Your Majesty's money, why don't you engrave my name on it?

Generally speaking, druids didn't serve as missionaries, so Bella didn't continue the conversation. She looked up, discerning the natural aroma of the wilderness from the smell of dinner. After staying in the city for too long, she couldn't get enough of that scent.

But the wind is very humid tonight.

"It looks like our sunny journey is almost over," the druid stood up and looked towards the hazy night horizon in the distance. "It's likely to rain tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, and it's expected to last for a few days. This isn't very kind to travelers like us."

"Is it going to rain?" The coachman's expression changed again and again. He was a man in his forties, with wrinkles creeping onto his hands and cheeks, plowing furrows into them. He was unmarried and had no relatives or friends he couldn't abandon, so when Margaret found him, he was happy to hide from the chaos of the city with his horse.

But the chaos in Qingzun City will eventually end, and the wilderness will always be that wilderness.

"It's still a long way to the nearest village," he looked at his employers for help. "We're not taking the main road, and the mud alone is enough to make old Franzki (his horse) drink a pot of mud. But that's not the most important thing - this is hunting time!"

The hunting the coachman was referring to wasn't just him as a hunter, but rather the hunting season for all sorts of beasts, monsters, and even nobles! To prevent potential trackers, they had already torn off the Lister family crest—which would make them more vulnerable to all sorts of accidents!

"Okay, okay, it's not that dangerous." Leslough handed over the flagon, but what was left inside was just water with a hint of alcohol. "It's hard to say who's hunting whom. Didn't you see what we had for dinner tonight?"

"Ah!" When the mercenary pointed to the prey that had not been eaten yet, the already full Black Claw rolled his eyes and shouted as if asking for credit.

In the wilderness, a creature's danger is often not strongly correlated with its food, and a mature male antlered deer is a prime example of this: it abandoned its wife and children and collapsed, becoming an involuntary dinner for everyone.

"I like this guy. It saves me a lot of trouble." Leslough smiled and stretched out his left hand to pat Black Claw's forehead. Since his right arm was not right, Black Claw only accepted the touch on the other side.

Before leaving the Golinoto Mountains, Reslaufer had to basically catch large prey alone. Although Vondal was considered tall among the dwarves, it was still not easy for him to chase the prey. Others, such as Daisy, were likely to be injured by an accident during hunting, which would be a waste of time.

But now Reslaufer has a helper, and it is a natural hunter, especially good at cooperative hunting.

"Even though I say that..."

"Don't worry, if there are any fools out there, they'll figure out who the real prey is," Leslough patted the still hesitant driver on the shoulder. "You just need to take care of old Franzki. Instead of worrying about trivial matters, focus on the danger at hand. Black Claw has been drooling over it lately, but tonight's meal should satisfy it for a while."

The driver nodded with a sallow face. His horse was his most important property and companion. If anything happened to it, he didn't know what to do next.

"Black Claw is very sensible. He knows what not to eat," Angelita said. "Forget the horse. Isn't Tiaotiao still fine?"

"It's a clever little thing," Daisy said, hugging her harp. The blow from Rathlough that night failed to destroy the magical item, but the poet has always complained about its poor tuning since then, and he's even reluctant to play it. "I once saw Black Claw trying to 'test the saltiness,' and it nearly kicked him in the eye."

However, Tiaotiao didn't react at all - squirrels generally have poor memories, and it probably had forgotten about it.

Although this dinner could not be compared with the banquet in Qingzun City, everyone still felt extremely satisfied, because they would not be able to have such an experience again in the next few days.

"Today—wow! The rain hasn't stopped yet!" Daisy got up early in the morning and hurriedly got out of the cave where she took shelter from the rain, and then got back in even faster. "What a hell! Is this rain going to last for a whole week? Or a month? Does Inassus also have a rainy season?"

"Your question is useless." The continuous rain day and night really made it impossible to cheer up. Bella looked out from the cave entrance depressedly, "This is Inassus, not the western part of the empire. How can I know why it rains like this in the month of coincidence (October)..."

