Stray Mini Extras Collection

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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


Stray: Mini Extra Collection

Note: These are mini extras that the author has written on her blog. 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.


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.

※ Oliver: “It’s okay, really it’s okay. I’ll catch them back.”

[Jesse x Adrian]

~Jesse’s Culinary Skills~

Overall rating: ★★★★

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.

[Jesse × Adrian]

~Jesse’s Gaming Preferences~

Occupation Choice: Healer, primarily buffer classes.

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.

The star didn’t flicker today either.


<<< || Table of Contents ||

Stray Ch281 [End]

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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


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.


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

Stray Ch280

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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


Chapter 280: Beast Knight

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.


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

Stray Ch279

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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


Chapter 279: Desert Ruins

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.

This time it didn’t run away.


The author has something to say:

Oliver’s wish finally came true!

White I has no objection to this√


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

Stray Ch278

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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


Chapter 278: Respective Time

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.


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

Stray Ch277

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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


Chapter 277: Gift

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?”


The author has something to say:

The first extra XDDD


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

Stray Ch276

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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


Chapter 276: Ten Years Later — Part 4

“Baked meatloaf? Leave me one.” Jesse’s voice arrived faster than everyone else’s.

Taking off his iconic long blue coat, the blond young man changed into a free monk’s uniform, but the neckline that should have been tied up was greatly opened, revealing the clavicle and a few muscle lines. The long blond hair was scattered in a black monk’s uniform, and there were delicate sapphire earrings on his earlobes. Coupled with the beautiful and exaggerated face, Mr. Dylan didn’t have the slightest taste of a simple monk.

Adrian Cross was next to him carrying a large bag of snacks, and he also replaced his uniform that had the holy emblem torn off. The style of his monk’s uniform was exactly the same as Jesse’s.

“My, Dylan, your uniform… Is this sarcasm?” Ann picked up a piece of baked meatloaf and stuffed it in her mouth. It was so hot that she puffed out smoke and her voice was muffled.

“It’s better to get into the city this way. After all, we’re people living in the shadows. “Jesse performed a ritual hypocritically, wiping away his non-existent tears.

“No, because we just came from Hatfield.” Adrian carefully put the snack bag on the table and spit out the truth mercilessly. “For the first six months, we have been active near the Holy Land. This kind of uniform is more convenient to take action.”

The former Knight of Judgement had long eyebrows and old eyes, and his short dark brown hair had grown a little bit. Unlike the stiffness and coldness of more than ten years ago, his brows were softened a little by a smile.

Adrian didn’t continue to use the metal longbow, but instead was equipped with a simple standard silver sword along with his standard monk uniform. Noticing Nemo’s gaze, he nodded politely.

“Hatfield. Is Old Man Quinn in good health?” Ann chewed the meatloaf in her mouth.

“So good that he can outlive the next Pope candidate.” Jesse walked to the table and snatched a piece of meatloaf from the table.

Regardless of the identity of the other party, the female warrior swallowed the meatloaf in her mouth, smoothed her sleeves, and shot up.

When Ann picked up the hunting spear and jokingly poked Jesse’s heel, Gallagher, who had already learned a lot of the truth, buried his face in his hands, looking uninterested.

Until the sound of a plate knocking on the wooden table sounded in front of him.

The red wine beef stew and side dishes he ordered were steadily put down, but the movements weren’t gentle and polite. Those hands clearly didn’t belong to a man. Gallagher looked up along the other party’s wrist and saw the face of a girl—a girl with braided hair with an impatient expression, wiping the water stains on her hands.

“That’s it for today, I have other things to do. Mr. Light, today’s reward.” Telaranea stretched out her hand to Nemo.

As soon as the new Chief Justice of the Knight of Judgment entered the door, the Sage of the Abyss sat down in the corner by the door, as quiet as if she didn’t exist. The former Chief Justice didn’t seem to have such a deterrent, as Telaranea’s gaze swept lightly over Adrian and merely wrinkled her nose.

Then the demon began to observe Jesse Dylan eagerly, wanting to pull a blond hair off him to study while the other party wasn’t paying attention.

“Thank you for your hard work. These last two days have been a bit too busy, and it’s not good for us to ask outsiders for help.” Nemo walked back to the wooden platform, took down a wooden box on the upper floor of the wine cabinet on tiptoe, and counted out a few record crystals. “This is about the analysis of the magic circuit structure of the klebato salamander.”

Telaranea carefully put the crystal in her pocket and looked quite satisfied. “I can help you take care of the shop for another week, as long as you are willing to help me analyze the results of my research.”

“Deal.”

Nemo patted the dust off his hand and stuffed the wooden box back on the upper shelf. Ann glanced at Telaranea’s waitress uniform with interest and then swept her gaze towards the wine cabinet. A little fire flashed across her vision.

“Huh?” The female warrior approached curiously and probed to see. “…What is this thing?”

The wooden table was hollowed out, and a wicker basket filled with balls of thread was placed on the dark table near the wine cabinet. In the middle of the threads rolling around, squeezed a red dragon doll that had not yet been completely sewn. It wasn’t very playful and kept moving, whipping its long, half-sewn tail around and spraying sparks at the crammed thread.

“Olivia will have her birthday next week. This is a gift.” Nemo brought the wicker basket closer.

“…Very considerate, Nemo, but usually people don’t make toys for children so, uh, lifelike.” Ann poked at the almost real dragon doll in the basket, choosing the wording carefully.

The reduced version of the red dragon, which was completely inseparable from its cuteness, opened its mouth and spewed out a string of warm sparks that weren’t threatening. Then it coughed because it sprayed too hard and spit out a round of smoke rings.

“There shouldn’t be much of a problem? Debby especially liked it. I made a blue dragon at first, and she took it away directly. This is the second one.”

Nemo grabbed a thread on the dragon’s tail and carefully tied a knot to prevent the little thing that was on a rampage in the wicker basket from tearing itself apart.

“Don’t worry, they are safe.”

Pinching the red dragon doll’s mouth with his fingers, Nemo solemnly assured.

“This is the inspiration I got from Mr. Medes. Do you remember his pile of living skeletons? Like those skeletons, this thing is not alive, it is just acting in accordance with the spell I set in advance and will not do dangerous things.”

“Oh, about this.” Oliver leaned over and put his arms around Nemo’s waist naturally. “Debby put the blue dragon in the bedroom.”

“What’s the matter, Ollie?” Nemo turned his head sideways.

“It always secretly burns Godwin’s socks when there’s no one around during the day, and it especially burns only one pair. When we had dinner together last week, Godwin also asked me about it. Nemo, you wouldn’t…”

“Maybe there is a problem with the charm.” Nemo coughed dryly and looked at the ceiling. “Occasionally… Well, occasionally this kind of thing happens. “

“Oh—occasionally.” Ann stretched out her words.

“I see, Your Majesty. Tonight I will buy a dozen pairs of good wool socks to make amends and make up for the trauma of my big brother.” Oliver smiled and shook his head. “Speaking of this… Bagelmaurus, it’s time to walk the goat!”

The gray parrot fluttered its round body out of the back kitchen window, still holding a bunch of grapes in its mouth.

“Got it, got it! It’s so noisy. Aren’t you afraid that others will hear it?” The gray parrot swallowed the grape and muttered in a dissatisfied voice.

It staggered on the floor, deliberately stepping on Oliver’s feet without deterrence.

“As a result, I still didn’t have a chance to eat goat.” Ann glanced at the gray parrot and sighed with emotion. “At first I thought that that goat wouldn’t survive for half a year, but it even survived the expedition.”

“A few days ago, I saw it trying to ram Ollie’s horse and it went straight through the horse’s chest.” Nemo patted Oliver’s hand around his waist. “Actually, that fuller goat is quite clever, but it’s really—”

“Don’t worry, I thought you two might not survive three months at first.” Ann quietly sighed.

“……”

“What are your plans for the next few days? Why don’t we go to Doru for a day for fun. Delia brought a lot of spare teleportation charms. There’s been a trade rally in Doru recently, and Dylan and the others certainly won’t have a problem with it.”

