Chapter 25: Arrogance
“We were on the carriage heading north to Feilon City when a spider that big suddenly emerged from the road and killed my horse.”
In the cave, Fisher lit a campfire, holding a feather quill and continuously writing something while also conversing with the rescued humans.
It turned out they were a couple, along with the man’s sister, who had come to the Southern Continent for tourism. They originally planned to go to Kexiening to see a circus but decided to vacation in Feilon City instead, only to be captured by several subhumans while passing through Kekken City.
“If you ask me, Annie shouldn’t have been sent back to the city; she was sick. If we brought her to Feilon City, we wouldn’t have run into these guys.”
The man’s sister had a crooked look in her eyes, appearing bitter. She cautiously glanced at several of the injured Ke Lili nearby, looking down on the subhumans and the dragonfolk beside Fisher, finding them filthy.
However, since those dragonfolk were the slaves of this young and handsome gentleman, it was somewhat acceptable; she decided not to pay them any mind.
Oh, such a young gentleman, I should ask where he lives in Nali. He must be a lawyer or a surgeon, just right since my daughter…
“Stop it, sister. Annie has served our family for a long time. If it weren’t for her catching this terrible disease, I wouldn’t have left her here with blue blood seeping from her mouth and eyes. I bet she’s been cursed by a demon!”
At this thought, the man shuddered.
Key terms in their conversation caught Fisher’s attention. He paused his writing and looked at him.
“Is it a degeneration of the mind, with blue blood leaking from the seven orifices?”
“Yes, yes, yes! She’s like a maddened beast. About a few weeks ago, one night, she suddenly came at me in the carriage and nearly bit off my ear.”
“Before that, did you come into contact with anything unusual, or encounter any special incidents?”
“This…”
The few of them exchanged glances and after much thought shook their heads.
“How could there be anything special? We came for tourism and didn’t dare to wander long in the wild; we mostly stayed in the city. Others in the city don’t suffer from such a disease. Moreover, she had been with us the whole time; if something special happened, we should have gotten sick together.”
Fisher pondered for a moment and resumed writing with his feather quill.
It was the wife who seemed to think of something, her expression turning lamentful.
“Speaking of which, Annie had just received news before she got sick that her daughter died in the textile factory. Her husband had died early; it was truly…”
Fisher’s gaze flickered as he mentally noted the details they had described, then nodded and stood up.
“I understand now. You should leave here tomorrow morning; try to stay in populated areas. The Southern Continent is not safe, and don’t let yourselves get captured by subhumans or humans again.”
“Ah, thank you…”
The gentleman wanted to express his thanks, but Fisher had already walked toward the group of dragonfolk, making him withdraw his hand in disappointment.
Fisher walked over to Raphael, who was resting. Although she was weak, she was still somewhat conscious, leaning against the side of the carriage watching Ral and Fashir play, occasionally glancing at Xiya and Ke Lili, afraid they might escape or ambush.
Her vigilance in this regard was always surprising. When she saw Fisher approach expressionlessly, she pursed her lips, her tail behind her swaying.
After all, he saved them, but she couldn’t say a heartless “thank you” like Ral. Her tail waved for a while, but in the end, she said nothing.
“Here, take this.”
“What is this?”
Raphael instinctively took the scroll handed to her, only to see a simple index written in the dragon language.
“Basic Vocabulary, pages one to one hundred seventeen.”
“Basic Grammar, pages one hundred eighteen to two hundred one.”
“…”
Fisher then handed her a basic learning book on the Nali language and said, “I just remembered that it’s troublesome for you not to know the human language. After you return to the Western Continent, I can’t always act as your personal translator, so take this time to learn some Nali.”
Raphael glanced at the book in her hand, then threw it aside, an angry expression crossing her face as she said to Fisher,
“Are you so sure I can’t kill you? I will definitely kill you before leaving, and even if I can’t kill you, I won’t learn the human language!”
She glanced at the scroll beside her, showing no interest or disdain for the human language. The identity of human invaders painted everything they did in a layer of repulsive color.
