Yarra's Adventure Notes-Chapter 1137 - 250: A Warning?

"What’s the point of their existence?" Dillie didn’t understand at first, and asked blankly, "What could be the meaning of the Undead’s existence? As for why they attack us, didn’t we just discuss that? We didn’t find any reason. Why are you asking again now?"

"Because I’ve suddenly realized something," Pannis sighed. "If you connect the incidents we encountered in these two campsites, you can guess their purpose in attacking us. Let’s set that aside for now. First, about Catherine’s speculation you thought impossible, it’s because you believe that the Divine Servants don’t deeply understand my tracking abilities and wouldn’t expect me to definitely look for the campsite from forty years ago by the lake, and even less to follow the clues all the way here. Indeed, you have a point, but what if they understand us better than you think?"

"Impossible," Dillie shook his head. "How could they have any way to know about you, especially the two moribund Divine Servants who make the decisions? Even if they learned something through rumors, the gap between rumors and reality is too vast."

"You must know, no matter the force, no matter the era, there will never be a lack of betrayers," Pannis snorted coldly. "Especially when the opposition offers a sufficiently tempting price, not everyone can choose to refuse. Faced with the prospect of a longer life, some people can betray even their closest kin, let alone just a few pieces of information. I think, without surprises, all of our detailed information has long been on the tables of the moribund, every personality and trait meticulously investigated because it’s not at all a secret, none of us have intentionally hidden it."

"You don’t understand my point, Kyle. It’s not just a simple matter of information," Dillie insisted without budging. "Indeed, our information could be gathered by bribing some top leaders of forces, especially those of the humans, but that was thirty-eight days ago. I just said it, thirty-eight days ago, even I myself didn’t know I was going to enter here, let alone you. Moreover, you didn’t even know you had the possibility to enter. Oh, I misspoke, you might have guessed you could come, but these five girls absolutely couldn’t have predicted that. But look at these ambushes. If they were really designed specifically for our team as you think, were they prepared for you and me? You have Shield, I have skin and muscle, even if they successfully ambushed us, what would it matter if they hit us a few times while we just stood there? It wouldn’t likely cause us substantial damage. But it’s different for them, if they were ambushed unprepared, guess what the result would be? Therefore, these ambushes were targeted at them, trying to strip away our support as much as possible. Combine that with the earlier question, even if someone could speculate that we might come here, they would have to understand us better than we know ourselves, at least as well as Flare, Maya, or Tiya do. You’re not suspecting them, are you? Right, you also think it’s impossible for them, so these two doubts together pose a problem. We didn’t know we could come here, yet the traps were already designed for us? That’s too exaggerated, so I think, this ambush might not be specifically for us. As for why they mysteriously came here and buried themselves in the ground pretending to be seeds, don’t ask me, I don’t know either."

"Yet you’re overlooking someone," Pannis shook his head. "He would provide our information to the Divine Servants and also has a good understanding of us, at least of me, even as you said, better than I understand myself."

"How could such a person exist, you’re being too..." Dillie said but stopped halfway. The certainty on his face slowly faded, replaced by a hint of astonishment, and he stuttered, "You, you, you’re saying, Nellie, Nellie, Lady Nellie?"

"Lady Nellie’s body is now possessed by the Soul of Danacus," Pannis said with a stern face and an icy tone. "I don’t know what the exact signs are when a body is taken over by a Divine Soul, but we can’t rule out the possibility of memory theft. If Danacus really has access to Nellie’s memories, and just as those moribund said, has truly awakened, then given what Nellie knows about me, or rather about us, it wouldn’t be hard for Danacus to deduce that it’s inevitably me coming here, not just because I can but because I must. After determining that I would come, as long as conditions allowed, it wouldn’t be hard for anyone who slightly knows them to assume they would follow, don’t you think?"

"This, this, has Nellie really been..." Dillie couldn’t continue, hesitated for a long time before he managed to say, "really had her memory stolen?"