“Speaking of this, we’ll likely… be there tomorrow night.”

As soon as Oliver was about to pick up the cavity, the black crystal by the wooden platform began to flicker. Nemo quickly kissed his lover on the cheek, got out of the hug, and activated the communication crystal.

“Brother, have you started dinner over there?”

“Well, Jesse and Ann are here.”

“The old lady who was poisoned isn’t in serious condition, but she had to drink herbal medicine for a few days to clean up the remaining demon toxin. I don’t have any poisonous bellwort here at home. Do you have any in stock? And the demon worshipper who escaped…”

“He was taken away by Roderick, don’t worry.” Nemo’s voice was smiling. “His luck is really not very good.”

“Roderick… ‘Eclipse’ Roderick?! How could the Knight of Judgment come to your shop. Could it be—”

“Dawn Tavern is fine, Debby. And there is no need for poisonous bellwort. I can go and have a look tonight and treat it easily.”

“Speaking of this, I finally persuaded Godwin. That guy is stubborn to death.”

Debby’s tone became beaming, and she raised her voice.

“We don’t have to go to the tavern to celebrate Olivia’s birthday. It just so happens that everyone is here. Come to Ramon’s Tavern! We decided to have a birthday party in the backyard to make it lively. If it’s convenient, would you like to come and help arrange it tonight? …As a reward, I can provide you with free accommodation.”

At the end, there was a smile in Debby’s voice.

“Adri and I will take a double bed in your inn, the best one.” Jesse licked the crushed sesame seeds from his fingertips and immediately made a request. “It has to have a big bathtub.”

“I can give you the second best. I have to leave the best to my eldest brother,” Debby responded very resolutely.

“…Well, I can barely accept it.”

“And before everyone is ready, I will ask Ollie to freeze the bathtub first.” After a pause, she added another sentence.

“……”

“Come here as soon as you finish eating. I happen to be baking the banquet cookies for tomorrow. I think I baked quite a few extras.”

In the next few hours, Nemo saw Oliver close the store extremely skillfully for the first time.

For ten years, even if they travelled abroad, they would come on time to spend various festivals with their loved ones. He was very familiar with the spatial coordinates of the Roadside Town, and Nemo could quickly rush back from any corner of the world.

However, most of them celebrated in taverns outside, and even once held a bonfire party by the Border Forest. Godwin was still a little strangely wary of Nemo, but after the children were born, the situation eased a little. Although Godwin wouldn’t deliberately take his child away from Nemo’s arms, he stubbornly refused to allow Nemo to step into his and Debby’s home.

“Well, I have to admit, there is something awkward about him in this matter.”

At one of her eldest son’s birthday parties, Debby shook her head at Nemo.

“Don’t worry, brother. You see, after all, we rejected the ‘whole truth’. As far as we know now, the fact that ‘you are the Demon King’ is undoubtedly true… And considering the special circumstances of you two, Godwin must be afraid that the children will grow up and find something wrong and leak it to people who shouldn’t know.”

“I understand. He has helped us a lot before, and I won’t take it to heart.” Nemo rubbed Debby’s hair with a smile. “But one size fits all. If ‘he married you’, then he would be able to digest the matter in a few years.”

“…Brother!” Debby couldn’t laugh or cry.

It seemed that Mr. Lopez had finally given in this year.

Under Debby’s plan, Jesse failed to get a lazy opportunity to take a five-hour hot bath this time.

This time, Jesse was even the one who contributed the most—except that the various objects flew too fast, which was a bit dazzling, and the backyard was quickly organized in an orderly manner. The magic string of lights was hung up, and the ribbons and flowers used for decoration were placed just right. In order to get rid of the sultry summer heat, animal ice sculptures that would not melt were placed in the corner of the backyard, flashing like crystals under the light.

“Those two guys are aesthetically challenged,” Mr. Dylan declared so.

The next night, the tables and chairs were also neatly placed. The bonfire had been lit, and many children in the town had arrived before their parents and were running around screaming in the backyard.

The parents were clearly at ease with Godwin Lopez, the former Hero.

However, Mr. Lopez fully interpreted the meaning of the word “frazzled”. Right now, he was panting and dragging two little boys who were trying to steal a cake from the kitchen, each one with pockets stuffed with cookies. Not to mentioned that just a few steps away, the three young Lopez were running around the backyard screaming and trying to pull the string of lights that Jesse had cast a glow spell on.

The Hero tried his best to ignore Nemo, who was sitting under the giant fir and seemed to be desperately suppressing his desire to help.

Looking from under the tree to the hotel kitchen, he could see Debby preparing cakes in the kitchen. The other two shadows should belong to Adrian and Jesse. After arranging the tables, chairs, and dishes, they went back to the kitchen with Debby to help.

When it came to preparing food, not to mention Debby, who was the chief mage of Horizon, a Zenni was surely enough. Compared to fighting, Mr. Cross’s true purpose was probably to keep an eye on Jesse so that he wouldn’t steal food in advance.

But soon after they entered, Bagelmaurus and Ann also sneaked in. At that moment, Marshal Gallagher happened to go outside the hotel to replenish cleaning tools, and he didn’t have time to keep an eye on his lover. Counting Jesse, the former knight commander may have to bear three times the pressure.

Nemo thought seriously while sealing the fluttering red dragon doll into the gift box.

Not far from him, Oliver carefully put the gift he had prepared into the gift chest made of colored paper, and finally checked the sharp corners of the edges of the tables and chairs to make sure they were all wrapped.

After finishing the final preparations, he took the gift box wrapped by Nemo and put it together with the gift he had prepared. Then he made a grimace and drove away the little kids who rushed over trying to steal the gifts.

Nemo stared at the figure of his lover.

Considering that there were too many children coming to the banquet, Oliver left the Rest in Peace in the inn, only bringing the white ukulele. As if perceiving Nemo’s sight, his knight turned his face and squeezed his eyes at him.

When Oliver noticed the three little Lopez gnawing cookies and candy with the other children, he returned to Nemo and pointed to the top of the tree.

“Are you going to have a look, Your Majesty?”

Oliver curled his eyes with a smile. “There will be too many people in a while, so we can’t go up quickly.”

Nemo raised his hand casually, and a string of soft green-blue spots of light floated in the middle of the backyard, flying like fireflies. The children all gathered around and used their hands to tease the beautiful light. No one cared about the two boring adults who suddenly disappeared up the giant fir.

After stepping onto the top of the tree, Oliver took a long breath.

There was no Ulysses’ skull on the top of the giant tree, no dry flowers and bouncing tits. Lacking his former “Mr. White”, in the hazy night, this old tree was no longer different from the rest of the other giant firs.

No matter. Oliver raised his gaze slightly—

Nemo stood where the skull was originally located, staring at the scene under the tree.

Under the giant fir, the townspeople finally began to enter. Someone played music, laughter and singing sounded noisily, steaming upward like hot air. The music of the lyre, clarinet, and accordion was mixed unruly, but it wasn’t harsh at all, but subtle and beautiful. Looking down from above, the flickering firelight leaped around people, and the ice sculptures in the corners shone brightly.

“Good evening, Your Majesty.”

In the distant singing and laughter under the tree, Oliver spoke softly. He leaned on the nearest branch and held the ukulele in front of him.

“I have played all the songs you taught me for you. Now I’m attempting to write a new one on my own… Do you want me to play a song for you?”

“Please.” Instead of assuming a listening posture, Nemo stepped forward. “But before that—”

“Dad, dad!” Half a minute later, Eddie Lopez screamed at Godwin. “Uncle Ollie and Uncle Nemo are sneaking kisses in the tree!”

“Those two assholes. How could they do that in front of so many children—Wait, you said in the tree? Which tree?”

Godwin looked around, grabbed an indoor shoe, waved it skillfully in the air twice, and raised his voice.

“Don’t climb the tree in the backyard. I’ve said it 10,000 times, Eddie Lopez! …Brat, don’t run, stop for me!”

