novelraw Chapter 314: 89 The Sheep-kin of the Northern Border
Chapter 314: 89 The Sheep-kin of the Northern Border
"Mr. Fisher, this way please, I have already prepared your reward for you."
Sitting in the wheelchair, Valentina pushed the joystick with her delicate hands, moving slowly toward the depths of the corridor. As she went, she even looked back giving a meaningful glance at Fisher behind her, leaving him somewhat baffled.
His requested reward from that night indeed had to do with demi-humans, but he didn't know why, seeing her smiling profile as she turned her head just now, Fisher still felt something was a bit off.
In reality, Fisher's desire to research demi-humans was entirely for the sake of his subsequent battle with Erwind and had no other meaning. If Lady Valentina had misunderstood his intent and prepared an inappropriate demi-human or one he had already researched, that would be bad. So after much consideration, Fisher still decided to ask for confirmation,
"Lady Valentina, before going to receive the reward, I would still like to confirm again, what is the species of the demi-human for this research? If it is a demi-human I have already researched before, then it would be meaningless."
Valentina's forward pace slowed a bit. She raised her finger to touch her chin, tilted her head to think for a moment, and asked Fisher in return,
"Then what demi-humans has Fisher researched so far?"
"Not that many... Including the demi-humans unique to the Southern Continent and West Continent, it's roughly around ten species. Among the demi-humans of the Northern Border, it's only the Moon Rabbit-kin, Cloud Cat-kin, and Cangniao-kin."
"That many?"
Valentina turned around with an odd expression, looking the handsome Fisher up and down. It wasn't clear if she had misunderstood Fisher's so-called 'research' into something strange, or if she still viewed his 'research' in the same light as when he researched Phyllis previously."Is that considered a lot?"
"I suppose so... I haven't met any other scholars interested in demi-humans either. Although the Turan family is very friendly with most demi-humans, treating the races and traits of these friendly neighbors as subjects of systematic research is a first. However, that doesn't mean we don't understand them. There are many books related to demi-humans at home. If you want, I can have my family bring them over later."
"That would be wonderful."
Fisher didn't stand on ceremony and nodded directly in agreement.
Eimhart had previously mentioned being very interested in the Turan family's secret collection of books, so naturally, an opportunity to read those books couldn't be easily given up.
Valentina nodded and led Fisher toward the upper deck. Ever since Fisher boarded the ship, because the weather outside was simply too cold, he had absolutely no intention of going up to the deck, unlike when he was on the Iceberg Queen Ship where he spent the vast majority of his time below deck.
"Are we going up to the deck?"
"Mn, the demi-human you wanted was brought onto the ship along with the supplies when we departed. She didn't come down below deck, and the next time we port she will disembark, so you had best make the most of your time."
Valentina assumed Fisher was inquiring about the demi-human, so she gave him a brief explanation. Fisher, however, shook his head. He glanced at the snow falling like goose feathers outside the window, then looked at the insufficiently warm clothes she was wearing, and said to her,
"No, I meant, isn't Lady Valentina dressed too thinly? It's probably going to be very cold outside."
Valentina's hand pushing the wheelchair trembled for a moment. At this moment, they had just stepped into the elevator together, so she no longer needed to manually push the joystick on the wheelchair. She immediately, subconsciously, began rubbing the ring on her finger,
"...Heidelin is waiting up there. She will prepare clothes for me."
"I see."
Fisher's reaction was plainer than Valentina had expected, lacking any follow-up words, causing Valentina to swallow all the words she had prepared to say next, prompting her to involuntary cast a sidelong glance at Fisher beside her.
Inside the elevator, aside from the 'ka-ka' sound of running gears, there were no other sounds of conversation. Fisher looked down at Eimhart, who was resting his eyes and sleeping in his arms. Before long, the elevator arrived on the deck. The snow-covered deck had a walkable path cleared by the crew, but the moment the elevator opened, that piercing cold wind still slammed in violently, causing the white hair beside Valentina's cheeks to flutter, while a clump of wind and snow happened to hit her squarely in the face.
"Cough, cough!"
"Eldest Miss, are you alright? The wind at sea is very strong today, I forgot to warn you earlier."
