Cats

The moment the hidden door opened, sunlight slanted into the passage.

The backlit figure made Qin Ran, standing in the underground passage, narrow his eyes.

"Nikelei?"

Although he could see her face clearly, Qin Ran still wasn't sure.

After all, he had thought Nikelei was out of the city.

"Of course it's me!"

"You suspicious little thing. Come on up!"

"Or do you need more proof?"

"The first book you read in my Archive was Characteristics of Nightwalkers. Then you picked up Distribution of Man-Eating Monsters..."

Seeing that Qin Ran remained unmoved, the old woman had no choice but to recount things only the two of them could know.

"Will that do?"

After listing the order in which Qin Ran had read the books, the old woman asked him again.

"Yes."

Qin Ran nodded and climbed the ladder.

He wasn't surprised that the old woman knew the order in which he had read them.

After all, the Ghost Butler had been beside him the entire time.

And with the old woman's abilities, it would have been all too easy for her to "see" what he was doing.

Wait!

See?

A thought struck Qin Ran, and he froze for an instant.

But he did not slow his climb. In a few quick movements, he hauled himself up to the surface.

The old woman, holding a cat, stepped aside to make room for Qin Ran to lay Simons down.

"Let me look at Simons..."

"He's hurt, but not fatally. It's the same every time."

"What a poor, lucky fellow!"

The old woman examined the still half-conscious Simons carefully, shaking her head with a sigh. Then her gaze shifted to Qin Ran.

Or, more precisely, behind him.

Someone's behind me!

An accomplice of Wilk's!

Qin Ran understood at once.

Instead of turning to