“Mom, help—”

At the same time, the beautiful sound of a ukulele came from the top of the tree, and it was quickly swallowed up by the lively music at the birthday party.

The stars flickered in the night sky, and everything was as usual.

[END]


The author has something to say:

Here, the main story of this novel is officially over. There will be five more extras after this~

Thank you everyone for reading this! After going around for so many years, two simple townspeople (?) finally managed to escape from Roadside Town to the neighboring city of Noer, set up a small business, and settle down XD

What was cold at the beginning of this novel was really a polar kind of cold. Without everyone’s support, I might not be able to persevere. I sincerely thank every little angel who enthusiastically supports me!!! (; ω;)

——————

The new novel is still a strong pairing similar to this one, with the flavor of a drama. ·*·:≡( ε:)

The text:

Genius scientist, Ruan Xian was in a coma for several years. Once he opened his eyes, his waist no longer felt pain, his legs had healed, and he could jump around. Unfortunately, the artificial intelligence outside ran out of control and ushered in the end of mankind.

Fortunately, his luck was still strong, and he successfully captured a partner with great survival skills.

Tang Yibu: Our models are old and especially easy to scrap.

Tang Yibu: Remember, the first principle of safety, never get too close to humans.

Ruan Xian: ……What?

This is a story about a dumb AI x a blindly optimistic scientist.


Kinky Thoughts:

I’m so sad that this is the end of the main story. I hope everyone enjoyed Stray. It’s one of the best novels I’ve read in quite some time. I love all the characters and the side characters. The story was gripping, sad, funny, exciting, and gave me a wealth of emotions. I truly can say that it’s one of the best novels I’ve had the pleasure to read and translate. Please do recommend this story so it gets more visibility as I really think it’s a great novel that deserves to be read.

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.

The author’s notes also include the summary of her next work, Happy Doomsday, which I’m currently translating as well. After Stray, I became a huge fan, and so I decided to pick it up. You can read it now and follow along with the releases to get your Nian Zhong fix if you really like this author.

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.

The last two volumes of Stray has also been released. Their covers are beautiful. Please order if you can to support the author.

There are still a few extras left before Stray is over. Below is the final arc summary.

With Oliver back on the surface and Nemo trapped at the bottom of the Abyss, Oliver hatched a plan to deal with the current crisis that could literally end the world. First though, he must confess everything to his teammates. After the shocking revelation in which all members of Tumbleweed were now filled in on everything, the plan commenced.

First, before anything could happen, they must confirm the identity of who was actually at the bottom of the Abyss, whether it was still Nemo or the Pillar of the World. Using Ulysses’ skull as the tether and Telaranea’s help, they perform a ritual to summon Nemo’s/The Pillar of the World’s consciousness into Ulysses’ skull and Oliver and Nemo have a final showdown. Oliver managed to confirm that Nemo was truly Nemo and proposed to him.

With Nemo’s identity confirmed, they sent out their plan to rescue him and take him out of the Abyss. 2 years have passed since then, where Tumbleweed built up their notoriety so they could enact Nemo’s rescue plan. Using the next expedition as an excuse and with the help of Godwin, who was leading the current expedition, Tumbleweed headed down towards the Abyss to rescue Nemo.

Oliver had devised a plan that would break the “law” and allow Nemo to pass through to the surface again, despite him regaining his full memories and was currently bound. Similar to what they did during the witch arc, Oliver would induce a near-death state in Nemo so that the “law” recognizes that Nemo is dead and allows him to pass through and leave the bottom of the Abyss.

The expedition fought against the “Demon King” who was then dealt the last blow by Oliver causing the bottom of the Abyss to collapse. Everyone escaped except for Tumbleweed, which marked the conclusion of Oliver’s plan. To the outside world, Tumbleweed was buried underneath the Abyss and was no longer alive.

Oliver plan was a success as Nemo was pulled to the surface and finally physically reunited with Oliver. Oliver was finally able to put the ring on Nemo’s finger and they consummate their relationship in broad daylight in the woods. While Ann had mixed feelings about Nemo’s history, given what happened to her older brother, she exiled Oliver and Nemo from Alban but granted them citizenship in Noer (the city where they first escaped to). They then settled down and got married, living happily ever after.

Ten years then passed as we caught up with everyone:

Ollie and Nemo had taken over the Dawn Tavern and turned it into their home. They live an immortal life of comfort and relaxation.

Adrian and Jesse continue their journey doing IDK what, but they are still together.

Ann has now gotten together with Marshal Gallagher.

Bagelmaurus is living its life to the fullest as it gets to eat all the food it wants as well as do goat watching duty.

Godwin married Debby and had three children.

Delia got together with Wilhelm.

#1 Tumbleweed fanboy Leonard was set to become the next Marshal of Alban and continued his campaign by white-washing Tumbleweed.

Medes’ adopted student grew up to become the next Chief Justice of the Knight of Judgement and is now pursuing Medes.

And finally, Tumbleweed continued to take on unwanted tasks to help out the world as a “ghost”.

All in all, it’s a happily ever after. That’s the summary. See everyone in the extras!


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

Stray Ch275

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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


Chapter 275: Ten Years Later — Part 3

Nemo recorded today’s account within five seconds and pressed the folds of the paper roll with the book in his hand. Then he took out the half-sewn stuff in the wooden table lattice and continued sewing—the ball of thread as material seemed to come to life, gently bumping around in the wicker basket.

Seeing that the shopkeeper didn’t mind, the demon worshippers not far away continued the dangerous topic.

“Someone made a wish.”

The old man who raised the two-headed demon crow lowered his voice even lower.

“You all know that statement, right? If you have a dangerous task that no one wants to take, or you can’t afford to pay, you can go to the Mercenary Guild to hang up a task and choose Tumbleweed when you designate a team.”

“I remember that designating a disbanded or non-existent team doesn’t count.”

“The horror is here. Some mission paper rolls were burned on the spot! The tasks were completed well, and the rewards were taken away—even those employers didn’t know how the prepared rewards disappeared.”

“…I’ve heard of it too. The most recent time was nearby, right? The whole village put together two gold coins and found someone to deal with a large area of out-of-control carnivorous magic vines. Two gold coins! A fool took this job. It’s said that the person entrusted at that time was illiterate, so he copied ten designated teams to be selected, and spelled ‘Poisonous Bell Grass’ into ‘Tumbleweed’*. The next day, the group of carnivorous magic vines disappeared from the village, and the two gold coins they had in their pockets disappeared… My cousin was in that village and told me the story.”

*Chinese for Poisonous Bell Grass (毒铃草) vs Tumbleweed (风滚草) for those wondering how someone could possibly mistake that for Tumbleweed.

“Nonsense.” Someone spoke up in a thick voice as he tore a piece of meat from a roasted chicken leg. “It’s all a mess of gossip! I tried it myself.”

“Have you tried?!”

“Yeah. Pretend to be miserable and exaggerate the tasks, but not all of them get picked up. It’s like the same style of a superior demon looking for prey. Compared with ghosts, it’s better to say that they were buried at the bottom of the Abyss and they all turned into superior demons.”

“George, get to the point! Did you really go to post the task?”

“Yeah. I pretended to be a thirteen-year-old girl and asked them to drive away a swarm of intermediate demons on my farm, claiming that they crossed the border to steal cattle and sheep and swallowed my parents alive—Don’t look at me like that. The farm and intermediate demons exist, so I was somewhat honest.”

“Tsk, tsk. That’s pretty damning.”

“It’s because people talk about the ghost of Tumbleweed every day and say that they burn the task paper scrolls immediately. My task is still posted on the Mercenary Guild, and nothing has happened at all.”

“But my cousin—”

“Don’t listen to what others are saying now. Do you really believe it? Why don’t you go to the Mercenary Guild to check? The remuneration I provided is low, so the task is definitely still there.”

“Then you have to be careful. If you don’t cancel it after a long time, you’ll pay a penalty, right?”

“Damn, I completely forgot about this. I will cancel it tomorrow when I have time.”