"Stolen might not be the right word, strictly speaking, maybe shared," Pannis said, surprisingly composed even when talking about Nellie being overtaken by Danacus and possibly even devoured. His expression was stern, but his eyes sparkled with what seemed like hope for the future. He took a deep breath and said seriously, "Of course, these are just my speculations, they might not all be true, but these are the guesses I’d rather believe."

"Is there any difference between stealing and sharing?" Dillie said with a bitter smile. "I think they’re pretty much the same."

""No, it’s not the same at all," Pannis said with certainty, "Stealing is closer to plundering. What I take, you lose entirely, which means Nellie was completely devoured by Danacus, even her memories weren’t spared. Sharing, on the other hand, is more like copying. I know it, but you still have it, implying that Nellie at least retained some sense of self and possibly even had some autonomy unbeknownst to Danacus."

"How do you know?" Dillie had to admit that it was possible, though only a possibility. Seeing how certain Pannis was, Dillie couldn’t help but ask hesitantly, "I don’t think you would guess wildly about something so important without any basis—that would be too irresponsible, but I can’t find a reason to believe this judgment."

"Yes, I also don’t understand why you are so certain," Catherine said, her first doubts about his judgment creeping in after having completely believed in Pannis. She carefully chose her words to avoid provoking him: "From my heart, I surely hope your guess is right, but one can’t let hopes blind them to reality. Sometimes, there’s a disparity between what we expect and what actually happens."

"My basis is actually very clear, and you all have seen it," Pannis didn’t get angry because of the knight’s doubt. He fully understood that Catherine’s doubt was well-intentioned, not wanting him to harbor high hopes, and he wasn’t swayed by Catherine’s denial, still insisting, "I mentioned before, you can’t view the two attacks in isolation. Think about them in sequence, and you’ll see the problem."

"Sequence?" Catherine pondered, "First, 38 days ago, two undead, transformed by Divine Servants, hid in this now third encampment, presumably to ambush us. Then it was... finally, we walked into the ambush and were prepared to counter the attackers."

"Good, now think about it," Pannis asked, "If we had entered this camp like before, unprepared to inspect these mud houses, what would have been the result?"

"Given the speed and strength displayed by those sharp-toothed bears, there would definitely have been casualties, possibly more than one. The bears’ speed was beyond our expectations, and it would have been impossible to respond adequately without any mental preparation," Catherine replayed the events from minutes earlier, "But it’s impossible that we wouldn’t be on guard entering the camp, especially just a few hours after an attack. It would be foolish not to be cautious. Ah, is that what you mean—that the undead’s attack on us was intended... intended to..."

"What do you think?" Pannis asked with a smile, "The same hiding spot, the same sudden attack, yet it hit and ran. Was it just bored? Plus, I’ve thought it over—if that skeleton had once played my role forty years ago, and seeing the power and speed it demonstrated, do you think Lina and Vivian could have blocked its attack in the situation a few hours ago without any harm? Even if they blocked the first strike, look at the sharp-toothed bear; it would rather endure Fireballs and Energy Bullets to the face to continue attacking. What if the skeleton had continued like the bear? Could we have stopped it before it launched a second attack?"

"So you think the skeleton’s previous attack was truly meant as a warning to us? Just to act out and let us know there was an ambush ahead?" Dillie sat on the ground like a human, scratching the ground in annoyance with his front paws, and said with a headache, "This is annoying, I already have a bad brain, I can’t think of such complex matters."

"If it hadn’t been for the previous attack, it would have been tough for us to adjust our mindset in time and maintain constant vigilance. We also wouldn’t have asked Ava to continually scout ahead in this encampment, leaving images. In that sense, that undead’s attack indeed played a warning role," Catherine said thoughtfully. "However, if it really was Lady Nellie controlling it from behind, why didn’t she just tell us directly?"

"I don’t know that, maybe it was to avoid detection by Danacus, hence no direct control, just an instruction issued," Pannis shook his head, "But none of that matters now. Whatever happens, our goal to thwart any plans of the Divine Servants won’t change."