Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

Chapter 92: Coercion

There were indeed various strange religions on the surface, and there were also many sects that believed in certain weird, strange evil gods. Nemo wasn’t very interested in demons before. Due to the special object that the Abyssal Church worships, Nemo had avoided books relating to them. Oliver had heard a little about them, but his understanding was shallow at best.

There were many religions that preached doomsday and destruction, and the Abyssal Church was one of the most successful. Unlike other cults that accepted devotees to form small, concentrated circles, they generously opened their arms and sheltered all humans who were involved with demons.

This was equivalent to standing up and directly fighting against the other normal religions on the surface.

But they succeeded. It wasn’t because of how reasonable the teachings of the Abyssal Church were, or because they were truly blessed by the Demon King. Superior demons didn’t want their prepared flesh to be hunted down daily, so while they had little interest in human religion, they didn’t hesitate to support them occasionally.

The number of demon warlocks was small, but the quality was amazing. Not only that, the large number of demon worshipers also had lots of backbone, so the Abyssal Church was able to gain a foothold in this way. In the past few hundred years, it had even achieved a level of rivalry to that of the Laddism Church.

“…What is Bagelmaurus doing in that kind of place?” Seeing Nemo’s face blank, Oliver decidedly took over the conversation. “A superior demon wouldn’t seek the protection of the Abyssal Church.”

“This kind of information is indispensable in the Abyss,” Adrian explained. “Superior demons prefer the ‘Butchers’, while powerful intermediate demons are very popular in the Abyssal Church. According to Mr. Light’s previous statement, Bagelmaurus’ body is a superior demon. Even if the power of its flesh on the surface is only intermediate, it will get very generous treatment in the Abyssal Church. If it’s lucky enough, they may even have the means to restore it.”

“Seems like it has a bit of brain left.” Jesse shrugged. “Except for the fact that it ran away, this decision is quite wise.”

“The main purpose is to find information. Nemo can take time to talk to the parrot.” Ann glanced at Nemo, who didn’t seem to have a reaction yet. “Task. Choose a task first, so that next month’s quota can be settled.”

“Wait.” Nemo seemed to have finally digested the current situation. “Since a superior demon will not patronize the Abyssal Church casually, can I only go as a demon warlock? But the way I look…”

“You’re forgetting who you are again,” Ann sighed. “It shouldn’t be difficult for a superior demon… If White II can do it, you can learn from it.”

Nemo thought for a few seconds, then he solemnly stretched out his right hand and stared at it until his face flushed.

“…What are you doing?” Oliver found that he couldn’t concentrate on looking at the task list, so he couldn’t help asking.

“Mimicry,” Nemo said very seriously, but his hand was still a normal hand, and it looked unchanged. “But it wasn’t successful.”

“I won’t ask what you wanted to transform to,” Oliver coughed dryly, “But… the fuller goat… Forget about that, okay?”

Nemo withdrew his hand bitterly. “I have to find a way to make myself look like a demon warlock.”

“It’s not a good idea to grow goat hooves. You’ll look stupid,” Ann said. “After all, it’s a deformation… Well, Nemo, can you change your eyes back to the appearance of a demon?”

“What?” Nemo shook his hand and raised his brows.

“Didn’t you notice?” The female warrior raised her arms. “When you were seen by Nadine, your pupils became the same as those of the Seymour Worm.”

Nemo pressed his temple, but he didn’t feel that he had undergone any incredible changes, so he had to hold his breath and concentrate, desperately recalling how he felt at that time.

“Is that so?” He raised his head, the pupils of his eyes slowly cracking.

Oliver drew out his sword almost at the same second, and a white barrier with a slight blue sheen filled the entire room in an instant. The temperature of the room suddenly dropped a few degrees. Nemo looked at his new boyfriend incomprehensibly, trying to express his doubts in his expression.

“Suppress the aura, Nemo—” Oliver suddenly propped the scabbard on the ground to support his slightly shaking body. “Lopez is also at the inn!”

Ann’s face had turned white as a sheet of paper. She gritted her teeth and plunged her spear into the floor, but she still slid down along the spear until her body fell flat on the ground. Jesse seemed to have expected this as he calmly sat down on one leg and supported his cheek with one hand. Adrian had the worst reaction. He could barely stand as blood gushed from the corners of his nose and mouth.

“But I don’t know how to suppress it right now… Sorry, Mr. Cross.” Nemo was stunned by the sudden burst of blood and his tone became more flustered. “Wait a minute. I’ll think of a way—”

Oliver threw away the scabbard with a clang and stepped forward with great strides. He grabbed Nemo’s shirt and decisively pulled him in and kissed the corner of Nemo’s lips.

The method turned out to be very effective. Nemo’s demon pupils and aura were scared away. He froze in shock, as if Oliver had stabbed him with a sword instead of giving him a kiss.

The former Chief Justice finally found his breath. He wiped the blood off his face with the back of his hand and sighed. Jesse blew out a few whistles as he watched the scene unfold and even wanted to applaud.

“…You didn’t do this at Nadine’s that time.” Ann stood up, propped up by her spear, as she said dryly. Her voice was still a little weak. “This is much more powerful than Pandorater. As expected from a fully complete superior.”

“That should just be the tip of the iceberg that leaked out.” Adrian showed a wry smile on his blood-stained face. “After all, Mr. Light isn’t consciously manipulating it.”

If Mr. Light intended, he could even kill them unsuspectingly with just his sense of oppression alone. Adrian wiped the newly oozing bloodshot corners of his mouth with his thumb. His heart was mixed. He had never had such thoughts before, but in just a few seconds, at the moment when his back was instantly soaked in cold sweat; the thought that could be considered cowardice flashed through his mind…

Fortunately, Nemo Light wasn’t their enemy.

“You have to control it; you can’t take Mr. Ramon with you.” Jesse didn’t bother standing up. He looked at Nemo, whose ears were completely flushed, with interest. “But I have to say that the effect is good. Although the ‘deformation’ isn’t obvious, it just looked like a demon warlock.”

At the same time, Godwin Lopez stopped the movement of his hands.

For a moment, a ridiculously powerful aura swept across him like a storm. Even if it wasn’t malicious, the degree of strength could only be described as “impossible”. It had such amazing deterrent power that even the commander of Horizon, who had ample experience on the battlefield, had a moment where his knees went soft. Fortunately, that moment was too short. It wasn’t even longer than half a second, like a nightmare that suddenly passed through reality, leaving a cold and piercing illusion.

The holy sword suddenly vibrated violently.

It wasn’t his illusion. It definitely had the aura of a superior demon. Godwin frowned and took the sword from its scabbard. The beautiful brilliance of his Breaking Dawn was different from the previous warmth it had. It wasn’t mixed with a little ominous blood color.

However, the aura disappeared completely. Godwin tried his best to explore the radius of dozens of miles and even used magic arrays, but he found nothing.

However, Godwin had discovered something else.

“Come in.” He said it in the direction of the room’s door. “The door is unlocked.”

“Mission report, commander.” Debby Light handed a stack of parchment paper over with both hands. “Just the conclusion and your signature—what are you going to do with it?”

“Deal with it according to the suspension of the mission and classify it into the file where the mission target disappeared halfway.” Godwin put away his sword and flipped through the report. “It’s well written, but not objective enough. There’s a lot of avoidance about Nemo Light and Oliver Ramon. Don’t let personal affairs interfere with work, Debby.”

They did enough detective work before executing the mission. The strongest nearby was just a group of intermediate demons called arthropod lizards. For the time being, they nest in the middle of the desert, and they didn’t need to make a special trip to clean them up. Caleb Village was such a small and remote place that it was difficult to even find a low-level demon.

Then there was only one possible source of it.

“Nemo Light… I remember he’s a demon worshiper?”

“Yes.” The young female mage lowered her head slightly. “His medium is a parrot-shaped demon. It seems that its strength is comparable to an intermediate.”

“But during their escape from Hailam, some people said that he called himself a ‘demon warlock’.” Godwin’s tone was flat. “I don’t like to judge by rumors and speculation alone. There’s currently no evidence in this regard. Debby, you are a very important member of Horizon—tell me, is he?”

“To be precise, I don’t know, but personally I don’t think so.” Debby bit her lip, but her tone was sincere. “As I said, commander, if you need it, I’ll stake my reputation to guarantee his character.”

“I see, don’t be nervous,” Godwin said calmly, his emerald eyes sweeping the report page again. “I have no right and no intention of restricting your meetings with your loved ones, Debby.”

The aura of the superior demon wasn’t hostile, which was interesting. Godwin narrowed his eyes slightly.

Debby looked relieved. Although their mage was smart and powerful, she was still young and emotional. Nemo Light didn’t seem to have any deformation of a demon warlock, but if the source of the aura was from him…

A superior demon had always been able to easily obtain the memories of the host, and Debby never seemed to have considered the possibility that her brother might no longer be “him”. However, this was only a guess. Godwin put the report on the table and rubbed his forehead with his hand.

He had no evidence.

“I will supplement the report. You don’t need to rewrite it.” Godwin’s expression was calm. “Go and rest.”

After the door of the room closed, the leader of Horizon thought for a moment and added a few words at the end of the mission report.

[There are doubts about the identity of the members of the Black Chapter team, so it’s recommended to evaluate again. Communicative feedback: friendly.]

His pen paused before he crossed out “friendly” and changed it to “attitude unclear”.

In a room not far away.

The Black Chapter team tossed around the theme of “How to pretend normally without revealing their teammate” all afternoon, completely forgetting about the task selection. After the oppressive storm, the remaining few had a new understanding of what a “complete superior demon” was. In order to express respect for the human side, Nemo gained the right to sleep on the sofa that night.

Ann was given the only bed, and Adrian Cross laid down on the floor very calmly. Jesse was almost driven out of the room by everyone. After he repeatedly promised that he would personally apply the mute array, they reluctantly drew a place for him on the floor by the window.

Nemo opened his eyes and stared steadily at the ceiling in the dark. He now knew how to control his aura while maintaining his demon’s pupils, but he was afraid that he would forget the essentials of control when he woke up, so he had to practice before going to bed.

A hand lightly patted his arm in the dark, almost causing him to let go of all the aura of a superior demon again.

“Hey,” Oliver whispered as he lay on the edge of the sofa. “What happened today… Sorry.”

“For what?”

“I kissed you without permission.”

“Come on. We’re not thirteen years old.” Nemo rolled over and faced him, trying to maintain the demon form of his pupils. “You’re not afraid.”

“…I forgot to be afraid at that moment,” Oliver muttered in a low voice. He widened his eyes slightly under the moonlight. “And you were panicking.”

“Mr. Cross looked like he was going to spray out all his blood,” Nemo protested. “I was afraid I would really hurt him.”

“So what? Do you want me to be afraid of you?”

Nemo stared into the pleasant emerald eyes in front of him and could feel the corners of his mouth curling up uncontrollably. “Then prove it, Mr. Ramon.”

Unwilling to be outdone, he patted the sofa and shrank his body inward. “There’s room for two here.”

Oliver squeezed in gracefully. He wrapped one arm around Nemo as if it was natural and pressed his forehead against Nemo’s collarbone without a single hesitation. After finding a relatively comfortable position, he indistinctly whispered something, and quickly fell asleep.

The warm breath sprayed on his chest, and Nemo knew that Oliver wasn’t faking his calmness. This time, he confidently ran his fingers through the soft light brown hair, lowered his head, and smelled the scent of Oliver’s hair. Oliver’s weight and body temperature were real, and it pulled him into a daze.

Nemo couldn’t sleep that night.

The night was thick and then slowly faded. Sparse birdsong sounded outside the window, signifying a new day was coming. The sofa wasn’t large, and it was crowded for two people to sleep on, but Oliver slept comfortably without turning much.

As he slept, the other person on the sofa kept staring silently at him with his soft gaze without ever looking away.

The author has something to say:

Gray parrot: Life’s too suffocating. I’m going to feel what it’s like to be everyone’s father.

Nemo: ???

Kinky Thoughts:

I’m getting diabetes from all this sugar.

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

Chapter 91: The Whereabouts of the Gray Parrot

Caleb Village was in turmoil.

No one knew why flowers had suddenly appeared, but they were beautiful. The vines took root at the center of the witch’s residence and covered the shrub walls around the village, spreading out around the sand of the village within a single breath. Like miniature fireworks, countless flowers exploded under the golden light of dawn.

A flower that was once lost in history had been reborn.

However, the female innkeeper who named her inn after it didn’t look at them at all. She quietly stayed by her best friend’s side. The witch’s residence experienced a boon of visitors that kept pouring in, and it made the Black Chapters reconsider their options for places to rest. Nemo had an armful of fruits and vegetables. Before he had the chance to set them down, a teleportation spell was stuffed into his fingers.

Ann took a deep breath and made a painful expression before she ignited the teleportation parchment.

When they came back to their senses, they had already returned to the room at the inn. Nemo stood on the bed with a serious expression and a bag full of small potatoes in his arms.

“Ann,” Nemo said, opening his mouth dryly as he jumped awkwardly off the bed, leaving behind two dirty footprints on the sheets. “Don’t do that so suddenly next time, alright?”

Now he had to wash these sheets before they checked out.

“Sorry.” The female warrior shrugged. “But it’s always good to keep a low profile. We don’t have time to delay.”

Lisa bowed to them hurriedly and stood up firmly. The innkeeper carefully picked up her sleeping friend and quickly rushed out of the Black Chapters’ room. In the next moment, only five people were left in the large, spacious room that didn’t seem to be as crowded as before.

Adrian was expressionless. He leaned back quietly in the corner of the room, as if he was lost in thought. Debby and Oliver were still standing in the same place with their eyes focused on the bag of potatoes Nemo was holding and, at the same time, turned to look at Nemo’s face.

Nemo slowly hugged the unlucky bag tightly and looked back suspiciously.

“Don’t worry, Nemo. I didn’t expose all your embarrassing secrets to your boyfriend,” Debby said briskly. “Although I would definitely do it if I had plenty of time, we just talked amicably for a bit, right Oliver?” She patted Oliver on the shoulder a little reluctantly, putting in all her strength.

“…Right.” Oliver’s expression showed a bit of helplessness. It took a lot of effort for him to suppress the urge to look at the ceiling.

