Stray

It's not easy to run wild in the woods with tangled roots, and the seemingly solid place may be full of rotting leaves, not to mention the annoying cobweb of vines. Ann ran smoothly, and Oliver had a hard time following because his body had not recovered. And Nemo lost most of his enthusiasm to escape after being tripped by a tree root for the fifth time—if the body fused with demon flesh and blood was strong enough, the leaf pit he stepped on would have been enough to twist his ankle ten or eight times. .

He deeply doubted that he and the two were not of the same species. Those two guys were born with an extra eye, and could see through the thick moss and dead leaves where the best place to go.

Nimo grinned and tried to get up and continue running, but his ankles were surrounded by slender and strong vines, and he couldn't break free for a while. He glanced back subconsciously—the Seymour worm was still standing silently, looking like a bulging black abscess from a distance.

"Hey—you two!" The staff was dipped in worm slime, and a lot of dirt and grass clippings stuck firmly. He held it as a walking stick. "Wait for me-"

Oliver stopped first, he held the tree trunk and gasped for a while, the injured left leg was not in good shape, and the wound was bleeding slightly - thanks to his neat movements these days, no abnormality, Nemo also thought that Ann used some powerful healing technique.

"Did you fall?" Oliver obviously didn't want to care about his legs, and he reached out to Nemo.

Nimo twitched the corners of his mouth. He doesn't have any cleanliness that hates being touched by others, but at this moment he just has a weird feeling that Oliver is intentionally increasing the number of physical contact. The last time he felt this kind of atmosphere was when he saw the cubs in the orphanage vying to provoke the vicious guard dogs of the neighbors.

But waiting for his gaze from the other's **** left leg all the way to the gentle green eyes, thinking of what they had witnessed a few days ago, Nemo couldn't help but soften his heart. He is not a noble lady, the two men are nothing to be hypocritical - he obediently stretched out his dirty claws, leaned on Oliver to stand on his heels, and then poked those annoying thin vines with his staff.

Nimo just shook off the last vine on his ankle when he looked up and saw An Complex's eyes.

Oh, that's embarrassing. He really desperately needs a copy of "Three Hundred Ways to Resolve Embarrassment" these days. How could he be too lazy to open the book because the cover is so ugly?

"Miss Savage, we..." He subconsciously wanted to apologize in the sense of oppression, and swallowed the words again. Although he himself didn't know what he had done, living at the moment was victory, and he had nothing to apologize for - he didn't think Ann really cared about their lives. "We managed to escape, with those who were 'dead'."

Ann pursed her mouth into a tight straight line. Nemo couldn't help shrinking his head, for fear that the female warrior would come to an angry temporary breach of contract and choose the initial three thousand gold coins.

But she didn't.

Ann took a deep breath and spit it out slowly. Immediately, he responded in a whisper-like volume.

"Thank you." Although her voice was small, her tone was serious enough.

Nemo digs his ear with his finger, suspecting something is wrong. Oliver is always one step ahead of her—

"Why?" Oliver asked, the soft expression on his face lightened, obviously still a little concerned about Ann's actions.

"No reason." Ann raised the volume, and the carefree feeling returned a little. But Nemo always felt that there was still a trace of sadness on her face that she couldn't hide in time. "Nice job. But I don't think it's my fault. We still have to go together, and someone has to say it - assuming you're still willing to go with me."

Is this meant to let them go?

Oliver turned his head and lost a questioning look, and Nemo nodded slightly.

"We survived, so the agreement is still valid." Oliver gave Ann a smile.

"Follow me then. It's just past noon, and we still have one more night to go." Ann turned around decisively and did not continue the topic.

"Hey, Savi...Ann." Nemo hesitated for a while, but stopped her. "I didn't mean to deny you or anything, but you did make a mistake."

Ann turned her head and stared at him with those amber eyes. In the dim forest, her eyes looked almost golden, like those of a beast.

"That... uh," Nemo stammered awkwardly, finding that he didn't know the name of the dead youth. This made his momentum dwindle as soon as it took off. "If he hadn't rushed out, I...I might have escaped with you. I hope you knew that."

Nimo is not a saint, let alone a hero. He lived an ordinary life, and almost all the blood and rain he had seen came from books. He didn't know why he was saying this, and he didn't even think it had anything to do with it. But the young man died easily—the people he protected were on the run, never knowing what he did. One of the witnesses commented that it was "meaningless". This realization made him a little sad.

Not out of pity or survivor guilt. He simply felt it was time to tell her that, the dead man deserved it.

"What is meaningless is meaningless." An said calmly, turning around and moving on. "I'm not going to change my opinion, what you think is your business."

"I—" Nemo was about to speak, but was stopped by Oliver's hand, and he shook his head gently at Nemo.

"Noe's 'Devil Tavern', how much do you know?" Oliver naturally followed Ann's footsteps, returning to his usual tone.

"You mean 'Dawn', there is such a place. Demon believers are not welcome in ordinary taverns - to be precise, they are not welcome anywhere." Ann kicked away the dead grass in front of her The group said, "Its owner is a bit interesting. Few people dare to declare themselves neutral in front of the Holy See these days. Over time, all the demon believers here have gathered there, and we have been betting on when it will end."

"And then what?" Nemo couldn't help but interject.

"And as you can see, it is still booming after so many years, maybe the boss has some background." Ann shrugged. "Why, have you become interested in your compatriots?"

