Brain bloom

Mori thought that if it were a small ball of light, it would be acceptable; he should have just asked the old wildcat for salt. However, Fufu was not happy and pouted, refusing: "It's too much trouble; I have to put on and take off my clothes."

Fufu boldly took Senshi's hand and gently licked his palm. The slippery touch made Senshi feel itchy and cool, which was also very comfortable. But he was also very embarrassed because clear salt water kept leaving on it.

"This isn't human, this isn't human... this is an elf... it's an inorganic matter..." she could only keep reminding herself.

Volume 1 #034 The Magic of Awakening the Cat

After licking for about a minute, Fufu finally stopped its assault on her palm, wiped the salt off its lips, muttered "The Four Seasons feels so good to lick," and walked away. Clearly, the salt spirit's thought process was completely different from humans, so even after doing something so shameful, it could act as if nothing had happened.

As for Morishi, staring at the thin layer of salt on his hand, it took him a while to calm himself down... Being licked in such a fancy way by such a cute little girl would make any normal person feel shy.

She remembered she still had things to do, thankfully she wasn't late...

Mori sprinkled fresh sea salt into a container filled with green sap, mixing it with the other ingredients—this was the final step. Her list consisted entirely of plants believed to ward off evil, which she then crushed, mixed together, and shaped into leaves.

Mori used some mental energy to create it using magic; it looked like just a thin leaf. It was a success, exactly as Mori remembered it, and it was enough to shelter a tormented soul.

"After you wake up, listen to what happened and then leave..."

Although she also wanted to leave with Dandelion as soon as possible, the Rain Wizard—and the empire behind him—were their greatest enemies. This was an opportunity to understand the enemy better, and they couldn't let it slip away.

With these thoughts in mind, Mori pushed open the door and was immediately stared at by countless eyes.

"...There are more people?"

Not only were there the old wildcat family, but also some servants and slaves who looked quite powerful—but there were also people who hadn't appeared before and were clearly not members of the cat family.

Of particular striking appearance was a blonde female mage in a red robe, unlike anyone else, who sat alone in a chair. Her body was shrouded in a misty, noble, and mysterious aura, but she looked exhausted, as if she had been up for three sleepless nights, her tired face making one want to sleep.

[Level 79 - Maritime Trade Queen - Pearl Shell Lady]

Mori felt that his eyes were indeed very convenient; he could directly confirm the other person's identity without having to go through the trouble of asking. Since they had such a name, they were either the lord of this place or the lord's wife.

The beautiful woman was the object of the town's curses, the one who made humiliating concessions.

It's not surprising that the lord would come here, after all, the envoy of the Peda Empire could very well be a messenger of the devil, and any lord with a normal IQ would come to ask about the situation.

Mori wasn't particularly interested in this lord. After all, he had dealt with many important figures during the game era, and had even fought alongside the king of a certain country in a dungeon. Moreover, the king was an NPC who was specifically there to hold players back.

Mori's gaze swept elsewhere, and she finally spotted her princess. Dandelion hid in a corner to keep a low profile, only smiling when her eyes met Mori's. They both felt that in this murky and complicated world, the other was the only person they could trust, and a companion who could stand with them against loneliness.

"This is Lady Pearl Shell, as I believe you know."

"I understand, my lord. Well then, there are more important matters to attend to now."

Before the awkward introductions and tedious formalities could continue, Mori pulled down her hat brim, interrupting the old stray cat who was about to make his introduction. She handed the leaf she had prepared to the old stray cat.

"Place it on her forehead and call her name to wake her up."

"Oh... okay, okay."

Sen Shi's indifference made Ms. Pearl Shell stand up, and she said in a sharp tone—

“Indeed, now is not the time for small talk. Although I do not know your background, I am perhaps the one who should greet you with humility—if you had produced that magic scroll a day earlier, I would have gladly given you the title of town.”

The atmosphere became somewhat tense, apparently because the merchants hadn't kept their mouths shut—however, Mori ignored the lord's provocation.

