Yarra's Adventure Notes-Chapter 135 - 1: The Return of the Girls_1

(263...084...458... Readers’ group chat, feel free to join. PS: Friends passing by, please add to your favorites and recommendations, your support is my biggest motivation. Also, can you all give me some feedback and suggestions? Thank you!)

Indeed, I want to update twice a day, see how hard I’m working.

Birdsong echoed through the dense woods, heralding the arrival of a new day. The morning sun shone down on the canopy of lush, interlocking tree crowns, casting irregular patches of light through leafy gaps onto the forest floor. As the sun ascended, the temperature rose; light mists began wafting from the damp environment.

The undergrowth rustled. A badger, its pelt a mottled gray and white, stuck its head out from the bushes. Its keen nose stayed near the ground, snuffling and sniffing. Its sharp claws occasionally scratched the earth, expertly digging out earthworms and insects for its breakfast.

Unbeknownst to the badger, its predator watched from the tree above, verdant eyes following its every movement with unblinking patience, waiting for the moment it would drop its guard.

As time ticked on, the badger was finally satisfied with its meal. It gave its gray pelt a shake, then turned contentedly towards the bushes from which it had emerged, planning to burrow back into its den for a day’s sleep. Just as it was about to re-enter the bushes, the owner of the green eyes launched silently from the leaves. Like a bolt of black lightning, it swooped from its perch and, in the split second before the badger could react, appeared behind it and plunged its sharp teeth into the badger’s neck. While the badger struggled fiercely in its death throes, it was firmly pinned to the ground by the massive hunter. It couldn’t break free and, mere moments later, lost all its strength, its limbs twitching weakly on the ground and its breath stilled.

The black leopard, sensing its prey had died, released its grip with satisfaction. It licked its bloody paw and then lowered its head in anticipation of its meal. Just as it began to tear through the badger’s fur, it suddenly stopped in confusion. It looked around, pacing impatiently on the spot. After some hesitation, it picked up its kill with its mouth and swiftly climbed the tree trunks. Springing between the branches, it disappeared into the depths of the dense forest.

"Wha...wha...wha..." After a while, the silence of the forest was broken by a man’s frantic running and labored breathing. He burst out of the thin mist, staggered a few steps, then finally halted, panting heavily, his hand resting on a sapling. A breeze blew, rustling the leaves and gently swaying the tree. Feeling the tree tremble, the man let out a terrified cry, as if he had seen something horrifying, he stumbled back several steps, his eyes glued onto the shaking sapling. Only when the tree ceased its tremering, the man let out a long sigh of relief and lowered his guard, scanning the surroundings. He mumbled to himself, "Finally, I’ve reached the edge of the forest. I’ve escaped..."

The man was clad in a basic leather armor, with a quiver tied to his arm, a dagger strapped to his calf, and about fifteen or sixteen small cloth bags hanging from his belt. He had a smattering of miscellaneous tools scattered around his person. His body was splattered with blood and there was a fresh wound on his face. He looked skittish, like he’d just barely escaped death. As he stood in place, he occasionally glanced back anxiously in the direction he had come from.

Just as the man turned back around, a shadow, like a coiled rope, shot out from where the man had fled. It coiled around the man’s waist and, without pause, swiftly dragged him back through the underbrush faster than he had appeared. All that was left was the man’s desperate scream and a chilling, resonating crunching from the shadowy forest.

"The eleventh one, wiped out." A pair of eyes glittered out from a gap in the foliage on a treetop. Due to the shadows cast by the leaves, the shape of the hidden creature was hard to discern. All that could be seen were eyes filled with fierce malice and bright, glistening, terrifyingly sharp teeth. The creature bared its teeth, revealing a malevolent grin, "It’s mine, all of it – none of you can take it. You’re all going to die!"

——————————————————————

"A new day, a fresh start." Pannis, attired in blue-patterned pajamas and a sleeping cap adorned with a tiny pom-pom, stood on the balcony. Arms spread wide, he assumed a pose as if embracing the sky, "New girls, please give me a new experience."

"Take this." A familiar tender voice cut through the dawn. A thick tree branch whistled through the air, heading towards the unsuspecting Pannis. "My paper delivery technique."

"Too naive." Pannis scoffed disdainfully, pinching the spinning tree branch out of the air with two fingers. "Using the same attack method twice on me is useless...Ah..." Before he could finish his sentence, he was struck in the face by another branch, which was swiftly followed by the first one. With a shriek, he fell rigidly onto the mansion’s lawn.

"Hahaha, the monster uncle." Lily’s laughter was as energetic as ever. Her cheerful voice echoed through the morning, "Uncle who falls for it every day."

"You little rascal, I will not let you off." Pannis, his pajamas covered with dried grass and a large red welt on his face, grumbled as he extricated himself from the lawn.

