Chapter 545: Jasmine
“Fisher, she’s just up ahead.”
After Mill came to report, Fisher followed her to another room in the Blessing Tower. There were no professional subhuman doctors in the Blessing Tower, and given Ingrid’s sensitive identity, it was Jasmine who treated her directly.
“According to Lady Jasmine, that human girl’s body is mostly fine now, but her soul has suffered a bit of shock, though it’s unclear why. It might be related to that group of… demons?”
Mill hadn’t gone to the previous coast, so she didn’t know the specific situation; she could only repeat Jasmine’s words to Fisher.
Fisher nodded without responding, as it might be that Ingrid’s soul shock was related to him, but he needed to see her to understand the specifics.
Emhart was perched on his shoulder, looking serious and tense, cautiously eyeing all those around them, even doubting whether Mill was disguised as Hela. Each time he saw someone, he whispered to Fisher.
“Look, Fisher, doesn’t this person look like Baemon? Oh, that one also looks a bit like him.”
“….”
Fisher soon arrived at Ingrid’s room, pushed the door open, and revealed a not-so-spacious room bathed in sunlight. It was rather simple, featuring just a bed in the middle where Ingrid lay, looking pale and in pain.
As the door opened, Ingrid immediately sat up in a panic, covering half her face with the bedding, trembling as she looked at Fisher and the others at the door.
“Uncle?”
Ingrid hesitated for a moment, then tentatively called out Fisher’s name. Fisher nodded in response, and with Emhart beside him evaluating cautiously, he replied expressionlessly,
“Not calling me husband anymore?”
Hearing this, her face instantly turned pink. She pouted, shot Fisher a glare, and muttered,
“Uncle, you know I’m being coerced… Although you look quite good and seem really capable, and your aura is nice, you just don’t seem like a human; you’re not my type… Plus, I feel like being with you would cause a lot of trouble. Those two subhumans before scared me to death. They literally wanted to stab me, you know?!”
Well, you’ve really picked your route.
Fisher smiled slightly but didn’t engage further. After his teasing, Ingrid looked a bit better, no longer in a daze.
Seeing her state improve, Fisher got straight to the point.
“You were captured by Nali’s army after we separated, right? Did you meet that ‘Barbatos’ general?”
“Yes! Uncle, I did, and it wasn’t just that general. There was another… a commander? Named Agares. They were all so terrifying! They forced me to come to the Dragon Court, saying they wanted some photos, but actually, they were sending you a message.”
“Besides those two, were there other ‘people’ who scared you?”
“Apart from them… there was a high-ranking court official named Diane. I’m not sure if she’s from Nali, but she didn’t seem scary at all. It felt like she didn’t understand the situation here.”
So, an uncertain court official, huh?
Even excluding that peculiar court official, Fisher’s previous analysis was still valid. Conservatively, he would be facing two demon gods of the eighteenth rank.
“I understand. Now, what are you so afraid of? What did you see?”
“I saw! I saw!”
Speaking of this, Ingrid’s face went pale. She shook her head in panic and quickly said to Fisher,
“Those two were supposedly dead, but they didn’t die! They had some… some duke’s blessing and became so weird! Their heads were chopped off, but they escaped to who knows where, looking like a pile of flesh, and also! Also!”
As Ingrid recalled, she suddenly remembered something and said to Fisher,
“It’s about the message I had this dragon person relay to you! When that ritual started, I saw a huge fire pillar, but it was locked away. Originally, that ritual was supposed to summon the terrifying Agares directly, but for some reason, it was swapped by a strange blonde woman. I saw the shadow of that woman by the fire pillar. She said her name was ‘Baemon’ and that she had some words for you.”
“Baemon! Fisher, quickly cover your ears! Don’t be deceived by her; she’ll definitely toy with you! Everyone, quickly, cover your ears!”
Emhart hurriedly flew to Fisher’s head, spreading his pages like a sound-dampening device to cover Fisher’s ears. But due to the structure of the book, he couldn’t manage to do it, and Fisher, speechless, pulled him down, obviously ignoring his suggestion.
He just looked at Ingrid, paused for a moment, and then asked,
“What did she say to you?”
