too dangerous for them to handle that threatened the peace and safety of Redwood Town, Farah would quietly step-in and deal with it for them.

Never once did the town butcher ask for anything in return, or demand compensation for her services despite having more than enough right to. In fact, once, when Edward had tried to pay her for hunting down a particularly troublesome Fourth Order Wild Beast that had been damaging the local farms, Farah had literally kicked his butt out of her store and told him to not to have any more stupid thoughts in the future.

Farah was more than a little rough around the edges, but there was no doubt she was a respectable elder who Edward and Amalia both deeply appreciated.

Their shoulders relaxing somewhat, the former Baron and Lady Newton took a closer look at Farah’s face and realized that, rather than not changing at all, she actually looked a bit younger and healthier than before.

Understanding the implications of this, Amalia couldn’t help asking, "Has your condition improved, Aunty?"

"En, a little," Farah nodded.

Ever since learning about the state of her meridians, Lucas had been trying to assist Farah with healing herself, using all kinds of strange and unusual methods she had never heard of before.

Most of these turned out to be useless, with some even doing more harm than good, but a few techniques they tried were actually able to ease her condition somewhat. She was still crippled, and still had no hope of breaking through to the next Realm in her Spirit, Martial, or Soul cultivation, but she could at least recover her Internal Qi 8 or 9% faster than before.

Moving to Misty City and having access to superior facilities and a denser World Qi environment also helped.

Farah was also training regularly again, helping out as an instructor at the Raging River Legion and serving as a teacher for Danika Emerson.

With all these positive changes to her life and situation, it was hardly surprising that Farah looked a bit more youthful and energized than Edward and Amalia remembered.

The main reason the 121-year-old Mid-Rank Spirit Initiate looked middle-aged when she should have appeared like she was in her mid-20’s was because of her crippled condition, but even with that kind of disability, Farah really shouldn’t have looked much older than her mid-30’s.

Put bluntly, it was Farah’s laxity that had caused her to age prematurely.

Life in Redwood Town was tranquil and idyllic, but for a Mid-Rank Spirit Initiate, it might have been a bit too peaceful.

"That’s wonderful to hear," Edward said with genuine happiness, though he did chuckle a bit in the next second, "I really do envy you a bit, Aunty; being able to age backwards instead of just turning grey like us."

Elbowing her husband, Amalia snorted, "Hmph, speak for yourself, old man!"

These two haven’t changed a bit, Farah thought to herself with a hint of amusement before asking, "And who might this be?"

"Ah," Edward face-palmed, "Forgive me for not introducing you sooner, this is Braden, Tracy’s eldest son. He’s a good boy who has been helping us search for..."

"Right!!" Amalia cut in, snapping out of her bout of nostalgia and hurriedly asking, "Aunty Farah, are Charles and Sasha here? What about little Eris? Are they alright!?"