The Handbook for Completing Demi-Human Girls

Chapter 354: Traces of the Witch Research Society

After finishing applying the medicine to Valentiina, Fisher didn't rush to set off immediately. After all, there were still two wounded individuals here right now. He decided to delay here for a night and wait until Filis's condition stabilized before leaving. That night, Valentiina lay beside Fisher, staring blankly while chewing on roasted meat. It wasn't until Fisher asked her that she finally told Fisher she was wondering what the legendary Phoenix actually looked like.

This was also no wonder. In the mythology of the Northern Border people, the Frost Phoenix possessed no human form. She was a benevolent deity with the appearance of a mythical beast, named "Nephiramui". Even from the Six Tribes, whose relationship with the Phoenix Race was the closest, Fisher hadn't obtained any evidence regarding the image of the Phoenix. The means by which they referred to the Phoenix was "Wutong Tree".

"That's for sure. I already reminded you a long time ago. Do not use the status of ordinary demi-human species to compare with the Phoenix Race of the Northern Border. From ancient times to the present, their status has been extremely high within the hearts of the living beings of the Northern Border. Even the most excellent painters of the Northern Border were deeply afraid that their brushstrokes would defile the exalted Phoenixes, thus they never dared to trace out their exalted images..."

At night, Eimhart, lying in Fisher's embrace, heard Valentiina's question next to him, sat up, and spoke to Fisher as such.

"Tracing it back to its roots, the Phoenix Race was merely a high-ranked demi-human species residing deep within the snowy mountains, not even a Mythical Species... Also unlike the Dragon-kin, who actively participated in the history of the Southern Continent and were consequently remembered. They clearly only left the Wutong Tree once before returning, so why have they been remembered up to the present day by all the races, including the Six Tribes?"

Valentiina listened blankly to Eimhart's words. Despite there being quite a few unfamiliar nouns leaving his mouth, she didn't interrupt, merely listening quietly and preparing to ask later. As for Filis, she had already fallen asleep.

"That's because the power of Mythical Species is truly too unimaginably terrifying. To the Northern Border, where life ranks were generally low, the invasion of Chaos-kin was undoubtedly inducing utter despair. It was undeniably a miracle that the non-mythical Phoenixes could repel the Chaos-kin. During the era when all things in the Northern Border withered in despair, it was the Phoenixes who bestowed upon them the dawn of survival. Such immense grace was unforgettable across their generations, thus etching their exaltedness into their bloodlines to be passed down through the generations..."

"However, sometimes you guys simply deified them far too much. This resulted in the fact that ever since they disappeared, no one even knew what they looked like. As for the ancient texts I've read... those who were too powerful couldn't be bothered to record it, those whose ranks were too low didn't dare to record it, and there were also those who simply didn't know at all. Hence, this is why the image of the Phoenix Race gradually became blurry right now... But aren't you guys heading to the Wutong Tree? That is the homeland of the Phoenixes, so there definitely must be clues. You might even be able to see a living Phoenix. I'm also quite curious about it."

Valentiina blankly asked a few more questions regarding Mythical Species, Chaos-kin, and so on. Eimhart couldn't be bothered to entertain her anymore and lay back down in Fisher's embrace to sleep. Thus, Fisher was left to answer her.

However, right until the fire was extinguished and it was time to sleep, Valentiina still couldn't figure out exactly what the legendary Phoenix looked like. If she herself also possessed the Phoenix bloodline, would she also transform into that appearance when the time came...? Oh dear, would she have wings? Would she also grow feathers? Wouldn't she be no different from the Snow Fox-kin then? Please, please, absolutely do not grow feathers on my face, that would be far too ugly! Fisher definitely wouldn't like it!Valentiina lay quietly in bed sleeping. Her little brain hadn't stopped spinning ever since hearing Fisher mention that afternoon that she was still developing towards a Phoenix Race. Her mind was entirely occupied by the image of herself turning into a feathered chicken. Just like that, a night passed.

Early the next morning, Fisher woke up early to confirm the weather outside and Filis's condition. Exactly as Fisher expected, the recovery ability of the Lion-kin truly shouldn't be underestimated. Coupled with Fisher's Healing Magic, she had pulled out of danger in merely one night. Although she still couldn't move around casually right now, at the very least, he could ensure she wouldn't remain on the Sema Mountains forever.

Well then, since Filis's situation had already been confirmed, Fisher decided to follow the previously established plan, carrying Valentiina on his back and continuing ahead towards the Sema Mountains.

"Wrap your clothes tighter. We're setting off immediately."

