Stray

Nemo was unexpectedly indifferent.

Facing Jesse’s amazing statement, he didn’t even frown. “I see. Thank you, Dylan.”

Jesse raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Oh, you’re much calmer than I thought. What, you don’t believe me?”

“No, of course I believe you. If I am much stronger than you, then lying about this matter will not bring you any benefit.” Nemo touched the plastered wall. “If there is anything I have learned from being a Black Chapter these days— As long as I am willing to look for it, there are more choices than it seems.”

“You’re so optimistic.”

“If you really think that everything cannot be rewritten and we’re destined to fall into despair, then why hide the answer?” Nemo shrugged, and there was even a smile at the corner of his mouth.

“Because I’m bored,” Jesse replied frankly. “And I have also encountered something that is theoretically impossible to happen, yet it is still going on. Letting such an interesting time last longer, who knows if there will be other surprises?”

The two stood opposite of each other, neither of them really putting on airs, but the weird sense of oppression instantly stirred and scattered. The black horse shrank again, trying to hide its sturdy body behind Oliver, who was limited in size.

Oliver always felt that he should react. After all, he had just won the title of “the strongest killer sheep on the surface”. Seeing Nemo’s peaceful appearance, he couldn’t give a half-hearted acceptance speech.

“Don’t look.” When Oliver stopped turning his head for the third time, Nemo pushed his face back in amusement. “How do you think I will react? Rushing to the center of the crowd, then collapse and cry?”

“If you want, I can join you.” Oliver’s expression was serious, and his tone is sincere.

“Oh, come on.” Nemo pointed to Jesse relatively politely. “This guy just expressed one thing— Anyway, one of us is doomed to be unhappy and wants to destroy the surface. Before we agreed that this unlucky guy is me, but now it seems that it might be you. If I want to cry, you have to cry first. Ollie, will you destroy the surface for me?”

“No.”

“Yeah, me too. After all, Dylan’s conjecture is only based on the facts he knows. He’s not… Well, he’s a God for the time being, but if I read it right, he can do little to Mr. Cross.”

Jesse, who was standing aside, huff loudly.

“So God knows what threat the surface is under. Betting on a gold coin, I think it is more likely that the destroyer is me.”

“I am willing to bet the rest of my life,” Oliver replied softly.

Nemo was stunned for a few seconds when he heard the words, he stretched out his hand and rubbed Oliver’s hair. “Well, I’ll change the chips. The same goes for me.”

Jesse made a series of even louder huffs.

“I’m very sorry to disturb you two,” he said with a smirk, “there’s also a relatively less important piece of information.”

“The one Mr. Cross was going to tell us just now?” Nemo aggravated the pronunciation of the phrase “Mr. Cross”.

“Yes, the Pope originally planned to let the four of us escort the reconnaissance team, but now two volunteers have been temporarily added. You two need to be mentally prepared.”

“Other Black Chapters? But the word is getting out. No one would want to…”

“You all happen to know each other.” Jesse didn’t hide the smugness in his tone.

Ten minutes later, Nemo knew very well the reason for Jesse’s smugness.

The people of the Central Church specially vacated a small auditorium to serve as a meeting room for the reconnaissance team and guards. At present, the reconnaissance team from the Laddism Church hadn’t arrived yet, and there were only three people in the small properly decorated auditorium.

Adrian sat upright on the sofa. The gray parrot was lying on the top of the back of the sofa, a pair of bird eyes cautiously aimed at Jesse. The other person was standing in front of the sunny floor-to-ceiling window and turned his head.

The head of the Horizon Mercenary Group, Godwin Lopez, was still dressed solemnly in upscale attire, but this time he wasn’t wearing the Horizon badge. Mr. Lopez nodded briefly to the three people who was pushing through the door, as if to greet them.

Oliver subconsciously shrank his neck, withdrew his attention from the shock, and turned to look at Nemo…

Nemo was gone.

As soon as Oliver’s scalp exploded, he quickly turned his body to look around, and then couldn’t laugh or cry.

A petite figure slammed into Nemo’s arms mercilessly, directly knocking the unsuspecting great Demon King back a few steps that he almost exited the room.

“Nemo!” Debby Light looked very excited. The mercenary lady gave her big brother a hug that was strong enough to break his ribs.

“Debby.” If it weren’t for knowing that his physique was different from ordinary people, Nemo was pretty sure his ribs would be broken by now. “How did you—?”

“You’re going to the Abyss with the Laddism team to investigate. How can I let you go to such a dangerous place alone?” Debby puffed up her chest. “Without Old Patrick, you’re my most precious relative.”

