As a former Chief Justice, he rarely developed unnecessary curiosity, but when it came to Jesse Dylan, he couldn’t help but be curious.
Every summer, Jesse would choose a day to hibernate—literally. He would sleep soundly for a whole day and night, never waking up. The next day, he would be lively and energetic again, as if nothing had happened.
“Oh, it’s one of my species’ traits,” Jesse said with a smile. “Are you curious about it, Adri?”
“Yes.”
Jesse leaned closer happily. “It’s nothing actually. The successful people of the Planktonic Cocoon Clan—I mean, my clan—are used to sharing information regularly. It’s good for everyone.”
Adrian listened quietly.
“Don’t be fooled by Nemo’s peaceful appearance. His territory is incredibly large. A small galaxy can only accommodate one Pillar of the World at most. They will avoid each other.”
“Nemo has accepted me. It would be a waste of effort for other Floating Cocoons to explore this way. It would be better to tell them directly that this road is blocked.”
Jesse explained without reservation.
“We’ll mark the high-risk star regions we pass through and share tips on how to use our powers or knowledge about dangerous species. We don’t have the terrifying amount of intelligence a Pillar of the World possesses, but the power of clusters shouldn’t be underestimated.”
For some reason, Adrian thought of the mothers at the Laddism gatherings.
They always had the most secret gossip information and would exchange their favorite recipes and crochet skills with each other. Of course, he didn’t say this thought out loud, because he guessed Lord Zenni wouldn’t take kindly to it.
Now that the question was solved, not only did Adrian’s curiosity not dissipate, but it also increased.
What were Jesse’s kindred like? What was communication like among the Floating Cocoons? He stared at Jesse, imagining the whispers among the stars.
Jesse noticed his confusion and looked even happier.
“Oh, Darling Adri, you really care about me,” he murmured contentedly. “Would you like to come with me? You are my other half, my only love.”
Adrian nodded.
The next day, Jesse locked the door and added layer upon layer of protection around the house.
Then he changed the sheets, put on the softest pillows and burned some light and pleasant incense beside the bed. After doing all this, Jesse lay down on the bed solemnly and patted the empty space beside him.
Adrian: “…………”
In the past, Jesse’s preparation was only limited to protection spells, without the following steps.
Although somewhat speechless, Adrian still cooperated and lay down on the bed. In an instant, he found himself being entangled by countless tentacles and his eyes were tightly covered.
“Relax,” Jesse said in his ears, interlocking his fingers tightly. “Don’t worry, I’m always with you.”
The next moment, he seemed to be sucked into a huge whirlpool. When he came back to his senses, Adrian saw the stars.
He couldn’t find his body, only his spirit floating in the boundless darkness. All around him were countless stars that didn’t flicker, and… countless golden balls of light.
The golden ball of light was entangled with countless strange characters, which flashed rapidly and were extremely conspicuous, like a miniature starry sky—a sparse, simpler, but more present small starry sky.
“The larger the light cluster, the more valuable the information.”
Jesse’s voice rang out beside him. “As my follower, you can touch them with your mind and read their contents freely.”
“By the way, I contributed those.” A force turned Adrian’s vision, indicating that he should look at some of the light balls.
Adrian touched the largest one, and the mysterious characters instantly turned into words and rushed into his brain.
[The Pillar of the World Information]
[Contributor: Shining Morning Star]
[Coordinates XM-001.18.33119.353.6758/has been signed]
[First, let me conclude, the Pillar of the World isn’t just a rational, flesh-and-blood machine. Under certain conditions, it can develop highly advanced emotions, even falling in love with certain beings.
I witnessed such a love story before my own eyes.
I had previously worked with another Pillar of the World. It was young, powerful, enthusiastic. I communicated with it so well that I almost believed it had emotions.
But that’s all an illusion.
I watched It destroy the entire surface of the world simply because It created a civilization similar to the last one.
I watched as the world collapsed, the seas flooded back, and natural disasters cycled day and night. The world gradually collapsed, and countless civilizations desperately tried to save themselves, praying to survive another year, another decade, another century.
From beginning to end, It just slightly moved Its body.
I have lost a lot of my power source, which is different from what we agreed to. I went to ask It, and It told me to wait—wait until this civilization is completely destroyed and a new one will emerge. It always does.
This is necessary research, It said. You are part of the research.
Yes, a part of the research, like a gentle breeze or the rain. It doesn’t care whether I die of hunger or old age. In fact, I know our cooperation was unequal from the beginning. Its indifference and generosity are almost equal.
Then It fell into a deep slumber and missed the birthplace of a new god who killed it with a controllable disease.
And so, after nearly a thousand years of wandering, I found a second Pillar of the World. It was older, more silent, and I suspected it would be even more ruthless.
At least It was experienced enough not to be killed by the local god. And I would be more careful not to harbor ridiculous illusions.
We lived in peace for a long time.
Ironically, It was much more cautious than the previous Pillar of the World. It discovered that the local civilization was conducting dangerous experiments in creating gods and decided to take preventative measures—It sent its incarnation to the surface to conduct a final observation before ultimately destroying the surface.
Then It fell in love with a human.
That human didn’t have a stunning appearance or incredible powers; he was just ordinary. I thought It was imitating humans, or perhaps subconsciously treating this as part of Its’ “observation”.
At that time, I thought, how could It possibly fall in love with this guy—compared to me, I’m no different than an ant in the eyes of the Pillar of the World. I’m just a speck of dust. The difference is so huge, so tantamount, it was quite absurd.
This childish, ridiculous romance would eventually end. When the incarnation of the Pillar of the World returns to its true body, that little bit of emotion will vanish, like dew. That human will also have to make a choice, shouldering the responsibility of his civilization’s survival.
Indeed, they soon separated, in an almost desperate manner.
I seemed to be seeing the end of a world again, seeing the shattered earth and the burning ocean. I no longer wanted to stay out of it. For some selfish reason, I hoped that this civilization could survive, at least continue to be stable for centuries.
But things didn’t turn out the way I thought. You know, our kind rarely make mistakes in our predictions.
The human had an almost terrifying persistence. He firmly believed that his lover wouldn’t disappear, and he chased the unintentional glance of an almighty god. They didn’t spend much time together, and they didn’t experience many ups and downs. I didn’t understand what he was obsessed with, nor do I understand where that pathetic love and trust come from.
But he undoubtedly loved It, and I could see that his love wasn’t false.
I must have gone crazy. I promised to help him build a magic circuit so that he could quickly become a local god and qualify to meet the Pillar of the World.
This approach was extremely risky, and the Pillar of the World would regard it as hostility. If he fails, I probably would be eliminated by the Pillar of the World as a “harmful factor”. But I can’t bear to see this story end, just like I can’t bear to leave.
I’ve always thought poetry was just silly romance. The possibility that a tiny being could produce such poetic prose astounds me and fascinates me with this almost absurd conjecture… Anyway, I helped that human and he succeeded.
Until that moment, I still had no hope for the ending of the story. Human love has always been as arrogant as fantasy, but I understand the Pillar of the World. They are unmoved by anything. They are constants in the vast universe, slowly evolving over time, never even glancing at the annihilation of stars.
It turns out that the Pillar of the World was just as crazy as I am.
I stayed here because of my curiosity about that ridiculous emotion, heading toward death. But It saw that ridiculous emotion as evolution and preserved it completely.
It—He actually loves him, and he actually loves Him too.
It was just a fleeting moment, a raindrop about to disappear into a lake. It silently touched Him, shook Him… A light kiss caused the stars to deviate from their orbits.
I couldn’t understand it at all, and I was terrified as much as I was shocked.
Love is always worth watching more than destruction. Perhaps the universe is just as absurd like this. My madness has been rewarded and so has He—He embraced His lover seemingly incredibly content. He was happier than any Pillar of the World I’ve ever read, heard, or seen.
To this day, I’m still analyzing their love. I still don’t understand how it works; I just know that it still exists and continues to grow stronger.
Now I have become good friends with that Pillar of the World… We are probably friends; at least we’re equals. I can clearly feel this.
So I will record until the end, about their love, about everything on this wonderful planet.
Including myself, and what I am fascinated by &*¥ #……]
Perhaps someone had done something wrong, but Adrian suddenly couldn’t read the rest of the article. He could, however, understand the following messages—
[I’m Not Full: Is this some kind of fantasy you had before starving to death?]
[The Pillar of the World Doesn’t Exist At All: What is connection? What are the chances of encountering two Pillars of the World?]
[Starting From Scratch: The part about the flesh he shared earlier was very useful, so it must be real. Besides, if this is all delusions, he would have imagined that the Pillar of the World would be infatuated with him, but he said It loves someone else.]
[Wherever You Drift To Is Fine: Is anyone bored enough to go to that coordinate?]
[Save Me: Whoever wants to go can go. I’m avoiding that place… I rather believe.]
[Starting From Scratch: I believe in him. I have encountered even more outrageous things myself. See -> “Basic Characteristics and Countermeasure Against Star Stealer Sol”]
[Destiny Cannot Be Defied: Hey, above, don’t make up such bullshit. No one has ever heard of such things.]
[How to Deal With Grumpy Neighbors: When will I encounter a Pillar of the World? Even the most ordinary one will do. Maintaining an ownerless civilization is really troublesome…]
……
Adrian: “……”
There’s no end to the comments; just reading the text was so noisy, it was overwhelming. Compared to this group of chattering Floating Cocoons, Jesse Dylan had an even more divine aura.
“What do you think?” Jesse’s voice sounded again. He actually sounded a little nervous.
“Very…” Adrian thought for a moment and chose a positive word. “Lively.”
“But does Mr. Light know that you are writing this?”
“He knows, and he said it’s okay as long as the privacy isn’t exposed. By the way, Mr. Ramon also knows.” Jesse hummed. “Especially, Mr. Ramon. He wishes I could really become a bard and sing their sweet love story to the universe.”
“Alright,” Adrian said. “It seems there’s a second half of this article…”
“I haven’t finished it yet!” Jesse’s tone suddenly tightened.
“Wait until I finish writing it. I mean, it still needs revisions and adjustments…”
“Okay.” Adrian paused. “Do you understand now?”
“What?”
“Regarding the part about ‘he actually loves Him’,” Adrian said calmly. “You seem to have understood that he loves Him.”
Jesse was silent for a long time, and when he spoke again, his tone was unusual.
“If you mean the Pillar of the World, I still don’t understand. But if you mean me—”
He didn’t continue.
Adrian felt his lips become warm. No doubt it was a kiss. The next moment, the “stars” before him vanished.
He fell towards their home again.
The author has something to say:
Qixi bonus extra! An Ollie x Nemo love story from Jesse’s perspective—yes, he even wrote it down ♥
Mainly I wanted to write something about the Cocoon Forum (???
Kinky Thoughts:
This is only the abridged version. For the full version, read Stray (which you already have if you’re reading this).
Pretty sure I know who “Starting From Scratch” is…
The highest peak in the Ash Mountains was called “Wick Peak”.
It was located on the border of Alban, with nothing but wasteland covered in gray gravel nearby. This place was extremely barren, and had always been the domain of voles and reptiles. Not only humans, but even subordinate demons were reluctant to come.
“There’s something wrong with you!” the gray parrot muttered.
Nemo could clearly split space, but he insisted on going on an adventure into the wilderness with Oliver. They stayed in this damn place for four days, and all it could eat was dry bird food. Its feathers were completely filthy and covered with sand and dust.
However, those two were able to stick together and camp like this place was some kind of wonderland.
Finally, a village appeared in front of them.
Though, calling it a village wasn’t quite accurate; it was more like a small settlement, with fewer than a hundred residents. The houses were as gray as the wasteland, and, at first glance, they looked like ruins. This “village” wasn’t marked on any maps, and it didn’t even have a name.
“I’ve heard stories about this place from bards.”
Ollie walked into the town square curiously. “Every summer, fire steel can be mined near Wick Peak. The people living here are miners and mercenaries.”
Only in summer did the steel mine that was crushed in snow emerge. People would flock here like migratory birds and live here temporarily.
It was the beginning of summer and the settlement should be bustling with activity, but it was deserted, with only windblown sand and dust.
“Next time, remember to find a place with berries. Really, a date is a date. Why try to investigate some demon incident…”
A gust of wind blew, and the gray parrot tried to squeeze into Nemo’s robe to protect its smooth feathers.
Nemo smiled and pulled it out, pressing it back onto his shoulder.
There was only one inn in the settlement, its door frame covered in rags of spiderwebs. When they entered, the innkeeper was listlessly wiping a glass, which was far cleaner than the towel he was using.
“Mercenaries?” the innkeeper looked at the two men for a long moment. “You look too delicate and tender to be miners… Are you also here for that demon?”
“Also?” Oliver and Nemo looked at each other.
“Yes, the monks of the Laddism Church came to investigate.” The innkeeper shrugged. “They say some foolish guy is deliberately summoning demons. Maybe the Knights of Judgment will come visit too. Oh…”
At this point, he looked at the two of them mischievously and said, “Those two monks have booked the best rooms, so you two will have to put up with it.”
“No problem.” Ollie calmly took out his wallet.
They just need to avoid the monks and get rid of the culprit as soon as possible.
They heard that when the broken fire steel was exposed to the surface, the sunrise at the top of Wick Peak was very beautiful, and that was the main purpose of their trip.
Unfortunately, before nightfall, a crack appeared in their beautiful plan—they ran into one of the monks in the hotel corridor.
“May Zenni…” the man’s fake “pious” prayer was choked back before it could even come out.
His smile twitched and he slowly took a half step back. “…Really.”
“Yes, what a coincidence. Your blessing is not necessary,” Nemo said gravely.
Jesse Dylan sighed pitifully. “They’re just a few demon worshippers. Why bother with that? Leave this kind of thing to me and Adri.”
You think I can trust you? When did you become so ‘pious’?
Nemo politely kept silent, but he couldn’t help hide his doubts.
“Since you’re here for business, I’ll leave the demon case to you.” Oliver took over the conversation briskly. “Nemo and I are going straight to see the sunrise.”
Jesse blinked and said, “Oh, I won’t bother you.”
There was a strange, tacit feeling in the air.
Nemo’s face showed even more suspicion, while Oliver said nothing and just simply smiled and nodded.
From what Oliver knew about Jesse, there was a 99% chance this guy had tricked Adrian into coming to see the sunrise under the pretext of “dealing with a few demon worshippers” and even packaged it as a surprise.
Since Oliver also wanted a world of his own, he didn’t intend to expose the thoughts of a certain god.
Well, the top of the mountain was quite big. They can just look at the sunrise separately!
…However, their tacit understanding didn’t even last three minutes.
Adrian returned to the inn with someone by his side. The moment it saw the person clearly, the gray parrot instinctively shrank back, and Jesse’s sweet smile froze on his face.
“Ann!” Nemo rushed forward in surprise.
Ann had recently abdicated her throne and had been away travelling with Gallagher. They kept in touch through letters but hadn’t seen each other for nearly a year.
Ann had sent them a letter not long ago saying that she was resting in the capital and Nemo thought he would only see her at the year-end party.
At the moment, Ann was still dressed as a mercenary, carrying a light bag on her back, and her hunting spear had been replaced with a better one… and there was no sign of Gallagher.
“Shouldn’t you be in the capital?” Nemo suddenly felt a little worried. Maybe something unpleasant had happened with the people in the capital…
Ann obviously saw his worry.
She looked at Nemo and Ollie who were stuck together, and then at Jesse who was smoothly clinging to Adrian with a subtle smile on his face.
“Humans need quality time alone,” she said. “Of course, this may be difficult for some people to understand.”
“I heard something was going on here, so I came for some relaxation and happened to run into Mr. Cross.”
Adrian: “We are here because of the demon worshippers.”
“Oh?” Ann raised her tone, glancing at Jesse from the corner of her eyes. “Well, let’s just go with that then.”
“If you’re worried, we can act together,” the former Knight Commander said seriously.
Nemo raised his hands happily. “Since everyone is here, let’s all go together!”
Jesse sighed quietly beside him.
Those poor demon worshippers. They were about to encounter the most terrifying battle in the world.
……
Early next morning.
“I thought you were on my side. Isn’t it romantic to watch the sunrise with your lover?”
Jesse approached Oliver and whispered wistfully, “Ann must have guessed our plan. She was mocking me with her eyes the whole time… Why do you insist on acting as a group, Captain?”
“Because Nemo wanted to go, and I missed Ann. Don’t you think this is a great atmosphere?”
Oliver dusted off his hands—the demon worshippers had been reduced to ashes, and this was the last of them.
Jesse curled his lips and continued to grumble.
He walked back to Adrian and began to describe the sunrise at the top of the mountain with great interest. The latter listened patiently with a smile on his face.
“Sunrise? I’m not going. I have other plans.” Ann scratched her chin.
“Huh?” Nemo said a bit disappointed. “I thought…”
Ann huck the bag she was carrying behind her. “Don’t worry. I really have something to do for a bit.”
“Wait until the run comes out, and then we’ll all go down the mountain together. I know a nice tavern. My treat. And I’ll have to ask you to teleport me there.”
“Okay,” Nemo muttered.
Ann stretched out her hand. Nemo thought she was going to pat his shoulder, but instead she snatched the parrot away. “I’m borrowing this thing. Just some entertainment to relieve my boredom.”
“Damn, you unreasonable—”
Lord Bagelmaurus tried to rebuke her harshly, but Ann immediately wrung its neck completely stifling its squawks.
“See you later!” Ann held the gray parrot tightly as she waved to Nemo.
As soon as Ann left, the remaining four people separated instantly.
“Let’s go over there and watch.”
Jesse hugged Adrian’s waste tightly and pulled him in the opposite direction. “Just enjoy the sunrise here. We won’t disturb you.”
Nemo nodded with a mixture of annoyance and amusement.
At sunrise, the morning glow illuminated the mountain of steel.
As the snow faded, the mineral gravel revealed a brilliant golden-red hue, resembling stars falling from the mountains. Combined with the molten-gold clouds, the magnificent scenery was truly out of this world.
So beautiful.
Nemo exhaled a puff of white steam and glanced at Oliver besides him, meeting his eyes.
…In the end, none of them could concentrate to see the end of the sunrise, and instead it ended with a warm kiss.
“Speaking of which, what do you think Ann is really doing here?”
After the long kiss, Nemo said, “She definitely has something important to say—even if she wanted to watch the sunrise around, she wouldn’t beat around the bush and make excuses.”
“I don’t know,” Oliver smoothed Nemo’s messy hair.
“However, she didn’t deliberately avoid us. We’ll probably find out sooner or later.”
On the other side of the mountain.
The gray parrot kept on chattering. “It’s been so many years, Savage. If you could just respect me more, I would…”
“Shh.” Ann rudely pinched the bird’s beak.
At sunrise, a beam of sunlight shone through the gap between the peaks, like a golden hour hand.
Ann took out a shovel and swung it, hitting the tip of the “hour hand”.
After a few minutes, the sun left the horizon and the beam of sunlight dissipated with it.
Ann walked over to the shovel and dug a hole. The gray parrot stopped squawking, its eyes flickering back and forth, following Ann’s movements.
Ann quickly dug a deep pit, took out a box full of protection magic from her sack, and buried it solemnly at the bottom of the pit.
The box was beautifully craft, and the lid bore the personal emblem of “Blood Queen Andrea Alastair”.
“What are you doing?” Curiosity got the better of Lord Bagelmaurus.
Even though there were many seals between them, the gray parrot could still sense there were valuable magic items in the box.
“It’s a hidden treasure. Isn’t that obvious?” Ann said disdainfully, and quickly restored the land to its original state.
“That’s what I want to ask!” the gray parrot puffed up its feathers. “Why are you hiding treasure in this damn place when you have nothing better to do—”
“Not just here. I’ve hidden them in many other places as well.” Ann stretched out lazily. “I’m just sitting around anyway, and I can’t use those treasures, so it’s more fun to hide them.”
“Where’s the fun?!”
“Those things are worth a lot of money. They’ll become legends in a hundred years… Well, maybe in a thousand years, someone will find my treasures.”
Ann said, “Think about it, until then, you will still hear from me unexpectedly and run into me by chance. Isn’t that great?”
The gray parrot fell silent.
“Please keep this a secret from Nemo and the others. This is a surprise.” Ann stretched out her muddy fingers and patted the parrot’s head.
“……Tsk, fine.”
“Let’s go find Nemo. I’ll treat you to a big dinner.”
Lately, Mr. Demon King had been enjoying growing some strange plants. For example, kiwis that produced fruit every day, calendar flowers that changed color based on the date, and versatile potted plants that grew four types of herbs.
Their characteristics were very common—they were the only ones in the world, they were very practical, and they were extremely easy to maintain. They would never get sick or be riddled with pests—you could even consider them to be “super plants”.
He could make the best vanilla in Oliver’s dream come true, and he could also create the perfect flowers that would only appear in fairy tales. The plants he created had lush and perfect leaves that complimented Oliver’s eyes. Nemo would pick out the ones he particularly liked and give them to his lover as a surprise.
Every time Oliver received a gift, he would happily thank him. However, as time went by, Nemo felt something was missing.
Nemo wanted to grow something different.
One day, he sneaked out of the house and went to the gardening store. When he was about to leave, he held a pot of pitiful seedlings. It looked so fragile it could be blown away by a gust of wind.
“Hey, are you planning to transform plants again?”
Bagelmaurus said pickily, “Well, I hope it’s a tree that can infinitely grow nuts—”
Nemo patted the gray parrot’s feathery head. The latter gave a loud squawk and shrank its neck.
“Don’t worry about it,” Nemo said solemnly, throwing several spells into the potted plant.
Strangely, none of them had anything to do with plant growth; they were all concealment spells. The gray parrot circled the hidden potted plant several times but couldn’t find anything suspicious.
What the hell is he hiding in this broken thing?
……
“Oh, you actually came to ask for my advice.”
Jesse threw two pieces of sugar cubes into his tea and said, “Mr. Ramon, have you encounter some kind of technical probl…?”
Under Oliver’s deep gaze, Jesse took the initiative to swallow back his words.
“It seems to be an emotional problem.” Lord Zenni pretended he didn’t say anything previously.
This time Oliver didn’t deny it. “Nemo always gives me gifts.”
Jesse’s mouth twitch. “So you came to show off?”
“No. The things he gives me are always magical and green plants, but I can only give him ordinary flowers.”
Oliver looked at his hands. “I can’t create life as easily as he can. I know Nemo won’t care, but I want to give him something special.”
“Hm, I can probably imagine how ‘magical’ it is.” Jesse stopped his teasing and took a sip of his sweet tea.