"Okay... I don't know if it's an illusion, but lately I've constantly felt like it's not very cold anymore."

Fisher, carrying Valentiina on his back, paused his movements slightly. He suddenly thought of that small patch of fuzz exuding cold air he saw on her back yesterday. Smiling slightly, he teased,

"Perhaps you're about to turn into a Phoenix covered entirely in feathers, which is why it's not cold at all."

Having her inner thoughts poked at, Valentiina glared at Fisher. Mischievously, she wanted to use her icy cold hands to touch his neck, but as a result, this trick was thoroughly ineffective against Fisher; on the contrary, her hand quickly warmed up instead.

She almost forgot, this guy was a weirdo capable of wearing a white shirt in the dead of night in the Northern Border.

"Boss, take care on your trip. I will wait for your good news at the foot of the mountain. Strive to have a baby ear—I mean, arrive at the Wutong Tree early."

"Pfft..."

Filis let out a yawn, lazily sweeping the ground with her tail. Concurrently, she also handed the miniature dagger the Snow Fox-kin had given her to Valentiina for self-defense. These joking words made Valentiina wish she could fire a venomous retort at her, but upon seeing the dried bloodstains on the bandages covering her abdomen, she didn't ultimately voice it, but instead instructed with considerable worry,

"Filis, I'm somewhat worried the Turan Family will continue making a move against you. After you descend the mountain, you can tell Heidelin we have already entered the Wutong Tree. If people from the family come, she will have a way to handle it."

"No problem."

After bidding a final farewell to the cheerful Filis, Fisher brought the equipment and left this temporary camp together with Valentiina, heading deeper into the Sema Mountains.

Beyond the outskirts of the snow mountain, the remaining mountain paths became considerably difficult to traverse. This concurrently served as a true indicator denoting that the path scaling the Sema Mountains had merely just commenced. The ensuing snowy mountain traversing possessed three entire peaks left; successive peaks dwarfed preceding ones regarding elevation height alongside progressive treacherous terrain danger escalation rates. Mid-journey sectors remained comprehensively devoid of human habitation. The geographic elevation subsequent passing the Northern Border's mid-sector was inherently elevated to begin with; this vertical drop of thousands of meters undoubtedly transformed the Sema mountains into a forbidden zone for living beings.

Fortunately, however, the physical constitution of Fisher's tenth rank was truly somewhat exaggerated. At the very least, carrying this equipment and the lightweight Valentiina, he didn't feel fatigued in the slightest. He could even chat with her along the way.

"Fisher, harboring the bloodline of a Phoenix within my body, I'm extremely afraid of the cold. Yet you don't feel anything at all. Could it be you also have the bloodline of some other race?"

Leaning on Fisher's back, she exhaled a puff of hot air. While sizing up the surrounding snow-covered scenery, she asked him this question.

At this moment, right next to the path they were traversing lay a cliff. The white snow covering everything obscured the danger of this high cliff, otherwise, taking a single look down this several-hundred-meter drop would prevent Valentiina from ever daring to look again. But at this moment, Fisher, carrying her and the equipment, maintained a light and steady pace. This made Valentiina somewhat curious, wanting to know more things about him.

This question actually made Fisher somewhat silent for a moment, because up until now, he still didn't understand how the Demi-Human Completion Handbook boosted his Life Rank. Comparing them like this, the enhancement methods of the Soul Completion Handbook appeared quite obvious; whether one was human or non-human was obvious at a glance.

"This question is actually easy to answer. Wait while I flip through the ancient texts to see which race likes to reproduce the most... Oh, this guy's bloodline definitely can't escape my deductions..."

Fisher pondered for a moment, then subsequently shook his head, merely saying,

"My uniqueness does not stem from innateness, but rather originates from acquired factors that cannot be spoken of. But generally speaking, it's presumably no different from an ordinary human."

"Is that so..."

Valentiina cast a glance at Fisher's black hair—a signature of Kadu—on his head. Suddenly, she recalled his eyes weren't black again, but rather the pale green most common among Naris people. Thus, she asked,

"From the very beginning, I've somewhat wanted to ask. You seem to be a mixed-blood of a Carduan and a Nali Person, right?"

"Mm, however, I don't know who my parents are. I was abandoned at the entrance of a church orphanage during wartime. During that period, Naris and Schwari were at war, and the domestic situation was turbulent. Even in Saint-Nazareth, there were quite a few abandoned orphans. I was one of them. Moreover, because Kadu leaned more towards Schwari diplomatically at the time, Carduans within Naris territory had a very difficult time back then."