Sure enough, Heidelin, wearing cold-resistant clothing, had been waiting outside for a long time. But by the time she stepped in, Valentina was reaching her hand out to wipe her face. The wind that blew in just now, mixed with snow, had surged into her mouth, causing her to break out into coughs.
Heidelin hurriedly draped clothes over her, yet she continued to cough incessantly, not recovering until tears could no longer be held back and welled up in her eyes. Fisher had been somewhat prepared for her physical frailty beforehand, but he didn't expect her degree of sickness to be even more severe than he imagined. As the heavy winter clothes were draped over her, she actually bent her waist a little as if unable to bear their weight.
The crystalline tears on her face outlined her slightly reddened eye rims, making her look endearingly cute as if she'd been bullied to tears. But even so, she maintained a calm expression. Her face completely flushed, she glared at Fisher beside her who had been observing her the whole time. She seemed somewhat displeased by his impolite staring, especially since he witnessed the entire foolish act of her choking on the wind and snow, making her feel quite embarrassed and angry.
"Are you alright, Lady Valentina?"
Fisher politely averted his eyes. His words didn't dissolve her embarrassment and annoyance; rather, they almost made her start coughing again. But nobody knew what exactly she thought of; she merely coughed softly a few times, then avoided the important and focused on the trivial, casting a look toward Heidelin beside her and saying,
"I'm fine... Let's go, take Mr. Fisher to see the demi-human he wanted."
"No problem. Mr. Fisher, this way please."
Hmm?
Why did it feel like there was some trickery here?
Seeing the tacit understanding between master and servant where everything was understood without words, Fisher didn't raise his guard. Instead, he grew increasingly curious about what kind of demi-human Valentina had prepared for him.
Following Heidelin, he walked toward the rear of the deck, passing a few crew members who were taking inventory of cargo and greeting Valentina. They soon arrived at a fairly spacious room. This room wasn't sealed, so the freezing wind outside continually seeped in. Only upon entering did he realize it held various food items meant for preservation.
The weather in the Northern Border was very cold, and the temperature on the deck was much lower than inside the cabins, which led to the habit of storing food on the deck. This was the Narwhal's food warehouse. The moment Fisher walked in, he was suddenly met with a tremendous back covered entirely in white fur.
Before Fisher could take a closer look, the towering figure suddenly turned around, revealing a robust and powerful physique that instantly froze Fisher in place.
Inside the room stood a tall female whose entire body, except for her face, was covered in thick, soft white fur, gazing down at Fisher from above. Her facial features were rather rugged, resembling an iron wall carved by the cold winds of the Northern Border. Her dark skin radiated a sense of power and wild beauty that did not conform to human aesthetics.
Looking up further, Fisher noticed a pair of large, curved, and hard horns atop the demi-human female's head, distinctively similar to those of a goat. He didn't see a tail behind her, only muscles hidden beneath the thick white fur...
Fisher opened his mouth, unable to immediately distinguish whether the demi-human before him was male or female. If it weren't for the Demi-Human Completion Handbook starting to heat up again, he would have definitely thought this demi-human was a burly man through and through.
"Eldest Miss, you're here."
The figure suddenly spoke. The rich female voice made Fisher breathe a sigh of relief, though he still hadn't quite recovered his senses.
"Mn, let me introduce you. This is Parfait, a Sheep-kin from Mya, an employee transporting goods for the Turan family. This is Mr. Fisher, the scholar I mentioned before who is very interested in demi-humans."
"Oh, hello Mr. Fisher, I will do whatever you ask me to do today."
Behind him, Heidelin had already covered her mouth, speechless with laughter. Her curved brows and eyes were full of mirth, evidently having long known what kind of demi-human Valentina had prepared for Fisher, or rather, it was highly likely she was the one who provided Valentina with this scheme.
And despite how hard the speaking Valentina tried to appear calm, the amusement in her voice couldn't be concealed no matter what. Especially looking at Fisher's back, and recalling the embarrassing moment in the elevator earlier, she felt even more like laughing.
But Fisher had no time to pay attention to Valentina's teasing from behind. He merely swept his gaze over the 'colossal demi-human' before him, who was at least two meters tall, and for a moment found himself at a loss for words.
Wait, you call this a Sheep-kin?
