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Stray - Chapter 166

Published at 27th of June 2022 06:52:21 AM


Chapter 166

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Oliver subconsciously touched his pocket and almost dropped the sandwich in his arms. He quickly caught it and, in the process, bump his fingers against something hard.

It was the bad-tempered aristocratic warrior in their group.

Leonard was standing in front of him and made a scrunched-up face, as if he had seen something terrible. A layer of cold sweat suddenly appeared on Oliver’s forehead. Fortunately, he didn’t use much strength when he was catching the sandwiches, otherwise he would have accidently knocked this man back and it would’ve been hard to explain afterwards.

“Sorry,” he apologized sincerely.

It seemed that the skills of the school hospital were quite good. Leonard didn’t seem weak or tired. He just stood coldly, holding a piece of parchment paper in his hand.

“You are in the way,” Leonard rolled his eyes and spoke unceremoniously.

Oliver hugged the sandwiches tightly, confirmed his position, then had a terrible guess. “…You want to bet on Tumbleweed?”

He was so shocked that he even forgot to move out of the way.

“It has nothing to do with you. Get out of the way, deserter.” His tone sounded provocative. Leonard raised his voice angrily and was about to reach out to push Oliver.

Noticing the small conflict, Elmer quickly put down his plate and strode over.

“What’s the matter?” he deliberately asked very loudly. Leonard glanced at Elmer, and his expression quickly eased. He seemed to have a good impression of this brave young man.

“I want to bet, but this guy won’t leave.” Leonard pointed to Oliver casually. “This is your roommate, right? What’s wrong with him?”

“Misunderstanding.” Oliver spoke extremely fast. He moved a few steps quickly to make room for Leonard. “No offense, but I also plan to bet on Tumbleweed.”

Elmer looked at Oliver speechlessly. His face was saying, “You didn’t even know what this was just a minute ago”, but he thoughtfully didn’t expose the other party.

“Oh.” Leonard threw the parchment strip in the copper box, showing a sneer. “Then you must have studied them a lot. What was their second task?”

“Looking for Melody Delaney. The Bluebirds incident in Vincent Town,” Oliver replied without even thinking.

The faces of the other two showed varying degrees of surprise, but Leonard concealed it better. The noble warrior had hoped to expose the other party’s lies and have him make a fool of himself, but this country boy seemed to know more than he appeared.

“Here’s the wheel. How long will it take for the disk to produce results?” Oliver struck while the iron was hot.

“After the results of the next mission are officially registered, you can bet on anything during that period. Not just missions, major events, or team reshuffles, or whatever… Are you going to bet on it, Oliver? This isn’t a joke. If you bet wrong, you’ll lose your money.”

“Nn.” Oliver rubbed the sandwich in his arm. He glanced at Elmer and had an idea in his mind. “I know. I’m just casually looking today. I happen to know about them a bit.”

Elmer looked relieved.

“I thought you were really going to bet with him.” After returning to the dorms in the evening, Elmer looked worried. “Leonard… Oh, in fact he’s not bad. He’s just a bit grumpy so don’t take it personally.”

“I know,” Oliver put the sandwich at the head of the bed and replied in a calm tone. “And I have no money either.”

“…” Elmer decided to remain silent about this answer.

There was a soft and weak knock on the door. The two looked at each other before Oliver got up and opened the door first.

Nemo moved in pale. He nodded in Elmer’s direction, then hugged Oliver and even buried his nose in the crook of Oliver’s neck and inhaled deeply.

Oliver was a little confused, but he still stretched out his hand and patted Nemo lightly on the back.

“I’m going out for a walk.” Seeing that something was wrong with Nemo’s state, Elmer took the lead.

“What’s the matter?” Oliver gave his roommate a grateful look, and then stroked his lover’s back soothingly.

“I have good news and bad news. Which one do you listen to first?” After another deep breath from Oliver’s neck, Nemo finally raised his head.

“Good news.” Oliver didn’t hesitate for a moment.

“The good news is that my escapade was significant, and I did find a lot—”

Oliver looked at Nemo encouragingly.

“—Of bad news.” Nemo’s expression sank. “Now I can tell you the bad news, right?”

“……”

An hour later.

“You’ve gotten a lot bolder,” Jesse Dylan sighed while still gnawing on a piece of dried meat in his mouth. “Daring to contact me with visuals inside Clementine Academy. Let me see— This background… Are you in some kind of closet? Oh, this posture is very nice.”