“The Pillar of the World is the closet thing to a God of Creation in this world—I mean, in this entire universe. If such a god falls in love with you, theoretically, you can make any wish.”
“As expected of you, Mr. Ramon, you’re actually bothered by such a good thing.”
Oliver lowered his head, stirring his milk tea with a spoon. He considered his words for a moment. “I’m not looking for advice about this matter… I just want to ask, what do gods of your age find ‘special’?”
“For example, what kind of gifts does Mr. Cross give you do you like best…”
“I would be happy if my darling Adri gifted me a button.”
Jesse snorted. “Of course, my darling Adri wouldn’t give me just a button. He’d give me a sapphire brooch of exquisite taste.”
Oliver began to think he had asked the wrong person.
He wasn’t sure what Nemo liked, but he was sure that his Demon King wouldn’t like “an elegant sapphire brooch”.
Facing Oliver’s disapproving look, Jesse casually picked up a cookie and said, “Generally speaking, you don’t have to worry too much about it. Our Pillar of the World might just be interested in tinkering with plants. He gave it to you, so just keep it.”
“If you must give something special in return…as long as you feel its special, I think Mr. Light will feel the same way.”
Oliver certainly knew this.
But when it came to preparing gifts for his almost omnipotent lover, he always felt he hadn’t done enough.
…So he asked Adrian Cross the same question.
“As long as you think it’s special, I think Mr. Light will think so too.” Adrian actually gave an answer that was almost identical to Jesse Dylan’s.
“Next time, what gift are you going to prepare for Jesse?” Oliver tried to find some reference.
“Well, I bought a beautiful sapphire a while ago, and I plan to use it to make a silk headband.” Adrian said without hesitation, “He always liked this kind of thing.”
Handmade gifts were indeed nice. Unfortunately, Nemo didn’t have a strong desire for material things, and he had very little interest in dressing up.
This time Oliver had nothing to say.
……
“Those ‘relationship skills’ my dad taught me are so useless.”
In the museum, Oliver murmured to the portrait of the Blood Queen—no, Ann Savage. “If I ran to Nemo’s bedside to play the piano in the middle of the night, he would think I have a fever.”
“If I suddenly started writing hymns for him, well, he’d probably start to really worry about me.”
“…How do I choose a gift for someone who has everything?”
Ann in the portrait maintained a smile that wasn’t very “Ann-like” and didn’t give an answer.
“Your advice might be more useful than Jesse and the others.” Oliver sighed softly. “Ann, Nemo and I have always been…”
Before he finished speaking, Oliver suddenly froze.
How do you choose a gift for someone who has everything?”
……No, no. Nemo isn’t someone “who has everything”.
“Thank you.” Oliver nodded to Ann’s portrait and left the museum.
That day, he went on countless flea markets and moved four boxes to the workplace.
Time passed, and soon it was the festival when lovers would exchange gifts.
Not to mention Nemo and Oliver, a family with endless surprises, even a couple, no matter how strained their relationship was, wouldn’t miss this opportunity.
The night before, Nemo and Oliver didn’t sleep in each other’s arms, but slept back-to-back, which seemed to indicate they were plotting something.
As the sun barely broke the horizon, the two men jumped out of bed as if their butts had been set ablaze and pulled out their respective gifts from under the bed. The scene was like a duel. Nemo didn’t even have enough time to tie up his long hair.
The Demon King confidently picked up a rectangular gift box wrapped in pleasing green stripes.
Mr. Knight, not to be outdone, pulled out a square box of similar size. It was beautifully wrapped in warm gray paper with a pearly sheen.
“Exchange?” Nemo looked at the gift box expectantly.
“Exchange!” Oliver nodded confidently.
He was the first to open Nemo’s gift. As a result, he heard a rustling sound when he opened it.
It seemed that Nemo’s fascination with plants hadn’t ended yet. It was a magical plant, but it was unclear what it could do…
After unwrapping the box, Oliver was shocked.
In the warm brown flowerpot, there was only a beautiful small olive tree.
Its branches and leaves showed signs of withering and insect bites, not as “perfect” as they once were. At the base of the trunk, the initials of “O&N” were faintly engraved, slightly deformed by the outstretched branches.
It was growing well, and its branches and leaves exuded a refreshing vitality that eased the heart.
Oliver gently stroked the branches and magic flower through the roots of the olive tree. Without a doubt, this was an extremely normal plant, untouched by magic.
“I raised it myself, with no magic!” Nemo said. “I did all the fertilizing, watering, pest control myself. It grew slower than I thought. I thought I wouldn’t be able to present it in time for the exchange.”
Oliver looked at Nemo silently.
Seeing Oliver remained silent, Nemo became a little nervous. “I, I just thought that creating a new species is too easy. I don’t want to keep giving you gifts that can be made with just a flick of a finger.”
His voice grew quieter.
“I know you won’t hate my gift, so I want to put more effort into it…I didn’t create it—it just happened to me, just like you.”
“I love you so much,” Oliver said solemnly. “Let’s keep it in the bedroom. We can raise it together and give it a name.”
Nemo smiled and said, “This is your gift. Come here.”
Oliver held the potted plant, the joy on his face didn’t seem fake. Compared to the joy of receiving gifts before, there was something else in his smile this time, something that Nemo really liked—a more intense happiness.
Nemo hummed triumphantly and began to unwrap Oliver’s gift.
Oliver had always been a natural handmade person, so he wondered what Oliver prepared this time. Maybe it was a wreath of preserved flowers, or maybe…
Clatter.
The paper lid of the gift box fell to the floor.
Oliver also gave him a green plant, which was very like Oliver. It was just that the green plant this time was a little…too special.
A variety of miniature green plants formed a landscape within a ground glass container. A few incredibly realistic houses dotted the moss-filled lawn, reminiscent of the edge of Roadside Town.
Among the dense greenery, there were several enchanted model figures.
He saw Old Light taking a rest under a tree with an armful of wheat; he saw Ann Savage, wearing the soldier’s uniform he had first met her in, sitting on a rock, taking a leisurely drink; he saw Godwin and Debbie taking the children on a picnic, relaxing on the grass.
Oliver did it with great care, as if the real people themselves were shrunk by magic. Just looking at it, Nemo could almost feel the heartbeat of the model.
It was the tranquility and satisfaction of that moment completely frozen in time.
It was a scene he had never seen before, Oliver recalled.
“It’s probably better than a magical portrait,” Oliver said. “That looks… ngh!”
Nemo hugged him tightly. Through the thin fabric, Oliver could feel the other’s accelerated heartbeat.
Nemo hugged him for a long time. He said nothing, but it seemed like he had said everything.
The next day, a small corner appeared in their room.
The “towering” olive tree obscured the village in glass, like the incredible giant tree in the backyard of the Ramon Inn.
Kinky Thoughts:
Oh, I got teary-eyed reading this. It’s been a while since I read Stray but this brings back all the memories and feelings.
The driver was shocked. He tightened the reins. “If you two are short of money, I can help you find work. Seriously, the Bobley Tree? That’s not a good idea.”
“We’re traveling so we want to try our luck,” the young man in the carriage responded with a smile.
Out of view, the driver shook his head. Lately, he had been carrying dozens of ignorant speculators, all of whom came for the Bobley Tree.
The Bobley Tree grew deep in the canyons southwest of Garland. Its fruits were an invaluable spice, possessing a unique, rich sweetness. Nobles favored it in desserts and fine wines, making its price comparable to that of gold.
“This definitely is more dangerous than you think.” The driver couldn’t help but speak up again. “My home is near that damn canyon. The Bobley tree coexists with an Intermediate Demon. That kind of demon is called—um, what was it again? Anyway, it’s extremely vicious. So many fools have died under the tree because of it!”
“The Bobley Snake,” a gentle voice from another young man interrupted.
Oh, it’s that handsome guy with gray eyes, the driver thought. Compared to the brown-haired boy, the driver was more impressed with Gray Eyes. Gray Eyes actually brought a gray parrot with him—quite a rare pet.
“Yes, the Snake,” the driver muttered.
Inside the carriage.
“…Thank you for the reminder.” The journey was long, and chatting with the driver was part of the fun of traveling. Nemo stretched and lay his head on Oliver’s shoulder.
Since starting to live a peaceful life, Nemo had become more and more fond of classical travel. At first, he and Oliver were excited to travel through space and see the various famous places recorded in history. Lately, they found that this method was too simple and crude, which greatly weakened the excitement of adventure.
So they set all kinds of strange goals and traveled like ordinary people. For example, such as now—
A few days ago, Jesse had given them two Bobley fruit pastries and then spent an hour explaining this rare fruit. Oliver and Nemo were wary of a certain someone’s uncharacteristic generosity, but the Bobley fruit was indeed delicious. Oliver was convinced it would be great for jam, and they just needed to update their menu.
So, after finding out information on the Bobley Tree, the two of them resolutely embarked on their journey.
“Jesse didn’t mention anything about the Bobley Snake. That guy must have done it on purpose.” Oliver tilted his head and leaned against Nemo’s. His cheek pressed against the black hair and his voice became muffled due to the flattening of his cheeks.
“I’ve only heard about it,” Nemo whispered. “It doesn’t matter. It can’t beat us.”
Oliver: “……” For a moment, he didn’t know whether to mourn for the Bobley Snake or be shocked by Nemo’s serious statement.
By the time they reached their destination, Mr. Ramon’s sympathy for the snake had vanished.
In the desolated canyon, the lush branches and leaves of the Bobley Tree towered into the sky. The Bobley Snake coiled around the tree like decorative light strips, covering it from top to bottom.
This demon was deep green, resembling a snake covered with rings around its joints. Each joint bulged with watermelon-sized eye-like structures, and these “eyeballs” were completely black and flashed an ominous green fluorescence. The snake clung to the giant tree and slid silently, like a light strip swaying in the wind.
The Bobley Fruit grew near the top of the tree. If one wanted to reach it, they couldn’t avoid this strange and dangerous demon.
“Wow.” Oliver sighed while looking up. “No wonder the Bobley Fruit is so expensive.”
“Yeah.” Nemo also looked up, following the Bobley Snake as it leisurely climbed up the tree.
As the sun set, its rays cast a hazy glow across the misty canyon. A gigantic demon was perched on a tree, like some kind of totem pole, creating a weird, yet magnificent scene.
He was often fascinated by the evolution of organisms—how amazing it was that the Bobley Tree relied on this demon for pollination; a symbiotic relationship. Without the Bobley Snake, the tree wouldn’t bear fruit at all.
When harvesting the fruit, locals must prepare special boots and gloves and move quietly during the day—when the Bobley Snake was asleep. The Bobley Fruit grew firmly at the top of the tree, so picking it quietly required substantial skills.
“It’s nothing to be proud of. It just looks scary.” As a Corewen Flat Snake, the gray parrot looked down on this “distant relative”. “If this thing were truly powerful, it wouldn’t have escape from the Abyss to the surface…”
In order to fully express its disdain, it turned its claws on Nemo’s shoulder and mooned the Bobley Snake.
As night fell, the snake’s terrifying eyes opened wide. In an instant, dozens of shimmering “green moons” seemed to appear among the branches of the Bobley Tree. The snake crawled even faster, making rustling noises that tingled in the darkness.
According to the script of the bards, a battle between human and demon was destined. However, Oliver didn’t even draw his sword. He just looked at Nemo with interest.
“Be brave, Your Majesty,” he said with a smile.
Nemo’s face soured a bit.
Now he could communicate with demons without difficulty. Unfortunately, neither this amazing ability, nor the vast knowledge of the Pillar of the World made him extroverted or talkative. Even if the other party was a demon snake with a rash, this would still be a deadly street confrontation.
“Good evening.” Nemo turned to the Bobley Snake. He held his breath and skillfully greeted the snake stiffly.
Lord Bagelmaurus turned its head guiltily and looked back, still maintaining its mooning position.
The Bobley Snake froze in confusion for a few seconds, then a flat, insect-like head popped down. Rancid saliva dripped from its “mouth”, chilling the air.
[Human?] It didn’t attack immediately, apparently still confused. [Don’t smell like a human.]
“I have a question for you.”
The shaking of the snake’s big head increased Nemo’s tension. “You, uh, your staple food isn’t humans, and you have no interest in the Bobley Fruit… So why do you attack humans who try to pick it?”
He tried to sound calm.
The snake let out a silent roar; a foul smell blew out like a gust of wind and saliva almost splashed on Nemo’s face. Nemo opened his mouth halfway and looked at his knight for help—this was a tricky social problem that was better left for Oliver.
Oliver came over decisively. He grabbed the gray parrot and turned it around so that its head was facing the snake. Then he leaned over to Nemo’s ear and whispered something.
“I’m sorry. The way I asked the question just now was a bit rude.”
With the knight’s secret advice, Nemo straightened up his back. “Are you dissatisfied with the fact that humans always come to pick the fruits? Maybe we can help.”
The snake’s intelligence wasn’t low, but it wasn’t high enough to the point where it would consider “Why can this human communicate with demons?”. Its attention was quickly shifted—
[Every day! Every day after sunrise!]
It cursed loudly, and the Bobley Tree creaked as it twisted around it. [Damn humans. These people are always harassing me while I’m sleeping! They’re buzzing around here, thinking I can’t hear them!]
The Bobley Snake continued to hiss angrily, making the giant tree shake dangerously.
[If I ignore them, they will climb up and pick the fruit, making even more noise,] it continued gloomily. [As soon as I wake up, they will run away, then come back again when I’m asleep—]
Nemo: “…………” Mr. Demon King’s expression gradually became subtle.
Oliver turned his head and looked at the mosquitoes flying in the night, as if he understood something.
“I think I know how to handle this…”
Nemo shooed away the mosquitoes buzzing around his ears and leaned closer to Oliver and whispered his plan. Oliver just turned his head back, causing Nemo’s lips to brush against the tip of Oliver’s nose.
Oliver leaned in closer and whispered to Nemo.
“You’re becoming wiser, Your Majesty.”
A few days later.
Jesse Dylan sat in the corner of the pub, spreading Bobley jam on his bread. The air was filled with a wonderful, sweet aroma.
“How did you two do it?” he asked curiously.
“I told them to pick the fruit at night, making sure that the snake is awake before they do it.”
Oliver put down two large bottles of Bobley liquor and said, “As long as the villagers are willing to keep quiet and offer some chicken to the Bobley Snake, it will tolerate them picking the fruit.”
The snake agreed to Nemo’s suggestion and also greeted its fellow “kind”. Soon, the village near the canyon will become the largest producer of Bobley Fruit.
“A perfect plan, as always.” Jesse devoured his bread spread with jam, gracefully and quickly. “I knew you two would bring peace…”
“…And cheaper Bobley fruit.” Nemo stopped behind Jesse and rested a hand on his shoulder. “I guess you care more about the latter.”
Jesse stopped chewing and used every muscle of his body to make him look “innocent”.
“Don’t worry, Nemo,” Oliver said gently. “Just charge him five times the price for this meal.”
“You can’t do this!” Jesse cried pitifully. “They are Mr. Light’s people. It’s not my place to interfere.”
Oliver shrugged. “Honestly, you’re not short of money, so why do this?” He had already ruled out the possibility that Lord Zenni decided to “make the Bobley Fruit affordable for the world.”
“You two obviously like the Bobley Fruit.”
Jesse didn’t answer his question but just muttered sadly. “Alright, alright. This ‘hiring fee’ is low enough… Wait, don’t open the wine yet! I want to take it home.”
Nemo paused, his brows rising higher and higher.
He suddenly felt that the current situation might have something to do with the commandment that “Knights of Judgment must avoid extravagance”. The Knights of Judgment of Laddism rarely drank alcohol; at most they would consume a light wine to quench their thirst. They would never indulge in something as exorbitant as the Bobley Fruit wine.
“You can pay the original price for the wine,” Nemo said. “But I’ll charge you five times the price for that jam and bread.”
Jesse sighed and took out his purse.
After Jesse left, Nemo neatly wrote down “Bread with Bobley Jam” and “Bobley Liquor” on the new menu and marked a sufficiently cheap price. Beside him, Oliver had already poured two glasses of the pink Bobley wine.
The wine was crystal clear, and the ice cubes made a soft sound as they melted.
“Cheers!” Amidst the sweet aroma, the two happily clinked their glasses.
Nemo had a few blank spots left on the menu—they would fill in those gaps with new trips, he thought with satisfaction.
The author has something to say:
Happy Qixi Festival, everyone! See you again on Valentine’s Day next year—!
Next comes the sweet inspiration tour for the tavern menu √
The two of them are probably the legendary type of laid-back owners who run the shop for half a year and travel for the other half. The demon king and hero’s journey never ends (*/ω＼*)
Sharing life together is the very best ☆
Kinky Thoughts:
It seems the extras (besides the mini extras) will continue for all of Nian Zhong’s series! These are “Benefits” chapters, longer than her mini extras, that are exclusive only to the JJ app and will be updated periodically.
Note: These are mini extras that the author has written posted separately on JJ. She intermittently updates them, usually on Valentine’s Day and other holidays for her CPs. The translation will be updated when the author updates her blog. You can get updates when translations are updated in my Discord server. Below is a ton of dog food.
2025/29/8
Everyone’s Summer Cool-Down Routines
Another Qixi has come around, and our married couples are celebrating again.
Here are their little everyday tricks for beating the heat—
[Oliver × Nemo]
This summer had been especially hot.
Nemo poured himself a big glass of iced lemonade and gazed sorrowfully out the window. The weather was great, plenty of sun—perhaps too much. The shrill cry of cicadas pierced the glass, and he didn’t want to stick even half a toe outside. He only wanted to lounge in bed.
The customers clearly felt the same. Oliver opened the shop as usual, and almost no one came. Fair enough; at best they could make the store cool, not pluck the sun from the sky.
By late morning, Oliver chose to close temporarily and, on the way upstairs, made two bowls of fruit shaved ice.
As soon as he reached the bedroom, he saw His Demon King sprawled on the bed in the shape of an “大”. Even Bagelmaurus was unusually quiet, pecking silently at his special bird feed.
“Is it really that hot in here?” Oliver tapped Nemo’s toes and watched the great Demon King roll from a “大” into a little “卜”.
Nemo rolled across the bed and latched onto Oliver’s arm. “I’m hot in spirit… wait, is that fruit shaved ice?”
“Yes,” Oliver said with a smile. Nemo cheered and quickly scrambled up.
They each took a bowl and toasted it in the dazzling sunlight.
“I suddenly had a brilliant idea that will guarantee you want to go downstairs,” Oliver announced solemnly.
He tapped the frosty rim of his shaved-ice cup with a spoon. The moisture in the air condensed at once into several… several very excited little snow-dogs.
They were pure white, yapping as they bounded onto the bed. Cold tongues licked Nemo’s arms with gusto, and their wagging tails fanned up breezes of cool air.
Nemo scooped one up. Regrettably, it was only Oliver’s magic and not truly alive.
He buried his face in the pup’s snowy belly and let out a long breath. The dog wagged even harder, its chilly nose snuffling at him.
Oliver had guessed right; he did now want to go downstairs to play with them.
A day later the temperature had dropped a little, but the pups hadn’t vanished. Nemo had added a touch of his own magic, and they were happily guarding the shop’s food storeroom.
After all, they were very cute—just a little less cute than Oliver himself, according to Nemo.
…
[Jesse × Adrian]
Jesse had little fondness for summer.
When the weather was cold, he would spend the night in his great-beast form, and Adrian would wrap him in a tight hug. Such a touching gesture! Both would sleep very well that way.
But summer is different, Jesse thought gloomily.
Summer was a state of mind. Even if the bedroom wasn’t hot, Jesse disliked being covered in thick long fur and preferred returning to human form. In that shape he usually slept holding Adrian. Yet Jesse strongly suspected Adrian wasn’t entirely comfortable…though his Knight Commander had never complained.
Of course he could lower his body temperature, but that felt strange. The first time he tried it, Adrian immediately pressed an index finger to his carotid, suspecting he had died without a sound.
Tonight was especially hot. After much thought, Jesse decided not to cling to Adrian in his sleep and to leave him some psychological coolness.
He shut his eyes and pretended to be asleep. He heard Adrian come off duty and enter the bedroom, heard the rustle of a jacket being removed, the water of him washing up. A few minutes later Adrian lay down as usual, his breath fresh with mint toothpaste.
Jesse resisted the urge to embrace his lover and squeezed his eyes shut.
There was a rustling sound of fabric. Adrian turned over as usual. Finding that Jesse hadn’t snuggled up like he always did, he paused and made the faintest, “Mm.”
A few seconds later, Jesse found himself being hugged. Adrian’s breathing was slow and even. He slept soundly.
“Aren’t you hot?” Jesse asked the next morning, his voice nearly drowned by the cicadas.
Adrian looked at him for a moment. “A little.”
“Then why did you—”
“Your temperature is different. You can’t compare it like that,” Adrian said simply.
Suddenly, Jesse decided summer wasn’t so bad.
2025/5/20
Everyone’s Birthday Cakes
Congrats to the couple from “Help”on moving into the Married Zone ☆(/ω＼)
This year’s 520 (May 20) mini-extra: couples celebrate their birthdays! It’s a perfect chance to compile everyone’s birthdays~
[Oliver × Nemo]
Oliver: May 5th
Source: A normal birthday. (Start of Summer, 2018)
Cake: [Caramel Cake]
A delicious caramel cake decorated with gingerbread and mint leaves, topped with little frosting monsters that burst into pretty golden-sugar magic sparklers.
Nemo made it himself. The jam filling changes every year. Usually served with kiwi soda or a refreshing green tea and of course followed by a lovingly prepared feast.
※ Many years later, they stop writing ages on the cake. Compared with ordinary families’ birthdays, this day becomes more like a standing family holiday.
Nemo: November 7th
Source: Per the Light Orphanage’s rules, you choose your own; Nemo picked the day he received his very first book. (Start of Winter, 2018)
Cake: [Cream Cake]
A snow-white cream cake with elegant piping, piled high with fresh blueberries. Using Oliver’s secret house recipe, it creates a light flavor that’s not overly sweet, tasting like airy happiness.
Every year, Oliver carefully watches Nemo’s expression while eating and keeps refining the formula, bringing it closer and closer to perfection.
※ Exclusively for the Demon King. The process is said to be so complex the shop never sells it. It’s the only dessert Jesse can’t mooch. Oliver has recorded each year’s formula with such care it could fill a whole book.
…
[Jesse × Adrian]
Adrian: December 22nd
Source: A normal birthday. Adrian himself wasn’t too sure of the exact date; Jesse dug it up. (Winter Solstice, 2018)
Cake: [Black Forest Cake]
Darker in color, yet it gives the illusion of a sparkle. The sweetness is dialed back, with extra strawberry jam to suit Adrian’s taste.
