A foreigner's journey

"You don't even know about the Five Saints Pagoda? It's the most popular tourist attraction in Wutai in recent years!"

Yuffie became energetic all of a sudden and started explaining enthusiastically:

"We Wutai people worship the [Water God], [Five Saints], and [Dachao]. Among them, the Five Saints Tower means the most to Wutai... Oops! Heather, you are so annoying!"

Heather slapped Yuffie aside and said in an impatient tone: "It's as annoying as when you were a kid. Do you deserve a beating?"

"Hiss..." Yuffie couldn't help but gasped as she recalled the painful memories of six years ago. She subconsciously covered her butt and said in a panicked tone: "I, I, I am now a powerful beautiful ninja. I warn you not to do this again." Beat me up!"

Tifa nudged Heather's shoulder in a funny way: "Brother, don't scare her."

Heather clicked her tongue, picked up the tea cup in front of her and took a sip of the steaming tea.

Yuffie had never seen Heather listen to other people's words so much. Even Heather's master Zangan was often ridiculed by him. Her eyes rolled around, and the way she looked at Tifa was different, as if she had found someone to support her: "Sister, are you Heather's girlfriend?"

Tifa's face suddenly turned red and she stammered: "I, I... it's not... it's..."

On the side, Alice explained "kindly": "Tifa is Teacher Heather's junior sister. It's normal to have a good relationship."

"oh--"

Yuffie nodded in sudden realization, and looked at Alice with a more intimate look: "Are you Heather's apprentice? Then we are about the same generation, so you can call me Yuffie."

"My name is Alice, please give me some advice." Alice said with a smile, and the relationship between the two quickly heated up.

Not far away, Claude, who was leaning against the door, rubbed his brows: "It feels like it's suddenly become noisy..."

Barrett didn't mind, and burst into laughter: "Wouldn't it be nice to have a more cheerful atmosphere in the team?"

Although it was a bit noisy, Yuffie's addition made the atmosphere in the team lively. The quarrel continued until after dinner, when Old Bill vacated two larger guest rooms, and three gentlemen occupied one and the four ladies occupied the other.

Because Yuffie was too noisy during dinner, Heather originally planned to drive Yuffie directly to the bird stable and let her sleep with the chocobos, but Yuffie couldn't stand it anymore and cried and made a fuss and refused to go. In addition, Tifa and Alice begged for mercy and then gave up.

Not to mention the girls' dormitory, the boys' dormitory was arranged in a guest room on the second floor of a residential building. The guest room is quite spacious, with three single beds covered with clean, soft sheets.

"Go to bed early and set off early tomorrow morning towards the swamp of the world. Believe me, this journey will not be easy." Heather patted the pillow and lay down directly on the bed.

Claude stood the giant sword against the wall and was secretly tidying up his hair in front of the mirror in front of the cupboard. It's different when you have a girlfriend. Even a boring gourd like Claude knows how to care about appearance.

The single bed was a little narrow and short for Barrett, but it didn't matter. He put his arm-mounted machine gun on the table, put one hand behind his head and obviously couldn't sleep for a while. He asked curiously: "Heather, that girl named Yuffie seems a little afraid of you?"

"...She was only ten years old when I met her. Due to some misunderstandings, she was very hostile to Zangan and me at the time, and she always caused us trouble from time to time."

Heather recalled: "Zangan liked children, so I just smiled and ignored them, but I hated noisy children, so I caught her and taught her a profound lesson, and I got to know her father Godo. ."

"Guo Tuo, the Lord of Wutai City, I have also heard of his name."

Claude, who was standing in front of the cupboard, turned around:

"It is said that he is an extremely powerful martial arts master who caused a lot of trouble to the Shinra Army during the war."

"Oh? Claude, you have also joined the Shinra Army. Have you participated in the battle against Wutai?" Only then did Barrett remember Claude's identity as a former 1st soldier.

"No, when I joined the army, the Battle of Wutai was coming to an end. By the time I reached the 1st level, the impression of the special forces in the outside world was no longer that of 'war heroes', but 'loyal dogs of Shinra'." Claude He shrugged helplessly.

Barrett sighed: "The war between Wutai and Shinra lasted for so many years, and finally ended in defeat. Alas, if Wutai had worked harder to defeat Shinra, there wouldn't be so many troubles now. .”

"There are many reasons for the defeat of Wutai, and the reasons are not as simple as you think. Zangan and I also broke up on bad terms because of a series of incidents that occurred in Wutai. He continued to travel around the world, while I We went round and round and ended up in Midgar.”

Heather didn’t say much about herself:

"Anyway, be careful with the magic crystals you carry. Yuffie has had a special fascination with magic crystals since she was a child, and her stealing skills are superb."

"Well……"

Barrett and Claude looked at each other and subconsciously moved their magic crystal-embedded weapons closer to themselves.

"Okay, go to sleep now."

"Okay, okay...but let me tell you in advance, I snore."

"It doesn't matter. I also lived in a dormitory when I joined the army, so I can adapt."

"Ah, that's no problem for me either."

"Oh, all right."

So, that night, Claude and Heather saw how loud a person's snoring could be.

The next morning, the girls' dormitory opened the door with chatter and laughter. They were surprised to find that Claude and Heather had tired looks on their faces, while Barrett looked refreshed.

After washing up and having breakfast, the motorcade set off in a mighty way.

With a look of excitement on her face, Alice clenched her hands on the steering wheel of the light truck, while Barrett stood beside her to check on her. This SA-37 has a light body and is suitable for people with weak strength to drive. With Barrett, an experienced driver, always paying attention, there is no fear that Alice will overturn the car. Claude and Heather were sitting in the back of the carriage huddled together with Red Comet, their heads hanging down to catch up on their sleep.

On the other side, Jesse was driving Claude's Hardy Daytona, and Yuffie was sitting behind her, shouting and excited. Tifa followed closely behind in the Thunderbolt transformed by the Thunderwolf. Although Tifa was not very good at driving a motorcycle, the Thunderwolf thoughtfully turned on the autopilot mode, and she only needed to show off.

Old Bill drove a truck specially designed to transport chocobos. Billy and Ale sat in the passenger seat with nervous expressions on their faces.

Traveling south along the road, the surrounding environment changes from green to gradually deserted. The closer we get to the earthly swamp, the more mist grows around us.

Three hours later, they arrived at the border of the earthly swamp in the ranch area.

At this time, the surrounding fog was already very thick, and the air was filled with a strange fishy smell. The road extended into the fog like a road to hell, with endless muddy fields and dead trees on both sides of the road.

"Is it around here?" Claude jumped out of the car holding the hilt of his sword and looked around warily: "I always feel like something is staring at us in the fog."

"That should be the [Midgar Python]. It is said that the adult body can reach twenty meters long. They are always lurking in the fog, waiting for the best opportunity to hunt."

Heather also jumped out of the car, her eyes seeming to penetrate the fog:

"Although the purpose of our trip is not them, if they don't know how to appreciate it, it will only cost them two more swords. Let's go and keep going. The distance between the mortal swamp and the mithril mine is quite long."