443: Chapter 11: The Aged Goblin_1 443: Chapter 11: The Aged Goblin_1 “You two brats, stop calling ‘Little Kera.’ My na is Christo, Christo.” Hearing the familiar banter, the old goblin Christo, who had been napping in a lounger, jumped up, wheeling his fists and shouting loudly.
But after only a few shouts, he suddenly clung to the armrest of the chair, panting heavily.
His forrly straight back began to bend, and a trickle of sweat appeared on his forehead, a sign of his weakness.
After a bout of panting, Christo managed to steady his breath.
He groped around the chair for a mont before leaning on a cane for support.
With a shaky turn of his head, he spoke crossly, “Damn it, Kyle, I can hear you.
You never used to pull such bastard stunts.”
“You looked so fit when I saw you at the auction a few months ago.” Pannis stared at Christo’s hunched back and slow movents, feeling a complicated emotion stirring within him.
Sighing, he moved to support his friend, asking, “How co you beca like this in just the matter of months?”
“Old age.” Christo’s calm sigh seed resigned.
“Who would have thought, eh?
When you age, that’s what happens.
I just had a mild illness recently, and I haven’t fully recovered yet.
I have no energy all day, I get winded just strolling in the courtyard, and the mont I sit down, I fall asleep.”
“You better sit down and rest for a mont.” Pannis’s voice was tight with anxiety.
“Looking at you, I’m worried you might fall at any mont.”
“I look rather pathetic, don’t I?
I agree.” The once sharp and strong voice of Christo had now beco sowhat raspy.
“The short walk that I used to be able to make in a flash now takes minutes.”
Apparently hearing the conversation outside, a little girl dressed as a housemaid poked her head out of the house curiously, looking out before retreating back inside.
“I can’t help it.
These past few years, there are many things I no longer have the strength to do.” Christo shook his head.
“I can only hire soone to help.
She cleans the house, cooks, and accommodates guests.”
“So, you never married and settled down?” Pannis sighed, asking, “Now you live alone?”
“Hehe, of course not.” Christo’s laugh was full of regret, as if rembering sothing from the past.
He stared up into the sky in a daze.
“Odin, however, had his daughter apprentice while taking care of my everyday needs.
But that child keeps growing heavier, and now she needs others to take care of her.
Hahaha.”
“Freya?” Pannis imagined what Freya taking care of Christo would look like.
Suppressing a smile, he said, “She’s sleeping at our place now.
Want to call her over to tend to you?”
“Would you dare?” Although Christo’s eyes were dim, they still shone with an ardent light.
“I heard from those two brats that those girls aren’t aware of who you are.
Do you dare to reveal yourself just like that?”
Pannis fell silent for a mont before sighing, “I doubt the deceit will last much longer.
Once they secure their Legendary ranks and realize they still can’t comprehend my strength, there’ll naturally be suspicions of a demigod.
That would narrow down the list significantly.”
“You don’t need to worry so much,” Christo consoled him.
“Your condition is too unique.
Nobody would have guessed that after more than a hundred years, you are still alive and yet have retained such a youthful appearance.
Under normal circumstances, people would assu that even if you were still alive, you would be like and Philarx.”
“Have you seen Philarx recently?” Pannis asked.
“How’s he holding up?”
“The last ti I saw him, ten years ago, was when I still got around easily.” Christo recalled.
“He looked just about the sa as .
That guy really did a great job studying ti magic, having extended his lifespan twofold.”
“Regarding the Sands of Ti, do you think he could help?” asked Pannis.
“He is an expert in this field and might have more clues.”
“I’m afraid that will be difficult.” Christo shook his head.
“The last ti I saw him, he could barely walk.
And when he went to his lab, he had to have his students support him even with a cane.
Asking for his help now would be akin to asking him to go die, I would advise against it.”
“Sigh, everyone’s getting old.” With a regretful expression, Pannis stared at Christo blankly.
“I didn’t expect this.”
“Of all people, you have the least right to say this,” returned Christo, brandishing his cane angrily.
“And you think about what you’ve done.
One hundred-nine years, Pannis!
You have left us, your friends, behind for one hundred and nine years.
Where were you when Bearman Carl’s funeral took place?
Where were you when our old Shaman was rembered on his 100th death anniversary?
As our short-lived races grew older and older year by year, where were you?
Do you know how much we longed for your presence?
We all yearned for the days of fighting side by side again.
But you, the one who organized us… huh, never mind, I won’t scold you anymore.
Nellie, she… ah, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have brought it up.”