The words Fisher spoke were already subtle enough. Nevertheless, Valentiina caught the hidden meaning beneath his words in a single sentence. Thus, she gently rested her head onto his back.

"Then, as a mixed-blood of Kadu and Naris, and also an orphan, your childhood must have been quite difficult, right?"

"Actually, I lived quite well. Thanks to the Mother God's blessing, I was adopted by an exceptionally kind Naris nun. She treated me exceptionally well and taught me a great many things. I inherited her surname, so calculating carefully, I should be her adopted son. But she was only fourteen years older than me, so whenever she assumed the posture of an elder, I would always oppose her when I was young."

"It's truly rare to hear such sincere words of 'Mother God bless' coming from your mouth, because from past observations, you definitely don't look like a devout believer of the Mother God."

Towards Valentiina's teasing, Fisher was neither agree nor disagree. Because indeed, only when he reminisced about Nun Teresa would he produce a genuine response regarding his Mother God faith, towards which he frequently maintained an objective and critical attitude.

Valentiina exhaled a puff of hot air. Turning her head, she discovered Eimhart on his shoulder was currently listening attentively to Fisher speaking. She smiled slightly, then spoke up again,

"I'm the same. From the moment I could form memories, I've never seen my parents. I was raised entirely beneath Heidelin's care since childhood. I heard she also served my mother in the past, taking care of her day and night while she specialized in researching magic. Therefore, my mother trusted her exceptionally... Ah right, you've already met Heidelin, do I have the opportunity to go meet the nun who raised you?"

"Ah, wait, I forgot you can't return to Naris. That ex-girlfriend of yours is far too heartless. Besides, based on my previous observations, she should have long since known you didn't kidnap the princess at all. Yet she still wanted to violently capture you and bring you back. Truly..."

Eimhart forcefully resisted the urge to correct her that Elizabeth was actually an "ex-ex-girlfriend," deciding to quietly watch the snow without uttering a single word. However, Fisher, carrying her on his back, smiled slightly, his footsteps unconsciously slowing down a bit.

"It doesn't matter, even if we were able to return, you still wouldn't be able to meet her. She already passed away a very long time ago, prior to my pursuit scaling the Royal Academy. I personally placed her ashes into the Cathedral in Naris. You should have heard of the stringent regulations prescribing believers of the Mother God interring within cathedrals post-mortem achieving eternal rest. Even within Naris, which harbors the loosest regulations amongst the several Cathedrals, the vetting process approving slumber within cathedrals remains a hundred times stricter compared to Parliament scrutinizing the backgrounds of assembly members; the number of credentials necessitating review remains countless."

"However, running hither and thither back then, I actually didn't feel fatigued in the slightest. Cradling her ashes, traveling all the way from the countryside where she grew up down to the hospital where she passed away, I compiled proofs demonstrating her devotion towards the Mother God during her lifetime piece by piece, item by item. I helped her fulfill her final wish—entering the church's holy reliquary, bathed under the radiance of the Mother God to sleep eternally..."

Valentiina parted her lips, only possessing profound regret deriving from continuously remaining suspended trailing Fisher therefore resulting specifically inhibiting visual acquisition processing his concurrent current expression directly. Thereupon she stealthily applied increasing embracing pressure anchoring Fisher, whispering softly,

"I am truly sorry, Fisher."

"It doesn't matter. She already finished living her life as a devout believer of the Mother God. At the very least, right now, Benavides is still alive in this world."

Fisher calmly recounted his past as if providing a hint of flavor to this monotonous journey comprising climbing mountains, climbing mountains, and still climbing mountains. However, Valentiina right now practically wished she could stay with Fisher and talk with him the entire day. Even if he spouted profound philosophy, she'd probably listen entirely absorbed with relish nonetheless.

Just as Fisher was about to start another happy topic to change the atmosphere, he suddenly saw a gloved hand protruding from beside the steep mountain path ahead. That palm just lay horizontally on the roadside, completely motionless. It was completely unknown how long it had stayed here.

Fisher halted his footsteps. He extended his Fluid Sword into the distance and grabbed onto that protruding arm, effortlessly dragging out a man wearing heavy clothing. It was just that the man's entire body was stiff as a board; clearly, he had been dead for quite a long time.

Valentiina wasn't scared. After all, she had personally fired the cannon to blast the heads of two Naris agents into pieces previously. Walking along this journey, she had already drifted very far away from the traditional image of a delicate and frail Young Lady.

"Is this a Carduan?"

Valentiina cast a glance at the other party's long black hair bundled within the mountain climbing hat, deducing as such.