Nemo was about to put the bag on the wooden table when his hands trembled uncontrollably a few times, causing a few small potatoes to roll out. It’s over. He thought numbly, and he accidentally squeezed a small potato, turning it into mashed potatoes.

The female warrior sighed and turned over the spell book that seemed to have traces of being gnawed on by a goat and dropped it on the floor. The former knight commander raised his head very slowly, and there were traces of disbelief in his eyes.

“I’m still shocked, Oliver,” Ann picked up the spell book as she said in a heavy emotional tone. “Obviously, with such an innocent face, I’d move quite quickly. They all said that I was ‘crazy’ before, but compared to you… How can I put this…? I’m as harmless as a twelve-year-old incense maker.”

“You got together.” Rather than a question, Adrian said it with affirmation.

“Yes, although it was only a few hours ago,” Nemo’s face stiffened as he braced himself for the storm. “We won’t do anything excessive in public. I promise.”

“I have witnessed history!” Ann excitedly jabbed Adrian with her elbow.

Adrian took a deep breath and turned towards the corner of the wall, hiding his face from everyone.

“…Sorry, I didn’t know you hadn’t made it public yet.” Debby shrank her neck. “Uh… I’ll go back to the team to report first. Nemo, don’t leave quietly while I’m away.”

She quickly slipped out of the room and considerately closed the door.

As Debby left, the air in the room suddenly became thick. Adrian’s back was straight, but he was still resolutely facing the corner. Ann’s gaze swept back and forth between the two of them, and her expression became more meaningful.

“Where’s Dylan?” Oliver took the lead in bravely breaking the silence. “Didn’t you bring him here with you?”

“Oh, him. He can always find us by himself. I almost suspect he had set a hidden tracking array on us,” Ann said indifferently. “Compared to this, you two in the end…”

“Where’s Bagelmaurus?” Nemo had a bad feeling about what she was going to say next, and quickly interrupted Ann. “Is it with Dylan?”

But the gray parrot wasn’t by his side when Jesse Dylan brought those flowers back to life. Since knowing Nemo’s identity, Bagelmaurus had never acted alone, although it would subconsciously interject from time to time. After thinking about it for a moment, Nemo couldn’t help but frown slightly.

“Who knows. It’ll run back by itself in due time. It’s quite similar to Dylan in that regard. This isn’t the first time it disappeared.” Ann raised her brows. “My dear Mr. Light, why are you trying to skirt around the issue? I just want to know what happened between the two of you—”

The door suddenly slammed open, causing the blood vessels in Ann’s forehead to pop.

“You just left me behind like that!” the blond young man complained loudly. “That’s too cruel! I’m also a reserve teammate—huh? What’s wrong with this atmosphere?”

“Nothing,” Nemo immediately said. He quickly turned his face away, trying to hide the nervousness in his eyes. He didn’t know if Jesse Dylan knew he had found out who was behind the awakening of the seeds, and he wasn’t good at hiding these things. It was a bit odd. Even if Nemo didn’t know how he did it, he could clearly perceive that Jesse wasn’t a “threat” to him in the face of Bagelmaurus or even Oliver.

When he looked at Jesse, it felt as if he was exploring a piece of air. He couldn’t feel anything. Bagelmaurus seemed to have mentioned something similar before. Perhaps the other party was using some means to hide his strength, or Nemo wasn’t strong enough to see through him. This made his thoughts uncertain.

Jesse didn’t seem to care about Nemo’s reaction. He glanced at the knight commander, who was still facing the wall, tied up his blond hair neatly, and threw it behind his shoulders, accentuating every single movement with grievance. “Now can we leave? Do you really want to have a loving bonfire with Horizon?”

“Bagelmaurus didn’t come with you?” Ann spoke the words that were in Nemo’s thoughts.

Jesse instantly showed a painful expression.

“…What’s with that face? Did it run into Lopez?” Ann made a gesture of cutting across her neck. “Then it can only be said that its luck was poor. Are there any traces left?”

“No,” Jesse said sadly. “It flew away.”

“What?” Nemo finally turned his face.

“Literally, it just flew away.” The blond young man’s expression was melancholic. “I tried to persuade it to talk to you, but alas, it… escaped very decisively. Mr. Light, I don’t think you’re the type who’ll abuse birds, right?”

“…” Nemo wiped his face fiercely. “I don’t think so.”

He felt a little guilty about the scene of Ann choking the bird’s neck in Vincent Town.

“If it’s as Ms. Savage said just now, the demon can always find you.” Adrian finally turned around with a twitch on his face. “Then you should be able to track it too. You can try it, Mr. Light.”

Nemo closed his eyes doubtfully. He thought he would get nothing, but he didn’t expect to sense anything. It was like a soft noise in the corner of a dark room, or like a mosquito landing on one’s skin…

“Probably… Uh, eight o’clock, about a few hundred kilometers away. I’m not very…”

“Roscoe.” Adrian concluded.

“Roscoe?”

“If Bagelmaurus has been with you since it came to the surface, then it should not have developed its own ‘circle of communication’.” Adrian pondered for a few seconds. “Mr. Ramon, can you please check the Black Chapter task list?”

Oliver pulled out the task list.

“See if there is any mission about the Abyssal Church.” Adrian seemed to have calmed down. “Of course, this is my personal suggestion. It should have gone that way, assuming Mr. Light intends to find it.”

“Of course. Even if its strength is only intermediate, it’s not good to leave it alone… If Bagelmaurus really wants to leave that badly, then we need to talk about it before,” Nemo quickly said. He stepped to Oliver’s side, intending to lean in front of the task table to take a closer look.

As a result, he was mercilessly dragged by Ann, who pulled at his collar.

“Don’t choose,” Ann said vigilantly. “Don’t.”

“There are a few, but there are more… Well, not appropriate.” Oliver tried his best to be as tactful as possible.

“Isn’t this interesting? This guy is asking for an escort to the tombs of the church. He promises that he’s only there to look and not take anything.” The female warrior casually glanced at the task list and pointed to one of them.

“Isn’t it suspicious?” There seemed to be a shadow cast upon Oliver for task selection, as he was rarely indecisive.

“It’s better than this pile of things like ‘hanging pagans’.”

“If you’re just looking for a parrot, you don’t need to take on a task.” Jesse raised an eyebrow. “I’m afraid these two little guys don’t know about the Abyssal Church yet. Isn’t that right?”

“It’s not just for that purpose,” Adrian said slowly as he glared at the blond young man. “There is a lot of unique demon intelligence from the Abyssal Church… At the very least, the information from the Laddism Church cannot explain this current situation. I’m very concerned about the identity of Mr. Light.”

The former knight commander spoke truthfully. “I don’t think the two of you will give up on digging deeper into this, right?”

Nemo nodded quickly as Oliver was still looking through the tasks in the task list in fear.

“That’s true.” Ann touched her chin. “If there’s more information to be found… it’s probably the only place I can think of. Hey, it seems feasible. After all, we really do have a, ahem, complete superior demon.”

“…The Abyssal Church?” Nemo finally couldn’t help asking.

“Mm-hmm.” Jesse smiled strangely, as if he was trying his best to hold back this smile. “You can think of it as a refuge for demon worshipers and demon warlocks… It’s the most prominent anomaly of religions on the surface.”

“They believe in the Demon King at the bottom of the Abyss.”

The author has something to say:

Ann: Actually, I just want to ask you two who’s the top. (x

Kinky Thoughts:

Oh Ann, can’t you already tell?

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

Chapter 90: Anomalies

Nemo got tragically tongue-tied.

The next step should be to answer affectionately with a “yes”. He should be able to do it, but it seemed as if a cat had caught his tongue. Nemo groaned awkwardly for a while, but still couldn’t successfully say a word.

The blankness on Oliver’s face lasted for more than ten seconds, and then was gradually replaced by a smile that was growing bigger. Those emerald eyes bent slightly because of the smile, glistening with pure and joyful light. He raised his brows and held out his warm hand to press on Nemo’s head.

The hand rubbed hard, and Nemo could feel his sandy hair being completely messed up.

“It seems that you’re not going to object,” Oliver’s tone was lighthearted. Since they embarked on their journey, Nemo had never heard the other party speak in such a relaxed tone. “Then the decision’s final.”

“……Okay.” Nemo finally managed to squeeze out a response. He suddenly felt guilty and didn’t dare look at Oliver’s smile.

This was faster and simpler than he thought. There were no strange signs in the air, and there were no extra colors in his world that didn’t exist before. As the sun rose, the brilliance of the sunrise filled the room, giving a calm and warm feeling. Oliver was still Oliver, and there wasn’t any dazzling light that encircled him.

This is it?

Although he took the steps first by himself, after his momentum was overwhelmed by Oliver, Nemo became a bit restrained. Normally he wouldn’t hesitate to give Oliver a hug to celebrate their success, but at this moment, the soles of his boots seemed to be stuck to the floor by an invisible glue, preventing him from moving an inch.

Is this a good or a bad sign?

Nemo thought hard. The “ease” in his previous relationship had long disappeared. There weren’t any books or knowledge that could explain his current state, which only made him more nervous.

Oliver saw that Nemo’s gaze became more erratic and his brows rose even higher. He shook his head amusingly and decisively hugged the stiff person in front of him. Nemo instantly froze up like a statue.

“Hey, it’s not like we’re getting married tomorrow,” Oliver whispered softly into Nemo’s ear, causing the edge of that ear to instantly redden. “…We’ll take our time.”

“You don’t seem nervous at all,” Nemo murmured, as he almost ferociously surrounded Oliver’s back. “It’s not fair.”

“I’m just pretending,” Oliver responded quickly. “In fact, I’m so nervous right now that I’m about to throw up.”

Nemo tugged at the shirt on Oliver’s back. He had to admit that he really liked this hug… Even though they were both dirty and exhausted and there wasn’t a single romantic element right now, this hug made him forget all those annoying things in an instant, just like the warm and lazy sunshine of autumn.

He narrowed his eyes, let out a tiny sigh, and finally found a little sense of reality about their relationship—but was quickly brought back to attention by the sound of the door being pounded on.

“…Why are you locking the kitchen?” Debby yelled discontentedly. “Even if I’m with Horizon… No way, Nemo?!”

Nemo let go of Oliver embarrassingly and coughed. He walked to the door with his head drooping and quickly opened it.

“Nadine is asleep. Lisa is with her,” Debby spurted out quickly as she stepped into the kitchen and swept her widened eyes across the kitchen. “You two didn’t prepare anything?”

“Nadine got rid of all her things.” Facing Debby this time, Oliver didn’t seem as uncomfortable as he had been. He put his hand on Nemo’s shoulder and said, “Let’s go get something for her in a bit.”

Debby stared at the hand suspiciously, then scanned Nemo’s still blushing ears. She gave a long “un”.

“Big brother.” There was a bit of seriousness in the girl’s voice. “Do you… have something to say to your dear sister?”

“Ah, right.” Nemo grimaced and rigidly put an arm on Oliver’s shoulder and patted it. “Let me re-introduce again. This is Oliver Ramon, my… uh… boyfriend.”

Debby’s expression froze and was mixed with a “sure enough” and “how’s this possible”.

She seemed to want to grab her rod for a moment as she held her hands and listlessly grabbed the empty air a few times. Finally, she decided on her course of action. She struggled to raise her head, as if trying to make herself look taller, then stretched out her hands and grabbed the front of Nemo’s robe.

“Before you… You didn’t do anything but read in your spare time. I was afraid that you would go stupid from it,” she said bitterly. “From the age of eight until I left, I’ve been working hard with all of them to arrange an encounter for you with all the beautiful girls in town…”

“But it turns out… you like men!” She looked as if she was about to cry. “If you had said it earlier, you two might have—”

“I just found out…” Nemo replied with a lack of confidence.

“…You go buy some food, Nemo.” Debby suddenly spoke resolutely. She let go of her hand and moved her gaze to Oliver. “Lisa doesn’t seem willing to leave Nadine, but Nadine has to replenish her energy.”

“Debby?”

“Go ahead, Nemo,” Oliver’s voice had hints of laughter. “I won’t suddenly disappear. It seems this lady wants to talk to me alone.”

“Go quickly!” Debby abruptly pushed Nemo on the back and out of the kitchen, then closed the door fiercely and locked it.

Oliver almost chuckled at the thought that these two siblings were exactly the same. However, when Debby turned around, the smile on her face had almost disappeared. The girl didn’t seem to have the relaxed expression she had just now. She stared at the ground and sighed softly.

“It’s hard for Nemo to really ‘like’ someone.” She slowed down her voice. “If you’re in such a relationship… He must really care about you. He never hides anything from the people he cares about.”

Oliver stared at the little girl in front of him solemnly. “Do you have something to tell me?”

“Yes,” Debby said dryly, as if she had put on her professional mercenary posture. “I know he has an unclear relationship with a demon. Don’t be nervous. I won’t tell our commander… Nemo can’t lie, as his small movements give him away almost instantly. When he told me about ‘recovering his memories’ before, there’s no doubt that he lied. There wasn’t a need for him to hide anything from me, so if he did it deliberately, there’s only one possibility.”

She nodded at the white tin badge on her chest. “He’s in a precarious position, and he’s afraid that it’ll bring difficulties for me. There are only a few hostile races that the surface won’t accommodate, so it’s not difficult to guess.”

“Thank you,” Oliver said solemnly as he put away his smile. “Thank you for not reporting it.”

“After all, I don’t have conclusive evidence, and of course, I won’t deliberately look for it. Nemo is still the same. I don’t think he’ll do anything that’ll make people angry or resentful.” Debby played with the curly hair that fell on her cheek. “…And I have… considered this possibility from much earlier on.”

She raised her eyes. “Mr. Ramon, if you really like him. I hope you know… my brother, he’s a bit special. He’s always a bit slow to feelings, and his cognition is also subtly delayed from ordinary people.”

“I get it,” Oliver nodded slightly. “I don’t care.”

“No, I don’t think you understand.” Debby shook her head.

At the same time, Nemo walked to the front yard with fluttering steps while carrying his coin pouch.

He was still lost in thought about the incredible scenario that he had “started a new relationship with a man”, when he almost ran into Ann. The female warrior was putting the knight commander’s long arm around her shoulder with one hand while steadily trying to help him up.

