Stray

Nimo has never taken any quiz in his life other than an interview.

Unfortunately, Miss Savage is experienced in combat instruction and has no interest in explaining the situation. Nemo had just washed off the mud that he had accumulated for a few days, and couldn't wait to run out to ask for more information, but only found a young girl with freckles.

"Ann went out, dinner is in the room over there." Her lips were pursed into a straight line, her eyes were lowered, and she was staring at the ground, with a bread basket on her arm.

Nimo tried to keep a friendly smile, implying that she should say more. It's a pity that the girl just threw down these hard words, turned her head and left, bringing a breeze full of "I'm in a bad mood".

Nemo shrugged through the dimly lit corridor, reconfirmed the small items in his lower pocket, and walked towards the humble restaurant with kindness. Oliver was already sitting at the table, his short light brown hair dripping with water, and the small wounds were blurred by the firelight, looking a bit like the Oliver Ramon he would meet in town.

He was stuffing pumpkin soup into his mouth, and the blue and black under his eyes were still obvious. Nemo said nothing and pulled the chair across from him. The foot of the chair rubbed against the decayed wooden floor, and the sound made people excited.

"Ann went out." Nemo said without words, stirring the soup in front of him with a spoon. After eating the hard and rough dough for several days, in his eyes, the marks made by the spoon are full of sacred art.

"I know." Oliver raised his eyes, "What do you think?"

"What do you think?" Although the pumpkin soup was cold, the delicate taste almost made Nemo cry, and he was a little distracted.

"The matter of the black chapter. What are your plans in the future? She just wants to make a name, how about you?" Oliver still had a spoon in his mouth.

"…Honestly, I have no idea. But I don't want to go it alone, and now the cost of believing in the wrong person is not a simple loss of a wallet, and it may be a life. Know the roots—just find a few reliable people and do simple tasks together.”

Oliver did not respond, staring at the drop of soup stains left by the pumpkin soup on the table.

Nemo sighed. "If you want to find out about your father..."

"Not this." Oliver quickly denied, "I mean, don't you have anything you want to do? Look, my problem is solved for now, I just need time to accept it. "He paused. "But your situation..."

"I know." Nemo slumped a little listlessly at the subject. "But only the Holy See knows about this kind of thing. Even if Garland's attitude towards demons is looser, those monks will definitely not be willing to be free advisors to demon believers—of course there is no way to charge them. This problem can't be solved at all."

Oliver was shocked for a few seconds by the other party's overly quick abandonment. "No, I mean, maybe we can get in touch with the other demon believers-"

This time Nemo was shocked by the amazing adaptability of the other party. Demon cultists have never had a good reputation, and most people prefer the shorter term "madman" to refer to them, and it's a popular subject in Albans to scare children.

"You saw that one just now. If it wasn't for his demon's sudden convulsion, we would have turned into gold coins in his pocket. Are you sure, even Ann can't deal with him alone Ah?" Not to mention that the guy was arrogant, not like any powerful character with depth.

"It should be fine if it's just intelligence." Oliver said, "I heard it mentioned that Noe seems to have a neutral pub...I can't remember the name. We can ask Ann tomorrow. ."

Nemo nodded. To be honest, he didn't hold out much hope. The grey parrot wasn't unbearable either—he had never had high demands on the quality of life, and the pumpkin soup held more weight in his heart than the unsolved mysteries.

The next morning, Nemo was beaten up alive.

In those few days in the forest, he hardly slept his eyes, and although his strengthened body could bear it, his spirit was exhausted to the extreme. He finally came into contact with normal pillows and beds, and even if they weren't so soft and comfortable, he still slept in ignorance.

Ann almost yelled out Nemo's full name, but even the grey parrot showed no sign of opening its eyes. The female warrior gritted her teeth, grabbed his ankle, and dragged Nemo directly from the bed to the ground.

"It's still dark." Nemo glanced at the window through his eyelids, trying to climb back to the warm bed.

"Okay, then please sleep until the last minute of the registration deadline, and sign in comfortably in the eyes of countless bounty hunters. I will definitely applaud you at that time." An Heng smiled.

Nimo got up on the ground. "…sorry!"

But things don't seem as bad as Ann said.

The registration office is a low-rise building, which is completely irrelevant to the style. There were still scattered stars in the sky at this time, and the grey parrot was still sleeping soundly in Nemo's backpack. On the contrary, many people stopped by the building in groups of three or five, almost all dressed as civilians, old and young, and even mothers with babies.

"These are all the people who are going to take the black badge test?" Oliver stared at the mother, who was bowing her head to coax the child, unable to see her expression clearly.

"Refugees, I guess I can't survive." She folded her arms and looked at the end of the road.