"Mm, and moreover, a person belonging to the Witch Research Society."

Fisher utilized the Fluid Sword to flick at his clothing, discovering a bottle of nearly freeze-dried blood, a few imitation medieval carving tools, as well as an unopened letter inside his pocket. He then used the blade to slice open the freeze-stiffened clothing on his body, discovering traces of bandaging upon his physical torso. Furthermore, judging by the technique applied, it didn't look like it was bandaged by a human...

Wait, didn't the Snow Fox-kin mention previously they rescued a person from the West Continent scaling the snowy mountain? Could it be this guy from the Witch Research Society right before their eyes?

Climbing the Sema Mountains bearing injuries, wasn't this courting death? Not only did he bring the plague to the Snow Fox-kin, but he also suffered a tragic death here. If this guy remained obstinate proceeding as such, it definitively indicated he possessed an exceedingly critical task requiring completion... For example, that letter.

Fisher employed the Fluid Sword initiating a subtle flicking motion. That untouched letter encountered consequent extraction back. Fisher tore open the envelope. Lacking comprehension regarding the Kadu text upon it, Valentiina could solely read Northern Border language alongside superficial primary Naris Language. Naris language constituted contemporary active learning subsequent Fisher joining the team; however, Fisher already commenced executing vocal translations substituting her.

"'Respected Elder Falut, a major disaster has struck. A turn of events has occurred recently within the Society. That fellow Kazawood clashed with the Acting President you appointed. During the time when you and Elder Quico have been absent, his prestige within the Society grew day by day. The Acting President and I can no longer suppress him. Right now, he continues to lead a large fraction of the society members heading towards the General Research Society, intending to overthrow the missing Chairman Herman... I beg the two Elders receiving this message to immediately abandon the search for Chairman Herman and return to preside over the overall situation, otherwise all is lost... Left by Ian'."

Fisher felt entirely speechless upon finishing the letter. When he previously obtained the clue regarding the Undying Witch's black hair from Caro, he had heard him mention that their former Chairman went missing in the ruins of the snowy mountains, yet they ultimately brought back a strand of hair from a genuine Witch. To think that after several years had passed, the Witch Research Society actually still had a few Elders searching for that missing former Chairman...

Well, look at this. Their own home base was stolen by subordinates, and this messenger rushing over frantically to deliver the message also died halfway up the mountain. He heard the Snow Fox-kin rescued this person a month ago. The coup d'etat at the Witch Research Society had presumably concluded long ago by now.

"So it turns out that gang of Carduans who came to climb the mountain a few years ago were people from the notorious Witch Research Society. No wonder Carduans continuously came to climb the mountain over these past few years. It seems it was all to deliver messages to these two Elders still inside the mountain..."

Hearing Valentiina's words, Fisher tossed that letter down the cliff indifferently. He didn't care about the plight of the Witch Research Society at all. Even if he knew, he would only say "good riddance." But rather, the encounters hidden within the Witch Research Society's exploration addressing scaling Wutong Tree corresponding towards sequential chronological periods traversing previous years demanded specialized focal points commanding genuine concern...

"Ruins? But there is only one entrance marked on the scroll. If the marked location is an expanse of ruins, it's highly plausible it's an arrangement placed there by the Troll Race that stood guard there later on."

These steep mountain climbing paths possessed zero obstruction regarding Fisher. Yet mapping corresponding termination vectors defining the journey—in other words, the Tree Base of the Wutong Tree—predicated upon inferences synthesizing Slime King's dialog accompanied sequentially mapping encountering trials validating prior Witch Research Society experiences, inherently ought to fragment classifying split dual phases. Primary mapping delineated an expanse characterized featuring notably sizable ancient ruins. Secondary elements characterized structural layouts inherently mapped behind concealed geographic positioning delineating the habitation zones configuring the Troll Race. Effectively specifying, establishing the habitation zones structurally mapping Troll Race configurations genuinely represented the actual access portal defining Wutong Tree.

The Witch Research Society back then probably didn't locate the Troll Race encampment, or rather, not everyone found it; otherwise, those missing right now wouldn't just be the former Chairman of the Research Society...

Fisher was currently unaware of the present condition of the ruins and the Troll Race encampment. He decided to rush over there first and see. After all, the vestiges of the Phoenix Race bloodline rested upon his back. Trolls might bar entry to others, but surely they wouldn't bar the Phoenix Race from returning to their home, right?

The distant mountain path was rugged, the wind and snow persisting as before. Fisher quickened his pace a bit, climbing towards the summit of the Sema Mountains.

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(End of this chapter)