“Watch where you’re going, kid.” There were hints of teasing in her tone. “You guys look alright. Is everything finished? Sorry, I saw Cross fall down, so I went to help him.”

“Godwin is gone, and Nadine is still resting. I’m going to buy her something to eat.”

“Well done. Seeing as how Lopez didn’t take out his sword, I knew you guys did it.”

“Where’s Dylan?” Nemo looked around and didn’t find a golden head.

“In a stupor outside. He should have been hit by a stun spell,” Ann snorted and made a brief “heh”. “It’s good for him to bask in the sun for a while.”

“You can let me go, Ms. Savage.” Adrian’s voice didn’t sound good. His complexion was pale, and there were many abrasions on his face. There were also obvious bloodstains on the corners of his mouth. “I just need a bit of rest.”

“Rightttt, after I had to burn three pages of healing spells.” The female warrior frowned. “What the hell are you and Dylan messing around with?”

“I’ll explain when I get the chance.”

“Anyway, I’ll find a place to drop off our knight commander first.” Ann waved her hand. “You go and come back quickly.”

Although it was obvious Debby wouldn’t really do anything to Oliver, Nemo quickly bought food that was soft to eat, which was suitable for a patient, and rushed back to the witch’s residence. When he was about to open the door to the front yard, a strange aura came from the backyard. It was extremely weak, as if it would disappear at any moment, and felt special, like a strand of gold thread mixed in with coarse linen clothing. At the moment when his movements paused, it suddenly weakened, as if it had noticed something.

Nemo didn’t hesitate. He decisively dropped the bag of small potatoes in his arms and then buried his head down, pretending he was picking them up. While trying to “pick up” the potatoes, he scoured all over the ground to find the source.

He had succeeded.

Jesse Dylan, who should’ve been unconscious, was standing in the empty backyard looking perfectly normal. His brilliant blond hair was in perfect condition. Jesse was still tossing the seeds in his hand as he muttered something to himself, as if he was chatting with it.

“They really succeeded,” he whispered to the seeds. “Things are getting more and more interesting.”

The beautiful blond young man raised his head, as if he was glancing at the distant desert in front of him. Nemo knew very well that, under the machinations of the orange cat, the seeds of the Earthsea Orchid should have already withered. It was the king of the arthropod lizards, so it shouldn’t have an issue with dealing with a dying seed.

“I don’t hate tragedies.” Jesse curled his lips. “It makes a good story to work hard 10,000 times only to fail, but how can I put it…”

“Paying tributes to fools who worked in vain is fine on occasion,” he said as he tossed the seeds into the sand at random.

He then stretched and calmly walked to the back door of the house.

Just as the door closed, something arched out of the sand. A trace of green covered the golden colored dirt, then more green started appearing. The seeds that should have been dead drilled out of the sand, and the brocade-like greenery quickly spread. The long-disappeared plants grew frantically as their vines became thicker, visibly to the naked eye. Then golden buds popped out.

Nemo picked up the last little potato and straightened his waist.

The backyard had become a sea of flowers.

The appearance of the flowers was puzzling. They didn’t seem to have an exact shape, and they looked more like a ball of molten gold. Liquid flowers fully bloomed in the air, causing petals to be scattered like droplets of rain, revealing a sharp and aggressive beauty in the soft morning light. Even with the flowers blooming, their growth didn’t stagnate. The green vines covered the entire sand and climbed up the house, spreading in all directions.

There were faint cries that came from the villagers in the distance.

Nemo wasn’t the only one who discovered someone’s “little action”. Adrian Cross was leaning against the wall of a corridor. There was still an unnatural spell fluctuation on the knight commander. In front of him, a bloody tracking array was gradually dissipating.

Nemo took a deep breath and decided to keep this to himself. Since Jesse Dylan was determined to join the team, they still had time.

Except for Nadine and Lisa, the other two people in the home were unaware of what was happening outside.

“I remember very clearly, even if I was young at that time.” Debby’s voice sank a bit. “Nemo wasn’t that old then… Our brother, Joshua Light, had died. He wasn’t careful enough when climbing a tree, and he fell and hit his head on a stone.”

“We were all very sad. Don’t look at me like this. Even at that age, I knew what sadness was at the time. We took out almost all the money we had and managed to give Joshua a decent funeral, but big brother, he…”

“Couldn’t accept it?”

“No, on the contrary. He never cried at that time, and he didn’t look sad at all.”

Oliver looked at Debby in silence, who pursed her lips.

“He then dug up Joshua’s body the next day and put it on the dining table. It was quite hot at that time, you know…” She shivered. “Old Patrick almost beat him. We buried it again that afternoon, but that night, he went and dug up the body again and carried it to Joshua’s bed.”

“He seems to be born with a lack of… Uh, common sense. He has been working hard since then. I can see it.” Debby took a deep breath and lowered her head towards Oliver. “Nemo should be much better now, but perhaps on some occasions in the future, he will still act similarly to this. If you really like him, please… be patient with him.”

“Please, Mr. Ramon.”

She thought it was okay to tell him this. She had omitted some irrelevant details, as they would be too absurd to put into words and she didn’t need to say them either.

“Joshua is ‘dead’.” The Old Patrick in her memory spat at Nemo. “He’s dead! No more! Stop digging him up. He won’t—”

The young Debby clung to her ragged stuffed rabbit in her arms, surrounded by the strong odor of a corpse.

“But his appearance is just changing.” Nemo, who was young at the time, stubbornly argued back. “He’s just resting. When he… adapts a little bit, he’ll move again!”

Old Patrick almost fainted from extreme anger. “Who told you this?”

“Because that’s what I am,” the black-haired child whispered. “Aren’t I?”

Kinky Thoughts:

This marks the end of the 4^th arc. Some questions answered, more questions arise.

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

Chapter 89: Horizon’s Invitation

Countering magic took much longer than they thought.

Nemo only felt that he was performing an unusually detailed surgery, and it didn’t take too much power to wither the nodes. The magic passed through the bones in his hand, condensed into a very fine bundle, and swam with the slightly trembling roots. In his eyes, the ugly root system had gotten closer and became clearer.

The squirming roots almost covered Nadine’s thin body. Nemo didn’t dare move a step, patiently withering them one by one. He could feel sweat oozing out of his forehead and sliding down along with his eyebrows. This seemed to be an endless job, and just looking at it made people discouraged. Fortunately, Oliver couldn’t see the roots.

Nadine was still bleeding slowly. She was barely hanging on to what little life she had with the residual magic she had left. Oliver was holding her hands and gently transferring his magic as he carefully adjusted it as the roots were absorbed. It wasn’t an easy job. The amount of root system extraction would only get bigger, and fatigue would become more imminent. The two of them tightened their nerves, making sure nothing could go wrong for even a slight second. This was a struggle with no end in sight. After all, no one knew what kind of reaction would happen once the root system left.

They could only continue to concentrate as seven hours passed.

There was a loud noise of spells colliding on the other side of the house, signifying the only possibility; Godwin was approaching and Adrian and Jesse were delaying him.

“Lopez is here!” Ann, who was in charge of keeping watch on the roof, confirmed their guess. “He’s not alone…” She hesitated for a while before changing the subject. “Cross can delay him for the time being. Come on you two. Hold on. If Cross can’t hold him off, I’ll go support him.”

Most of the hanging roots had shriveled and withered, leaving only the thickest roots left that continuously drew strength. Nadine had lost too much blood. She was on the verge of death, and no more life could be drawn from her. The root system seemed to be keenly aware of this, and it instead tried to drain all the remaining energy that was still supporting her body.

Ten, five, three, and finally the last one. The root system’s extraction speed became more frantic.

Nemo could see very clearly. Sweat had slipped onto Oliver’s eyelashes, but he didn’t even dare blink. Lisa stood aside stubbornly but didn’t retreat to rest despite the hours that had passed. She clung to the small wooden comb that she had just used to comb Nadine’s hair. The teeth of the comb jabbed into the flesh of her palm, drawing blood that dripped into the sand, but she seemed completely oblivious to it.

Nadine’s hand moved suddenly. She opened her mouth slightly and let out a sharp dying gasp.

“Stop… You gave it your all,” she said softly, her tone sighing.

“But…” Oliver’s voice had doubts, but his huge magic output wasn’t chaotic. A large torrent of power rushed through the root system without any fluctuations.

“…This will only lead to your death, Mr. Ramon.” Nadine’s hand shook a little. “It’s almost over, I know. You’ve opened your spirit to me. Once I…”

She didn’t go on, but both of them understood.

No one expected that the process would take this long. She was in a dying state for seven hours, and the end had to be accompanied by a great burst of energy. They didn’t know if they could keep up. If something went wrong, they may or may not be able to save Nadine in time, but the root system would take notice of this, so they wouldn’t have a second chance.

At that moment, she was like a person that was about to drown. When the most painful moment came, she could be desperate and grab onto her rescuer and drag the other party into the water together. Oliver was transferring his magic into her, and his spirit was open; that was to say—his lifespan was within Nadine’s reach.

It was as if a glass of water appeared in front of the person who was about to die from thirst or a fire in front of a freezing person. Her will had been consumed all night, and her desire to survive on the verge of death would become stronger and would be difficult to restrain.

Nadine herself was aware of this.

“As I said, you don’t owe me anything, Mr. Lop… Ramon.”

“I’m helping you because I believe in you.” Oliver didn’t withdraw his hands. There was even a smile on his face. “It has nothing to do with what my father did. Ms. Nadine, I trust you. If you stop because of ‘possible danger’…”

He quickly glanced in Nemo’s direction. “…Then this kind of trust is meaningless.”

“You are such a cruel person.” Nadine murmured.

“That’s right,” Oliver replied gently. “I’ll say it again. I trust you, Ms. Nadine.”

The witch raised her head extremely slowly. Her sandy golden eyes appeared from the drooping skin that looked calm and sad.

The root system suddenly swelled, and then shrank quickly. Nemo took a breath. The black spell thread was quickly tightened, and at the same moment, Oliver suddenly increased his magic output. The sky above their heads made a series of explosions, then suddenly all the roots withered and slowly faded away. Nemo suddenly cast his gaze on the witch in the rocking chair…

The air around Nadine’s body was twisting, and she seemed to be cauterized by a transparent flame. Oliver subconsciously let go of her hand, took a few steps back and stared at the thin figure.

The witch didn’t utter any sound, and she didn’t move. Nadine lay there quietly, like the ashes of firewood after the last trace of spark had been extinguished. Her eyes were closed tightly, and her chest didn’t move up and down.

Oliver wanted to touch her but was held back by Nemo.

“She doesn’t seem to be in a conscious state. It’s safer if I do it,” Nemo said calmly before wiping the sweat from his face and stretching out his right hand towards the rocking chair.

But he didn’t touch the “skin” of a living creature.

Although it looked like skin, it cracked and collapsed under his touch, scattering into gray powder. Nemo felt a chill in his back and increased the strength of his touch as he tried to stimulate a healing spell.

He caught sight of something under the thick layer of ashes.

The witch moved a little, and ashes began to fall all over her body. Her wrinkled skin cracked and turned into dust that fell off along with her gray hair. The scene was quite terrifying.

A little gold was exposed in the gap between the dust and ashes.

Most of the dust and ash on Nadine’s body fell off, revealing something like a mummy or an anorexic patient that was on the verge of death. The witch’s pale skin stretched over the skeleton and blood vessels that entangled her bones like worms. Her eyeballs were extraordinarily protruding, and attached to her scalp was soft golden hair. She looked weak and creepy.

But it wasn’t the body of an old woman.

“I held back,” she said. Her voice was extremely soft, and that pleasant sound of her no longer seemed inconsistent at this moment. “…I held back.”

“I didn’t kill you…” Tears slid down the eye sockets of the “skeleton”. “I’m so glad.”

Nadine was so weak that her eyes closed slightly after speaking. Nemo hurriedly grabbed her hand, and then breathed a sigh of relief.

“She’s fine,” he said, with lingering fear. “Just…very weak and needs to rest.”

Lisa fell flat on her ass. She unconsciously grabbed the sand with her injured hand. Her expression was mixed with crying and laughter, and finally the mixed emotions turned into a difficult choke. The orange cat slipped to the rocking chair and rubbed the witch’s thin ankles skillfully, making purring sounds.

Oliver also breathed a sigh of relief. He shook in place a few times and almost collapsed. Thankfully, Nemo quickly held him up.

“Ollie.” Taking advantage of the numbness of his brain and the eruption of emotions, Nemo took a few deep breaths, intending to explain clearly in one breath. “Listen, I—”

“You did this?” A somewhat familiar voice sounded, directly interrupting Nemo’s muttered words.

The two raised their heads and saw Godwin Lopez with crossed arms held against his chest, looking at Nadine, who was no longer the old woman in the rocking chair. They couldn’t see any joy or anger in his expression. “Her power response disappeared.”

Nemo immediately looked at the roof, and the figure of the female warrior was gone. Ann wouldn’t attack without leaving a signal, so the situation may not be as bad as they thought. Oliver, who was beside him, grabbed the hilt of the Rest in Peace and stood listlessly.

“Yes.” Oliver raised his emerald eyes, which were the same as the other party. “Ms. Nadine is no longer part of the root system, which means she’s no longer an Eastern Witch.”

Godwin raised his brows, and he strode to the witch. The tail of the orange cat, which was still dawdling at the witch’s feet, quickly drooped down, and it hurriedly ran away and hid quietly behind Oliver.

Oliver clenched the hilt of the sword, while Nemo hid his hand behind his back, causing the shadow to flow quickly between his fingers.

However, Godwin didn’t draw his sword. He didn’t even seem interested in Nadine, who was in front of him. Two magic arrays formed in the air, then dazzling translucent lines directly filled the entire backyard, extending into the sky above their heads.

“The power of abyssal magic is not worth mentioning, but the control accuracy is very good.” After analyzing the lines, he glanced at Nemo. “As for surface magic… Well, it’s interesting.”

He put away the arrays and walked in front of Oliver. Nemo arched slightly, ready to cast a defensive spell. If something were to happen, he didn’t mind revealing his true identity.

