Taking off the ring, the person sitting on the bed was no longer the young man Cass, but a young girl named Cassia.
“In the end, I didn’t see Siloque all day. I spent the whole day fighting, or being surrounded by busty female foxmen. The hair I had done at the beauty salon became completely meaningless.”
The dim room was lit only by a yellow magic lamp on the wall. The blue-haired, shoulder-length girl sat on the bed, a small table of her own set up in front of her. She watched the Pretty Cure Ailulu: The Movie 3rd anime playing on her tablet while peeling a banana. Crouching beside her was a blank-faced, silver-ponytailed little girl.
Once Cassia finished peeling the banana, Hertanid opened her mouth as wide as a basin, swallowing the banana and peel in one go and engulfing Cassia’s hand. When she moved her head away, a pile of colorless, odorless transparent saliva remained on Cassia’s pale hand.
‘It’s like being eaten by a slime,’ Cassia thought.
“During battle, you still want to maintain your appearance, to meet your beloved in the best state—that itself is a luxury. Given your level, death is always a possibility in the dungeon. Don’t lose your caution for the sake of looks. If you get killed by a monster because you cared about your hair being too messy, I’ll lose an important provider.”
“My obsession with appearance isn’t that exaggerated…” Cassia took out a wet towel and wiped her hand clean.
Although theoretically there was no need to wipe. Hertanid’s saliva wasn’t ordinary saliva—it was more like waterless hand sanitizer. It killed bacteria, disinfected, removed dirt, didn’t harm the skin, and had no smell. After spreading it on the hand, it even made the skin smoother, so it seemed to have a moisturizing effect as well. However, in appearance, it was still the saliva from the silver-haired little girl’s mouth. Even if Cassia liked Ailulu’s appearance, she didn’t want to use Ailulu’s saliva as a cleanser. Cassia simply gave up peeling and threw the banana over. The expressionless Hertanid stretched her neck like a seal, caught it in her mouth, and chewed it noisily.
‘Hertanid seems to have a blank face… but she’s only imitating human appearance. Expressions probably don’t matter to her.’
Cassia thought so, then took two more bananas from the bunch on the small table and fed her, starting to find it a bit amusing. In the room lit only by the lamp and the screen light, a new light lit up—the display of the Ring Chart. There was a new message.
Cassia swiped open the Ring Chart to look—
“Siloque!”
She stopped feeding, took out a whole bunch of bananas from the Ring Chart, and let Hertanid help herself. Seeing that it was a message from Siloque, Cassia’s expression relaxed, and the corners of her mouth turned up. “Really, he’s still such a worrywart. It would be fine if he just teamed up with me directly.”
But after reading the information, Cassia’s face became extremely serious.
—
June 11. That day was a Friday.
The largest hut in the village—the one used as a meeting place—was rarely used on ordinary days. But due to the emergency last night, all the important figures in the village had to gather for reports and to assess the situation, so the hut was quite crowded. Wa Luolan was naturally there, with Cass sitting behind her.
The hut couldn’t hold that many people, so Bried and Kersey had Cass attend as their representative. Bried took Kersey to train, to improve Kersey’s physical fitness.
“…Sixty-three victims, of which fifty-nine were warriors from the Hunting Squad, and the remaining four were children and elderly injured in collisions during the evacuation. To summarize, no deaths. The most severely damaged building in the village was the bathhouse; other facilities had varying degrees of damage, but everything will be fully repaired and operational by the latest this afternoon. That concludes the report on last night’s incident in the village.”
After the soft-featured female foxman finished, her voice surprisingly loud, she sat back down at Waermor’s nod.
Wa Luolan raised her hand. “May I say a few words?”
Waermor, seated in the main seat, nodded slightly in agreement.
Wa Luolan took two palm-sized wooden pieces from her cloak. “Everyone, please look. I found this in my home’s bathroom yesterday.”
Everyone present looked over with puzzled expressions. High Priest Baruma, wrapped in pain-relief bandages like a mummy, held his head high; no one could tell what expression lay under his mask.
“At first glance, they look like ordinary wood, but actually…” Wa Luolan infused magic into them, and intricate, delicate lines appeared, glowing with a cyan light.
“A magic circuit,” an older female priest said.
“Exactly. Last night, while repairing the wall in my bathroom, I discovered this pattern for the first time. This morning, I went to check the damaged areas in the village and found similar patterns carved wherever there was destruction. The piece in my hand is from my house, and this one is from the Grand Bathhouse—those two spots had the most complex and numerous patterns. Since these patterns are present at all the damaged sites, and we don’t know who carved them or when, but given the monster attack, I have reason to suspect the monsters were targeting these patterns.”
“Hmph, utter nonsense.” Baruma stood up and struck the ground heavily with his staff. “The truth is simple. The vampires controlled those monsters to carve them. I fought those monsters last night—they didn’t look like they had the intelligence for magic crafting. To install them in so many facilities, and the magic lines are very fresh… the culprit must have an accomplice in the village.”
“There’s no evidence linking the magic patterns to last night’s monster attack.” Baruma dismissed disdainfully. “Enough, enough, Wa Luolan. What you’ve said are just suspicions and conjectures.”
Wa Luolan’s lips curved slightly. “Magic circle?… Uncle, I only said patterns. I never said they were large enough to be a magic circle.”