Jesse’s signature dessert, though he personally finds it not sweet enough. Paired with Adrian’s relaxed brow and content look, the sweetness is just right.
※ The church usually assigns new birthdays to orphans like Adrian, but out of a certain subtle feeling, Jesse still went and found Adrian’s real birthday.
A yogurt cheesecake topped with whipped cream, honey, and assorted berries. The look is simple, the flavor rich and satisfying. Given a certain someone’s appetite, Adrian usually makes it two-tier.
Since their birthdays are on the same day, they put the cakes they made for each other together and share them. Adrian once asked, “Why pick the same day?” Jesse, tenderly reply, “I want to cultivate a birthday tradition with my Darling Adri.”
※ But that was only half the reason, Jesse thought. The other half—if “Adrian Cross” had never been born, then “Jesse Dylan” wouldn’t exist either, right?
2025/2/13
What to Do When You’re Stuck Together
Suddenly stuck together—what should you do?
A belated Valentine’s Day mini joke (?) story has arrived! Time for some sweet, sticky fluff ☆
[Oliver × Nemo]
When Oliver woke up in the morning, he got out of bed and started making breakfast as usual. But a strange tugging sensation came from his right hand—his right hand was firmly stuck to Nemo’s left.
Their hands were like tightly bonded magnets. They could move together, but no matter how they tried, they couldn’t separate.
As Oliver moved around, a half-asleep Nemo murmured and rubbed his face against Oliver’s wrist.
It felt amazing.
Even though it was extremely odd, Oliver refused to believe it was a curse. He quietly sat on the bedside, waiting for Nemo to wake up naturally.
When the Demon King finally woke up from his lazy sleep, the first thing he saw was Oliver’s face lit up in excitement—the same look as a boy who just found a new toy.
“I’ve never seen a magic like this before, but its power has weakened a bit since earlie so it must be time limited.”
Hugging Oliver’s arm, he stubbornly stayed under the covers. “At this rate, it’ll probably last a day.”
Oliver inhaled. “Guess the shop has to close today.”
He didn’t sound too regretful and even took the chance to kiss the back of Nemo’s hand.
“Too bad I marinated some meat last night. I was going to make that signature barbecue from Landmark Town today…”
Nemo’s ears perked up, and he darted out from under the covers. “Barbecue?”
“Dad always found it troublesome and only made it during festivals.”
Ollie rubbed his nose. “Just a couple days ago, I found the recipe buried in the storage.”
“Now that you mention it, I think I’ve had it before.”
Nemo wiggled his fingers and conjured a pair of robes for both of them.
……
Nemo didn’t remember the time he scared Oliver into tears, but Old Light remembered it vividly. He also knew that the Ramon family’s son was a little scared of Nemo.
Old Light really wanted his child to get along with the Ramons, so he prepared a basket of blueberries and sent Nemo to trade them for some pastries.
The Ramon boy was lively and cute, and little Nemo was well-behaved and polite. Two good kids, if they interacted more, would surely become friends.
Blissfully unaware, Nemo slung the basket over his arm and headed cheerfully to the Ramon house.
“Fresh blueberries, sweet blueberries, sir.”
Nemo found Mr. Ramon and raised the basket with both hands. The blueberries inside were piled high. “I’d like to trade for some pastries—ones that don’t look very good.”
The orphans didn’t care about appearance. As long as it was edible, it was fine.
Mr. Ramon brought out a large plate of cracked chocolate cookies from the kitchen. There weren’t many failed batches today—just enough to fill half the basket.
“That won’t be enough.”
Mr. Ramon called out to Nemo. “Do you like barbecue, little guy? I’m stuck here—go grab a portion from the back kitchen yourself.”
“Blueberries—I remember those.” Oliver, now slicing meat with his free left hand, said, “Sometimes the storage would have fresh ones. But I don’t really recall you… Wait a minute!”
He turned to Nemo in shock. “Don’t tell me it was that time—”
Nemo sheepishly nodded and whisked the sauce with magic at lightning speed.
…Nemo quickly found the back kitchen. The meat on the fire was about to burn, and there was no one around. In a hurry, he took the meat off and placed it in the basket with the pastries.
‘Someone should’ve been watching that fire,’ he thought.
As he had the thought, the flames turned black for an instant before returning to normal. Nemo rubbed his eyes, baffled, chalking it up to a trick of the eye.
Now, he more or less understood what he’d done—
Oliver stared at him with a deeply conflicted look and pinched his fingers.
“I was sneaking fruit from the storage back then,” Oliver recounted in anguish. “When I came back, the meat was gone. I panicked and tried to grill more… but as soon as I left, the fireball followed me.”
“It clung to the hem of my clothes and followed me wherever I went. I was so scared I jumped into a wine barrel in storage and stayed underwater until it went out.”
“Did Mr. Ramon, uh…” Nemo hesitated.
“He nearly turned me into barbecue.” Oliver said gloomily, “That barrel of wine was expensive. But I couldn’t stand the smell and threw up in it.”
“After I crawled out, I ran away crying and drunk, knocked over Dad’s freshly made marinade, and broke his favorite dish set.”
Nemo: “……”
Nemo’s mouth twisted. “…I’m sorry.”
Oliver glanced at their joined hands. “Maybe this is revenge for that barbeque day.”
“Revenge?”
“Fate has decided—you must accompany me in making the perfect barbecue.” Oliver poked Nemo’s nose with his left hand. “Repent for your sins, Your Majesty.”
…This wasn’t their first time cooking together, but it was definitely the messiest.
Holding hands meant they sometimes got distracted, laughing at past mishaps while studying each other’s palms, and neglected the meat on the grill. By day’s end, they hadn’t managed to recreate the nostalgic flavor.
But that’s okay—they still had tomorrow, and the day after, and countless days ahead.
…
[Jesse × Adrian]
“We’re stuck together.” Jesse closed his fingers, rubbing between Adrian’s.
“Mm.” Adrian’s brows twitched slightly.
Jesse pretended not to see. “I heard Oliver and Nemo got stuck too. Since the great Mr. Light didn’t say anything, it’s probably not dangerous… Hey.”
Not only harmless, but actually kinda fun! Adrian rarely held hands with him, always clasping his own hands in prayer. But really, if he wanted to pray, wouldn’t holding Zenni’s hand be better than holding his own?
Adrian lowered his gaze. “So it wasn’t your doing.”
“What? Do you really think I’m that wicked?” Jesse placed his free left hand over his heart like he’d been shot through it.
“You’ve done similar things before.” Adrian sighed.
“…Even if I’m that bad, you should still need proof.” Jesse looked hurt. “My heart’s wounded. You must compensate me—like accompanying me to try that new cherry liqueur cake in town.”
Adrian nodded wearily and sighed again.
And so, on that sunny afternoon, he walked through town hand in hand with Mr. Dylan, hand in hand while buying cake, and hand in hand as they returned home. Jesse not only gripped him tightly but occasionally swung their hands as if announcing to the entire street, “He’s mine.”
When Mr. Dylan almost tipped the cake over for the second time, Adrian had to rescue it and carry it himself.
Back home, the enthusiastic Great Zenni dragged him all around—preparing tea for the cake one minute, fruits to relieve the greasiness the next. Adrian strongly suspected he was simply enjoying the situation.
By evening, they finally sat shoulder to shoulder and shared the rather large cake.
Adrian took a modest bite—it was unexpectedly good, sweet but not cloying. Jesse, however, wasn’t as particular. He gobbled it down happily, smearing cream all over his mouth.
“Oh no.” He blinked his blue eyes playfully. “Adri, wipe my mouth. I don’t have a free hand—”
“You seem quite enthusiastic today.” Adrian didn’t move.
“It’s rare to see you this warm.” Jesse smiled. “I have to cherish it—it’s so fun!”
“Is that so?” Adrian’s face remained unchanged as always.
“Of course! Oh no, the cream’s gonna drip on my clothes—save me, my passionate knight…”
Halfway through his teasing, Jesse’s eyes suddenly widened.
Adrian tilted his head and awkwardly kissed the cream by Jesse’s lips.
The Great Zenni looked at him, stunned like he’d been struck by lightning.
“As you can see, I don’t have a free hand either.”
Adrian said, smiling faintly.
“It’s rare to see you like this too—I should cherish it.”
Then he kissed him again.
2024/8/13
Everyone’s Favorite Sports
A belated short story for Qixi Festival, with a little Olympic commemoration (*/ω＼*)
[Oliver × Nemo]
Oliver: [Swordsmanship]
Nowadays, Oliver has his own unique magic, but he still values swordsmanship highly, practicing two to three times a week in the garden.
His Rest In Peace has been modified by Nemo many times and is probably the most powerful divine artifact in the world. Oliver hangs it in their bedroom, and it still looks as plain as ever, like a handmade souvenir from a tourist spot.
If Oliver were to seriously wield it again, it would unleash terrifying power. Fortunately, the world is peaceful, so it continues to serve as Oliver’s exercise equipment.
“You really like swordsmanship,” Nemo once remarked.
Oliver smiled happily. “Because it always reminds me that ‘I am your knight’.”
Nemo: [None]
Nemo has never liked sports since childhood; he prefers sitting indoors reading books. Of course, chores like washing dishes, cleaning, and looking after kids probably don’t count as real exercise. For Nemo, doing chores is more like a job—his responsibility, not his hobby.
As for competitive sports, daily fitness, or even running, Nemo has no interest at all.
The Demon King doesn’t see this as “laziness.” The Pillar of the World can stay still for hundreds of millions of years, so to be fair, “not liking sports” is in his nature. Oliver has never found anything wrong with it either and always stays home with Nemo on rainy days, cuddling up to watch movies or play games together.
Maybe for Nemo, there’s only one exception—he’s willing to go anywhere as long as it’s an adventure with his knight.
…
[Jesse x Adrian]
Adrian: [Routine Training for the Knights of Judgment]
The Knights of Judgment have a fixed training regimen, and Adrian has always adhered to it. As long as conditions allow, he never skips his training, making it hard to say whether it’s out of passion or persistence.
A certain god has some complaints about this. Adrian Cross is no longer an ordinary person. Even if he ate butter every day, his beautiful body wouldn’t change shape. The Knight Commander should spend more time in bed instead, where they could cuddle longer.
But Adrian insists on his routine.
“Do you really enjoy working out that much?” Jesse asked with a bit of grievance.
“Persistence is also a form of liking,” Adrian calmly replied. “This is not the thing that I’m most persistent about, as you know.”
Since then, Jesse’s grievance vanished.
Jesse: [Walking]
Jesse Dylan loves walking.
Initially, he wandered through the universe; now that he has a home, he wanders across the world. He enjoys walking among humans, feeling the flow of time and the world’s transformation. Whether he does it in the form of a god, a human, or a beast depends entirely on Mr. Dylan mood that day.
He can roam from the most bustling cities to the most desolate forests, from the hottest deserts to the endless glaciers, from dawn till dusk, never tiring.
Nowadays, Jesse’s habits have changed slightly—now he only takes solitary walks near home, and if he travels far, Jesse insists on bringing Adrian along.
After all, it’s easy to lose your way under cloudy skies, and a traveler can never refuse the stars.
2024/6/1
Childhood Hairstyles
I suddenly wondered what everyone’s hairstyle was like when they were kids, so I’m sharing this on Children’s Day—
Consider it a little addition to the setting (〃ω〃)
[Oliver x Nemo]
Oliver: [Neat Short Hair]
Shorter than when he became an adult. Little Oliver loved rolling around and playing, so it was easier to keep clean. Old Ramon could quickly trim his son’s hair with just a small knife.
Nemo: [Tidy Medium-Length Hair]
When he was young, Old Light and his older siblings at the orphanage helped him manage his hair. After taking over the orphanage and becoming the oldest, there was no one to help, so he gradually grew it longer and tied it into a braid for convenience when he became an adult.
…
[Jesse x Adrian]
Adrian: [Shoulder-Length Medium Hair]
His hometown was poor and cold, and long hair provided some warmth. Due to a lack of nutrition, young Adrian’s hair was rough and tangled, and it also covered his eyes a bit. He only cut it short after becoming a Knight of Judgment.
Jesse: [Very Long Hair]
In theory, he had no childhood, but once tried to transform into a boy of Adrian’s age. To highlight his holiness, his hair reached down to his ankles. Thinking about it, though, he found the boyish look troublesome and gave up on it afterward.
2024/20/5
Everyone’s Favorite Fruits
This year’s Married Couple Day on 520* has arrived, so let’s write about everyone’s favorite fruits ☆
*The number 520 when pronounced in Chinese is very similar to [wǒ ài nǐ] (我爱你) I love you. Due to this, it has become a day in China called “Internet Valentine’s Day”.
Congratulations to the couple from [Full Server First Kill] for entering the happy married zone (*/ω＼*)
[Oliver x Nemo]
Oliver: [Kiwi]
“Oliver, did you know? There’s a kind of demon that wanders at night, turning children who waste food into fruits.”
Faced with the flour scattered all over the kitchen floor, along with the footprints of the suspect, Old Ramon solemnly declared, “I passed by your room late last night and saw only a kiwi on your pillow. Young man, if I had discovered it any later, you wouldn’t have been able to turn back.”
Due to the similar color scheme (?), young Oliver believed this story wholeheartedly. Old Ramon always kept a few kiwis in the kitchen as a warning. Of course, out of respect, Oliver ended up eating them all.
※ Oliver says it’s a taste that brings back memories.
Nemo: [Blueberry]
Back when he was in the Light Orphanage, as the eldest child, Nemo often led a group of younger siblings to the border forest to pick blueberries. Nemo knew a few secret spots on the forest’s edge where the blueberries were big, sweet, and rarely troubled by demons.
Compared to the sour wild fruits in the forest, blueberries were the most popular fruit in the Light Orphanage. Everyone laughed and played while picking them, and the leftover blueberries would be made into jam by Nemo, appearing on bread eaten for breakfast.
Later, as the children gradually left one by one, Nemo was the only one left, carrying a basket to the secret spot to pick blueberries. There weren’t many leftover blueberries, so he stopped making jam.
Later on, Oliver would always fill the fridge with the best blueberries, and Nemo would hum as he made blueberry jam—Oliver said that Nemo’s jam on bread for breakfast was the best.
※ Nemo believes it tastes incredibly warm.
~~~
A strange-looking kiwi tree appeared in the kitchen, with heavy fruit giving off a fresh fragrance. It would always proudly shake its leaves and stretch lazily. After the fruit was picked, new ones would grow the next day.
No matter how you looked at it, it didn’t seem normal, as if someone had specially created a new species.
“Trust me, I won’t waste food anymore,” Oliver said with a chuckle as he placed blueberries in the fridge.
“Don’t worry, Ollie,” Nemo said, holding two identical kiwis. “I promise I won’t turn you into a kiwi. This is just… well, a family tradition worth passing down, like blueberry jam.”
“Our family tradition,” Nemo happily added.
Then he placed the kiwis on both sides of Oliver’s head. “Wow, they really match your hair color, like you’ve grown two extra ears. Your dad was a genius at making up stories!”
Oliver: “……”
Oliver chuckled. “One for each of us. Which do you want, the left ear or the right ear?”
“The right ear!”
“Then the left one is mine.”
…
[Jesse x Adrian]
Adrian: [Strawberry]
Adrian Cross’s hometown was cold and poor, with only black bread, game meat, and root vegetables for food. As a teenager, he had only ever seen withered, dried-up wild apples, mottled with brown spots, looking like rotting corpses.
The closest thing he ever tasted to “normal fruit” was a small spoonful of strawberry jam gifted by a kind merchant. It emitted a faint berry aroma, as unreal as a dream, tasting like a miracle.
On the winter night that changed his destiny, he again smelled the sweet scent of berries on that wondrous creature. It didn’t exactly resemble the taste of strawberry jam but was far more delightful. Unfortunately, one cannot describe what they have never experienced before, so young Adrian could only associate it with that spoonful of strawberry jam.
To this day, Adrian still loves strawberries.
※ Adrian defines it as the “scent of a miracle.”
Jesse: [Cherry]
Before becoming the Knight Commander, Adrian Cross had accumulated many achievements. The church rewarded him with supplies, including a jar of wine-soaked cherries, a rare delicacy in the cold region. Young Mr. Cross shared half of the jar with the church members and carefully placed the other half in a silver jug, taking it to the snowy field where they first met.
The snow chilled the silver jug, keeping the wine-soaked cherries from spoiling. Every morning, Adrian would check the jug and brush it off from the fresh snow.
Naive yet stubborn, Jesse thought. Finally, he couldn’t stand Adrian’s dull behavior any longer and ran off to eat all the wine-soaked cherries, carefully erasing all traces—only God knew who ate them.
Unexpectedly, Mr. Cross calmly and contentedly retrieved the silver jug, without a trace of anxiety or confusion.
That was the first time Jesse personally received an offering from a believer, and he had to admit that the jar of wine-soaked cherries left a deep impression on him.
※ “It tasted like a mix of sweetness, curiosity, and a bit of frustration. You can’t ask for more,” Jesse said.
~~~
“You added strawberry jam to the cake.” Adrian carefully tasted the Black Forest cake in front of him.
“It makes the flavor richer—cherry liqueur and strawberry jam! No one in the world is better at blending them than me,” Jesse said, raising his nose. “You can’t buy such a perfect creation outside.”
Adrian finished the piece in front of him and set down the knife and fork with restraint.
Jesse’s smile faltered slightly, a part of it turning into a pout. “You’re only eating this much? Did today’s cake not suit your taste?”
Adrian: “I want to bring some for my colleagues to try.”
Jesse raised an eyebrow in dissatisfaction.
“Someone asked me about my favorite dessert, and I said I only like eating the Black Forest cake made by my lover,” Adrian said.
Jesse’s eyebrows shot up in delight.
“I believe its taste is worthy of being called a ‘blessing from God,'” the former Knight Commander stated impartially.
“Oh, you’re welcome to share,” Jesse said, raising his nose again. “But not this one. You should keep eating—I’ll make a more ordinary version for that bunch.”
“Alright.”
2024/2/13
Couple’s Pajama Party Valentine’s Day, of course, calls for a grand pajama reveal (?
And favorite intimate acts (???
[Oliver × Nemo]
~Oliver~
[Loose robe-style pajamas] in a light milky coffee color, made from a special fabric softened by magic. It’s softer to the touch than a kitten’s fur. A long sword surrounded by olive leaves is embroidered at the chest.
[Loose boxer briefs] in light olive green, made from the same fabric as the pajamas. An unfolded scroll is embroidered at the waistband.
※ The fabric was provided by Nemo, while Oliver handled the cutting. The embroidery design was a joint effort.
~Nemo~
[Loose robe-style pajamas] in a warm light gray, made from a special fabric softened by magic. It’s softer to the touch than a kitten’s fur. A crown surrounding the sun is embroidered at the chest.
[Loose boxer briefs] in dark gray, made from the same fabric as the pajamas. Two olive leaves are embroidered at the waistband.
※ Despite being able to use cleaning and mending spells daily, they still prepared several sets for rotation.
The fabric of these pajamas is thin, almost weightless. Wearing them to sleep in each other’s arms allows direct contact with the lover’s body heat. Especially on cold days, they like to exchange a sticky, earnest kiss under the covers, kissing until their lips tingle slightly.
…
[Jesse × Adrian]
~Adrian~
[Custom-made pajama set] in a special dark blue, which is a standard button-up pajama shirt and pants set. It’s looser than a daily shirt but still outlines the body well.
[Ready-made boxer briefs] in dark gray, chosen by the Knight Commander himself. A popular brand, comfortable, and reasonably priced, to someone’s disappointment.
※ Someone specially decorated the dark blue pajamas with gold buttons with star patterns.
~Jesse~
[Lavish classical nightgown] in pure white, with a deep neckline, wave pleat decorations, and gold thread embroidery at the collar and cuffs. Made from his own hair. It’s soft to the touch and emits a warm scent.
※ If he sleeps in his beast form, his body will only have long white fur.
Whether in human or beast form, Jesse always prefers to sleep with his knight by his side, and Adrian never resists. Despite Mr. Dylan frequently changing into beautiful pajamas, Adrian always prefers the beast’s long fur. However, Jesse isn’t saddened by this—
“This way, I can embrace him more fully,” Adrian once explained.
2024/1/1
Magical Summoning Abilities
New Year’s Mysterious Magic☆ Couple Summoning Technique~10 Seconds Guaranteed~ The effect is magical, comparable to spatial teleportation!
[Oliver × Nemo]
Oliver’s exclusive magic: Pretend to be hurt/cut by a knife, with a cry of “ouch”.
Magic effect: The Great Demon King splits space, poking his head around to see who has hurt his beloved knight.
※ He can also get a sweet, light kiss as a bonus.
Nemo’s exclusive magic: Brew a bit of sorrow and sigh softly.
Magic effect: His knight will suddenly appear, hug his shoulders, and gently ask, “What’s wrong?”
※ Nemo often answers, “I wanted to see you.”
…
[Jesse × Adrian]
Jesse’s exclusive magic: Place a (new idol made in his own image) down.
Magic effect: Adrian will find it precisely and pray to it.
※ “Then just hug him from behind!” Mr. Dylan says.
Adrian’s exclusive magic: Open the bathroom door and pour hot water into the bathtub.
Magic effect: A fluffy white creature, or a certain unclothed god, emerges from the hot water.
※ The condition for triggering different summoning results—whether the Knight Commander was properly dressed at the time.
2023/10/31
Got A Pumpkin
[Oliver x Nemo]
~Oliver Ramon’s Pumpkin~
Mr. Ramon purchased a perfectly shaped large pumpkin. He meticulously carved it, carefully dried it, and displayed it prominently at the Tumbleweed Bar.
The patrons would love this festive atmosphere, and the carefully scraped pumpkin flesh could be used to make pumpkin muffins for Nemo.
The orange muffin topped with white cream was Nemo’s favorite. He needed to make more this time, maybe add some beautiful colored sugar sprinkles…
Oliver pondered as he poured out candies, eventually overflowing it from the pumpkin’s mouth and scattered all over the floor.
※ “Oh no!” Mr. Ramon was unusually flustered.
~Nemo Light’s Pumpkin~
Nemo brought back a basket of small pumpkins from the market, which seemed hard and probably not very tasty.
It didn’t matter, as the Demon King had other uses for them—
On the kitchen counter, the pumpkins sprouted four little legs and grew varying numbers of eyes ranging from 2 to 5.
The patrons would love this festive atmosphere. He could even hide one carrying a chocolate candy in Oliver’s bed to give him a scare.