“…The inside of the Abyss may be very dangerous,” Nemo prompted cautiously.

“I know, but the commander of the team is going, so I don’t think it’s a big problem.” The girl made a crisp gesture. “I will protect you! …Ah, that seems like a bad way of putting it— I will protect you when Mr. Ramon is powerless to.”

Debby purposefully lowered her voice in the second half of the sentence while Oliver on the side was staring at the ceiling with tears of laughter.

Excluding other factors, it seemed that Debby Light herself was the number one mage on the surface. They really didn’t have many excuses to push this girl out.

“Having said that, the commander said that you’re in a relationship with Mr. Ramon… Then does he know about your relationship?”

“He knows.” Oliver rubbed his forehead.

“Well, it seems that I don’t need to cover for the two of you.”

Debby looked rather regretful.

“Ah, if it’s convenient, remember to be considerate of the commander’s emotions. I think you should know… Before the Alban coup, Princess Delia cancelled the marriage contract. Now that the situation has stabilized, she has no intention of resuming the marriage contract at all.”

The girl covered her chest melancholically. “Terrible news, right? The whole regiment is very sad— Our leader is so lovelorn.”

Oliver glanced at Godwin wordlessly, without feeling the slightest breath of heartbreak from the other party.

“Don’t look at him. You can’t see it. The commander has always controlled his emotions very well, but as his closest partner, I can detect his abnormality! He even started eating sweets to relieve his boredom recently. Praise Zenni, he has never done this before.”

Nemo and Oliver looked at Jesse subconsciously, and then quickly retracted their gaze.

“This time too, the commander had never left Horizon before to participate in such a dangerous activity by himself. Most of the other members thought he wanted to take the opportunity to relax.” Debby lowered her voice even more. “This behavior is so abnormal. Believe me, the commander must be heartbroken.”

Behind Debby, Godwin cast a helpless look, and the two Tumbleweed members shook their heads very firmly.

Although Nemo couldn’t guess the reason for Godwin’s special participation, unlike Debby, the captain of Horizon didn’t seem like the type who would venture into danger solely because of a blood relative. He would rather believe that Godwin wasn’t at ease with Oliver than being “lovelorn”— They had met Delia Alastair, and to be fair, the two weren’t very suitable in terms of character.

Debby sniffled emotionally, and Nemo couldn’t say anything to refute her at the moment so he could only nod in silence.

“It seems that everyone has met.” Preceptor Felix stepped into the room. His gaze swept over Jesse causing his facial muscle to twitch uncontrollably a few times.

“Horizon swordsman Godwin Lopez and mage Debby Light, there are no pets or mounts that need to be registered. Tumbleweed swordsman Oliver Ramon, mage Nemo Wright, diviner Jesse Dylan, plus a pet grey parrot, a mount… A fuller goat.”

The Preceptor Bishop put away the parchment roll in his hand, and the muscles on his face twitched even more severely. “Is there anything you need to add?”

“We also have a horse.” Nemo raised his hand honestly.

“The terrain inside the Abyss is steep, so it’s not recommended to bring horses. If you are worried about supplies, we will use special magic carts to transport them, and there are also many supply points along the way. Forget the parrot, in fact, that goat…”

“It is our companion,” Jesse said emotionally. “We are used to using it to transport luggage, and the goat can move freely on rock walls, and it can be used as emergency rations if necessary.”

When Jessie said the first few words, Debby had a face of approval. Unfortunately, that praise was instantly gone when she heard the last sentence.

“Then this is all the members of the reconnaissance team scheduled to be escorted.” The Preceptor Bishop pretended that he hadn’t heard anything.

“Today the Central Church will provide you with food and accommodation. General supplies that need to be used on the road can be submitted to the clergy here if necessary. Of course, special magic props or weapons need to be purchased by yourself. We will gather at noon tomorrow and set off. You are all experienced soldiers, and you should know very well how to do escort work… Are there any other questions?”

“Any supplies?” Nemo raised his hand again.

“Yes, Mr. Light.”

“I want to borrow an oven from the Central Church.”

“…” The Preceptor took a deep breath, barely showing a stiff smile. “Of course you can, if you really need it.”

“If you have anything you need to buy specifically, Debby and I can do it for you.” After Preceptor Felix left, Godwin Lopez finally spoke in a neutral tone.

“There are four of us, brother.” Oliver raised his eyebrows.

“It’s best not to show your face around here easily.” Godwin instructed in a flat voice.

Nemo frowned and recalled the strange reaction of passersby when they saw them a while ago. “What you mean to say is the people of the Holy Land hates Black Chapters?”

“They hate Tumbleweed,” Godwin said in a deep voice. “Don’t you know anything?”

