Stray

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

The two placed the witch on the edge of the field of earthsea orchids on a relatively gentle slope.

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

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

The demon was moved.

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

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

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

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

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

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

What would happen then?

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

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

“No!” The gray parrot cried with difficulty.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Yes.”

“How strange.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Here.” Nemo raised his head.

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

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

The long “funeral” officially began.

Earthsea Orchid Inn.

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

A small task without difficulty.

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Yes, commander.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He opened his legs, which was a standard offensive posture.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

However, when she regained her attention and raised her head, Debby found that the problem was not so imminent.

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

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

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

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

Ten minutes ago.

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

“But……”

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

The author has something to say：

Grey parrot! Finally! Ran away from home—!

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

————

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