In disbelief, Fisher rapidly recalled all the knowledge in his mind regarding the Sheep-kin. Especially since he and Raphaela had personally seen the appearance of Sheep-kin in the Southern Continent back then, there was no way he could connect the creature before him with those delicate Sheep-kin monopolized by Schwari.
Moreover, didn't the Demi-Human Completion Handbook state that the Sheep-kin's tag was 'Cotton Candy'? This was practically limestone!
In the next second, he urgently opened the illusory interface of the Demi-Human Completion Handbook in his mind. As lines of text appeared, they simultaneously shattered Fisher's final illusion.
[Sheep-kin]
[Please select research individual, available individual count 0/1]
[Parfait, Adult Northern Border Sheep-kin]
The person before him was actually a female Sheep-kin?!
Valentina quickly concealed her smile, pushing her wheelchair up to Fisher with slightly less teasing intent, and began to explain,
"The Northern Border's Sheep-kin are vastly different from the newly discovered Sheep-kin of the Southern Continent. So when the Schwari nobles first started buying and selling Sheep-kin, I was very surprised, thinking those guys' tastes had changed, only to find out later that wasn't the case."
"The Northern Border's Sheep-kin have lived for generations in the Sema Mountains. You know how harsh the environment of the Sema Mountains is. In ancient times, humans weren't even qualified to seek an audience with the Frostwood Sycamore Tree, because most humans would lose their lives before even reaching the tree's base. For demi-humans to survive there, it is as it should be that they possess abilities beyond ordinary creatures."
Indeed, Fisher had noticed just now how incredibly strong this Northern Border Sheep-kin in front of him was. Although her comprehensive strength didn't reach the Sixth Rank of the Lion-kin Phyllis, it was more than enough to be at the Fifth Rank, which was beyond the limit of human physical strength...
Parfait, standing before him, rubbed the back of her head somewhat bashfully. Her goat-like curved horns had a lot of snow caught in them, and there was probably even more on her fur.
Valentina looked at Fisher, who had been speechless for a long time, shook her head, and told him,
"Then Mr. Fisher can conduct his research here. Once you're finished, just return below deck. Parfait will disembark by herself later... It's very cold outside, so I will head back first to escape the cold."
Unexpectedly, Fisher had already calmly nodded. Then his eyes locked onto the Sheep-kin, Parfait, and he agreed without hesitation,
"Alright, then I can begin my research. Before we start, there are a few things I hope to make clear to Miss Parfait. The subsequent research will not only be physical. Everything you know, anything about the Northern Border Sheep-kin, you can tell me. I am very interested."
"Ah... um, no problem."
Parfait's face flushed for a moment, appearing somewhat shy, but she still nodded. The Valentina behind them, however, shot Fisher a surprised look.
The reason for choosing Parfait was, of course, because her figure was far from what ordinary gentlemen liked. So Valentina didn't even stay beside Fisher to watch him research like she did with Phyllis last time. Yet hearing Fisher's decisive and calm voice now, she suddenly had a rather ominous guess.
What if this gentleman was the kind of strange man who accepted all kinds of demi-human ladies without refusal?
Valentina rubbed the ring on her hand. Before Heidelin could push her wheelchair away, she suddenly spoke up again,
"Forget it. I'm actually very interested in Mr. Fisher's research process as well. I'll just stay here and watch Mr. Fisher research. After it's done, we can go down together."
Fisher gave a fake smile, turning back to Valentina, and spoke with 'concern',
"Lady Valentina, it's too cold outside, and my research process will take a long time. It wouldn't be good if you caught a cold like before. You should head back first, I won't do anything strange."
"That's right, Eldest Miss, you really should head back first. It's quite cold outside, what if..."
Hearing Fisher's words, Valentina's action of rubbing the ring turned into a tight grip. Heidelin beside her was about to speak up to support him, so Valentina shot her a glance that shut her up. She then simply sat there, deciding she was too lazy to move, resolved to witness Fisher's research process.
"No need, my constitution isn't quite that fragile yet. Hurry up and start, let me see what the work of a demi-human scholar involves."
Fisher breathed out, not seeming at all surprised by Valentina's decision to stay. He merely nodded as if unable to overcome the Eldest Miss's wishes, and looked at the hired worker Parfait, who couldn't get a word in edgewise.
"Since it is disrespectful to decline, I will obey, Lady Valentina."