Stray

Ann was silent for a moment, then quietly winked hard at Oliver and Nemo from an angle that Melody couldn’t see, and then pointed to her head.

“Something seems to be wrong with her in here,” the female warrior mouthed inaudibly.

“When did you start this deformation?” Adrian continued to ask. Melody’s amazing speech seemed to have no effect on him. “Have you done anything you haven’t done before?”

“Isn’t this the root cause? I’m in love with a monster, Mr. Monk. I just want to figure out what this curse is—”

“How long have you been in love?”

“More than three months.”

“If the God you love really wants to punish you, he or she won’t wait until now, right?”

“But…”

Adrian carefully held her forelimbs with his hand and checked repeatedly. His eyes looked very serious. “No matter which religious denomination you belong to, the characteristics of a curse are common. I don’t think you’re cursed, Miss Delaney. This may be some kind of disease or some ongoing enchantment.”

Melody slowly retracted her forelimbs. Her eyes were mixed with disappointment and a little joy.

“What are you going to do now?” Oliver put away the contract. “I assure you, we will not force you to go home, but do you want to keep wandering like this? Your…” he paused, “where is your lover?”

“I don’t know.” She lowered her head. “We agreed to run away together but he didn’t show up. I think he must’ve been discovered by his people… Pasototu will never leave me! I want to continue to find a way to infiltrate his tribe, but now I…”

“If this is a disease, you need timely treatment. If this is an enchantment, only by finding the caster can a solution be found,” Oliver suggested carefully. “Maybe you should go back to town first.”

“Impossible. You have helped me a lot, so I’ll let you know— If you’re still going to Vincent Town, remember not to let that parrot speak.” Melody took a few steps back, seemingly bidding them goodbye.

The gray parrot that was having fun in the bag of nuts got stuck. Nemo grabbed it and pulled it out.

“Why!” it squawked discontentedly as it held a handful of nuts in its claws.

“That’s not an ordinary parrot, right?” Melody whispered in an unpleasant voice. “Our supreme goddess, Lavinia… she doesn’t like monsters. They’ll kill it.”

“Lavinia?” Nemo tried to forcibly open the parrot’s claws and retrieved the nuts as he looked at Adrian. The gray parrot was as stiff as a rock at this moment. “I have no impression… Uh, no offense, Miss Delaney.”

“It should be a marginal minority religion,” Adrian said softly. “So, this is why. As long as you return to town…”

“They will definitely kill me. I may not even have time to explain!” Melody screamed. “I know how much they hate inhuman things. My parents are quite gentle… The last person who fell in love with a Bluebird was drenched in oil by his own family and burned alive.”

The gray parrot loosened its grip on the nuts and stood obediently on Nemo’s shoulder, pretending to be a real parrot.

“…It seems that our mission is destined to fail,” Ann sighed. “Anyways, let’s go to Vincent Town to meet the girl’s parents and discuss cancelling the task. Melody, do you want us to deliver a message for you?”

“Miss Delaney, are you sure you want to continue looking for your lover?” Oliver persuaded patiently. “Even if you don’t want to go home, we can take you with us when we leave here and send you to a medical center elsewhere.”

“If he can’t find me when he escapes, he’ll be very anxious.” The ugly monster bowed slightly to them. “This is how I feel, so I… I have to find Pasototu first.”

She was silent for a long time, but her eyes were full of struggle.

“Also, kind lady, if you can… Can you please tell my father and mother about my current situation so that they don’t miss me anymore?”

Ann nodded, still hesitant in her movements. Adrian sighed softly.

“Shall we give her something?” Nemo suggested, pointing to the big bag of food on the goat’s back. “We’ll be in Vincent Town in a few days and we can resupply there.”

Except for the gray parrot, all of them agreed. They wrapped butter and sugar cubes and stuff some dried meat and bread into a cloth bag. Ann patted the package and hung it on the monster’s strong arms.

“Melody, your parents may not necessarily give up.” The female warrior pursed her mouth. Her voice had a rare dryness to it. “If they insist on seeing you—”

“They won’t.” The monster responded sadly. “Believe me, they won’t… Thank you very much, but I don’t think we’ll see each other again.” She bowed to them again and her flesh pressed out unsightly folds that made people nauseous. Melody Delaney hugged her book and quickly disappeared into the darkness.

The next few days were boringly calm. From opening their eyes to closing, they have been walking except for the occasional stops to rest and eat. It was fine for the two experience fighters, while Oliver had a few terrifying blisters on the sole of his feet and would wince every time he got off his feet.

