The world spun around, as if the High Tower itself was shaking violently. Leaning against the wall, the familiar voices beside his ears disappeared one by one, and the familiar figures no longer appeared in the murals on the walls. It seemed like many, many years, yet it also felt like just a few minutes. Leaning against the wall as he moved forward, Shard finally saw the firelight appearing further up the spiraling stone steps; he knew he had finally arrived.

Whether the interrogations were what he truly thought or if something was really simulating their voices, Shard no longer wished to ponder. If he had faced such a problem a few weeks ago, he might have truly faltered here. But now he understood his own thoughts and acknowledged his own baseness and greed. Since he had already done something wrong, he would spend his life making up for it, just like he promised Lecia in the inn yesterday afternoon.

Even leaning against the wall, his body was barely able to move. He struggled desperately to walk the last few steps, but at this moment, he felt something gently tug at his clothing from behind him. Though it was just a gentle tug, it felt like a force of a thousand pounds.

The person behind him asked:

"This time, have you truly made up your mind, never to be confused, never to regret, and to bring happiness to everyone?"

It was Luviya’s voice, but upon closer listening, it was clearly not just one voice, but an amalgamation of countless familiar voices that posed this question. He could think of many familiar faces and recall the many, many stories he had shared with them up until now:

"I am your loyal knight."

He answered softly.

"Then, keep your word."

The force tugging at the hem of his clothing disappeared, and when Shard looked back, he could only see the dark stairs shrouded in black mist. There was no one there anymore; Shard knew that those people had all been returned back into his heart.

[Outlander, your soul has become stronger.]

[Your resistance to the Illusion Technique has greatly increased.]

Staring blankly behind him, he then pressed his lips together and continued to climb upwards, feeling his body lighten with every step. By the time Shard reached the end of the stairs, at the very top of the High Tower, he felt as though he had returned to his normal self completely.

Not only back to normal, but the freezing cold that froze souls in the camp had completely vanished. The thinning black mist, due to the appearance of firelight at the top, could no longer obscure his view.

His body recovered so quickly that when he took the last step up onto the flat surface, his feet felt like they were installed with springs, incredibly light. His body and soul showed no signs of damage, and he felt more comfortable than after a whole night’s peaceful sleep, holding Mia at the window and watching the sunrise.

Though Shard felt quite good, his appearance indeed startled Miss Higgins.

This unknown-height tower was a bell tower, but not like the Bell Tower in Tobesk with complex mechanical structures, but an old-fashioned bell tower with just a single Bronze Bell.

The top floor was not very large, with the Bronze Bell rolled to the side. Surrounding it, the slightly inward-leaning walls had huge windows at each side to allow the bell’s sound to travel.

The huge Bronze Bell had rolled to the wall’s edge, and in the center of the top floor, where the Bell should have been, was now a blazing bonfire, flames just like those outside the Black Mist Camp.

Miss Higgins stood beside the bonfire, with the exhausted Mrs. Miles sitting by the fire, and a shadow that wasn’t easy to notice in the corner.

The witch was startled by Shard, not because of his sudden appearance, but because of his current miserable state:

"What happened to you? Are you okay?"

Although Shard’s body and soul looked entirely unharmed, as if they had experienced an Illusion Technique, the dust and gray and his own blood on his clothes and skin didn’t just vanish.

His head just having returned to normal, he hadn’t realized his pitiful state. Only when he saw the concerned Miss Higgins approaching did he finally sense that something was amiss.

Looking down at his chest and then using the firelight to check the marks on his sleeves, he understood that this set of clothes was ruined.

"I’m fine, but please let me rest for a moment."

Though his wounds had healed, his heart was truly weary. Under Miss Higgins’ concerned gaze, he went to the fire and sat down with Mrs. Miles. Miss Higgins’ spirit found it hard to recover here, so she didn’t heal Shard herself but picked a bottle from the few remaining Magic Potions she had and handed it to Shard:

"To soothe the spirit, you’ll need this."

Shard whispered his thanks, and after drinking the mint-flavored Magic Potion, he indeed felt much better.

At this time, the black Balance was placed beside the fire, a small pouch that Miss Higgins and Mrs. Miles brought when they went deep into the camp, containing things that might be needed.

