Water Mage in the Flame Realm-Chapter 303 - 293: Return! (Part 1)

"Have they found the person yet?" In the Royal Court, within the Eternal Frost Hall, Catherine looked at Dean Charlie who hurried in and asked softly.

"No." Dean Charlie shook his head, his face hard to conceal the gloom.

Last night, Barbara was awakened by noises on the balcony in her sleep. When she got up and put on her clothes to go to the balcony, she only saw a beautiful middle-aged woman lying unconscious on the ground. Andrew had already disappeared. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

In most situations, when a girl wakes up in the middle of the night to find a strange woman on the balcony outside the bedroom while her boyfriend is nowhere to be seen, she would undoubtedly think too much.

However, Barbara immediately realized at the first sight of the beautiful woman: something had happened!

Because Barbara knew: that beautiful woman was Aunt Susan.

Not only was she wearing Susan's clothes, but Barbara had also heard from her parents that Aunt Susan could restore her appearance to its prime in a short time and temporarily break through to true Tier Nine strength.

The price was burning her lifespan.

To restore her appearance at the cost of burning her lifespan, something major must have happened!

Soon, Catherine, Dean Charlie, Havier, and Sabye were all alarmed.

Dean Charlie's magic combined both "fire" and "wind" elemental attributes. In battle, he could strengthen the power of fire magic with the wind, and conversely, when focusing on wind attributes, he was highly skilled in tracking and searching.

However, Dean Charlie searched for a long time, almost thoroughly covering the areas in and around the Royal Court, including the surrounding snow-capped mountains and tundras, but couldn't find a trace or even a piece of Andrew's clothing.

From last night until now, not only was Dean Charlie searching, but a large number of Frost Guards under Catherine's command were also dispatched to conduct a carpet search.

At this moment, Dean Charlie looked at Catherine and asked, "Miss Second, what about your side? Any clues?"

Catherine shook her head: "No clues for now."

Dean Charlie thought for a moment and asked, "Have you also checked the secret places of the Royal Court, such as the Ice Prison or the legendary Extreme Cold Ice Prison?"

Andrew's sudden disappearance, even a fool would know it must be related to the people from the Magic Guild. With the Magic Guild having royal backing in the Royal Court, it's naturally possible they may have hidden Andrew somewhere within the Royal Court.

"All two thousand three hundred and twenty-five Ice Prisons in the Royal Court have been checked, and there's nothing," Catherine said. "As for the Extreme Cold Ice Prison, I went there personally, and Andrew is not there."

"I see..."

Dean Charlie couldn't help but grit his teeth, "So Andrew, he was indeed framed by those bastards from the Magic Guild, right? The only thing unknown is whether he is temporarily detained and still alive, or... or..."

In a rush of anxiety, he suddenly started coughing violently.

"Are you alright?" Catherine asked with concern, "Is it the fire poison from Lady Dragon Tamer yesterday that hasn't fully healed?" As she spoke, she turned her hand over and took out a Snickers from the Warm Fire Commerce Association, made by Andrew, and handed it over. It seemed that she always kept Andrew-made Snickers with her.

Dean Charlie took it and ate, and only then did he gradually stop coughing.

After waiting for Dean Charlie to recover, Catherine asked again: "What about Aunt Susan? Is she out of the critical condition now?"

Dean Charlie rarely showed any emotion of dejection and frustration and said in a low voice: "Susan is no longer in life-threatening danger, but when she will wake up... or whether she will wake up, is unclear. What is certain is, even if she wakes up, her strength will be greatly diminished, and her lifespan significantly shortened; she might not live long..."

Susan was severely injured, extremely so.

So severely that she should have died from her wounds.

But Andrew, upon seeing Susan last night, in the limited time before being knocked out by the female assassin, performed emergency treatment on Susan, which worked.

Andrew managed to preserve the last thread of life within Susan's body using his knowledge of many Water Magic spells from the Water Priestess Series, pairing them with Continuous Counterattack, and further evolving his own Magic Power and Whole Power after Water and Fire United.

"Saved a life, huh..."

Catherine was silent for a moment, then softly sighed and said, "Well, that's a blessing in disguise. But in that case, we have no way of knowing what really happened last night until Aunt Susan wakes up, do we?"

Dean Charlie frowned and said: "What happened last night is not the main point! The issue now is, Andrew can't be found, and this third negotiation match—"

Catherine nodded and turned to look in a particular direction: "In her current state, my sister indeed isn't fit to continue participating in the next third negotiation match."

Barbara sat alone in a corner of the hall, silent, with a pale face.

She was different from the others; between her and Andrew, they had established a deep mental and soul connection after practicing Water and Fire United.

However, since Andrew's disappearance last night, that almost telepathic connection felt completely gone.

Barbara couldn't feel Andrew's presence at all now.

This made Barbara involuntarily think: "Could it be that Andrew... is already dead? No, it can't be the worst-case scenario! He... he is most likely detained somewhere, temporarily cut off from the outside world, right? Andrew is surely still alive!"

