Cultists and the Black Cat

Lunch on June 14th consisted of coffee, canned peas, and canned peas.

Hope couldn't finish eating; seeing the yellowish-green beans, Hope appetite began to wane.

He abandoned his plan to take a nap once again and left the room at noon, taking advantage of the Uncertainty.

Wearing a black raincoat that reached below her knees, Hope headed to the library...

"Hey, Love!"

Hope was patted on the shoulder on the way to the library before she even reached it.

He turned around and saw Dr. Morgan with his hand affectionately on his shoulder.

Hope shuddered, and in his surprise, he almost wanted to hide his head inside his raincoat and abandon half of his pants to use "Uncertainty" to escape.

He held back and politely nodded to Dr. Morgan.

Hope was about 1.8 meters tall, but Dr. Morgan was even taller, with black hair, blue eyes, and a warm smile on his face.

They don't look like they're here to arrest someone.

"I felt it was you even from a distance," Dr. Morgan said to himself. "Upon closer inspection, it really was you."

"Your eyes can practically see the fine new feathers growing on the bird."

Hope translated an idiom... In his memory, this idiom didn't mean having good eyesight, but Dr. Morgan couldn't understand it anyway.

Dr. Morgan paused for a moment, then said, "You sound just like my high school Chinese teacher."

"It's my pleasure."

Dr. Morgan shrugged. "I've tried it. Honey water isn't as effective as Star Hemp, but it does work, and it's more common and cheaper. You're right."

So fast...

Dr. Morgan continued, "Those students placed bets on you, and that very night someone asked me if I had done any experiments to verify it."

"So you want to get rid of them quickly?" Hope asked, "So you want to finish the experiment quickly?"

"No." Dr. Morgan shook his head. "So I guessed they might have made a big bet, and I reported them to the disciplinary committee. They were all summoned for questioning."

The cheating horse is still alive, and the organizers didn't recognize the nitrogen accelerator. It's a pity the spectators were arrested for gambling, Hope thought.

"What a... shame," Hope said.

"It's not too bad, though. The disciplinary committee found that some of these students were actually possessing banned books and were linked to a cult," Dr. Morgan casually remarked.

"The disciplinary committee is currently interrogating him about the whereabouts of the other members. He probably won't be sleeping for the next few days; the disciplinary committee is very skilled at interrogation. Of course, even if he tells everything, his fate certainly won't be good..."

"Oh, sorry, you don't look too good. Don't you like hearing about this? I always have this habit of talking to people about hunting cult members. I became very interested in this after I got my PhD, and I even killed one myself..."

"You look worse. Sorry, I won't say anything more. Professor Armitage wants me to change this habit, but I just can't help it. They always avoid talking about it, but I feel like it's something to brag about... Hmph, I don't think I even know your full name. Maybe I've heard of your family..."

Why aren't you saying anything? Don't you want to talk? It's okay, it's okay, I don't really want to know... Do you need me to take you to the hospital?

Hope touched her forehead and shook her head. "No, no need. I was just in the sun for too long."

Dr. Morgan led him to the shade of a large tree, where the leaves helped block the sunlight.

"Are you feeling better now?" Dr. Morgan asked with concern.

"I'm feeling better," Hope replied.

The two of them looked up at the same time and heard a cat meow.

It came from the tree.

Hope couldn't see clearly, so she asked Dr. Morgan, "Is that black spot a cat?"

Dr. Morgan nodded. "Yes, a black cat... but it seems to be stuck."

"It's stuck... That's quite embarrassing for a cat," Hope commented.

"It's quite embarrassing," Dr. Morgan agreed.

The cat continued meowing, its cries growing louder and more urgent, probably because it had seen the two people under the tree and wanted to ask for help.

Cats in human settlements, especially school cats, even stray cats, are not afraid of people. On the contrary, they are friendly and will approach people when they meet them, knowing that people are kind to them.

"Wait a moment," Dr. Morgan said. "I'll go and get him."

Hope thought he would at least find a ladder, but Dr. Morgan didn't. He grabbed the tree trunk with surprising agility, and for a moment Hope hallucinated that he was an ape.

Even with Hope's eyesight, he didn't even see Dr. Morgan's movements clearly before Dr. Morgan was already on the treetop.

Dr. Morgan was so focused on the cat that he didn't have time to look this way, Hope thought.

Hope looked around. There were hardly any people on campus during the summer break. He only needed to use the tree trunks to cover himself and didn't even need to give up his raincoat to leave.

But is it really necessary to do this...?

Because of the influence of that mysterious curse, Hope, based on her remaining memories, naturally believed herself to be a member of the cult and felt some fear towards Dr. Morgan.

Even so, Dr. Morgan's friendliness made him hesitate about whether he needed to escape.

... As of now, everything is safe.

Hope settled down.

Dr. Morgan had reached the black cat. The black cat was in a special position; the branches there were thin enough to support a cat, but not Dr. Morgan, so he was trying to shake the branches.

It worked perfectly; the black cat broke free of the branch and jumped down.

He jumped down...

Hope couldn't see clearly, but the dark thing on the tree suddenly fell down; he felt it was probably three or four meters high.

He lunged forward, his agility making for a good move, but his poor eyesight caused him to misjudge the situation, and he failed to catch the falling black cat, falling to the ground before the cat could catch him.

Then the black cat landed on his face, and after a soft, furry rub, Hope felt the cat stand up on his face.

Hope saw that the black cat had a white ear.

Meow!

The black cat was startled and quickly left, stepping on Hope's face.

Dr. Morgan jumped down from the tree and squatted down in front of Hope: "Do you know that at this height, the cat simply won't get hurt?"

"Obviously, I don't know," Hope said, lying on the floor.

"Now you know?"

"Now I know," Hope said, aptly expressing his astonishment at Morgan's agility—the kind of astonishment one would have upon seeing a humanoid ape.

"I've never seen anyone climb trees better than you, really, they're all too slow compared to you."

"Thank you for the compliment. I never imagined I was so good at climbing trees."

Dr. Morgan said, "Hi, Hope, I've been thinking about it, and I feel that someone like you deserves higher education. Would you be willing to accept funding?"

"Support? What kind of support?"

"I can personally pay for your schooling."

It sounds like she's being kept; that's what those aristocratic gentlemen say to country girls.

If Dr. Morgan were a beautiful woman, I might consider it...

"No, thank you," Hope replied.

"Would you like to think about it again...?"

"No, thank you, you're a good person," Hope replied.