There was a pleasant sound of jingling bells, and the door of the tavern was pushed open again. With the chaotic experience just now, everyone stopped talking and swept towards the door subconsciously.

There were three guests this time.

The woman was dressed as a warrior and looked like she was in her forties, and she was full of dirt and dust. The female warrior was wearing light old leather armor and had a hunting spear on her back. She was slim and strong, seemingly in tip-top shape.

It looked like a woman who was still active. She was most likely a mercenary, but she didn’t wear any badges on her leather armor.

The man beside her looked slightly older than she was, wearing a sword that didn’t look like an ornament, but unfortunately, the chill of the murder weapon couldn’t hide his noble aura, as well as the faint smell of perfume that wasn’t low grade. The man’s long platinum-colored hair was braided into a neat and loose thick braid, hanging behind his head, and his lips were pursed in a line.

If you ignored the anger on his face, this swordsman’s temperament could be called mature and elegant.

Compared to the outfits and temperament of the two people, this woman was most likely to be the bodyguard of the male swordsman or was temporarily hired. In short, the two of them didn’t seem to come from any royal institution or religious army, so all the demon worshippers breathed a sigh of relief.

“Cow dung,” the male swordsman whispered angrily.

“I can’t guess the mood of that cow, let alone its gastrointestinal condition!” the female warrior shouted. “To be honest, I have burned cow dung to stay warm before. Mr. Mad Dog, I’m saddened by what happened to you, but unless you’re willing to fly all the way, in a small border town like this, you can’t help but get something you shouldn’t in the field.”

“Sad? If you hadn’t laughed wildly for two minutes before casting the cleansing spell, I would believe it…”

“All right, all right.” The female warrior held the swordsman’s face and kissed his lips, interrupting his unspoken words. “I apologize, my love. I shouldn’t have laughed so loudly—I will try to hold back next time.”

The swordsman’s face turned red like a tomato, and he didn’t say a word.

Standing next to the two of them, the young woman who had remained silent simply tsked.

The young girl had short, falling shoulder-length hair, a lady’s hat with wide edges on her head, and the upper half of her face was hidden in the shadow of the brim. Her breath was clean and quiet, her dress style was simple, and her color was low-key. Since entering the door, she had hung her head slightly, far less conspicuous than the two beside her.

A palm-sized spider lay on her shoulder, with its abdomen eyeballs whirring excitedly.

Everyone was relieved—spiders had obvious abyssal biological characteristics, so the young girl was probably a demon worshipper.

“The meatloaf is almost ready.” Nemo put down the knitting needle in his hand. “Ann, it’s your favorite flavor—the skin is crispy, and I added more coarsely ground pepper and crushed chili.”

“Long time no see, Nemo. Very considerate.” The female warrior’s tone was cheerful as she narrowed her eyes. “Give me a blank piece of parchment. Gallagher is too picky that it’s troublesome when ordering for him. What’s up? Cross and the others haven’t arrived yet?”

“The aura of those two is nearby. They are staying at a snack shop and should be here in a bit.”

Nemo handed over the pen and paper in both hands, and Gallagher stared at the hand vigilantly, huffing between clenched teeth.

Regarding whether he would mind if she told Gallagher the truth, Ann had asked Nemo after confirming her relationship with Gallagher. Gallaher’s performance at this moment didn’t surprise him too much.

“Delia, why are you…?” Nemo politely moved his gaze away from the nervous former “Wasteland Mad Dog” and continued to ask.

“Nothing has happened recently, so I came to look. I brought a teleportation spell parchment so I can go back to the royal capital at any time.” Making sure that her seat was hidden enough, Delia took off her wide-brimmed hat.

Cat Whiskers jumped down from her shoulders and circled around the table excitedly. Seeing Nemo approaching, it stretched out its two front feet and waved vigorously.

Nemo poked it gently with his fingers, and a black shadow rotated at his fingertips, condensing into a black ball that exuded the magical aura of the Abyss.

The excitable spider happily caught it and ate it.

“I want potato soup with light cream, boiled chicken with cauliflower, and a little bread,” Delia whispered to Ann, who was writing menu requirements for Gallagher.

“I heard that Alban and Willard signed a peace treaty last week.” Nemo waited patiently for Ann to finish writing and found a topic casually. “Mr. Salter. You’re no longer in the position of Marshal, but I thought…”

“I don’t need to be there; Quentin Leonard can already handle these things beautifully.”

Gallagher raised his chin slightly, and his facial muscles were still a little stiff.

“But with all due respect, you’d better think of a way. Mr. Leonard still always talks about Tumbleweed—when rumors came out that Tumbleweed was almost annihilated in the expedition because of greed, he gave himself an amplification spell and promoted the glorious image of Tumbleweed to his subordinate for a whole week.” Immersed in memories, Gallagher’s voice grew more disgruntled. “This matter came directly to my side and his deputy, Mr. Elmer, had to drag him back.”

Nemo scratched his head and smiled a little embarrassedly.

“Don’t think too much about it. It’s just a simple act of mourning, Mr. Light. Mr. Leonard guessed very accurately. He insisted that the members of Tumbleweed were superior in strength and wouldn’t die because of stupid greed. They just used this to fade out of the public eye. In recent years, the haunting of the “Tumbleweed Ghost” has made him more and more convinced of his guess—if it weren’t for the marshal’s duties that stalled Mr. Leonard, I think he would dare to run out to find you directly, and I have a hunch that he would find you.”

“Then we’ll have to wait for him to leave office.” Oliver walked out of the back kitchen and put a jug of juice on the table. “If he can really find us by then, we will tell him part of the truth.”

“I reserve my opinion.” Ann stuffed the written menu into Oliver’s hand. “…There’s no telling if he’ll know through other channels, like when I decided to tell Gallagher.”

Delia stopped pouring juice. Cat Whiskers stared at its owner with its abdominal eyeballs, and then froze in the air.

“No,” Delia said coldly. “I said that tomorrow I would break up with Wilhelm.”

“You said that the day before yesterday, the day before yesterday and yesterday.” Ann held her chin and pointed it out with a smile.

“That’s just…”

“That kid Hayden has a good temper. In my opinion, it’s a miracle that you can quarrel for three days straight.” Ann took a sip of her juice. “Seriously, what are you two arguing about? It’s hard to tell which one of you is busier. If that’s what this is about—”

“Ann!”

“Okay, let’s change the subject. Nemo, do you remember Hayden Wilheim? That kid just got off the battlefield and ran to Clementine Academy to be a professor of nursing.”

“Ollie and I planned to go to Clementine in a few years. In that case, we might be able to see him then.” Nemo poured himself a glass of juice and shook the cup. “But looking at the situation back then, I thought he would have something for Marilyn Lawler…”

The cold gaze of the current Queen of Alban swept over her in an instant.

“Chief Healer Marilyn Lawler. I know this person.”

There was no hostility in Delia’s voice, only respect.

“When Ann sent me to Clementine Academy, a few of them hadn’t graduated yet. Ms. Lawler is still unmarried and devotes all her time to research. At this point, I admire her very much.”

After that, Delia lowered her head and drank the juice intently, without meaning to speak again.

“Speaking of that group of people… Leonard’s deputy was Oliver’s roommate, Elmer. Do you have an impression? He got married last year, and he left a table for Tumbleweed at the wedding. I secretly glanced at it. He should have received the gift I left behind.”

Ann laughed softly, didn’t touch the pre-dinner juice, and stubbornly waited for the wine. “That stubborn boy actually drove away a guest who pointed to the table and asked him to remove it on the spot.”

Seeing as the topic continued, Nemo’s expression of mixed nostalgia gradually appeared sad, and Ann stopped talking. She reached out her hand and touched her face along the line of sight of the other party, feeling the small wrinkles carved into the corners of her eyes due to the years.

“Come on, let’s not mention this. I have to leave some topics for dinner for a while.” She tried to make her tone appear more relaxed.

Oliver leaned towards the back kitchen’s dining window and served the steaming meatloaf to the table. Nemo took a deep breath, threw an insulation spell casually, and left the table.

