The Handbook for Completing Demi-Human Girls

Chapter 184: Interlude

In the following few days, the environment in the Klein Mountains wasn't quiet. The reason, of course, lay in that cute Whale-kin's training progress being quite a bit faster than Xi Yate and Fisher had imagined.

It was also unknown what the hell Xi Yate actually said to Jasmine during training that day. Afterwards, when Fisher went to ask her, her gaze was always evasive, frantically implying to herself that she didn't say anything over the line, and that everything was exactly to allow Jasmine to better grasp the knack of combat training.

What she said was like this, but when Fisher looked at her suspiciously, she would always use the excuse of having things to do in other places and run away, just not answering.

Either she went to handle the food for dinner, or she went to wash her clothes and hunting tools. If it wasn't for Jasmine's condition having nothing wrong with it, Fisher truly would have suspected whether she had done some bad deed.

However, the training during this period of time still had results. At least it was much more effective than when Fisher trained Jasmine.

Ever since the day she struck out a massive water pillar in the river, she seemingly had already grasped the knack of fighting. Whether going hunting or conducting practical combat training with Fisher, she would no longer enter the previous cursed state, and moreover, she was still in the state of a human-shaped steam engine going all out.

But at the same time, this also made Fisher rather curious. Was it Jasmine who was comparatively special to possess such astonishing strength, or were all Whale-kin extremely formidable?

Fisher inquired with Jasmine a bit. The result was that she also hemmed and hawed, unable to answer.

After all, the daily life of ordinary Whale-kin basically consisted entirely of shrinking in the ocean trench, either sleeping or slacking off waiting for other marine demi-humans to throw fish down for them to eat. They had never truly made a move to compete, or rather, when they did make a move she also didn't see it. Therefore, she was also not too clear on what exactly her own situation was like.

She merely knew her mother was extremely formidable. Not only did Lord Ramastia like her very much, but the rest of the Whale-kin also extremely respected her; all of them obeyed her mother's words.At the same time, Jasmine's mother had once told her that the volume of the curse within her body was extremely massive, so her Attendant Sea Beast was also several times larger than other Whale-kin.

Fisher guessed this ought to be considered Jasmine's special aspect, right? So now it could roughly be inferred that this Jasmine before his eyes was exactly the "mysterious Son of the Sea" appearing in the World-Ending Prophecy of the Demi-Human Completion Handbook.

However, mentioning world-ending huh...

It was exactly evening time. In the camp built by Fisher in the Klein Mountains, Fisher sat in front of the bonfire, looking at Jasmine carrying fatty meat beside him and eating it with relish. Her personality was innocent and pure, differing quite a bit from Raphaela's fiery personality. Regarding humans, she also bore no deep hatred; after all, even until now, humans hadn't truly discovered marine demi-humans yet...

"Waaah, these past few days have been truly awesome. As expected, staying in the wild is still much better ah. Staying in that battered house is simply too stuffy; for Centaurs who love running, it's simply too unfriendly."

The concomitant Xi Yate also bent her horse hooves and sat down, incidentally stretching her body and relaxing.

These past few days she had truly done Fisher a massive favor. If it hadn't been for her, solely relying on Fisher it truly wouldn't have been too possible to teach Jasmine to progress so rapidly. And it wasn't just Jasmine; Fisher observing from the side was also able to learn quite a few techniques and concepts useful for combat.

Fisher also didn't put on any airs. If he had questions, he asked Xi Yate. Waiting after she finished answering, Fisher then went back to practice Eliog's combat methods himself. After a few days, Fisher had truly learned to use quite a few of the combat techniques Eliog left behind.

Thinking to this point, Fisher looked at the adjacent Xi Yate who raised her head to look at the starry sky with a somewhat complex expression, and thereupon opened his mouth to say.

"Human society is not friendly towards demi-humans, at least for now this is the case. Even if you come to the West Continent you also cannot change anything. Trusting the New Party is even more of a mistake..."

Upon hearing this, Xi Yate puffed up her cheeks somewhat helplessly, using her pinky fist to hammer Fisher a bit. Waiting until he looked at her with a calm expression, Xi Yate rather tsundere-ly "hmph"ed.

"Can you not so easily negate my hard work, alright? I made a very massive resolution to decide to travel ten thousand miles all the way over from the Southern Continent, eh..."

Fisher smiled mutely, and threw another piece of firewood into the fire in front of him. Watching the flames inside burn even more vigorously, only then did he continue to say.

"My apologies, my fault... I am merely offering advice. If you are not accustomed to staying here, you can contact me at any time. I will think of a way to let you return to the Southern Continent."

A smile was exposed on Xi Yate's face. She was just about to turn her head and look at Fisher, when the result was just as she turned around, she saw that Jasmine hugging meat and gnawing. Although she was gnawing meat, her gaze had always been placed on her body.

Recalling the might of her punching out a ten-something-meter high water pillar previously, Xi Yate hesitated and decided it was better not to make any dangerous moves.

