Yarra's Adventure Notes-Chapter 19 - 13 I Refuse_1

19: Chapter 13 I Refuse_1

19 -13 I Refuse_1

“A battle priest and a magic orb caster, interesting.” Pannis was skirting at the edge of the mushroom cap, easily dodging the magical creatures that leaped at him.

His eyes were fixed on the girls’ battle, ultimately landing on Catherine. ƒгeewёbnovel.com

“And, a Guardian Knight as well, heh-heh.”

“Mr.

Pannis.” Catherine, already handling the situation with ease, saw Pannis constantly on the periphery.

Her voice tightened with worry, “Come over here, it’s easier to support each other.”

“Hmm, that’s okay,” Pannis didn’t approach the girls’ position but rather stepped back, leaping onto the cap of another mushroom.

“I can take care of myself.

I’ll stay out of your Gold Rank battle.

I did a little counting earlier, there are just over nine hundred of these rock beasts.

Only a dozen or so are Silver Rank, the rest are Bronze Rank.

You shouldn’t have any problems if you’re careful.”

“Alright, watch out for yourself.” Seeing Pannis’s Crystal flickering consistently on the edge of the cap, without any sign of danger, as he claimed, she put her worries aside and concentrated on the battle at hand.

Rock beasts are a species of common Bronze Rank magical beasts.

They are herbivores, usually living on cliff faces, eating moss and vines there.

They mostly move by jumping, their sharp claws allowing them to run smoothly on the cliffs, their robust limbs giving their jumps powerful impact.

These creature often live in groups and are extremely timid.

They rarely approach other creatures voluntarily, but when attacked, they become ferocious, preferring collective annihilation over allowing their attacker to live.

Such a trait makes all carnivorous magical beasts afraid to provoke them.

After being contaminated by the Demonized Energy, they will transform into demonic mesas, inheriting all characteristics of rock beasts—a rare few are herbivorous magical creatures.

In the eyes of experienced cavers, demonic mesas are harmless, provided you coat yourself with disguise powder to simulate traces of Demonized Energy.

When the fight was going so smoothly that Lina could afford to recite this from the Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures, it could no longer even be considered a battle, but more accurately a forced massacre.

How long this massacre would last depended on the number of magical creatures left.

At this moment, Lina’s recital not only gave the girls a clear understanding of the characteristics of the magical creatures they were facing but also caused Vivian a great deal of frustration.

Manifested by her ice arrows flying densely in the air.

Pannis, who had been dodging on different mushroom caps, had now stopped moving.

While he was still surrounded by many magical creatures, he had let all their attacks miss merely by flexing his joints and contracting his muscles.

He gave not a bit of his attention to the magical creatures, all his dodges were merely instinctual body reflex responses.

His eyes were solely focused on the girls, his expression was complex and hard to understand, and he muttered something under his breath.

A flash of light-

Countless Flashing Spores erupted from the mushroom tops without warning, once again illuminating the cave.

The remaining rock beasts, down to just about a hundred, let out piercing screams at the eruption and tried to jump in all directions to escape the deadly spores.

What a pity, the beasts had been too close to the spores since they were jumping on the mushroom caps.

They had no chance to escape.

Immediately after their jump, they were swallowed by the all-encompassing sea of spores and countless points of light stuck to each one.

The magical creatures covered in spores were rolling wildly on the mushroom cap as if going mad, scratching their bodies desperately with their limbs.

Their sharp claws ripped the skin and muscles on the surface of their bodies, black blood spraying from the wounds, falling with a sharp smell on the surface of the mushroom cap and the handle of the umbrella, but they were strangely absorbed by the mushrooms, and trace of the blood could no longer be found after a moment.

As more spores attached to them, the screams of the rock beasts became weaker and weaker, and finally, they slowly stopped rolling.

Some slipped off the edge of the mushroom cap and fell to the ground, while others became silent on the cap.

Compared to the annihilated rock beasts, the Cave Apes on the ground had been far luckier.

Those that were some distance away from the mushroom cap ran off as soon as the spores erupted.

Apart from the few that were too greedy and ventured too far into the range of the spores on the ground, most of the Cave Apes survived.

Just as Pannis had said, the frightened Cave Apes quickly disappeared into the darkness of the cave, leaving only the sound of their fearful squeaks and panicked running, which gradually faded away until they completely disappeared.

The abrupt end to the battle left the girls somewhat confounded.

Three or four seconds later, Vivian was the first to lower her guard, leaning on her magic staff, panting slightly and muttering, “Pointless battle, such a pointless battle.

If I’d known, I wouldn’t have cast that spell.”

Catherine stared blankly at the corpse in front of her, which had clawed its own guts out, and exclaimed in disbelief, “How can such beautiful spores be so powerful?

It’s incredible.”

“What seems beautiful often turns out to be false.” Pannis replied with profound meaning.

His clothes were free of even a single drop of blood.

Having rebound from the mushroom caps to be by the girls’ side once again he said, “The more beautiful it is, the more false it is likely to be.

And beneath the false front often lies a deadly danger.”

“Mr.