Ingrid swallowed, and then, her voice trembling, she told Fisher,
“She said she knows you’re not ready yet, so this is just a little reminder. She changed the summoning ritual to a demon god locked in the abyss, so regardless of the circumstances, the ritual won’t succeed. But next time, she won’t be able to help you.
She said, ‘The game continues. Don’t forget this.’ That’s all.”
Beside them, Emhart’s heart, which had no basis, nearly flew out of the book cover.
“Game?! Fisher, you! You actually dare to play games with her?! Your courage is incredible; what are you playing with? It’s not that some part of you has disappeared, right?”
Compared to Emhart’s worry and breakdown, Fisher appeared very calm. He frowned, lost in thought.
He certainly knew what the ‘game’ Hela was referring to was.
“A cost, three blessings.”
But earlier, when leaving the Holy Realm, the three fingers on Hela’s hand had already been snapped off, so did that mean two blessings had already been consumed?
But what were those two blessings for him?
What corresponding costs were there?
Tch, that wicked woman…
For some reason, Fisher suddenly flashed back to Hela’s smiling, stunning face.
At this moment, he found himself sharing a similar feeling to Emhart.
Perhaps her alluring blue-golden speckled pupils were secretly watching him somewhere, closely observing his every move.
But regardless, this still returned to a question Fisher found hard to fathom.
What exactly was Hela’s purpose?
“I understand.”
But he didn’t dwell on this entirely baffling issue nor continued the topic. Instead, he spoke to the poor reporter, who looked scared like a little chick.
“I agreed to let you into that factory earlier because I didn’t understand many things here, which put you in danger. But you were fortunate; at least your life is safe now, and maybe this will teach you not to act recklessly and ensure your safety in the future.”
Ingrid quickly nodded, realizing that only facing terrifying events could wake her up. Previously, this guy didn’t know any better; now, after seeing the coffin, she knew to shed tears; she must be grappling with countless shadows in her heart.
“Woo, Uncle, I was wrong! I won’t dare next time! I want to go back to my hometown in Shivali to farm. I won’t be a reporter anymore!”
“Not to that extent.”
Fisher chuckled as he held Emhart, who had been battering him with questions and hinting at wanting to know the secrets behind his game with Hela, pressing him to the floor then stuffing him into his arms and suggesting to Ingrid,
“You should stay in the Dragon Court for a while; don’t wander around. This place is not like Shivali and other areas. If you’re not careful and something happens, I won’t be responsible. Once things settle down, I’ll find a way to send you back.”
“Okay, okay. By the way, those two demons are still alive; I don’t know where they’ve hidden. Uncle, you…”
“Those two aren’t genuine demons; they’re merely attendants serving them. They’re just particularly threatening to you ordinary folks. I’ll handle it. Don’t worry.”
“Mm.”
“Bang!”
Just then, the door behind Fisher slowly creaked open a little, and Ingrid immediately shrank back under the covers, while Fisher and Mill turned to look and saw a pair of watery eyes peering in at everyone in the room.
“Jasmine?”
Fisher questioned, perplexed, as the little whale folk girl outside, with her long ears flapping, hadn’t anticipated there would be so many people here.
After hesitating for a moment, she pushed the door open, looking somewhat shy as she said,
“Teacher Fisher.”
Mill was a bit surprised and instinctively asked,
“Lady Jasmine, didn’t you say to Lord Raphael you had something to attend to? How come…?”
As she spoke, she noticed Jasmine was looking at Fisher beside her; even someone as dense as Mill should sense something was off.
Could it be that Lady Jasmine claimed to be busy just as a cover for Lord Raphael? And after confirming that Lord Raphael had indeed gone to tend to his business, Lady Jasmine secretly returned?
“Um, um, I… haha, I have something to attend to, Lady Jasmine, Fisher, I… I didn’t see anything. I’ll be leaving now.”
Mill awkwardly chuckled, hurriedly getting to her feet to leave but was grabbed on the arm by Jasmine, who stood in the doorway.
Jasmine’s little face turned slightly red, and she too was a bit flustered as she said,
“Mill, I just… need to talk to Teacher Fisher about some matters. Nothing happened. You just take care of this human here for now, and we’ll be back soon.”