She was afraid that Jasmine would misinterpret smiles and banter toward Fisher like this as ambiguity between her and Fisher, and then maybe at night she would sneak to the front of where she was sleeping, do her in, and throw her into the river, right?

Heavens above, this is also too frightening!

Thinking like this, Xi Yate incidentally coughed softly, interrupting her original behavior of wanting to tease Fisher.

However, actually Jasmine didn't think that way at all. She was merely a bit curious about the conversation between them, which was why she turned her head to look at Xi Yate.

After all, Jasmine was not Her Highness Princess Elizabeth, oh. No, that's not right, seemingly recently even Elizabeth had improved quite a bit from that terrifying personality from before, right?

"Well, be that as it may, what can I do by returning to the Southern Continent now? There are still quite a few humans there. Unlike here, their hands are tangibly grasping firearms and cannons. Although my tribe can hide for a moment now, ultimately they cannot hide for a lifetime. Even if there is only a tiny bit of hope, I still want to give it a try."

Speaking to the very end, a bit of a desolate smile surfaced on Xi Yate's face. Reflected by the firelight of the bonfire, faint shadows gradually appeared one after another.

"Like this..."

Regarding this brave Miss Centaur, Fisher had actually always respected her.

As a female demi-human, she was brave enough to drift across the ocean alone to come to the unfamiliar West Continent to dedicate a little meager effort of hers for her population, or rather for the entire demi-human demographic. This couldn't not make one feel admiration.

Therefore at this exact moment, Fisher's little bit of advice was exactly directed at how she hadn't obtained a result according with her courage, nothing more; thereby generating a bit of sighing, lament, and sympathy as a result.

"There's no need to sigh. Thinking about it this way, if I didn't come to the West Continent, wouldn't I not be able to meet you and Jasmine? Moreover, not only could I meet you guys, I was also able to help quite a bit. This already makes me very satisfied..."

Xi Yate laughed optimistically. Reaching out her hand, she took a portion of roasted meat over the bonfire and took a delightful bite. Afterwards, she extremely satisfiedly raised her head and exhaled a breath of hot air. That meat had just been taken down from the fire; to her, it was a bit hot.

"So hot, so hot, so hot..."

She opened her small mouth, waving her hand and frantically blowing air towards her mouth, attempting to use this method to extinguish the scorching heat in her mouth.

Fisher was amused by her appearance and handed a cup of water to her. He estimated it was seeing Jasmine eat the meat just after taking it down that made her also follow and give it a try. However, the constitutions between demi-humans and demi-humans were different, not to mention Jasmine was also a bold foodie.

The reason he wanted to speak these things with Xi Yate just now was exactly because tomorrow was the time for the charity gala. Early tomorrow morning they would take a carriage and leave here to go inside Saint-Nazareth city to make a little bit of preparation. Therefore, tonight could also be considered the last bit of tranquility before the storm.

However, seeing that Xi Yate was still considered optimistic, Fisher didn't speak further. If there was a chance later on, helping her out a bit wouldn't be bad either.

"Alright, I'm full! Preparing to go back and sleep, good night ah..."

After eating her fill, Xi Yate then rubbed her eyes, got up and walked toward the direction of her tent, incidentally waving her hand at Fisher and the others signaling good night.

When this kind of Centaur demi-human slept, they slept lying down. Although they said their lower half was a horse, actually there was still a very massive difference.

First of all, their body size was quite a bit smaller than ordinary horses. Secondly, the structure of the horse hooves was a bit different; otherwise, they couldn't support the running actions of their human bodies.

However, Fisher's understanding of horses was not as good as Tlander's, so the specifics couldn't be clearly explained either.

When Xi Yate usually slept, she either stood and squinted for a bit, or slept lying on her side like now. Now, exactly just as she finished speaking she had already lain inside the small tent Fisher additionally built for her previously, leaving the space outside to the two people, Jasmine and Fisher.

Fisher also stopped continuing to add firewood, and so he gathered a bit of the debris scattered beside the bonfire, incidentally asking Jasmine.

"Tomorrow we will leave the Klein Mountains, and incidentally will also conclude the combat training. Jasmine, are you confident about combat?"

"Mhm!"

These few days going down, Jasmine's state could already be said to have reached "minor success in divine arts." Fighting the various kinds of wild beasts in the mountains was not an issue. When conducting practical combat with Fisher, even while holding back he could also feel she was full of vigor. It was just a fear that there would be some mistakes once truly entering the battlefield, nothing more.

"I will work hard properly. H-However, Fisher..."

As she was speaking those high-spirited words, she surprisingly abruptly paused a bit. Lowering the volume of her voice a bit, she turned her head to look at Fisher.

"I-If this were an ordinary classroom, a student whose grades are excellent should have a little reward, right... Ah, a-also, it's not that I want a reward, it-it's just, anyway... doing this will also be helpful for combat..."

Mhm, helpful for combat?

Fisher looked at Jasmine, momentarily not comprehending the meaning within her words.