At the same time, the familiar scream of a girl came from far to near. “Commander, wait a minute—”

“Oliver Ramon.” Godwin’s voice was steady. “Follow me and join Horizon.”

Debby tripped under her feet, causing her whole body to fall flat on the ground. The dark shadows between Nemo’s fingers trembled and almost dissipated.

“……What?” Oliver expressed his doubts bluntly.

“I investigated,” Godwin said in a deep voice. “From the Black Chapter exam to all the tasks you had taken over, your team had not experienced a single casualty. Vincent Town had the most negative comments, but I’ve asked someone to investigate it and found that you definitely helped calm a small-scale war.”

“It’s impossible for a person with this style of behavior to conspire with others to kill his father because he ‘wants property’,” Godwin said indifferently. There was nothing resembling softness in his expression. “If you join Horizon, I can assign someone to help you investigate what happened that day. Your strength is very strong, so you should use it on the right path.” He glanced at the bone sword in Oliver’s hand.

“I don’t think I have deviated from the right path.” Oliver felt no joy from being praised.

“Nemo Light, Adrian Cross, Jesse Dylan,” Godwin named them one by one. “The first two are involved with demons, and the latter is famous for his coldness and bloodlust. Even if you haven’t deviated now, it’s not wise to walk toeing such a line.”

“I’ve been an adult for a while now, Mr. Lopez.” Oliver twitched the corners of his mouth. “I can make my own judgment.”

“I am providing you with an opportunity to get out of the Black Chapter.” Godwin didn’t seem surprised by Oliver’s response. “You can live as a legal citizen and serve your country and for justice—If you’re worried about your companions, I believe Ms. Savage will be a good leader.”

Nemo subconsciously held his breath; he turned his face to look at Oliver.

“I am very grateful for your proposal, Mr. Lopez, but I don’t quite agree with Horizon’s style.” Without hesitation, Oliver shook his head seriously. He accentuated the word “Lopez”. “To say the least, I have no dissatisfaction with the status quo. I’m just a small person, and the word ’righteousness’ is too heavy… I prefer to help those around me first before I think about such heavy burdens.”

This time, Godwin stared at him for a long time before he said, “Don’t you have the pride of a swordsman?”

“No,” Oliver said, smiling.

Nemo desperately suppressed his chuckle.

Godwin seemed disgusted by this answer as he frowned. “I respect your decision, Mr. Ramon.” His voice was cold, and he also accentuated “Ramon”. “Then that’s it. My mission is over. According to regulations, I won’t do anything to Ms. Nadine. Since there isn’t any substantial ‘hostile’ behavior, I won’t deal with you this time.”

“…But this may not necessarily be the case the next time we meet.”

“Commander…” Debby got up from the ground and patted the soil off her robe. “Can I stay here for a while?”

“Whatever you want. Remember to meet at the inn at noon.” Godwin didn’t dawdle, he turned around and swiftly left.

“Are you sure?” Seeing Debby walking in his direction, Nemo put away the shadow between his fingers. “He may really be able to clear your charges.”

“When the situation stabilizes, we can try to do it ourselves.” Oliver shrugged. “I have a hunch that my cousin and I are not in tune… After all, I still don’t know what this so-called ‘swordsman’s pride’ is.”

This time, Nemo didn’t hold back his laughter. To his surprise, Debby didn’t come to talk to him first but instead ran to Nadine and used magic to levitate the rocking chair.

“I’ll come talk to you later, Nemo,” Debby solemnly said. “I’ll help settle Ms. Nadine first.”

“Okay, let’s go get her something to eat.” Nemo nodded and grabbed Oliver again. “Ann must have gone to Adrian’s side. Listening to Godwin’s tone, it shouldn’t have been a big deal.”

However, Nadine had thoroughly cleaned everything so neatly that there wasn’t even a single slice of bread left in the home. A few minutes later, Nemo closed the last cabinet with a stern face.

“Speaking of… What did you want to tell me just now?” In the gradually whitening sky, everything in the kitchen progressively became clear. Oliver, who was resting against the wall, turned around. He had just washed off the sweat and dirt from his face and was showing an anxious look.

Nemo’s movements froze. He walked to the door of the kitchen numbly, slammed the door and locked it, then cleared his throat unnaturally. Seeing his movements made Oliver, who was still leaning against the wall, straighten up his back instantly. He was now more nervous than when he was facing Godwin.

“Ollie.”

Nemo took a deep breath. His heart pattered and his fingertips became numb, as if they had been shocked with electricity. Does a confession feel like this? Compared to when Oliver did it so calmly, he was in much worse shape. After adjusting his emotions for a few seconds, Nemo stepped in front of Oliver and tried to frantically sort out all the relevant knowledge in his mind. He tried his best to make himself look calm, but based on Oliver’s expression, he wasn’t successful in doing so.

“I really have something to tell you.”

He straightened out his left arm and wrapped it around the right side of Oliver’s neck while using his other hand to support him from behind. Nemo couldn’t control his strength well and accidently cracked several of the ceramic tiles on the wall.

“…You were saying?” Oliver listened to the clattering of the broken tiles as he responded with great difficulty.

“I’ve clearly thought about it and… I like you.” Nemo solemnly grabbed Oliver’s front lapel with his right hand, and his voice started becoming erratic due to the tension. “Ollie, would you like to be my girlfriend?”

“…” Oliver was silent for a long time before he put his hand on the other party’s hand that was holding his front lapel.

“That may be difficult,” he replied blankly, as he was still dazed from the shock of the question. “How about being your boyfriend instead?”

The author has something to say:

These two fight as if they’re flirting, and flirt as if they’re fighting…

Nemo now has the illusion that he’s a gong, so we can let him keep dreaming a bit longer.

———

Gray parrot: Young man, do you desire great power?

Nemo: No thanks.

Godwin: Young man, don’t you have the pride of a swordsman?

Oliver: Nope! (Heartily)

…They really are a match made in heaven…

Kinky Thoughts:

Nemo confesses!!! Kyaaaaa~~~

While the confessions are more direct and there are no sweet eccentric words or poems, given that they both grew up in basically a small village with minimal schooling, they most likely aren’t well versed in romanticism. Still, I’m dying from the cuteness of these two. Sometimes the direct approach is the best!

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

Chapter 88: The End of the Mission

Jesse Dylan stepped on the creaking sand and stared at the scene not far away. Oliver and Nemo had already taken Nadine to the backyard of the house, along with her rocking chair. The witch, Nadine, was too weak and crying seemed to have exhausted what little physical strength she had left, so they didn’t dare risk letting her walk by herself.

The two placed the witch on the edge of the field of Earthsea Orchids on a relatively gentle slope.

Lisa took out a small wooden comb and whispered something while taking care of her best friend’s hair. Oliver was holding the witch’s hands, as if he was estimating the strength he needed, while Nemo stood beside him, watching him quietly.

How interesting. Jesse leaned against the trunk of a tree and continued to toss the seeds of the Earthsea Orchid up and down. He had seen that kind of look too many times…

The demon was moved.

It should be full of uncertain and ignorant feelings. As an outsider, he could see more clearly and precisely because he knew exactly what Nemo Light was. Jesse thought from the bottom of his heart that the situation was quite funny, hilarious even. No matter what Nemo did to himself in the first place, the effect was thorough. He seemed to recognize himself as a human in his heart, and didn’t exude any distortion and deadness, or a stench of conspiracy.

It was a pity that he didn’t know what happened in the Abyss, Jesse pondered with regret.

Theoretically, it was impossible for any “sane” life to be born at the bottom of the Abyss. In order to make up for the gap in cognition, he tried to go to the bottom of the Abyss in person. According to his survey results, the life that settled there was divided into two types…

Those who had no wisdom and only had survival instinct. Or… by human standards, lunatics.

Or as his Morning Star had said, Nemo used some means to seal his cognition, but he knew better than anyone that Nemo would never be able to completely erase those memories. The creature known as “Nemo Light” was too powerful to surpass his own instincts. His memories couldn’t be sealed in the darkness forever. Sooner or later, they would reappear at some point.

Looking at what he was doing now; the feelings that he was experiencing were fragile and boring, like a petal floating in a puddle after the rain. What awaited it was a tsunami that was destined to come.

What would happen then?

But no matter which direction this farce was going in, he was about to get a front row seat, Jesse thought happily as he poked the gray parrot in his pocket.

“You can’t hide like this for the rest of your life,” he suggested casually. “How about apologizing? He might forgive you—believe me, even if you shrink yourself like this, Mr. Light won’t really forget you.”

“No!” The gray parrot cried with difficulty.

“He won’t kill you.” Jesse yawned in the thickening night. “Look at him. Maybe if you cry bitterly enough, Mr. Light will give you some fresh berries.”

“I’m also a superior demon,” Bagelmaurus insisted. “I… I’m just like him! It’s just that I’m incomplete on the surface. Even if I can’t beat him now, at least I still have my self-esteem…”

“Superior demon?” Jesse smiled briefly. “Whatever you say, you cute little thing.”

“…Do you think he won’t kill me?” The gray parrot was silent for a moment, then asked tentatively.

“Yes. I think my assessment of people is very accurate.” Maybe just not right now, but Jesse didn’t plan to say the latter half of the sentence.

The gray parrot was silent. It blinked at Nemo from a dozen steps away, and Jesse could feel its gathered courage. Bagelmaurus struggled to get out of his pocket because it was much too narrow for it. Rather than apologizing, it didn’t take one step closer to Nemo. It flapped its wings and rushed into the night sky and was quickly engulfed by the darkness.

“Oh,” Jesse sighed, “It seems I’m in trouble.”

However, he wasn’t alone for too long. After Oliver entered his state and began practicing countering the magic with his sword, Adrian Cross came over.

“Are you looking for me?” Jesse stood up straight in an instant, making his voice sound full of joy.

“Yes.”

“How strange.”

“I want you to go with me and guard the outside.” Adrian stared straight into his eyes. “After all, we don’t know how long the countering process will take, and Mr. Lopez may arrive before it’s finished.”

“That’s Godwin Lopez!” Jesse shouted. “Look at me. Do I look like someone who’s used to fighting head-on? You can’t do this to me—”

“If trouble arises, Ms. Savage can’t match him,” the knight commander explained calmly. “I checked the Horizon’s missions; Lopez should have acquired the holy sword in the tombs. My previous magic affinities are the same as it, so I’ll take less damage.”

“Listen to what you’re actually saying; your ‘previous’ magic affinities? It’s not that I look down on you, but in such a state you can’t even successfully delay me for more than a second…” Jesse said as he raised his brows higher. “Oh, I see—did you want to do another ‘spiritual sacrifice’?”

“Yes,” Adrian admitted straightforwardly. “I have seen your strength. You have the power, and I have the means to stall Lopez. Mr. Dylan, you really want to join this team, don’t you?”

“I don’t think you care about me—even though I really want to think so.” Jesse covered his chest exaggeratedly. “Well, it’s true, our captain is set on this, but I think… You have your own thoughts as well?”

Adrian stared at the seemingly distraught blond young man and didn’t answer. His expression was enough to answer Jesse’s question.

“No problem, I’ll go with you. This is a sacrifice for love,” Jesse announced, “but if you want to use this to find my connection with the Laddism Church, I have to warn you… You’ll be quite disappointed.”

Nemo had no time to worry about the two people not far away at that moment. The orange cat was pulling hard on his trousers as it kept shivering. Nemo could even feel the vibration that came from it. He sighed and picked up the cat, immediately causing the latter to become stiff as a corpse in his arms.

He didn’t disturb Oliver, who was busy concentrating. Nemo bypassed the small house, went through the garden, and stepped onto the stone road in front of the courtyard. Compared with the lively towns, people in these small villages had earlier rest times. The street was pitch black, and there was only a drunkard in ragged clothes that staggered against the wall, burping out booze.

Nemo waited patiently for the drunk man to walk by before putting the cat on the ground.

“I need the withering spell now.” He stared at the cat that was shaking like a sieve and recalled what the gray parrot had said. “Are you afraid of me… Is it because of ‘class suppression’?”

“I don’t know,” the orange cat said. “Maybe.”

“……Sorry,” Nemo said dryly. “It’s not on purpose.”

“Don’t apologize.” The orange cat lifted its mimicry, and the huge arthropod lizard reappeared. “You hide well. Being strong isn’t a mistake.”

It turned its head and bit off a short bone spur on the bone shell with a click. The yellowish bone spur lay on the slate and looked a bit like a broken fang. Then it immediately changed back to the appearance of a cat, licking a wound on its abdomen where the location of the bone spur broke.

“It’s the medium,” it said. “Our spells… Have the same system. They can be converted by this medium.”

“Be careful not to touch her with it.” It stopped licking before adding, “Please… Don’t mention its origin.”

“You don’t want her to know who you are?”

“Not now,” The chubby cat lowered its head. “Not yet.”

“Ok.” Nemo grabbed the yellowish bone with one hand and pressed on the wet skin that had the wound licked by the cat. The wound on the orange cat’s abdomen disappeared instantly. “I won’t say it, and Ollie is not one to take the initiative to bring it up… I have only one question to ask.”

“Please.” The orange cat raised its fluffy tail and headed back towards the house.

“You are helping Nadine find the seeds for the Earthsea Orchids, right? But I can feel that there are traces of withering magic on that piece of sand.” Nemo asked softly. His gaze followed the cat’s tail back and forth. “Why? Why kill the hard-to-find seeds?”

“She wants to complete the agreement.” The cat stopped. “Until then, she will insist on living. Those seeds… I let them wither, but I don’t regret it.”

“Which is why she can’t know about me.” It let out a small sigh. “She’s smart and most likely will figure things out.”

Nemo clenched the bone spurs in his hand and didn’t ask any more questions. He didn’t know what happened between Nadine and the arthropod lizard. He only knew one thing—the “monster” who had grown up quietly in a warm house might have had more love than she thought.

When he returned to the backyard, Oliver had already stopped his practice. He hung his hands and held the Rest in Peace firmly.

“We can start.” His voice trembled nervously. “Nemo, are you ready over there?”

“Ready.” Nemo took a breath. “If something goes wrong, I will treat her immediately.”

