"Why did we have to go out today? This really isn't a good day."
Black Cat stood on a horizontally growing branch of a Soul-Returning Poplar, his large yellow eyes glaring intently down at the foot of the tree. He repeated the question he had asked not long before, his tone distinctly hostile. "And who is she? Why is she here?"
Beneath the Soul-Returning Poplar, besides Black Cat's contractual partner, Colma, stood a masked witch.
She wore a black cloak over trousers and a shirt, with a string of talismans and a thick spellbook hanging from her belt.
Although the masked witch had not shown her face, Zheng Qing could easily tell from her outfit alone that the person standing before him was Ilena—not to mention the familiar fragrance she carried. Less than half an hour had passed since they parted at Feiyuan.
Zheng Qing felt that his earlier bad premonition had come true.
More than a week had passed since he spied on Ilena and Colma's secret meeting during the Magic Ban Festival, and since he followed Colma and discovered her meeting with the Rat Immortal.
During that time, Zheng Qing had quietly observed Ilena, but found that she still attended classes discreetly, skipped classes discreetly, and went on discreet dates with him as usual. She had shown not the slightest sign of wanting his help.
On the contrary, she had even made a special trip to Feiyuan that morning to ask whether he needed any materials she could help gather.
That silly girl.
Black Cat brooded, twitching his whiskers as he considered whether to call off today's somewhat reckless adventure.
Colma already had her answers prepared for Black Cat's questions.
"I've explained this plenty of times. The weather's good today, there are no bugs biting, and there are