Since the Matt Dynasty took control of the empire, the twelve months have been assigned to eight deities revered by the Matt family. The remaining four months honor and celebrate the "elders" who founded the empire, the empire itself, spellcasters, and the Matt family itself. The Month of Change is the month of Evandra, the Bringer of Change. The weather in the empire begins to cool during this month, and Angrita's birthday also falls on the third day of this month.

Chapter 259: Cat Man in the Rain

At this time of year, almost no one would not miss the caravans of the Fengquan family and the Luwalu family. If they were traveling with them, this kind of rainy weather, which was neither big nor small, would not be a big deal at all.

In fact, if they had not left Qingzun City in a hurry and with light luggage, they would not have needed to hide from the rain in a cave. As a large city in West Inassas, Qingzun City could certainly buy various equipment to deal with such situations.

But they have nothing.

"That's my problem," Vondar said, lowering his head guiltily. "I'm so stupid. I've lived in the Empire for so long that I only knew there would be heavy rain during the Storm Month. I forgot that the rain in West Inassus tends to fall during this time."

It wasn't entirely the dwarf's fault, after all, he had spent far less time in Western Inassus than in the Empire. But Reslaufer had been in a coma when they left, and as a child of nobility, or at least of a wealthy merchant family, Margaret hadn't thought of it at all. If anyone had to bear responsibility, it would be Vondar Halfhill.

The dwarf said this because he was probably the most cheerful person at the moment. The cave environment felt like home to him. If his weapon wasn't an axe but a pickaxe, he could probably carve out a three-bedroom, one-living-room apartment for everyone—plus a fence for Old Franzki and Black Claw.

"In Western Inassus, the rains come in January and February, and the latter is called the Rain Month by the westerners. We're lucky to have arrived here," said Reslaufer, soaking wet as he and Black Claw dived into the rain, overhearing this conversation. "Rainy days are a good time for the central people to attack the westerners. In Western Inassus culture, rain during wars is considered a divine intervention, but Central Inassus doesn't see it that way."

"As for me, I try to join the Central Inassus team on rainy days."

Reslaufer and his reptilian companions were probably the only two unaffected by the weather. If they hadn't been out hunting in the rain, the others, who had very little food, would have starved to death. Reslaufer himself actually enjoyed this kind of hunting; the spirits around him had become more fulfilled over the past few days.

Looking at the wild boar being dragged into the cave by Black Claw, the driver gradually began to believe that in this rain, he was probably on the side of the hunters.

However, just like the wild boar being processed, "hunter" is only a temporary title, and the transition between hunter and prey is just a matter of seconds. Just as everyone was about to greet their overly greasy breakfast, the rain curtain outside the cave suddenly shook.

"Something is coming." Leslaufer stood up suddenly and grasped the hilt of the sword beside him with his backhand. Black Claw beside him immediately became alert, slowly lowered his body, and prepared to attack.

"Could it be the boar's relatives and friends coming here to seek revenge?" Daisy consciously moved deeper into the cave. Although the cave was deep, it ended in a dead end, so there was no need to worry about being attacked from the front or back.

Angelita pulled out her long poem and stood beside Leslaufer. "I hope so. This way, we probably won't have to go out hunting until the rain stops."

"Don't talk nonsense, Annie," snorted Leslough. "It's a big job to process so much meat in the wild in this weather. It might be raining by the time we're done."

They are not going to live in this cave like savages. They still have to continue on their journey when the weather clears up.

The cave soon became quiet, and correspondingly, the sounds outside the rain curtain grew closer and closer. Finally, in full view of everyone, two slender and tall figures rushed in almost at the same time, and what greeted them was Reslaufer's sword, a trophy from hell.

The two figures seemed to have one of them in the lead, while the other leaned on his companion and seemed to be injured, so Leslaufer's sword turned without hesitation and pointed towards the injured man's shoulder.

This was a hostile temptation, but it could easily expose the other party's intentions. For those uninvited guests with malicious intentions, this knife could almost reveal the true nature of the devil or demon.

"I surrender!"

Such a menacing attitude frightened the relatively healthier visitor so much that he screamed and quickly turned his companion behind him, using half of his own back to face the blade. "We have no hostility. Don't hurt my friend, I beg you!"

