Xyrin Empire-Chapter 688 A Gift

The room erupted in clanging and banging, with five consecutive sounds of heavy collisions before it finally quieted down.

I felt the Mercury Lamp in my embrace make a small arch with its soft little body, straining to poke her tiny head out from underneath, "Stupid human! What’s with the sudden hug?"

Her voice was filled with seven parts anger and three parts happiness; it seemed my subconscious action had indeed successfully garnered a considerable amount of favor. Had it been before when I hugged her without permission, this little lass would’ve already struck with her steel teeth through my carotid artery.

"Hiss—you guys really go for it, huh," I said a bit awkwardly, loosening my arms from under the soft little body. As I lifted my hand, I immediately felt a sharp pain in my back. Although not injured, the corners of the Rose Maidens’ boxes were truly hard enough; if it were an average person receiving such blows, they’d probably be in their final moments of care by now, "Especially you, Cui Xingshi! Who aims for the tailbone with their boxes?! Don’t pretend to be dumb, I’ve long since labeled your boxes!"

"Anyway, Mercury Lamp said you can’t be smashed to death!"

The doll girl with the red and green heterochromia eyes abandoned her disguise and stated confidently after pushing away her box.

The instigator immediately burrowed under the covers, "I’m sleeping!"

I suddenly felt that I might have been too strict with my training. Just look at the usual chairwoman now; how has she turned into such a troublesome little mischief-maker?

Waving off the bunch of doll girls causing trouble in the middle of the night and setting their boxes, doubling as charging docks, neatly against the wall, I looked around at the small circle of heads seriously. Mercury Lamp was still burrowed in my bedding, only her upper face peering out arrogantly at me.

"Spit it out. What’s the matter? Middle of the night and none of you girls are asleep, even Zhenhong is joining in the excitement. There must be something up, right?"

Sure enough, as my words ended, the circle of small heads turned away or hung their heads low in an embarrassed manner, with Mercury Lamp tunneling further under the covers to indicate she was already asleep.

"Cough cough, actually... it’s something concerning Sister Mercury Lamp, but she’s too embarrassed to say it."

After a long while, with everyone remaining silent, Cui Xingshi, the only conscientiously good one among the Rose Maidens, finally decided to speak out. The troubled doll girl glanced at the large lump under the blankets, "She has something for you."

"Hm?" I blinked in confusion, reaching out to pull Mercury Lamp from under the covers, when suddenly there was a "snap" next to our ears. I continued unaffected, dragging her out by the hand she was biting—this technique was definitely learned from Dingdang!

Seeing the usually mature, even queenly, Mercury Lamp so out of character unabashedly acting impulsively tonight, I finally caught a clue: Little Light seemed exceptionally lively tonight, and her mood was incredibly buoyant. Leading her sisters in mischief wasn’t enough, she was even unusually trying to act cutesy with me (though her approach was quite unique)—this was definitely not her typical brash persona. Based on our past interactions, there could only be one reason for Mercury Lamp’s abnormal behavior: She was extremely nervous and excited, resulting in a bit of uncontrolled behavior.

Right, yet another victory for the nanny daddy.

"You got something for me, kiddo?"

I gently shook her, watching Mercury Lamp sway back and forth in the air with the movement. Amidst the stunned expressions of the other Rose Maidens watching their domineering sister act cute, I asked with a chuckle.

This girl, she no longer seemed even aware of what she was doing. With the training... cough, education progressing, had she become more and more childlike?

"Snort!" the doll girl finally realized she couldn’t speak like this and let go of my hand, then turned her head away ostentatiously, "Hmph, just found something interesting while shopping and bought it... to broaden your horizons! You’re always buying me gifts, today we’re even!"

Alright then, she’s switched to tsundere mode. Mercury Lamp, how exactly are you planning to... hold on a sec?! A gift?!

The internal exclamation had only reached halfway before I fully grasped the meaning of Mercury Lamp’s words. So this stand-offish doll was actually giving me a gift today?

The realization hit me, plunging me into profound shock, before I reached out and pinched Cui Xingshi’s chubby cheeks, twisting firmly.

"Ow! That hurts!" the little doll immediately cried out.

"Alright, I’m not dreaming, are you actually giving me a gift, young lady?" With an expression of pleasant surprise, I ignored Cui Xingshi’s punches and kicks, which weren’t much different from a massage. While holding on to Mercury Lamp’s arm, I lifted her up to my eyes like one would a child, feeling nothing but surprise and joy—Ah, daughters do grow up and become sensible.

"Put me down! Put me down! You big dummy! Idiot! Moron!"

The silver-haired Gothic girl, who always fiercely resisted being lifted up, immediately started to twist and shout her protests. Her half-missing little tiger teeth gleamed coldly in the moonlight, but to be honest, these protests posed no threat at all, aside from making someone think, "Wow, this girl is so cute."

