“I’m fine. I just moved too much and caused the wound to reopen.”
Anise knelt on the ground, gasping for air.
Her chest throbbed from inhaling too much cold air, yet her body refused to slow its intake of oxygen.
“Meow…”
Mimi hovered near her, sniffing around but not daring to get too close. Now that it had transformed into a giant cat, even the tips of its whiskers were sharp enough to pierce human skin.
“Mimi, are you hurt too?”
“Awoo?”
To Anise’s surprise, Mimi actually shook its head.
Though a few patches of its needle-like, glossy fur were missing, the exposed skin showed no signs of bleeding. It even spat out a few mouthfuls of blood, as if to prove the blood belonged to the bear.
“That’s good. *Ugh*…”
A dull ache sent a shiver through Anise’s entire body. At the same time, she found it a bit strange; despite the pain, she felt a mysterious sense of satisfaction.
‘Why does this feel… good?’
“Awoo.”
Mimi crouched down in front of her. The fur on its back, which had been standing up like steel needles, flattened out. Its glass-like, beautiful feline eyes were filled with concern.
“You want me to ride on your back?”
“Awoo.”
“Thank you.”
Exhausted, Anise slowly crawled onto Mimi’s back and collapsed, her strength completely spent.
“Can you carry me to the cave to rest for a bit? We’ll deal with that bear once I’ve recovered.”
“Awoo.”
Lying on the giant cat’s back, Anise couldn’t help but marvel at how powerful adrenaline was. But once it faded, the price to pay was quite steep.
After entering the cave, Anise gathered some usable dry firewood scattered around and used magic to light a simple bonfire. Leaning against the giant cat, she huddled by the fire for warmth.
“I didn’t expect that even after facing death once, I’d still be this scared when it happens again.”
Anise let out a self-deprecating laugh. As her mood relaxed, her strength began to return.
“Mimi, can you help your master drag that bear here? It’s far too cold outside.”
“Awoo.”
Mimi obediently left the cave.
The wind howled outside, and the dry wood crackled in the fire.
The silence was so profound that Anise’s eyelids began to feel heavy. She tucked her hands away like a cat and decided to take a short nap.
Anyway, Mimi would surely wake her up with the noise when it returned. It would be fine.
However, when she woke up, the surroundings were still silent.
The sun had inadvertently shifted toward the west; a significant amount of time had clearly passed.
‘Why isn’t Mimi back yet? The bear was right near the cave.’
Worried, Anise stepped out of the cave and squinted at the snow-covered landscape.
“Mimi — ?”
She gave a tentative shout, but only the whistling wind answered her.
Anise followed the direction of her memories. Only a hollow remained where the black bear had fallen, with drag marks leading toward the cave.
But the drag marks stopped abruptly after just a few meters, and there were no other unnatural signs around.
It was as if they had vanished into thin air.
In her previous life, there were four words to describe this: a paranormal event.
But in this otherworldly realm, the answer was obvious. Someone had used magic.
‘Is someone here? Trying to steal my kill?’
Anise held her breath and focused, spreading her mana to sense her surroundings.
Just as she thought.
Following Mimi’s mana signature, Anise crouched low and moved forward.
There.
The prey they had worked so hard to hunt lay under a tree. Beside the black bear, the giant cat lay motionless on the ground!
Mimi’s breathing was faint; it was clearly in danger!
What shocked Anise even more was the figure standing beside Mimi — a person in a black cloak that hid their face, making it impossible to tell if they were male or female.
The cloaked figure held a wide, heavy dagger, which was raised high and aimed straight for Mimi’s chest!
“What do you think you’re doing to my cat!”
Anise sprang up, her wand instantly erupting with a dazzling light. A slender ice spear shot from the tip, aiming directly for the stranger’s chest!
The cloaked figure’s reaction was swift. The moment they saw the ice spear approaching, they performed a quick side roll to dodge.
Anise followed the target’s retreat, continuing her pursuit with ice spears. However, the opponent was clearly a professionally trained assassin; they vanished into the snowy mountains with just a few steps.
Seeing that the opponent had no intention of fighting, Anise did not pursue them too far. She rushed to Mimi’s side and knelt down to examine its injuries.
‘There are no external wounds, but the breathing is so weak. Is it an internal injury?’
Anise cast a spell to return Mimi to its small cat form. She gently picked up the little feline. The little creature weakly opened its eyes and let out a faint meow.
“Meow…”
The sound was full of grievance and self-blame, making Anise’s heart ache even more.
“Don’t be afraid. Master is here. You did a great job.”
Anise pulled a healing potion from her pocket and fed it to the cat in small sips. She didn’t care about the bear anymore; she prepared to carry the cat down the mountain.
As long as she could get back to her bedroom, she had ways to heal the cat.
But at that moment, she suddenly heard the whistling sound of something cutting through the air near her ear!
*Whoosh — !!!*
Anise instinctively ducked. A dagger plunged into the tree trunk beside her, grazing a few strands of her hair.
“You!”
The assassin had returned, blocking Anise’s path.
“Who are you!”
Anise questioned them loudly, but the opponent had no intention of answering. Instead, they drew a short blade and took a combat stance again, crouching low and ready to strike.
In an instant, snow flew into the air.
The assassin in black charged fiercely toward Anise. She quickly erected a frost magic shield and simultaneously fired three fireballs at the enemy’s chest.
“Meow…”
Mimi, having regained some consciousness, wanted to fight. It emitted a mana that Anise recognized, but she simply gave its body a gentle tap, and Mimi instantly lost the power to transform.
“No, leave it to me.”
How could Anise allow her wounded partner to fight?
However, with one hand holding the cat and her old injuries flaring up, she didn’t know how much of a chance she had against such an unknown enemy.
Indeed, this scene was not in the book. Anise knew nothing about this person’s background.
Judging by the opponent’s combat stance, they were likely a swift assassin proficient in the art of killing.
In the blink of an eye, the assassin attacked Anise again. But at this critical moment, another unexpected event occurred!