“I… I guessed. As the most knowledgeable priest in magic in the clan, I knew at a glance that those patterns were used for large-scale spells. Ahem. Compared to these unknown wooden pieces with their magic patterns… Wa Luolan, last night’s attack by the vampire’s minions on our once-peaceful village was clearly premeditated.”
Baruma grandly pointed his staff at Wa Luolan—
“…What are you trying to say, Uncle?”
“The cause of everything is you!” The staff shifted slightly. “—This human beside you! He is the culprit who caused the monsters to attack the village last night!”
The other foxmen looked at Cass. Wa Luolan’s thin brows deeply furrowed, her gaze toward Baruma turning cold, her ears standing straight. Faced with Baruma’s accusation and the crowd’s stares, Cass remained unhurried, maintaining a proper seated posture, and met Baruma’s red-masked eyes with a firm gaze.
“Don’t you all find it strange? The moment these three humans arrived yesterday, the vampire’s minion monsters attacked at night! The timing couldn’t be more coincidental. Just as I thought—they’re spies sent by the vampires!”
“Then by your logic, the vampires controlled the monsters to carve the magic circles to make us suspect one another. They wait for us to exhaust ourselves, then wipe out the village in one go. If they were spies, bringing monsters to attack—who wouldn’t find them suspicious? The vampires sent them to get exposed? That’s impossible. Besides, they brushed with death multiple times while helping me fight the monsters, and last night they were the first to protect the village and drive the monsters away. They’re no spies.” Wa Luolan immediately countered calmly.
Baruma was momentarily at a loss for words, then roared in frustration, “Tsk, tsk, tsk—that’s your naivety, my dear niece. This is their trick—a fake injury scheme to infiltrate us! It’s all an act!”
“Hah! You—”
“Dear niece, you’ve been traveling outside for too long. You’ve really become good at sophistry.”
“Not at all. I learned from Uncle.”
Baruma’s tail puffed up. “If the Chieftain were still here, this wouldn’t have happened.”
Someone at a very low voice said that line. Everyone’s expressions darkened a few shades.
Just as everyone thought the two would come to blows, a cold voice rang out.
“…Both of you, calm down.”
Wa Luolan and Baruma turned to Waermor with expressions as if struck by lightning. Both apologized, and Baruma sat back down.
“In my view, High Priest, your words lack substantial evidence. Wa Luolan did discover abnormalities in the facilities. I will send neutral priests to investigate. High Priest, you distrust the human helpers Wa Luolan brought. Since neither side can convince the other, according to clan rules, settle it with force. If they lose, let them leave the village safely—they did help us. If they win, High Priest, you will no longer raise any objections against them.”
‘Waermor, go ahead and investigate. When I carved the magic circles, I prepared for this. Anyone other than me who touches them will turn to dust after a while—nothing will be found. My niece’s two pieces will become ash tonight.’ No one could see it under the mask, but Baruma grinned.
“I naturally agree with Lord Valmor’s opinion. Then I’ll send Ti Er Xiu from the Hunting Squad. I’m not about to let an old man like me engage in close combat with a human warrior.”
“With pleasure, Lord Baruma.” Ti Er Xiu, wearing a hood with iron chains, immediately spoke up.
He was a lean foxman. To say he was thin wasn’t quite accurate—this foxman wasn’t without muscle, but his muscles were so solid they appeared slender.
Wa Luolan genuinely felt this was a waste of time. The priority should be figuring out the cause of the monster attack, preparing defenses, and restoring the village’s normal operations. Her uncle was clearly provoking and picking a fight, but her mother had given her an opportunity. If this match could shut her uncle’s mouth, at least stopping him from making obvious obstructive moves, that would be good. Being constantly harassed by Baruma over the three of them annoyed Wa Luolan too.
“I understand. I’ll take the match—”
“Wa Luolan, leave it to me.”
Cass’s words made the High Priest, the Hunting Chief, and other foxmen look over in surprise. It was the kind of surprise that said ‘this guy really doesn’t know his limits.’ Ti Er Xiu lowered his head, a smile revealing white fangs.
“One-on-one combat—I have experience. If I don’t handle this myself, it’ll be hard to convince everyone here.” Cass swept his gaze across the foxmen present. He knew that once they spoke, they would show whose side they were on. He could understand their silence.
“…I should go instead. I trust these humans. I’m willing to represent Wa Luolan and them and fight Ti Er Xiu.” Ma Tinuo raised his hand. Ti Er Xiu, three seats away, let out a light laugh.
“Thanks, but really, no need.” Cass nodded slightly to Ma Tinuo. Ma Tinuo withdrew his hand and scratched his scarred animal ear, muttering to himself, “Ti Er Xiu isn’t easy.”
“Cass… don’t be rash. This isn’t a joke. Our clan’s duels don’t use wooden swords like humans—we use our usual weapons, fighting until one side surrenders or can no longer continue. I hate to admit it, but in single combat ability, Ti Er Xiu is ranked second in our clan. You’ve never fought him before; you’re not familiar with him.” Wa Luolan was very worried.
Cass smiled at Wa Luolan and Ma Tinuo, then looked at the Acting Clan Chief. “Please witness this, Lord Valmor. Let’s start the match now. Dragging it out won’t do us any good—our real goal is to deal with the vampires.”
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