Chapter 260: The Beginning of a New Life

The moment Iron and Liana turned the corner of the building, disappearing from Diana and Elizaveta's sight, they smoothly let go of each other's hands.

​"Phe-e-ew... that was close!" Liana exclaimed. "And seriously, why did you call yourself my boyfriend?! I was dying of embarrassment!"

​Iron gave a tired shake of his head and shot her an unfazed look:

​"What, was I supposed to say I'm hiring you...? And believe me, I was just as mortified."

​"What?! I'll never believe that in a million years!" Liana exclaimed.

​Iron himself, feeling a twinge of guilt, nevertheless thought to himself:

Sorry, Saniya... it won't happen again, I promise.

​Shifting his gaze back to Liana, Iron asked mildly:

​"And why did you suddenly kiss me?"

​Liana pursed her lips bashfully but tried to answer as firmly as possible:

​"My mom and I made a deal a long time ago: if I kiss a guy right in front of her on my own, it means I genuinely love him. Without that, she would have never let me go with you!"

​"Got it... family drama," Iron chuckled. "Just don't do it again."

​"Of course I won't!" Liana snorted, turning away proudly. "And don't even think it was out of love!"

​Iron just shook his head with a slight smile and gestured for her to follow him. He led her into a narrow alley between two houses.

​Lumon, is anyone around? Iron asked mentally.

​"No outside observers detected," the voice in his head replied instantly.

​Iron turned to Liana and calmly warned her:

​"Fair warning, you might get a little dizzy."

​Before Liana could ask what he meant, Iron snapped his fingers.

​The space around them compressed and distorted for a split second. The noise of the city alley was instantly replaced by the fresh scent of pine needles and the quiet rustling of leaves. They materialized in a spacious clearing right behind the Main Building.

​Looking around, Iron gave a satisfied hum: about thirteen wooden houses stood in a neat row.

​"Oh, so they really did put in the work," he noted, evaluating the job.

​Liana, meanwhile, noticeably swayed to the side from the abrupt spatial jump. The ground beneath her feet felt like cotton for a moment, and she grabbed onto Iron's shoulder with both hands, breathing heavily and trying to regain her balance.

​However, a couple of seconds later, the dizziness faded.

​"Are you alright?" Iron asked. She straightened up, shook her head, let go of him, and, still awestruck, enthusiastically gave him a thumbs up.

​"Let's go that way," Iron said quietly, pointing deeper into the forest.

​They barely made it a few dozen meters before a tiny glowing silhouette materialized right in front of Iron's face.

​"Iron! Iron! You're back?!" her little voice rang out joyfully.

​"Well, not for long," Iron replied calmly, continuing to walk forward.

​Elyria immediately blocked his path, hovering right in front of his face and playfully throwing her little arms out to the sides:

"No! Don't go there! It's a secret!"

​"A secret...? I actually need to show the others that we have a new recruit."

​The spirit whipped her head back and forth, quickly darting her gaze from Liana to Iron, then back to Liana, and again to Iron. Noticing their unusual outfits, Elyria threw her little hands up and whined capriciously:

​"That's not fair! Why are your clothes so unusual?! I want some too! I want some, I want some, I want some!"

​Iron looked at her indignant little face with a barely noticeable smile:

​"Yeah... I almost forgot what it's like putting up with your tantrums."

​"What?!" Elyria pouted.

​"Never mind, it's nothing."

​Calming down, the spirit flew closer to Liana and began examining her closely with immense curiosity. Liana got a little flustered by the unexpected attention.

​"Say, what's your name?" Elyria asked.

​"My name is Liana..."

​"Pretty name! I'm Elyria, nice to meet you!"

​Liana opened her mouth to return the greeting, but immediately cut herself off as Elyria plopped down right into her hair, lifted one of the strands, and, pointing her little finger forward triumphantly, yelled:

"Let's go that way! My machine!"

​"Hey, don't use the word 'machine' like that," Iron frowned.

​Elyria simply stuck her tongue out at him in response. Liana, quickly getting into the game, took a couple of steps forward with a laugh, playing along with the spirit.

​"Go get Eliza for me," Iron sighed, walking beside them.

​"Don't want to," Elyria brushed him off.

​Iron let out a heavy sigh and said seriously:

​"If you don't go get her right now, when I come back, I'm going to make you work three times as hard."

​"Oops! Flying there now!" Elyria squeaked instantly, shooting up from Liana's head and dashing off into the depths of the thicket at top speed.

