The archer still sat there, leaning against the railing, his legs swinging gently, his eyes fixed on the figure in the distance.
The setting sun had now turned orange-red, slanting through the forest, drawing faint outlines on the stranger's dark cloak. In that light, the cat ears appeared more clearly, twitching slightly with each step as if still on guard against something unknown.
The archer squinted, tilting his head like a young bird discovering a new toy:
"How interesting... It's not true that having cat ears makes people lose their guard."
"The Miao tribe... surviving in the wilderness is not by luck."
He took a deep breath, and the fragrant smell of soup from the house behind was still there.
Flauros, who was walking slowly in the middle of the lake, stopped. A feeling crept in, very light but sharp like a wind blade cutting across the back of his neck.
There were no footsteps, no heavy breathing, but a strange gaze, a strange heartbeat was revolving around him.
He turned around abruptly, his sharp gaze sweeping through the treetops in the interwoven light and dark. A light wind whistled through the branches, a few leaves falling as if trying to hide their tracks.
'Is someone watching...?'
Not a spirit beast. Not a monster. But a human. Someone who knew how to hide.
But the forest here was so tall, each layer of foliage intersecting like a living maze. Flauros could feel the direction of the gaze, but could not penetrate the layers of shadow to determine exactly.
"Could it be... the forest has changed?"
Or had someone lived here before?
Up above, the archer chuckled, secretly admiring the other person's precise reaction despite the great distance.
"Good reflexes. Not just a rare species."
"Should I go say hello?"
The archer gently placed the binoculars on the table and, with his other hand, carefully lifted the well-maintained ebony bow and a bundle of arrows. Not out of defense, but out of habit, like carrying a part of himself into the forest.
"Well then… say hello."
"Who knows, maybe I'll make a friend who knows how to cook something delicious."
With the agility of someone born in the forest, he jumped from the balcony onto a nearby branch, then slid lightly across the familiar wooden forks as if they were old steps.
The light rustling of the leaves did not startle the birds in the branches. He knew how to keep quiet, but he did not try to hide his presence.
No spying. No suspicion. Just a curious young man who wanted to make friends.
As soon as his feet touched the ground, he walked along the path that wound around the ancient tree trunk, heading towards the lake where the cat-eared man had just stood.
The setting sun now only cast a few last streaks of light, and in that scene, the image of a boy with moss green hair and golden eyes like a dim fire in the middle of the forest.
Flauros, who had now left the sight of the tree house, was about to continue his journey when he heard the sound of undisguised footsteps echoing among the fallen leaves.
He turned around again.
A young figure was walking towards him, not in a hurry, his face bright as if meeting an acquaintance, holding a bow but not drawing it, his eyes sparkling with goodwill.
"Hello!"
He spoke first, his smile as bright as the early spring sun.
"I didn't expect someone else to be here. I'm Kael. Are you lost?"
Flauros paused, not answering immediately.
His eyes were like a sharp knife, scanning every detail: the hand holding the bow, the posture, the distance between the two of them, the wind direction, and the retreat behind.
A seemingly friendly gesture, but for someone who had lived so long in chaos, it was a play that could hide anything under a mask.
He did not reply in a hurry, nor did he show any fear. He just watched quietly, as if reading a text written in sign language.
Kael, standing less than twenty paces away, still smiled. He did not move forward, nor did he extend his hand out of instinctive caution.
Kael's golden eyes were still as bright as the late afternoon sun, even when facing Flauros's knife-sharp gaze.
A moment later, when Flauros was sure he could sense no malice and had seen the archer lower his bow to the ground, he replied, his voice hoarse and distant:
"Not lost."
"Do you have a habit of observing others from a distance?"
The question did not carry any accusations, but it was not easy to consider friendly either.
Flauros had never been the type to open up easily, especially when faced with a stranger in the middle of the forest that could be a paradise or a hidden trap.
Kael scratched his head, looking a little confused:
"Ah… sorry. I saw you had cat ears, so… um, a little surprised."
"I didn't mean to spy. I was just… curious. Really."
The wind blew gently, fluttering Flauros's cloak. He looked at Kael with an emotionless gaze, quiet and cold.
"Flauros."
The name was thrown like a stone, without any courtesy.
He turned around, the cat ears hidden under the hood twitched slightly as if by reflex. The figure continued walking, without hesitation, without caring. There was only the sound of shoes hitting the rotten leaves, and the afternoon light shining on his back like cuts of light.
Kael blinked.
He wasn't angry, nor disappointed. He still kept his usual innocent expression, jogging behind Flauros as if he were afraid of missing a rare stranger.
"Hey! I didn't mean any harm, my house is nearby, and it's cozy. There's also freshly made soup… It's delicious!"
"It's getting dark, you'll be in trouble if you keep wandering around in the woods—"
Flauros didn't stop. He didn't bother to reply. He didn't need soup. He didn't need a house. He didn't need an invitation either.
What he needed was to get out of here before nightfall.
"You're too noisy."
The words came out, dry as crushed stone. Kael chuckled lightly, scratching his head:
"Okay, okay… but at least let me accompany you for a while? It's not very reassuring to let someone wander around the metallic forest at night…"
Flauros didn't answer, but he didn't stop him either.