That evening, the patrons praised the Tumbleweed Bar’s exquisite “props,” and Oliver successfully ate that piece of milk chocolate.
※ That night, an unfortunate thief attempted to break in and was beaten up by mysterious orange creatures, leaving in tears.
———
[Jesse x Adrian]
~Jesse Dylan’s Pumpkin~
Jesse specifically chose a gleaming pumpkin and turned its texture similar to wood.
He carved intricate reliefs on the pumpkin lamp, akin to church murals, creating an unparalleled piece of art.
Perfect!
“I’ve carved the scenes of the five times I saved you. How wonderful,” Jesse said to Adrian, holding the pumpkin.
“Five times?”
Jesse raised his head proudly. “Saving you from the snow, from the war, from the festival, from death… and last week, saving you from a blonde beauty who persistently flirted with you.”
Adrian: “…Okay.”
※ On Halloween day, a frighteningly exquisite jack-o’-lantern appeared on Mr. Cross’s desk.
~Adrian Cross’ Pumpkin~
Pumpkin puree, eggs, flour…
Honey, butter, sugar, cream… Yes, add a little more cream…
Maybe a little decoration on top…
On Halloween morning, as soon as Jesse woke up, he smelled a delightful baking aroma. He’d never gotten out of bed so quickly, and in the kitchen, he found a perfectly baked honey pumpkin pie.
Adrian had gone to work, but beside the pumpkin pie was a note—[For you.]
Jesse discovered a white cream… dog(?) on the pumpkin pie. The cream was a bit melted, making the dog look soft. Atop the dog’s nose was a gleaming gold star.※ Adrian took a slice of the honey pumpkin pie.
2023/10/04
Late Mid-Autumn Festival? National Day? Short joke~(*/ω＼*)
Everyone’s Belongings
[Oliver x Nemo]
~Oliver Ramon’s personal items~
◆ Driver’s License: Mr. Ramon often helps out with various things and easily gets involved in trouble. It’s essential to quickly prove his identity.
※ He doesn’t age and forges a new identity every few years.
◆ A roll of banknotes: Even though card payments and electronic payments are becoming more widespread, Mr. Ramon still prefers the feeling of reliability that cash brings. Even if he forgets his phone, he won’t forget his cash.
※ “So old-fashioned!” commented Mr. Dylan, who preferred to remain anonymous.
◆ Wedding ring: The second most precious treasure in the world. He never removes it, even while washing hands or taking a shower. After all, magic can handle the cleaning.
※ The most precious treasure is Nemo.
~Nemo Light’s personal items~
◆ Snacks and biscuits: Handmade by Oliver. They are delicious and unbeatable when it comes to coaxing children. The Demon King occasionally uses it, and when the two are separated, Nemo would eat some himself.
※ The term “children” here includes Lord Bagelmaurus.
◆ Latest large-screen smartphone: A pinnacle of modern human ingenuity, Nemo loves it. He often reads the latest magazines and has specially curated a collection for farming games.
※ It can be charged with magic, so no worries about battery life.
◆ Wedding ring: The protection magic, anti-lost magic, and curse magic on this ring are undoubtedly the strongest in the world, even stronger than the legendary papal staff consecrated in the Holy Land.
※ To this day, Nemo continues to add more magic to the ring, even though everyone (including himself) knows it’s unnecessary.
—
[Jesse x Adrian]
~Jesse Dylan’s personal items~
◆ Antique handkerchief: Soft in texture, beautifully embroidered in light blue, and radiates a charming scent. How could a gentleman not have a handkerchief?
※ “You are no gentleman,” Nemo pointed out ruthlessly.
◆ Slim glass bottle containing perfume: Mr. Dylan has a penchant for this human invention and switches scents daily.
※ Jesse initially preferred strong rose/woody scents. One day, he suddenly started using a fresh and light fruity fragrance, and nobody knows why.
◆ An ordinary cufflink: Plucked from someone’s uniform. Every time Mr. Cross gets a new shirt, Jesse purposely switches to a sapphire cufflink.
※ The removed cufflinks fill a small bottle. Jesse likes to pick one at random to wear, storing it in the same pocket as the perfume.
~Adrian Cross’ personal items~
◆ Police badge: Well, one can’t be without it… necessary for his profession!
※ Mr. Cross carries it even on his days off.
◆ Credit card: Someone likes to make impromptu purchases but often forgets to carry cash. Adrian is used to paying for it. Usually frugal, he is only generous on such occasions.
※ Perhaps this can be regarded as some sort of tribute, Mr. Cross thought.
◆ A golden hair strand: It always sneaks into a corner of his shirt, prompting ambiguous speculations from colleagues. Honestly, it has deterred a significant number of people from approaching the handsome former Knight Commander.
※ Adrian knows Jesse doesn’t shed hair in any form, but he pretends not to know.
2023/08/22
Qixi Scheduled! Perfect to rate everyone’s culinary skills~☆
[Oliver x Nemo]
~Oliver’s Culinary Skills~
Overall rating: ★★★★☆
Strengths: Blessed with hundreds of years of culinary experience; always selects the freshest and best ingredients. He cooks with great dedication and precision, and his dishes radiate love.
Weaknesses: His recipes tend to be conservative, often lagging behind current trends.
※ “I like it anyway,” Nemo emphasized. “Ollie’s home cooking is the best in the world.”
~Nemo’s Culinary Skills~
Overall rating: ★★★★☆
Strengths: Blessed with hundreds of years of culinary experience, coupled with his knowledge as the Pillar of the World, Nemo’s culinary skills can be called perfect. So, where did the half-star deduction come from?
Weaknesses: Sometimes he gets distracted while cooking, causing the semi-finished product to run away on its own, a problem much more severe than just burning the pot.
Strengths: Over ten thousand years of dining experience, with creative ideas that always impress. The food he serves never disappoints.
Weaknesses: Extremely biased in his dishes; 50% of his recipes are desserts, and 50% are what Adrian likes.
※ Adrian: “It’s no big deal. We can eat out when necessary. He loves trying new things.”
~Adrian’s Culinary Skills~
Overall rating: ★★☆
Strengths: The finished dishes taste good, with a few recipes he’s particularly good at.
Weaknesses: He doesn’t pursue culinary delights, his cooking skills progress slowly, and he’d rather work than experiment with recipes.
※ “The cake he made for me is super delicious, and that’s enough,” Jesse declared. “I’m the only one in the entire world who can eat it!”
2023/05/30
Indulging in “Tears of the Kingdom” led to postponement of the mini… A small corner of everyone’s daily life!
[Oliver × Nemo]
“The eggs aren’t fresh anymore,” Just before bed at night, Nemo suddenly said.
Upon hearing this, Oliver was drowsy in bed. The words “not fresh” stung the former innkeeper. He jumped up, almost alarmed, “What?”
Nemo yawned. “The eggs in the fridge aren’t fresh. I saw them when I poured milk today. They’ll expire tomorrow.”
That’s impossible. Oliver gasped as if in pain.
In theory, they shouldn’t have to worry about illness, poverty, or accidents. The things that could concern him were really limited. As the one in charge of breakfast, Oliver was confident that the ingredients in the fridge were always fresh and of the best quality.
“Last time I didn’t buy a lot, and the eggs in the recipe haven’t been reduced…” Oliver pondered deeply.
“I think I know what happened,” Nemo mumbled drowsily. “It’s Miss Goodman.”
Miss Goodman was still a student, working part-time at the Tumbleweed Bar during the holidays. From purchasing, inventory management to ledger sorting, with this excellent employee around, Nemo and Oliver’s leisure time for dating increased threefold.
Moreover, Miss Goodman didn’t like Jesse Dylan, the “Inventory Killer” and “Bill Disturber”. She completely ignored his charming face, treating him as if he was a raccoon in the kitchen.
Unfortunately, Miss Goodman was a devout follower of Laddism.
Later, Oliver decided to give her a 40% raise. Nemo suspected that 30% was for the threefold increased dating time, and the remaining 10% compensated for the mental loss she didn’t even realize.
Oliver finally realized, “Since Miss Goodman took over, we’ve been going out all the time.”
“So we’ve had fewer chances to eat at home.” Nemo draped his arm over Oliver’s chest and pulled him back to bed.
Mystery solved. The bedroom quieted down in the night. Nemo closed his eyes, just about to fall asleep with the warmth of his lover—
“No, they’re about to expire. I’ll make some cakes, perfect for a picnic tomorrow.” Oliver sat up again, looking for his slippers.
“…Now?”
“You go to sleep first.” Oliver caressed Nemo’s hair.
“Let’s do it together. I can help pick the cake design… But thinking about it, Ollie, it seems we’ve used all our extra time on our personal lives.”
“Isn’t that great?”
“It’s awesome.”
…
[Jesse × Adrian]
Late at night, Adrian was working in his study.
Being a policeman meant less free time. But for the exceptionally performing former knight commander, the job was especially tough. Like now, he had to read reports from his subordinates, view gruesome crime scenes, write work emails, and endure the continuous “rolling” noise in the room—
The great Mr. Jesse was lying back in the office chair, using his amazing magic to push himself, making the chair slide on the wooden floor like a squid swimming in the night.
“You should be on night duty now.” Adrian pinched the bridge of his nose.
“I’m off today. Didn’t I tell you?” Jesse slid closer on the chair, raising his voice, “I—AM—OFF—TODAY—”
Adrian kept working. “Okay.”
“I~ am~ off~ today~♪” Jesse sang again in the tune of a church hymn. Before he could finish, Adrian’s computer screen started to flicker.
Adrian finally looked up.
“This case is important. Someone is performing live sacrifices in the name of a Laddism Church. They might be summoning…” he paused carefully, choosing the right words, “Summoning beings not of this world.”
“Let Nemo and the others handle it.” Jesse suggested loudly.
“It’s related to the Laddism Church.”
“This world is still Mr. Light’s backyard. Lately, those two have been dating every other day, they’re too free.” Jesse nearly hit Adrian’s desk with his chair. “We shouldn’t do all the work.”
Adrian frowned in disagreement.
Jesse continued, “I gave you my heart not so you’d work yourself to death.”
“You know I don’t have health issues.”
“It’s just a metaphor!”
“Do you want to go out on a date?”
Jesse’s chair came to an abrupt stop.
“You could have just asked.” Adrian sighed. “Actually, if I’d known you were off, I would have made time.”
“You mean…” Jesse raised an eyebrow.
“Let’s go.” Adrian said, “It’s just one night. The world won’t end.”
2023/02/15
A belated Valentine’s Day mini: Everyone’s game preference.
[Oliver × Nemo]
~Oliver’s Gaming Preferences~
Occupation Choice: Main Tank, Knight-type classes.
Gaming Tendency: A player who values trust and peace of mind. Will study game strategies meticulously before playing; An expert in PVE and not much interested in PVP.
Teaming Tendencies: No fixed team. Open to join recruitment groups, but will never play without Nemo. Extremely friendly towards new players.
※His favorite type of game is actually farming and management, but since he can’t play them with Nemo, it ranks second in his heart.
~Nemo’s Gaming Preferences~
Occupation Choice: DPS, Mage-type classes.
Gaming Tendency: A trustworthy and earnest player. Collaboratively studies game strategies with Oliver. Has top-notch operation skills but dislikes controlling output, definitely will over tank when paired with other tanks (but never teams with other tanks so it’s not an issue).
Teaming Tendencies: Makes sporadic appearances in various team recruitments with Oliver. Very forgiving of newbie mistakes but will use magic to forcibly disconnect rude players.
※Sometimes, for fun, he’ll transform into the look of a game boss at home to surprise Oliver.
Gaming Tendency: Never looks at game strategies, only relies on his own calculation skills in real-time. Occasionally but deliberately goes against the game commander but always miraculously leads the team to victory.
Teaming Tendencies: Will join large guilds and is seen in frontier strategy teams. Unrivaled when it comes to responding to trash talk.
※On weekends, he drags Adrian to play, enjoying casting unnecessary but visually impressive buffs on Adrian’s character.
~Adrian’s Gaming Preferences~
Occupation Choice: DPS, shooter classes.
Gaming Tendency: A casual gamer with limited interest in gaming, simply accompanies Jesse. His gameplay is consistent and reliable, perfectly follows commands without any mistakes. In a sense, he is the only one who can keep up with Jesse’s wild in-game antics, making him incredibly strong.
Teaming Tendencies: Because of his reliability, he receives a lot of praise and requests to stay from other players. However, he only acts in tandem with Jesse and never logs on voluntarily.
※He doesn’t talk much, but if Jesse is badmouthed too severely, he will genuinely get angry.
2022/08/05
Tanabata, Tanabata, everyone’s outfit special edition~
[Oliver × Nemo]
~Golden Century Period~
Oliver:
[Loose and comfortable cloth shirt] Undyed original color with light yellow in the white. Although Mr. Ramon is no longer so strapped for cash, he’s still used to going to the market and buying the most ordinary handicrafts.
[Pants with the same fabric] The most common style. Dyed with plant sap, making it a dull gray-green color. The color will fade after washing too much, but magic can solve this small problem very well.
[Simple style sheepskin shoes] Dark brown. Breathable and easy to wear, but the appearance is lackluster and looks gray. Anyway, an innkeeper has to step on dust as he goes in and out, so whatever.
※Lord Demon King may have put 100,000 protection curses on his clothes, although they all know it is not necessary.
Nemo:
[Gray-black linen robe] There’s no embroidery or decoration, and the fabric is very soft. Just by looking at the robe, it is completely impossible to see that the owner is a “mage”.
[Oliver’s pants of the same style] Dyed a darker charcoal black. They occasionally wear the wrong clothes when they are in a hurry, but no one minds.
[Comfortable long-cloth boots] They were originally charcoal black, but they faded a little bit when they were worn too much. It’s not as wear-resistant as sheepskin shoes, but fortunately, Lord Demon King doesn’t like to physically run around.
※Oliver secretly embroiders the words “My Love” on the back of Nemo’s neckline.
…
~Modern~
Oliver:
[Clean linen shirt] The shape is good and durable. Oliver is used to rolling up his cuffs and the touch always reminds him of the past.
[Jeans that are not close-fitting] Dark army green color that’s not too tight. Oliver likes it very much.
[Slightly expensive sneakers] Thick-soled, very comfortable to wear. Oliver doesn’t have a hobby of collecting shoes. He just bought two pairs in his favorite style.
※Nemo bought him two extra pairs.
Nemo:
[Black sweater printed with “Final Boss”] The font has been specially designed. Nemo stored two dozen, each with a different font color. Lord Demon King likes to catch his lover and play the game of “spot the difference” very much.
[Warm gray overalls that are too loose] There are many pockets, no logo, and they are comfortable and easy to wear. Nemo occasionally takes out small things from his pockets that shouldn’t belong in this world.
[Printed canvas shoes with a sense of design] They’re not as comfortable as sneakers, but fortunately, someone can just directly split space to travel.
※Recently, there has been a trend to wear sneakers with Oliver.
—
[Jesse × Adrian]
~Golden Century Period~
The two have been wearing the monk clothes of the Laddism Church.
※Although Adrian thinks it’s unnecessary, Jesse insists that this is a very fun game.
…
~Modern~
Adrian:
[A navy-blue windbreaker that has no brand but fits very well] Made by someone. It will match with different styles depending on the weather.
[Black straight-leg pants] Made by someone. It highlights the leg lines when walking.
[Bright and clean leather boots] Made by someone. Mr. Cross expressed helplessness about it.
※A certain Mr. Dylan, who did not want to be named, said that Adrian’s work uniform is the best.
Jesse:
[A loose T-shirt that is a bit exaggerated but looks expensive at first glance] The style is over-the-top and cynical, paired with sunglasses and multiple necklaces, giving off a bad vibe.
[Sea blue wide-leg pants] Has messy straps hanging, and the embroidery on the straps is unexpectedly exquisite.
[Limited edition sneakers] With a special devil pattern. Giving off very bad vibes.
※When standing with Mr. Cross, he will always be mistaken for a criminal who has just been captured.
2022/02/13
Valentine’s Day Album, Inexplicable Nightmare Feature✨
[Oliver × Nemo]
The holiday that belonged to lovers was coming. Oliver got up early, filled all the vases in the room with roses, and hung a large golden wreath at the door. Although they knew Zenni himself and firmly believed that there was no need to pray to this person for a smooth relationship, Oliver always found this custom very cute.
After all, this was a good time to show “I am forever in love with the love of my life”.
Yet, after all his work, His Majesty still had himself rolled up under the covers, his eyes tightly closed, and a rare frown on his face. Oliver took a deep breath and approached gingerly. Nemo seemed to detect his scent and opened his eyes in a daze.
“The scent of roses is so good,” Nemo murmured. He spread his arms, put his arms around Oliver’s waist, and buried his face in his lover’s abdomen.
Before Nemo had time to tie up his hair, his long black hair hung down on his shoulders. Oliver touched a few handfuls of warm hair and sat down on the edge of the bed cooperatively. “What happened to you just now?”
“Had a nightmare.”
Nemo let go of his arm and slowly retreated back to the bed.
“Thanks to it, now I’m thinking about something really atrocious. Are you sure you want to know?”
“Of course.”
“Lower your head. Yes, that’s it.” Nemo stretched out his hand and pointed his index finger at Oliver’s brow. Oliver slowly exhaled and closed his eyes.
The Demon King’s dream was very vivid, no different from reality. In the surging memory, he was standing at the door of the back kitchen of the Dawn Tavern, looking… looking at the surging ocean of cockroaches.
‘Oh,’ Oliver thought numbly. Yesterday such a thing happened—the person next door came to deliver goods yesterday and a cockroach fell out of it. It was half dead, and Nemo, who had come to steal chestnuts, had stepped on it.
The “crunching” sound was extremely clear. Nemo’s movement froze in an instant, and Mr. Hero, who was baking chestnuts, was fortunate to witness the whole process.
Oliver’s ankles were flooded with cockroaches in his dream, and he couldn’t help frowning, showing the same painful expression as Nemo.
“You just said ‘cruel things’… I can guess a general idea.”
“Yes, it’s time to create a new abyssal magic.”
Nemo retracted his hand. He covered his head with a quilt, his voice a little muffled.
“It must be cruel enough, vicious enough, and able to operate around the clock. If those things dare to approach my territory, I promise to leave them with nothing left.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Is there anything I can do for you?”
“Of course there is. Now, give me a good morning kiss.”
—
[Jesse × Adrian]
With the holiday approaching, Jesse sprayed more rose perfume on the pillow.
…It was a pity that tonight’s dream wasn’t as wonderful as the fragrance.
He dreamed of the young Adrian Cross. The other party looked to be in his early twenties, wearing the magnificent uniform of the Chief Justice of the Knights of Judgement. Adrian stood beside Pope Dawn Quinn, holding a hairless cat in his arms.
Jesse approached with a grin as usual, but the young knight commander took a half step back at the same time, his face showing some despondency and apology.
Something’s wrong. Jesse stopped. He had many dreams about Adrian Cross, but whether in a dream or in reality, Adrian had never shown such an expression.
Could it be some kind of omen?
Just as Jesse was thinking about himself, the young knight sighed. “Mr. Dylan, I have been hiding something from you.”
“Hmm?”
“I respect Pope Quinn, and it has something to do with his ‘no hair’. The same is true of animals. ‘No hair’ has a kind of orderly beauty.”
Adrian stroked the hairless cat in his arms and looked directly into Jesse’s eyes.
“Actually, for what you look like, I—”
Jesse jumped out of bed as soon as he heard these words.
After living for tens of thousands of years, this was the first time Jesse woke up from his dream. The development of the dream made him cry and laugh. It shouldn’t be a bad sign, that is to say…
Mr. Dylan tightened his face, and the aftertaste lasted for a long time. “A legendary ‘nightmare’?”
The morning light was shining outside the window, and Adrian was lying next to Jesse. He was sleeping very heavily, and his facial features were much more mature than in Jesse’s dream. Jesse looked at Adrian for a while, then slowly put his head on the other’s pillow. The long blonde hair pressed against Adrian’s face, making the latter unconsciously mewl; his expression relaxed a lot.
Jesse breathed contentedly.
He knew that Adrian would never hate his hair—no matter what form of hair it was-it was estimated that the world had been peaceful for too long for him to have that inexplicable troubling dream.
“Baby, do you think I’m better suited with short hair?”
“Maybe,” Adrian replied, very seriously. “Speaking of this, I do have a suggestion.”
“…Hmm, what?”
“Don’t spray too much perfume on the pillow. You’re getting a lot of the smell in your hair.”
“You don’t like the smell of roses?”
“I like it, but it covers up your smell.”
2022/02/01
Chinese New Year Extra, Everyone’s Specialty ♪
Once again, I wish you all good luck in the Year of the Tiger—!
[Oliver × Nemo]
~Oliver Ramon’s Specialties~
Knight Montblanc: Nemo likes chestnut cakes very much, and Oliver especially found the best pastry master to study under. This Montblanc has extremely high requirements for ingredients, has a refreshing and delicate taste, and the aroma of chestnuts is particularly rich. Someone once persuaded Mr. Ramon to reduce costs by using lower quality ingredients, but he rejected them all.
“Actually, this was originally not for sale,” he said with a smile, “But Nemo wants to share it with you.”
※Sold at a higher price, in limited quantities, to be eaten with a silver sword-shaped fork.
Special Baked Potatoes: The signature dish of the Ramon Inn. Oliver learned it at the age of ten. Cheese, bacon, and black pepper are served with mashed potatoes, which are loved by people of all ages. Later, at the request of a certain Demon King, Oliver specially added sweet, minced caramelized onions.
※To this day, this dish is still one of the signature dishes of Tumbleweed Bar.
~Nemo Light’s Specialties~
Demon King’s Veal Chop: Fresh veal chops cooked on the Demon’s King’s fire. Oliver’s favorite texture is medium rare. The veal is served with rosemary butter, and Oliver orders it four or five times a week. Ordinary flames won’t do it justice.
Mr. Light will always make some new attempts at the sauce, and there will be different surprises every time.
※The Tumbleweed Bar has a hidden menu, and Nemo opens it up for order when he’s in an extraordinarily good mood.
Alban Traditional Baked Meatloaf: Baked meatloaf with a lot of coarsely ground pepper and crushed chili. The skin is crispy. With one bite, the delicious and slightly scalded gravy will overflow instantly, suitable for large mouthfuls. The classic dishes of Tumbleweed Bar are often sold with beer or spirits.
※It is said to be the favorite food of Alban’s “Blood Queen”.