“You guys talk first, I’ll go and see what Dylan is doing in the snack shop. I’ll be back in a while.” Nemo smiled a little reluctantly this time.

“Ollie.” Before leaving, he called his lover with something to say, and Oliver nodded knowingly.

Ann stood up from the table after seeing Nemo leave through the door, smacking her lips to the seductive aroma of the sizzling baked meatloaf. “Show me the shop, Oliver. I’m afraid I can’t help but want a tour.”

“Of course.” Oliver glanced at Delia, who was sipping the juice gracefully, and Gallagher, who was sitting upright like a soldier with his lips tightly pursed.

The two first came to the wooden platform where Nemo was just now. After Oliver walked to the wooden platform, he pulled out a bottle of wine.

“That kid Nemo, it’s been ten years, and he still can’t even act. It’s about the thing you mentioned in the letter, right?” Ann put her elbow on the wooden platform and pretended to look at the bottle of wine. “I have thought of the answer.”

“Ann…” Seeing the familiar open smile on the other party’s face, Oliver was sure that he had tasted some kind of bitterness in his mouth.

“I don’t need to live too long.”

Ann brushed the dusty wine bottle with her fingertips, with a smile in her voice.

“Don’t look at Gallagher like that. I still like him very much. And Delia, I watch that child grow so big… I can’t imagine sending them away with my own hands. I know, maybe you can also give them a long life. But as I just said, Delia will also fall in love with others, and she is likely to have her own children. What will you do then?”

“Ollie, we’re humas, and we’re fragile. Relatives, lovers, friends… At least I can’t bear the endless loss. I can’t really forget the pain of leaving now. If I decide not to be sad about it anymore, I may not be considered ‘me’.”

She patted him on the shoulder.

“Humans have human time. In my opinion, a hundred years is enough. Presumably by now, you and Nemo should be able to appreciate a little, uh, the inconvenience of almost eternal life.”

“Ann, we…”

“You don’t need my guidance anymore, Mr. Hero. Don’t show that expression, I can’t be swayed. To be honest, I’m more worried about you two… Looking at you, Debby and Godwin also gave similar answers to that question.”

“……Yes.”

“It’s not surprising, after all, we know our boundaries. Hey, don’t act like I’m going to die in the next second! You know, I don’t have any great ambitions. I’m just an ordinary person who wanted to live and eat comfortably before I die. Now I have a nice lover by my side and a lovely niece who can let me enjoy my life to the fullest, which is much better than my most unrealistic dream.”

“What’s more, it can make you, um, amazing guys show this expression for me. I think this is a pretty perfect life—if you shed tears at my funeral, I won’t spare you.”

“Ann, if you change your mind, we will be here anytime.”

“Uh-huh, it depends on my mood then.”

Ann stretched out her hand and rubbed Oliver’s hair vigorously.

“Live well. On the plus side, two people are better than one person.”

She huffed gently.

“Oliver, I have known you two for a long time now. You are all very amazing guys, and I hope you can always maintain your current state of mind. Coupled with Bagelmaurus, Tumbleweed can maintain at least five members… Don’t let it really disappear, okay?”

There was another bell ringing at the door.

“Nemo!” Ann waved her hand and narrowed her slightly moist eyes. “…And you, Dylan, why are you so slow. I’m starving to death!”

Ann picked up the wine bottle and sat back down in her place.

“Can I start eating my meatloaf now?”


The author has something to say:

Mr. Leonard, the little nobleman of the academy arc, a hard-core fan (……

And unfortunately, not everyone will live for a long time. _(:з”∠)_

————

The next text is the final chapter—!


Kinky Thoughts:

Wow Ann got together with Gallagher! Delia with Wilhelm! I’m just so happy for everyone! The next chapter is the final chapter of this novel, followed by a few extras (*sobs* I don’t want it to end.)


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

Stray Ch274

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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


Chapter 274: Ten Years Later — Part 2

Old Jude quickly ran to the back kitchen.

Unlike most taverns, the back kitchen of the Dawn Tavern was very clean, which had not changed due to the change of ownership. Many years ago, he had taken herbal medicine for the treatment of his demon from here with Vance, and he still retained a little impression.

A weird floor lamp stood near the entrance of the back kitchen. He didn’t know if he was seeing things, but Jude always felt that the light pole looked a bit like a staff. Not far away from the floor lamp was a frozen magic pattern that flickered slightly, and the shelves with all kinds of fresh fruits and vegetables continued to emit cold air.

There was a small wooden basin next to the fruit and vegetable rack, which was full of fresh fruits of an attractive color. A chubby gray parrot was lying on its back on the top of the fruit pile, stretching out its wings and clicking its beak contentedly.

Seeing someone coming in, the golden bird’s eyes slanted over, and then squinted contemptuously.

“Stupid bird,” Jude muttered, glancing at the basin of fresh fruit of great value. “What a waste of good food.”

“Idiot,” the gray parrot responded clearly. It straightened its round belly, tilted its head, and pecked at a golden cherry.

With the Knights of Judgement approaching, Jude didn’t intend to scold a brainless bird. He grabbed his demon partner, who was unusually obedient for some reason, and looked around in the back kitchen, hoping to find a trigger similar to a secret door.

When his gaze swept to the middle of the room, old Jude’s hair exploded…

There was no yawning fat chef. There was indeed something in a chef’s uniform that was close to human form, but when he looked at it closely, the skin that should have been exposed on the outside was pitch black.

It wasn’t a human at all, but a chaotic humanoid shadow.

It stretched out a limb to hold its hat, and then stretched out more than a dozen long alien arms behind it, handling the ingredients in an orderly manner.

For a second, Jude wanted to escape back to the front hall and surrender directly to the commander of the Knights of Judgement.

Fortunately, whether it was the damn bird or this thing that looked like a chef, they didn’t pay any attention to him. The gray parrot glanced at him and went back to chewing juicy grapes, while the monster chef continued to cut meat skillfully with both arms while another hand was stirring a pot that was bubbling with soup and its other arms were quickly making fried onion rings.

Jude swallowed laboriously and continued his plan in a cold sweat. Time was limited, so instead of trying to find a secret door or the entrance to the cellar, he looked at a few large wooden barrels in the corner storage.

Leaning against the wall and approaching the barrel, Jude quickly opened the lid of the barrel.

Then he looked at the red-eyed man awkwardly again.

The man squatted in the barrel, hugging his knees, not daring to come out. Seeing that the cover was taken away, he silently yanked the lid back from Jude’s hand and sealed himself in again.

“Why don’t you use a disguise spell? I thought…” Jude coughed dryly.

“If there is a magic fluctuation, Roderick will notice it faster.” There was a muffled response from the barrel.

It seemed that the commander from the Knight of Judgement came here to catch this guy.

Wyatt Roderick, the 370th Chief Justice after Adrian Cross.

Unlike Cross, who was dignified before his apostasy, Roderick was more like a pagan in the Laddism Church—This young genius had a ruthless approach to his enemies, a righteous and evil style of behavior, and a reputation for ferocity.

Although Cross was cold when he was in the office, at least his methods of doing things were decent. This one acted more like he was using poison to attack poison. Even the title granted by the old Pope was “Eclipse of the Moon”.

Although in terms of behavior, Mr. Roderick was indeed guarding the surface conscientiously, when speaking of his temperament and style, it was said that the conclusion of those who had seen him was very similar… This Mr. Chief Justice was better suited to be a thug than a knight.

Completely affected by this bastard, Jude grinded his teeth.

The demon he carried was a dangerous kind of intermediate demon. Other Knights of Judgement may decide to turn a blind eye for the time being, taking into account the progress of their own missions and the complexity of chasing criminals between state lines, but that monster Roderick would definitely drag him back by hand.

Jude immediately decided to leave here and tried to escape through the back kitchen window. However, the unique sound of the armor collision had already sounded outside the door.

It was too late, and it would be more conspicuous if he were to escape now.

