Chapter 246: A Mad Cat
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Just as Han Jin landed, rustling sounds echoed from the forest behind. Suddenly, around seven or eight people emerged from the woods one after another, led by a woman in her twenties. She looked extremely charming, with a pair of big eyes and a straight nose, with a slight rise at the tip of her nose, adding a slightly playful feel to her appearance. Her mouth was small, and her lips were curved into a gentle smile, showing two rows of neat white teeth. Under her knee-length battle skirt, she surprisingly did not wear any armored pants, exposing her snow-white calves. Although the climate in the southwest of the continent was warm, it was a little inappropriate to dress in such a way. It was still early spring after all.
However, the most striking part of her appearance was her hair. There were numerous kinds of intelligent beings in this world, and Han Jin had seen all kinds of hair, but he had never seen rainbow-colored hair like her own. Under the sunlight, it gleamed with a rainbow-like luster. Without a closer look, Han Jin could not judge whether it was natural or dyed.
The armor worn by the woman was not ordinary at all as it had many exquisite runes engraved on it. Along with the special armor, the woman also wore a lot of sumptuous jewelry. On the surface, the woman appeared to be the group’s leader, as everyone in the group was clustered around her like stars surrounding the moon. However, Han Jin still felt that something was slightly off, since no one in the group seemed to take the woman seriously.
However, the weirdest part was that the woman was carrying a huge longbow on her back which was nearly the height of a person, making her constantly stumble as she walked. The scene of a woman carrying such a giant bow was just extremely awkward.
After the group passed, a dozen gallant horses entered Han Jin’s field of vision. The group was nothing worth noting, but when Han Jin’s eyes had swept away from the horses, he quickly turned his head violently. They were definitely not warhorses!
Their bodies were tall, at least a head taller than ordinary horses, and they were completely covered in silver-white fur, without a single strand in a different color. Their backs, abdomen, and long, slender, and strong legs were shaped perfectly. A sharp horn, nearly one foot in length, grew from the center of their foreheads. With each and every step, a weak arc of lightning flashed from the tip of their horns.
Only two words could describe the warhorses: noble and gallant!
Seeing that Han Jin’s attention was plastered on the brilliant warhorses, the girl smiled and exclaimed, “They are unicorns. You mustn’t have seen one before, haven’t you?”
“Unicorn?”
“Of course! In order to catch and tame one, we spent more than three months here.” The girl said proudly, “The most annoying part was that several druids had been messing with us. Otherwise, we would have succeeded long ago. ”
“Ahem…” The old man suddenly coughed.
Suddenly, the girl realized that she had blundered and stuck her tongue out in embarrassment.
“Dear guest, this is Miss Louise.” The old man continued, “My name is Panven, a magician, you…”
“My name is Raphael.” Han Jin said flatly, “A magician.”
“A magician? But…” The old man was stunned. Clearly, just like Han Jin’s friends, Panven also could not sense any magic fluctuations around Han Jin.
“Alright, let’s continue on our journey.” Louise darted over and grabbed the woman’s arm.
Han Jin’s eyes fell upon the woman once again. Facts proved that his judgment was right; though she was a woman with such remarkable beauty, and donned in luxurious outfits, she was being treated like a nobody, and no one even bothered to introduce her. Even though the relationship between the girls seemed intimate, Louise was not particularly good at acting, and Han Jin could easily tell she was merely pretending.
However, Han Jin did not want to meddle in others business, let alone probe into their secrets. Moments later, he slowly began making his way in his original direction.
Panven was interested in Han Jin’s origin, thus, he attempted to continue the conversation. Louise was curious as well, and she chipped in a few words from time to time. Han Jin also wanted to learn more about the situation in the southwest region. Both sides were willing to answer each other’s questions and the atmosphere was very harmonious.
Just as Han Jin knew nothing about the southwest, Panven’s knowledge about the northeast region was also very limited. Unexpectedly, Panven had never heard the names of the lords that Han Jin mentioned, except for the Grand Duke of Solomon from the City of Elements. From this, one could see the extent that the news had been blocked between the two places. Of course, this had nothing to do with Panven. The continent had been fighting continuously for years. No tourist or caravan could travel to either side. Anyone who was able to learn information from within a thousand-mile radius was already considered very knowledgeable.
As the two parties got along for a longer period of time, Han Jin noticed that the team always remained vigilant, as if someone would rush out to attack them at any time. They were even secretly guarding against Han Jin. For example, Louise and the rainbow-haired woman always walked behind him. Finding their vigilance interesting, he deliberately stopped to pluck and observe an unusual wildflower. Louise and the woman also stopped; they could stare at Han Jin’s back all the way, but they would never let their backs face Han Jin for single moment.
This did not affect Han Jin at all. If it were him and his companions who met a stranger in the woods with unknown background and unknown abilities, they would remain alert as well.
Han Jin could also tell that they were in a hurry to get out of the forest as they were travelling at a fast pace; this fact made Han Jin very satisfied. If they were to dawdle, even if Han Jin did not know the way, and even if he got attacked by the Kingdom of Magnificent Light, he would still leave the group because he really could not afford to waste any more time.
