Chapter 24. The Sorceress’s Trick
“Although those two guys are indeed stupid, it’s not easy to make a living in this era. If you let them go, not only will all the wealth here belong to you, but there are also several buried treasures that will be yours as well, as long as you spare their lives.”
Ke Lili looked at the bleeding Famasi lying on the ground, suppressing the impulse to reach out. Her expression remained somewhat calm.
Fisher didn’t hesitate, the light in his hands growing more intense.
“Well, that’s fine, but killing you and taking the visible treasures here would also satisfy me.”
Ke Lili’s composed face showed a slight crack. As she watched the light draw closer to Xiya’s body, she seemed unable to find another way to stop Fisher.
After a moment’s hesitation, she suddenly shouted,
“That red dragon, she hasn’t matured within the tribe, so she can’t become a complete form. I can provide a way for her to achieve her complete form, and all those treasures will belong to you. Just let them go!”
But after saying this, even Ke Lili began to regret it.
Those dragon tribespeople were merely slaves to this human. To humanity, subhuman slaves were just items, perhaps even less attractive than the treasures?
Raphael also closed his eyes, as the answer was already evident.
“…Interesting.”
Unexpectedly, the light from Fisher’s staff gradually dimmed, and he lowered his hand, “One of your companions needs to stop the bleeding. Hurry and deal with it.”
After a moment of disbelief, Ke Lili quickly floated behind Fisher, looking at the unconscious Famasi on the ground. The blood on her body had already dried considerably, but those two wounds were still shocking to Ke Lili.
She frantically used her ethereal hands to cover the wounds, and a ring on her finger began to glow faintly, seeming to carve a simple healing spell. However, Fisher didn’t pay any attention to it, sitting quietly on the carriage waiting for her response.
Next to them, Raphael, surprised by Fisher’s response, opened her eyes and turned to her companions, who were also looking at her.
“What are you looking at me for?”
But now, the one who was somewhat nervous and shy was Raphael. Her expression remained unchanged, but her tail flicked back and forth, attracting the attention of the human prisoners nearby.
“Ke Lili, Famasi…”
Xiya also finally regained her senses from her previous stupor. Ke Lili didn’t look at her and let out a sigh of relief only after confirming that Famasi’s wounds were no longer bleeding.
“It’s okay now, there’s still a breath left.”
She turned to glance at Xiya’s disheveled state and knew they would never be a match for this human. They had robbed many surrounding humans, but this was the first time they encountered such a human—a complete monster.
“Now can you tell me the method for the dragon’s maturity?”
Fisher tapped his staff lightly on the ground, making a crisp sound that attracted Ke Lili’s attention from her healing.
Ke Lili removed her hands from Famasi and said to Raphael,
“The maturity of a dragon tribe needs a ritual to guide their growth of horns. Without the specific guiding spell for the dragon tribe, their horns will grow randomly and might sprout from various places. I just happened to barter with a certain dragon tribe previously and obtained this part of the information. This dragon should be maturing in a few days, so the timing is perfect.”
Ke Lili continued,
“The entire ritual requires a lot of items for arrangements. Some things still need to be purchased from other tribes, and some tribes only accept gold, not human currency.”
Fisher glanced at the treasures they had left in the hall and said lightly,
“Money isn’t a concern.”
Ke Lili’s face turned dark, and Xiya, holding her stomach, wanted to speak.
“Hey, at least leave us a little.”
Fisher looked at her expressionlessly, and she immediately softened, not knowing what strange system incident she had triggered again, her face turning red, and her spider body trembling, but she could no longer produce silk.
“I don’t want your money; let the people here go, help me set up the ritual, and we’ll call it even.” He glanced at the two severely injured subhumans and added, “And my wallet.”
Ke Lili looked at Xiya, who then took out the leather wallet she had hidden in her cleavage. She tossed the fragrant and warm leather wallet to Fisher from a distance, but he opened the wallet first to count the number of Nali in it.
The money was fine, but there were also bank certificates and a photo given to him by Renee for safekeeping.
Once he confirmed there was no change, he let out a sigh of relief.
“We’ll stay here tonight and begin preparations tomorrow. You take care of your companion first.”
He approached the prison front and released everyone. Ral eagerly ran out and hugged Fisher, the little one hanging on him startled her companions.
“Ral!”
“Fisher! Fisher! I thought I wouldn’t see you again! That spider person said you were killed! Ral was so scared, I thought maybe you’d have more holes in your head or somewhere!”