—
[Jesse × Adrian]
~Jesse Dylan’s Specialties~
Thick Creamy Stew: Chicken thighs with vegetables and milk, unexpectedly simple in appearance. Not only delicious and mellow in the mouth, it’s rare that it’s also refreshing and palatable. It’s especially suitable for stewing in a small pot in the cold winter, which will make people sweat, as if guarding a hot fireplace.
If you eat a bowl, you won’t be hungry for a long time. Adrian likes this dish very much.
※Mr. Dylan claims that he’s good at all recipes and only makes this often (ten times a month) out of interest.
Pope’s Cookies: The shape is much like the butter cookies distributed by the Clementine Cathedral, round and thick. The cookies are filled with extra sugar, but they aren’t greasy to eat. This is really a miracle. Mr. Dylan occasionally supplies it to Tumbleweed Bar to make some extra money.
※Mr. Dylan originally planned to call it “Old Baldy Cookies”, but under Adrian’s watch, he finally wrote the name “Pope’s Cookies” on the label.
~Adrian Cross’ Specialties~
Yogurt Cheesecake: The cheesecake made with yogurt has a soft and dense taste and just the right amount of humidity. After it’s done, Mr. Cross will apply a thin layer of white cream to the cake and serve it with fresh berries. He doesn’t know how to make delicate accessories, but such simple decorations don’t have a sense of beauty. A certain large beast can eat half in just a bite.
※Mr. Dylan, who claims to be “good at all recipes”, found that he couldn’t make the same taste.
Marching Soft Cake: A soft cake with vegetables, eggs, and cream. It has a mild taste after being sprinkled with granulated sugar. It’s very convenient to carry, and the taste will not deteriorate after it’s cold. It’s said that it was once a popular high-grade marching food in Alban.
※Mr. Cross will cook some when he’s on vacation, and it’s eaten with a creamy stew. It tastes very good.
2021/11/06
Halloween Extra. Struggling and Slacking Off at Work 🎃
[Oliver × Nemo]
At night, a high-rise apartment.
The lights were turned off in the apartment. Two young people huddled in a thin blanket, watching a horror movie projected on a large screen. The projector was of good quality, and the gloomy picture cast was extremely clear.
Nemo swallowed the chocolate popcorn and went to grab more from Oliver’s side. As soon as he grabbed it, the Demon King noticed something was wrong—Oliver held his breath. His whole body was tight, and the popcorn bucket in his arms didn’t move.
Nemo: “……”
Nemo glanced at the distorted ghost on the screen in confusion. This movie had just been released, and the psychological horror plot was outstanding and widely praised. The two of them specially saved it for Halloween, intending to create a festive atmosphere. Now it seems that they created too much of a festive atmosphere.
“Ollie, are you scared?”
“Demons are at least creatures. This, this kind of thing that can’t be explained logically, I’m a little bit…”
“It’s okay,” Nemo announced solemnly. “I have a good solution.”
For the next half hour, whenever there was any depressing scene in the movie, Nemo would turn his head and kiss Oliver’s ear.
Mr. Ramon never managed to hold his breath again.
It turned out that Nemo’s method was very effective—the movie was about to end, the screen was swarming with demons and very weird images, but Oliver could no longer tense up.
“I’ll get two glasses of mulled wine and watch a comedy later.” Oliver rubbed his flushed ears, got up, and went to the kitchen.
“Tsk, someone really resurrected.” Bagelmaurus began to steal Oliver’s popcorn. “Isn’t this kind of thing just a stimulus? It’s been many years, and Ramon isn’t that fragile.”
“I really don’t like to see him scared. Even if I’m afraid, it has to be me first.” Nemo grimaced at the ghost at the end of the film.
“…You have a weird angle of being jealous.”
“Shut up.”
—
[Jesse × Adrian]
At night, a bar in lower town Doru.
In order to celebrate Halloween, the shops on the streets were somewhat decorated. This bar was the most exaggerated of them all—they hung life-size zombies at the door.
Adrian Cross stepped into the bar with two colleagues.
Today’s captured target was quite dangerous. If the information was correct, the target would meet at this store tonight for a deal.
…It turned out to be this store.
“Uh, we didn’t order these.” His police officer colleague was tongue-tied for the first time.
“Holiday gifts, gentlemen,” Jesse Dylan replied, holding the tray.
Jesse was still dressed up as the usual bartender, with a face that was too beautiful to be real. As if to increase the festive atmosphere, he had two white pointed ears on top of his head and a long hairy tail behind his waist. In the gap between the two police officers looking away, Adrian saw the pair of ears twitching at him.
Adrian: “…” Sure enough, he grew them himself.
“Three drinks, no alcohol added, all improvised,” Jesse continued with a grin and began to distribute tall glasses. “This one is ‘all the best’, this one is ‘good health’. And this last one…”
He pushed a dark-red drink in front of Adrian.
“It’s called ‘Kiss of God’.”
After dividing the drinks, Jesse narrowed his eyes at the three of them and happily returned to the back of the bar to mix drinks.
“Do you want to switch, Cross? My cup is juice and I want to drink something with bubbles,” one of the police officers came back to his senses and said with a smile.
Inconsistent with that serious appearance, Chief Cross was easy to talk to. Whether it was to change lunch breaks or duty dates, as long as there was a reasonable excuse, he would never refuse. However…
“No.” Adrian Cross laughed with a rare smile and took a sip of his drink.
Unlike thousands of years ago, wine-marinated gooseberry sauce with sparkling water had just the right taste.
2021/08/14
How can we miss Qixi Festival! Write about everyone in the eyes of passersby (?)
Time is filled with work, still searching for moments to write ʕ ; ᴥ ; ʔ
[Oliver × Nemo]
@Tumbleweed Bar Bouncer/Male/43 years old
“Me? I worked in the Tumbleweed Bar for two years.”
“I was originally a homeless man nearby, and the bosses kindly recruited me as a bouncer… Yes, it was those two young people. If you ask me, they must all be children of rich families. The bar doesn’t make much money at all. It uses all good things. There’s not a drop of water in the wine, and I don’t know what the full picture is.”
“Partner? No, no, they are married. They would run out of the stores for three days. Usually, no one causes trouble. My job is similar to a shopkeeper watching a store. Hey, the work is easy, and the treatment is good. Maybe Zenni finally gave this old man some blessing.”
“Yeah, I thought the two men weren’t mature enough. As a result, the bosses never quarrel. Every day I could see one sending flowers to the other, and they never seemed to get tired of each other. Okay, gotta stop talking. I have to go back to work… Girlfriend? What are you talking about, I don’t have a girlfriend.”
“Oh, you’re asking about the smell of roses? Forget it, one of the bosses ordered a new variety of roses and typed the wrong quantity… Because of this, I fucking ate rose-flavored snacks for a week. The whole bar is rose-flavored, and they also plan to develop a rose beer.”
“Which boss typed the wrong quantity? How did I know? Someone in the store asked. They just laughed, and neither of them would admit it. Yes, you guessed it right, they both bought it and wanted to give it to each other as soon as possible. Yes, yes, it’s just that expensive variety, so let me just say, they are definitely very rich.”
“……”
“I used to believe that living alone was beneficial, but after seeing them laugh there, I can probably see the benefit of being with someone…”
“…After all, I have lived for more than forty years, and I have been wandering the streets for more than ten years, and I have never seen such happy faces.”
—
[Jesse × Adrian]
@Chain Dessert Shop Clerk/Female/28 years old
“That beautiful guest came again last week! This time I specifically said hello and took a picture. Look, isn’t it scary beautiful? The first time he came back, I thought I was hallucinating. Hey, is he really not an actor?”
“Yes, he comes to buy desserts every week, and he buys a lot. It’s a miracle that he’s not fat.”
“Looking frivolous? Hi, I think so too. To be honest, he doesn’t give me a very comfortable feeling. The smile is charming, but there’s always a subtle sense of indifference… I can’t say, but in short, it feels very inhuman.”
“I’m not going to strike up a conversation, but Jane wanted to ask for his contact information. After all, that guy wasn’t wearing a wedding ring. Jane, who has always been easy to get serious, and I wanted to persuade her. Guess what, that guy can read his mind, and he came with a man the next day.”
“Not a friend, I saw him kiss the man in the corner. Jane also saw it. She was sad for a long time… But it’s a good thing. If she’s really stuck, she would be depressed for at least a month.”
“Coincidence? ……Well, it may be a coincidence. When he bought snacks before, he would always pick something that wasn’t too sweet and pack it separately. I thought he wasn’t single before. It is not surprising that he pulled his boyfriend to pick the new products that came out of the store that day. Mr. Boyfriend looks quite serious but gives people a very down-to-earth feeling.”
“Now that I think about it, I should have gone back at that time to take pictures. Why? Let me think about what I wanted to say… When he was with his boyfriend, that guy’s behavior didn’t change much, but there was a more human touch in his eyes.”
“No! It’s not that I’m over-thinking things… Forget it, just call it a woman’s intuition.”
2021/05/31
A plain and ordinary daily routine. Everyone’s day schedule♪
[Oliver × Nemo]
~Nemo Light’s Day Routine~
08:00-10:00 Wakes up and has breakfast with Oliver. After his lover leaves, Nemo watches the news for the day while holding an ice cream tub in his arms.
10:00-14:00 Go to the Tumbleweed Bar, change shifts with Oliver, and rush his lover to rest. He also stopped by to buy a flower to give to him and, when they meet, greet him with a kiss.
14:00 to 20:00, Go to the exorcism school with Oliver to pretend to be a student. Will sleep in most of the classes and only dutifully eat dinner at school. Anti-counterfeiting technology is improving day by day, and the two of them will have to get a legal certificate every 30 years. Unfortunately, no one has discovered Nemo’s Demon King identity so far.
20:00-23:00 Back to the Tumbleweed Bar. He casually cleans up two ungrateful devil worshippers. Tonight, there was Oliver’s famous fruit pie. Jesse attempted to come and eat and drink it, and Nemo ate the last piece in front of him. Perfect.
23:00-00:00 Midnight management is left to Telaranea and Bagelmaurus. The two study the world map at home for a while, determined to go to the rainforest for a little adventure. Nemo’s spells were used very carefully and were not noticed by the monitoring department, which is really gratifying.
~Oliver Ramon’s Day Routine~
07:00-08:00 Get up to prepare breakfast and wake up His Majesty with a kiss. After breakfast, Oliver goes to the Tumbleweed Bar first.
08:00-14:00 To prepare for work, Nemo will come to change shifts at around 11:00. He would get a flower and a kiss, as well as a happy lunch break. Today, Nemo gave a magic-dyed green rose, and Oliver inserted it in the most conspicuous place in the store.
14:00-20:00 Go to the exorcist school with Nemo to pretend to be a student. Out of interest, he will listen carefully and take notes, but he won’t wake up Nemo, who’s asleep.
20:00-23:00 Back to the Tumbleweed Bar, Nemo’s favorite fruit pie was specially prepared. It’s a pity that most of the fruit bought was stolen by the gray parrot. Oliver had to temporarily buy more ingredients and decided to only give ordinary bird food to Bagelmaurus tomorrow.
23:00-00:00 The rainforest is lined with tall trees, and the two sat on the top of the tree and watched the starry sky for a while. It’s off the beaten track, and Oliver can’t help but think of what happened a long time ago. Nemo was also full of emotion and almost changed back to the appearance of Ulysses again. If it weren’t for Oliver’s timely discovery of a researcher’s camera, his lover would be in the news sooner or later.
“Next time you can choose a more partial place, such as the snowy mountains,” Mr. Ramon suggested so. “But today is good enough.”
“Yes, it’s good enough.”
—
[Jesse × Adrian]
~Adrian Cross’s Day Routine~
06:00-09:00 Get up for morning exercises and morning prayers, then drive to the police station. Keep quiet throughout the process so as not to wake up Jesse, who’s sleeping soundly.
09:00-12:00 Work incidentally identifies which cases are related to demons and need to be handled separately. There will be a short break between work for a light lunch and a cup of black coffee.
12:00-17:00 Continue to work, replying to Jesse’s rambling messages every half hour. Everything is normal today, and there’s no need to go out in the field.
17:00-20:00 Drive to lower town to pick up Jesse. Jesse will carefully select the restaurant for dinner. The man also chose an expensive shop today, and Adrian didn’t refuse. After all, today is a weekday, and they can only have such a meal together.
20:00-21:00 As usual, go to Tumbleweed to say hello. Jesse tried to take Nemo’s share of fruit pie with a spell and was caught. Adrian dragged his lover away, who was flipping off the bar, and asked Oliver for the recipe for the fruit pie.
21:00-23:00 Tries to make fruit pies while praying at night. Jesse was highly dissatisfied with not being able to interrupt and expressed his “dissatisfaction” with practical actions. Near 23:00, Adrian struggled to take a bath, laid back on the bed exhausted, and decided to try making it again on the weekend.
~Jesse Dylan’s Day Routine~
12:00-17:00 Get up and go to the bar in lower town, yawning while at work. There are few customers during the day, which is suitable for screening restaurants all over the world while harassing his lover at work.
17:00-20:00 Change into formal clothes and wait for Adrian to pick him up. The two eat and talk in a carefully selected restaurant, and Jesse added three dessert packages.
20:00-21:00 Exchanged messages with the two at the Tumbleweed Bar, but it’s a pity that they didn’t get any fruit pie.
21:00-23:00 His knight commander was wearing an apron and fiddling with milk and granulated sugar while doing evening prayers with a cold face. This scene was a bit weird and pleasing to the eye. It’s not difficult to make the choice between eating a pie or having a lover, but even if there’s a cleansing spell, Adrian will always take a bath habitually. Next time he won’t leave him any stamina. Jesse resolutely squeezed into the bathtub.
23:00-04:00 Adrian falls asleep, and Jesse returns to work in the bar. Lower town is in chaos. As a bartender here, he can always hear all kinds of bad news. To be Chief Cross’s informant, he has to have a job that makes sense.
“No one can compare to the sweets you make. Why do you have to steal Mr. Light’s?”
“Tsk, they taught you too rigid at the beginning. Darling Adri, it’s more delicious when you steal it.” …Especially with your “own” hands.
2021/02/14
Valentine’s Day Chocolate Special 🍫
[Oliver × Nemo]
[Hand-Made Boxed Chocolate × 1]
Made by: Nemo Wright
Item description:
Hand-made chocolate according to the most popular method on the market. The best raw materials were specially selected. During the production process, His Majesty the Demon King was too focused, and one of them became a new breed of demon that tittered and tried to escape from the gift box.
Nemo apologized and said that the taste wouldn’t be affected as a result. Oliver still raised it with interest.
[Bedtime Marshmallow Hot Chocolate x 2]
Made by: Oliver Ramon
Item description:
The sweet and warm hot chocolate had just the right sweetness, which was much more palatable than the ones on the market. Prepared by Oliver Ramon, the owner of Tumbleweed Bar. Nemo had always liked the unique taste in the world.
Before going to bed, have a cup. The good night kiss also had a sweet taste.
—
[Jesse × Adrian]
[Black Forest Cake x 1]
Made by: Jesse Dylan
Item description:
The gods themselves were most satisfied with the work. The taste surpassed the existing Black Forest Cake on the market. In order to obtain the perfect taste, Jesse tried four times and finally resisted not eating it in advance.
People who don’t like sweets can happily eat it.
[Chocolate Flavored Bath Bomb × 1]
Purchased by: Adrian Cross
Item description:
The product of a certain luxury brand was very expensive. After turning to knowledgeable colleagues, the honest Mr. Cross spent an entire quarter of his salary. He wrapped it carefully and put it on the edge of the bathtub at home.
For a full half month afterwards, both of them smelled faintly of chocolate.
2020/11/11
There’s no holiday today, but I thought about it and wrote something. Let’s sleep together. _(:D”∠)_
[Oliver × Nemo]
The cheese in the shop was eaten cleanly by the grey parrot. In order to operate normally, Oliver had to go buy additional premium cheese.
“If I leave now, I can be back before lunch tomorrow.” Oliver reconfirmed the ticket. “Earlier Mr. Cross said…”
“I remember—Your teleportation magic is too strong and frequent use will alarm the exorcism agency. It’s a good thing to keep a low profile. Just spend the night apart.” Nemo scratched his hair. “What do you want to eat for lunch tomorrow?”
“Parrot stew.”
“Ditto.”
His Majesty the Demon King overestimated his adaptability. That night, Nemo drank a whole pot of honey milk and lay upright on the bed until two in the morning, sadly declaring insomnia. The bedroom was too quiet and empty, and the flying snow outside the window wasn’t pleasing to the eye.
Nemo tightened his pajamas, turned on his phone, and began to find the latitude and longitude of Oliver’s hotel.
Unlike Oliver, he didn’t need to teleport using magic, but going to an unfamiliar destination, splitting space could easily cause accidents. In order to avoid the hotel building and the staff from being torn apart, Nemo calculated carefully for half a minute.
Late at night, on the roof of a hotel. There was a sharp roar in the air, and a dark shadow crashed to the ground. It deftly avoided the surveillance, stopped for a moment in front of an open window, and then sneaked in.
The next day, Oliver looked at the sleeping person in his arms and blinked. “Good morning.”
“Good morning.” Nemo yawned. “Ollie, if I didn’t come, are you going to keep the window open all night on a snowy day?”
“I guess that you would come.” Oliver’s ears became a little red. “The room is too quiet, and I can’t sleep.”
“…Ditto.”
—
[Jesse × Adrian]
For many years, whenever he spent the night in beast form, Jesse made sure to ball up into a perfect oval. The tip of his tail perfectly covered the nose, leaving a gap in his abdomen for Adrian to spend the night. The whole set of actions were done in one go, which was extremely elegant.
As one of the strongest living creatures in existence, the behemoth’s sleeping position was too cautious.
However, after the two of them suspended their travels, bought a home, and settled down, Jesse’s habits changed subtly.
One winter night.
Adrian walked into the bedroom and saw Jesse lying on the bed at a glance. The behemoth straightened his body, resting his four legs casually as he lay diagonally across the bed.
Their homes had no special protection and were no different from ordinary hotels, but the behemoth slept quite relaxed—its tail hung to the ground, a little pink tongue appeared from its mouth, and the soothing sound of breathing filled the room.
Adrian moved lightly and sat on the side of the bed. The behemoth seemed to be aware of it. It hummed twice, rolled over and made room, then went to sleep peacefully again. The place where it had lain was very warm, and the familiar and soft smell lingered in the nose. Everything was just right.
Adrian turned around and put his arm on the back of the behemoth.
“I locked the windows, so the house is safe,” he said. “Good night and sweet dream.”
For God, this was complete nonsense, and Adrian couldn’t help smiling. The concept of “home” was still a bit fresh, and it always made people do stupid things unknowingly.
But at present, it seemed that a little change wasn’t bad.
2020/09/26
Late Tanabata Extra, Pet Special ☆
[Oliver × Nemo]
There was an extra gray parrot in the Tumbleweed Bar. It was bouncing happily at the bar. Lord Bagelmaurus, who stayed at the bar on weekdays, was moved into the back kitchen.
“Why?!” There were tears in Bagelmaurus’ eyes, and its voice was an octave higher than usual.
“A few days ago, someone complained that he was insulted by the parrot in the store for half an hour with unsightly swearing, which caused him great mental damage.” Nemo’s smile was quite kind. “If Ollie hadn’t said everything, the man would have gone to a lawyer.”
“I’m right! He wouldn’t leave after closing time, and I didn’t do anything!” The gray parrot curled its neck.
“The problem isn’t here. He recorded it, and you didn’t notice. If it’s known by someone who shouldn’t know—”
“Are you joking? Are you two still afraid of the exorcists?” All the parrot feathers exploded. “And didn’t that guy say he would delete the recording?”
“Ollie and I happen to be planning a vacation. If we are closed for investigation at this moment because of this kind of frivolousness…” Nemo smile became more genial.
“…” The feathers of the gray parrot quickly deflated, and the entire bird froze on the bird stand.
“I’m sorry,” it muttered in a low voice. “Just…I apologize. Can you send that stupid bird away? That garbage can only say a few alcohol names…”
“I will let it stay for two days to see your performance.” Nemo’s smile was extremely bright.
“Asshole!”
“Hmm?”
“I mean, I’m sorry.”
“Aren’t you going to tell it the truth?” Ollie, who was doing accounts at the bar, raised his eyes. “Tammy at the store asked us to help take care of her parrot, and we’ll return it in a few days.”
“No.” Nemo kissed his lover’s ear. “Mr. Hero, do you want to be in cahoots with evil and help keep my secret?”
“Of course, Your Majesty.” Oliver bent his eyes.
“And I don’t like to see you bow your head to rude guests,” Nemo said in a whisper.
“Let me guess,” Oliver couldn’t restrain the smile in his voice. “You tampered with his recording?”
“…How did you know?”
“I guessed?”
On the other side, Mr. Duff was satisfied that the backup of the recording was dumped to his computer and ready to be uploaded. He opened the audio file and found that the first half of the thing was an eerie sound that made people uncomfortable, and the second half was a breakfast cookie commercial music.
He deleted it unhappily.
—
[Jesse x Adrian]
Adrian had a cat.
He was unexpectedly gentle with the white cat, cooking fresh fish and chicken for it every day, grooming it, and allowing it to sleep in his bed at night.
“I can’t figure it out.” Jesse balled up at the Tumbleweed Bar and lapped up the fruit wine with discontent. “So much for over-loving like you two. In all these years, Adri’s never been interested in that kind of stuff.”
“It’s just a cat. People change.” Nemo ruffled the long hairs on the bar in disgust. “To be honest, I think Mr. Cross came to the party a little late.”
“He’s starting to change?” Jesse twitched his ears. “No, because it’s okay for big things to falter. A beast in the district—”
“What, are you starting to worry about him faltering? A little change and you’re nervous like this?”
“Nonsense, I’ve been waiting for him to waver for a long time.” The beast bared its fangs. “…Oh, bring me two schnitzels. Adri likes them.”
Jesse drained his drink and ate the rest of his schnitzel. He was determined to scare the cat more in the dead of night. As a result, he alertly moved away from the door and found no sign of the white cat.
“Where’s the cat?”
“Returned it.”
“…Returned it?”
“The neighbor just asked me to take care of it for a few days.” Adrian took out two bottles of soda from the refrigerator. “I work in the police department, and there’s no children at home, so she’s more at ease.”
“You should have told me,” Jesse happily rolled up his sleeves and started working on the schnitzel. “Besides, it’s only cat sitting. Darling, you’re going to too much trouble.”
“Mrs. Fay treasures that cat, and it has to be taken care of carefully.” Adrian pulled out an envelope and carefully placed it on the table. “So I’ve asked for the appropriate cat sitting fee as well.”