“Pardon us,” Oliver bowed slightly to the witch on the rocking chair. He drew out his sword and created a deep wound on the witch’s thin right arm. A lot of blood gushed out immediately. Lisa let out a suppressed cry, but she immediately covered her mouth and stared firmly at the flowing blood.

The witch’s face paled quickly, and her throat made a gurgling sound.

“Are you here?” Oliver’s voice was a little subdued, but the nervous tremor disappeared.

“Here.” Nemo raised his head.

Even in the dim night, the slowly appearing monstrosity was still very dazzling. It squirmed hideously, emitting the smell of death. The flesh-and-blood root system slowly spread out and leaned towards the increasingly weak witch in the rocking chair.

“You can do it.” Nemo adjusted his breathing. The sight of the phantom root system penetrating into the skin made him so unhappy that he almost crushed the bone spurs in his hand.

The long “funeral” officially began.

Earthsea Orchid Inn.

Godwin Lopez put the holy sword in the scabbard and ended his morning’s exercise. Before leaving, he finally confirmed the contract. Generally, they should be stored in the hands of the client. However, if the executor of the task was too strong or too despicable, in order to prevent the client from reneging, they would occasionally be kept by the party performing the task.

A small task without difficulty.

He did have some regret. Strictly speaking, Godwin didn’t think the witch Nadine was a threat. From time to time, he would confirm the status of her position using the tracking spell he cast on her. She didn’t run around, nor was she acting out due to her death throes and vented indiscriminately with her magic. From this perspective, she was much more respectable than other non-humans he had dealt with.

Unfortunately, rules were rules. Godwin sighed and looked out the window at the still dark sky. Regret belonged to regret. He didn’t take time to think and wasn’t tangled. After a moment of contemplation, he adjusted the position of his lower shoulder armor. He wanted to be perfunctory, even if the enemy was already dying.

Then he opened the door of the room and was met with an uninvited guest that was guarding the door.

“Can you take me with you, commander?” The dark circles under Debby Light’s eyes were obvious. She raised her head stubbornly, and her voice was very firm. “I won’t cause you trouble… I… I want to witness it with my own eyes.”

Godwin never said much. She knew exactly what her commander was doing. Debby closed her eyes and tried to keep her breathing from being too short. She could talk to the witch, which may seem hypocritical and useless, but at least she would have time to apologize.

“Yes.” Godwin nodded calmly. “Then you will write the task report.”

“Yes, commander.”

As the sun was about to rise, the night had begun to become thin and transparent. The two walked along the road to the witch’s residence with their surroundings peaceful and quiet. However, Godwin suddenly stopped, causing Debby, who was in a daze, to pass by him a few steps before she reacted.

“Something’s not right.” The commander of Horizon frowned. He had already drawn out the holy sword that had been sleeping in a grave for a long time.

The body of the holy sword at dawn was illuminated with beautiful shimmers, just like its name, Breaking Dawn. Its light was like the true brilliance of dawn, bright and warm, with a faint solemn aura.

It wasn’t hostility, but the force was too strange. It seemed that an invisible dark cloud was enveloping the witch’s residence, and it was impossible for the witch Nadine to create such a thick and mysterious gathering of power. Someone was intervening. Godwin narrowed his eyes. If he guessed correctly, in this palm-sized village, the only people who could intervene are…

“It seems that your concern is right. Mr. Lopez is very dedicated.” The excessively beautiful blond young man patted his hands. He stood out with his light-colored clothing compared to others, which made the black badge on his chest quite dazzling. “Truly deserving to be my sweetheart, Adri.”

The other was wearing the uniform of a monk from the Laddism Church. There were ugly stitching marks on his left chest where the holy emblem was originally. He didn’t wear a black badge, but—Godwin’s gaze swept across the opponent’s hand holding a metal bow, and the man’s left thumb undoubtedly had a black badge on the ring of his left thumb.

“Jesse Dylan,” Godwin said calmly, without putting away his sword. “…And Adrian Cross. I don’t think the two of you came for a simple greeting.”

“If you want, of course I can say hello. Good morning, dear Mr. Lopez! I like your hair color. Would you like to leave me a communication crystal—” The leader of Horizon pointed the tip of his sword at Jesse, and the second half of the blond young man’s words were quickly swallowed back into his throat.

“If you can, I hope you can wait.” Adrian ignored the aggrieved Jesse and lowered his head blankly. “Just wait a bit, please.”

“Cross.” Godwin showed a standard smile, but there was no smile in his eyes. “Of course, I won’t accept all rumors. To be honest, I used to admire you, and until recently, I believed you had your difficulties. But…”

He opened his legs and made a standard offensive posture.

“…It’s a fact that you colluded with a superior demon, and it’s also a fact that you’re blocking my mission.” Godwin lowered his voice and said, “Sorry, I can’t agree to an enemy’s request.”

Orange light suddenly burst through the air, causing Adrian to turn his body sideways as the blow flashed across. The milky white glow wrapped around the metal bow, and he swung it out like a sword.

“I have no intention of being your enemy,” Adrian said as he gritted his teeth.

“Your power has been restored. Is this also part of the deal with the demon?” Godwin didn’t try to hide the irony in his voice. The holy sword slashed the metal bow and cut a piece of it off. “It seems that Zenni is a bit too tolerant.”

Jesse, on the other hand, yelled very unobtrusively as he rushed towards the female mage who hadn’t reacted behind Godwin, and successfully dragged her away. Debby reacted after a full three seconds, and took a bite of the blond young man’s arm that was wrapped around her neck, and quickly broke free.

She didn’t hesitate. As a qualified mercenary, Debby was sullen and pointed her rod steadily at Jesse. The latter immediately raised his arms and made a gesture of surrender.

“I don’t want to have a fallout with your brother,” he muttered. “Can’t you pretend you didn’t see anything?”

“…Nemo’s also involved?” Debby’s staff shook.

“Yes, you should know better than me. Do you think he will leave this kind of thing alone?”

“He won’t, but he obviously doesn’t have the power…”

“Oh, it’s not convenient for me to say.” Jesse raised his hands higher. “Anyway, I surrender. Will you let me go? Can you go help your commander—”

Debby gave him an incredulous look. “Isn’t that your companion?”

“It depends on how you define ‘companion’.” The blond young man shrugged.

Debby rolled her eyes before she attacked the opponent with a stun spell. The beautiful blond young man fell to the ground like a sack. She then snorted with disdain and turned to assist her commander.

If Nemo is really involved… Debby thought. She clenched her fists, causing her round nails to almost pierce her palm. She… She had to stop him as soon as possible. If Godwin formally defines them as enemies, her brother would likely be killed.

However, when she regained her attention and raised her head, Debby found that the problem wasn’t so imminent.

It wasn’t without reason that Adrian Cross and Godwin Lopez were listed as candidates for the prophecy. The former Chief Justice had managed to delay her commander, and they… Seemed evenly matched.

She took a few deep breaths and made up her mind to start casting her auxiliary spells, but her head suddenly stopped moving.

“The locator mark has disappeared.” Godwin frowned tightly. “You… Killed Nadine?”

“I don’t know,” Adrian replied simply, “but one thing is certain, your mission is over.”

Ten minutes ago.

“Stop it.” Nadine’s voice became weak and hoarse, while Lisa’s eyes were flushed, and tears were about to fall. “You have tried your best.”

“But……”

“…This will only lead to your death, Mr. Ramon.”

The author has something to say:

The gray parrot! Finally! Ran away from home—!

It didn’t want to live such a suffocating life. Let’s go on a trip.

————

Nemo: There seems to be something missing. What is it?

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

Chapter 87: Bouquet and Water Source

In the faint candlelight, Nadine put the medicine bottle full of liquid on the tea table and carefully turned the label in the same direction. Her fingertips trembled with her age, and she almost dropped the envelope of her will that she was holding. The long wooden workbench was wiped clean, and the bookshelf was covered with cloth to prevent dust from falling.

The flowers in the vase had been taken away, and the water had been emptied. Everything was tidied up properly. Not one thing was missed that would be rotting in some corner before the possible new owner of this home steps in.

This wasn’t the first time she had made this kind of preparation. Before Nadine decided to leave Caleb Village and embark on her final journey, she made a very similar arrangement, except this time she would not return from the journey.

The pudding given by the Black Chapter became her last supper. Her tongue couldn’t taste much anymore, but she still insisted on eating it. After dinner, the witch hesitated for a moment, washed and dried the rough glass bottle, and carefully placed it in the vase. The napkin was neatly folded on the side of the dining table, and the tablecloth was repeatedly smoothed out without any traces of wrinkles.

‘Everything’s perfect,’ she thought wearily while moving her increasingly uncontrolled body to the rocking chair as she let fear and emptiness bite her back.

There was a brass candle holder on the small table next to the rocking chair, and the candle inside was about to burn out. ‘It’s okay,’ she thought slowly, and turned her head to look out the window. The moonlight was bright and shining clearly over the bare sand in the backyard.

The miracle didn’t happen as there didn’t seem to be any life fluctuations that came from there.

Her cat came out of the shadow of the table. The round orange cat meowed and jumped onto her knees skillfully, then laid down while making a loud purring sound.

“I have found a new home for you,” she murmured, gently stroking the soft fur on the cat’s back with her thin hands. “Lisa has always liked cats; she’ll treat you well… I will leave all my money to you.”

The huge room was immersed in candlelight, and the creaking sound of the rocking chair slowly moving was audible.

There was nothing to do, and there was nothing she could do. Out of some kind of complicated emotion that couldn’t be named, Nadine suddenly wanted to cry, but she failed to shed tears.

“I should have died a long time ago.” As usual, she began to babble to her only audience, the cat. “I delayed for a long time, but this delay was meaningless…”

The Earthsea Orchids didn’t bloom, so she would leave the world with an unfinished agreement.

When she left Caleb, she wanted to travel around before she died and also to conceal the fact of her rapid aging. Nadine didn’t deceive her best friend. She did go to all the places they had planned, starting from dawn until the setting of dusk*, non-stop.

*By light of the stars and moons (披星戴月) Idiom referring working hard from morning until dusk.

Naturally, she had discovered the truth behind the agreement. “The Disappearance of the Earthsea Orchid” could always be found in larger libraries. Lisa’s mind was very easy to guess. Every time she thought of the other party’s trick, Nadine couldn’t help but raise the corners of her mouth. She, of course, wouldn’t give up on this joke-like agreement. She was going back to Caleb Village after all, and at that time, she still hoped to complete it.

Nadine stroked her cat in silence. Its hot abdomen covered her skinny knees, and it was heavy and soft. If she was honest, her return trip started earlier than she thought. It was because she was growing old too fast.

“I picked you up a few years ago, right?” She coughed a few times and pinched the cat’s ears. Caramel turned its head away and licked her fingertips. “You said you’re a good cat, so what are you doing running around in the desert?”

It should’ve been six years ago, when her journey had just ended. Nadine found that her teeth were beginning to loosen, her bones were becoming extremely fragile, and she was at risk of breaking her limbs if she fell. Her magic, which was not complete, began to decline rapidly, and the world in front of her became blurrier.

Her body was no longer suitable for traveling, so she chose to return to her home; to the grave she had decided in advance. Crossing the desert was her last adventure, and this adventure may have become her last memory that could be written into a letter. However, she unexpectedly didn’t encounter anything worth mentioning—except for a group of half-dead arthropod lizards.

In the middle of the desert six years ago, a group of arthropod lizards were biting each other’s tails, moving with difficulty on the hot sand that was almost scorching. Nadine knew that it was her natural enemy, so she subconsciously planned to stay away from them.

The arthropod lizards probably also smelled her, but they didn’t have any intention of approaching her or asking for help. The leader—who should have been the leader from first glance—hesitated for a moment, bit its tail, and fed its blood to the cubs in the team. The purple-black liquid fell on the hot sand, making a harsh hissing sound.

Nadine stopped.

The smell of blood reminded her of the ordinary girl that lay on the fence railing many years ago and the gift she received for the first time—the ugly wildflowers.

She hesitated in place for a few minutes, and finally walked over. The arthropod lizards stared at her in silence, motionless.

“Don’t touch me,” she said softly. “You happen to be you, and I happen to be me—I understand. Listen, I have no hostility.”

The witch raised her hand, and green vines drilled into the sand.

Plants knew how to find water sources better than any living thing. Soon there was a hint of water in the hot and dry air. The vines gradually opened the sand pit and built a root system, drawing in water from the ground. Specks of light began to appear in the pit, gradually being filled with more water. The arthropod lizards, which were like dead corpses, started to stir. Their neat line slowly spread out, and the lizards surrounded the puddle, sticking out their slender tongues to lick at the hard-earned water.

The biggest lizard’s tail was still dripping in blood. It approached her, hissing its tongue, with an eagerness in its four eyes.

“Well, I really want to touch you,” she said, pulling a smile on her wrinkled face, “but you’ll make me wither.”

It seemed to understand her words and immediately took a few steps back cautiously.

Nadine sighed and tightened the scarf around her neck. She turned around and continued to move towards her goal…

“Goodbye,” she said to it, casually waving her cane. “…No, I don’t think we’ll meet again.”

In her last adventure, there were no terrifying monsters that appeared, nor did she encounter any beautiful illusions like mirages. There was just this one small episode. She then successfully took over her house as a “grandmother” and quietly waited for her death.

It was the cat that ran to her by itself.

At that time, Nadine was looking for traces of the Earthsea Orchid in the desert ruins on the outskirts of the village. It wilted and ran in front of her with a hoarse and pitiful cry. At that time, it was covered with sand and gravel, as if it had just emerged from a pile of ruins. She looked at its hind feet dripping with blood and decided to take it back.

After that, she had a patient and obedient listener and a new friend.

“Do you think those lizards are still alive?” She was so old now that it was strenuous to recall her memories. “If they know how to protect that water source, they should be fine.”

The cat arched into her palm with its wet and cold nose. Nadine sighed slightly. The candle was about to burn out when the flame began to shake violently.

There was a knock on the door suddenly.

‘Perhaps Lopez changed his mind,’ she thought numbly. Her blood suddenly ran cold due to fear, but it didn’t matter. She was prepared.

“The door is unlocked,” she struggled to say aloud. “Come in.”

In a daze, she really thought it was Godwin Lopez who had come early, but when she turned her gaze, she found it was a young man in a simple shirt. Nadine realized that something was off.