Nemo imagined a pub full of Jude, and felt guilty from the bottom of his heart. "No, I'll ask." The word compatriot made him feel a little indigestion.

nothing."

"It's rare that you know this." Ann looked at Oliver in surprise, "Speaking of which, where's the parrot?"

Nemo hurriedly looked around, but he couldn't find any common bird feathers, let alone parrots. He was stunned for a moment, even hesitating for a second whether he should feel relieved or worried. Bagelmore had never been away for too long before, and he was used to the sarcasm and runs around him from time to time.

"Don't worry too much." An smiled, "It knows where you are and will always find you."

"Just in case it gets killed..."

"Oh, that's a problem. But I don't think so." Ann stopped. "You have no idea of ​​what you have done, do you? From what you just did, there is nothing in this wood that can hurt it."

She looked straight into the young man's silver-gray eyes as she said this. But she found nothing but surprise. No fear, no ecstasy, not even cautious hope. This made her feel a little anxious.

"Do you know how to control a Seymour worm? If it is a mercenary of the horizon, at least three are needed. One mage maintains the magic circle, and the other is responsible for large-scale magic attacks. It is equipped with a blunt weapon with a first-level impact technique. It takes at least five hours to draw the restraint array, and at least 200 catties of fresh water-like meat must be prepared so that it can be led to the center of the array. By the way, the horizon It's the No. 1 mercenary group at the moment." An's tone contained some complicated emotions.

"Kid Ramon's ability is still within my understanding, as for you... I didn't notice any spell fluctuations at the time, you didn't use spells. Even if the parrot is a top-level intermediate demon, this It's too exaggerated."

Speaking of which, she groped for a while from her waist bag, and the gap between her clenched fists exposed metal flashes. Ann threw the thing in his hand at Nemo, and Nemo subconsciously caught it with both hands and looked down—

The familiar pendant was glowing with gold's unique luster in his palm.

"I bought it from O'Neal, this thing is very important to you, right? After all, it is a rare style only in the capital of Alban. Usually I don't go to explore teammates. Born, it's not polite, I know." An reached out and rubbed his forehead. "But now I have to. I'll buy you a question with this - how much do you know about your origins?"

Nimo didn't say much, he carefully pulled out the picture hidden on his body, gently inserted it back into the frame in the pendant, and then showed it generously.

"That's all I know," he said.

Ann approached to take a look, Oliver struggled for a few seconds, but still couldn't restrain his curiosity and came over.

It was a portrait of a girl with delicate and delicate brushstrokes. It's a pity that the paint has changed a little bit because it's too old or not well kept. The young girl in the painting is not a top beauty, but it is also called beautiful and lovely. Instead of the popular demure pose, she made a playful grimace. Her hair was flaxen-colored, slightly curled, and the color of her eyes was really indistinguishable from blue or green.

"I don't know if this is my mother, my grandmother, or any other female relative," Nemo said. "It was the only thing I had when I was found."

"Why am I not impressed?" Oliver stared at it in surprise.

"Because Patrick took a lot of work to get it out of my throat," Nemo replied bitterly.

Ann studied the small picture for a while, but apparently did not find any clues.

"Never heard of such a person," she said, a little frustrated. "Didn't you try to find her?"

"No." Nemo answered decisively, "I said, I don't remember what happened before - if I am lucky, I will meet naturally, it's okay if I don't meet, I have my relatives. Yes, I do cherish it, but that's only because ... it proves that I may not be abandoned."

No one would put something so valuable and clueless on an outcast. It proves that, at least for a distant moment, he was loved by true relatives—or so he believed.

Ann picked up the pendant and turned it over, and found a line of small characters from the inside of its shell.

"The flame never goes out." She read the handwriting with difficulty, "Signature... No, the signature is too worn."

"I can't find the source of that sentence." Nemo said, "Look, I know that. The amount of information is a bit small...Do you need change? Count it in the staff The debt is fine." He looked at the pendant eagerly.

Ann shook her head amusingly and returned the pendant. "Forget it," she said, "keep it away."

"Aren't you asking anything else?" Nemo didn't want to owe her too much, a posture that could explain the years of experience upside down.

"No, since you..."

Before she finished speaking, black light appeared, and An suddenly blocked the two of them behind her.

The grey parrot was flying towards them in delight, with spells scattered everywhere, erratic as if he had drunk too much. It got close to Nemo, and Nemo thought it was going to land on his shoulder again, so he didn't move. Unexpectedly, the beast stretched out his claws and scratched—his shoulders opened a big hole in an instant, and it stabbed the hard bird's beak into the wound fiercely, and the feeling of being stabbed into the flesh by something reappeared.

This time Nemo had experience - he directly grabbed the grey parrot's body and yanked it hard. The parrot slammed to the ground, revealing an unnaturally long purple-black tongue.

"It still won't work." It lay on the ground and said aggrievedly, slowly retracting its tongue into its mouth. "Still can't get it back... I'm obviously full! Do I have to eat a superior kind of me—"

Nimo took the pendant away carefully, leaving the wound behind - it healed quickly under Oliver and Ann's watch, leaving only the blood that seeped through his clothes.

"I'm sure now." Ann sighed fiercely, "I'm afraid ordinary demon believers can't do it... You need an expert."

(m..=)