"I’m not scared of you. If you bully me, I’ll tell Sister Catherine." Lily, the newspaper girl who had been playing with Pannis early every morning for some time now, showed no hint of fear. She scowled at Pannis from beyond the fence, stuck out her tongue, and deftly threw the rolled-up newspaper into the mansion’s mailbox. Her laughter trailed behind her as she ran into the distance, "See you tomorrow, monster uncle."

"You little rat! Who says I’ll see you tomorrow." Pannis grumbled as he dusted off his pajamas and hopped back onto the fence. The welt on his face healed at a visible pace, yet he still mumbled discontentedly, "I’ve said it before: I absolutely despise children."

"Take that." Another feminine voice arose from the breaking dawn.

"What, again?" Pannis halfheartedly raised his hand to block, but then a familiar voice resonated in his ears...

"Damn it!" Pannis’ head snapped up, only for his vision to be filled with blinding light, as if a second sun had risen.

"I knew it." Pannis sighed with a resigned expression, his head dropping in defeat. Moments later, he was swallowed by a massive fireball.

"Bull’s-eye, yeah!" Two familiar voices cheerfully cheered together, as two girls, their faces adorning bright smiles, high fived against the rising morning sun.

"These are my new pajamas, you two dimwits." Dissipated from the smoky aftermath of a fireball, Pannis remained atop a fence unscathed. However, everything from his clothes and skin to even his exposed teeth was stained pitch-black, as if he had been living in a charcoal pile for several years.

"Serves you right for peeping on a girl." The long-missed priestess, hands on her hips, stood outside the mansion’s gate and pointed at Pannis. "See, divine retribution, it is the will of the gods."

"Bastard! You definitely encouraged Vivian to blast me with her fireball." Pannis grumbled at the priestess. "Don’t try to trick me, I’ve figured it out.

"Not at all," The priestess innocently blinked her eyes. "Ask Vivian if you don’t believe me. We didn’t do anything, right, Vivian?"

"We’re home?" The mage girl, dressed in her blue working outfit, lifted her bowed head, opened her big confused eyes: "What happened?"

"See, we didn’t really do anything," The mage girl nodded thoughtfully, affirming with her confident voice: "So, you did get punished by the gods."

"Alright, you win." Pannis muttered under his breath. Ignoring the chuckles from the girls, he hopped down from the fence with a sulky face, yes, indeed, a very black sulky face, as he opened the mansion’s main gate for the girls.

"Finally, we’re home." The girls clutching hands passed through the gate and let out joyful cheers from the bottom of their hearts upon stepping into the manor. They turned to Pannis and laughed, "We’re back."

"Glad you’re back safe." Pannis was also infected by their happiness of returning home after a long while, and couldn’t help but crack a smile. Unfortunately, because of his sooted face, his gentle smile appeared comically endearing.

"Hahaha." The girls laughed out loud again as they looked at Pannis. Lina then nudged Pannis, "Look at you, you are so damn dirty, go wash up hahaha."

"Hey hey, whose fault is that!" Pannis complained, before shutting the front door and accompanying the girls inside. "You guys sure picked a convenient time to come home. Did you travel all night?"

"Nope," Vivian shook her head, her two short ponytails fluttering in the air, teasing an urge to tug at them. "We actually arrived last night. But we need to store some things at the Starshine Tower’s lab first. The storage facilities there are better than at home. So last night, we went there directly, and after we secured our items, we did some finishing works. Time flew, and before we knew it, it’s morning."

"Once Catherine finds out, you guys are doomed." Pannis laughed, a wicked glee on his face. Noticing the bulging backpack on Lina, he unleashed a knowing grin, "Looks like you’ve got a substantial haul. So, Lina, did you manage to bring back all your friends?"

Lina, well aware that Pannis had guessed where they’d been, shook her head nonchalantly, "Not all of them. We need to go in batches."

"You didn’t tell sister, did you?" Vivian abruptly grabbed Pannis’s charcoal sleeve, her eyes filled with earnest expectation. "Tell me you didn’t."

"Do you think that’s possible?" Pannis retorted, "I might not tell her before you left, but I had to once you were gone."

"Ugh, we’re done for." A look of despair filled Vivian’s face, her pitiful expression eliciting sympathy.

"I don’t understand why didn’t you just tell Catherine upfront." Pannis shook his head, sighing, "Now you will have to explain it to her yourselves. I can’t help you."

"Woo, Lina, let’s run away!" Vivian, begging for compassion, looked at Lina, "Just thinking about it feels like a nightmare."

"I’d love to." A twitch appeared at the corner of Lina’s mouth as she replied in a hoarse voice, "But, isn’t it slightly too late to run away now?"

In front of the trio, the mansion’s door slowly creaked open. Catherine stood inside the doorway, still clad in her chainmail. With an unreadable smile, she silently watched Lina and Vivian return.