She reached out and patted the old wildcat's broad shoulder, signaling him not to stand there. The old wildcat went inside, and Sen Shi and Dandelion followed right behind. At least at a patient's bedside, would Ms. Pearl Shell be a little more reserved?

That special leaf covered the old cat's small head, and just like that, the gloom in the room was swept away like a whirlwind; the leaf was playing its role.

"Mother...please wake up," the old wildcat called out.

"Do you know how much trouble it will cause if I'm summoned here? You'd better give me an explanation, otherwise, combined with your removal of the slaves, I will investigate this matter thoroughly."

The old stray cat ignored it and called for its family again.

Suddenly, the leaf on the cat's head twitched, and then a sleepy-eyed cat face lifted up. It looked around, opened its mouth, and yawned widely, its pink tongue curling up.

Everyone was watching the cat yawn, as if it were something very rare.

"Meow... What a painful sleep."

It made a meow that could be understood, and then stretched out its exceptionally sensitive paws to hook the leaf to its nose and sniff it for a long time.

"Comfortable."

"Mother……"

While it should have been a scene worthy of applause, Mori Toki found it rather unsettling. A burly, imposing old man calling a small, aged cat "Mom"—perhaps this is what another world is like…

The cat sat up, its tail wagging from time to time. It didn't look like an old cat that was almost dead at all; on the contrary, it was quite endearing.

“I know what you want to hear and why you’ve come here. Although I was asleep before, my soul is still awake.” Its tone was playful.

"Old lady of the Black Cat family, did you really make a deal with the Rain Wizard?" Lady Pearl Shell spoke up, showing more respect for him. "Could he be the reason you were on the verge of death?"

"That's right, little girl, he bought a batch of slaves from our family in order to... summon demons in your manor. Aren't you afraid?"

……

According to the old lady, an anonymous customer requested to buy ten healthy and strong slaves that day.

Because of the unusual delivery location, and because the family was busy with other businesses, she delivered it herself—the delivery location was the lord's mansion.

Because the famous diplomatic expert of the Peda Empire, the special envoy Rain Wizard, happened to be in Frozen Bear Town for his annual routine visit and was entertained at the lord's mansion.

The delivery process was kept very private, and even the lord's guards didn't notice. Because of this, the cat's curiosity was piqued, and she secretly sneaked into the lord's mansion to see if the Rain Wizard had developed some special hobby, like engaging in a ten-person tag-team battle with these strong slaves.

After all, the Rain Wizard has always had a bad reputation. He is addicted to gambling and extremely greedy, and he always uses the strength of his country to threaten weaker diplomatic partners.

Instead, they witnessed slaves being slaughtered in a line, their souls offered up to a magic circle, while a rain wizard performed a ritual to summon demons.

Volume 1 #035 - Known as the Devil

The old lady of the Black Cat family, who witnessed all of this, did not describe in detail what the scene of summoning the demon was like.

However, images flashed through Mori's mind: in a room where the brick walls blocked out the sunlight and only the dim light of candles shone, a laughing rain wizard murdered slaves, pools of blood covering the magic circle, and the souls of everyone were imprisoned...

After a moment of pause, the old lady of the Black Cat family continued speaking—

"At that time, the Rain Wizard was saying things like 'not enough' and 'what's going on,' and he was very panicked. I was also frightened by the scene and gave myself away... Alas, he found me. After all, I'm too old, my flesh is worn out too much, and I can even make noise when I walk."

It licked its own fur, continuing to speak without missing a beat:

"Begging for mercy was useless. I was dragged onto the magic circle and thought I was going to die—thankfully, I survived by half. I was put under that... 'sanctuary?' Anyway, that's what it is. It seems to be enough to summon the power of demons, but my soul is still awake."

The Rain Wizard was ruthless and wouldn't care about a mere elderly slave trader, especially since the latter had discovered his evil deeds.

The devil is always taboo. Even in the most glorious and righteous "heroic epics," bards do not dare to write about the devil and have the hero kill him, because it might invite real devil's revenge.

The Rain Wizard could not let it go back.