The sword stopped just before it was about to rip the man's clothes. After staring at the pair with his icy blue eyes for a moment, Reslaufer lowered his sword. "How rare! Encountering two tabby cat people? I actually had such a dream."

Angelita looked over quickly and saw that although the two uninvited guests looked roughly human, under the wet single-layer cloak they had two heads that were more like cats. The face of the protected one could not be seen clearly, while the other one had pure blue-gray hair on its face, and a pair of cat ears stood up on both sides, pushing up the cloak on its head at an angle.

It is worth mentioning that this tabby cat person, who is presumed to be a female from the sound, does not have hands like humans. Her hands are covered with thick hair like cat claws, making it difficult to tell whether those fingers are more like humans or cats.

"I swear you're awake," the female tabby said immediately. She spoke fluent Inassus, but to Reslaufer's ears, it also mixed some pronunciation features of the Central region. "Although tabby people are rarely seen in the west, wandering is one of the natures of every one of my kind!"

"Instead of this, can you give us a bite to eat? It would be even better if there was a doctor here. My little brother is injured and needs help urgently. I don't know how much longer she can hold on!"

"Let me see." Hearing this, Bella hurriedly squeezed past Black Claw and Angelita from behind. She flipped her wrist, and a few raspberries appeared in her palm like magic.

"We only have one wild boar now, but these raspberries can still fill our stomachs, and they might even be better for you." The druid's move made the surprised cat-man subconsciously let go of her brother and brought the injured man to Bella. "Let me see... this kind of laceration can't be caused by ordinary things, and his legs... you should take off his boots."

"Miss Daisy, I need your help! I can't do this alone!"

"I'm sorry, we're running for our lives. We really don't have time..." The patient groaned in pain but clearly under the druid's healing spell, and his sister hurriedly explained. However, after the bard emerged and began to cast a spell, the rest of her words turned into stunned astonishment. "There are actually two spellcasters in this cave? How could I have such a dream!"

Chapter 260 In Pairs

The main problem of the seriously injured tabby man is the horrific external injuries, the infection caused by untimely treatment, and the deterioration caused by running in the rain. Bella and Daisy can handle most of them, but whether he can fully recover depends on himself.

But no matter what, at least this life was saved.

"Thank you, thank you! Your hearts are just like your looks and voices, no different from those of angels!" The female, or rather, the female cat-man, glanced cautiously at Reslaufer and the Deinonychus behind him, and said gratefully, "I'm Spruce Hesse, you can call me Sisty; she's my younger brother, Red Resin Hesse, or Rosso."

In the culture of the Tabby Cat people, they have unique surnames and given names inspired by the surrounding landscapes, but when they go out, especially in the human world, they usually use nicknames derived from these. Introducing one's real name to outsiders is a very formal act.

Xishiti took her half-conscious, half-confused brother back in her arms and put one of his arms around her neck. "I really want to repay you all right now, but I'm sorry to say that we're still being hunted, so we have to leave."

"The pursuers will probably follow the footprints, which could cause you a lot of trouble. But they are only targeting us siblings, so all you need to do is stay out of it and tell us where we are going. Thank you again—"

Xisiti turned to leave, but her vision suddenly blurred. Black Claw's huge figure in the cave had blocked their way.

"You keep saying it's brother and sister, but if I heard correctly, you keep referring to them as 'she'." With a clang, Leslaufer snapped the blade of his sword. Raising his eyelids, he asked, "Is there some interesting reason for this?"

"Well...it's just his own interest. There's nothing to delve into." Sisti was stunned for a moment, then quickly emphasized her explanation again. "Sir, we don't have time. Can you please let this, this big bird of yours get out of the way?"

Sisty didn't know Deinonychus, so she could only guess it was a bird based on the hair on its body. But no matter whether her guess was correct or not, Black Claw just stretched out his tongue and licked the edge of his mouth lazily, with no intention of giving way.