Barbara had been through the tough times in the Inner Sea Desert, her heart already tempered stronger than her peers.

But some things, no matter how strong the heart, are still excruciating!

"Don't participate in the third negotiation match anymore," a voice rang out, "In your current state, you can't do it."

Barbara raised her eyes, looked at the person in front of her, and called out, "Sister."

The scheduled time for the third negotiation match was nearing.

The people from the Magic Guild and the king were still delayed in arriving.

At the moment, in the hall, apart from Catherine and a portion of the Frost Guards under her command, there were only Barbara, and not far away, Havier and Sabye.

"I say, don't fight this third match, Little Barbara, in your current state, if you force yourself to battle, something might go wrong." Catherine advised.

But Barbara shook her head very slowly and very resolutely, "No, I have to fight."

Yorkshire was battered in the second match, and in the third match, the other party would most likely summon a Saint Son stronger than Yorkshire to team up with Capella for the battle.

Facing such opponents, Barbara knew that even if she and Andrew joined forces, the odds of victory would be fifty-fifty; without Andrew, she was highly likely to lose, and it could even be life-threatening.

But the fight must happen.

With Andrew not here, the fight becomes even more necessary!

Because: "If Andrew has truly been schemed and captured by the people from the Magic Guild, we'll need more leverage to get him back, to rescue him!

Unlike Dean Charlie, who has powerful search and tracking skills, all I can do is insist on fighting this third match, and I absolutely must find a way to win! After winning, then see if there's any chance for a turn in events."

This was Barbara's current thought.

Insisting on fighting, not just for the Warm Fire Commerce Association, but also for Andrew.

Catherine seemed about to offer more persuasion.

But Barbara, not waiting for Catherine to continue, directly turned to Sabye, "When the match starts, if Andrew still hasn't returned—"

"—then I'll replace Andrew, team up with you, Third Miss, to fight." Sabye shrugged and smiled, "Third Miss, don't worry. Even if it costs me my life, I'll do my utmost to help you win this third match."

Back when Andrew first arrived at Warm Fire City, Sabye, along with Havier and Debbie, had given Andrew trouble.

This negotiation trip to the royal court, Sabye even pondered whether he had the chance to replace Andrew in the battle.

But upon truly arriving at the royal court, encountering people from the Magic Guild, experiencing the power of the Saint Sons, and... witnessing firsthand the capabilities and roles Andrew, someone his own age, had displayed throughout the negotiations thus far, Sabye had quietly come to respect Andrew.

He was now thoroughly impressed by Andrew.

Even though he now had the opportunity to participate in battle, which he had long dreamed of, his thoughts aligned with Barbara's: "Win! And then use it as leverage to try and get Andrew back, to rescue him!"

"Thank you." Barbara looked into Sabye's eyes, said seriously. Her face suddenly shifted, and she turned her head.

As she saw the main doors of the hall slowly opening.

The king, along with the Magic Guild's Flame Turtle, Capella, and Yorkshire, walked in from outside.

Following closely behind were a large number of Frost Guards standing on the king's side.

During the negotiation match yesterday, the Frost Guards from both sides were about even in number.

Today, however, the Frost Guards on the king's side were clearly more numerous, because more than half of the guards under Catherine had gone to find Andrew.

Barbara saw Yorkshire still within the opponent's ranks, looking slightly dazed, and felt stranger still upon noticing that there were no new faces in the opponent's ranks, "So they didn't summon the second, or first Saint Son?"

This logically counted as good news, meaning their side's chances of victory had increased considerably, and Sabye could barely hold his ground against a Yorkshire who had just been beaten up yesterday, while she only needed to defeat Capella head-on—this was the instinctive notion that popped into Barbara's mind.

However, as her gaze fell on Yorkshire today, Barbara's eyelid began to twitch uncontrollably several times.

It felt as if the opponent had completely changed from before.

Previously, Yorkshire was arrogant, overbearing, and annoying, always talking excessively.

Today's Yorkshire, though, was very calm, with a gentle smile on his handsome face.

When Barbara looked over, Yorkshire was walking beside Capella, whispering something to him. Judging by Capella's facial expression, it seemed Capella also found today's Yorkshire to be unusual, somewhat different.

"...Members of the Warm Fire Commerce Association, you all arrived early." The king smiled broadly, "The lady is here as well."

As he spoke, he walked to the throne, as if unaware of Andrew's absence.

Flame Turtle, however, let out a sinisterly cold laugh, deliberately surveying the members of the Warm Fire Commerce Association with exaggerated looks and gestures, then feigned surprise, "Hmm, something's off, why are you all... missing someone?"

Ever since Lady Dragon Taming was heavily injured and temporarily left the royal court yesterday, he had shown a face full of hatred towards the members of the Warm Fire Commerce Association.

At this moment, using a nauseating expression known as asking knowingly, he inquired, "Why are you short a person?" before pausing on purpose to ask, "Where's Susan, why hasn't she come? And that little brat named Andrew, where did he go?

That brat did quite a bit during negotiations yesterday, why didn't he come today? Could it be... he's dead?"