After listening to Gillian's account, Leilin felt somewhat disappointed.
Hoping to obtain some kind of power system or cultivation method from such a weak race was clearly a bit too much to ask.
"Still, they are natives of this place at the very least, so they should have some valuable items or intelligence…"
Leilin stroked his chin.
"Besides, the Dream World can't be measured by common sense. For all I know, this little one could grow into a terrifying existence by the time I come back! Of course, the odds of that are so slim as to be negligible—death is far more likely—but there's always that sliver of hope…"
"Don't… don't… don't go…"
In her dream, Gillian seemed deeply unsettled, her hands clutching the blanket tight, her brow furrowed deeply, her eyes darting wildly beneath her eyelids—she looked wretched and pitiful.
"Don't leave me! Huff huff… it was just a dream…"
Gillian sat bolt upright, her face blank with confusion at first, until she spotted the steadily burning campfire and let out a long breath of relief.
"What's wrong, had a nightmare?" Leilin smiled and placed a piece of roasted meat in front of her.
The grease and the roasted meat blended together perfectly, and the aroma that wafted up made Gillian gulp several times in spite of herself.
"Is this… for me?" Gillian's stomach growled somewhat embarrassedly, but she still asked in disbelief.
"Of course!" Leilin's smile was warm and gentle.
He had no conflict of interest with her, and the roasted meat and bread he used up—could that even be called a cost? For Leilin, this tiny expenditure was nothing at all. He certainly didn't mind showing a bit of warmth and kindness.
Countless examples had proven that in unfamiliar surroundings, such a disguise was highly effective for concealing oneself.
Besides, Leilin didn't mind showing a bit of mercy to stray cats and dogs, so to speak.
"Th-thank you!" Gillian whispered, immediately grabbing the roasted meat and devouring it. After she had eaten about half, her voice suddenly choked up and she began to cry softly.
"Don't rush! I have plenty of food! Once you're done eating, I'll take you to find your companions!"
Leilin understood this kind of psychology all too well, so he gently comforted her, and the girl's emotions visibly eased.
……
Snap—a dry branch broke underfoot as Leilin and Gillian carefully skirted the amusement park and pressed on through the primeval jungle.
"Those terrifying monsters never leave the boundaries of the nodes, so as long as we don't go in there, we'll be fine…"
Gillian wore the hunting outfit Leilin had given her. With her face cleaned up, a spirited and dashing quality showed through, giving her a rather handsome look.
"The truly frightening ones in the Dream World are the Wanderers and the Lords! They can stir up storms at will, destroying our houses and crops, causing us terrible casualties…"
Gillian's voice grew low and somber: "If they didn't look down on us and treat us like ants, we'd probably have gone extinct long ago…"
As she spoke, she couldn't help glancing at Leilin—after all, the abilities he had displayed looked very much like those of the Lords she knew of.
"Relax! I'm not one of those things—I just learned some different methods. Haven't you ever encountered other intelligent beings and tried to communicate with them?"
In front of Gillian, Leilin made no effort to conceal his identity as an outsider.
"We have! Not just in the jungle—even within certain nodes, there are beings you can communicate with. But they appear very rarely. Most of what we encounter are those monsters that only know how to kill…"
Gillian tilted her head and thought for a moment: "I remember my father once telling me that a very, very long time ago, a massive castle appeared inside one node. Living in that castle was an old man with a white beard. Like the Lords, he commanded the power of lightning and fire, and he even passed on the methods for mastering these powers to Uncle Molin…"
"Oh?" Leilin showed clear interest—this sounded somewhat similar to a Wizard's abilities. "And then…"
"And then…" Gillian's eyes grew distant and unfocused. "After Uncle Molin gained tremendous power, he said he would take us out of the jungle to see the outside world… Then he disappeared… and never came back…"
"That's quite a sad story… Oh! I'm sorry!"
Leilin was somewhat at a loss for words.
"It's fine!" Gillian seemed quite strong about it. When she spotted a marker by the roadside, she even perked up excitedly: "We're getting close to our camp…"
Swoosh!