"Later, when I was added as a sacrifice, the devil descended."

“You…you mean he really summoned a demon in my mansion? How come I didn’t know that…” Ms. Pearl Shell covered her face.

"After all, it's harvest season for fruits and vegetables. You'll definitely be out running errands during the autumn harvest, my lovely little lord." It retracted its cat tongue, hopped onto Sen Shi's feet on its four old legs, and lay down. "Everyone, I've seen the devil."

Everyone except Mori was on edge; that ghostly thing had appeared in the city. Just like the ghosts that roamed the night and no one dared to mess with them, the devil held the same status.

"What does a devil look like?" Dandelion asked boldly.

"It's hard to say. Before the ghosts came out to steal away the nights from humans, did you ever see the black fog that obscured the moon? It was very gloomy... very majestic."

The older folks nodded; they had all lived through a time before ghosts appeared, and of course, they had seen overcast nights.

"The devil is like that night sky, I can't describe it clearly. It might be the moon, but it deliberately wears annoying black mist as clothing, but its inner self isn't so bad... uh... I can't explain the feeling."

"Could you be more specific, madam?"

"No, don't make it hard for me."

No one could understand its description of the devil; they could only glean some information from the cold, aloof cat face and use their imagination to conceive of the devil's terrifying appearance.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Lady Pearl Shell had already dispatched several of her subordinates back to prepare to raise an army to guard against the demons. Even if it meant going to war with the Peda Empire, she would still have to do this.

After finishing, I listened to the old lady from the Black Cat family continue telling stories about the devil—

The Rain Wizard knelt fervently at the devil's feet: "Please give me more power. This is a critical moment. My country needs you."

The devil ignored it.

The Rain Wizard spoke once more—"Please lend us your power as agreed in the ancient covenant! I respect the devils because you are true to your word and never greedy, taking only what is rightfully yours..."

The devil's first voice was one that sent chills down your spine. Perhaps only by filing one's vocal cords to pieces could one achieve such a sound.

"Can't we see the sky at dawn here?"

Volume 1 #036 - It Looks Like War Is About to Break Out

This was a nonsensical statement that puzzled the Rain Wizard for a long time before he stood up and stopped worshipping the demon. He stared at the demon shrouded in black mist before him, and after a long while, he finally managed to utter a single sentence.

“You… are not that devil, nor are you an old friend of our country.”

"I am not."

"I summon the devil because I have a request! Can you answer me?"

The rain wizard used an almost threatening tone, but only received a burst of mocking laughter from the devil, laughter that felt like a thousand earthworms crawling across one's eyeballs, causing extreme discomfort. Then, the devil launched into another sarcastic remark—

“What intense greed you have, humankind,” the devil said. “You wander the world like a plague, enjoying the hospitality of local lords, yet you constantly threaten them to extract more benefits. If anyone disagrees, you bring out the great army of your own country.”

“This is for my country, and it is also my favorite gamble.” The Rain Wizard remained unmoved, but knelt down once more. “No matter which demon you are, I have summoned you, and you should heed the humble desires of humankind.”

"Yes, but what can you give me?"

"The devil only wants one thing... and that is souls, more souls! If you wish, all the souls in this town can be yours. This place is very weak, making it the best place to harvest souls."

The devil didn't answer immediately, but instead flipped through a thick, ancient book in his hands. His eyes and hands, shrouded in black mist, moved across the pages. Finally, as if confirming something, the devil said expectantly—

"Hmm, a port city... I have to go and see this town for myself."

“Good, there are many humans here, many healthy and strong souls… You will be satisfied!” The Rain Wizard’s eyes darted around, seemingly plotting something—“I have seen the strongest of you demons, it is very raging but also easy to deal with… You seem to be different.”

Where is the exit?

"left--"

The Rain Wizard pointed the way, then couldn't help but look at his own finger. Was he actually guiding the devil?

"...Are you really a devil? You're quite strange. But this aura, yes, is even stronger than that old devil that has been controlling our country...I should have summoned it."