“Impossible.”
Fisher looked down at the now lively Ral. Her tail swayed back and forth, but her body felt very light and easy to lift.
Does she trust this human so much?
“Alright Ral, you need to get down.”
Mill, the most understanding, hurried over to lift Ral down from Fisher’s arms, “Sorry, Lord Fisher.”
Fisher patted Ral’s head to show there was no issue, then remembered to ask Mill,
“Is there a maturity ritual for the dragon tribe? Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
“Uh? That…because I was also very uncomfortable during my maturity and mostly slept, so I wasn’t aware of what my family did for me. I only knew I woke up with horns. Sorry.”
Mill felt guilty, her head lowered.
Fisher nodded, just about to ask how those humans were captured when suddenly there came the chirping of birds from the hall behind.
“Chirp chirp~”
Fisher turned to look but saw a long-tailed lark, emitting deep purple light, spinning in the hall, lingering in the air and refusing to land, making crisp sounds.
Fisher’s face darkened as he looked at the three subhumans,
“You guys, who moved my clothes on the carriage?”
Ke Lili paused for a second, then raised her hand,
“It was me.”
“Then it’s fine.”
These three subhumans were all female, and he was asking such a silly question.
The lark’s eyes spotted Fisher’s figure, and it joyfully landed on his shoulder, but instead of a warm welcome, it began pecking at him gently.
“Fisher, bad person! Fisher, bad person!”
The child-like voice came from the lark’s beak, and it would peck once and shout, causing everyone in the cave to look in his direction.
The bird spoke in Nali, but due to the brain demon race, everyone could understand.
Raphael’s sharp gaze focused on his profile.
“Alright, Hart, what does it need to say to me?”
Fisher reached out to pinch the little bird’s head to stop it from pecking him again, then smoothed its soft feathers, asking.
“Three things, three things.”
“Uh-huh?”
“First thing, first thing, stay away from those women. She touched Renee’s clothes, and Renee is very angry, so she told me to peck your head.”
“…And then? How is she now?”
“Second thing, second thing, Cardu didn’t find her home, so she plans to continue heading south.”
Fisher pondered for a moment before responding to the little bird on his shoulder,
“Oh, I see.”
“Third thing, third thing.”
Hart, the magical lark, began to chatter again,
“Renee said she misses you very much.”
The scene quieted down, only the little bird Hart adorably tilted its head to look at him, seemingly waiting for his answer.
“I got it.”
Fisher’s silence stretched longer than before. After a while, he finally coughed out a normal reply, squeezing his staff as he walked a short distance toward the carriage.
“Is there anything you want Hart to bring back? Is there? Is there?”
In the prison, all Raphael saw was the back of this human man, but their conversation was clear, allowing her to hear every detail. Her tail remained still, seemingly indifferent as she closed her eyes.
“Tell her to take care of herself.”
“Okay, okay. Fisher tells Renee to take care of herself, Fisher tells Renee to take care of herself…”
After the little bird finished, it flapped its wings, soaring up from Fisher’s shoulder. In mid-air, it spun faster and faster, and magical runes began to appear following its flight path, but the moving speed was too quick, making it impossible to see what exactly the magic was.
As the bird flew at an incredible speed, it suddenly transformed into a meteor and shot out of the cave, directly leaping into the misty sky over the Southern Continent, until it pinpointed a direction in the starry, sparse moonlight and disappeared into the horizon.
Meanwhile, far away, within the Cardu territory of the Western Continent, the architecture, stained with a sense of abstinence, radiated a pale hue. The weather was fine, and sunlight bathed a hotel resembling a series of spires on its second floor.
At this moment, a window in the room facing south was wide open, and a hint of incense wafted outside. A beautiful woman with long black hair leaned against the window, seemingly in a meditative state.
Waiting for that purple meteor from the horizon to fall back beside her, the little purple bird hopped several times on the windowsill before finally settling down. But when it spoke, it was no longer the chatter it had while with Fisher.
A lazy, intoxicating voice reminiscent of black mamba red wine flowed from the little bird, addressing the sleeping black-haired woman,
“Alright, return the body to me, Hart.”
The woman opened her eyes, her hollow gaze gradually filling with a purple deeper than the starry sky until her purple pupils were all-consuming. She then stretched, gently taking the livelier little bird into her hand.
Unfortunately, that fool Fisher wouldn’t notice the difference at all.