"The Black Claw isn't a large bird, but it's not a lizard either. If you insist, the latter is probably more accurate," Reslaufer explained slowly. It was obvious he was stalling for time. "I heard it's a creature belonging to the larger group called dinosaurs, within the smaller group called Deinonychus. Our bard knows a little about it, and if you're interested, she can explain it to you."

"Don't take me with you, I don't know anything." Daisy waved her hands quickly. After such a long time, she could of course guess that Leslough's addiction had come back again.

Chasing ordinary wild animals in the wilderness is just for the purpose of filling his stomach, but Leslough is probably not satisfied with just this.

"No, you don't understand..."

Xisiti's amber eyes nervously looked back at the black claws in front of the cave entrance, and the hair all over her body couldn't help but stand up. If she didn't have a younger brother to take care of, perhaps she could have escaped before this "dinosaur" could react.

As the saying goes, "A cat's reflexes are seven times as good as a cat's."

But it’s also a proverb, “Cats have nine lives” and Sissy has no intention of verifying its truth!

However, no matter what, Sissi had no way of pulling out the dagger from her boots and using force against these benefactors who had just saved Rosso. Besides, she dared to bet that the man who stopped them would be enough to make her suffer.

Even though this person was as wet and messy as himself, the subtle differences in his demeanor and movements were enough to prove that he probably had many lives on his hands.

But his companions had saved her brother? Or were the other benefactors with this man? Sisty couldn't understand why. At best, they were ready to side with her, but at worst, they might just be trying to better "rehabilitate" her and her brother. After all, the despair that follows hope is the darkest thing in the world.

The most likely scenario is that they plan to wait for the pursuers to catch up and then decide what to do with them.

That's probably what the saying "curiosity kills the tabby cat" means.

Sisty kept pleading with Leslaufer to let them go, but the mercenary showed no sign of compromise. Finally, as the rain outside grew heavier and the two slender figures were dimly reflected in the rain, the cat-man finally gave up struggling and sat down on the ground with his brother.

"Plop, plop." Two pairs of rain-soaked boots stepped one after the other on the relatively dry cave floor. As Black Claw looked at the newcomer with indifference, the two pairs of blue-gray cat ears hidden under the thin cloak immediately stood up. The dagger and longbow were raised respectively, and four amber eyes stared at the monster they had never seen before with vigilance.

"What kind of monster is this?!" A gentle male voice exclaimed immediately, and his eyes immediately spotted the Sisti siblings behind them. "Shapeshifter! Is this the helper you called in?!"

"Don't talk nonsense, Rosso," the other half-human, half-cat woman immediately scolded, "They are probably just kind people passing by - but your kindness is misplaced."

"Don't listen to their nonsense!" If Black Claw hadn't happened to separate the two groups of almost identical tabby cats, everyone would have been confused about which "Sisti" was shouting in protest. "They are the shapeshifters! My brother and I stepped on their trap while hunting. Otherwise, how could Rosso be injured by the antlers of a stag?"

The brother in her arms struggled to respond, or maybe it was just a simple moan.

"Don't be fooled by their evil accusations," Rosso, the other intact one, immediately spoke up. "Everything they did was a complete disguise! We saw this gentleman and this... creature hunting. Shapeshifters are masters of reading through other people's memories. They're definitely trying to gain your sympathy!"

"No matter what you've done before, just leave everything to us now, okay? We, my sister and I, must personally eradicate these two monsters pretending to be someone else. Otherwise, if we let them take our place and roam the city, I can't imagine how bad the consequences will be!"

As he spoke, the soft-spoken but reckless Rosseau raised his longbow again and said, "My stranger friends, please wait until we have dealt with our own affairs before we come and talk to you again!"

Chapter 261 Solution

Black Claw tilted his head slightly and looked indifferently at the tabby cat-man who was sitting and trying to draw the bow.

"Yes, that's it," said Rathlough's playful voice from behind. "Hold your arrow steady, little one, and shoot."

Rosseau, who was not injured, was stunned for a second, his teeth rubbing against each other in his mouth, making a squeaking sound, but in the end he did not have the courage and had to put down his bow and arrow dejectedly.