“And you’re in the Great Isamel Labyrinth.” Nemo ignored Jesse’s nonsense. He moved his legs with difficulty while Oliver, who was squeezed beside him, took a deep breath. “The communication crystal can’t connect to multiple lines so we can only do this.”

“Yeah. I can’t always hide myself.” Ann’s voice came from the communication crystal. “In case they are found out, these two boys can still find an excuse and say they’re making out. It’s fine if it’s just me alone.”

“Fine, fine.” Jesse chewed on a piece of jerky. “Why are we having this team meeting? Adri. Adri— Come here quickly.”

They had a limited budget and only bought the cheapest image crystal. The small crystal ball was about the size of an egg. The knight commander seemed reluctant, but he leaned over. However, as soon as Adrian’s face appeared in Nemo’s field of vision, Jesse turned sideways and kissed his cheek very naturally.

The former Knight of Judgment looked numb. He stretched out his hand and calmly wiped the saliva from his face. “Something happened?”

Oliver almost forgot that he was in a closet. He shivered causing the entire closet to shake badly and blew up a bunch of dust.

“Ah… Oh.” Nemo’s expression became complicated. He coughed lightly. “Ollie, come on.”

“In short, Telaranea’s inside the academy and it suspects Tumbleweed.” Oliver finally regained his relatively calm expression. “Now for various reasons, it plans to make Nemo into its assistant. Nemo has already modified its memories, so the risk of exposure is too high to do it a second time. We plan to use the labyrinth reset this weekend to pretend to be trapped and hide in it for a while. Where are you currently in the maze?”

“The center.” Jesse scratched his face. “It’s going to be late.”

“…” Ollie didn’t know what to say. If he hadn’t known it was impossible, he would have suspected that these two people had parachuted directly from above the maze. The captain of Tumbleweed looked at his lover with a subtle expression and found that there was no surprise on Nemo’s face.

“But this does not prevent you from coming in,” Jesse continued. “There’s a one-way teleportation array in the center of the maze, which can be used to teleport directly back to Clementine Cathedral, which is very convenient for escaping. The strength of the creatures here is a quite interesting. Thanks to them, the surveillance here is much smaller, so it’s also very suitable for leisurely camping.”

The blond young man stopped talking for a moment, and his smile grew meaningful. “With the strength of you two alone, it’s not a problem to come to the center. Do you need me to set up a private room for two? As for our dear Miss Savage—”

“I have my own way. Just act as you wish.” Ann’s suspicious voice came from the communication crystal. “What happened to the sound just now? What did that bastard Dylan do again?”

“That bastard Dylan is still listening.” Jesse’s voice immediately became aggrieved. “You’re so hurtful.”

“Anyway, it’s settled.” Oliver took a hard breath, almost choking on the dust as he coughed. “We’ll contact you after entering the maze on the weekend. It’s better to act together now.”

“Oh. The two-person world of me and Adri—”

Oliver cut off the image connection blankly. He pursed his mouth and looked at Nemo solemnly.

“I think I’m ready. Tell me, Nemo… What the hell is Jesse Dylan?” According to Ann, the Great Isamel Labyrinth was one of the most dangerous places on the surface. After successfully getting out of hot water from the Pope, he reached the center of the labyrinth is less than half a day. Jesse Dylan had completely escaped from the category of strong in a normal sense. This gave Oliver a very unpleasant suspicion. “He shouldn’t also be created by you—”

“No, no, no,” Nemo hastily denied, trying to maintain his dignity. “It’s just… Uh, are you sure you want to know now?”

“Yes.”

Nemo took a breath, put his lips to the other’s ear, and gently whispered.

Oliver’s face instantly became livid, and then quickly turned pale. He stopped breathing until he almost fainted. Oliver finally turned to face Nemo again…

“…Is it too late for me to resign as captain of the team now?”

The atmosphere around the other leader wasn’t relaxed either.

Godwin Lopez flipped through a mountain of information. Countless light screens were suspended in the room with text and pictures slowly floating on it.

He had investigated Oliver Ramon’s affairs before accepting the commission, and this time the client was a professor at Clementine Royal Military Academy. Clementine Academy had always been interested in the Black Chapters and regarded them as excellent research objects. It wasn’t unusual for Clementine’s professors to be attracted by a certain Black Chapter team. What’s more, the other party provided a very favorable clue, and Godwin thought the task wouldn’t be difficult.