Nemo began to try to use Abyssal magic for healing. After all, they didn’t have a healer, and once they were injured, it would be difficult to treat injuries. When he fought against… or rather unilaterally defeated Witherspoon, he had healed more serious wounds than now. In theory he possessed such capabilities. His test product also had no complaints about this, but even though Nemo was very careful, Abyssal magic wasn’t suitable for treating humans. He made those small blisters in a large one, eventually making it seemed as if half a tomato was stuck to Oliver’s foot.

“Why don’t I carry you, Ollie?” Nemo poked the blister and said embarrassingly to Oliver. “Sorry.”

Oliver bared his teeth and used the tip of the knife to release the pus and blood, then shook his head firmly and refused. “It’s just a few blisters,” he said with a sullen face, while still maintaining the floating icicles. “Do you still want to try?”

“Let him go.” Adrian interjected. “If this pain can’t be endured, it’ll be useless for him to pick up the sword. Don’t stand on your tiptoe, Mr. Ramon. Endure.”

Oliver’s face twisted as he walked, and Nemo’s face was pale. He stared at Adrian’s back and for the first time learned about the coldness of the Knight Commander.

When they finally arrived in Vincent Town, the efforts of the two novices did have some results. Although Oliver’s eyes were slightly slit, he could at least step on his wound without changing his facial expression. After dozens of failures, Nemo finally succeeded in conquering the blisters— when they stepped into town, they almost sighed at the same time.

The town of Vincent was no Hailam. It wasn’t much bigger than Roadside Town. Except for the obvious differences in architectural styles, Nemo thought that they had returned to their familiar hometown. The buildings in the town were not orderly. The roofs and walls were painted with bright colors that gave a feeling of joy that was full of warmth. The Delaney family’s home was easy to find. It could be seen that they held a high position in town. Their house was neat and elegant and there wasn’t a trace of peeling paint on the white railing.

Melody’s father was thin and tall, with thick eyebrows and a few deep wrinkles between them. His eyes slanted down along his hooked nose, giving off a hint of aloofness. Despite her old age, Mrs. Delaney still had traces of her youthful beauty, but that beauty was mixed with a bit of shyness. As soon as they entered the door, she hurriedly withdrew from the living room. Her waist was slightly arched as if she was overwhelmed.

“You’re the Black Chapters who took the task?” Isaac Delaney’s tone was not friendly. He didn’t even invite them to sit down. He carried the contract parchnment rudely and the wrinkles between his eyebrows became more prominent.

“Yes,” Oliver replied quickly. “Actually, we are here…”

“You can start looking for my daughter. If you need more portraits or items from her, just tell me. Hurry up and find her for me,” he rudely interrupted Oliver.

“We have already met your daughter.” Oliver simply got straight to the point. He straightened his slightly bent back due to the pain. “She doesn’t want to return.”

Mr. Delaney laughed angrily. “Nonsense. Of course I know she doesn’t want to come back. That blasphemous lunatic has disgraced our family! Why didn’t you bring her back? Is there mud in your head?”

“She has been deformed and she wants you to know this,” Nemo said in a deep voice. He didn’t like Mr. Delaney’s tone when he was speaking about Melody. “We’ve seen her. She no longer looks like a human.”

The sound of broken porcelain came from the door. Melody’s mother dropped the tray she was holding and the beautiful tea set mixed with hot tea fell to pieces on the wooden floor.

“Why are you serving tea to criminals?” Mr. Delaney cried. His face was flushed with anger. “They are snake level! They’re all scums who no one would pity if they died. Now clean it up!”

Mrs. Delaney’s face paled. She covered her mouth as tears gushed down her face. Ten seconds later, she fell softly next to the debris, sobbing loudly. “How could she—”

“We spoiled her,” Mr. Delaney gritted his teeth as he spoke. His voice was close to a roar. “I can’t figure it out. Why can’t she just marry Fritz honestly? Where is she dissatisfied?”

“Honey, stop talking…”

“I’m her father!” he growled irritably while pulling his hair. “Doesn’t she understand? That Pagan family just burned their son to death five years ago! Why can’t she be sensible when she’s our only daughter? That’s blasphemy! Blasphemy! Lavinia is on—”

“Do you want to continue this task?” Ann interrupted with a flat face. “Your daughter told me about the situation here. Even then, do you still want us to bring her back?”

“Of course not!” Mr. Delaney cried. “I want to change the terms of the mission. I’ll add more money. You..” he took a deep breath.

“You go and kill that damn blue-haired beast. Without that bane, she’ll definitely change back!”

“You—” Nemo was just about to open his mouth, but a hand covered it before he could speak the unspoken words. Oliver’s palm was warm. Nemo turned his head with difficulty seeing a warm and polite smile on Oliver’s face.

“Okay,” he agreed politely. “Do you want have information about the Grace Bluebirds?”