“Mr. Ramon,” she said, failing to get up from the rocking chair. “What are you doing here?”

“…We have an idea, Ms. Nadine.” The young man wearing the black badge squatted down slightly in front of the rocking chair and held her thin hands. “We may be able to break the root system and remove your power.”

Nemo was right behind Oliver, so he could see very clearly. A hint of light flashed in the eyes of the old woman, and then it quickly went out, like the flickering candle beside her.

“I don’t want you to become enemies with Horizon,” she said softly. “It’ll be a similar sentence for you. You’re too young for this to be worth it.”

“If you lose your powers… According to the law, they don’t need to proceed against you anymore.” The female warrior had her arms crossed, but her voice was gentle. “Strictly speaking, this is not ‘going against Horizon’.”

“We just happened to find a way and there’s not much cost to it,” Oliver said patiently. “I don’t want to lie to you. The success rate is less than half, but at least it’s a way. We decided to fake your death in order to fool the root system.”

“I’m not the first person that wants to escape the curse of this race.” Nadine shook her head. “No one can see the roots.”

“I can.” Nemo found that his voice was unexpectedly calm. “I think you have noticed… I am indeed a ‘bigshot’. I can see it.”

Nadine was silent for a few seconds as she looked up and down at Nemo for a moment.

“…I can probably guess what you’re thinking,” the witch said with a trembling voice, “But… please go back.”

“Can I ask the reason?” Oliver’s expression had not changed, and his voice remained patient.

“I finally made my peace,” the witch said, with great difficulty. “I don’t want to see hope. I don’t want to embrace that idea of ‘I could have lived’ anymore. Thank you for your kindness. Considering the trouble that could arise, just let me…”

“Will you give it a try?” An equally trembling voice sounded. “Nadine, please.”

The witch, Nadine, shivered suddenly. She tremblingly took out her glasses and tried several times to put them on the bridge of her nose.

Lisa went around her back and gently put her arms around her neck. The female innkeeper buried her face in the thin shoulders of the “old woman” and tears slid into the witch’s collar.

“You liar,” she said hoarsely. “…You liar, Nadine. You always like to lie to me.”

The witch’s whole body shook like a dead leaf in the wind. She trembled so badly that she couldn’t even formulate complete words.

“You have always been my dream,” Lisa said softly. “Beautiful, amazing, and perfect, unlike the people in this world. Look at me… A serious illness, a war; I could easily die from them. But I’m still alive… I’m still alive, so you must be able to find a way to survive. “

Nadine tried several times and finally grabbed her best friend’s arm. “…Don’t say that.”

“I know I’ve been like this all my life, but you…” The female innkeeper raised her voice, “I believe that you, who I know dearly, clearly loves ‘living’ more than anyone I’ve ever met… Do you really want to leave? You promised me you wouldn’t forget me! How can you go first…?”

At the end, she almost broke down in tears. “Now someone is reaching out again. Can you… try to grab onto it?”

“…I didn’t lie to you.” The witch tightened her grip. “Those letters are all true. I have really seen them… I have seen so many things.”

There was choking in Nadine’s voice.

“I have indeed seen a dragon fall, and a mountain range that hangs upside down. It’s all true.” She finally began to cry. “But believe me, Lisa, you are the most special one. I’m sorry, I’m really scared.”

Muddy tears fell down her wrinkles.

“I want to live,” she said as her sobs became more obvious. Her composure finally cracked, and a trace of youth came out from the old skin. “Of course, I want to live, but it took me a long time to muster the courage to face this… If it fails… What should I do…”

“Shhh,” Lisa wiped away her tears and kissed the slightly withered white hair. “I’m here. It doesn’t matter if it fails. Even if…” She shivered, but her voice remained firm. “Even if Horizon comes, I will be there in your last moments. You don’t need to face this alone.”

[Would you like to be friends with me? . . . . . . . . Can I still come to see you?]

That “ordinary” girl truly never left her again. Perhaps she was far inferior to Lisa in keeping her promises.

Her life may have ended once, many years ago, when she closed herself off and made up her mind to cut gerbils for fun alone. Her world changed from a room without light to a yard full of sunshine, and she decided to stop there. Then a hand grabbed her and pulled her out of that narrow yard.

Would there be a miracle this time? If the “most special person” was here, did she have a chance to see a completely different world? Perhaps… Nadine clenched the warm arm and thought in a daze… Maybe it was her turn to ask the questions this time.

“Can I try?”

“Of course.”

“Even now?”

“Even now.” Lisa rubbed her eyes hard, showing a reluctant smile. “You are still… good-looking and amazing. You can do anything. Have you forgotten?”

“Then… Sorry, I… I still want to give it a try.” Nadine turned to Oliver’s direction. She was still holding Lisa’s arm tightly, and her voice was trembling badly. “Please help me, Mr. Ramon.”

“I don’t want to die.”

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

Chapter 86: The Last Night

The soft red-orange light was particularly dazzling after the darkness. Nemo squinted his eyes, and then immediately turned his gaze in Oliver’s direction. They were entangled with the rune balls non-stop all night. While he had no problems himself, Oliver’s condition looked a lot worse.

The light brown hair of their leader was soaked in sweat and stuck softly to the skin. The moment when the black barrier disappeared, the brilliance of the setting sun poured down, causing Oliver to subconsciously raise his hand to block his eyes. “What time is it?” he said nervously.

“Less than a whole day, faster than I thought.” The female warrior was no longer in the same place, and Adrian Cross had moved a stool over and sat nearby. At this moment, he closed the book in his hand, stood up, and threw Oliver a water bag. “At least you can rest for a while.”

Oliver took the water bag. His lips became dry and cracked due to the loss of a lot of water, and his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down eagerly. Just as he was about to untie the water bag, he stopped halfway. Without the slightest hesitation, he threw it to Nemo as if it was a natural action.

“I need to confirm the specific time, Mr. Cross.” Oliver’s gaze stopped on Adrian. “We need time to communicate… Ms. Nadine may not be willing to cooperate. I think you know this better than me.”

“Indeed, but you need rest now.” Adrian raised his brows at the water bag in Nemo’s hand. “Even if you pass the training, considering this is your first practice, the success rate will be about 30%. If you’re in poor condition, this value will be even lower.”

“I’ll take him to rest,” Nemo said dryly. Instead of opening the water bag, he grabbed Oliver’s sweat-soaked shirt.

“But I’m not particularly tired…”

“I haven’t eaten or drunk anything for more than ten hours. Ollie, you’re human. I can see you’re in bad shape.” Nemo tugged at him firmly. “Anyway, Horizon won’t break their promise on the agreement… right?”

“No,” Adrian answered his question. “At least on this point, Godwin Lopez can be trusted.”

“Okay,” Nemo nodded. “To deal with Ms. Nadine… They won’t go full force. There won’t be a long preparation time in advance.”

“Then we can go before midnight.” Oliver was a little surprised by Nemo’s initiative, but he subconsciously continued the topic. “I can still sleep for two or three hours. Nemo, you can let me go—I won’t run away.”

“Good,” Nemo said, but the hand holding the shirt had no intention of letting go. He kept dragging Oliver into the room.

“What’s the matter with you?” Oliver adjusted his shirt. The rough fabric stuck tightly to his body, and the sticky touch made him a little uncomfortable. Unlike his current situation, Nemo looked no different from before the battle. The black-haired young man looked clean and fresh, but his attitude had become a little strange.

Nemo stared at Oliver with complicated eyes, as if he had a long nose on his face. The gaze was so focused, as if it was scrapping every inch of his face, that Oliver couldn’t help but raise his hand to confirm whether his facial features were still in place.

“Is there anything on my face?” Oliver asked after being stared at by Nemo for over half a minute as he wiped his face fiercely.

“…I have something to talk to you about, but not now.” Nemo’s tone was very solemn. “What you need most now is rest, Ollie.”

When Oliver quickly washed away the unbearable sweat stains on his body and walked out of the bathroom, Nemo was no longer in the room.

He sighed, trying to suppress his emotions. Oliver had never seen Nemo show such a serious expression. Even when he claimed to be a superior demon, he didn’t stretch his face so tightly.

He wasn’t sure if he had said something wrong. Oliver laid his head on the pillow and stared at the crack in the ceiling and found in despair that he wasn’t sleepy. Their cooperation was smooth, so Nemo had no reason to be anxious or unhappy about it. Questions churned in his mind and almost all his attention was focused on the ceiling. Suddenly, a hand patted his abdomen, causing him to almost bounce up like a live fish on a cutting board.

“Drink this, Ollie.” He wasn’t sure when Nemo had entered the room. Nemo handed him a glass of milk, but his face was still expressionless and his tone was as stiff as his expression. “You can’t go to the battlefield on an empty stomach.”

When Oliver took the cup, his internal organs slightly twitched. If he wasn’t familiar with Nemo’s character, based on the other party’s expression, he would have thought that there was something that shouldn’t be put in this drink. “Uh… Nemo, if you have any troubles…”

“No worries. I’m fine and very sober.” Nemo replied mechanically, continuing to stare at his face intently.

Oliver turned his attention to the glass of milk with difficulty and gulped it down his throat in one go. The temperature was just right and there was honey added that made it smooth and not greasy at all. The hot milk made Oliver drowsy for a moment, but when he put the cup by the head of the bed, his eyes met Nemo’s gaze again, and that strong gaze instantly drove away all his drowsiness.

Oliver put his head back on the pillow, swearing that he had definitely had a little arrhythmia at the moment. “Actually, I… I’m not too sleepy.”

In fact, his brain was a bit numb and every muscle in his body was faintly sore, but the prickly worry and tension rolled frantically in his mind, causing him to be unable to close his eyes. Nemo’s light gaze had increased this tension several folds.

“Can I help you?” Nemo asked seriously. “You want to sleep, don’t you?”

“Of course,” Oliver smiled reluctantly. “Why? Are you going to sing a lullaby or…”

Before he could finish speaking, Nemo had gently placed his hand above his eyes. Oliver only felt as if a hammer slammed away his nerves, leaving behind no pain or other unpleasant feelings. Rather, he felt an irresistible heavy drowsiness that instantly grabbed his mind, as if he was sinking into a sticky black shadow. His vision was swallowed by darkness for an instant, and then he could no longer think about anything.

Oliver then fell into a truly peaceful sleep within a few seconds.

Nemo withdrew his hand in silence.

He knew that his performance was terrible. Maybe he should tell Oliver what he thought. He stared at the empty glass sadly. He didn’t think it was a good idea to create too many emotional ups and downs before the start of a battle. His own mood swings had made the atmosphere stiff and awkward enough. If he chose this time to make a confession, God knows what kind of impact it would have on their cooperation.

The afterglow of the setting sun gradually dissipated, and the unique clear blue of the night began to spread outside the window. Nemo didn’t turn on the lights in the room. He sat by the bed and let the gradually dimming sky engulf him in darkness.

Oliver had fallen asleep, and his chest was slowly rising and falling.

His soft light brown hair exuded a faint, refreshing smell, indicating that he had dried it ahead of time. Nemo hesitated for a moment, then stretched out his hand again and brushed the hair on Oliver’s forehead.

Unlike when he was locked in the dark barrier, this time he took the initiative to touch Oliver’s forehead with his hand. A human temperature, he mused uncomfortably. So far, he hadn’t gotten used to the fact that they were “not the same kind”—or that Oliver didn’t plan to get him used to it at all.

Nemo sighed very lightly. He leaned down slightly and kissed Oliver’s forehead.

This wasn’t the first time he had done this. When Oliver was seriously injured by Witherspoon, “he” had done the exact same thing when he was caught in that wondrous state…

Different.

At that time, “his” heartbeat was steady, as if he was kissing the trees, the land, or the wind; but now, his heart was heavily colliding against his ribs, as if it was about to break through his chest and jump out. This feeling was novel to him but reassuring. Nemo hesitated for a few seconds before he tried to kiss the tip of Oliver’s nose.

His heartbeat was speeding up and the temperature of his blood seemed to have risen by several degrees, as if it had been mixed with some sour liquid that was surging through his blood and nibbling at his blood vessels. However, he felt no pain, but rather a slight tingling sensation that made him a little dizzy and numb.

“…It seems I should knock before entering,” a slightly embarrassed female voice sounded. “Uh… How long do you need? Half an hour? An hour?”

Although the sun had set, the night had not completely fallen, so everything in the room was still visibly clear. Ann leaned against the door frame as she cast a deep gaze at them.

“Remember to close the door next time,” she added dryly.

Nemo stood up stiffly and rushed to the door with great strides. “Ollie’s resting,” he said in a blunt voice. “We can talk in the hallway.”

“I just have two things to report. It seems that I am one step late.” There was a hint of teasing in Ann’s voice. “Let’s start with small things. When you weren’t there yesterday, White II ran out. It and other arthropod lizards were rummaging for this seed outside.” She stretched out her hand, and the familiar “small piece of gravel” lay quietly in the center of the calloused palm of the female warrior.

“They dug it out from the bottom of the desert and buried it in a shallow layer,” she muttered. “I can’t figure out what they want to do. Arthropod lizards can’t grow plants. This thing is also very strange… Cross said it’s a seed, but how can there be such a heavy seed?”

“It’s the seed of an Earthsea Orchid,” Nemo quickly confirmed.

“…How do you know?” Ann raised her eyebrows. “What kind of memory have you recovered? I’m getting more and more curious—”

“No, it’s not that,” Nemo hurriedly denied. “Ollie and I saw this thing at Ms. Nadine’s.”

“It seems that you can also ask her about this.” Ann stuffed the seeds into his pocket. “During the time when you two were falling in love while wiping out the rune balls, I had to run around trying to get more information about this thing, but no one recognized it. I even managed to dig out a little bit of news about Horizon.”

There was a soft noise from the corner of the corridor not far away, like the sound of the soles of an indoor shoe slamming across the wooden floor.

“News about Horizon? Could it be Debby…” Nemo most likely knew the identity of the person on the other side of the corridor but decided not to pay attention to it for the time being.

“Of course, I won’t make things awkward between the two of you,” Ann shrugged. “I just eavesdropped on them. With Nadine’s state like that and the time for her arrest wasn’t some kind of secret information, there were several mercenaries from Horizon guarding Howard’s home—you know, in case someone wanted to stir up trouble—after all, he’s not a very amiable client. However, those people looked bored to death, and all they could do was chat.”

