The Cat and the Mouse

When the furious pursuers reached the cave entrance, Nobu was already gone. In his place stood a white-haired youth.

Silver moonlight fell upon him, lending him an air of sacred, untouchable detachment. His calm, unruffled presence alone was enough to make the five people chasing Nobu stop in their tracks.

Noah smiled as he regarded the five with interest. Their gear and clothing made it easy to tell where they came from.

The Dark Magic Cult.

He ran into them every time he traveled. These people were like a bad penny.

"Who are you? Where did that tribal native go?" The leader of the cult's squad gathered dark magic in his hand and threatened Noah without hesitation.

Noah yawned, completely unfazed by the squad leader's threat, and leisurely held up three fingers.

"First, my name is Nexus."

"Second, my companion really is a member of a tribe in the mountains, but you shouldn't call him a 'native.'"

"Third, I hope you'll honestly explain why you were impersonating Vulcan."

As soon as he finished speaking, Noah vanished.

The leader of the Dark Magic Cult squad felt an immense force spread through his body from his stomach. It was like being hit head-on by a car. He doubled over in agony, dropped to his knees, and vomited.

"Good grief, you're not very tough, are you? I only hit you once, and you're already down."

Noah stood beside the squad leader, his voice relaxed.

The squad leader's face was contorted with pain. He was suffering so badly he was nearly unconscious.

Only then did the other four come to their senses. In the blink of an eye, their boss had been knocked to his knees with a single move by that white-haired youth. What kind of strength was that?

"There are four of us. We outnumber him, so we've got the advantage!"

"Let's take him on, brothers!"

Those classic cannon fodder lines immediately bolstered their courage. They advanced on Noah, scowling as they unleashed their magic.

"Ah!" "Oh!" "Urgh!" "Eek!"

After four screams, Noah stared at the four unconscious men, completely at a loss for words. One slap apiece had been enough to knock some sense into them. So who on earth had given them the courage to talk like that?

Noah didn't dwell on it. He called Nobu over from where he was hiding outside the cave and had him tie up the four men, while he dragged the squad leader out of the cave himself.

Noah grabbed a handful of snow and, with a mischievous grin, stuffed it into the squad leader's robes. The icy shock made the man shudder.

Watching from the side, Nobu couldn't help exclaiming at the cruelty of it. Stuffing snow inside someone's clothes was a horrifying form of torture!

"Now, tell me. Why did you disguise yourselves as Vulcan and drive them to Mount Hakobe?"

Though the squad leader shivered, his face was set in a defiant expression, as though he were ready to die. "Hmph, Nexus! Don't think I'll beg you for mercy or expose the Dark Magic Cult behind me!"

"And don't think I'll tell you that we drove Vulcan here to capture the 'Snow Beast'!"

"Nor will you get me to tell you that the cult wants to use the 'Snow Beast' to make an extreme magic potion and perform a 'blood sacrifice' to retaliate against Lupinus City for being connected to Black Bird!"

"Hmph! No matter what you do to me, I won't say another word!"

But you've already told us everything... The squad leader's string of confessions left Noah and Nobu, who had overheard it all, speechless.

You'd think from his defiant, death-before-surrender expression that he'd hold out to the end, but he'd managed to keep up the act while confessing everything.

To sum it up, Noah concluded that shameless people were invincible.

So, because the Black Bird Consortium had been destroyed, they wanted to take revenge on the city it was based in through a cruel "blood sacrifice"? A dangerous glint flashed in Noah's eyes.

From the squad leader's words, Noah could tell they hadn't captured the "Snow Beast" yet. Otherwise, they wouldn't still need to control Vulcan.

According to rumors, the "Snow Beast" was a special kind of magical beast. It had a gentle disposition and had never been known to hurt anyone. It was a pure herbivore that fed on Winter Snow Grass.

Since Winter Snow Grass could greatly restore stamina and magic power, there was a rumor that the "Snow Beast," which fed on it, might have evolved powerful healing abilities and possessed tremendous magic power.

It was hard to tell whether the rumors were true. After all, no one had ever seen the Snow Beast with their own eyes. But the Dark Magic Cult clearly believed in the Snow Beast's rumored abilities.

[Ding~ You have completed the request. Please remember to collect your reward.]

The notification that rang in his mind reminded Noah that Nobu was still up on the mountain. He was injured, and Mount Hakobe was much too cold for him to stay there any longer.

After persuading Nobu to leave, Noah turned to the squad leader, who was gazing up at him eagerly.

Anyone who joined the Dark Magic Cult was a rotten person, and even the members of this five-man squad had surely spilled plenty of blood. Otherwise, the cult wouldn't have sent them on a mission.

Noah didn't mind playing the part of a cleaner.

He snapped his fingers lightly.

Explosion Marks infused with the five elements—wind, lightning, water, fire, and earth—instantly lit up on each of the five cultists. The squad leader's eyes widened as he stared at Noah in disbelief, but in the end, he didn't manage to say a word.

The wind and snow were fierce. Before long, they swept away the blood on the ground and concealed the youth's tracks.

High in a snow-laden tree, a cute little cat that looked like a snow leopard shook the snow from its ears. It excitedly spoke to the pure-white hamster in its arms, which was busy chewing grass.

"Snowy! That person was amazing!"

"Squeak (Yeah)."

"He beat the bad guys. We don't have to keep hiding anymore!"

"Squeak (Yeah)."

"Then let's go be friends with him!"

"Squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak!!"

Ignoring its only friend's protests, the snow-leopard-like cat picked up the hamster in its mouth. A pair of wings spread from its back, and it glided silently down through the wind and snow.

The next day.

Amid the villagers' enthusiastic farewells, Noah and Nobu rode home in the herbalist's carriage, carrying all the local specialties the villagers had given them.

Nobu had split the reward with Noah the night before.

Noah hadn't told the village chief that the Dark Magic Cult was behind everything. He planned to write Laharl a letter using his "Nexus" alias once he got back, and he was sure Laharl would take care of it.

After the battle the previous night, Nobu hadn't gotten much rest, so he fell asleep in the carriage.

Nobu had only suffered superficial injuries. An ointment made from Winter Snow Grass would heal them completely in less than three days. It was a pity that this magical herb was scarce; otherwise, it could replace half the work of a healing mage.

As Noah pondered this, he suddenly felt as if something inside the bundles the villagers had given them was moving.

Curious, he searched through them and found a bundle of dried meat. He immediately reached out and opened it.

Inside was a snow-leopard-like cat, fast asleep, with a white hamster clutched tightly in its arms. The cat had a half-eaten piece of dried meat beside its mouth.

When the hamster saw Noah had noticed it, it immediately closed its eyes and went limp across the cat like a flattened mouse, pretending to be dead.

Noah smiled. An Exceed cat and a magical mouse—what an interesting pair.