But Oliver Ramon suddenly changed from a dull-headed mudskipper to a slippery viper— His power suddenly became weird, all his traces disappeared extremely smoothly, and he learned about Horizon’s movements, which was something he shouldn’t have known about in the first place.

Until now, Godwin still hadn’t been able to obtain any valid information. He monitored all the small places where Tumbleweed might be hiding and planted eyes in larger and medium-sized cities. Unfortunately, he only harvested a lot of specious and useless information. He could only provide the employer with a sufficiently detailed background check. He even didn’t deliberately hide the fact that Oliver Ramon was most likely Flint Lopez’s son.

But this couldn’t hide the fact that Horizon investigative operations were weak.

Did he underestimate his cousin?

Godwin raised his head, rolled his shoulders and neck, and his expression became more serious. When dealing with the Caleb’s witch incident, although Ramon’s performance was unorthodox, he himself wasn’t particularly vigilant. Now, he had to add that name to Horizon’s most vigilant enemies.

“Commander,” the deputy leader of Horizon, Victor, pushed open the door. “Miss Light led the team to complete a task and plans to return in the near future.”

“Send her a new one and hold her back,” Godwin replied in a flat voice. “Debbie is a good girl and I don’t want her to face this.”

“Understood.” Victor nodded. “There is another thing. His Royal Highness, Eldric invites you to be his guests.”

“No.” Godwin pressed his temples. “Help me turn it down.”

“But after all, he is your nominal…”

“Her Royal Highness Annabelle’s daughter is only sixteen years old.” Godwin’s voice became cold. “Even if he made the marriage contract in advance, I would never see her before she becomes an adult. Just tell Eldric Alastair that.”

“I understand, commander.” Victor shrugged. “Do you have a message for Delia? After all, she is your fiancée.”

“Tell her not to worry about me. It doesn’t matter if she falls in love with someone else and its fine to have a lover publicly.” Godwin closed his eyes. “I think we all know the true value of where this engagement lies.”

“There is also the question mentioned last time.” The tall warrior reminded with a volume that didn’t match his figure. “Her Royal Highness Delia wants to go to Clementine Academy to study. Although Her Royal Highness Eldric is her uncle, according to the regulations, she still needs your permission.”

“No.” Godwin rubbed his forehead harder. “At least not now. If I guess correctly, there will be a lot of chaos there soon…”

Godwin frowned. He pulled out two sheets from the mountain of parchment rolls. His brows tightened.

Clementine Academy. He had never considered this place before. Strict admission control and high tuition fees helped him subconsciously reject this possibility no matter what, but if he started with a certain point, there was indeed something doubtful…

The assassin who had just escaped from the Withered Castle was the well-known “Sancho’s Gray Fox” in the underground world. He was killed lightly, and a huge reward was taken away anonymously. There was no obvious capital flow to Tumbleweed’s team account, so he previously ignored it as irrelevant information, but the money didn’t enter the public account of a Black Chapter at all, so it didn’t make sense.

If he started from this perspective, was the Gray Fox really dead? Only bloody clothes and weapons were handed over, but there was no limbs or heads. This was indeed in line with the regulations, as long as the Gray Fox no longer appears, then “dead” was established as fact.

Yes. It was also from the underground world that could detect the actions of Horizon. The Gray Fox may have reached some kind of agreement with Tumbleweed and provided them with funding and intelligence. Although it wasn’t clear what reward Tumbleweed could provide the Gray Fox, this was indeed a logically association.

Assuming that Tumbleweed had this huge amount of money, if he was the leader of Tumbleweed, how would he hide?

“Add a request for me.” Godwin clenched the parchment in his hand. “I need permission from the Alastair family— Permission to enter Clementine Royal Military Academy to investigate.”

The author has something to say:

Nemo: The mental impact is too great. Take a breath Ollie (?)

——————

The previous image of this cousin’s mind was a mudskipper Ollie. When your brother finds out about your first encounter, then you’ll really be a mudskipper*!

*Clarity: Referring to their first childhood encounter when Oliver climbed out of a mud pit and was literally covered in mud.

The noble warrior brother is secretly Tumbleweed’s fan√ Destined to be mentally shocked (……)




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