​Iron shook his head and looked at Liana:

​"You're going to have to get used to that."

​"Yeah, don't worry! I can handle it!" Liana replied with a genuine smile, examining the tree canopies.

​A couple of minutes later, Eliza appeared from behind the trees. Noticing Iron, she raised her hand in greeting.

​"Hey," Iron said.

​Liana bowed politely:

​"Hello!"

​Eliza smiled, spreading her hands:

​"Oh, let's skip the formalities, no need to be so polite. I'm Eliza, and you are...?"

​"And I'm Liana, nice to meet you," the girl said, lifting her head.

​"Yeah, likewise," Eliza nodded, then looked over their nice clothes. "Where did you buy that?"

​"At the 'Shemis' store," Iron replied. "If you want, I can take you there later too."

​"Yeah, let's do that...! But later," Eliza agreed.

​"Well, as you figured, she's new," Iron continued. "I'm heading out now, so I won't have time to show her around and explain everything. Could you do all that for me?"

​"Yeah, of course," Eliza nodded.

​She gestured for Liana to follow her, and the girl stepped after her. Iron suddenly called out after Eliza:

​"By the way, did Noah come back?"

​"No, why?"

​"No reason, just wondering," Iron replied.

​In his thoughts, he immediately reached out to Lumon:

​Give me Noah's coordinates.

​While Lumon read the data, Iron yelled out after the girls:

​"See you in a week!"

​He turned around and walked deeper into the village, thinking to himself:

​Yeah, it really is a village now... The main thing is not to keep calling it a camp.

​Meanwhile, Eliza and Liana were walking along the forest path.

"Mostly, everyone here is harvesting wood," Eliza explained. "After Noah left, our supplies started running low, so everyone threw all their efforts into it. Even the girls."

​"And who is Elyria?" Liana inquired.

​"Elyria is some kind of nature spirit," Eliza sighed. "But don't pay any mind to that, she acts like a child."

​"Got it," Liana nodded with a smile.

​"We're here," Eliza stopped.

​Beyond the trees, a logging area opened up where work was in full swing: people were felling logs and chopping wood, while Elyria bustled about near them.

​Eliza walked closer and said loudly:

​"Can I have your attention for a second?"

​The workers slowly started turning around.

​"Iron got back recently..."

​"Iron?!" Marek immediately shouted.

​"Yes, Iron," Eliza confirmed, but hearing how everyone started eagerly discussing his arrival, she immediately added: "But he instantly left again on business."

​The chatter died down instantly. Eliza pointed at Liana:

​"And this is Liana. Iron himself recommended her, so from now on, she'll be working with you. I hope you make her feel welcome."

​Liana got flustered under the people's gazes but held her ground.

​"Today you can just watch and relax..." Eliza said, turning to her.

​"No!" Liana cut her off immediately. "I don't want to relax!"

​Eliza looked surprised, but then said with a smile:

​"Alright then."

​She spotted her axe lying on the ground, picked it up, and handed it to Liana. The girl immediately grabbed the axe and ran over to the logs. A second later, Marek walked up to her:

​"Hey, Liana! I'm Marek, nice to meet you. Do you need any help with anything?"

​"Hey, nice to meet you too!" Liana replied. "And no, I don't need any help, but if I do, I'll be sure to let you know!"

​"Sounds good," Marek said, and got to work.

​Liana swung with confidence and started chopping the wood. At that moment, Elyria materialized right in front of her and started buzzing around:

​"Listen, where are you from? How did you meet Iron? Why did you agree to come here...?"

​Eliza silently walked up from behind, grabbed Elyria by the scruff of her neck, and asked sternly:

​"Elyria... maybe that's enough?"

​"But I'm curious!" the spirit said, dangling in the air.

​"If you're really that curious, why didn't you ask this earlier?"

​Elyria calmed down, scratched the back of her head, and answered sheepishly:

​"Well... um... I was just too surprised by Iron showing up."

​Eliza simply turned around and let the spirit go:

​"You can ask those questions later, but for now—please get to work."

​"Fine, fine!" Elyria huffed, and flew off.

​Eliza turned to Liana:

​"Sorry about that."

​"It's totally fine, I actually kind of enjoy it," Liana smiled slightly.

​"Good," Eliza sighed, already walking away. "Call me if you need to go anywhere. I still haven't shown you the rest of the camp."

​"Will do!" Liana nodded and got back to work with a smile.