She snorted mockingly.

“I originally wanted to tell Oliver, but it shouldn’t make any difference if I tell you… Horizon is planning to execute in the morning, and it’ll be Godwin Lopez who’ll be doing it alone. You know the whole ‘to express our condolences and respect’ shtick.” Ann imitated the tone of one of the mercenaries from Horizon. “Anyway, if you want to help Ms. Nadine, this is the time limit.”

“You want to help her?” a hoarse voice joined the conversation.

This time, the voice came from a human, and the hoarseness only came from an overused vocal cord. Lisa stood up from the corner with her indoor shoes in tow, carrying the shoes Oliver had lent her last night. The shoes seemed to have been thoroughly cleaned, and the soles seemed to have an extra layer of wear-resistant leather on them.

“I didn’t mean to listen in. Sorry,” the female innkeeper said. She still had a listless look and her swollen eyes hadn’t compressed yet. There were heavy bags hanging under them that frighteningly made her entire body look pale and haggard. “It’s Horizon… How can you help her?”

“We don’t plan to fight directly against Horizon,” Nemo said carefully. “We just… have an idea that may help her, but the success rate isn’t high, so you’d better not—”

“Could she survive?”

“…There’s a possibility…”

The word “possibility” was like a trace of moisture in the desert, a little light in the darkness. She begged and scolded. She thought she couldn’t do anything, and it was hopeless. The why’s and how’s of these Black Chapters were no longer important. There was only one thought left in Lisa’s head—she only had one thing she could do and only she could do it.

“Then take me with you,” she said hoarsely. “Please take me with you.”

“But didn’t you say…”

“Nadine may survive.” The innkeeper raised her face, and her eyes frighteningly lit up. “I can’t do anything… If I could, I really want to spend five years of my life trying to shut the old bastard Howard up. And you—you now say that she may still survive!”

Her pale face flushed again, but not from the angry purple with raging blood vessels, but from sheer excitement.

“It’s not forbidden to see your friends, right?” Her voice became louder. “That’s right, so take me there. As long as it’s possible, as long as there’s a way, I don’t believe…”

She took a breath.

“…I don’t believe she can bear to die in front of me.”

The author has something to say:

Nemo: ! I like him. Let me take a good look.

Oliver: ??? What’s the matter with his expression? Does he want to quit the team?

The tacit understanding between the two is not well developed enough.

Kinky Thoughts:

Oliver stealing forehead kisses when he first likes Nemo, and now Nemo’s doing the same. Can these two get any cuter?!?!?!

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

Chapter 85: Cooperation

There was a lot of open space behind the Earthsea Orchid Inn. Without the cover of dark clouds, the stars in the sky were particularly bright.

Nemo could now regard what the position of “Commander of the Knights of Judgement” truly meant. Despite losing all his powers, Adrian Cross immediately found a way to cope with it. Adrian drew a less complex magic array on parchment paper and directly pasted all kinds of runes on it.

“Drawing a new spell from scratch? Not bad.” Ann casually picked up the parchment and drew on it. A tiny black ball fluttered out of the array and floated aimlessly in the air. “…But what the hell is this?”

“Their problem is not strength,” Adrian said without raising his head, and crossed out two more rune characters. “Those two lack on-the-spot response and cooperation.”

“And how many balls are you going to make for them to play with?” Ann stretched out her finger and tried to poke the black ball that wasn’t much bigger than a grain of rice. It almost merged into the darkness, and it took her a long time to determine its location. As soon as she stretched out her fingertips, the small ball disappeared in place, appearing more than ten centimeters away. “Ah, I see. But this can’t beat Nemo.”

“Only a stable magic output of more than ten seconds can eliminate it. Once the magic fluctuates, it will immediately detach. Surface magic is effective on it, which is something Mr. Light can’t do.” The knight commander made final adjustments, and he handed the parchment to Ann. “This thing isn’t powerful, so it’s not a problem for you to make thousands of them.”

“I probably know what you’re thinking.” The female warrior raised her brows at the pieces of parchment and flipped through them casually. “I’m fine with it, but to be honest, I don’t think it’s that difficult… Huh?” She lowered her head and stared at the last one.

“…You’re really a bad man,” she murmured.

“I’m already very lenient with them.” Adrian stared at the two young men who seemed a little lost in front of him. “At least I didn’t add any offensive element. If they were my subordinates…”

The former knight hitched the corner of his mouth. Seeing as how infrequently he did it, Nemo suddenly felt a chill down his spine.

“Are you ready?” Ann finished painting the array in the air. Black balls like flying insects rushed out from the center of the array, looking as if black sewage was spraying out of thin air.

“No,” Nemo stated flatly. No one seemed to explain what all this was, whether it was the knight commander or the female warrior. Oliver, beside him, didn’t respond as he was too busy intently looking at the creation of the magic array. The black ball flew around them before spreading rapidly everywhere. They flew silently in the night, like a swarming flock of flies.

“Then let’s get started.” Ann happily ignored Nemo’s answer. Her tone was relaxed and cheerful. “If you don’t clean up all the rune balls, you two won’t be able to get out—oh, also, you’re not allowed to use lighting. Nemo, you’re also not allowed to destroy it with brute force.”

“Destroy what—”

Ann completed the last magic array, which gave him his answer. The moment it was completed, all light disappeared.

It wasn’t just light that disappeared. The rustle of the night wind blowing through the leaves, the buzzing of insects in the grass, and the vague human chatter in the distance were gone as well. It seemed as if even sound had faded. The air no longer flowed where it could be felt on the skin. They seemed to have stumbled into a dark coffin that was buried deep in the ground and was cleanly separated from the outside world.

Nemo was in a daze for a few seconds and felt something cold gushing out of his bones. He didn’t like this scene; not one bit. It was like stepping off the edge of a cliff, and he fell into his first memory—dark, cold, silence.

A warm hand was placed on his shoulder. Nemo instantly regained his senses and suppressed the rising unhappiness and discomfort.

“I think I get it.” Oliver was close at hand, but Nemo couldn’t see him. To be precise, he could feel Oliver’s presence more vividly now, from his heartbeat to his breathing to the tiniest movements of his body. Nemo could “perceive” clearly, but he couldn’t see him.

The magic array designed by Adrian was perfect. There wasn’t even a single trace of light left. The rune balls flew around perfectly, blending into the darkness. After the other voice disappeared, Nemo could hear its faint whispers from time to time. The magic contained in those small runes was too weak and flew too fast; sound was the only clue.

He conservatively estimated there were at least thousands of rune balls flying around.

“More than ten seconds of magic output,” Oliver said in a low voice. In such an environment, even the small volume sounded a bit harsh. “It’s impossible for me to see them, and I don’t need physical movements to counter them. I think what Mr. Cross’ intention is… Nemo you have to hold them and I’ll destroy them as soon as possible.”

“I think you’re right,” Nemo tried to answer. Besides Oliver, he couldn’t even see his own body. This made him unsure of whether his vocal cords were still working properly. The unhappiness that was pressed into his heart surged again. “But their power is too weak. I can try… Try it first.”

The task of catching these rune balls was tantamount to catching invisible dust in the air. As soon as Nemo concentrated his consciousness, before he had time to act, the pile of rune balls suddenly scattered.

It seems he couldn’t use too much magic before confirming their location. The only option he had left was to listen to them.

Nemo’s breathing became short, and the darkness that tightly enveloped him made his anxiety heavier. He became frustrated and was unable to concentrate. He tried listening, but it didn’t go well, as another sound was interfering with him.

Oliver’s breathing was very gentle, but his heartbeat was fast. The powerful heartbeat was like the beat of a war drum in the darkness of nothingness as it was mixed in together with his breathing, leaving no quiet gaps, which made Nemo unable to ignore it.

Nemo settled his mind, tried several times, and succeeded in fixing a rune ball through sheer luck. After less than three seconds, Oliver began his spell according to instructions, but it flew away again and disappeared into the darkness.

His magic output was too unstable.

This was just one, and there were thousands of others waiting in the dark.

Were they too confident in their own powers? Nemo stood in place blankly. It seemed that the practical difficulty of the plan was not at the same level as the theoretical one. They only had about one day left, and no one knew when Godwin Lopez would act.

Could they actually do this?

No. Nemo shook his head, intending to empty his mind of negative thoughts. He took a deep breath and tried to control his heartbeat. He succeeded in the first few seconds, but unfortunately, this success wasn’t long-lasting. Their heartbeats had just been consistent for half a minute, but when Nemo turned his attention to the rune balls, his heart returned to its original beating speed.

The thick darkness aggravated the anxiety in his heart.

Nemo’s breathing unconsciously became more rapid and heavy, and after perceiving this, he simply stopped breathing. This didn’t make the status quo much better. In the darkness, the passage of time became unpredictable. God knows how long it took them before they destroyed the first rune ball.

Too slow.

Every time they encountered a desperate situation before, they were able to save the day in the end. Nemo thought this was the first time he had to face his own immaturity and powerlessness so directly. When they face Nadine, they would only have one chance. After all, unlike the fluttering rune balls, a life was much heavier.

“Nemo,” Oliver, who had just put down his sword, suddenly spoke.

“Hmm?” Nemo responded as smoothly as possible, “I’m here.”

“You don’t seem to be using your spatial magic.”

“Yes, I’m listening… They make sounds.”

“I’m sorry,” their leader said, his voice a little tense. “…Am I distracting you? Is there anything I can do?”

“No,” Nemo was distracted, and couldn’t help but start breathing habitually again. He tried to suppress the depression and discomfort in his voice. “It’s okay, Ollie, we still have time. We have just started.”

You can’t mess with yourself. You’re a superior demon. Nemo repeated to himself sternly. A true superior demon. A superior demon shouldn’t have claustrophobia.

“…” Oliver was silent for a while before clear footsteps sounded. He walked closer and then held his breath, as if he was listening to something.

“Are you uncomfortable?” after a moment of silence, Oliver asked tentatively. “Is it because of those potions?”

“No, it’s not. I’m fine. Let’s continue,” Nemo replied quickly. “Don’t talk about me… Your heartbeat is a bit fast—are you too nervous? Don’t be nervous, we will—”

“May I hold your hand?” Oliver interrupted him. “If you don’t mind.”

“If it makes you feel better.” Nemo stretched out his hands decisively.

Oliver fumbled for a while, wiped the back of his hand with his fingertips, and then simply held Nemo’s hands.

“I’m really nervous.” Oliver held his hand lightly and said in a gentle voice. “I’m afraid I can’t do this. I’m afraid I’ll see Nadine being killed by Godwin… I’m afraid I’ll let you down.”

Nemo could feel the caution in his tug. Oliver pulled on his hands and pressed them against his forehead.

“I’m as nervous as you… Even though I don’t know why you’re resisting.”

Still, Oliver found out. Nemo sighed in his heart but didn’t pull his hands away. The other party’s palm was dry and warm, which only meant one thing; his own hands were wet and cold.

He couldn’t hide his anxiety and discomfort.

“It’s a bit embarrassing to say… Nemo, you may not know yet, but I’ve sworn a bunch of vows to others. I know how far I am from you,” Oliver continued. His voice was soft and even had hints of a smile. “While trying to catch up to you, I can only promise one thing—no matter how bad things are, I will always greet you with a smile. At least I won’t cry like the first time.”

“You must remember what happened at that time, right? If you want to laugh, you can laugh. I won’t get angry,” he said very gently.

Nemo tried to hook the corners of his mouth, but he failed to laugh successfully. Honestly, he didn’t think it was funny at all. From that cry, he no longer even dared to look at the weak human child for fear that the other party would run away forever because of fear, and now Oliver Ramon, who had already grown up, was standing in front of him.

Oliver’s heartbeat was still rapid and irregular with no sign of ease.

That’s right. Nemo slowly exhaled.

This darkness wasn’t as empty as he’d thought. It was indeed harsher than he remembered, but from a certain point of view, it was better than what he remembered. At least this time, his light wasn’t too far away from him.

His breathing calmed. His lungs no longer seemed to be as if they were being squeezed by icy clutches, and he didn’t need to suppress his breathing. Nemo was finally able to easily adjust his breathing rate to match Oliver’s.

Then there was the heartbeat.

This time he didn’t try to adjust his heartbeat. Perhaps if he had adjusted it, things would proceed smoother, but Nemo wasn’t sure. He only knew one thing; his heart no longer beat as smoothly and regularly as it did before, and this wasn’t controlled by his subjective will.

Gradually, consistent sound gaps began to appear one by one, interrupting the quietness. The magic of the Abyss exuded a dim light that quickly erupted, like lightning striking the ground from the sky. The trajectory of the spell solidified in the air, like the dead branch of a shrub that suddenly flourished, and each twig had runes strung up at the end.

“We do have time,” Oliver said as he plunged the Rest in Peace into the ground. White silk of light that was a little blue wrapped around the rune balls and, after ten seconds, they quietly turned into ash. “Everything is just beginning.”

Perhaps he was too deeply influenced by the stories in books. Nemo thought he had carefully analyzed his feelings and was waiting for a clear sign. It was as if his feelings could grow their own labels and instruction manual after a while. It was true he had a lot of problems, but now that his identity had been clarified, he suddenly felt relief.

That unique light; if he had to give that persistence, trust, and warmth a label, “like” was a good word for it.

Things may not be as complicated as he thought. If he really simulated everything about humans perfectly, then this abnormal heart rate was enough to prove it.

It was rapid and irregular. There was no need to make any special adjustments. As long as a little correction was made, it would slowly match the other party.

The rune balls began to decrease from a dozen at a time to hundreds at a time. The intervals were getting shorter and faster, and the sense of unity of fighting side by side felt reassuring. He had even forgotten the depression that was caused by the airtight darkness.

When the last rune ball turned into ash, the darkness instantly dissipated, but it was no longer the starry sky that greeted them, but the setting sun that had just sunk to the ground.

The author has something to say:

I want them to start falling in love in this volume!!!

Life is too short.jpg

—

Knight Commander: …I sent you in for training. (Stop talking)

Kinky Thoughts:

Ahhhhh Nemo finally realizes his feelings!