“It’s all right; you are right.” Pannis dropped his eyes, his voice filled with heavy remorse.
“It’s all my fault.
I should apologize.”
“Enough, let’s not talk about it anymore.” Christo summoned up so energy.
“But I’m really glad you ca today.
This is your first ti coming to see us, your old friends, of your own accord since you returned.”
“The first ti was on the plain.” Pannis answered: “I got to see Flare and Maya Tiya, oh and the little lion.”
“Dillie, eh?
It’s pretty old too.” Christo smiled nostalgically: “I still rember when we collaborated to write and publish stories.
Dillie narrated, I penned it down, and together we wrote quite a lot.
I wonder where it got so many stories from.
But you eting them first before , it must be for sothing important.”
“You don’t need to worry about other things.” Pannis said, maintaining a neutral expression: “Just hand it over to us to deal with.
You just need to take a good rest at ho.
But I do have a task for you, the Silver Code Disk, I’ve had Maya Tiya bring back the three that we know the whereabouts of, and I have three here, the last one is with the Sea Race.
Once we complete their request this ti, it will also be in our possession, that way all components will be together.”
“That was quick.” Christo excitedly got up from his chair.
Even though his legs were weak and he quickly sat down again, he still couldn’t hide his excitent as he waved around his cane saying, “Hand it over, let take a look.”
“I assumned you’d be this impatient.” Pannis pulled out a cloth bag and stuffed it into Christo’s hand, “These three are for you to keep first.
In a few days, Maya and the others will bring over the other three.
You can start research then.
I’ll co find you when I get the last one.”
“Are those two dead kids coming over soon?” Christo asked astonished.
“I thought they would’ve given it to you directly.”
“What, you seem a bit reluctant to et them?” Pannis asked curiously: “Don’t you guys et regularly?”
“No, the last ti I t them was at the centennial festival of old shaman.
” Christo shook his head: “It’s been almost a decade since I last saw them, our communication has rely been through letters.”
“Why?” Pannis asked in confusion: “Did you guys have a fight or sothing?”
“When did we ever not fight, there’s nothing more to say about that.” Christo said: “Just that, I don’t really feel like eting them, you won’t understand.”
Pannis watched as Christo went silent.
Goblins typically live to about a hundred and seventy years old; occasionally, so can live up to two hundred, but that’s rare.
Given this lifespan, Christo is indeed very old.
His once upright back has now hunched over, his plump skin now covered with terrifying inscriptions and age spots.
His once pointed nose has collapsed, and most of his teeth are missing.
Regardless of any aspect, Christo is an old man nearing the end of his life, his eyes only reflecting mories of the past and regrets for his life.
“I’m very old now.” Christo said in a low voice: “But they are still so young, as if the past hundred years were only a blink of an eye for them.
You, who will never age again, won’t understand.
I…
am sowhat scared to see them.”
“Then let them leave it with Odin temporarily.” Pannis sighed, patting the old goblin’s shoulder: “Don’t force yourself.”
“No need, reality is reality, it has to be accepted.” Christo shook his head: “It’s ti to et again.
If we don’t et now, we don’t know if we will have the chance to et again in the future.”
“Thank you.” Pannis didn’t know how to comfort him, he could only give a helpless bitter smile.
“Do we still need to say thanks?” Christo slowly leaned back on his recliner, his gaze fixed on the ceiling and with a nostalgic smile he whispered: “These days I often dream about the past.
At that ti, you, Nellie, and I were all Legendary Rank, yet we insisted on running around in the Magical Beast Forest, all because Nellie wanted to witness the power of dragons.
Looking back now, we were lucky to not have died there.”
“But we did succeed in seeing them.” Pannis also started laughing: “Not only did we see them, but those dragons also invited us over for dinner.”
“That’s why I said we were lucky.” Christo said with his eyes half-closed, as if he’d returned to that ti: “Even more fortunate was that we t those two dead children on the outskirts of Dragon Mountain.”
“Yeah, they were crying because so weak Legendary magical beasts chased them.” Pannis joked: “As natural born demi-gods, having inherited the knowledge and power of Light and Dark from past generations, the symbols of the Winged People were actually scared to tears by a few Legendary magical beasts, no wonder they consider it a lifelong sha.”
“Hehe.” Christo’s laughter gradually grew intermittent and his speech incoherent: “I feel like…
I can hear…
the sound of wings flapping.”
Looking at the old Christo, only a brief conversation of few dozen minutes was enough to make him weak, causing him to doze off.
Pannis’s smile faded, he slowly rose and walked out, leaving behind nothing more than a sigh.
(To be continued.
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