Jude’s scalp exploded. He chose the innermost barrel and stuffed himself in desperately. He began to pray that the knight commander would focus on his goal and subconsciously ignore him.

Fortunately, in misfortune, from the moment he entered the tavern, his demon was extremely quiet, shrinking into a ball on his shoulders.

“Mr. Roderick, what are you doing here?”

The vague voice of the young waiter came from outside the wooden door, and there was no panic in his tone.

“Not to be rude, but you will frighten my guests by staying in my Dawn Tavern like this.”

“I’m looking for my teacher,” the Knight of Judgment replied, with a smile in his voice. “Black hair, gray-black mage robe, dark red eyes. He’s good looking. He looks… Well, he’s in his thirties. Have you ever seen such a person?”

“As you can see, our house is just a tavern, not a refuge.”

“You did not answer my question positively.” The smile in the voice of Chief Justice Roderick became a bit stronger. “My intuition tells me that he’s here.”

“If your teacher doesn’t want to advise you, I think he has his own reasons.”

“It won’t be my problem anyway.” Roderick replied in a lazy tone, deliberately raising his voice, with a bit of banditry in his tone that didn’t quite match his identity. “I did everything in the agreement, but he wouldn’t see me.”

“Perhaps he would be more willing to see you if you left your procession of Knights of Judgement behind.”

“No, he won’t. Get out of the way, boy, let me see your kitchen,” Roderick huffed, and there was the sound of metal armor colliding.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Roderick. I remember that according to the regulations, if proper instructions are not given, the Knights of Judgement from the Laddism Church aren’t allowed to trespass on private houses,” the young waiter said slowly, still not flustered. “Unfortunately, I am one of the shopkeepers here, and I have the right to get a reason that can convince me. The Chief Justice of the Knight of Judgement can’t lie, right?”

“…What a pain in the ass. Okay, okay—I’m not going to break your kitchen, nor am I going to stuff that cunning guy into the dungeon. I just want to talk to him.”

“Well…”

“Isn’t that enough? …Okay, damn rules. Boy, when I first became an adult, that bastard kicked me out of the house and asked me to look at the beautiful girls outside and don’t think about certain ‘inappropriate’ things—now that seven years have passed, I have saved 800 out of 1,000. I just wanted to go back and tell him and talk to him about it.”

“Then he ran away?”

“Then he ran away, and I chased him for a whole country and a half.”

“Mr. Roderick, I have one more little thing to ask. When you went to find your teacher, you also brought such a heavily armed… Uh, entourage with you?”

“Because I have a hunch that he will run away.”

“…Uh, you really don’t know what the problem is?”

“Mind your own business, get out of the way.”

“Okay, Mr. Medes is in the third barrel on the left side of the kitchen against the wall—he hasn’t popped out yet to escape with all his strength. According to what I know about him, he shouldn’t refuse to talk to you about it.” The waiter guided very empathetically.

“Do you know him? He never said—”

“By the way, there is also a fugitive in the first barrel on the left side of the wall. You can take him away easily. It is a gift from our store.”

“……”

Fuck. Jude’s eyes darkened as he hid in the barrel.

Now, he had only one choice left.

Directly tearing off his most advanced acceleration rune paper, Jude pulled out a poisonous dagger hidden in his boots and rushed out of the door first. He directly locked the young waiter’s neck with his arm and squeezed the blade at the young man’s throat.

Wyatt Roderick was standing in the room of the Dawn Tavern, close to the entrance of the back kitchen, followed by a team of Knights of Judgment that couldn’t be counted at a glance.

The young knight had long, dark golden hair that wasn’t too long, and his eyes were a bit dull gray blue. On the left half of his cheek near his eyes, a small scar like a thin withered vine was present, like it was left over from a disease.

To be fair, Wyatt Roderick’s appearance wasn’t bad. It was a pity that the terrifying scars and cynicism of his smile really couldn’t leave a good impression, let alone, the long eyebrows of the Knight of Judgement even had a little evil aura.

“How old-fashioned.” Roderick waved his sword casually, without concealing the mockery in his voice.

Having said that, the young Knight of Judgment glanced at him vigilantly and then turned to the surrounding environment, obviously considering the safest countermeasure.

Jude vigilantly leaned his back against the door frame, holding the dagger firmly in his hand. Not to mention the strong enemy in front of him, the so-called “Mr. Medes” didn’t sound like a real fugitive. If that guy sneaked up from behind, his situation would be really bad.

At present, there was no movement in the back kitchen, which was the only good thing that had happened so far.

Jude shrugged his shoulders and motioned to his demon partner to wrap around the young shopkeeper’s neck to add a little more leverage. Unfortunately, that damned intermediate demon completely shrank itself into a small ball and began to pretend to be dead.

“Your goal is not me, honored Lord Knight.”

Jude squeezed out an ugly smile and pressed the poisonous dagger against the throat of the shopkeeper dressed as a waiter.

“Blame this kid for talking too much. Otherwise, just treat me as if you haven’t seen me, okay? If you don’t agree, I’m going to cut this kid’s throat. No matter how fast your sword and spells are, they can’t be faster than mine—”

A series of crisp bells came from the door of the Dawn Tavern, and another young man dressed as a waiter entered the door. The young man was holding a large box of fresh potatoes in his arms, and there were a few bunches of dried fish hanging on the side of the wooden box.

“Nemo, the potatoes you bought have arrived. Guess what? Colestoro sent some specialty dried fish from the glaciers… Hey?”

The young man with light brown hair blinked and stopped in place in shock at the scene in front of him.

“…What are you doing?” After a few seconds, the choked young man spoke again, and his tone sounded a bit awkward.

“Hostage.” The young man known as “Nemo” sounded a little emotional. “I haven’t been taken hostage in such an old-fashioned way, Ollie.”

Jude frowned and increased his strength, locking around his opponent’s throat. Something was wrong with this kid’s reaction. To put it bluntly, from the beginning, he didn’t shake at all.

The “Ollie” glanced at the shivering demon worshippers in the shop, squatting under the table with their heads, and the tense Knights of Judgment, and finally exhaled a long breath.

“Then I’ll send the potatoes to the kitchen first,” he continued solemnly. “The photo crystal is upstairs. Do you need me to take a picture for you?”

“Good idea, but I would rather witness this moment with you,” Nemo responded equally seriously.

“It seems that this gentleman doesn’t need much help, so I’ll come back later.” Roderick obviously didn’t have much sense of justice. He retracted his long sword and snapped his fingers. “I have to go and get my dear teacher out first.”

‘It’s not that I’m dreaming but the world had just finally gone crazy.’ Jude thought blankly.

He was pretty sure that he was holding a dagger with snake venom in his hand, not a carrot or something, but no one seemed to care about it.

They would regret it.

Although it wasn’t clear what the situation was, it was always a good thing for Roderick to leave temporarily. As long as he did his old tricks again, seriously injured this kid, and threw a few stinky smoke bombs…

Jude gritted his teeth and slashed the young man’s throat with a dagger.

There was no screaming, no blood.

Nothing happened.

In the blink of an eye, Jude had just reacted and found himself lying on the floor. The black-haired waiter with a delicate face smiled and looked down at him from above. Jude’s scalp tightened, and he suddenly wanted to get up, but found that his limbs were already tightly wrapped in fine shadow vines.

The shrunken Hitz poisonous squid rolled to the ground like a ball, and no matter how hard he tried to call it, it didn’t seem to have the slightest intention of moving.

“You tried to murder a poor old lady at the Ramon Inn.” Nemo patted the dust off his shoulder, “Unfortunately, I am very familiar with the hostess of the Ramon Inn. She told me everything, Jude Major.”

Nemo held the ball-shaped Hitz poisonous squid in his hand, and from that cold gaze, Jude even read a bit of emotion and nostalgia. But this was impossible. This kid was too young and looked completely green. There was no such person in his social circle.

This must be a ridiculous dream, and everything that was happening right now was simply unreasonable.

“Thank you for your cooperation… This gentleman, since ‘you’ know my teacher, I won’t ask for the details of the matter.”