Pannis,” Catherine had a serious look in her eyes, speaking in a strained tone, “Why didn’t you come over earlier?”

“As I said,” Pannis checked the Crystal on his helmet and replied nonchalantly, “I can protect myself, why should I come over?”

“This is not about whether you could protect yourself or not.

Fighting side by side, supporting each other, this is what a team member should do,” Catherine pursed her lips, showing a rare display of anger, “Being less powerful is not an excuse for staying out of a battle.

I hope you can join the battle next time.”

Pannis was still checking his helmet back and forth, but his words didn’t show any hesitation, “Sorry, I refuse.”

“What?

You refuse?” Catherine looked at Pannis in surprise, “Why?”

“I only do the work stipulated in the agreement.” Pannis put on the helmet again, looked directly at Catherine and said apathetically, “You hired an explorer, so I only need to do the work of an explorer.

I have no obligation to participate in battles.”

“No obligation?

Even if your companion is in a tough fight or even in life-threatening danger, you wouldn’t join the battle?”

“Of course.

Moreover, I think you’ve misunderstood something, Miss Catherine.” Pannis sneered and looked down at his own feet, speaking softly, “You pay me for my services and I accept the payment to complete the job.

We’re clear on that.

We are not companions.

We never were, we are not now, and we never will be.”

“Alright, I understand.” Catherine let out a long sigh, but her eyes, which should have been filled with anger, were brimming with pity instead.

She shook her head softly and sighed, “Do as you wish, Mr.

Pannis.

Shouldn’t we get going now?

We’ve wasted too much time already.”

“Yes, it’s time to leave.” Pannis turned around quickly, jumped down from the mushroom to the ground, and his voice came from below, “The ground is safe.

You can come down now.”

Lina nudged Catherine and gave a soft snicker before following suit and jumping down.

Catherine’s face showed no anger or despondency, only a faint resignation.

She carried Vivian on her back and returned to the ground.

“Mr.

Pannis.” Catherine seemed to have completely shed the shadow of the previous quarrel, and her tone had completely returned to its usual state, “Do we still have time to clean up the battlefield?”

“Better not.” Pannis closed his eyes and listened carefully to the distant noises, answering, “Not sure when the next wave of magical creatures will appear.

It’s better not to linger in a single location for too long.”

“That’s a pity then.” Catherine tried in vain to hide her disappointment, her gaze filled with regret, “The claws of four pairs of demonic mesas are worth a gold coin.

At least four hundred coins could have been salvaged from here.

What a genuine waste.”

“Let’s go, sister.” Lina pulled Catherine and began to move, “I couldn’t care less about gold coins.”

“I do.” Catherine answered crisply, maintaining her forward momentum, but she turned to Pannis, “Mr.

Pannis, do you remember the first time we met a few days ago?”

“Of course, I remember.

What’s the issue?” Pannis asked, his tone revealing a hint of confusion.

“Then do you know why, upon first meeting you, we trusted you enough to let you lead us into this dangerous world?

Although we know about your professional abilities, we know nothing about your character.

Even so, we entrusted our lives to you.

Do you think that this decision was impulsive?

Do you know why we did it?”

“I don’t know.” Pannis frowned and seemed a bit impatient now, “I don’t want to know either.”

What Pannis couldn’t see was the hint of a mischievous smile on Catherine’s lips, a smile unbefitting of a knight, “Because I don’t believe that a person who wakes up every day from painful memories, a person who continually tortures himself with the pains of the past, a person who wallows in regret and self-exile, could be a bad person.

The most important thing is that even if you want to shut yourself off and exile yourself, you’ve used your employment as an excuse to save many teams from certain doom.

Just for the reward?

You burn through your rewards in just a few days and then let yourself be tormented by hunger and cold again.

Does this reward really mean that much to you?”

“What do you know?” Pannis stopped, his voice turned cold as he stared at Catherine’s retreating figure, “What have you found out?”

“Apart from the information that can be gathered in town, I know nothing else.

But haven’t you heard that ‘discerning people’s hearts is an innate talent engraved on the souls of nobles from birth’?

After all, I am of noble birth, ha ha ha.

Every move you make and every word you say reveals what’s in your heart.

It seems to be a revenge for the earlier argument on the mushroom, Catherine let out a peal of unrestrained laughter, like the jingling of silver bells, “So, I don’t believe a word of what you just said.

Not a single!

Word!”

Listening to Catherine’s laughter, Pannis’s face grew darker, but he felt someone tugging gently at his clothes.

Looking down, he saw Vivian standing beside him.

“You’re crying.”

“What crying?” Pannis was taken aback.

“You’re crying.” Vivian repeated, and a mysterious smile appeared on her young face that was remarkably mature for her age.

She pointed at Pannis’s chest lightly, blinked at him, then turned and caught up with Catherine.

The mature gesture on her young body made her look oddly incongruous.

Pannis stood stiffly on the spot, watching the three of them gradually disappear into the distance on the glowing carpet of spores.

In the end, all he could do was close his eyes despondently and let out a sigh as if it came from the depths of his soul.