Chapter 46: 45. Dream
Fisher instructed Raphael to keep an eye on Ral and Angela at the spot while he followed Qiqi out of the street with his staff. No matter how fast a small child moved, they could never outrun Fisher. Fisher watched her figure dash into a side alley. By the time he arrived there, it seemed her presence had disappeared, but he saw the deep green dress peeking out from under the garbage rack.
There was also the sound of soft sobs that swayed with the hem of her dress.
Fisher sighed and walked into the alley with his staff.
“‘The petite swallow calls out to the giant dragon, conveying her quiet yet passionate feelings through her voice. She says, I am a swallow, the tiniest swallow in the world, in love with the largest being, the dragon. Even though our heights are worlds apart, in soul, I always stand eye to eye with you, hence I can call out my love for you.’”
As Fisher walked, he softly recited the verse, a passage from the long poem “Love, Dragon, and Swallow” created by Lady Laura at a poetry tea party years ago, depicting the story of a small swallow in love with a giant dragon. Although Fisher felt that Laura was merely catering to the fantasies of impoverished girls who suddenly became enamored with the wealthy, he did not deny her superior literary skill.
As he finished the verse, Fisher reached the rack where Qiqi was hugging her knees, looking at him.
“Is this Lady Laura’s poem?”
She blinked, tears rolling down her cheeks.
It seemed she had not read Laura’s collection of love poems; after all, Feilon would unlikely show her such a youthful collection.
Fisher crouched down and nodded.
“You’re very perceptive. How did you tell?”
“Lady Laura’s poems make me see a lot of imaginations, so I remember her habit of writing poetry,” Qiqi wiped her tears with her small hands, then said pitifully, “I wanted to share it with Angela, but I think I messed it up; my ears were showing.”
“Angela must have been frightened because, from childhood to now, only the big bad wolf in stories has such ears and a tail. She will probably suspect I’ll eat her.”
Growing up alongside humans as a werewolf, even after learning their language and dressing like them, seeing all the differences between herself, her father, and the people in the stories still felt strange.
She hadn’t walked out of Feilon’s inner city for a long time because she couldn’t forget how, even near Feilon, she still faced disdainful gazes from many outside.
“Even a petite swallow must honestly tell others her identity, no matter how small she is. Hiding her grievances won’t last long, so it’s better to face it boldly. True friends won’t be frightened away just because you have a pair of ears or a tail.”
“Though this partly depends on the other’s view of you, you also have to have a certain trust in your friends. Do you have that confidence?”
Although he was a researcher focused on academics, since arriving on the Southern Continent, Fisher felt he had to play the role of a daycare teacher without pay.
“Really? Really?” Qiqi pinched her hands and slowly crawled out from under the rack. “I… I want to see Angela; if she hates me, can I hide in Mr. Fisher’s arms?”
“If that’s the case, I’ll temporarily lend you a bit of my space.”
Fisher gently took Qiqi’s hand and led her out of the alley. From the moment they exited, he worried Feilon might have set traps for him, for Qiqi, and for Raphael.
But after a while outside, Fisher saw nothing amiss, as if Feilon had genuinely just allowed him to take Qiqi out to fulfill her wish of meeting her pen pal.
“Qiqi!”
Standing by the side of the street, Angela saw Qiqi holding Fisher’s hand and quickly ran over, hugging her tightly.
“Sorry, Qiqi, my uncle scared you.”
“Um, I’m sorry, Angela; actually, I’m a subhuman, and I haven’t told you before.”
“But your ears are really cool! Are these wolf ears? Can I touch them?”
Not paying attention to the two children, Fisher lit a cigarette and walked over to Raphael.
Children have no resentment or disdain towards other races; their views are learned, just as Ral didn’t hold any unusual trust in this human, right?
However, Raphael gazed at the scene for a long time, and for some reason, suddenly held Fisher’s hand. Her claws were gentle, not different from Lady Nali’s delicate fingers, and it seemed her body felt warm.
“Holding my hand increases your punishment chances by one.”
Raphael glared at the oblivious Fisher, seemingly confused by why a human would say something so cold with such warmth.
“You really…”
Raphael tried to withdraw her hand but was still held in his palm. The strength of her struggle gradually weakened until it seemed nothing had happened at all.
In any case, the punishment now didn’t really count as a punishment; adding one, two, or even many more didn’t matter.
At least Raphael was quite happy.
Thinking of strange things, Raphael’s tail playfully swayed, even bringing her a certain fondness for the night.
Watching Qiqi say goodbye to Angela, running back with her face flushed, Fisher extinguished his cigarette and let go of Raphael’s hand because they needed to buy some supplies for leaving the city.
“Fisher, your coffee is finished by Ral! Though it was a bit bitter, after drinking it, Keshil said my tongue changed color; do you want to see?”
“Alright, Ral, sit tight; we’re going to buy things now.”
Fisher patted Ral’s head and helped her into the carriage. When Qiqi got on last, she didn’t sit in the carriage but next to Fisher.
When Fisher turned to look at her, her face turned red, and she bowed to him.
“Mr. Fisher, thank you for bringing me out today; sorry for the trouble.”
Feilon taught her human etiquette, to say thank you or sorry for causing trouble. If it weren’t for her appearance, she wouldn’t be different from the other human children.
“Don’t mention it; I promised your dad to take good care of you. By the way, do you like reading?”
Boring texts felt like poison to a mischievous child, let alone deriving anything from them. He didn’t expect this subhuman child before him was an exception.
“Mm, I really like reading poetry and stories. In the future, I also want to write many interesting things like Lady Laura and let many people see them. I told my dad, and he told me to practice well, starting with writing letters. That’s why I tried sending letters to people outside for communication.”
She twisted the corner of her dress, looking at Fisher beside her, and quietly said,
“Mr. Fisher must also be a famous scholar like my dad, right?”
“I can’t be called a scholar; I just understand some superficial knowledge and principles.”
After all, most young scholars in Saint Nali consider themselves heretics; otherwise, they wouldn’t always buy the latest Nali academic journals to surround themselves with papers and then write a bunch of academic articles refuting his views to meet the Academy or research organization’s publishing requirements.
Among young scholars, a saying goes, “Fisher’s articles sustain a part of Saint Nali’s young academic community,” which likely refers to this situation.
However, before coming to the Southern Continent, Fisher was indeed tired of refuting those sophistic young scholars. He reported this to the head of the Royal Academy, and it was said that the head exploded in a rage and ran to the research institute to spank them, prohibiting them from writing any more articles about Fisher. Only then did Fisher find peace.
“Then, Mr. Fisher, can I write to you after you return to Saint Nali?”
Fisher glanced at the young werewolf beside him with her perked ears, sighed, and then pulled out a pen from his pocket.
“Do you have anything to write on?”
“Eh, here. There’s an envelope.”
“I’ll write the address for you, so remember to write my full name, Fisher Benavides, on the cover when mailing it. You must also write where you’re sending it from; do you understand?”
“I know!”
Seeing Fisher write in flowing Nali script on the envelope, Qiqi finally happily retracted her hand and ran back into the carriage.
After that, Fisher took them around the city, replenished a lot of supplies, and then headed towards Feilon’s inner city.
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(End of Chapter)