Roderick directly carried Medes out with the barrel, nodded at Nemo, and then glanced at Jude, who was twisting on the ground.

“And you guys, pack this thing on the ground and take it back with us.”

“Yes, Lord Roderick.”

“When you’re done talking, remember to come over for a drink.” Nemo patted the barrel on Roderick’s shoulder.

“I will, Mr. Light,” Medes replied sullenly in the bucket. “By the way, it’s ‘me’, not ‘us’. There must be something wrong with my education… Asshole, don’t knock on the barrel! Answer me first, how is that village?”

“Oh, the village that expelled me.” Roderick smiled in a low voice. “On the whole, it’s still there—I endured it very hard, and I didn’t use the power you gave me to do excessive things like slaughtering the village. You promised me a reward if I would drop the matter. Well, that promise still stands, right?”

“……”

“Farewell.” Roderick stopped tapping his hand on the wall of the barrel, looking in a much better mood.

“Sorry to shock everyone. All orders that haven’t been settled yet are free of charge.”

Oliver, the shopkeeper, immediately took over. He walked to the other shopkeeper and gave him a quick kiss.

“…Everyone who has already checked out can also continue to order. You’re welcome.”

Seeing the Knights of Judgement leaving the Dawn Tavern, the demon worshippers who had huddled on the bottom of the table crawled out one after another, panting in horror. Although policies had been loosened in recent years, it was still difficult to quickly change the habits engraved in their bones.

“We have to make some baked meatloaf.” Nemo grabbed Oliver’s collar and kissed him back. “Ann and the others should be here in a while. She will order this every time.”

A few bold people in the shop blew a few whistles.

“Good.” After his lips parted, Oliver rubbed the other person’s hair with a smile between his brows. “Let me go. I’ll just check on the soup. Just wait for them here. You have to calculate today’s account carefully—you’re better at this than me.”

“Uh-huh.”

When Nemo sat down behind the wooden platform, the guests finally calmed down.

“If you ask me, Roderick definitely didn’t come here just to find someone. That must be a cover,” the nervous old man kept stroking the two-headed crow on his shoulders and said nervously.

“What do you mean?”

“Haven’t you heard? The ghost of Tumbleweed appeared nearby. The Chief Justice is here, so it must be to investigate this matter.”

“Tumbleweed, the Black Chapter team with the Knight of Ash? Aren’t they long gone?”

“The ghost is still there. Don’t mention it, it’s weird. Alas… Mr. Light, do you mind if we talk about this here? After all, this topic is a bit unlucky—”

“Don’t worry, everyone.”

Nemo raised the corner of his mouth, put down the book, and tugged at the ball of thread in his hands.

“We don’t mind at all.”


The author has something to say:

Jude: I have a hostage! I have a hostage!

Nemo: A novel experience, kudos (0ω0)b

————

Tumbleweed will definitely not simply disappear XDDD

Casually raising a student, but the result is he’s going to lose himself to it, Mr. Medes (?


Kinky Thoughts:

Ahhh so many appearances from all the side characters. For those who forgot, Roderick is the child Medes adopted before he was contemplating to end himself… And now it turns out, Roderick has a thing for his teacher. At the rate this is going, the requirement of all the Chief Justices of the Knights of Judgement is that they gotta be gay (started by Adrian Cross).

Shout out to Colestoro and Duran. They got to see the glaciers after all! (I’m so happy for them)


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Stray Ch273

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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


Chapter 273: Ten Years Later — Part 1

Jude Major leaned triumphantly against the wall and gently stroked the head of his new demon.

During the reign of the Blood Queen Andrea Alastair, Alban changed a lot of draconian laws against demon worshippers. If the partner is a subordinate demon, as long as you honestly go to the designated demon laboratory to register, after it is determined that it wasn’t too harmful, the servant can use them for legal purposes.

At least in terms of garbage disposal and pest control, they were much more efficient than surface organisms.

Unfortunately, there was something to be said for it.

Demon worshipper Jude Major touched the beard on his chin and tsked regretfully.

Speaking of more than ten years ago, he had met Ann Savage, who hadn’t become queen yet. Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to develop any relationships.

Although she had been queen for about seven years, the Queen of Blood dragged her knights out of the palace and lived an adventurous life again. She wasn’t as crazy as the rumors were—Alban’s control over intermediate demons was still very strict, the procedures for registering intermediate demons were much more cumbersome than lower-level demons, and the deposit required was more than ten times higher. More harmful varieties were still prohibited from entering into contracts.

It would be great if that woman went a little crazier.

Jude shook the wine in the jug and sighed pretentiously…

Anyway, he won’t pay a deposit of thousands of gold coins for his new baby. Not to mention, his newly obtained intermediate demon wasn’t in the category that Alban allowed to register at all.

The demon who had made the contract with him was lying on his shoulders. Its translucent purple-black body was squirming slowly, and its slippery, soft skin glowed with water.

The Hitz, an extremely poisonous squid, was highly toxic and its combat power was particularly outstanding; it almost wiped out all his wealth, but no matter. It would soon earn back those glittering gold coins.

The best thing was that its toxicity was very difficult to detect, and the cause of death of the victim could easily be recognized as accidental consumption of moldy food.

What’s more, the target age this time was quite old.

Jude turned around, leaned his back against the blind corner of the balcony, and glanced at the old lady in the room, holding an herbal medicine and burying her head to quickly write.

There was no better place to start than an inn.

Five years ago, Godwin Lopez, who was in his prime, awarded his commander position to Victor, his deputy commander at the time, and retired from the front line. People have speculated that this “real Hero” would turn to the path of politics. Unexpectedly, Godwin had simply liquidated all his properties, ran to the remote town of Roadside Town, and bought the only inn in the village.

He kept the name of the Ramon Inn and began to try to operate it.

When this legendary hero first arrived in this small place, he caused an uproar. People from nearby towns came to watch, and many even came from other countries thousands of miles away to see the excitement, so the business of the Ramon Inn became prosperous.

Almost everyone agreed that Godwin Lopez was just taking a short break and taking advantage of the peace of the world to change his mood.

However, year after year passed, and Mr. Lopez’s third child had already learned to walk, and the famous Mr. Lopez still didn’t mean to give up the inn at all, and even seemed to be enjoying it.

For some reason, the new queen of Alban acquiesced to such behavior. At first, everyone was betting on when the envoys from the capital would come to recall him, but five years passed, and no one came.

It wasn’t bad, Jude rolled his eyes.

He just needed to wait for Lopez to leave the hotel and kill the old woman.

So what if he was a Hero? That silly old lady had just finished her breakfast, and when she was eliminated with no traces of evidence, Lopez wouldn’t be able to refute anything even if he tried. Once the statute of limitations had passed, the demon’s toxin would be completely decomposed, and even if Lopez investigated this matter deeply, he would most likely only get the result of food poisoning.

Not to mention that failure to find the murderer would tank Lopez’s business and drag down his reputation. On the whole, Mr. Hero won’t get any benefit at all. Who would do such a stupid thing?

Anyway, such a great person must be used to seeing life and death and wouldn’t make a fuss about the death of some old lady.

Jude pricked up his ears, pretended to taste the wine in the jug, and carefully eavesdropped on the conversation between Mr. Lopez and his beautiful wife downstairs.

“Ten years, Godwin.” Mrs. Lopez shook her head and huffed. “You can’t keep going to Ollie’s for get-togethers. We should hold a family banquet here or something.”

Godwin Lopez snorted solemnly, but this solemnity didn’t bring him much authority—Not far away, two little boys were fighting with tree branches.

The youngest girl rode on Mr. Lopez’s neck, pulling on the blond hair hard and giggling.

“They just came back from a trip last week, and this time they will probably stay in peace for a few more years. How about inviting them over to dinner this time?”

“We can go to the tavern together.” Mr. Hero’s voice was a bit uncomfortable.

