Chapter 824 – The Thrifty Familiars

“Master, look!” Zhizhi’s voice rang out loud and proud. “These are the mana crystals we earned over the years! They’re all for you!”

“Clack!” The little skeleton chimed in emphatically, its soul fire dancing even more merrily.

Looking at the mana crystals piled at her feet, then at these two partners who had single-mindedly saved up a fortune for her, Mo Lan’s heart was instantly flooded with an immense wave of warmth.

She crouched down, opened her arms, and pulled both Zhizhi and Clack into her embrace. “You two are incredible! Well done! Now tell me everything — what have you been up to all these years? How did you earn so many mana crystals?”

Though these mana crystals weren’t a significant amount to Mo Lan, she understood all too well how hard they were to come by.

Zhizhi and Clack weren’t Explorers — they couldn’t go to other worlds to complete missions and earn mana crystals.

In the Explorer’s Camp, where resources in this world were still priced in Magic Gold Coins, earning this many mana crystals required far more ingenuity and effort.

Not to mention the precious source mana crystals among them.

That would have been much harder still.

At her master’s question, Zhizhi immediately perked up, leaping out of Mo Lan’s arms and launching into an animated retelling with flailing limbs. Clack nodded its skull vigorously beside her, waving its arm bones to pantomime along.

“Zhizhi! Master, when you first left, I was so well-behaved! Every day I carried Clack’s coffin to the Otherworld Archives to look for work.”

Zhizhi blinked her big eyes and launched into a torrent of words. “At first, I worked as a waitress at the café in the Otherworld Archives rest area! I’m cute and I have a way with words, so the boss and customers all loved me. Before long, Clack woke up, and I noticed it had gotten much smarter, so I introduced it to our boss. It can’t talk, but it’s hardworking and tireless — a real pro at carrying plates and wiping tables. The two of us were earning ten ordinary mana crystals a week back then!”

“But after about half a year, Zhizhi here made a discovery!”

Zhizhi’s tone rose with a hint of pride. “Lots of Explorers, just like you, Master, go to the Archives to read, and they stay for ages! Plus, they have to go exploring in other worlds too, and sometimes it’s too dangerous to bring their familiar partners along! Those familiars just sitting alone in their tents — how boring is that!”

“So!” Zhizhi puffed out her little chest, her Rainbow Belt gleaming prominently. “I used the ordinary mana crystals you gave me and bought a small tent at the Central Camp, not far from the Otherworld Archives!”

Clack pointed helpfully toward a direction outside the tent and nodded firmly.

“And then,” Zhizhi gestured excitedly, “our ‘Mo-Zhi-Ka Familiar Boarding House’ opened for business! We specialize in taking care of Explorers’ familiars while they’re away!”

“At first we just offered good food and comfy beds for them to eat and rest, but later we expanded the tent and added climbing frames, a pouncing sandpit, jumping platforms, a swimming pool, a game room, a media room, a study room — all sorts of entertainment, activity, and learning areas. The less clever familiars could play and roughhouse on their own, while the smarter ones could study and read with me.”

“Business has been great!” Zhizhi concluded with a summary, her little face beaming with pride. “Lots of Explorers praised us for how attentive our care is and trusted us with their partners without worry! These mana crystals are our net income after deducting all costs!”

Clack clattered away too, its soul fire leaping cheerfully in agreement.

Listening to the two little ones recount their “entrepreneurial history” — one with words and the other with gestures — Mo Lan’s heart swelled with emotion and pride.

Her familiar partners, during the years she’d been away, had not only taken excellent care of themselves but had built a small business through their own efforts.

This was far more precious to her than any mana crystal.

After her spirited retelling, Zhizhi suddenly lowered her head.

“Master, Clack and I are really useful! You can’t just get new familiars and forget about us, okay? Zhizhi~”

Hearing this anxious, slightly aggrieved plea, Mo Lan’s heart melted into a puddle on the spot. She immediately understood — the two little ones must have sensed Sentai’s existence through the magical familiar contract and assumed she’d found “someone new” out there, worrying they’d fallen out of favor.

She couldn’t help but laugh softly, opening her arms once more to pull the drooping Zhizhi and the skull-held-high Clack into a tight embrace, speaking in a voice of absolute certainty:

“What kind of nonsense are you thinking!”

She gently stroked Zhizhi’s fuzzy little head, then patted Clack’s smooth skull.

“You two are my partners — family who’ve grown alongside me! How could I ever forget you?”

She loosened her hold slightly, looking into their eyes and soul fire, and explained earnestly:

“I met Sentai in the Three Thousand Mirror Ruins. It helped me find the space core I’d been searching for, and then under my Tree Friend spell, it developed sentience. I needed to give the space core to the Book of Cards as crafting material, but I couldn’t bear to let a newly awakened Sentai die in the spatial interstice, so I formed a magical familiar contract with it.

It’s a very, very large ancient tree, and right now it’s guarding our new home!”

At the mention of a new home, Zhizhi immediately lifted her head, and Clack’s soul fire flickered with curiosity.

“Come see for yourselves!” Mo Lan carefully stepped over the mana crystals covering the floor and pulled open the personal tent’s door.

Zhizhi tilted her head, and Clack’s soul fire flickered once, both expressing confusion.

In their understanding, “home” should be on the Continent of Valen, but outside this door was the Explorer’s Camp!

“Is our new home in the Explorer’s Camp? Zhizhi?” Zhizhi couldn’t help asking.

Mo Lan shook her head mysteriously. “You’ll see when you go through!”

Brimming with curiosity, Zhizhi and Clack stepped cautiously through the tent’s doorway, one after the other.

But the sight that greeted them stopped them dead in their tracks!

Before them was nothing like the familiar camp scenery — instead, it was a warm, cozy parlor unlike anything they’d ever seen!

Plush sofas, a steaming teapot, landscape paintings on the walls, and the air filled with the pleasant fragrance of wood and greenery.

“Strange! Zhizhi! Where is this?” Zhizhi spun around in surprise, scratching her head with a little paw.

“Clack?” Clack swiveled its skull left and right in bewilderment, its soul fire morphing into a big question mark.

“This is our new home!” she announced, then reached out and opened the door once more.

This time, the view beyond was completely different.

No longer the parlor, but a vast, open expanse — shimmering ponds in the distance, thick green mossy meadows, towering ancient trees, and farther still, the faint outlines of snow-capped mountains and forests, the air unbelievably fresh.

Mo Lan pointed to the sprawling world beyond the door and declared proudly to her two awestruck little companions:

“Look! All of this — it’s all ours!”