Yarra's Adventure Notes-Chapter 1153 - 265: Apologies and Thanks

"Ugh, that was a really good sleep. How long has it been, it’s still not daylight, could it be an entire day has passed?" In an effort to interrupt Dillie and prevent him from saying something he shouldn’t, Pannis sprang up from the ground, only then realizing that his impulsive reaction seemed to have landed him in some kind of major crisis. At that thought, a cold sweat instantly broke out on his forehead, and he no longer cared to scold the snickering Dillie, was laughing at his misfortune. Turning his back to the girls, he cleared his throat and said, "I’ve just woken up, what are you all talking about? Did I miss something?"

"I finally understand why Grandpa was speaking to you so seriously just now. I was wondering why, since you were clearly unconscious, yet Grandpa surely couldn’t have failed to notice. It turns out we were the ones who couldn’t see it," Catherine said with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile, looking at Pannis’s back and spoke leisurely, "Also, when speaking with Mr. Dillie just now, at first, there was this illusion that it was you I was talking to. Now I get it—it wasn’t an illusion. Somehow you were using Mr. Dillie to relay messages to us, hehe, am I right, dear Mr. Pannis?"

"What Grandpa, what Mr. Dillie? I don’t understand what you mean," Pannis said with a forced laugh. "Your grandpa has long passed away, how could he possibly speak to me? Hahaha, are you too tired? Seeing hallucinations, perhaps? And how could I have possibly made Dillie pass messages for me? You all were right beside me... no, no, I mean, you were all nearby. If I really did talk to him, wouldn’t you all have heard it too? Hahaha, you must have misunderstood, yes yes, misunderstood."

"I do want to know too, but those are your little tricks, I guess you won’t tell us," Catherine said with an even brighter smile, her voice soft, "Lying there pretending to be asleep for so long, you must be quite uncomfortable, huh? Do you want to go back to your room and sleep in your sleeping bag for a while?"

"Hahaha, pretend to sleep? I was genuinely unconscious from overexertion, really out of it, mm-hmm, really," Pannis emphasized vigorously, nodding his head, "Look, I’ve just woken up, I really don’t know anything."

"Is that so?" Although she knew Pannis couldn’t see her from behind, Catherine’s smile remained sweet, "It’s the first time I’ve heard of someone waking from unconsciousness so alert. And also a first to hear about someone who immediately upon waking knows they had been unconscious?"

"Uh, there’s always an exception, haha, I’m that exception," Pannis fumbled for words, his gaze wandering as he forced out a few defensive statements before suddenly pointing ahead and saying, "There’s a change in the light and shadows over there, I suspect there may still be Twisted Souls hidden. We must be cautious, I’ll go investigate, and in a hundred or two hundred days I’ll be back. Don’t worry, I’m off."

"Snap," Pannis had just tried to flee, his steps barely taken, when he found himself seized—not by one hand, but several all at once: some on his shoulder, some clutching his left and right arms, others pulling at his sleeves, and still others gripping the hem of his clothes. Catherine’s tender voice came from behind him, "Dear Mr. Pannis, I haven’t noticed any changes in light or shadow over there. Where do you plan to go? I thought you had something to say to us."

"No? Hahaha, I must have seen it wrong, you see, I was unconscious, my eyes must be blurred, really sorry about that," Pannis said with a cold sweat, forcing a laugh, "It’s pretty late already, we might need to travel tomorrow, everyone should go to sleep early, right, let’s sleep now, to regain our strength and prepare for tomorrow’s journey."

"No rush, no hurry, we’re not leaving tomorrow. I just received some information not long ago, which I need to sort out, then we can head straight to our destination. So, since we’re resting tomorrow, we have plenty of time tonight," Catherine’s words extinguished Pannis’s last hope, "What do you say, dear Mr. Pannis, aren’t you going to turn around?"

"Stay calm, please stay calm, everyone, damnable lion, just you wait, I will have my revenge sooner or later," Pannis cursed at something to the side, swallowing hard, bearing the weight of something heavy, he turned back around bit by bit, not daring to look at Catherine’s eyes or lips, and looked up at the sky, gaze drifting, "The weather tonight is really nice, isn’t it?"

"Pfft," several girls were simultaneously amused by Pannis’s tense and awkward demeanor. Catherine bit her lip, amusement mixed with frustration, as her water-like eyes fixed on Pannis’s face, and she said softly, "Is this what you wanted to tell us? Forget it, since you don’t have anything you want to talk about, it’s our turn to talk to you."

"Ha ha, ha ha, damn lion, don’t laugh." Pannis was at a loss and, as if suddenly finding an outlet, scolded the scorpion-tailed lion, which was laughing so hard its belly was about to flip. Seeing that the girls’ attention hadn’t shifted, he dropped his head in resignation and said, "Go ahead, speak."

"I—no, we—what we most want to say is sorry." The girls stepped back a few steps and, in a tacit understanding, gave Pannis a deep bow. Catherine said earnestly, "This time, we’ve caused you trouble. It was because we let our guard down that you were forced to take a risk to save me. Even though you told Lina that it was your negligence, we’re not fools. We know well that you can’t account for all dangers on our behalf. So, it was us who relaxed our guard too early after the fight, leading to this incident. We’re truly sorry and will reflect sincerely. We won’t make similar mistakes again."

"Uh, that, this." Finding the girls’ words different from what he had anticipated, Pannis said awkwardly, "Actually, you can’t blame yourselves. Even if you had been on full alert then... well, being fully alert could indeed have prevented it."

"That’s why we are apologizing. Also, we want to say thank you, not only for saving me but also for saving this home." Catherine said, "Although we agreed before not to thank each other, this time is different. The thanks we’re giving this time aren’t just for you, and the apologies we made earlier aren’t just for you either."

"Alright, I accept." Pannis sighed, nodding, "I believe she would accept it too once she knows."

"Well, that’s everything," Catherine said, touching her lips lightly with a hint of red on her cheeks, "Since you’re so eager to pass out, go back to your room and continue being unconscious."

"That’s it?" Pannis was stunned, asking dumbly, "That’s all?"

"Do you want to hear something else?" Catherine seemed to be in a good mood, smiling with her eyes narrowed into slits, "Too bad, there’s nothing else. Go to sleep now."

"Tsk, clever women, clever actions." Dillie muttered regretfully, realizing there was no more entertainment to be had, "It’s not fun when women are too clever."