Stray

“If there is such a human being, I can probably understand the meaning of the envoy of God.” The biggest Bluebird had a serious tone. “Human, if you can understand us, then behave and come with us. The envoy of God wants to see the four of you.” He didn’t intend to answer Nemo’s questions.

“We need to discuss it first.” Nemo responded slightly cramped. This conversation experience was so wonderful. He was pretty sure he was still speaking lingua franca, but the Bluebirds undoubtedly understood him.

“Discuss what?” Oliver let go of the hand that grasped Nemo’s wrist, sounding a little confused.

“Their envoy wants to see us,” Nemo dutifully translated.

“It’s probably Jesse Dylan.” Oliver smacked his forehead. “…Now things have become troublesome.”

Nemo also had a headache. They were not going to start a war. According to the current situation, the wisest thing to do was to explore around the tribe, or even find a chance to sneak in, and run away as soon as something goes wrong. The last thing they wanted was to be noticed and watched by all members of the Bluebird tribe. He glanced carefully at the aggressive Bluebirds with the rest of his eyes. They didn’t seem to intent on receiving any response that was related to the word “no”.

“That’s good.” Ann suddenly spoke. She wasn’t sure whether the Bluebirds could understand the lingua franca, so she spoke vaguely. “At least we can definite get what we want, unless that man intends to directly kill us and help the birds worship the heavens.”

“That… Mr. Bird, can you tell me why the envoy wants to see us?” Nemo asked quickly and dryly.

“You’re distinguished guests.” The biggest Bluebird said bluntly. “Don’t worry. We will not hurt you. Unlike despicable humans, we will not tarnish the word ‘fight’, but I hope you know that you have no right to refuse. We don’t want to use force if we can avoid it.”

Nemo quickly translated it back. However, everyone on their team wasn’t a pure-blooded teenager, so the suspicion did not dissipate much.

“Let’s go with them first, since they’re already eyeing us.” Oliver sighed. “It’s too early to have a conflict. In case the situation is really bad to that point… We could escape the Luddism Church, so we’ll find a way.”

“Not bad, Oliver. You have already begun to understand the spirit of the Black Chapter.” Ann’s mood finally improved. She punched Oliver’s shoulder with her fist.

Half of Nemo’s mind was stunned by the strange language of the Bluebird, and the other half was uneasy because of the unknown. At this point, he had to squeeze out part of his courage from inside. Adrian did not raised any objections, nor did he seemed to be following the trend. His calm self-confidence seemed unbreakable.

“I think it should be fine.” After leaving the town that hated monsters, the gray parrot regained some of its momentum. “Jesse is quite tasteful. He…”

“He also calls himself an atheist,” Ann hummed. “While he looks beautiful enough, he’s definitely a poisonous mushroom.”

Nemo turned his face to look at the Bluebirds. Whether it was Bagelmaurus’ words or Ann’s speech about “atheists”, the Bluebirds were unresponsive. They may really not understand the lingua franca.

“Is the discussion over?” The Bluebird asked coldly when he saw that they stopped making a sound.

“We’ll go with you.” Nemo glanced at the bushes where Fritz was hiding and raise his voice slightly. “But we brought…”

“No need for these,” the Bluebird replied immediately. “We only need four humans and one parrot.”

The fuller goat was chewing on grass leisurely, showing no interest in what was happening in front of it. The bushes shook slightly a few times.

“Well, thank you for your invitation,” Oliver exclaimed knowingly. “We agree to see the envoy. We can give up these treasures. Please feel at ease. We hope for peace from the bottom of our hearts.”

“What is he shouting at?” The Bluebird turned to Nemo.

“He agreed and is expressing his excitement.” Nemo responded deeply.

The Bluebird no longer talked nonsense. They let out a loud chip and their huge claws firmly grasped the waist of everyone in the party, then they plunged into the sky. Compared to Melody’s awkward movements, theirs were much more cautious and graceful. Their sharp claws didn’t even hook into a single thread on cloth.

They sored into the sky. Nemo was unable to open his eyes against the wind blowing against him. The gray parrot’s claw clung tightly to his robe, while its entire body was flattened on his shoulder. The Bluebirds definitely did this intentionally. They rolled and rotated from time to time, hovering over the green jungle. Soon Nemo lost his sense of direction, or to be more precise, he was about to lose his consciousness.

Although they did not confess their thoughts to Fritz, Fritz seemed like a smart man. He hoped that the young hunter could understand Oliver’s meaning, rather than rushing back in a hurry to plunge the Delaney’s family into chaos. Nemo prayed in a daze.

Fortunately, they didn’t wander in the high icy altitude for too long. With a rapid dive, they returned to the ground. During the descent, they seemed to have passed through an illusion array. For a moment, a warm touch brushed over Nemo’s face and the scene in front of him became different. It was no longer the repetition of the boring forest. He was greeted with the sight of a strange towering tree that grew in the middle of an open space. Its leaves weren’t dense and countless huge fruit like nests wrapped with vines hung from its branches. There were many doors left on the trunk for passage. Bluebirds rested on the strong branches, and many poked their heads out of their nest and looked at them curiously.

There was a huge tree hole where the giant tree met the ground, and the edge of the tree hole was embedded with strange metal decorations. The round ore shone brightly among the silver metals. Vines and thick moss covered the trunk of the tree, and small white flowers hung from the edge of the vines that looked like stars from a distance.

The Bluebirds let go of their claws. Only Adrian landed decently on one knee. This time, even Ann fell flat on the ground.

“Oh, everyone. It’s been almost a week since I saw you,” the expected frivolous voice sounded. Nemo stood up staggeringly and raised his head seeing Jesse Dylan’s blond hair. He had an extremely complicated neck ornament around his neck. He walked out of the tree hole and stretched. Compared to humans, he looked more like the rumored forest elves.

