Chapter 107: The Malfunctioning Puppet

“Ah? You’re talking about this?”

It seemed that the puppet girl, who had just been lost in thought due to some recent conversation, snapped back to reality. She glanced at the unfinished snake-shaped wooden sculpture on the table, picked it up, and casually fiddled with it, not suspecting anything.

“Actually, it’s nothing much. A while ago, a bunch of lunatics from the Puppeteer Forest suddenly invited me to collaborate with them, blah blah blah—without even mentioning what specifically we’d be collaborating on. Plus, the Puppeteer Clan has been avoiding outsiders for a long time and doesn’t meddle in worldly affairs. So how could I break protocol just because of a few words? I immediately rejected their leader.”

“But those guys were a real nuisance; even though I turned them down, they still hung around the forest all day, trying to persuade the clan members they encountered. It led to many of my sisters coming to complain. Eventually, I had no choice but to threaten their leader that if they didn’t scram, I’d physically drive them out. That’s when those outsiders finally left the forest.”

“Although their brains seem a bit off, that guy had a pretty exquisite tattoo on his hand. I happened to see it once and thought it was interesting, so I figured since I had some free time, I might as well carve a new piece based on it. I hadn’t done a snake-shaped wooden sculpture before anyway. I didn’t expect… it would be so troublesome.”

“Outsiders, huh…”

It seemed that, just as I had anticipated, the group, suspected to be led by a summoning alchemist, had indeed set their sights on the low-profile but powerful Puppeteer Clan. However, compared to the mountain wolves, their recruitment and persuasion attempts had hit a wall here. It was likely due to the Puppeteer Clan’s strength or some other reason that made them unable to lash out in anger at the rejection and simply leave disgruntled.

But why did the Puppeteer Clan, led by Iriush, respond with such a stark contrast to the mountain wolves without hesitation in turning down the outsiders?

No, realistically speaking, the Puppeteer Clan’s decision made more sense. The bizarre behavior was on the other side’s end.

From what Savor described, it seemed those guys weren’t merely using words to entice. Magical beasts aren’t fools; it would be quite unusual for a leader who’s managed a territory for decades to unhesitatingly abandon their clan and home to follow them after just a few days of persuasion.

Some special ability, perhaps? Something similar to charm speech… or other more insidious types?

If that’s the case, then pushing this line of thought further, it’s highly probable that this ability doesn’t work on the Puppeteer Clan. Could it be because their nature is essentially that of dolls…?

Noticing the Priestess’s thoughtful expression, Iriush quickly caught on.

“What’s this, do you know those guys?”

Oh? Should I say that’s the sharpness expected of someone who can become the clan leader? She may appear lazy, but she’s quite perceptive.

There wouldn’t be much point in lying here. Although Iriush is a bit strange, she still left a good impression on Miss Vilyric. Given her connections to the Puppeteer Clan and Iwen, she shouldn’t be an enemy, so I’ll just be honest.

“Well, I wouldn’t say I know them, but it’s like this…”

After spending a bit of time, the Priestess briefed Iriush on escorting the little wolf cub, Noviya, to the Moonshadow Clan’s territory and the events that unfolded when they passed through the mountain wolf territory.

Of course, some inconvenient details were certainly glossed over, such as the incident involving Snow Wing slaying that giant snake, since even the other party members, aside from Xiao Guang, weren’t fully aware of the specifics.

“Is that so? Oh, speaking of which, those guys did indeed come riding mountain wolves. I thought this was just a popular trend lately…”

“Is that so? In that case, all the information matches up. When did those guys leave?”

“Not too long ago, maybe about half a month back? They left in quite a hurry. I don’t know if they were in a rush for something. Originally, I was worried they’d pull some tricks, but it seems they didn’t.”

Half a month ago, huh…

It doesn’t seem like a long time, but that was likely before Miss Vilyric and her group arrived at Demon Town. So, that means that the guy who presumably called himself Sylvester had already left the United Kingdom and entered the Mountains of Ten Thousand Demons to initiate activities. No wonder he hadn’t shown up during the later incidents.

“The other party…”

The Priestess was about to continue speaking when suddenly, an urgent chime of wind bells sounded outside.

“Jingle jingle! Jingle jingle!”

Upon hearing this sound, Miss Vilyric and the others seemed a bit lost but, looking at Iriush’s expression, it appeared something urgent was happening.

What an uncanny coincidence.

As I walked out the door, the clan leader was yelling at a cute girl in a short skirt with fair skin.

“Iriush? Did she fall down from somewhere again?! Or is the core malfunctioning because she stayed up all night researching? I’ve told her countless times to take care not to overload the operation!”

“No, no, Iriush, she wasn’t experimenting with flight wings. It seems she’s been maintaining the core well, but something is definitely off; is the mental core nearing its lifespan?”

The girl who had been shaking the wind bells spoke carefully. She was undoubtedly a member of the Puppeteer Clan; although she didn’t resemble Iwen or Iriush as closely, she still bore a resemblance with her waist-length smooth hair. She looked to be around fifteen or sixteen years old.

At this moment, standing next to Iriush, she looked like her little sister.

“That’s nonsense! We’ve only been alive for over two hundred years; how could the mental core’s lifespan be that short? Whatever… this isn’t the time to discuss that. Where is she acting up this time? Take me to see!”

“What’s going on?”

Having overheard a bit, Miss Vilyric finally interrupted as it seemed they were preparing to leave.

Although she appeared a bit impatient, Iriush, clearly a woman of grace, didn’t overreact in front of her guests. She turned around and explained as briefly as possible.

“One of our clan members seems to be having some problems with their body, so I need to rush over and handle it quickly. I’m afraid I won’t have time to entertain you all, my apologies… If you’ve only come to deliver a message for elder sister on your way, then you can just follow the northern path through the forest to exit quickly. If there’s anything else, please wait until I return to discuss it.”

Seeing the urgency, the Priestess didn’t press further but tentatively asked.

“Is it alright if we come along? I might as well consider myself a priest, and I’m somewhat confident in healing. Since it’s a body issue, I might be able to help.”

“A priest? But we Puppeteer Clan…”

Miss Iriush tilted her head as if wanting to say something but then seemed to think it would be too much trouble to explain, so she abruptly dropped the topic due to the rush.

“Fine, since you’re a friend of Iwen’s and we have the Moonshadow Clan here, you can follow along. But if anything happens, please don’t take it upon yourselves to do anything reckless; our puppets’ body structure is quite different from ordinary beings.”

Having said that, the clan leader didn’t have time to deal with the other girls. She turned and shot a glare at the curious puppeteer girl, who was busy examining the strange outsider with her twinkling black eyes.

“Quit dawdling, let’s go already. Do you want Iriush to break down in the forest?”

“Uh! Alright, alright, Iriush!”

   

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