Adrian calmly turned a page of the book, and Jesse was gnawing on snacks as he teased the wilted parrot. Oliver and Nemo looked at each other and shook their heads together.

“The saying that you ‘stole the precious gems from the Ruinous Fire Sword’ has spread. An ordinary student at Clementine Academy had betted on the Wheel of Calamity and became rich overnight. Subsequently, many people are now researching you.”

“Then what?” Oliver swallowed.

“Now there’s a saying, personally, it’s closer to some kind of summary— In fact, no matter where Tumbleweed goes, they will bring destruction in their wake.”

“Your first client’s family was destroyed. Your second client’s hometown was ruined. At the end of your third mission, the headquarters of the Abyssal Church couldn’t escape their doom. The fact that Mr. Ramon is a survivor of the Withered Castle has also been dug up, and they were willing to attribute this account to your ‘bad luck’. Although we all know it was indeed destroyed by you.”

Oliver shrank his neck and looked at the ground guiltily.

“Then at Clementine Academy, you destroyed the Great Isamel Labyrinth before my very eyes. Although I didn’t specify that you did it, many people are willing to guess so. Not long ago, you and your… Mr. Light had just visited the headquarters of the Mercenary Guild for a few days, and their superior demon suddenly disappeared.”

Godwin’s face looked numb. Nemo rubbed his palms nervously, grabbed pen and paper, and decided to use other things to distract himself— Godwin’s face was undoubtedly full of “I know you did it.”

Oliver laughed dryly and scratched his hair. “What an incredible coincidence.”

“Yeah, it’s an incredible coincidence.” Godwin gritted his teeth and squeezed these words out of his teeth. “Dear Mr. Ramon, I hope this joint expedition will go smoothly… Otherwise, the reputation of being a ‘Calamity Team’ will definitely spread out of Alban and across the continent.”

“Believe me, brother, we will work hard towards that.” Oliver made a gesture of swearing.

“Towards what?!”

“…Where things go smoothly.”

“In short, you need to know. After learning of these rumors, it is estimated that the reconnaissance team this time will not give you any good looks, so please be mentally prepared.” Godwin took a few deep breaths, staring coldly at the blood relative in front of him.

The atmosphere between the two became stiffer.

Nemo took a deep breath upon seeing this, and quickly exchanged glances with Debby.

“This is what I want, Mr. Lopez.” Nemo wrote on the parchment, folded it up quickly, and handed it to Godwin Lopez with both hands. “We’ll also include the money for your help too. Thank you for your hard work. Ollie, hey, Ollie— Do you have anything you want?”

“No, but I have to go out to run some… ahem, comfort my horse.” Oliver hesitated for a while, holding on to the ring order that had been in his pocket.

“Go ahead.” Knowing the horse’s bad temper, Nemo nodded blankly. “I’ll go to the Central Church hall for a couple of minutes, and think of anything else we would need to bring with us.”

“Yes, commander. We have a lot of things to buy.” Debby patted Godwin on the upper arm. “Time waits for no one. It’s always good to get things done early.”

“As I just said, Mr. Ramon, it’s not suitable to show your face around, even in the church.” Godwin stared at Oliver persistently.

“It’s okay. I’ll change clothes. Even if they recognize me, they’ll just think I’m you.”

“……”

Half an hour later, outside the Central Church.

“Commander,” Debby gently jabbed Godwin with her elbow, “You’re really concerned about them. Perhaps a softer tone would work better.”

The leader of Horizon snorted lightly as Godwin hugged the supplies in his arms. He handed the parchment roll given by Nemo to Debby, who had relatively few things in her hands. “Ramon is too lazy, and it’s irritating to watch, but he should understand. I don’t need to make a special effort to coax them.”

Okay. Debby thought deeply as she took the parchment roll. After all, their commander was heartbroken, and she couldn’t ask much.

“There are a lot of things here. Let’s rent a cart later. Nemo didn’t write much. We can buy it for him first,” Debby said, unfolding the parchment roll, and then fell silent.

“What does Light want?”

“Fresh carrots, fresh apples, half a pocket of oatmeal, two large bottles of syrup. It is specially noted that the cheapest one must be selected.”

“…What does he want these things for?”

“I think he wants to make some kind of snack.”

“At this time?”

“……Er.”

Looking at Debby who was lost for word, Godwin titled his head and let out a long, restrained breath.

He never really let go of his vigilance against Nemo Light, but in just a few seconds, he felt like a fool for coming specifically here because of it.

The author has something to say:

The next chapter is going to the Abyss—!!! XD

The horse Pope… stayed behind, and the fuller goat won a point!