It was exactly just that her body constantly carried a kind of clear fragrance exactly like a flower blooming in the water while she turned sideways, and exactly like her beautiful appearance, inducing people to commit crimes.

Then, what on earth was the reward she wanted?

"C-Can I hug Fisher a bit?"

Fisher's eyes blinked repeatedly. He looked at that Jasmine raising a request cautiously beside him. Her probing gaze exactly like a small animal's always carried cowering; it always possessed an urge inducing people to commit crimes.

But speaking honestly, this might be a reward to Jasmine, yet to Fisher it was solid torture ah.

When the weather is precisely dry and things are prone to catching fire, you still insist on lighting lamps and setting fires?

But differing from Raphaela's situation, Fisher could clearly feel the current Jasmine was actually not ready, and Fisher also didn't plan to go against her wishes.

Within Fisher's dark gaze, Jasmine's cute face was reflected in it by the firelight. Perhaps thinking for too long, Jasmine's complexion slightly changed, and she began to suspect whether she had been too over the line. Thus, she rather forcefully smiled and waved her hand, shaking her head and saying.

"If... If you don't want to it doesn't matter either... I... was also merely just saying it... haha."

Sighing, Fisher still decided to wrong himself a bit further. Consequently, he spread his arms open toward Jasmine, simultaneously saying.

"Come."

Hearing Fisher's words, Jasmine's expression immediately changed from sad to shy. But pausing for a second, she still slowly reached out her hands, gently placing them on Fisher's body, and afterwards little by little hugged the Fisher in front of her.

In an instant, that wisp of faint fragrance and softness arrived immediately. That intense impact made Fisher's muscles stiffen quite a bit slightly. Waiting after she completely hugged him, that gentleman's breathing also became slightly rapid.

The bonfire nearby instantly turned as scorching hot as a volcano. The sound of the wind in the woods at night was exactly like a horn cheering her on and boosting morale, bewitching Fisher to eat this alluring little fish completely.

"Fisher..."

Yet in his embrace, that Whale-kin girl who gently and restrainedly leaned her small face against his chest surprisingly suddenly spoke. The vibration of her throat continuously transmitted into Fisher's body, making the area of contact go slightly numb, and also temporarily interrupting the attacking desire currently extending continuously within Fisher's inner heart.

"What's wrong?"

His voice was somewhat hoarse, but it could still be considered clear.

"I... I have always wanted to say thank you once to Fisher..."

"..."

Fisher opened his mouth. Raising his head to look at the gradually cooling bonfire beside them alongside the trees that had quieted down in the surroundings, pausing for a moment, only then did Jasmine in his embrace continue to open her mouth and say.

"Actually... actually it was me who took the initiative to propose wanting to go look for Aunt. The ocean trench will soon be in the Fullness Period. Waiting until Mother comes out to look for Aunt would already be a very long time later. Only because I am worried about Aunt's safety did I take the initiative to come ashore to deliver a letter. Mom and the other clansmen are actually all very worried about me, and also don't believe I can accomplish it... or rather, even I myself feel I cannot do it well."

"But fortunately, there was Fisher, Isabel, and Milika's help... Thank you Fisher for constantly trusting me and helping me. I... I also don't know how I should express my gratitude to you... I j-just feel my heart has kept beating very fast. I really want to stay by your side, really want to hear your praise..."

Speaking to this point, feeling Fisher's aura in his embrace, Jasmine seemed exactly like she had drunk wine, displaying a little bit of dazed drunkenness, precisely exactly like staying in Fisher's embrace made her dizzy with success, making her spout out such crazy talk.

"It is exactly similar to the plot in Milika's novels, yet there are also many differences. I also don't understand how I should speak... How I should describe what kind of feeling I have toward Fisher. Therefore, I had no choice but to first say once... once thank you, hehe..."

Her gaze was that pure, exactly like this simple existence called Fisher was singularly contained within an expanse of azure ocean. The feeling of purity and sincerity entered Fisher's body along the place they touched. The Demi-Human Completion Handbook on his chest grew faintly hot, yet his desires conversely receded because of this.

His dark gaze gradually faded, and his heartbeat also sped up slightly.

Speaking of which, on this journey of seeking the world-enders, originally he had always felt this would definitely be a tale of difficult battles against the world-enders. But looking at it now, it seemed those endured pains and setbacks could all melt away silently within these most sincere emotions belonging to their inner hearts.

Unclear and indescribable, for a moment Fisher also couldn't distinguish what on earth destiny was like, or what it was like...

It was just that at this exact moment, he gently hugged back Jasmine in his embrace, having her press her face onto his chest once more. Likewise, merely expressing the feelings within his own inner heart right now, he said exactly this.

"I also ought to thank you as well..."

The words temporarily stopped here. The flames faintly swayed, concealing the silhouette of the two people embracing each other.

The surroundings were silent and still. Only in the tent not far away, Xi Yate sneakily covered her mouth, lying on her side in place acting as a melon-eating spectator, feeling so contented.