At that moment, Zhenhong and the others were dumbstruck. As a generation that had thrived under the shadow of Mercury Lamp, when had these little dolls ever seen Mercury Lamp reveal such a side of herself? Although they had already witnessed Mercury Lamp’s drastic changes over the past few days, the truly unbelievable actions always seemed to happen when she was with a certain Leader.

The father and daughter joyfully (or was it?) played around for a bit, and I finally put the doll girl down, eagerly looking into her purple-red eyes: "What’s the good thing, let me have a look?"

Mercury Lamp was clearly a bit embarrassed, but after the distraction of our tussle, the little one just glared at me, hopped onto the ground with a thud, and started rummaging through her large box, which had recently been transformed into a multi-functional mobile sea-view room by a bunch of "daddies and mommies"—it even had a newly installed space storage system.

"This is it! Accept it with twelve thousand fold gratitude and with all due respect!"

Lifting a square box wrapped in wrapping paper, the doll girl declared proudly.

Despite her tone being less than polite, I still accepted the package, filled with excitement and anticipation. The square box was wrapped in colorful cellophane, which was bright but adorned with a crooked ribbon knot that was clearly tied by a pair of clumsy little hands. The Rose Maiden’s hands were too small, making it not only difficult for her to write, but even wrapping packages seemed to be a challenge.

I took great pains to untie the knot that Mercury Lamp had tied without damaging the wrapping. Quietly, I looked inside the box to find... another box.

Okay, I get it, let’s repeat that heartfelt moment once more.

After struggling again to untie the slightly smaller box, I became despondent at the sight of the third package.

Alright, to not disappoint those bright eyes watching me, I kept at it.

The fourth box, infuriating beyond belief, came into view.

"Hmph, keep unpacking, it’s at the very inside!" After I had unpacked who knows how many boxes, and Mercury Lamp saw that I stopped what I was doing, she immediately gave me an unimpressed look and snorted coldly, "If I hadn’t wrapped it so many times, it wouldn’t look nice since the thing is so small!"

I thought about it quietly and then decided to tell her the truth: "This is the last box, you see—it’s empty."

Mercury Lamp: "..."

"Young lady, actually... you forgot to put something inside."

I looked up at the ceiling with tears in my eyes, wordlessly.

"Eh~?! Impossible! You must have made a mistake, you stupid oaf, you’ve broken it!"

Little Light was stunned for a moment, her face turning red as she suddenly burst out in a panic. Then she plopped down onto the bed and frantically started searching through the mess of wrapping paper and boxes, "No... no... still no! You dim-witted human! Where on earth did you hide it!"

Before I could explain, suddenly, Chu Mei’s voice piped up: "It’s in the box! You really did forget to put it in!"

Looking in the direction of the sound, indeed, Chu Mei had somehow made her way to Mercury Lamp’s box and pulled out the specific little thing that should have been inside the package.

"Damn it! After mustering up so much courage... Stupid humans! Hurry up and lose your memory, I need to repackage this whole thing!"

Give me a more reliable suggestion, you dummy!

I had never seen Mercury Lamp so flustered before, and I suddenly felt a severe sense of being overwhelmed by cuteness, but now was definitely not the time to be fixated on this subject: Mercury Lamp was in danger, teasing her had to be done with care, and going too far with the Rose Maidens could trigger an arterial attack.

"Let’s see what this is."

Despite the little doll’s desperate attempts to block me since evening, I took the gift from the obedient Chu Mei, which was supposed to be wrapped up securely but had, in fact, been clumsily left out by its clumsy owner.

It turned out to be a small... compass?

I looked at the thing in my hand, about the size of a pocket watch, perplexed. This delicate copper gadget looked just like a compass, with a brass spring cover and a crystal case underneath. The cover was engraved with intricate patterns, forming several symbols that indicated it was an alchemical product. However, when I took a closer look at the needle under the crystal shell, I suddenly realized it was pointing toward the northwest...

After flipping it over a few times, the accursed thing was still resolutely pointing northwest.

"Ha ha, you thought this was a compass?"

Mercury Lamp’s smug laughter rang out. It seemed she was utterly amused that I, the leader of a highly advanced civilization, had been fooled by a little alchemical trinket. Then the little thing ran two steps on the bed and came to my other side, "Now look!"

I looked down, and the "compass" had changed direction, now pointing toward the northeast: the position of Mercury Lamp.

Mercury Lamp bounced around on the bed, and my odd alchemy compass in hand followed her every move, changing directions all over the place, until I had to stop the Rose Maiden, who had become a little too enthusiastic, "Alright, alright! If you keep hopping like that, I’m going to be the one throwing up, not the needle!"

This was a historic moment. From now on, this marvelous little thing in my hand was officially named "Point-You Needle," applicable only to Mercury Lamp.

"Where did you scavenge this from?"

I asked curiously, twirling the little gadget in my hand, the needle steadfastly pointing in Mercury Lamp’s direction.

"An alchemist, he was setting up a stall at the night market," Mercury Lamp replied, climbing onto her designated seat on my arm, "He had bad luck written all over his face, but who knew he’d have such a good find?"

"What did he research this thing for?"

