VIP Chapter 278: The Spring of the Beast-Eared Maid (1)
“Young Master? How’s the wound? Iaar’s healing magic isn’t very good, so… there might be some lingering effects.”
She tilted her head, gently loosening her grip. She carefully circled him, observing him from head to toe. Will looked down at his arm.
He discovered that the scratches from the branches in the forest, which had only drawn a little blood, had not only undergone healing magic but were also wrapped in a thin layer of bandage. The way the bandage was applied was skillful; it was just a thin layer to ensure ventilation, yet each layer fit perfectly and seamlessly with the next.
“No problem. You did well.” He praised her without thinking.
He raised his head. Iaar’s fluffy tail perked up, wagging happily behind her. “That’s great. You slept for a very, very, very long time, and Iaar was very worried. But Iaar… knew that you hadn’t been sleeping well for a long time, so Iaar didn’t wake you up.”
She gave a slight bow, her smile unchanged. It was a smile that was a little frightening, a little eerie, and… a little unsettling. Especially since she was smiling so happily, as if the blood-stained maid outfit behind her didn’t exist.
If anything felt wrong…
He looked up at the “garden” before him. It was a place he used to frequent in the afternoons when he was at home. The area was desolate. The small pavilion where lessons were once held for Iaar was now dilapidated, with broken tables and chairs overgrown with moss. It was no longer “bright” like it once was. The fallen leaves and dust on the ground suggested that no one had cleaned for at least a month.
Standing amidst this ruin, the brown-haired Iaar, with her swaying ears and tail, seemed like a splash of color. He felt as if he had “returned to the past,” yet also as if he were stuck in the “reality” of the present.
His dilapidated “home” and the maid who had always been by his side were presented to him simultaneously. Anyone would feel something was amiss. But, without a doubt…
He had woken up from a dream. It felt like he had a very long dream. The bizarre scene before him, his empty home of over a decade, and the maid who had accompanied him, washing a blood-stained piece of clothing… accompanied by a gust of late autumn wind that made him shiver, all of it was “reality.”
However, this “reality” carried an unsettling strangeness. And the origin of that strangeness was… Iaar, standing before him, who had uttered a “confession” without hesitation just moments ago?
Without waiting for his reaction, she continued speaking. Combined with the blood-stained maid outfit she was washing… Will felt a sense of unease and took a step back.
“Young Master, you seem a bit… hmm… lost?”
Just then, a pair of soft ears nudged closer. They were very close. The fur on Iaar’s ears tickled Will’s nose. She hadn’t been this forward before. If she had accidentally gotten close, she should have apologized and shyly retreated. This current behavior made him feel that Iaar was being “intentional.”
She raised her head obediently. Then she narrowed her eyes and smiled. “Iaar understands you very well, Young Master. You’re the type of person who won’t give up until you understand the current situation—just like when you fainted after using Extreme Flame Meteor for the first time, or when you first met Iaar and were more concerned with measuring your parameters.”
“You… remember that.” Will recalled. This act of prompting his own memory gave him some reassurance. He did remember that. He had indeed “escaped” Treya’s control. Therefore, after returning to “reality,” he should consider the questions ahead—
“So, Iaar is ready. I’ve been ready for a long time. After you wake up, Young Master, I will answer all your questions with complete honesty.”
However, what Will didn’t expect was that before he could even ask, Iaar had already answered him in advance.
“So… so in sync. You… you’re like you knew what I wanted to say.”
“Because, from childhood to adulthood, it was Iaar who watched you grow up, Young Master.”
She smiled charmingly, turned around, and effortlessly placed the table and chairs that were once used for tea at the Hysterm Family’s home in front of him. The table and chairs, of course, also showed signs of wear. The once elegant white paint on the wooden furniture had chipped off in many places.
“Please, sit. However, if you’d like some tea, Young Master, it might not be available for a while. Iaar thinks the tea stored here is undrinkable. We’ll have to buy new ones after the shops in town open.”
The shops in town opening… Thinking about the first piece of information Iaar gave him, Will looked up and realized that dawn was just breaking. It was still very early. That meant, at least, what had happened before occurred “yesterday.”
“Ask away, Young Master.” Iaar also brought over a chair, wiped it with her hand, and sat obediently opposite him.
“…”
It was just like how Iaar would sit obediently in front of the blackboard during lessons, waiting for him to teach. Everything had “returned” to the past…? But both Iaar’s spontaneous “confession” and her smile, and even the unidentifiable pink and purple mist he could see around her with his left eye, seemed to confirm… she wasn’t normal.
Being saved by her to this place didn’t mean he received “salvation,” but rather that he had fallen into another pit.
“You found me when I was being controlled by Treya?”
“Yes. Iaar is very clumsy, but Iaar understood the numbers you left behind! That was the answer to a question from ‘Blackening 300 Questions,’ wasn’t it? And then, using your scent, Iaar found you in the forest.”
“Yes. But… how did you save me from Treya?”
“Hmm… it was a simple matter? Relying on the shield you gave Iaar and the ‘Ice Array (Attack)’ you taught me, I defeated her with a bang.”
“Then… Treya, she…”
“Iaar doesn’t know. But judging from the scent of the blood, it probably wasn’t human blood. After all, Iaar has tasted your blood and remembered its scent well. Perhaps she escaped?”
“And this place? Why has the old Hysterm Family residence become like this?”
“Master said that the Hysterm Family had already moved out. But apart from the Capital’s school, Iaar only remembers this place and the further town of Nov. At the same time… this is… Iaar’s favorite place, filled with your scent, Young Master, so Iaar brought you here.”
…
He had asked everything. The conclusion he reached was that Iaar, using the numbers he left behind, remembered the question from “Blackening 300 Questions,” thus finding him after he “disappeared,” pursued Treya, and saved him. Because Iaar didn’t have many places she could go, she brought him here.
Everything was problematic. Yet, it also seemed perfectly fine. From the trajectory of her actions, to the logic and the outcome, it was all flawless.
“Young Master, Young Master, do you have any more questions? What else do you want to ask? Iaar… will answer everything.”
Her ears swayed, and Will finally understood. She seemed to be answering questions, but… she wanted to use this opportunity to seek his praise. Her tail wagged so fast it created a blur, and her head, with its perked-up ears, kept leaning towards him. Although he still felt a strange “pathological” aura about her, there was no doubt… Iaar had saved him from the “nightmare.” Iaar had pulled him out of “despair.” Iaar had brought him back from the “extreme.” Iaar had given him… hope.
“I have no more questions.”
“You did very well, Iaar.”