Without a prompt from the witch, Shard began to speak of his recent experiences. From winning a bet against the Demon and freeing the boy’s spirit, all the way to encountering the strange project in the camp, to the crisis at the Lighthouse... Of course, he was ultimately too embarrassed to detail exactly what he heard and saw. Though he had come to understand himself, there was no need to recount it to others.

"Is that so..."

Miss Higgins was a bit embarrassed, she pointed to the campfire:

"The demon outside the camp didn’t lie, we indeed followed its guidance to get here. In this tower, there is a way for us to leave the camp, but we haven’t found it yet. When Mrs. Miles came here, she was almost at her limit, and the torch we had was about to go out, and originally there was no campfire here..."

An enlightened Shard looked towards the shadow standing in the corner:

"What did you trade with it?"

"The shadow inside the tower is quite unusual, you would never guess what goods it holds, but you can take a look for yourself later. It sells campfires that can be placed on top of the tower, and seeing that Mrs. Miles was really at her limit, I took the initiative to make a trade. However, most of the special goods sold by this shadow can’t even be completely purchased with coins. The price for this campfire was five coins, along with a full test of the heart."

Miss Higgins pursed her lips and showed an apologetic expression, while Mrs. Miles spoke for her:

"She thought once she left the glimmer of the campfire, she would face the test, so frightened that she dared not move here. Not long ago, she noticed two coins missing from her, knew you came, so she wanted to wait for you to come and discuss how to deal with that test. It’s just unexpected..."

"Unexpected that even though I paid, the test fell on you."

The witch, with brown hair similar to Audrey and Megan, bowed formally to Shard to apologize:

"I’m really sorry, terribly sorry, I truly didn’t know it would turn out this way. When we leave, I’ll give you one tenth, no, one fifth of my future mithril vein, please forgive me."

Shard understood that this uncalled-for disaster was definitely not caused by the witch in front of him. The camp’s rule is that whoever pays for something is who the test falls on, Miss Higgins’ test ended up on him, it only shows someone is "joking" with him:

"It’s fine, I don’t want your mithril vein. But, if this can be taken away, then it’s mine."

Shard said, pointing at the small black balance scale. Whoever is joking with him, he will know soon. As for the black balance scale, it comes from everyone’s first trade. Although just an ordinary item, it’s extremely important in the camp.

"Alright, alright, no problem."

Miss Higgins immediately agreed, and Mrs. Miles beside her also breathed a sigh of relief, everyone was quite happy.

As for the current situation, the relic - [Golden Memories] that only requires writing down the final memory to call forth the spirit, has been brought here, so all that’s left is to find a way to leave here, and their adventure would be over.

Now that Shard has reappeared, Miss Higgins instantly felt at least half the trouble has been solved:

"You will help us, right?"

Although a bit embarrassed, she still asked.

Shard nodded:

"Ordinary methods won’t allow you to leave here, but I know of an existence, definitely can send you away safely. However, we’ll discuss leaving after Mrs. Miles finishes her final story and the spirit that’s been absent for a long time appears."

Miss Higgins smiled and nodded, but before the old woman’s final memories begin, Shard first went to the shadow in the corner to understand exactly what it could sell.

But the shadow remained motionless when Shard approached, even when he picked up the balance scale it showed no reaction.

The young witch felt puzzled about this, and Mrs. Miles didn’t know what was happening either. But Shard understood:

"None of this matters anymore, Mrs. Miles, please begin your story."

The elderly woman took out her notebook, and also grabbed ink mixed with blood and gold dust. Miss Higgins also came to sit by the campfire, curiously asking:

"Madam, I remember you said you and your lover, Mr. Richard Knight Jackman, parted ways at the road junction in front of your village. So is the final memory about the memory of the farewell?"

The aged Mrs. Miles shook her head, her face glowing red from the firelight showing a bit of a smile:

"The farewell wasn’t just between me and him, there were other people sending him off. After he received a summoning order from the lord, deciding to participate in a distant battle as a knight, he told me about his decision alone and said goodbye to me alone."

"Where was that?"

The young witch asked again, although she hadn’t felt love, she was really curious about it.

"It was a long time ago, but I remember it very clearly. It was also in the bell tower, yes, just like now. Our village had many people, the village bell tower has existed since I was born. The bell tower is the highest position in the village, when I was a child, I often played inside the bell tower with my friends."