“What did you say?” Mrs. Lopez crossed her arms with amazing momentum. “That skull has been in this yard for so many years. My eldest brother’s visit will not cause any natural disasters. What’s more, this is Ollie’s—”

“Okay, I admit I’m still psychologically challenged, but you think those brats would have started to remember.” Godwin rubbed his temples. “We have to figure out how to explain now that they can still remember ‘Uncle Ollie’. In another ten years, we have to explain to them why Uncle Ollie became Ollie’s brother. Debby, your older brother looks even better than you now—”

“Hmm?” Debby raised her tone.

“Older than you…”

“Hmm???”

“…Nothing.” Godwin coughed twice, swallowed the second half of the sentence, and quickly changed the subject. “Olivia, don’t pull daddy’s hair so hard.”

“Okay, let’s talk about this after dinner. You, first go to the next town to bring back the new dishes, and when you come back for dinner in the evening, I’ll go to the orphanage to tend to it.”

“Okay.”

Very good. Jude tightened the lid of the jug and wiped his mouth as he watched Godwin Lopez leave the Ramon Inn in a carriage.

Now the owner of the Ramon Inn was just a beautiful girl and her kids. There was nothing to worry about—Godwin Lopez had done at least one thing logically. He married a lady who was quite good looking.

Jude heard someone talk about Mrs. Lopez while drinking, but unfortunately, he was too drunk at that time and didn’t hear much, but it didn’t matter. It was just a woman that could be easily taken care of.

Making sure that the carriage had disappeared into the depths of the woods in the distance, and counting the time, Jude neatly pried open the balcony door and entered the room. Before the old lady had time to express her surprise, she just screamed a little, and fainted to the ground from the demon’s poisonous gas. Turning over the old lady’s eyelids and determining that the toxin had reached a lethal amount, Jude hummed happily and turned to the balcony—

Mrs. Lopez was squatting on the high-rise balcony in a standard mercenary posture; her eyes were cold.

Fearfully, her eldest son, with a branch in his mouth, jumped up just as awkwardly.

“Abyssal magic… I thought it was a registered demon worshipper, but it doesn’t seem to be anymore. Eddie, go and inform the garrison.”

“Okay, mom.” The boy narrowed his eyes and disappeared off the edge of the balcony. Jude was pretty sure he didn’t hear the sound of a heavy object falling to the ground.

“Motherfucker!” Jude took out a weird fruit from his pocket and smashed it directly to the ground.

Suddenly, a thick yellow gas full of pungent odors filled the room.

Debby chanted, waved away the thick smoke, and rushed to the old woman who fell to the ground. Healing spells and detoxification spells were quickly completed in the air, but unfortunately, the old lady was weak, and the demon toxicity was really too strong—Thankfully her life was still safe, but Debby didn’t have time to chase the murderer.

“Mom!” her little daughter yelled angrily below. “Someone is running away into the woods; Rennie is going after him!”

“Catch your second brother!” Debby shouted downstairs while adjusting the healing spell. “It’s okay, he can’t get away!”

“Lies! He obviously ran away!” her youngest son screamed hard, sounding like he was struggling.

“There’s only one place the demon worshipper could go if he’s fleeing, and that’s to Noer.” Debby cleared her throat. “Just leave that asshole alone. Go to the basement and get some marigold powder and snake blood vine. Uncle Nemo will take care of this matter.”

“……Hmph.”

At the same time, Jude was running wildly in the Border Forest.

Hell, seeing that Mrs. Lopez was young and beautiful, he didn’t do an in-depth investigation. Rich enough and with a good face, Godwin Lopez obviously didn’t lack beautiful playthings that would be obedient… Is that man a masochist?

It seemed that with Mrs. Lopez’s posture, this task was probably going to fail.

But it didn’t matter. Jude took two breaths.

Garland’s attitude towards demons was still much looser. As long as he mixed into Noer before the garrison of Roadside Town released the news, he could escape the possible pursuit.

He had been walking outside for the past few years, and it was time to go to the Dawn Tavern for a drink and buy some new information from his colleagues.

About twelve years ago, the original owner of Dawn Tavern, Talbott Vance, disappeared. As soon as the two-and-a-half-year retention period passed, two wealthy young people bought it.

Jude happened to not be nearby during that time. When he stepped into the tavern again, the two young bosses were no longer in the store, and he heard that they were on a long-distance trip.

Fortunately, although the decoration style has changed a lot, Dawn Tavern still didn’t exclude guests who were close to demons. Although it was a pity that there wasn’t Vance who he could exchange information,

Jude used magic to speed himself up desperately, and when he got under the walls of Noer, he panted like an old dog with lung disease.

However, he was not panting alone.

Not far from him, a man in a black robe took off his hood, bent down, and held his knees with both hands, panting as if he was about to suffocate on the spot in the next second.

The man looked to be in his thirties. His black hair was stuck to his face by sweat, his skin was unhealthy pale, and his eyes were an ominous dark red. The man’s face was handsome and elegant, with a hint of arrogance. It was just that the arrogance was swallowed up by his current demeanor.

There is a tin badge pinned to the man’s black robe. It looked like it was quite old as the pattern was somewhat faded.

Although this person didn’t bring a demon, he was quite sure that this wasn’t a good sign. Jude sniffed. He was pretty sure he smelled the soil from graves, skeletons, and strong potions.

For a moment, the two looked at each other in silence and awkwardness. The black-robed man was the first to stop panting. A series of spells smashed down. Numerous stone platforms floated out from the walls, and the other man climbed up first.

Jude tugged at his gray beard and decided to take advantage of it. He grabbed the protruding small stone platform and climbed up after the man, happy and relaxed.

The strange man glanced at him in confusion with red eyes, and then leaned against the wall and looked around nervously, as if he was on guard for someone.

This guy was probably in the same situation as himself, and he was probably an unlucky fellow who had failed his dirty work and had been discovered. Jude smacked his mouth, climbed onto the wall, jumped over first and ran towards the Dawn Tavern in his memory.

And the black-robed man trotted beside him, taking the exact same route.

They glanced at each other embarrassedly again.

It seemed that he may not be able to get rid of his relationship with this kid. Jude patted his demon and ran faster.

The Dawn Tavern wasn’t in the center of the city. It had also been expanded by an extra floor, which made it very easy to find. There was no sound of armor clashing from soldiers running around. It seemed that he had escaped fast enough. Jude breathed a sigh of relief, walked into the tavern carelessly and touched the butt of the waitress in the shop…

As a result, before the hand could touch the waitress’ black skirt, the waitress with braided hair squeezed his wrist tightly. The cute girl with freckles looked at him with weird eyes and increased the strength of her hands with a smile.

Jude screamed and struggled desperately. Seeing that the woman finally let go, Jude cursed a few swear words secretly, rubbing his sore wrist bitterly. There was no waitress at the Dawn Tavern before, so he thought he could skim some oil off the water* to comfort his injured heart.

*Metaphor referring to taking advantage of others in public.

His luck was simply terrible today.

The black-robed man who came in with him had already rushed to the wooden platform and spoke hurriedly to the young man in the waiter’s uniform behind the wooden platform.

“Mr. Light, can I borrow your kitchen to hide for a while?”

“Yes, it’s okay…” The waiter was a beautiful young man with black hair tied behind his head in a ponytail, and he looked a little inexplicably familiar, but Jude was very sure that he shouldn’t have met such a young guy before.

“Thanks.” The man in the black robe didn’t say much, and hurriedly rushed to the back kitchen.

The young waiter looked a little helpless. He picked up a book and sat back in his seat.

Jude brushed past, and before he could order a drink, he heard the growing clamor outside.

“…A person from the Laddism Church…”

“Why is the commander of the Knights of Judgement here?”

“Shh, shh, keep your voice down!”

Jude’s heart thumped. He glanced nervously at the dangerous demon on his shoulder and swallowed.

Whether they were after him or not, it was too late to escape now, and it was better to not attract too much attention to himself.

“Mr. Light,” Jude imitated modestly. “Can I borrow your kitchen to hide for a while?”

The young waiter raised his eyebrows, looked at him up and down, and then smiled.

“Of course you can,” he said with a smile.


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