After returning to the carriage, Anis ate a cream bun while waiting for nightfall.
The cream was sweet without being cloying, a sensation that left her wanting more. She remembered that she hadn’t touched such delicacies since falling ill; the last time she had sweets was… well, the last time.
Strangely, Sherry had kept her eyes closed to rest since returning to the carriage, showing no intention of touching the paper bag in her hands.
‘If the setting in the book is correct, she should love these kinds of small desserts.’
Whatever, it didn’t matter. It was rare for her to be quiet, so Anis took the opportunity to rest and recover her energy.
After an unknown amount of time spent dozing, the butler’s voice sounded from outside. “Lady Anis, the sky has completely darkened.”
The butler’s voice caused both of them to open their eyes. Anis stood up and stepped outside. A crescent moon hung high in the sky, and the surroundings were exceptionally quiet, with only the sound of her breathing echoing in her ears.
It was time to move.
According to the shopkeeper’s information, the monster would come out at night to forage for fruits and vegetables. Its sense of smell was extremely keen; even the pungent scent of smoked charcoal chips that the townspeople placed over their vegetable cellars couldn’t fool its nose.
Various clues suggested that this monster was likely the one mentioned in the book, a conclusion Anis had mostly deduced in her mind.
Therefore, the strategy was clear.
She took out some vegetable leaves she had asked the butler to prepare in advance. After scattering them in an open area, she hid nearby to wait for her catch.
“Will this method really work?”
Sherry’s voice sounded beside her. Anis quickly pressed down on her witch hat as she turned to face Sherry, her eyes full of wariness. “You should have stayed in the carriage. What are you doing out here? I’m not going to run away.”
Her body bore a spell cast by the head of the Frost family. This was the reason the family dared to let her go out alone to perform extermination missions without fearing her escape. To regain her freedom, the hardest hurdle was breaking this magic.
“That’s not why I came out!” Sherry retorted indignantly. “Extermination missions are dangerous. How could I feel safe letting Anis do this alone? Now that Father is away, I’m the acting head of the family. No one would dare stop me from helping Anis!”
She looked dead serious, not like she was joking at all, causing Anis’s heart to flutter for a brief moment. ‘Could this two-faced little girl actually be worried about me?’
Amidst the silence, the moon wordlessly climbed higher. Their legs had gone numb from crouching, yet there was still no movement.
Sherry whispered, “Is it really coming out tonight? Would it really be such a coincidence that it appears on the same day we’re out here?”
“Shh—” Anis simply made a silencing gesture. She was absolutely certain that the big fellow would show up.
The light cast by the waning moon tonight was incredibly faint; there was no better time than this. The Anis in the book had lured it out this way, so there would definitely be no problem.
*Crunch, crunch—*
The sound of something chewing caught Anis’s attention. As if by reflex, she poked her head out. A giant monster was feasting on the vegetable leaves!
The monster was about as long as Anis was tall. When it crouched there, it was only slightly shorter than Sherry. Its fur shimmered with a cold luster in the dark, looking as hard as steel needles.
It was definitely it!
While Anis was contemplating the right time to strike, Sherry had already quietly crept forward.
“Wait, don’t startle it!”
Anis tried to stop her, but it was too late. Sherry pulled a light-attribute mana ore from her pocket and crushed it between her fingers. Along with the sound of shattering came a blinding light!
“Take this!”
Sherry threw it toward the monster. A blinding beam of light streaked across the night sky and exploded above the monster, turning the surroundings into a field of dazzling white light!
“I’m not finished yet!”
While the monster spun in place, bewildered, Sherry pulled out a short dagger and threw it!
*Clang—*
But when the blade struck the needle-like fur, it sounded like it had hit a steel plate. With a crisp metallic ring, it was deflected!
The monster seemed to hear the direction of the attack and quickly moved in the opposite direction. Anis rushed out from behind a tree, giving chase!
But she was certainly not as fast as the agile monster. Additionally, the light was gradually fading. After a short distance, the monster vanished without a trace.
Darkness reclaimed the land, and the two completely lost their sense of direction. Looking around at the night, it was impossible to continue the pursuit.
“It got away!”
The little girl stamped her feet in frustration. Anis, however, remained silent, staring off into the distance.
“It really did run that way. It seems it’s even easier to deal with than I imagined…” She said to the Sherry beside her, “Get in the carriage. We can’t catch up on foot.”
“Do you actually know where it went?”
“Probably.”
Anis and Sherry returned to the carriage. She signaled the butler to drive in a specific direction through the night. Aided by night vision magic, the carriage came to a steady stop at a certain snowy spot.
Anis moved forward under the cover of night. What she didn’t notice was that Sherry, who was still following her, looked at her with eyes that had completely changed.
—
Inside a snow cave, a cat-like monster was huddling and gnawing on a frozen cabbage leaf. Its body couldn’t stop trembling; looking closely, one could even see tears reflecting in its eyes.
“Awoo…”
*Crunch, crunch…*
It could do nothing but gnaw on that frozen leaf to fill its belly. In this bone-chilling snowy world, this small snow cave was its only refuge.
“Hi~”
The voice from the entrance made it jump. Two young girls appeared before its nest. One held a magic wand, and the other held a throwing knife. On the wand, a bit of light illuminated their kind faces.
“Awoo— Hiss—”
The big cat monster hid the cabbage leaf beneath its body and hissed a warning at them. But the girls didn’t seem afraid at all; they even walked toward it with smiles on their faces.
“Anis, let’s finish it off together.”
Sherry gripped her throwing knife and aimed at the monster’s eye. She was confident she could strike its eye in a single blow before it could pounce, killing it instantly. She definitely wouldn’t miss this time.
But surprisingly, Anis pressed her hand down, rejecting the suggestion.
Not only that, but she pulled a fresh, unfrozen cabbage leaf from her robe and shook it gently in front of the creature.
“Come and eat this piece. It’s not frozen, ninety-nine percent fresh, a real rarity~”
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