Chatting while hurrying on with the journey, several hours passed in the blink of an eye. The others appeared to be alright, but the woman could not hold on any further. She staggered as she walked, her head was covered with sweat, and blood seeped from her white legs where the grass scratched her skin.
Panven frowned, and immediately let the team stop for a brief rest. Suddenly, a man wearing a cassock approached the woman from the back of the group and blessed her with the Magic of Rehabilitation. He was not an ordinary priest; under the glare of intense light, Han Jin could clearly see that the wounds on the woman’s leg were healing bit by bit. However, the woman’s physical strength had been entirely depleted, she had no energy to pick a better place, as she sat down in the grass. She was too exhausted to even lift her head.
“Pull yourself together.” Panven said softly.
The woman was startled and hurriedly got up from the ground, but her legs were too weak, and she fell face-first onto the grass.
Panven shook his head and left the woman alone. Han Jin pitied her and extended his hand towards her, but the woman glanced at Han Jin timidly and did not respond. Instead, she strenuously sat up on her own. Her eyes became wet, but she continued trying to control her tears, not letting them fall.
The strong man then grabbed a few branches and a pile of hay from the surroundings in order to set up two bonfires. The woman carefully leaned towards the bonfire, basking in its warmth. Obviously, she was both cold and tired, and it was never her intention to dress in such a way.
“Something’s not right…” Louise murmured suddenly, twitching her nose vigorously, as if she was sniffing the smell of the air. Her eyes also changed, the liveliness and innocence in her eyes was replaced by a sharp, penetrating stare.
After being together for a few hours, Han Jin had always believed that Louise was an ignorant, spoiled young lady who had not experienced much in life. However, seeing Louise’s new look, he soonly realized that he was completely wrong, and by no means was she a spoiled young lady, though still a bit ignorant.
At that moment, a black light silently drifted between the blades of grass, shooting directly towards the woman who was resting near the fire, completely unaware of the incoming danger. Han Jin’s expression was a little hesitant; he was unsure if it was his job to save her life. However, the arrow was flying extremely fast, and within the instant that he hesitated, it had already approached the woman. Han Jin had no choice but to stretch out his hand to block the arrow.
Louise’s movement was a bit faster than Han Jin. It was not due to her reaction time being faster than Han Jin’s, but because she moved the second she discovered the arrow without hesitation. Suddenly, a shiny dagger appeared in her left hand, and with a slight swipe, the arrow changed direction. The arrow brushed against the woman’s neck, nailing into a tree trunk behind. The force of the arrow was so great that more than half the arrow’s shaft had penetrated deep into the trunk, leaving only the fletching quivering vigorously on the outside.
Louise turned and hid herself behind a tree. Her movements were as light as a lynx. While her body was fully blocked by the width of the trunk, she reached for her longbow on her back. Without stopping for a single second, she emerged from the other side of the tree, longbow drawn back, and an arrow shot out at a great speed.
Suddenly, a bloodcurdling scream sounded from afar. Panven had already took out his magic wand, and a huge magic shield appeared out of thin air, enveloping everyone inside. Outside the magic shield, the air flow surged turbulently as the fog gradually gathered, shrouding tightly around the people within the magic shield. However, the fog seemed a little strange, though it was clearly visible, it did not seem to affect their vision in any way, and the distant scenery was still clearly visible. As for whether people on the outside could see the things inside, Han Jin was not quite sure.
Suddenly, the guards gathered towards the center and formed a circle around the dumbstruck woman. Only now had she finally recovered her consciousness. Similarly, she removed the giant longbow from her back, then pulled out an arrow in a very standard manner and placed it on the bowstring. Surprisingly, she did not draw the longbow. Although she kept her back straight, her slightly trembling legs revealed her true nature.
At that moment, Louise suddenly let out an ear-piercing scream, “Nicolas’s lackeys! Stop hiding! Act as men and step out!”
Louise was not within the protection of the magic shield. Looking at Panven’s expression, it seemed that he was not at all worried for Louise’s safety.
Louise’s posture was a little weird. Her legs were open, one at the front and the other a little further back. Both her legs were bent slightly into a half-squat. Her back was hunched into an arc, like a worm that wanted to curl up into a ball, or like a beast that was about to leap onto its prey. Her face was full of wildness and arrogance, with a tinge of untamedness. Her eyes were sharp as a knife, with a trace of contempt and ridicule.
It was completely out of Han Jin’s imagination that a girl could show such a brave stance. If he had to describe the scene, it would be a cat going mad.
When he was a private detective, his female assistant kept a Brazilian cat and a shepherd dog. Most of the time, the cat and dog got along well. There was once a time when he and the female assistant went out for morning practice, the kitten caught a mouse and was playing with it in its paws, then the dog suddenly came over and picked up the mouse in its mouth. The cat immediately bent its back into an arch, staring intensely at the dog, and with a hair-raising shriek, it rushed up to the dog. In fact, the shepherd was several times bigger than the kitten, but it still could not withstand the cat’s vigorous attacks, and finally had to release the mouse in order to escape. His female assistant also went up to stop the cat, but instead was bitten, leaving her weeping in pain.
During this moment, Louise looked exactly like the cat that was about to attack, both angry and mad!