Infinite Paradise
Chapter 60: Brother, your hand is so small!

Chapter 60: Brother, your hand is so small!

"Goodbye, my dear Snow Vulture friend."

Alien Eye kindly waved at the Snow Vulture, which flapped its wings and returned to the skies. When leaving, it looked back as if it was reluctant to leave.

Watching this scene, the train conductor, who had barely escaped from the clutches of the Snow Vulture, was still in shock and hadn’t even the time to feel relieved or grateful. He looked at Alien Eye in amazement, "Sir, are you... are you a Druid?"

"No, sir," Alien Eye responded with a slight smile. "I am just a jellyfish from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, who likes making friends with animals. This world doesn’t just belong to me, but also to my animal friends. It acted out of sheer hunger earlier; I hope you won’t blame it."

"How could I?" The conductor, who had nearly died under the claws of the vulture, wouldn’t really blame it since it was merely the beast’s instinct. He expressed his gratitude for having survived the incident, "Anyway, I must thank you for saving my life."

"Then you should thank my Snow Leopard friend here, as it was the one that saved you... wow."

The Snow Leopard approached the conductor through the snow, held its head high, and swung its thick tail, emitting a sound akin to a big cat’s meow, "Meow~~"

"Snow Leopard shut up!" Le Cheng scolded it with a glance, "You’re one of the big cats, why don’t you learn the virtuous virtues of your elder brothers instead of sounding so effeminate, shame on you!"

The Snow Leopard seemed a bit scared of Le Cheng, didn’t talk back, and just growled twice then hid.

"Why would you scold such a cute Snow Leopard?"

"Exactly, I wanted to see the Snow Leopard jump through hoops!"

"Apologize to the Snow Leopard!"

Facing the crowd’s anger, Le Cheng had to apologize, "Okay, okay, as an apology, I’ll sing a song to warm us up... Snow fluttering, north wind howling, the world vast and boundless~~"

"Shut up!"

"What kind of song is that, it’s making me feel even colder."

"Let’s just get going!"

Everyone had had enough of the icy and snowy weather, and they just wanted to quickly find a place with shelter and fire to warm up, not bothering to deal with Le Cheng anymore.

Le Cheng reluctantly turned off the speaker, grumbling resentfully, "Ignoring me now, but you’ll regret it later, hmph."

Due to the severe weather, a mere ten-li journey took the group nearly an hour, but they finally saw a sign at the road ahead neatly written with unfamiliar text that everyone could understand—Hinamizawa Village.

Hinamizawa Village was surrounded by mountains on three sides and shaped like a gourd. It wasn’t a large village, with probably only five or six hundred people at most. When the players entered the village, many passengers had already gathered at an open space at the village entrance. Some villagers were moving lumber, making fires to fend off the chill, and two men stood at the front, one of whom was burly, clad in silver armor, appearing quite formidable.

"This man... is very strong," Edward commented, a serious look on his face.

"Maybe stronger than all of us."

"If he’s our enemy, I wouldn’t confront him head-on."

The other players nodded subconsciously. Although they weren’t really strong, they had experience in several instances and could still gauge someone’s strength by their aura.

Only Jingxiang gazed dreamily at him, "He’s so handsome, just like a prince charming."

Handsome? Is he as handsome as me?

Not convinced, Le Cheng applied the Identification Eye on him.

[Name: Gawain]

[Occupation: Knight]

[Characteristics: The Sun, Triple, Fond of Housewives]

Hmm?

What the heck?

Just as Le Cheng was making a face like an old man looking at his phone on the subway, Gawain spoke up.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am Gawain, the Imperial Guard Knight Commander. It is with regret that our train has encountered an accident, but thankfully everyone is safe. I have already dispatched a Catastrophe Messenger to the Empire, and soon, an imperial rescue team will arrive to take us out of this snowy area. However, before that, we will need to take refuge in the village of Hinamizawa."

"After previous discussions, the kind village chief and the villagers are willing to free up some of their houses for us to temporarily stay in and to provide us with living supplies during this period. On behalf of the Empire, I’d like to extend my sincerest gratitude to Mister Village Chief and the people of Hinamizawa."

As he spoke, Gawain turned around, placed one hand on his chest, and bowed deeply to the Village Chief.

The Village Chief was an elderly man with white hair, leaning on a cane. He quickly helped Gawain up, laughing: "Knight, you’re too kind. We’re all citizens of the Empire, and it’s only right to help each other out during tough times. Not to mention, you’ve paid quite handsomely. Let’s forget these formalities; it’s so cold, let everyone go inside and warm up first."

"Thank you for your troubles."

Including seven players and train staff, there were over a hundred passengers taking refuge in Hinamizawa Village. Although they knew the Empire would send a rescue team, faced with such a sudden disaster, instinctively, everyone was a bit panicked. However, under Gawain’s reassurance, the panic quickly settled, and even some women were frequently casting adoring glances at Gawain.

Afterward, the villagers led everyone toward the inner part of the village.

Meanwhile, Gawain and a few accompanying knights maintained order beside them.

"Come to think of it, if it’s just a temporary residence, why not set up at the entrance of the village? It would be easier for the imperial rescue team to pick us up when they arrive. Why arrange it in the deepest part of the village?"

"Nonsense, of course, it’s to trap us! If we all stayed at the village entrance, and a few of us died, the others would be terrified and run out of the village. How then could they annihilate us completely?"

"Even you know this logic, Gawain can’t possibly miss it, right?"

"Are you saying I’m dumb?"

"No, I just want to know if Gawain realizes something’s off."

"Probably not, he doesn’t have our God’s view, and strong people often don’t use their brains much."

"Say that again!"

"Should we hint something to Gawain?"

"No, let’s not. It’s better not to say divisive things."

"You’re right, and it might accidentally alert them."

The players walked at the very end of the procession, murmuring quietly among themselves, before deciding unanimously to just wait and see.

Although this might lead to some unavoidable deaths, as long as they kept Caster safe, it didn’t matter much—though they still had no idea who Caster was...

"Wait, where’s the newbie?"

Suddenly, someone realized Le Cheng was missing.

"Oh no, he might not have kept up and died outside, right?"

"Couldn’t be, I’m pretty sure I saw him enter the village too."

Although they weren’t particularly concerned about the life or death of a rookie, in a team-based mission, the more who died, the lower the mission rating, and having fatalities right from the start wasn’t a good omen.

Fortunately, they soon found out that Le Cheng wasn’t dead, but the bad news was that somehow he had managed to get to the front of the group and was now...

Nearby, Le Cheng was following a youth around fifteen or sixteen years old, with an androgynous look and dressed as a boy, chatting volubly when suddenly, he grabbed the other’s hand, exclaiming in surprise: "Bro, your hand is so small! How is it so much whiter than mine?"

"Holy fuck! He doesn’t even spare little boys? That’s insane!"

The players were shocked again.

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