"What was Russell saying? Was he having an episode? Hehehehehe, the little rats in the burrows just love yapping nonsense, hehehehehe..."
The whispering in his ears was no longer coming from the unicorn.
It was Red-eyed Rat King Jerry, that silly fool.
Russell silently noted down Jerry's insults, but he had no time to scold him right now.
He still had to continue "matching wits and courage" with the unicorn, hoping to force her to reveal herself so they could communicate face-to-face.
Of course.
If this attempt failed, there would be another. With the unicorn's miraculous abilities, ordinary people probably could not catch her at all.
So he had plenty of time to communicate with the unicorn this way and eventually tame her.
"Stop hiding, Unicorn. I really can see you. You're over there right now, halfway up a snow cedar tree." Russell had already used his fourth Hail Bead, with only one left in his pocket. If this still failed, he would have to give up.
In his field of vision, the unicorn outlined by magical light stopped flying around and remained still for a moment.
Then the strange whisper sounded in his ears again. "Human, you really can see me! And it seems like you can hear what I'm thinking, but sometimes you seem not to know what I'm thinking. This is incredible. Do you really want to touch my horn?"
"Of course, of course. I want to touch your horn, and I won't hurt you. Please believe me." Russell spoke quickly. "Look, I have Kevin and Jerry, two Phantom Beasts, beside me. They're both my good companions."
"Squeak!"
"Woof!"
Though they had no idea who Russell was talking to, the Gold-Silver Wolfdog and the Red-eyed Rat King immediately responded. Naturally, they were Russell's good companions.
The strange