Fisher looked at her expressionless, his cold gaze making Raphael suspect he might strike her again or use her companions to threaten her.
“Raphael, what do you think of humans?”
To Raphael’s surprise, Fisher only posed such a simple question, and her answer was just as straightforward.
“Shameless invaders, villains, robbers, arrogant pests!”
Those humans, insidiously tainting everything in this land with fire, regarded the subhumans as inferior beasts, able to take everything from them without reason; such is the nature of humanity: greed and arrogance.
Fisher’s expression didn’t change, only continuing to gaze at her and say,
“I’m such a human, yet I understand Feimabaha Dragon Tongue and am willing to spend more time deepening my understanding of this language, allowing me to communicate with you face to face. And yet you scoff at human language. Arrogance is humanity’s original sin; it seems the dragonfolk are not exempt from this, are they?”
Raphael turned her head away, unable to refute Fisher’s words. Fisher picked up the study materials beside her and placed them back in her hands; this time she didn’t refuse or turn to look at Fisher.
The conflict within Raphael was a reflection of her character. Fisher remained silent, quietly turning away to walk in another direction.
Raphael’s dragon claws clenched the books in her hands once more. In a situation where Fisher couldn’t see her, she would focus her gaze on him.
So forever and ever, she would only see the back of Fisher.
Ignoring the proud Raphael behind him, he prepared to tell Ral to stop making noise; it was time to sleep when he caught a glimpse of Ke Lili leaning against the stone wall, looking at him with a complex expression.
At her feet, the pale Famasi lay asleep, having undergone simple bandaging and was now fine. The spiderfolk Xiya was still awake, her massive body not daring to look at Fisher, afraid of triggering some strange mechanism again.
She didn’t even dare to ask for her precious spider silk back.
“Is something the matter?”
“Your name is Fisher, right? I am Ke Lili of the Brain Demon Race.”
“And then?”
Ke Lili smiled and continued, “It’s nothing; I was just interested in what you said to that dragonfolk girl about her coming-of-age ceremony. The materials should be gathered by tomorrow, so please don’t worry.”
“Well, that’s good.”
“There’s also one more thing. If you’re heading northwest, you might encounter some unfriendly goblins ahead. It’s safer to try and avoid them if possible.”
“Goblins?”
“Yes,” Ke Lili nodded and added, “They are creatures that have lived in caves for generations, but unlike the pangolins, they aren’t good at digging holes, so there are usually minerals nearby as you humans would say. Since humans arrived, many goblin tribes have lost their homes, so they are very aggressive towards humans.”
“Although you are quite strong, constantly dealing with those goblins must be troublesome, so it’s better to take a detour.”
Fisher looked at Ke Lili, whose expression remained calm, considering her advice before nodding.
“Thank you for the reminder; I will be cautious. What do you want in exchange from me?”
He thought Ke Lili provided this information in exchange for something, like the spider silk from the spiderfolk or something else.
“I’m not telling you this for an exchange, but if you return Xiya’s spider silk to her, she will surely be very happy.” Her expression grew somewhat gloomy, the glow of her transparent brain dimming.
“Our Brain Demon Race can communicate across species without barriers, but because of survival, many of our people act as humans’ translators. Subhumans see us as running dogs, while humans treat us as slaves, which is why I fled from home. Perhaps you are right; we shouldn’t be so arrogant after all.”
Her gaze was hollow, and the specific meaning of “we” in her words was unclear, but such sadness and emptiness were evident at a glance.
Yet Fisher’s expression didn’t change at all, seeming unaffected as he silently turned away while tossing the jar of spider silk to the still-dazed Ke Lili.
Ke Lili caught the shimmering jar and looked up in shock at the departing human, who gave no response, just a tall silhouette growing more distant.
“Ral, stop making noise and go back to sleep.”
“But Ral has been cooped up for a long time and hasn’t moved much! But Fashir and the others need to sleep too!”
“You all need to rest.”
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(End of this chapter)