And so, his journey out of the great forest had a persistent tail.
Kael walked beside him like a chirping sparrow the whole way, asking this and that, his mouth never stopping:
"I've lived in this area since I was little, my grandfather raised me, and he passed away… But back then, he said there was a sacred well in this forest… Oh no, people called it the Lake of the Jade Eye, if you look down in the middle of the night, you'll see… oh, guess what you see?"
Flauros didn't guess. He didn't answer either.
His half-closed, half-open eyes glanced over, just enough to confirm:
'This guy hasn't stopped talking.'
Kael still innocently muttered:
"But I'm not sure if it's true, the stories you told are a bit of a lie… Oh! Do you know the area with the blue glowing tree? Southwest of the forest, I accidentally fell asleep there once and woke up with a start because…"
Flauros walked steadily, the cat ears under his hat twitching slightly, not out of surprise, but out of boredom.
In his mind, Kael's words were just a jumble of noise, he filtered out all the useless things like a midday dream, only keeping a few fragments of information that might be needed.
Although most of the things Kael told him he knew from years ago when he first came here.
Kael thought Flauros was listening intently, so he talked even more:
"I remember that day, there was a spirit beast… I don't remember the name! But it ran past me, it was huge, its tail was as long as—"
"Shut up."
Flauros interrupted. Brief. Cold.
Kael was stunned, standing still for a moment as if he had been lightly slapped by words. Then... he smiled and scratched his head:
"Oh, I forgot... I talked too much."
"But it's weird to walk together without saying anything, right?"
Flauros didn't answer.
He just continued walking, silent as a ghost, letting Kael's innocent footsteps follow him like the out-of-tune drumbeat of a forest about to sink into night.
The sky was starting to turn indigo, the sunset fading away the last streaks of red. Cold, damp air swirled up from deep underground, carrying the characteristic breath of the forest at night, the smell of moss, tree sap, and the mixed sounds of insects gradually overshadowing the footsteps.
Flauros stopped. His ears under his helmet twitched slightly.
The sun had set. The safe time... was over.
He turned his head, silently watching Kael, who was still busy telling something about the cold soup he forgot to bring down to the pot.
No need to ponder for long. Flauros let out a cold breath like smoke:
"Troublesome."
From the air, magic scripts flashed. A silver-black circle appeared under his feet, rotating like a clock.
Bowing slightly like a dancer starting the first movement, Flauros glided off the ground without a sound.
Kael only realized it after a strange rustling sound, turning around:
"Hey!? You can fly?!!"
"Wait! Why didn't you tell me you flew?! Where are you going?!"
Flauros didn't reply. He had no responsibility to bring this talkative person along, especially when his mana was depleting every second.
Flight magic wasn't something he wanted to use often, it consumed mana continuously to maintain, not to mention it was easily detected from afar by magic traces. But here? In the vast forest amidst countless chaotic spirit beasts about to awaken?
One step too late and you'll be dead in a million years.
And he wasn't planning on dying today.
Below, Kael could only tilt his head back to watch the figure slowly fade away, the magical light sparkling through the treetops like a meteor streak.
He muttered:
"...Not going to see you off?"
Then he laughed, not angry.
"Alright... Goodbye, my nameless cat friend, cold as ice but flying as cool as a movie."
Kael picked up his quiver, turned his head, and whistled a light tune, seemingly not considering it a refusal.
Kael was happily swaying away when he suddenly stopped. It was as if an invisible squirrel had just run across his mind, followed by a series of thoughts pouring out like a flood.
"...Wait."
His eyes widened, and he turned to look at the place where Flauros had just taken off from the ground. There was still a trace of magic power that had not yet dissipated on the grassy ground, a thin silver streak that flickered like a thread of moonlight, something only a true wizard could leave behind.
"He can fly."
"He's a wizard…"
Kael's face paled as if he had just remembered something very important. He raised his hands to cover his head:
"WITCH! I… just talked to a wizard for half an hour?!"
"Wait a minute – a royal wizard?! Or an unregistered wizard?! Or worse, a wanted wizard?!"
The cold night wind whistled through the tall branches, like a gentle but extremely creepy reminder.
"Fuck… if he's a banned wizard and I didn't report him… will I be executed??"
Kael began pacing, still holding his head as if to keep his skull from exploding from overthinking. He turned over his memories of studying law at the age of sixteen:
"Clause 5, Section 12, Forbidden Forest Security Law: "Residents are obliged to immediately report the use of high-level magic not registered with the local wizarding management system, even if the caster's identity is unknown."…"
He choked up:
"GOD, I didn't ask his name, didn't ask where he lived, didn't know his status, didn't know his rank, didn't know which academy issued the license – does that mean I could be considered a 'cover-up'?!"
Kael buried his face in his hands, as if he had just plunged his life into a legal quagmire:
"Oh my god… I just made friends with a death sentence."
He stood still for a few seconds. Then he raised his head and looked up at the starry sky.
"But he doesn't seem that bad, does he? Just a little cold…"
A beat of silence.
"But he's a wizarddddd!!!"
He screamed and no one answered, except for the distant cry of an owl as if it were sympathizing: "stupid… stupid…"