I casually asked while fiddling with the little gift from Mercury Lamp.

"That alchemist claimed to be a ’Magic School’ inventor, specializing in using alchemy to create novel mechanical devices. He invented this thing to find treasures, but there was a problem that always troubled the inventor: for the compass to work, you must first find the treasure and then ’record’ the coordinates of it on the compass, and this record is a one-time thing..."

I think I understand why that guy, despite being a highly educated individual, ended up so down on his luck that he had to set up street stalls in Shadow City.

"Actually, we bought a lot of things," Cui Xingshi said spiritedly, running back to her box and starting to take things out, ready to turn tonight into a treasure appraisal fair. Soon, my bed was piled high with all sorts of peculiar alchemical gadgets thanks to the concerted effort of a group of Rose Maidens.

"A solar energy light that needs illumination to shine, an alarm clock that requires the user to press a button to make a sound, a water-saving laundry tub that can clean clothes without water—though it requires two liters of precious Magic Water to start, a magical ’Satiety’ potion that makes you immediately feel full after eating but as a side effect causes severe diarrhea and vomiting five minutes later, a magic accumulator that can charge ordinary glass to turn it into Magic Energy Crystals – at the same time consuming the energy of two Magic Energy Crystals, and the most intriguing of all, an alchemy platform that can print text. Here’s how it works: you place a blank sheet of paper on the left side of the platform, then you write with a one-kilogram Secret Silver Pen on the right side, and the platform will automatically transfer the text to the white paper on the left..."

Zhenhong introduced each of the odd and unique items on my bed without changing her expression.

"That alchemist is a talent."

I nodded profusely, my brow damp with sweat.

"Indeed, a talent, it’s said that he used different names to drain the treasuries of three kingdoms in a row, and it wasn’t until he started on the fourth that he was discovered. From that day, that alchemist was known as the Destructive Divine Artifact."

Zhenhong said half, and then Golden Canary took up the tale, "But the alchemist wasn’t executed, he is now a strategic weapon. The king who captured this alchemist announced to the entire continent that if anyone dared invade his kingdom, he would send the ’Deceiving Alchemist’ to their realm. It’s said the king also promised he wouldn’t use the alchemist first unless he was invaded..."

Well, to mess things up to this point, Nameless Alchemist XXX classmate, you also count as a winner in life.

Under the moonlight, looking at this pile of inventions that could very well carry the tears and blood of entire kingdoms, I silently reflected for a long while. Such an oddity had the courage to live; why should I, merely shouldering the modest burden of saving the world, be frustrated here, right?

Just then, Mercury Lamp tapped me on the head. Successful in giving her gift, the little doll had regained her usual cool and haughty demeanor, but when she spoke, there seemed to be a hint of nervousness in her voice, "Hey, stupid human, you haven’t thanked me yet!"

I immediately understood: a certain tsundere chairman was looking for praise and evaluation.

"Thank you."

With a very solemn tone, I took the "Treasure Finder" back into my Personal Space while carrying Mercury Lamp from my shoulder to face her, and said earnestly.

"Ah! Stop being so serious all of a sudden, it’s so cheesy!"

"Cough cough, it’s rare for me to be serious," I coughed awkwardly, held the tiny doll-girl in front of my chest, and roughly ruffled her head, "I really like the gift, okay?"

"Tsundere, just a dummy who thinks someone is actually looking forward to his opinion!" Mercury Lamp shook her head to avoid my big hand and said haughtily.

"Alright, alright, I’m the dummy, but can the non-dummy you explain why this Compass recorded your information?" I suddenly thought of something and asked casually: the Compass Mercury Lamp gave me had a one-time function to record "Treasure Points," but she used it to record her own information instead. What did that mean? To never throw herself away?

"It was just a test when I bought it," muttered Mercury Lamp, turning her head away. Then she zipped into a corner and plunged into her portable seascape box, "I’m going to sleep! No rolling in bed! No annoying things, got it?"

"Yes, yes, yes—"

Like dealing with a mischievous daughter, I answered perfunctorily, only to receive a huff of reprimand: "Dummy! You only need to say ’yes’ once!"

With a "bang," the box was shut forcefully, leaving me and a bunch of Rose Maidens staring at each other.

"You really are a strange fellow."

After a long silence, Zhenhong left just that much of an evaluation.

"And kind of a pervert," said Cui Xingshi, hand on hip, the other pointing at my nose, leaning in to add seriously, "But not a bad human."

Being evaluated so bizarrely for no reason, I was somewhat confused, but fortunately, the remaining dolls were of the well-behaved sort. Cang Xingshi, Golden Canary, and Chu Mei bid me good night properly and then took their treasures and returned to their boxes to sleep, leaving me alone in the dark with a goofy smile on my face, quietly chuckling to myself.

The gift, Mercury Lamp’s gift—although that silly girl used an even sillier method to deal with her nervousness tonight, I had truly received her sentiment.

In various senses, my... educational plan, a great success. (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for it, and your support is my biggest motivation.)

This content is taken from free web nov𝒆l.com