“Ah, okay, no problem, Lady Jasmine.”
“And don’t tell Raphael about this, okay? Mill, you wouldn’t want me letting slip you know about such a secret, right?”
“…Mmhm!”
Mill nodded, wanting to cry without tears. She felt confused; this matter clearly had nothing to do with her, so why was the originally panicked Fisher responding with no reaction, while she felt her heart racing and nearly dying of panic?
After Mill repeatedly assured Jasmine, she finally turned to Fisher and quietly said,
“Teacher Fisher, I have something concerning the Dragon Court to discuss with you. Please come with me.”
“Alright.”
“Just Teacher Fisher alone.”
“…”
Fisher hesitated for a moment as he got up, but Emhart in his arms popped his head out indignantly and exclaimed,
“Jasmine, what do you mean? Are you targeting me? If you’re talking about it, the great Sir Book is actually just a book; what you say is useless! Lululu… right, Fisher?”
“Alright, alright, you stay here.”
“Fisher, you idiot!”
Fisher took little Emhart from his arms, leaving him in charge of watching over Ingrid, saying he would return quickly.
Mill helplessly took the job of caring for the annoyingly chatty and flying Emhart and the frightened Ingrid, just like when she took care of the clueless Ral years ago.
Fisher followed Jasmine, who was dressed in a priestess robe, as she led the way; in terms of understanding the Dragon Court, Fisher was far behind her.
“Such a big incident happened earlier; aren’t you going to deal with it?”
“My part has already been completed.”
“So soon?”
“Mm.”
“Where are we going?”
“We’ll get there soon, Teacher Fisher.”
Fisher didn’t ask again because, as Jasmine had said, they quickly arrived.
The next second, they stopped in front of Fisher’s own room.
“Back to my room?”
“…Mm.”
Jasmine nodded, then took the lead, pushing the door open first. She pointed towards the distant corridor, where there was a corner at the end, the specific location she was indicating.
“Go around that corner, walk straight through the royal court, and you’ll reach my resting place directly.”
“What?”
“Just… very near.”
“…”
Fisher blankly turned his head back only to find her face slightly flushed, her long ears flapping eagerly, seemingly expressing her emotions at that moment.
No need to doubt; Fisher felt that the place he was resting in was arranged by Jasmine for him, hence this “shortcut.” Hmm, quite convenient.
He hadn’t lost his mind to ask where Raphael lived because wherever he stayed, Raphael would definitely come looking for him.
“Tap tap tap.”
Footsteps came from down the hallway. Fisher didn’t look over, just gently pushed Jasmine first into the room. Once they both entered, he quietly closed the door to avoid being discovered by others.
Fisher looked at the closed door, the footsteps outside passing without detecting anything unusual here.
After the footsteps faded away, Fisher turned back and said,
“What you did is very dangerous; if Raphael finds out…”
“Pop!”
Just as he turned his head, a soft lip unexpectedly pressed against his, claiming Fisher completely.
“…”
His body stiffened as he instinctively reacted to everything happening in front of him.
That warm and passionate contact, like a hot spring, filled Fisher, overwhelming him in an unexpected ambush.
“Tap tap tap!”
Another round of hurried footsteps sounded outside the door, and Fisher’s back was entirely against the door due to Jasmine’s sudden advance.
The sound of footsteps and vibrations outside was mere inches from him and Jasmine, as if they would be discovered in an instant, a strange human man intimately interacting with their high priestess.
Naturally, this news would soon reach the queen of the Dragon Court, leading to severe consequences.
But the more dangerous it was, the more thrilling it became.
Feeling the commotion outside, Jasmine’s body shivered slightly, seeming very tense and excited; Fisher could even feel her racing heartbeat.
“Thud! Thud! Thud!”
After a long while, the footsteps outside gradually quieted down, and Jasmine finally had to release Fisher from her embrace.
Breathless, her voice, sweet and soft like cotton candy, came through,
“Hah.”
“As long as we don’t say it, Raphael won’t find out, right?”
“And, Fisher, I also… really miss you.”
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(End of Chapter)