Soon they knew what An was waiting for. A two-wheeled carriage passed through the morning fog, and it was piled with assorted weapons. The driver parked the car on the side of the street and started a business on the spot.

An wrapped the cloak wrapped in leather armor and strode forward. "Ann Savage," she said loudly. "Eleventh."

The fat coachman blew his rosacea and dug out a long cloth bag from the pile of weapons. "Here." He handed it forward impatiently.

Ann took out a few gold coins and put them on the messy shelf, picked up the cloth bag and left, taking off the dirty wrap as she walked. By the time she walked back to them, the contents of the package were fully exposed.

Despite what she said, Nemo was convinced that the sword was better than the rest of the car—those with bare, grime-covered blades, and this one at least had a clean leather scabbard.

Although this woman is tough and ruthless, she has a good heart in a wonderful place. Before Nemo could finish his emotion, he was almost hit by a metal rod thrown by Ann.

"What is this?" The stick is half-length and heavy. There was hardly any workmanship to speak of, with a yellow stone roughly inlaid at the top—that stone had no signs of grinding at all, and Nemo suspected that was what it looked like when it was mined.

"Staff." Ann said, "You are theoretically a mage."

Nemo stared at the black metal rod in horror. "But I can't use-"

"Yeah, I know, so it's iron. You can do a surprise attack." Ann made a waving motion, looking very pleased with her creation.

“…”

Oliver pinned the sword to his belt, not used to it, leaned over and patted Nemo on the shoulder with understanding.

There are more and more carriages, and more kinds of things are sold. Started with weapons, followed by medicines and simple scrolls. The asking price is not very high, and the quality is poor. However, judging from the gaps and patches on the clothes of the refugees, there is no market for high-end goods here.

Ann ignored the new carriages, grabbed the two by their clothes, and dragged them to the corner of the street. The sky is brightening, and the morning fog is gradually dissipating. The figure at the end of the stone road became clearer.

The refugees voluntarily retreated with the purchased goods in their arms, and no one said a word.

"Remember." Ann whispered in their ear. "Bai tin badges, those are regular mercenaries. Don't provoke you two casually - your black badge level will not be too high, if you don't cause trouble, they won't take the initiative to attack you."

The sky was completely bright, and the red light of the rising sun broke through the sky.

"Let's go." Oliver tapped Nemo's arm, "Ann said she had already filled out the information, but the test certificate has to be collected in person—"

"The sun is out." Nemo said thoughtlessly, looking at the morning sun, which was not yet dazzling.

Oliver suddenly noticed something.

In the past few days, Nemo Wright has an indifferent attitude towards everything, and has nothing to do with the word positive. He is literally interpreting what it means to "live in the moment" with all his heart, and leave the problems to tomorrow's self. To be honest, Oliver himself didn't appreciate that kind of character, he didn't like the attitude that he didn't care about dying at any moment - he had seen his pain, fear and exhaustion, but there was something unspeakable in it. Violation.

The sense of disobedience made him instinctively want to keep a distance, but Mr. Wright was undoubtedly a good-hearted man in the traditional sense, and he actually saved his life because of the non-existent things to alienate the other party It's not something he can accept. Oliver is determined to believe that all this is due to the paranoia caused by his recent emotional outburst.

He had already made up his mind, but the feeling that had disappeared for a long time appeared again.

Nimo looked back at him. Oliver suddenly recalled a moment clearly many years ago. Yes, the moment before they met for the first time, he found out that something was spying on him.

A hot sweat broke out on the back, and then it quickly became cold. His heart was beating so fast that it made him very uncomfortable. The sound of blood flow seemed to be amplified countless times, and dark spots that appeared before fainting appeared in the field of vision. He struggled to adjust his breath, trying to resist the strange and ominous feeling. He was still young at the time and had no idea of ​​this kind of feeling. Now he knows how to describe—

It was an instinctive fear.

As if there was a huge alien entrenched in the back of his head, the sharp nails were pressed against his scalp, and his head could be smashed like a berry with a little force. The sense of oppression almost turned him into a pulp.

This feeling was only fleeting, but he seemed to be stuck in it for hours.

"Look, even if we encounter all this shit, the sunrise is still beautiful." Nemo sighed without knowing it, showing a big smile. "I'm going to forget when was the last time I saw the sunrise - let's go, aren't you going to get a test certificate?"

Oliver smiled stiffly, holding his other arm, he could feel his body shaking uncontrollably.

"Are you nervous?" Nemo winked curiously. "I don't think you need to worry. If anyone gets knocked out of this test, it's me first."

Oliver took a deep breath, looked directly into each other's eyes, and tried his best to keep his voice steady. "Stop joking, Ann is still waiting inside."

You can't show it. He repeats frantically in his mind, You can't show it, Oliver Ramon.

To express fear before finding the truth—that hurts.

(m..=)