Jesse raised an eyebrow. The envelope was frighteningly thin and not a bill by any stretch of the imagination. “A cat sitting fee?”
“A new recipe that’s from her family’s. It’s a snack that won’t start selling in the store until half a month from now.” Adrian lifted the corner of his mouth. “You’ve been looking forward to this. I’ve read it five times in the last week.”
Jesse sniffed the butter scent on the envelope, kissed the back of the other man’s neck, and narrowed his eyes contentedly.
‘A reassuring smell,’ he thought.
2020/05/20
520 small paragraph, Bathroom Special (. ・ω・.)♡
[Oliver x Nemo]
Every time, after a shower, Nemo enjoyed having Oliver slowly dry his hair. This way he can surprise the other, lightly kiss the tip of the nose, in return for a few burning kisses.
He also liked to dig his fingers into Oliver’s hair, with a drying spell with a little combing, and lightly press the other’s scalp. Oliver’s hair was very soft, like touching wet silk.
The parrot thought sadly that new lovers would make out when they had nothing to do, but these two bastards did it every day, which made it want to go blind.
Thus, it secretly ordered magic heaters and put them in the most conspicuous place in the bathroom.
“I see what you mean.” It finally dawned on Nemo. “I’m sorry, Bagelmaurus. I haven’t been thinking about your feelings.”
Later that night, a screaming gray parrot came from the bathroom—Nemo sincerely held it down and rinsed it all over, blowing it dry vigorously with a hair dryer. Then he pushed and tossed the hair dryer and the gray parrot out the door and shared a bath with his lover as usual.
The gray parrot angrily pecked the hair dryer and patched itself up.
‘…Truly worthy of a Demon King,’ it thought sadly.
—
[Jesse x Adrian]
The two of them usually cast a drying spell after each bath. After listening to the grey parrot’s complaint of blood and tears, Jesse rubbed his chin and felt good about this kind of play.
“Love, tonight you can dry my hair.” In the large bathtub, Jesse kissed his lover’s spine and suggested pleasantly.
“Okay.” Adrian clutched a strand of blonde hair and didn’t refuse.
To enjoy the touch of his lover’s fingers more, Jesse decided to make himself bigger. He had mischief in mind—Adrian had just brushed his fingers on it, and Jesse suddenly transformed into his behemoth form. The knight commander’s hand slipped and made the drying spell too powerful. The behemoth’s long hair instantly dried and fluffed into a snow-white ball, revealing only the tips of his ears, mouth, and dark nose.
Jesse: “……”
Adrian: “……”
A soft chuckle escaped from the ever-smiling knight commander. “Want a do-over?” He stroked the soft fluffy fur in front of him.
He was then dragged into the tub again by the sad beast.
2020/02/14
Valentine’s Day for Everyone
[Oliver × Nemo]
Oliver booked the most popular restaurant in the neighborhood three months in advance and decided to give Nemo a surprise.
As a result, the holiday had just arrived, and he found that Nemo had quietly booked the same one.
In order to live up to each other’s feelings. They happily switched tables and ate two dinners under the complicated eyes of the clerk.
Neither ordered wine. They drank all six cans of grape juice, pretended to be drunk, and decided to split the difference in gift-giving.
The gray parrot stayed home all night, and neither of the two jerk-off owners returned.
Bagelmaurus: (expletive)
—
[Jesse x Adrian]
On holidays belonging to lovers, lovers in Alban hung wreaths woven with golden flowers on their doorsteps and prayed to Zenni for a smooth relationship.
Jesse decided to observe Adrian.
Adrian didn’t hang a wreath in the morning, and Adrian didn’t hang a wreath at noon.
Jesse wilted on top of the church all afternoon, bought the wreath, and carried it, only to see a rose wreath hanging on his doorstep.
“No one uses this kind of wreath, so it was difficult to find and was delivered late. Anyway, it’s for you, so it’s not customary,” Adrian said.
Chapter 281: A Long Time Ago and A Long Time Later
“In 913, the Blood Queen of Alban, Andrea Alasdair, abdicated. She took away her lover, Gallagher Salter, and left the royal city to live an adventurous life. She finally died in 968 at the age of ninety-seven.”
“For this king… So far, historical evaluations have been mixed, and people haven’t reached a more unified conclusion. She has been in power for less than ten years, relying on the murder of her elder brother to take the throne, and what she has done was only the beginning of reform. After her, Queen Delia Alastair was the one who pushed Alban to the top. If it comes to merit, now, the biggest achievement of the Blood Queen was to invest in the Dawn Tavern, the predecessor of ‘Corona’.”
The old professor’s face was serious. He pushed up his glasses and tapped the chalk twice on the blackboard.
“In other words, in theory, she was one of the founders of today’s ‘Corona’. To this day, the Alastair family is still our important investor. Of course, everyone knows that the real founders of ‘Corona’ are Eddie Lopez, Renard Lopez, and Olivia Lopez. They are also descendants of the Hero Godwin Lopez, and they could be regarded as the origin of the ancient exorcist family.”
“I hate the Lopez’s.” Under the podium, a curly-haired young man with freckles complained in a low voice. “Well, I admit that the history of their family is indeed long enough, but nowadays, ‘Corona’ is no longer the private property of their family.”
The newcomer sitting next to him secretly playing on his phone looked up and raised his eyebrows at him.
On the podium, the old professor coughed twice and continued. “From 921 to 1021, it was called the ‘Golden Century’. During that period, more and more people received the ‘Favor of the God of War’. Although there were small-scale wars in some regions, the countries of the world were in a relatively peaceful state. The surface expedition was confirmed to have disappeared, and in order to find a substitute for bone jade, many research institutions and educational institutions quickly emerged. The two oldest of them, the Gatekeepers and Clementine Academy, have reached their peak in the Golden Century.”
“This brings us to one man, Prince Hayden, husband of Queen Delia Alastair. He officially became president of Clementine University—then known as the Royal Military Academy of Clementine— At the age of fifty-one, and with the Queen’s support, Prince Hayden made radical changes to Clementine University.”
“How boring. Hey, over there.” The curly-haired youth yawned widely. “Corona is at least the strongest exorcism institution. I was beginning to think we’d be thrown into the death testing ground—Ugh, in short, it’s just a similar place. You said we had a hard time getting into Corona and up comes a bunch of dry history lessons. That’s not quite right, is it?”
“The Gatekeepers will do that type of test.” The newcomer shrugged his shoulders, still texting on his phone. “Isn’t it good to be more stable?”
“We are here to fight!” Curly hair snorted dissatisfiedly. “Not to mention anything else, at least as far as these courses are concerned, the Lopezes must have learned them long ago. See? The seat over there is empty, and Lopez must have gone to training. He’s already the first in this class, and if this goes on, our gap will only grow.”
“Not necessarily.” The dark-haired newcomer’s tone was a bit more comforting. “Exorcists must act in groups of two, and partners are also very important.”
“You don’t understand anything.” The curly-haired young man fiddled with the fountain pen in his hand. “The people in their family are all lone wolves here. One of them counts as two. When the exorcist license is officially obtained, their family will assign one specifically for him within the family.”
“…Is that so,” the newcomer responded, now sounding particularly surprised.
“I also want to be the top exorcist and get the title of ‘Aurorae’. For seven consecutive generations, ‘Aurorae’ has been a member of the Lopez family.” Curly hair lay on the table in frustration. “Alas, you’re right. In short, first find a reliable partner… Hey, hey! The professor is looking at you!”
It was a pity that this reminder came a bit late.
“Mr. Light, please put your phone away. Yes, you are in second place in the overall score, but as far as I know, you only scored 5 points on your ‘History of the Rise and Fall of Alban’.”
The old professor cleared his throat heavily, but he didn’t sound really angry.
“Those 5 points still depend on the fact that you didn’t turn in a blank paper. Generally speaking, under the topic of ‘the merits and achievements of the Blood Queen, Andrea Alastair‘, it is impossible to score an answer like ‘she likes to eat baked meatloaf a lot’.”
There was a burst of suppressed laughter in the lecture hall.
The curly-haired young man took a breath from his teeth and turned his head to look at the newcomer beside him. The handsome black-haired young man just smiled with a complicated expression, then lowered his gaze, looking a little distracted.
Hearing the professor’s name, the curly-haired young man, Bean Leonard, naturally knew who the newcomer was.
Among the newcomers who entered Corona for training this year, in addition to the descendants of the Lopez family, who ranked first in overall results, Nemo Light was one of the people tied for second place.
He originally thought that the guy with such a scary combat performance had to be two meters tall, but it turned out that Mr. Light was much more elegant and harmless than he thought. As for the other person tied for second place, he heard some news at lunch—Oliver Ramon took leave early today, and he wasn’t sure what he was doing.
Right now, Nemo was apparently done fuming as he spread his book out in front of him in a decent manner and continued to tap his fingertips quickly on the glass screen of his phone.
Nemo’s movements were not big, and they weren’t small. Bean glanced at the ring on the ring finger of the other party’s left hand.
As the most outstanding group of alternate professional exorcists, Bean was very confident in his dynamic vision. The style of the ring was antiquated, unlike the old style, it was probably an antique.
That was definitely very valuable. It seemed that Mr. Light, who was of unknown origin, should have a big family behind him. Maybe it was some famous precious daughter who fell in love with this handsome and powerful young man and they got engaged early…
Bean locked his gaze on the ring and began to use his imagination to pass the boring history class. However, the object he was looking at almost immediately stopped typing information on the phone, raised his eyebrows slightly, and cast his gaze back.
Bean reacted a few seconds later. “Hey, sorry. I just…”
“It’s okay, I don’t care.” Nemo shrugged and continued to look at the phone screen, zooming in on a photo of a light fixture.
“Are you chatting with your fiancée?” Bean lowered his voice curiously.
“Husband.” Nemo sounded in a good mood, again with no intention of continuing to listen to the class.
Bean almost fell to the ground. The chair under his ass made a tragic squeaking noise, and the old professor’s gaze floated over again.
“Oh, oh.” Bean quickly stabilized his body and responded dryly. At present, Laddism was highly popular and people’s tolerance for homosexuality wasn’t high, but if one thought about it, if Mr. Light’s lover could afford such an antique ring, he naturally didn’t care about the words of the little people.
Bean tightened his expression, turned to the podium, and tried to turn his attention back to the content of the class.
“…Just talking about the changes in Clementine University, the research room of Clementine University has provided very important technical support for ‘Corona’. I believe you have all heard that no matter which Dawn Tavern you go to around the world, you can find at least one researcher from Clementine University.”
The old professor continued slowly.
“In comparison, the Gatekeeper’s side…”
‘Still no good,’ Bean thought in a daze. Sunlight poured into the spacious lecture hall, and fine dust floated and flickered in the air. The temperature was just right. The old professor’s voice was soothing, like a lullaby, and the slow words and sentences finally merged into a buzzing sound that was getting farther and farther away from him. Bean’s head was becoming heavier in this comfortable environment, and finally the young exorcist decided to obey his heart, laid down on the table, and fell asleep without realizing it.
When today’s class was over, Bean wiped the saliva from the corners of his mouth, and when he looked around subconsciously, Mr. Light was long gone.
The sun was about to set.
The high-rise buildings in the lower city were dilapidated, and the managers had long left them alone. The elevator stopped running, and the water and electricity were inconvenient. This old group of high-rise buildings became a gathering place for the poor and criminals, and the dilapidated walls almost dyed the surrounding air gray.
As night fell, bright and slightly cheap lights quickly ignited. Among the many hurried and suspicious passersby, Nemo put his hands in his pockets and walked towards the building with the most concentrated lights with a clear goal.
A few months ago, there was an underground bar with understated but tasteful decor.
The sign placed at the entrance was still brand new. It was placed at the entrance of the descending steps. There was no superfluous, exaggerated lighting. Even so, under the lights of the rest of the shops, people could still easily see the words on the signs.
Tumbleweed Bar.
Nemo walked down the steps and opened the door of the bar casually.
Oliver was wearing a waiter’s uniform, wiping the glass carefully. Seeing his lover enter the door, he put down the soft cloth in his hand, walked around the bar, and gave the other party a kiss.
“Look, this is the lamp you chose during the day. Good vision, Nemo. It really looks better than the other one I showed you,” Oliver said in a pleasant tone. He put his left arm around Nemo’s waist, and his right hand pointed to the decorative lights on the roof of the bar.
“It’s much brighter here now.”
“Be careful of too bright environment to scare off customers.” Nemo smiled and shook his head, twisting his head and kissing Oliver on the cheek in the process.
This lamp was really good.
Under the soft light, even the skeleton helmet hanging on the wall looked like an ornament bought from a high-end store. Just like other bars, large or small, there were many photo frames hanging under the helmet. The photos inside looked old, but they were all well preserved.
The content of the middle photo was odd—four old-fashioned people standing in a pile of weird lizard tails. Except for the one in a monk’s uniform with a tight expression, the other three were all smiling.
His gaze stayed on that photo for a long time before Nemo let out a long sigh. “…Where’s Adri?”
“Adri will be late. After all, after the entry procedures, he has to have a drink with his new colleagues—well, he probably won’t really drink. As for Jesse, God knows which nightclub or church he’s hanging out in, but he will definitely come with Adri.”
“As a reliable ‘informant’, Jesse shouldn’t rush into the welcome party of the new police chief,” Nemo murmured, a little more uncertain in his voice. “…Will he?”
“…” Oliver obviously decided to remain silent about it.
“The guests are here!” The gray parrot jumped up on one end of the bar. “If you two don’t get ready, you’ll just have to supply them with my leftovers.”
Nemo flicked the grey parrot’s head and then snapped his fingers. The dark shadows gathered in the corner, gradually turning into a multi-armed humanoid, and then obediently penetrated the back kitchen.
“Thank you for reminding me, Bagelmaurus. Ollie, you receive the guests first, and I’ll change clothes.”
Night was officially coming.
In this dark and dangerous corner, people walking on the edge of darkness were very curious about this new bar. Although in history, the Dawn Tavern was one of the famous sanctuaries for demon worshippers, after the birth of the exorcist agency “Corona”, it gradually became the exclusive intelligence agency for exorcists, and it had long been unsuitable for real marginal people.
This kind of underground bar in the corner of the “Junkyard” was often more popular.
The style of “Tumbleweed” had not been affected by the chaos around it, which meant there must be a terrifying backer behind it. Not to mention, this bar wasn’t even equipped with cameras or any other surveillance equipment.
The only downside was that there were only two young male waiters in this modest bar.
Although gender may not be so important to people living in the lower city, the faces of the two male waiters were also quite outstanding. It was a pity that they hadn’t heard of anyone who had successfully wiped the oil* so far.
*Referring to taking advantage (usually of women) in public.
But with good, not-too-expensive wine and a relatively safe place to talk, one could accept this small regret.
Tumbleweed quickly filled up.
“It’s really terrible. Bob was killed by that thing on the spot, and his skull had to be crushed into oatmeal.” The fat man near the window snorted. “If it weren’t for my fast running at the time, I might have died and wouldn’t have lived to tell the tale. It’s in the underground parking lot. Tell your people to stay away from that shithole.”
“God, isn’t Bob’s demon quite strong? I remember it was intermediate—”
“Who the hell knows what’s going on! That thing also looked like a human being, with arms hanging to the ground and hands that could hold my head tightly. It moved so fast that I couldn’t see clearly. I wouldn’t be stupid enough to stop and wait to see if it cast a spell. Then again, it’s true that the thing had the aura of a demon, but I’ve never seen that type of demon… Hey, kid, what are you listening to?”
“Wine for the two of you.”
Nemo’s voice was soft and his smile was very decent. He took the glass from the tray and adjusted the collar of the waiter’s uniform.
“I think you have met a demon warlock. Sir… Are you interested in exchanging information?”
The author has something to say:
This novel is officially coming to an end here. In the future, Western Magic will basically extend this worldview, so everyone in Tumbleweed still has a chance to appear, don’t worry XD
Thank you to everyone who read all the way to here, and thank you everyone who helped promote it on Weibo. I didn’t expect to receive so much recognition at all. I was really moved to tears. (;ω;)
Because except for the first few days (.) There was basically no saved manuscript, and sometimes I had to work overtime in a rush to write. I know very well that there are still a lot of flaws… Thank you for your tolerance.
There is nothing to say about this, only continuous learning and practice. I will try to make the next book better~
PS:
The pre-collection of the next book, “Happy Doomsday” can be seen in the author’s column!
② Although I don’t know if it is necessary, let’s talk about it. Raising gray parrots in my country requires permission from the Forestry Administration, otherwise it is illegal (whisper)
【A little summary postscript】
“Stray” was published on March 31st last year, and it has been updated continuously since April 11th. The data was recorded at the beginning, and on April 30, when the serialization of the article was completed for a month, the collection was about 10.
It is false to say that it was a hit (……
I still remember the period of many chapters with 0 comments in the first volume. hhh careful readers can find that I didn’t write much at first._(:””∠)_
Here, I really thank the readers who accompanied me in the first place. Without you, I really don’t have the confidence to survive. At that time, while relying on the idea of “at least there are still people reading”, I liked the subject matter, and I was a little unconvinced, so I gritted my teeth and went down even more.
During that period, there were gradually more readers chasing the novel, and gradually they became my motivation to stick to it.
I had to work during the day, so it was quite tiring. Because there were also times when I was sad, but there were also happy moments too. In short, I am very satisfied to finish this novel. (;ω;)
Finally, thank you again for seeing you here and hopefully I can see you in my next work. XD
Kinky Thoughts:
Well, that’s the end. I hope you enjoyed this novel. I think it’s great and I hope you do too. I’m really sad it ended as I would love to read a series of Nemo and Ollie’s adventures in modern times (like this chapter!). For those who have become fans of this author, I am translating another of her works: Happy Doomsday. Do check it out. Now that Stray is finished, releases for Happy Doomsday will now be daily. For those that like this kind of exorcism in a modern-day setting, Bu Tian Gang (my other project) is very similar to this. Do check that out as well, if that’s to your liking.
If you did enjoy it, please consider supporting the author by buying the raws. This is a seriously underrated book on jjwxc and could use your support for more visibility. I used Google Chrome with their auto translate and this guide on how to buy novels on jjwxc. Remember, only with your (financial) support can artists continue to produce more great works.
As seen in the author’s note, if it weren’t for buyers who supported her, she might not have finished this masterpiece, so please do give her your support!
I like to thank everyone for your comments, encouragement, help with my translations, and ko-fi donations. It in part fuels my motivation to release so frequently and try to finish this novel as soon as possible, which was certainly quite a feat as this novel has 281 chapters and over 1.2+ million Chinese characters.
Finally, in consideration for my next project, I’m looking for someone who can read Chinese and is well versed in the xianxia setting (understand terminology, technique, ect.) to help me with my translation. I’ll be mainly needing your help on things that I get stuck on and need a second translation opinion on, mainly because of the xianxia setting, and also guidance on xianxia things in general that I might not understand. If you’re willing, please contact me. I promise I’ll try my best not to bother you too much with my inquiries.
With that, I do have one last treat. This is an extra extra from the author’s blog where she writes mini updates for her characters (usually on special holidays). It’s not officially on jjwxc, but I’ve decided to translate it. She usually updates this yearly, so check back each year on those special days for a new update.
If it hadn’t snowed so much, Wyatt Roderick would be in a better mood.
As the Chief Justice of the Knights of Judgement of the Laddism Church, Roderick had to spend more than half of the year on missions outside. The Laddism Church bore all the expenses, but unfortunately, the mission date wouldn’t change due to the weather.
This team of Knights of Judgement could naturally use magic to drive away the wind and snow. One after another, they activated the thermal insulation array solidified on their armor, and in the knife-like chill, they surrounded themselves with a small, warm, windless space. However, the Knights of Judgment couldn’t be extravagant enough to continue to use magic to remove the snow that had not passed the horse’s legs.
Coupled with the complex terrain in the Deadwood Forest, the team’s travel speed had slowed down substantially.
Roderick clicked his tongue twice, clutched the letter box in his hand, and considered resigning for the 5,000th time.
Balthazar Medes ran away again.
As the only remaining member of the Tin Soldier Mercenary Group, Medes’ ability didn’t discredit the legendary mercenary group—he wasn’t good at hiding his tracks, but he was very good at escaping. Not to mention the guest room in the Heretical Judgement Hall, even in the most tightly guarded dungeon on the surface, his teacher may be able to pat himself on the back and just leave.
Roderick tugged at the corner of his mouth, indicating that he would be given the guaranteed certificate later.
Considering that the name of “The Last Tin Soldier” was too big and the face of Medes, who had recovered his flesh, was young and inconsistent with his age, Roderick could only get an ordinary fake identity for his teacher.
With the guarantee of the current Knight Commander, a certain rumored necromancer could obtain permission to move freely. However, since Medes recovered his flesh and left his tomb, he seemed to have developed a disease that would make him uncomfortable if he stayed in the same place for more than a few days.
“If I return to this appearance, I will continue to age like a normal human,” Medes once said solemnly. “I don’t have much time for research and atonement, god damn it.”
“If it weren’t for you, I would have wiped out that village a long time ago. How about using this as part of the atonement?”
“Let’s not talk about whether you’re crazy to that point. I can’t put a face on something that hasn’t happened yet.”
“Then wait for me for three months, no, six months, maybe ten… Whatever, anyway, I will have a little vacation then, and we will go together.”
“Oh.” The necromancer coughed dryly and tried to retreat but was hugged tighter. “Your armor is going to squeeze me to death… Take your hands away, little bastard! Where are you touching?!”
Then, as soon as he went out for a week, Medes easily broke through the restrictions of the Heretical Judgement Hall and disappeared without a trace.
Roderick didn’t feel the slightest anger; he even felt a little inexplicably happy.
He knew Balthazar Medes better than anyone else, and he knew that his teacher would never wait honestly. When this mission was over, he could start the “hunt” that made his blood boil. If it weren’t for the countless conveniences of being a Chief Justice, and at the same time making the game a lot more interesting, he would’ve quit his mission right now and started the hunt.
“Normal humans don’t live here, do they?” His deputy sneezed and twitched the tip of his red nose. “Could it be, um… the bishop here is wrong?”
“That’s what you said last time when we were over at the glaciers,” Roderick responded carelessly. “Let’s see… After half an hour at most, we ran straight into a superior demon.”
“My lord, you decided to ignore them! It was a Nightmare Leopard and a demon warlock. To be honest—”
“They are living a nice little life. What am I going to do? Get itchy and pick a fight?”
Roderick sneered.
