Yano carefully protected the slime in his hand, quite puzzled by the little girl's words.
"What do you mean? We Belmonts are pure-blooded nobles of the White Horse Kingdom."
"It seems those old folks never told you."
The little girl curled her lips, placing her hands on her hips. "Nili Belmont, that's my name. In terms of seniority, I'm likely one of your ancestors."
"But that's not important. What matters is Gore is dangerous. Come with me first;
this isn't a place for chatting."
Nili beckoned to the group, then turned with an old-fashioned air, hands clasped behind her back, and walked deeper into the ruins.
After everyone followed, Elara fell back a few steps, looking at the wilted slime in Yano's hand with guilt. "Is this little fellow alright?"
"He's fine. The Boss just needs to eat to recover." Yano appeared calm on the surface, knowing this was just a split-off entity.
However, this place was far from the territory, and the signal was getting weaker. By the time they reached the ancient castle, he wasn't sure if he could still contact the Boss.
"We thank Slime-sama for his assistance and hope he recovers quickly," Leon offered a blessing and prayer."Let me see."
Nili somehow also came over, looking at the wilted little slime. She even curiously reached out a finger, wanting to poke it.
Yano hurriedly stopped this disrespectful act.
"Uh... miss... it doesn't really like people getting this close."
"Cheapskate. And call me Auntie."
Nili muttered but immediately leaned in curiously again. "So, this little thing saved you?"
Leon nodded. "Exactly. Thanks to Slime-sama, we were able to hold out until you arrived."
"Oh, I see."
Nili looked up at Yano, saying calmly, "You're that force from the Eastern Swamp that the Blacktooth Mercenary Corps put a bounty on?"
"How do you know that?" Yano was somewhat surprised.
Could it be that the fame of their Slime Kingdom had already reached the Dark Realm?
Nili said with great interest, "Not only do I know, I also know that not long ago, a guy calling himself 'Miracle' Yano was at Gray Mist Lake..."
Hearing this, Yano choked on his own saliva, his face turning red as he waved his hands frantically. "Cough... Auntie, you're my auntie, alright? Please don't spread that kind of thing around."
"That's more like it."
Nili's gaze remained fixed on the little slime. It seemed compared to Yano, she was more interested in this little thing.
To prevent the Boss from being snatched away, Yano kept a straight face and quietly slipped the slime back inside his shirt.
"So, can you tell me now what relationship you have with my ancestors?"
Nili lowered her head to duck under a broken log, her voice coming from ahead.
"The answer is obvious, isn't it? Our ancestors are the same guy."
"Probably many years ago, these old folks had a big argument and split up. Some of them ran off."
"It seems now they went to the White Horse Kingdom. Not contacting us for so many years, they're really stubborn."
The others behind also tried to duck under the broken log, only to find they weren't short enough and couldn't get through.
Only Max silently stepped over the log with one foot.
After passing the log, Yano cleared his throat lightly. "Actually, the ancestors... have all turned to stone."
"Hmm?" Nili stopped, turned around, and scrutinized Yano carefully, squinting her eyes as she circled him once.
"That shouldn't be. You're perfectly fine here, and I don't see any symptoms of petrification. Didn't you find a way to remove the Petrification Curse?"
Seeing the confused looks on the younger generation's faces, Nili nimbly leaped onto a moss-covered stone pillar, hands on her hips, and said:
"Castor—"
She deliberately dragged out the name, watching as everyone perked up their ears, then continued with satisfaction, "—that ancestor of ours who actively sought out the Medusa's Petrification Curse, also known as the Stone Descendant hero, did indeed bring temporary glory to the Belmont family and the power to rival vampires."
"But he probably didn't anticipate that later generations, due to their diluted Stone Bloodline, would be unable to ignore the Petrification Curse and thus contract the Petrification Disease."
"Especially for aging Stone Descendants, the Petrification Curse is like a preset life countdown, taking their lives precisely on schedule."
Yano seemed to understand.
"You mean, my ancestors left Gore to seek a way to remove the curse?"
"Oh, you're much smarter than Leon," Nili seemed pleased with Yano's reaction.
Leon awkwardly rubbed his nose beside them, the tips of his ears turning red.
Being personally called out by an elder was utterly mortifying.
"You guessed right," Nili said, then yawned, suddenly transforming into a shadow and appearing on a nearby branch, swinging her legs.
"After Castor—that guy you all worship—died, the family soon faced backlash. Some elders, including several newborn infants, turned into stone statues due to the Petrification Disease."
"This caused quite a stir at the time, leading to internal strife within the family."
Yano's heart skipped a beat. Could it be his ancestors rebelled? Was he, a traitor's descendant, delivering himself right to their doorstep?