The Final Odyssey, the fantastical journey of a cat boy

"You mean, in this town... there are only minors like you left?" A few minutes later, at Mary's house, Fish, having switched his smart combat armor to close-fitting mode and put on some loose old clothes Mary had provided, took a cup of iced tea from Mary and asked, "Where have all the adults gone?"

"That's why Mary hates the Imperial Army—shortly after they arrived in the 'Secret Realm,' they sent people to Mary's town with a letter of authorization supposedly signed by the Emperor himself, announcing that they could temporarily requisition the manpower and financial resources here to serve the 'emergency response,'" Mary sighed. "The adults have all been taken away."

"What does the Imperial Army want them to do?" Ange asked.

"We later heard that they seemed to have been assigned to logistical positions. Apparently, this was because the Imperial Army encountered a terrible enemy while digging in the 'Secret Realm,' suffering heavy casualties. As a result, they had to send all the original logistical personnel up there, and the resulting vacancies were filled by conscripting local civilians," Mary said indignantly.

"Huh? Casualties?" Fish repeated the word.

"It seems the saying passed down in our family is true," Ange said softly. "When sealing 'those things,' the heroes of that time also used the technology of the old civilization to leave behind a large number of powerful guardians in the sealing land. I think the Imperial Army's excavation probably awakened these ancient guardians, and then..."

"I bet those guys taught them a lesson they'll never forget," Fish sneered. "After all, they were handpicked by the Ancestor of Heroes, so their combat prowess can't be too bad."

"However, it's not good that so many adults in the town have been forcibly conscripted because of the large number of casualties." As Ange spoke, she glanced out the window of the house—where more than a dozen girls with long blonde hair and ram horns were curiously peeking into the house, seemingly hoping that Mary's guests could bring some change to their lives.

"Indeed. By the way, Mary, how do you all make a living? I don't think this is a place where people live off agriculture."

“Indeed, there isn’t much land in the mountains,” Mary said. “Our family used to depend directly on the Count of Timor for a living—his agents would come regularly to buy our produce and then resell it. So, our living conditions have always been quite good.”

"You mean those top-tier wigs on the market?" Ange said. "I do know about that. The wig business isn't very large, but because the wigs from the Sart people are of very high quality, the profit margin is quite high. Sometimes it can even account for about one-tenth of the Count of Timor's fiscal revenue."

"So many?" Fish asked in surprise.

"To be more precise, it's because the Counts of Timor were too poor—there was nothing to export besides coffee, timber, and fish, which is why wigs became a noteworthy export category," Ange explained.

“However, since the Imperial army came here, the Earl’s merchants have stopped buying our hair. Our hair is almost filling the warehouse, but nobody wants it,” Mary sighed. “There’s not much arable land in the town, and we lack other sources of income, so it’s hard to feed ourselves. The Imperial army claims they will provide us with the necessary rations, but it’s not enough for the remaining children.”

"Then you..."

"Out of desperation, someone like me, who's over fifteen and practically an adult, has no choice but to pick up a hunting rifle and venture into the mountains to hunt—although there's still food in town, we have to eat it sparingly, otherwise nobody knows what will happen next," Mary said, glancing at the hunting rifle in the corner. "I really don't know when things will get back to normal."

"It will be alright," Ange patted her shoulder. "I promise, as long as you get through the toughest period, everything will be alright."

"Really?"

“Of course, because Fayun will soon have a new legitimate Grand Duke—and that Grand Duke is a good man,” Ange glanced at Fish sitting next to her, “He will make up for the losses you have suffered during this time and provide your town with more… fair and good treatment.”

"Uh, but how did you know, sister?"

"Well... because I'm a nobleman of the empire! Although I've already defected, before that, I had access to a lot of inside information." Ange said without batting an eye... the truth. After all, at least from the literal meaning of these words, she wasn't lying.

"That would be good... But I don't know if we can hold out until then," Mary said, still looking uneasy. "After all, none of the adults who were taken to the 'Secret Realm' have returned. And the Imperial Army is currently recruiting people everywhere to make up the numbers. It's said that because the losses were too great, they had to transfer more of their original logistics personnel to make up the numbers."

"Uh... well... but they shouldn't force you to do that..."

"It's hard to say. In several villages far away, children about Mary's age have already been taken away. Everyone's worried... eh?"

As a commotion arose from outside, Mary's expression immediately turned grim. At the same time, the children who had been gathered outside scattered like fish seeing a night heron in the sky through the water, and then several men in Imperial Army uniforms came to the door.

By Imperial Guard standards, these men's attire was...quite problematic. Because of the heat, they had carelessly tied their ornate uniforms, adorned with gold thread, decorative ribbons, and gilded insignia, around their waists like belts, their upper bodies bare except for simple vests. The leading officer, however, hadn't forgotten to wear a tall military cap, the silver lightning bolt and winged skull insignia representing the First Imperial Guard Brigade contrasting sharply with their sweat-drenched, disheveled appearance.

"Gentlemen, may I ask what brings you here?" Mary asked.

"According to Imperial Wartime Decree U-23-46, we urgently need to recruit civilian support personnel," the officer wearing a military cap pulled out a document—at least he hadn't forgotten these basic procedures. "You have fifteen minutes to prepare and report to us."

"Just me?"

"In fact, there are five people in total, including you," the officer said, pulling out a list. "Everyone in town older than you has to go. As the current acting mayor, you are responsible for ensuring they all arrive at the designated location on time."

Upon hearing this, Fish and Ange instinctively exchanged displeased expressions—although they were already quite aware of the dire situation in the town, the fact that even Mary had become the acting mayor suggested that the situation was probably even worse than they had feared.