“It’s fish hanging outside their house, not human organs. There weren’t many people in that shithole in the first place, and I didn’t smell anything resembling corpses. I am the Knight Commander of humans, not a Knight Commander of fish. It’s none of my business if those little lovers are drying fish.”
The deputy rolled his eyes and chose to swallow his anger and continued on his way.
It was simply unreasonable for such a bastard to sit in the position of Chief Justice of the Knights of Judgement, yet Zenni hadn’t sent down divine punishment yet.
Mr. Deputy groaned angrily.
Either this guy was destined to do something earth-shattering, making god willing to ignore these details, or Zenni was accumulating anger and intended to settle accounts all at once.
Maybe it was this time.
Recently, a member of the clergy reported a vision, saying that in this barren, cold land, a monk of the Laddism Church rode out on a foreign beast and easily expelled a demon warlock who had fallen into madness in front of them. It just so happened that the last mission site wasn’t far from here, so Roderick didn’t return and instead divided a small group of people to come and investigate.
However, the deputy was quite sure that his boss was quasi-intending to take advantage of this opportunity to get a few more days of mission leave so as to return with better rest.
It seemed that the bishop in this area had eaten some hallucinogenic mushrooms to think they could do something about it. Even “Eclipse” Roderick wouldn’t easily solve a demon warlock who fell into madness.
If the previous Chief Justice was still alive, it could be possible…
Roderick suddenly stopped the horse and raised his hand.
“…The smell of superior demons,” he said with interest.
Facing the excited knight commander, the deputy wiped his face helplessly. “Alert!”
A huge black shadow appeared in the blizzard, and a faint demon aura came from not far away. The Knights of Judgement spread out in their well-trained formation and ignited a snow-melting spell, directly dispersing the snow and storm in place.
This time they saw the dark shadow clearly.
It was a man riding a white behemoth and wearing the uniform of a free monk of the Laddism Church. This weird knight looked to be in his thirties, with dark brown hair and eyes, healthy wheat-colored skin, and sharp and calm eyes.
But they didn’t recognize the behemoth he was riding.
Its four claws stepped on the top of the soft snow layer, as if it didn’t have any weight. It didn’t seem like it was a variant of a wolf-type beast—at least they didn’t know any kind of wolf-type beast would have a pair of golden horns.
A small girl dressed as a pauper was sitting behind that knight, poking her head out slightly. Timidly, she looked over at the Knights of Judgement.
“Name?” Roderick didn’t talk nonsense. The tip of his sword pointed directly at the strange knight.
The knight shook his head and made no sound.
“Forget it, you don’t look like an incompetent idiot. Let me just say it—put down the girl behind you. It’s a superior demon.”
“She’s not.” The man riding the white behemoth finally spoke; his voice was low and pleasant.
“…That’s at least a demon warlock, although I don’t see any signs of deformation. This is too close to a human village, so you’ve crossed the line,” Roderick said lazily. The tip of his sword didn’t waver at all. “Speaking of which, have I seen you somewhere? Hmm, you do look familiar.”
“I have heard of you, but I have never met you.” The mysterious knight on the opposite side lowered his eyes as the snowflakes fell on his hair and uniform.
Before the knight could finish his sentence, a spell shot out from the tip of Roderick’s sword. This was such a “dastardly deed” from the supposedly righteous knight that the deputy had to turn his head and sigh.
But neither the behemoth nor the knight moved. The white beam of light suddenly disappeared without a trace halfway through.
Roderick put his sword away neatly. “The strength difference is too big. It’s no fun… To the opposite side, sorry. It was just a test from us little people. Don’t take it personally.”
“Lord Roderick?!”
“Do I look stupid?” Roderick raised his eyebrows high. “Since I’m not a fool, why should I rush into a confusing and inevitable losing fight? I told you before, that—what’s your name again—if you want to commit suicide gracefully with this approach, I won’t stop you, but don’t drag me into it.”
“But you are—”
“I’m a normal human, and no matter what’s on the opposite side, it’s obviously not in the same category. Mr. Deputy, first count how many people are here. Do you see the beast on the opposite side? Chopping us all up and feeding it to it would probably not be enough for a meal.”
“…No, you guys aren’t delicious enough to eat.”
The white behemoth spoke suddenly, in a very serious tone. Then it twisted its furry head and looked at the person riding on the back. “Baby, still not ready? Just let them take her back. Anyway, Nemo has already greeted Old Quinn so they wouldn’t do anything to her.”
The mystery knight pinched his brow and pulled out a small badge from his pocket, pinning it to the little girl’s shirt. The little girl sniffled; her eyes full of confusion and panic.
“Don’t be afraid. Your chest doesn’t hurt anymore, right?” When facing the little girl, the knight’s tone softened a lot. “They will take you to the city and Grandpa Pope will take you in.”
“But, but, Pandy…”
“Pandorater? She will be fine, I promise. Even if it’s for observation purposes, they will not do anything to you. Compared to this, tell Pandy that Nemo has been looking after her—you can always ask him for help, but if you’re too naughty, he will also come to you.”
“…Okay.”
As soon as the voice fell, the little girl’s expression changed. The confusion and panic suddenly disappeared, and she looked calm and curious. However, when her gaze hit the team of Knights of Judgement not far away, the little girl suddenly looked gloomy.
“I know,” she whispered in a tone that didn’t sound like a child. “I’m just a little interested in the other side of the world and I won’t go against His Majesty’s wishes.”
The tall knight jumped off the back of the behemoth, stretched out his arms, and carried the little girl to the ground.
“It’s not a superior demon, nor a demon warlock. She made a wish to get rid of her illness so she could live and spontaneously entered into a symbiotic pact with a demon. I think the Pope will be happy to observe this special case and give her a title.”
“It’s the Pope’s personal seal…”
“But that’s…”
“Oh, just escort her back to the Central Church, right?” The current knight commander accepted the reality very happily.
“That’s it.” The knight nodded.
“Okay, come here, little one. You can ride on my horse.”
“Lord Roderick—!” The deputy looked like he was going to have a heart attack.
“…Or ride on his neck,” Roderick glanced at the deputy and added.
“Besides, you guys—”
Unfortunately, unbeknownst to him, the behemoth and the knight disappeared into the air. There wasn’t even a footprint left on the snow, as if what had happened was just an illusion.
“Let’s go.” Roderick asked the little girl to sit in front of him. He held the reins with both arms so that she could sit more firmly. “Let’s go back.”
“But the investigation…”
“You really don’t understand, do you?” Roderick shook his head bitterly.
“I can’t see through them and our spells are completely ineffective. We’re not at the same strength level at all. If they don’t want us to find them, we could turn this whole area upside down and we won’t find a clue. If I’m not mistaken, they deliberately showed up in front of the bishop. I’m afraid that they calculated that I was nearby and set this up just so I can bring her back to Hatfield in name.”
“After all, Lord Quinn still has to consider some face. If they were to send her directly to him, his lordship wouldn’t be able to explain it. I’m different—those fanatics who want to make trouble must first have to weigh themselves.”
The deputy had a headache as he understood the reasoning. If this Chief Justice had shown some shame, he wouldn’t be so stifled, but this bastard…
“Oh, there’s one more thing.”
As if hearing the swearing in his subordinate’s hearts, Roderick added another sentence.
“I’m different from your group of idiots. I won’t act rashly when I hear the word demon. It’s more reassuring to leave it in my hands. Sit still, little one. See that uncle? Don’t pay any attention to him. He just has cramps on his face.”
The deputy shook his whole body with anger.
He could only continue to pray to Zenni that he would take care of this scourge as soon as possible, he thought silently in despair.
However, Lord Zenni didn’t have the mind to listen to anyone’s prayers.
It got dark very quickly in winter.
Standing by a tree, Adrian straightened his sword, waiting for his God to change into a human form. Just like every day recently, when Jesse regained his human appearance, the two of them would go back to the warm inn in the nearby town together.
But this time, the behemoth sat in place without the slightest sign of movement.
“Five weeks,” Jesse said.
“Hmm?”
“Take care of that one—those two—forget it, taking care of that little girl, you know what I mean. It’s been five weeks, darling Adri. You haven’t had time to kiss me.”
“After all, the child has just recovered from a serious illness and was close to death. Her spirit wasn’t stable, and she needed to be watched,” Adrian explained patiently.
“But this does not change the fact that ‘you haven’t kissed me for five weeks’,” Jesse announced, his voice becoming as sticky as honey. “Well, this may be a good thing. Prolonged abstinence can make people sensitive, right? Maybe this time, I can get you to waver.”
“…I thought you had given up on this idea.”
“I won’t give up until I see through your thoughts.”
Jesse leaned closer, turned into a human face, and stepped barefoot on the snow.
“You say that faith is blind, yet I haven’t seen you be obedient to me all the time. To be honest, sometimes I can’t figure out whether you believe in me or are playing games with me. But then again, you’ve always been willing to tolerate me in such matters—”
Jesse Dylan lowered his voice ambiguously.
A cold touch wrapped around his body causing Adrian to frown slightly. His body that was transformed by the flesh of the gods wasn’t afraid of the cold, but this made the gap between his body temperature and this coldness even greater.
Focusing his magic on his eyes, he could see that the thin limbs of the gods that could not be seen were entangled in his body, twisting the buttons of his clothes one by one, and slowly but firmly removed his monk uniform.
What a pity, he had just smoothed out the wrinkles in his clothing.
The snow under his body was melting, and the weird and cold touch of his thin limbs meandered through every inch of his skin, making him shudder. Those beautiful blue eyes got very close, followed by a scorching breath and a slightly rough and eager kiss.
The fiery fingertips matched the wet and cold thin limbs, dancing on the skin together. Adrian tried desperately to restrain himself so that he didn’t breathe too fast.
“Why?” In a drifting consciousness from pleasure, he heard the god whisper in his ears.
“Because from the beginning, my faith was just my personal desire.”
Adrian gasped softly, hugging the warm body in front of him.
“…Me too.”
The author has something to say:
Leaving a little exhaust*!
*Reference to exhaust from a car, which is slang referring to sex. Basically, she left in the PG-13 foreplay.
Kinky Thoughts:
Can’t get me enough of Adrian and Jesse. Need some fanfics of this… Anyway, the next chapter is the last of the extras.
Now the heat of the desert didn’t bother Nemo. Unfortunately, at this moment, he had to remove all his instinctive protection and adjust his physique to the level of ordinary humans so that he could sweat smoothly and not look too abnormal.
The nursing uniforms of the Royal Military Academy of Clementine had been improved, and the men’s uniforms had been revised and cut in several places, making them more comfortable to wear. Nemo rolled up the cuffs of his uniform, wiped the sweat from his forehead, slowed down amid the complaints of the students, and fell to Oliver’s side, who was wearing a logistics uniform.
Making sure no one was paying attention to them, Nemo coughed twice. “Ice, Ollie. The professor is too close. It’s not convenient for me to use abyssal magic.”
Then he opened his mouth at Oliver and pointed to his mouth.
“In a few more years, it’s estimated that they will be able to clearly perceive the fluctuations in my power.” Oliver quickly stuffed a small ice cube into his lover’s mouth and also threw one in his. “Time flies by so quickly.”
“Yeah, how are you going to explain it this time? The three little Godwins are pretty clever. Olivia can barely be coaxed, and Eddie is already sixteen—he stared at you for a long time last time we had drinks with Godwin.” Nemo bit down and chewed on the ice.
“Brother will find a way to explain.”
Oliver pushed off the headache errand with a hearty expression and stuffed another piece of ice into Nemo’s mouth.
“Besides, when we get our graduation diplomas from Clementine Academy, we can use them as proof of identity and legally pretend to be our own… Uh, distant relatives? Eddie and the others are still young and using this as evidence is enough to settle them.”
“Having said that, I don’t know if Godwin and Eddie are still in the cold war.” Nemo pressed his tongue against the ice, with a little more worry in his voice.
The angry Godwin Lopez mentioned in the communication crystal a few days ago that his rebellious eldest son had refused to talk to him for three weeks—he was obedient and behaved well during his childhood, and Godwin himself severely lacked the experience of a father-son relationship and had to turn remotely to his cousin to ask for help.
“Hard to say. After all, that boy, Eddie, is bent on running out and becoming a mercenary straight away. I agree with Godwin on this point. He’s too young. Better to study properly at the academy first.”
“You’re sounding more and more like Flint.” Nemo smoothed his sweaty black hair with his hands.
Oliver smiled. It was still a youthful face, but his eyes were deeply matured. “Like? My dad didn’t insist that I go to study in the city back then.”
“Gentlemen, I can understand that you are very tired, but you still have to maintain the formation of the team. We will be at the ruins soon, and we can cook some sandpoint plum soup then.”
Even with the scorching sun, their ancient elven language professor, who was nearly 70 years old, was still very energetic. The old man raised his cane, and its tip was about to poke Nemo’s back, but it was blocked by a hand.
“You can take a break at the end of the team, and I will help you take care of these students.” A slightly low male voice sounded.
“No, no, Professor Wilhelm. This… This is too much trouble for you. Alas, in fact, I protested at the time—I am older, but there is no need for the Chief of Nursing to follow. This is not a dangerous expedition. It’s just to see the desert ruins. Even if something did happen to me, the children would not be in danger.”
“Don’t mind.” The middle-aged professor smiled. “They didn’t force me. I applied by myself. Anyway, there are no urgent tasks recently, so I usually stay in school longer. There are some earthsea orchids near here, and I wanted to get some fresh ones to study their medicinal value.”
The old man scratched his face and smiled. He grimaced at the two lazy young people and walked to the end of the team with his cane.
“Long time no see, Nemo.” The middle-aged professor’s gaze softened.
It was different from the first time when they met. He wasn’t sure if it was because of age or his straightened back, but Hayden Wilhelm looked a little taller, and the freckles on his face had faded a lot. His hair was still curled up badly, and his somewhat big eyes had long lost their neurotic feelings and looked extremely sharp.
“Hayden.” Nemo patted the other man’s arm.
The introverted young man from nursing had faded from his youthful memory. He even looked a little more solemn and had a majestic aura. He should have heard part of the truth from his wife, Delia, but his attitude was as natural as ever.
“The last time I saw you two, it should have been at Delia’s and mine’s wedding?” Hayden remarked half-jokingly. “I went to help support Leonard some time ago and just missed your entrance. Then once school started, a bunch of trouble happened, so we haven’t been able to talk properly.”
“…You guys really haven’t changed at all.” His eyes swept up and down the two of them, and Hayden’s voice was a bit more emotional.
“Speaking of this, you have really changed a lot. They say that last year you sentenced 70% of your students to fail. Hayden, you haven’t been like this before… How should I put it, harsh?”
“In the age of peace, students are too impetuous.”
Hearing nursing-related questions, Hayden almost reflexively raised his face and became serious.
“Nursing must be done with utmost care and there can be no slightest omission. It’s not something you can get away with giggling and fooling around. 70% is already my bottom line—they will save people’s lives in the future! I tried to persuade them in the beginning, but it turns out that it was more effective to scare them.”
“Not bad for your roommate.” Oliver elbowed Nemo, “In some ways, you think exactly the same way.”
“I couldn’t imagine you quarreling with Delia before. I just gained the ability to imagine,” Nemo commented solemnly.
“Delia, she… I can understand a little of the despair she has suffered, as well as the feeling of being belittled and denied. But, uh, you guys know. There are times when her decisions still lack humanity, and I can’t help but… quarrel. She at least listens to me, and I can understand some of her difficulties.”
Hayden coughed a little embarrassedly and touched the wedding ring with the royal emblem on his ring finger.
“Most of the time, the two of us actually get along pretty well.”
“I take back my words. It’s not called ‘bickering’. It’s closer to ‘intense communication’.” Nemo smiled and shook his head. “How is she doing lately?”
“Pretty good. She just keeps talking about wanting to see Ms. Savage. Recently, Ms. Savage and Mr. Salter went on an adventure in the wetland jungle, and it’s not easy to get in touch. How about you guys? I remember that this expedition was signed up voluntarily. The two of you don’t seem to like this lively stuff.”
“There are acquaintances of ours nearby, so we stopped by to see and bring back a couple of earthsea orchids. Olivia has been clamoring to see it for a long time and the variety is so fragile that we have to ask an expert for tips on breeding them.”
Oliver’s face was filled with nostalgia.
“After all, the ruins of the desert are near Caleb Village. The two of us will later…”
“Enemy attack! It’s an intermediate demon!” The combat major in the front row issued a warning, interrupting Oliver’s unfinished words. “Mages prepare! Wait, wait, they’re charging to the back! The logistics team spread out immediately!”
However, the demon that attacked moved faster.
The senior commander of the team leader was in a cold sweat at the time—the young logistics officer who was attacked didn’t resist and was pounced on by the demon. His whole body was smashed into the hot sand.
The huge white demon just pressed down on the poor logistician’s body, quickly lowered its head and extended its long purple-black tongue belonging to the demon.
Then it licked hard on the face of the young man named “Oliver”.
The thin tail of the arthropod lizard behind the bone shell stretched straight, trembling excitedly. It licked hard, and when it was tired of licking, it rubbed its flat face twice. The scene was a bit weird for a while.
“The arthropod lizard has a gentle personality. With me watching here, it’s not a big deal. Keep going!” Hayden raised his voice and shouted to the front of the team, his tone returning to seriousness.
Seeing only one arthropod lizard, which was used to moving in groups, came running. Despite their curiosity, the students continued to move forward honestly under the order of the “Professor Prince”.
The arthropod lizard was still squatting on Oliver, continuing to lick with a posture that showed it wanted to lick off his face. Nemo took a breath and tapped the much larger bone shell with his knuckles.
“White II, right?” he huffed.
White II’s licking stopped instantly.
Then it fell to one side, facing the sky on its back, stretched its legs straight, and pretended to be dead. The tongue that hadn’t had time to withdraw from its mouth was still half exposed outside.
Nemo poked the lizard’s abdomen angrily and amused. “This trick never fooled me back then. Do you really think it will work this time?”
The arthropod lizard, which has grown two to three times in size, blinked its four bean-like eyes which visibly moistened. The originally straight tail had shrank slightly as it trembled.
“It seems that the remaining power of our White I is still there.” Oliver got up from the sand and patted off the grains of sand on his body.
“I have controlled my aura this time.” Nemo soothingly touched the turned belly of the arthropod lizard.
“I know, it should remember our smell.” Oliver also stretched out his hand and touched the rough belly of the bone lizard.
Touched by Oliver, White II seemed to have temporarily forgotten its fear. It turned over and landed on all fours. In a little bit of smoke, its figure began to melt and gradually became the appearance of a fuller goat.
Then it began to rub around Oliver again.
“Want to lead the way again?” Oliver patted the fake goat on the head.
White II immediately shook its head.
“In other words, our witch lady has been doing well recently.”
The lizard that turned into a goat bleated softly.
“It looks like it wants to follow you.” Hayden touched his chin and circled the goat twice. “It seems that it’s an adult. Since it can act alone, it must have permission from its pack. Let it follow for now. I didn’t notice malice from it.”
Hearing the somewhat familiar comment, Nemo sighed. Oliver, on one hand, stroked the fake goat with emotion, whispering something.
“I have a hunch that this time, it will continue to follow you… Ollie, do you want to raise it?”
“If it is willing to follow me.”
“Then we have to make a sandcastle for it in the garden.”
“…That sounds pretty great.”
“But I’m afraid I won’t be able to accompany you to Nadine’s place later, Nemo. Not to mention that in her heart, I am still an ordinary human being, and it is not appropriate to look like this. Now I have to wait for you outside the village as someone has to watch White II here.”
“Well, then you have an hour to explain to our White II clearly that I didn’t really want to stew it in soup back then.”
As soon as Nemo’s voice fell, the fuller goat whooshed behind Oliver.
“…I’ll try my best.” Oliver smiled bitterly and patted the “fuller goat” squeezed behind him.
Hayden took a few steps forward knowingly, raising sand and dust. Nemo nodded and drew a rift in the space in front of him…
At the other end of the rift was a hut that was extremely warm. The flowers were still lush, and it could be seen that they had been taken care of very carefully. The witch’s courtyard was decorated with an arrangement of colorful flowers filled with vibrant life.
Nemo nodded to his lover and walked happily towards the courtyard.
Rolling around was an orange blob. The cat was lying on the steps of the door, licking its tail very seriously. Perceiving the rift that opened and closed in front of it, it sneezed and meowed hoarsely at the black-haired guest in front of it.
Children’s laughter occasionally came from the courtyard, and the sweet smell of cookies floated over. From this perspective, you could see the lush citrus trees in the yard.
Ann didn’t feel comfortable knocking mud off the tips of her boots.
“I said, you don’t need to follow.” Not far from the courtyard wall, the new queen of Alban’s face wasn’t very good-looking. She was still wearing the old leather armor, and after knocking the mud off her boots, she started to dust it off again.
“This is your first private holiday after you ascended to the throne. As your knight, I must ensure your safety.” Gallagher Salter grimaced.
“…You also know that it is a ‘private’ holiday. I say, Mr. Mad Dog, I’ll give you ten gold coins. Can you go to any tavern and just buy yourself a drink?” Ann tugged at her short hair.
“No.”
“This is an order.”
“For your safety and Alban’s future, I am willing to disobey orders. If you are not satisfied, you can stab me to death with your spear.”
“…” Ann clenched her teeth and wanted to grind them on someone very much at the moment. “Yes, because I’m not a thirty-four years old, but a thirty-four-month-old. Without Mommy watching, if I walk a dozen steps, I will be abducted by people passing by if you don’t pay attention—is that what you mean?”
Gallagher rolled his eyes but remained tactfully silent.
“Salter!” She was so angsty that she wanted to vomit, and this nagging knight refused to leave. Ann touched her hunting spear behind her and, for a few seconds, was moved by Gallagher’s proposal.
“You should not come to such a place. If you want to meet the mistress of the house, I can arrange the best restaurant nearby for you.” An extraordinarily piercing child’s scream penetrated the courtyard wall, and Gallagher’s face paled a few shades. “I’ve asked around, and this place is full of stray children. Most of them are prostitutes. Girls, criminals, and the abandoned offspring of beggars. Your identity …”
“Oh, don’t worry, I grew up with them. At least we have a lot in common—everyone doesn’t have much hope for their biological parents.” Ann’s tone became cold. “Listen, Salter. If you say something you shouldn’t say later, I don’t mind stringing you on the spear and dragging you back.”
Having said that, Ann still walked around anxiously near the yard without taking a step forward, as if she was blocked by an invisible barrier.
Gallagher raised his brows and coughed slightly.