Black Claw blew a breath of hot air from his nose, spraying it on the cat's face. Although the animal couldn't speak, the tabby cat man could clearly feel its contempt and disdain.

"My brother is ignorant, please forgive me. But sir, what exactly do you want?" The later Sisti was obviously more steady than her brother. She took a step forward, her eyes passing over the Deinonychus's back. "Are you still planning to determine whether it's real or not?"

"Doppelgangers are insidious and cunning creatures. They have been stalking and imitating us for the past few months. And most importantly, they can also read part of the victim's memory - that will only make it more difficult for you."

This tabby cat person also uses "she"...

Reslaufer swung the sword in his hand. "Rather than trying to determine the truth, I have a better suggestion: Isn't the biggest worry you just mentioned about shapeshifters replacing you?"

"Then I'll kill all four of you, and the problem will be solved, right?"

"Uncle!" Angelita shouted in dissatisfaction, "Sister Bella just saved them!"

"Go ahead," and unexpectedly, at the same time, Sisti, who had arrived earlier, suddenly spoke. She gritted her teeth and said word by word, "You saved my brother and me. If you plan to take our lives, I have nothing to say!"

"Very good! You answered so quickly that I almost believe you're serious—but whether it's true or not doesn't matter much right now." Leslough nodded with satisfaction and walked forward. "What about the other couple? What do you think of this proposal?"

The other couple, Sissi and Rosso, looked at Reslaufer with complicated expressions, as if trying to find some flaws in the man's face, but in the end they found nothing.

This damn stinky cat!

"I... agree too!" The other Sisty didn't dare hesitate any longer and could only raise her hand, "But I want them to die first! The shapeshifters will reveal their true colors after death, and then we'll know who's real!"

The two of them were very close to the cave entrance. As soon as the man made a move, they would run outside. They had already set two traps. As long as the man dared to chase...

"No, no, no, you misunderstood," Leslaufer shook his head so hard that his shadow almost appeared. "For me, the most important thing is the process, not the result. It doesn't matter which of you is the shapeshifter."

Almost in an instant, two streaks of blood shot out from the shoulders of the cat-man siblings behind Black Claw. Before the other pair could react, Reslaufer rolled in front of them like a chariot.

"See you in hell, buddy!"

"Dang!" In a flash, a dagger blocked "Sister" from the fatal blade. Before she could think, another dagger slipped out from her sleeve and attacked the mercenary's waist!

At almost the same moment, the other "Rosseau" completely ignored his sister, and kicked the ground with his well-developed muscular hind legs. He quickly retreated and rushed out into the rain!

Black Claw immediately stretched out his neck and tried to hold the opponent back with his teeth, but he was ultimately powerless and could only tear off a piece of Rosso's clothes.

However, Leslaufer made a prompt decision and immediately let go of his weapon. After grasping the sword in the air again with his left hand, he narrowly blocked the attack that was going straight for his waist. However, his right arm was not idle at all. He stretched forward and grabbed the left arm of "Sister" that had not been able to retract in time!

"I got you!" The mercenary grinned fiercely. There was a sound of bones breaking, and his opponent immediately let out a scream that was neither human nor feline!

The demon didn't look like someone skilled in strength, but after a portion of her power was transferred to Reslaufer, the mercenary's right arm was able to unleash even greater strength than before! This grip was enough to shatter the opponent's bones!

The next second, the mercenary chased outside without looking back, and the cat head of "Sister" fell to the ground after spinning several times in the air. The thick blue-gray hair disappeared, and was replaced by a completely hairless, pale head with a little gray. The head slowly stopped rolling, and the milky white eyes without pupils stared blankly at the back of the mercenary who was chasing after it.

As for her other half, the body that was originally identical to that of the tabby cat-man became even more slender, and the limbs and fingers at the end were further extended, while the wet cloak and other clothes disappeared, turning into a stream of light and merging into a ring on its little finger, leaving the creature lying naked on the cold ground.

"Hey! It's not wearing pants!" The bard's focus was still so strange.

But Angelita had already rushed out with Black Claw, following the footprints on the ground.

"Annie!" Margaret was startled. "It's raining outside..."