"Ha, you're so short-handed that you're this desperate? Hasn't His Majesty the Emperor sent any reinforcements yet?" Mary asked. "Taking away all the adults is one thing, but now you're targeting us fourteen or fifteen-year-old kids?"

"Actually, His Majesty the Emperor previously sent an independent engineering battalion of the Imperial Guard as reinforcements. Half a battalion arrived earlier," the officer explained. Clearly, he wasn't keen on forcing fourteen-year-olds into the numbers. "However, due to a series of… uh… accidents, even with half a battalion, we still don't have enough manpower. Therefore, the brigade chief of staff requested that we 'borrow' some more help so that those in non-essential positions can perform more important tasks."

"But your brigade commander clearly promised me that to my face before..."

"Brigadier General Reis was unfortunately trampled to death by an autonomous weapon from an old civilization in the last... accident. Therefore, it cannot be proven whether he made any verbal promises to you," the officer said. "Moreover, the remaining half of the engineering battalion will arrive here in ten days. By then, we will have sufficient manpower, and you and the others can naturally go home."

"Ten days? What if more of you die in that horrible place in ten days?" Mary clearly didn't believe the assurance. "Besides, the remaining children need care! Without us older folks looking after them, they might encounter accidents, and..."

"We are acting under orders, please understand," the officer said. "The Imperial Army will take good care of the others."

"You said the same thing when you took all the adults away! And now?! Besides feeding us expired military rations like stray dogs, what have you been 'taking care of'?!"

"We must follow orders; please don't make things difficult for us!"

"Tsk..." Fish instinctively wanted to stop him. However, Ange quickly pulled him back. At the same time, Huang Yan also spoke on the secure communication channel.

"Hey, think it over carefully," Huang Yan said. "Anyway, it'll take the others some time to cross the mountains and meet us. Instead of just waiting here, we might as well seize the opportunity..."

"Hmm..." Although Huang Yan didn't elaborate, Fish immediately understood what the so-called "opportunity" meant. "Excuse me, could we go in Mary's place?"

"Who are you?" the officer asked. "We don't need children who can't do the work."

"A child?" Ange, standing to the side, was immediately annoyed—like Fish, she was petite and cute for her age. Plus, she was wearing the children's clothes Mary had given them, so being mistaken for a child was... somewhat understandable. "Sorry, but I'm a grown-up."

“We are small businessmen who do business at sea. Some time ago, our ship encountered a storm at sea, was blown onto a coral reef near this island, and then ran aground and sank,” Fish immediately began to add to the story. Because he had heard many similar stories from real traveling merchants when he was making a living in bars, he had a good “reservation” and could use them at will when needed. “Because the location of the grounding was very remote, we walked for five days and five nights before we found this town.”

"Uh, are you... merchants?" The officer hesitated—clearly, he was unsure whether he could conscript merchants who weren't even registered there. "This..."

"Strictly speaking, we're not anymore," Ange immediately said. "After all, we've already completely botched our businesses several times before, and all the capital we had at home has been wiped out. We finally managed to get this batch of goods by begging and pleading with everyone, even borrowing money at exorbitant interest rates from that despicable Sherlin Group! And now it's all sunk to the bottom of the sea!"

"Uh...the loan sharking practices of the Schelling Group?"

"Yes, you should know that Luca—that infamous Iluvisca Alexandra Sherin—is a cruel and heartless person! Poor people who can't pay her high-interest loans are thrown into the sea and fed to sharks alive!" Since Luca wasn't around, Ange was happy to give her a good dressing down—after all, because of Luca's past close relationship with Fish, Ange had never really liked her.

Of course, Fish knew that the "shark-feeding" rumors were pure fabrication: Luca had once threatened several people who had maliciously defaulted on their debts despite having the ability to repay, by hanging them from the side of his yacht, but afterwards, he still handed them over to the judicial authorities. Furthermore, the Schelling Group's loan interest rates rarely exceeded 15% per year, and they didn't engage in any usury. However, because of people's love of gossip, these rumors never disappeared.

Although it's a bit unfair to Luca, it's something they can use for their current situation.

"We're penniless now, and we owe 80,000 Imperial dinars!" Fish said to the officer. "So, if you need men, we're willing to go now—we'll never pay this debt back in our next life anyway. Just lend a hand..."

"Oh...it's not impossible," the officer immediately understood Fish's meaning, "Well...we do have some people in our brigade who were vaporized to the bone in the previous 'accident,' and have no relatives or friends to contact. After things are over here, their identities..."

"It seems we've reached an agreement," Fish walked to the corner of the room and, empowered by the Phoenix Flame, easily lifted a heavy earthenware jar with one hand, slightly surprising the other. "Don't let my small size fool you. Ange and I both have the blood of heroes in our ancestors—though only a tiny bit. But with our strength, each of us can do the work of at least two people. If you don't mind, we can each take the place of two people, right?"

"This way, you can save on food for two people. And the children in town won't be left unattended," Ange added. "Besides, we know how to repair machinery and have received the necessary education. We can handle all kinds of complex and technical jobs—whether it's repairing vehicles, wiring, or doing accounting and planning campsites, we can do it all."

"Alright. The three of you will do." The officer didn't even bother to check their identities any further—clearly, he just wanted to find a few menial workers to fill the quota at the construction site as quickly as possible, and didn't care who they were. "As long as you're willing to work there long enough, I'll be lenient and let you get new identities."

"How fortunate I am." Fish smiled slightly at the other party—at this moment, he didn't even need to hide the smug look on his face.