While the new queen of Alban was spinning in circles, the simple wooden door in the backyard of the small courtyard was pushed open. Ann straightened her back in an instant, locked Gallagher’s neck with her arms, and yanked him violently behind a bush.
Gallagher was chained to his neck, and there was a little struggle in his voice: “…I thought you were here to visit an old acquaintance.”
“I am.” Ann nervously looked out through the bushes.
The last time they met was almost twenty years ago. The nun, who was in her thirties at the time, now most of her hair was white, and her face had a lot of obvious wrinkles like knife marks. Fortunately, she didn’t seem to gain or lose a lot of weight, as she looked very healthy. Ann bit her lip, subconsciously held her breath, cast her gaze to the ground, and began to count the dead leaf stems in the soil.
“Your Majesty,” Gallagher called in a low voice.
“Shut up.”
“Your Majesty…”
“Shut up!”
“Oh, uh, Ms. Savage.”
“Why are you…?” Ann was about to turn her head when a hand touched her head. She finally understood why Gallagher kept calling her, but it was too late.
Ann’s entire body shuddered, but she still didn’t dare raise her eyes. The heat of that hand was distant yet familiar. Before she recovered, the tip of her nose and eyes were already full of sourness.
“Ann? Is it Ann?” The nun’s voice hadn’t changed, and the smile on her round face still carried a bit of silliness.
Ann gritted her teeth and stood up slowly.
For as long as she could remember, the nun’s face had always required her to tilt her head up to get a good look. This time, the long-grown adult herself had to lower her head to see the face that was piled with smiles.
“You have grown so big.” The nun enthusiastically took Ann’s hands. The calloused hand wiped Ann’s skin, and the choked pain climbed into her throat.
Ann opened her mouth, but she couldn’t say a word of what she had prepared.
She opened her arms and hugged the tall and sturdy woman in front of her in her memory, but now she seemed extremely ordinary. Ann lowered her head and smelled the familiar scent of butter on the other person’s shoulder. The nun smiled cheerfully and patted her on the back.
“I…” she said with difficulty. “Sister, I…”
“What’s the matter, child?”
The nun patted her on the back again. After a few seconds, she didn’t wait for Ann’s answer but started talking on her own.
“You are finally back, Ann. I used a little of the money you sent back, and the rest is for you to keep. Look at you. You don’t have a safe job and you keep doing those dangerous tasks every day. In case something happens, and you can no longer do business, you can at least use that money.”
“Recently, the world hasn’t been safe. Just do the tasks. Don’t get involved in the war. Okay?”
“I heard some things about your Black Chapter test. Everyone… Alas, I’ve watched you all grow up in my eyes, so I can’t say that I don’t feel distressed. I thought at the time that if you came back crying, I really couldn’t help but scold you… Then coax you.”
The nun stopped patting her back.
“The main responsibility for this matter lies with me. You were still a child, and I was an elder at that time. I should’ve watched over you and told you—silly girl, why are you crying?”
Gallagher, who was half a step away, didn’t dare to move, trying to reduce his sense of existence.
He had never seen Ann cry like this.
The crazy queen could pull out a broken sword inserted into her body while talking and laughing, and after cutting down her own brother with the same blood with her hands, her eyes were only slightly red, and she quickly regained her composure.
The lawless Ann Savage never seemed to expose her weaknesses.
Now, she was holding an old woman in a faded nun’s uniform, her shoulders twitching, crying silently. From his perspective, he could see Ann’s side—tears were rolling down the cheeks of the new queen, and she even bit her lower lip so that blood broke.
Gallagher took two awkward steps back, half sad and half worried—he had naturally investigated the queen’s past and had a little understanding of what the two were talking about. Needless to say, it was indeed sad to lose your companions who you grew up with on that test.
However, in addition to regret and sadness, the “Wasteland Mad Dog” didn’t succeed in giving birth to feelings similar to pity, and he faintly began to worry that he would be killed by the angry queen afterwards.
Ann suppressed her crying at first, but then simply allowed herself to choke and cry, holding the nun and letting it all out until she couldn’t breathe.
It took a full ten minutes before she could collect her words.
“I’m sorry,” she choked and whispered. “I took them away. I was too arrogant—”
“Okay, let’s go home and sit down first, then sit down and talk about it. Don’t stand here, it’s a bit cold and it’s windy here.”
Ann wiped away tears with her sleeves, sniffled, and nodded vigorously.
The nun patted her on the shoulder, and then turned her attention to Gallagher without warning. Her gaze stayed on the marshal’s exquisite outfit for a few seconds.
“Oh.” The nun’s voice was a little flustered. “My lord, how embarrassing. I was preoccupied with my child…”
Hearing the name “my child”, Gallagher’s eyebrows jumped.
“Uh,” he uttered senselessly. “I… Don’t mind me.”
“How can that be! Are you her employer? Ann, have you found someone to work under the nobles? Like I said earlier, it’s better not to be a Black Chapter, and now I can rest assured.”
“No, she…” Gallagher was a bit stuck. This somewhat dull-looking woman obviously didn’t know Ann’s identity.
“Lord Salter is my employer.” Ann sniffled hard and glared her flushed eyes at Gallagher, squeezing the words from between her teeth. “Don’t worry, sister. He’s long-winded, but…Well, he’s not bad.”
“How can you say that in front of him. Apologize!”
“It’s okay, our relationship is good. Really, don’t worry, he won’t do anything much.” Hearing the familiar tone of rebuke, Ann burst into laughter.
“……Oh.” The nun patted her chest quickly. “Then, then I won’t say anything. Ann, come here!”
She turned her back, motioned for Ann to get closer, and lowered her voice. “He’s willing to accompany you. Are you two… I think that one is not young anymore, Ann. You shouldn’t do things like destroy other people’s families, yes? Nobles are not very reliable. I still hope you can find someone with whom you can spend a lifetime together.”
Gallagher, who heard it clearly, coughed unnaturally. ‘He’s dead,’ he thought sadly. He was so distracted that he even forgot to take off the tiny branches on his clothes.
Ann rubbed her nose and scratched her head embarrassedly. “He’s not married, and we’re not in that kind of…”
The nun curled her lips. “I’m old enough to see clearly! He had that look in his eyes that says he can’t wait to tie you up with a rope.”
…Technically, it’s true. Gallagher must really want to tie her to the office of the king.
Ann rubbed her face fiercely and finally moved her gaze to Gallagher. They exchanged despair with different meanings in each other’s eyes.
“Oh, I’ve been talking here for so long. Come on, come inside and have a cup of tea. This great… Ahem, sir, come along too.”
“And do not quickly follow.” Ann mouthed to her knight.
“If you want to execute me, it’s best not to do it for such a terrible reason.” Gallagher mouthed back with a sullen face.
“I’ll try my best,” Ann breathed a sigh of relief and replied wordlessly. “…It depends on your performance.”
The sun was about to go down, and under the glow, the red eyes on her face were not as conspicuous as they had been at first.
The warm glow also illuminated the entrance to the Abyss.
Groups of strangely shaped stones have stood here for a long time. Unknown of where these stones had come from, the eyes of the living were embedded at the top, which was quite creepy. Whether it was mercenaries or local residents, few people were willing to approach this area.
A figure wearing a monk’s uniform appeared near the group of stones and stopped in front of one of them.
“You actually came.” Telaranea took the spread-out book off his face.
“I never thought I would see you here.” Adrian Cross responded politely.
“I’m used to waiting here, and I can’t change it for a while.” The red-haired young man stood up and patted the grass leaves and dust on his pants. “It’s very quiet here, very suitable for thinking alone.”
“Maybe not that quiet.” Adrian looked at the weird stones and shook his head gently.
“Your reaction… Well, spiritual communication is difficult to learn. It is the power of the flesh of the gods.” The Sage of the Abyss touched his chin and glanced at the strange stone not far behind him.
“Nn.” Adrian didn’t deny it.
Hearing the word “flesh of the gods”, those screams became louder in his ears.
Spiritual communication must be through mutual consent. In other words, these fanatics wanted him to hear them scream.
Adrian’s expression didn’t change. After staring calmly at the sky dyed red by the morning sun above his head for a while, he stretched out a hand, slowly pressed down on the stone closest to him, and then closed his eyes.
“Now I can hear your thoughts.” He asked the stone that was once a human, “…Do you want it to end?”
Perhaps he got an answer. A bright light flashed, and the stone turned into cold and fine dust, no longer exuding the breath of life. Adrian Cross performed a ritual, waved his hand, and put them into a prepared stone box.
Then he walked to the next stone.
After the last light of the sun had faded, he finally made his way around the group of strange stones. The number of stones was fully two-thirds less. The remaining one-third still stood in place, which should indicate they rejected it.
Telaranea snorted quite unexpectedly.
“I thought you decided to forget about it.” The Sage of the Abyss stretched. “Or—let me think about it—kindly set them free?”
“I just learned to communicate with my mind not long ago. If I had decided without authorization that all of these people ‘wanted to die’… Then I might not be much different from them.”
Adrian quietly put away the stone box and raised his eyes.
“…As for ‘letting them go’, the rest of them also asked for it.”
Unlike the silence that Telaranea heard, the rejected fanatics were cursing and screaming in despair—those harsh sounds kept hitting his ears.
“Everything has a cause and effect.”
Adrian sighed and wrapped the stone box.
“I am indeed alive, but I have died. It is not your credit that I can stand here alive now—as a former colleague, I will send the bones of these people back to the central church. As the party who was killed, I have no obligation to ‘forgive’ you. That’s all.”
“…Just as I don’t think that those I’ve killed with my own hands need to ‘forgive’ me,” he added calmly.
“How cold.” Telaranea shrugged. He could hear the sound of the wind blowing over the strange stone.
“I wanted to live in the first place.” Adrian didn’t explain more. He picked up the stone box and stepped in the direction of Hatfield.
“Well.” Telaranea patted the stone closest to him casually. “What about next time? When do you plan to come back?”
“Since everyone has made their choice, I will not come back.”
The former knight commander shook his head gently.
“Farewell forever, everyone.”
The author has something to say:
I explained a little bit about Ann and Adrian~
Although as an author, I could have chosen not to deal with this issue (?) But I don’t think the Knight Commander will choose not to face the problem of those fanatics.
The loud snoring of the gray parrot came from behind the semi-partitioned wall.
He frowned slightly at the snoring, and as usual, Oliver opened his eyes on time at six in the morning. He yawned, cranked his neck, prepared to get out of bed and wash, and prepared for the tavern to open.
This was the first summer after their wedding. The air was already a bit sultry. The soft feather quilt had long been replaced with a thin blanket, and the ice fish that wouldn’t melt floated in the air, cruising silently along the edge of the ceiling, exuding a cool chill.
Another calm and peaceful morning.
The sun had risen, and its sunlight was leaking through the thick curtains. A soft trail of light sprinkled on the messy clothes on the carpet. Recently, Oliver’s power was still gradually becoming stronger, and the aspect that benefited the most from this new God’s increase in strength right now was…
Originally, used to getting up at five to work, now the inexhaustible magic could allow Oliver to stay in bed for an hour and then open his eyes after sunrise.
Although the Lord Demon King had a good ability to control the spell puppets for work, such high-level spells were still inconvenient to expose. Oliver still needed to do it himself to organize the front hall where people came and went, as well as develop a creative menu and the like.
In particular, preparing a double breakfast for Nemo and himself.
This was Oliver’s favorite part, and he was very reluctant to give it to a spell puppet who only knew how to execute old-fashioned instructions.
At first, Nemo tried to get up with Oliver, but after several consecutive nights of one-on-one crusades, His Majesty the Demon King, who had a sore waist and soft legs, decided to set eight in the morning as his wake-up time.
When his lazy lover got up from bed, Oliver would serve the breakfast that had already been prepared, and the two of them would eat happily in the room together. Next, Nemo would take the dishes back to the first floor with him and start commanding the shadow puppets to help with cooking and cleaning.
That was how it should always be.
Something was wrong with Nemo today.
Oliver tried to get up but found that Nemo’s strong arms hooked around his waist and hugged him tightly. His naked thigh pressed against his legs, and Oliver was firmly fixed in the center of the soft bed. He turned his face helplessly—the culprit’s black hair was scattered on the pillow, and he was smacking his mouth with satisfaction in his sleep.
The incarnation of the Pillar of the World could theoretically move without sleep, but Nemo liked to wrap himself in a quilt and hold Oliver in his arms like a pillow.
“Your Majesty.” Oliver patted the arm helplessly, lowering his voice. “I have to get up.”
In his sleep, Nemo gave a very perfunctory snort, but his arms became tighter.
“Today’s breakfast is omelets.” Oliver stretched out his right hand, twisted a strand of black hair, and tugged gently. “If you let me go in a minute, I still have time to buy the freshly baked bread on the opposite side of town.”
“Just eat the leftovers from yesterday. Stay a little longer,” Nemo said in a daze, sliding his hand across Oliver’s chest very honestly.
This action caused the thin blanket to slide directly to his waist, and there were still many bright hickeys and tooth marks left on his pale skin.
Oliver took a breath, turned to his side, and hugged Nemo, who was groping around randomly.
Feeling the familiar body heat, Nemo sighed comfortably. Seeing that there was a tendency to fall asleep again, Oliver gently raised his arm and tried to retreat quietly, but unfortunately, as soon as he moved himself to the side of the bed, he was directly dragged back by a burst of force.
Nemo directly pressed himself up, buried his nose in Oliver’s neck socket, and hugged the other party’s back tightly.
The wide bed creaked softly, and Oliver could clearly feel the other party’s hand behind his back and the hard metal wedding ring on his fingers.
“Okay, Your Majesty, stop it.” He kissed the top of Nemo’s hair. “I have to go down and prepare for today’s work—”
“I’m not opening the tavern today.” Nemo buried his head in Oliver’s neck socket, sounding muffled.
“But…”
“I hung up the closed sign last night. Don’t worry.” Nemo bit his lover’s ears unceremoniously.
“Then take a half day off? After all, there will be a fair tomorrow, and many people will definitely be out drinking tonight.”
“All day,” his Demon King muttered. “I don’t like not being able to touch you when I get up.”
Oliver thought for a moment and decided to regain the initiative. He rolled over, pressed the other party under his body, and gave a long kiss that was enough to make people’s brains melt. After a kiss, Nemo finally opened his eyes. His silver eyes were unfocused, signifying he hadn’t woken up yet.
“Then how about we go downstairs together?” After the long kiss, Oliver’s breathing was a little short, and he smiled and straightened his lover’s hair. “If you want to rest, we can go to the lake, or—”
“Let’s go to the Border Forest. Today is an anniversary, and an anniversary is not suitable for work.” Nemo sounded completely sober this time.
“Anniversary?” Oliver instantly went through the recent holidays, wedding dates, everyone’s birthdays, and even the date of the decisive battle in his mind, but he didn’t find any date that matched today.
“The day I saw you for the first time.” Seeing the blankness in those emerald eyes, Nemo’s voice brought a smile.
After reacting, Oliver coughed embarrassedly.
“Yes, it was the day I scared you and made you cry. You were still young at the time, and it’s normal if you didn’t remember.” Nemo didn’t mean to simply let him go, and he pinched Oliver’s waist a few times.
“I thought you would want to celebrate at home. Why go to the Border Forest?” Oliver retaliated by biting the tip of Nemo’s nose.
“Surprise.” Nemo’s voice was nasally.
Oliver raised his eyebrows and didn’t hide the impatience in his voice. “Okay, then let’s get up now—”
However, a pair of arms encircled his neck and hugged him in his arms again.
“Don’t worry,” Nemo breathed in his lover’s ear as his right hand brushed down the other man’s chest. “It’s only six now. We have plenty of time.
……
When Nemo, who was beating his waist, led Ollie to the vicinity of the Border Forest, lunch time had already passed.
The two young men chewed their cold beef sandwiches while stepping on the thick lawn. The gray parrot stomped hard on the lawn, looking extremely angry.
“Can you move my bird stand to the first floor?” It flapped its wings sadly and angrily. “I endured it last night. Why did it start again this morning? I’m trying to sleep!”
“You can cast a mute array for yourself.” Nemo rubbed his waist, his voice a little hoarse.
“No! Let’s not mention that I won’t be able to hear the call for dinner; this is more of a spiritual—Wait, there’s something here!”
Oliver also stopped.
There was a rustling sound from the bushes around them, and it was obvious that something of a large size was hidden behind the bushes, but seeing Nemo’s relaxed look, Oliver didn’t pose in a vigilant posture.
“I don’t think anything can scare me to tears right now.” Oliver surveyed the thick, one-person tall shrub and rubbed his hands together.
Nemo smiled and shook his head, put his thumb and index finger into his mouth, and whistled.
Round and sturdy creatures emerged from the bushes one by one.
Most of them were one or two feet taller than an adult male, and they looked like standing seals. Charcoal-gray fleece covered their skin, their eyes were round and black, and their long soft nose hung in front of sharp canine teeth, which made this creature a bit more funny than terrifying. Their lower limbs were short, but their upper limbs were long and powerful, and their fingers seemed to have a great grip.
It was not a very beautiful creature, but Oliver was very familiar with it.
He had described this “terrifying” creature to “Mr. White” on the tree countless times.
Having talked to Godwin a few times about the past of the caramel apple tart, Godwin had asked specifically about it—and now he knew it well. To prevent his young self from running into the Border Forest, his father, Flint Lopez, made up a horrific monster out of thin air to add to his fears. Before his first encounter with Nemo, the demon “palulu weevil” was the biggest shadow of his childhood.
It was also the precious story his father created for him, which belonged only to him.
“I created them according to your description, but some places may not be very accurate.”
Nemo stretched out his hand to touch the monster’s head, and the monster lowered its head obediently, squinting its eyes comfortably.
“They do live deep in the Border Forest, but they don’t attack children. Instead, they will lift them up and throw them to the nearest human village.”
His Demon King turned his face, his silver eyes gleaming in the sun. “I also forged the research report of the scholar ‘Piper*’ and placed it near their activity area. Ollie, they were finally successfully discovered yesterday.”
*Referring to Oliver’s dad, who came up with this demon. It also could be a loose reference to the Pied Piper of Hamelin, who’s closely associated with kids as he kidnaps them by hypnotizing them with his magic instrument.
“They’re really true to their name. This is what I wanted to show you—a real intermediate demon, the palulu weevil.”
Oliver trembled and took a deep breath as he sniffled.
“Actually, the name is pretty stupid.” Eventually, his eyes reddened. “Seriously, Nemo. I didn’t have time to prepare an equivalent gift for you. It’s too… I…”
“Hey, this is compensation.” Nemo leaned over and dropped a warm kiss on his eyes. “I didn’t mean to scare you back then.”
The gray parrot let out a loud retching on the nearest branch.
Then it tilted its head and stared at Oliver, who grabbed a palulu weevil with Nemo and took out the photo crystal. In the end, it still decided to pat its wings and squeeze itself into the magic photo.
At the other end of the Border Forest, the Ramon Inn.
“Praise Zenni. You… You are…”
“I just came to look.” Godwin Lopez nodded politely to the innkeeper.
“Please make yourself at home—” The middle-aged innkeeper spoke loudly. “Oh my god, Jennifer, come out and have a look! It’s the leader of Horizon, Mr. Lopez!”
There was a scream of surprise from a woman at the end of the corridor.
However, Godwin didn’t pay attention to the reaction of the owner and his wife at the moment. He looked at the corners of the tavern and had an inexplicable expression.
It was here that Flint Lopez raised Oliver Ramon.
Godwin took a few steps forward and stared at the weird nicks on the door panel that recorded the height of a child. The handwriting on it was very familiar.
Flint Lopez’s writing.
“Are you here to stay for one night, or…?” Following Godwin’s gaze, the innkeeper’s wife obviously misunderstood Godwin’s meaning. “Oh, you know, when Little Ramon was convicted of being a fugitive, this place was immediately confiscated, so my husband and I bought it. Some of these corners weren’t cleaned up very carefully.”
“I don’t mind.” Godwin shook his head soothingly. “I just came to have a look.”
“You…”
“…I’m a distant relative of Piper Ramon. I was just passing by when I heard he had done business here, so I came to take a look,” Godwin replied, after hesitating for a moment.
“Oh, you came at just the right time.” The innkeeper’s wife wiped her stout fingers on her apron. “That kid Oliver, ahem, there’s no news from Little Ramon after he escaped. I happened to tidy up the basement a few days ago, and I found some of Ramon’s old things. I was thinking of throwing it away. Would you like to take a look? I mean, if it’s a relative, there might be some value—”
“I’m sorry to trouble you.” Godwin nodded.
The innkeeper’s wife picked up her apron and led him all the way to the dark basement.
Although the basement of the Ramon Inn was dark, it wasn’t very damp, which made it very suitable for storing items. There was still the smell of dust and soapy water in the air, and no cobwebs could be seen, so it did look like it had been recently tidied up.
There weren’t many things belonging to “Old Ramon”; just enough to fill a small wooden box.
It was stuffed with books and sundries, and from a glance, there didn’t seem to be anything of real value. There were also many letters, but they were all ordinary order forms and greeting letters. Godwin half knelt down and brushed away the dust inside.
With his movements, a few glass beads from the bottom of the box bones rolled over. The things here were full of life, and there was no shadow of the former commander of the Tin Army.
Godwin pursed his lips.
‘Not surprising,’ he thought. Flint Lopez did completely abandon the past; he shouldn’t have anything anymore…
An old ukulele popped up among the debris.
It was small and rough, and it didn’t look like it was for adults, but Godwin was pretty sure that Oliver hadn’t spent his childhood learning how to play it.
He pulled it out curiously and turned it over in his hand. There was a yellow envelope attached to the back of the ukulele, and the contents of it made his heart stop.
[For my brother, Iman.]
Godwin’s hand trembled a little, and he tried several times before opening the envelope under the curious eyes of the innkeeper’s wife.
[My dear brother, I heard that my sister-in-law is pregnant. This means I’ll be an uncle before you, right?]
[But you are too tense and don’t know how to relax at all. This isn’t good. You see, I made a great ukulele for my future nephew—or niece. I think the little one will like it. Promise me, don’t throw it away! You can’t let my dear younger generation be as restless as you.]
[It’s true that I’ve been in very bad shape lately, but don’t worry. Expeditions make people sad, but with Sonia by my side, everything will pass…… When your child is born, you absolutely must buy me a drink.]
[Your indefatigable brother, Flint]
“Uh, Mr. Lopez, you… If you want it, you can take these. Whatever you want—”
“Nn.”
Godwin heard himself reply like this, and he held the little ukulele in his hand.
“…I like this ukulele very much.”
“As well, I want to ask… How much are you willing to sell this inn for?”
Kinky Translations 