He threw cranberries into his mouth and his voice was muffled. “How goes your mission? Please feel free to speak as they don’t understand lingua franca.”

He then sucked on his fingers. The fingertips drew dark golden marks in the air and a group of strange words in circles solidified in the air. The Bluebirds bowed respectfully, and the biggest one stretched out its forelimbs and returned a string of words in similar style. Nemo couldn’t understand the meaning of those words, which made him inexplicably relieved. However, he always felt that the words were a bit familiar… They were a bit like the handwriting in that fairy tale book.

“Our task doesn’t concern you. In addition, I’m curious about what your intentions are,” Oliver stood up and responded in an unassuming manner.

‘It’s very simple. The Bluebirds here is thinking about officially going to war with Vincent Town.” Jesse muttered casually. “Isn’t your mission in Vincent Town? Just a kind reminder that we’re destined.”

“I don’t think our relationship is as good as that, and the way you remind us is too rough.”

“What’s the matter? I told these little birds that you are destined to end this shitty situation. You won’t be treated badly. I can even take you directly to see Pasototu.”

Oliver took a step back and frowned. “We’ve never mentioned this to you.”

“And you said you’re an atheist,” Nemo added, “but now you’re an envoy of God recognized by the tribe?”

“Oh goodness, you two are so cute. Such a snake-level will be eaten with no bones left.” Jesse smacked his lips in a perfunctory tone. “There are two words in the world. One is called ‘intelligence’ and the other is called ‘lies’. Have you two heard of it? I have my ways. Alas, your vigilance hurts my heart. I just want to take care of the younger generation—”

“No, you need our help.” Oliver quickly reached a conclusion.

“…You’re so straightforward, but you’re right. I think you’re more reliable than casually picking up two idiots from outside Vincent Town.”

“What do you want us to do?”

“Why don’t you go and see Pasototu first?” Jesse muttered.

“We may not agree to your request, so we don’t want to owe you any favors first.” Oliver responded politely.

Jesse snorted and tapped his chin with his fingers.

“I just made an agreement with a certain lady two days ago and she confessed everything to me.” His smile was very bright. “After it’s done, I can get a powerful corpse with plenty of mana in the Holy Land. You see, I’m a pacifist and prefer to trade in a dignified manner than to doing it directly or stealing. Unfortunately, I can’t do it alone. I have to be the envoy of God, the holy prophet, so I can’t do the dirty work myself.”

“…Just speak frankly.”

“My lovely trading partner… She foresaw endless deaths and corpses. The Grace Bluebirds here will be extinct within the next few weeks, and she doesn’t want to see this happening. Honestly speaking, such an ‘upright’ job is indeed more suitable for you— Try and stop this war, darlings*.”

*Clarity: He’s calling them [baobei] (宝贝) = babe/baby/sweetie/darling ect. So when you see any form of this coming from Jesse, just know that it’s this word. This is his manner of eccentric speech and it’s also the reason why they react so creepily to him as this word generally is reserve for one’s lover or someone you treasure a lot.

“You’re already an envoy. You can tell them to stop.” Nemo touched the goosebumps on his arms and put out his suggestion without any emotion.

“The power of the envoy is not as great as that. Take a step back. Who will stop Vincent Town?”

“You want us to stop a small-scale war?” Ann said sullenly as she crossed her arms. “That’s interesting. You don’t look like the type to reject what’s near and seek what’s far*. It’s just a corpse. Compared to painstakingly stirring up the battlefield, I personally think it’s easier to just rob a tomb or kill one, sea scorpion.” Her last word was squeezed through gritted teeth.

*(舍近求远) Idiom referring to seeking things from afar and neglecting what is close at hand.

“Because it’s fun!” Jesse spread out his hands. “People don’t live and not have fun. I haven’t seen such an interesting thing is so many years. I won’t forgive myself if I miss this.”

“I’m sorry Mr. Dylan. I don’t think this war is interesting, nor do I think my companions and I have the ability to stop a war.” Oliver hesitated for a moment, and when he spoke again, his voice was very solemn. “…Although I personally want to help, I can’t make promises on behalf of everyone about things that can’t be done.”

“No, you have that ability. I’ll help you out.” Jesse Dylan showed a meaningful smile that wasn’t malicious, but a bit creepy. “Oh, don’t make that face. It has something to do with your mission. Pasototu is the only son of the tribal leader, and the leader is going crazy. He can’t wait to tear Melody Delaney to pieces. Are you going to abandon them? Just give up on these poor young people? …I said that it’s not the war that is interesting. It’s them.”

“You must have heard of a few similar, beautiful human fairytales. The handsome prince becomes a terrifying monster, and the lovely girl uses the power of true love to lift the curse. They even read it to their children! Now the human fairytales have become the Bluebird’s fairytales, but in reverse. Poor Miss Delaney had a simple role change and is now the object that befell the terrible curse. Isn’t this interesting?”

Nemo suddenly felt cold. Even though the sun was just right, and every corner of the forest was full of vitality, a cold air rose from the soles of his feet and chills crawled up his back. “You mean…”

“There are no humans in Vincent Town; never have. Of course, except for outsiders… Melody Delaney is not deformed. She’s just changing back to her original appearance.”

The author has something to say：

There is a reason why the “people” in Vincent Town can’t hear the song of the bluebird: D

It’s time to see the battlefield, boys.

—Dividing line for task upgrade–

An: The agreed task of finding people…

Adrian: …

Oliver: …

Nemo: …Sorry!

Nemo forever lost the privilege to suggest tasks.