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

Chapter 84: Cat and Goat

Nemo’s first reaction was to erect a shield. As soon as his thoughts moved, the translucent black shadow instantly covered the two of them.

It wasn’t dark enough outside that they couldn’t see their fingers if they reached out. The contours of the things in the dark were still clearly discernible. They wouldn’t miss a human-size figure, unless…

A round orange cat was trying to drill out of the gap in the garden fence. However, it was too fat and got stuck halfway through.

“Help me.” It repeated unskillfully in that terrible voice. “Help me.”

“…” Nemo was silent for a while before he removed the shadow shield. He pinched his arm a few times blankly, to make sure this wasn’t a ridiculous dream. “Ollie, did you hear that? I may be hallucinating again.”

“I heard it.” Oliver walked forward speechlessly and laboriously pulled the cat out, almost knocking down the fence with it. “This should be Ms. Nadine’s cat. It’s just…” He suspiciously raised the cat in the air and looked up at the cat’s round face. “Did it just speak?”

“Put me down.” The orange cat quickly proved its language skills.

Oliver shivered blankly, and instinctively let go of his hand. The cat slammed into the ground with all four of its feet, completely lacking the elegance unique to a cat. It calmly adjusted its posture and began to lick one of its front paws.

“Why did you say there’s still time?” Nemo thought he must be crazy as he asked… He was talking to a cat.

“Blight,” the cat said in an unpleasant voice, as if it was unable to pronounce long words. “I can provide… Blight spell. Do you want to help her?”

It stopped licking its paws and raised its head and looked at the two of them. “Do you want to help?”

“I don’t mind,” Nemo whispered. “Do you want to try it, Ollie?”

“Of course.” Oliver squatted down and petted the cat—or something—on the head. “Although we can’t guarantee success… Who are you?”

“Caramel,” the “cat” answered. “There is no other name.”

“Uh… Let me put it another way. What are you? Where does the blight spell come from—” Oliver was still asking when he was suddenly interrupted by the scene in front of him which caused Nemo to also take a step back.

The round cat’s pupils widened even larger, and almost the entire eye of the orange cat became pure black. Suddenly, two new eyes emerged from its face, which then flattened, and its body swelled rapidly like dough rising in an oven.

A huge arthropod lizard appeared in front of the two of them.

Unlike White II, who was half a person tall, this one’s carapace was faintly golden in the moonlight and its height was the same as Oliver’s. The intermediate demon in its original form blinked with four eyes and moved cautiously towards the stone road so as to stay away from the garden. When it began to restore its original shape, its claws touched a weed on the road, causing the original moist green grass to wither visibly to the naked eye.

“Demon,” it said. “You call us demons.”

The yellowish lizard flicked its tongue in Nemo’s direction and turned its face toward Oliver. “You’re very strong. You don’t hurt us. You named us,” it said, with difficulty. “You’re good.”

“Thank you?” Oliver said with uncertainty. Listening to the lizard’s meaning, it seemed to know about White II, although he still couldn’t figure out what White II wanted…

And they still had so many other questions.

Adrian said that the arthropod lizards were very sensitive to magic. White II was so afraid of Nemo before, perhaps because it felt the aura of the superior demon. However, it still stuck close to him and even helped them along their journey to Caleb Village as they crossed the entire desert.

“You are waiting…” Oliver tentatively put his hand on the lizard’s bone shell and guessed, “…For someone to help her?”

Oliver thought that if White II had communicated with it and their purpose was the same, this kind of efficiency was too low. White II never spoke, and it was powerless to change their itinerary.

If the plan was to pick up powerful passersby, then awkwardly protect and follow them in the hopes that they would truly stop by Caleb Village so it could notify its companion in the village who could speak and find an opportunity to persuade them to help a dying witch; this may appear feasible at first glance, but the success rate for something like this was just too pitiful.

This didn’t even mention how dangerous it was for intermediate demons to appear in a human village. Even if the person it selected didn’t attack it, there was no reason for them to help the witch either. Oliver had already seen its poor eloquence. He didn’t think that a demon who could barely speak the lingua franca could understand Woodruff’s Theorem and know how to save Nadine.

They were just… waiting. Waiting for someone who may or may not ever appear.

“Yes.” The arthropod lizard’s answer was very clear. “There is nothing else I can do.”

The humid air seemed to make it uncomfortable. It shrank a few times unnaturally, then changed back to the appearance of an orange cat and began to lick the hair on its back frantically.

“What are we going to do?” Nemo learned from Oliver and patted the cat’s head, causing all its fur to explode instantly.

“You need a medium,” The orange cat seemed to be trying its best to curb its instinct to escape, which made its unpleasant voice hitch a bit. “You help her, I will give it.”

“Thank you,” it shivered and added, lowering its furry head. “Thank you.”

“We will do our best,” Nemo muttered, and took the opportunity to pet it again. The fat cat shook so much that it seemed as if its bones would fall apart. It struggled to stand up, then rushed into the garden again; this time, its fat body didn’t get stuck.

Nemo sighed and withdrew his hand awkwardly.

“Remember, Ollie, ‘they are on vacation since their king isn’t here’.” Nemo looked at the orange cat who had skillfully drilled into the house. “In terms of its powers, it’s likely to be—”

“The leader of that group of arthropod lizards,” Oliver finished Nemo’s sentence and lowered his head to lift the upper part of his indoor shoes. “But shouldn’t they and Nadine be natural enemies?”

However, they weren’t the only ones who were troubled by arthropod lizards.

Adrian Cross was leaning against the corridor, looking out the window. Although it was dark, most of the glass windows were stained with his shadow.

Too many things happened in one day. His common sense and reality were tearing away endlessly in his mind. He was indeed relieved for Oliver Ramon… or rather Oliver Lopez, but the former Chief Justice was still a little uneasy. It wasn’t an indecisive emotion but a vague premonition born from instinct.

Things couldn’t be that simple.

A superior demon born from the bottom of the Abyss just happened to grow into a human? Adrian didn’t think that humans could fish out a complete “human” from the bottom of the sea. Besides, the biological appearance at the bottom of the Abyss was always more exaggerated than that at the bottom of the deep sea.

But he couldn’t find any known theory to explain it. Without solid evidence, he denied the other party with an “I think it’s impossible”, and Adrian asked himself if he could do this.

This made his head hurt even more.

And just when he was almost about to pinch the center between his brows purple, a vague white shadow flashed by the window. Its speed was quite fast, but it wasn’t fast enough to be indistinguishable to the former knight commander. A fuller goat was running outside the village without a fixed leather rope tying luggage to it.

It was an intermediate demon with an unknown purpose. Adrian didn’t hesitate. He confirmed that there were enough arrows in his quiver and decisively chased after it.

Fifteen minutes later, he raised his arms, trying to suppress his urge to pinch his brows again.

Adrian Cross was stepping on the gradually icy sand. White II stopped not far from the village, changed back to its original shape, and then began to dig sand intently. It wasn’t the only one who was doing it. A group of arthropod lizards bit at the ends of each other’s tails and created a familiar spine shape that appeared in front of him again. They spread out not far from White II, plowing the sand like a groundhog and drilling into the depths of the desert.

White II’s speed was particularly fast. When Adrian began to wonder if it had penetrated the center of the earth, it returned to the surface again. Its tail was carefully wrapped around a small mass of wet sand. It shook the grains of sand on its body, rested in place for a few minutes, and then began to bury the hole it left behind.

Not every arthropod lizard was so lucky. Only two or three returned to the ground wrapped in sand balls. The successful tails pointed straight to the sky, while the losers curled their tails into balls, silently burying the traces of digging.

Adrian watched in silent wonder at the unknown actions of the arthropod lizards.

White II gathered the sand balls obtained by its companions, plowed a shallower pit, and threw the sand balls down one by one. When it got to the last one, a sinful hand grabbed the final sand ball.

Adrian frowned and squeezed it open, seeing a few small stones inside that were as heavy as metal. He pulled out a handkerchief, wrapped the suspicious small stone with it and put it in his pocket. Then he lowered his gaze. White II gave him a look full of grievances. As if knowing that the other party had no intention of returning it to it, it turned around with frustration and began to bury the sand again.

“Your interests are quite strange.” A frivolous voice came from behind. “Coming out in the middle of the night to watch demons playing with sand? Are the hobbies of the Knights of Judgement so unique?”

Adrian didn’t look back but sighed. “Your interest is also quite strange. Following your companions isn’t a commendable behavior.”

“Oh, I thought you were going on a date with a girl!” Jesse Dylan rubbed his hands. “If that were true, I would have to rudely interrupt, right?”

“Where’s Bagelmaurus?” Adrian didn’t have the energy to humor Jesse Dylan.

“It fell asleep and screamed, ‘don’t eat me’ in its dreams.” The blond young man shrugged. “Mr. Light may have left a serious psychological shadow on it.”

Adrian pondered for a moment, took out the handkerchief, and unfolded it again: “Don’t talk about that… Dylan, do you know what this thing is?”

No matter how unorthodox this person was, his strength and insight weren’t false.

“Seeds.” Jesse twisted one up and threw it up casually. “They are so old that they’re no different from dead ones.”

“Thank you.” The knight commander nodded. “I’ll go back first. You can slowly enjoy watching the night view.”

He had just shifted his attention for a bit, but the arthropod lizards had already run away. Even White II became a small dot in his field of vision that was running in the direction of the village. From the outline, it had changed back to its appearance of a fuller goat.

“What are you doing with these dead seeds?” Jesse asked suddenly.

“That demon is too purposeful. This thing may have something to do with its purpose,” Adrian replied quietly. “I am the consultant for this team, and I have an obligation to tell the captain this information.”

“Why be so bothersome? I think we’ll leave soon. The arthropod lizard doesn’t like humid climates, so it’s impossible for that demon to leave the desert with us.”

“Still.” The knight sighed. “I don’t think the captain will leave Caleb right now. Ms. Nadine’s affairs… He will intervene.”

“You believe that he will?”

“I believe in my own vision and ability to discern people.” Adrian’s voice became a little colder. “If Oliver Ramon chooses to ignore it at this time, I will reconsider my decision.”

If Mr. Ramon chose to run away in front of an opposing power, turning his back on the blood of an innocent, then his promise about Nemo could only be regarded as a declaration in the heat of passion or a cover-up for his love.

Adrian resolved to only trust him once.

“You see, this is why I wanted to join you.” Jesse’s tone was full of interest as he ignored Adrian’s cold voice. “You always do these kinds of stupid things that have no chance of success. This kind of excitement makes me very happy.”

“This is not a stupid thing.”

“Well, you certainly don’t think so, since you have done exactly the same thing.” Jesse stretched out an arm as if he was trying to hook it around Adrian’s shoulder, but it was quickly blocked. “You knew what those old men would do, but you still insist on exposing poor Cahill? He hadn’t done anything yet. Don’t be surprised. Do you think I believe the outside rumors… That an evil knight tempted his best friend to fall from grace for the sake of merit?”

“How they deal with it is their business.” Adrian accelerated his steps so that he could get rid of the person behind him. “What I do is my business. There’s no link between them.”

“Even if you know the ending?”

“I don’t know the ending,” the knight commander stopped. “For me, a miracle has happened once, then of course it can happen a second time.”

“You’re so innocent. It’s quite lovely. What if it doesn’t occur?”

“Then it didn’t happen,” Adrian shook his head. “You don’t understand at all, Mr. Dylan. The actions or possible outcomes of others are irrelevant. I think the same is true of Mr. Ramon. We just chose the path we firmly believed in.”

“That’s called being ‘stupid’.” Jesse raised his brows.

“Think as you wish,” the knight commander replied nonchalantly, and began to move towards Caleb Village. “I don’t need your understanding.”

This time, Jesse didn’t keep up.

The blond young man was no longer throwing the seeds and catching them in his hands. He grabbed it and stared at Adrian Cross fading back.

Delicate green vines emerged from between his fingers and wrapped around them. They were slender and fragile but full of vitality. Jesse loosened his fist, revealing the gravel-like seed that was lying in his palm. The vines were rapidly retracting into it, like a frightened snail retracting into its shell.

“That’s stupidity,” he sighed. “Don’t you think so, Miss Miracle?”

Adrian Cross had returned to the inn. He wasn’t disappointed. Their leader seemed to have decided to intervene, but this also made his stomach hurt.

No one had packed their luggage. Oliver was holding onto his Rest in Peace with a serious expression on his face. The sword’s body was bright and clear as he was practicing his magic control. And the other…

“One more!” Ann threw out another magic array. Nemo nodded at a certain position of the array with a bitter face, causing it to suddenly collapse and disappear.

“Oh, Cross, have you calmed down?” The female warrior turned her head as she grabbed Nemo’s robe. “Regarding Nadine, these two boys thought of an idea which is somewhat feasible.”

“It’s very feasible,” Nemo corrected her in a low voice, sounding a little guilty. “But we have to practice…”

“And our demon seems to have remembered a lot of good things. I haven’t found a spell that he can’t solve yet.” She seemed to think of something and loosened Nemo’s robe a little stiffly. “But I can only make up to three arrays at the same time. What about you, Cross? Is there any way to give him some problems?”

“Maybe.” Adrian’s expression remained calm. “If I guessed correctly… You plan to start practicing node destruction, right, Mr. Light?”

“Yes.”

“You can see those roots.”

“Yes.”

“…Okay, but I have to explain a little in advance,” Adrian Cross said. “If you really intend to drill a loophole in Woodruff’s Theorem, as far as the current situation is concerned, you cannot succeed. I have seen similar attempts. Simulating death is a sophisticated operation.” The knight commander glanced at Oliver, who had already stopped nervously. “And you seem to plan to operate this with two people simultaneously.”

“But that’s the only way we can do it,” Nemo’s expression was blank. “After all, my powers are not homologous to Ms. Nadine’s, so it can’t be used as a medium.”

“I said, ‘As far as the current situation is concerned’.” Adrian spoke slowly. “But I don’t think this is too much of a problem for you and Mr. Ramon. I apologize in advance, but you may not have time to rest tonight.”

“It’s best for the two of you to practice how to cooperate from now on.”

The author has something to say:

How can they fall in love without synchronization when fighting side by side?

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