Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 1045 - 160: Little Skeleton

Chapter 1045: Chapter 160: Little Skeleton

"Is everyone ready?" On the cool morning atop the Forest of Death, a light breeze caressed the air with a fresh and slightly damp touch, far more comfortable than the muggy environment at the foot of the Lost Forest. With her back to the breeze, Her Majesty delicately brushed the hair from her cheeks, turning her soft gaze onto the faces of the girls, "Especially you, have you all made both the practical and psychological preparations?"

"Wait, wait, I’m almost there," a voice called out from behind Lina, or more precisely, from inside Lina’s backpack. Under the bewildered gazes of the others, Lina turned around. Her backpack was open, revealing a smooth and pale skull, from within which green Soul Fire flickered. Its jaw moving up and down, a clear childlike voice emanated from within, "I’ll be done in a moment, you absolutely must wait for me, otherwise it would be very troublesome."

The demigods remained stupefied, their gaze shifting in another direction towards a box. A headless white skeleton was squatting next to it, busy disassembling its lower limbs and neatly stacking the bones into the box with meticulous care, as if afraid of arranging them improperly.

"Oh no, where’s my patella? Annie, quickly help me look for it. It’ll be very uncomfortable to walk without it, and it would be a pain to break in a new one." While one part of the body was busy, the skull cried out from elsewhere, "And where did I put the tibia of my right leg? Didn’t I just take it off? Ah, Fox, don’t you dare gnaw on my tibia! Give it back this instant, and we’ll find another magical beast bone for you to chew later as play. I still need this one."

Not far from Little Deer, the beautiful Illusion Fox lay on its back, hugging and nibbling at a shiny tibia, seemingly aware of the bone’s importance and thus biting gently. The chewing was merely for entertainment. Hearing Little Deer’s call, the fox trotted over with the tibia in its mouth, handing it to Little Deer before settling down nearby, wagging its large tail curiously while watching Little Deer’s strange behavior. It occasionally looked back at its hind legs, wondering why it couldn’t just remove them and put them in a box like that.

"I’m beginning to understand why societies of intelligent beings generally don’t accept the Undead, even the occasional intelligent ones from before," Doris said with a blank expression, watching Little Deer keep shouting while busily working. Lord of the Storm Rituals, who hadn’t participated in the First Undead War, was unfamiliar with the characteristics of the Undead and felt particularly out of place, "If she were doing this at night, I suppose even slightly timid children could be frightened to tears, couldn’t they?"

"Yes, it can be quite a headache indeed. The first time one sees it, acceptance can be difficult. That little one floating around over there cried the first time she saw Little Deer using her own skull as a ball, and she herself is also an Undead." Catherine said, even though her words suggested annoyance, the indulgent look of a mother in her eyes was hard to conceal, "Lina’s two younger sisters were scared at first when they saw Little Deer’s true form, but kids are actually quite adaptable. After seeing her a few times, they got used to it. Now, when they play at home, those two often hide Little Deer’s bones so she can’t find them, and they’re not scared of her at all anymore."

"Your home must have some really exciting activities for the kids." Even though she had lived through the First Undead War, Flare still found it hard to understand what a child who was dismantling her own ribs was thinking, let alone the floating child next to her who was helping and what her feelings might be at the time, she could only maintain a wooden expression as she said, "Do you all plan on keeping them by your side forever?"

"As long as we have the ability to protect them, as long as they’re willing to stay in our home." The girls looked at each other and shared warm smiles, Catherine nodded with a smile, "As long as they consider us family, then they’ll be our sisters. These two kids have been too lonely before, we can’t bear to let them go back to that kind of solitary life."

"So even coming here, you brought this skeleton with you?" Conaida, cradling his beard of which he was proud, seemed amused by Little Deer and Annie’s actions and chuckled, "At first, I wondered why you’d have the heart to bring this little one to such a dangerous place. She’s not like that... um, Annie, right? She doesn’t have a physical form and can hide in a necklace. But this one has a corporeal body; if her Soul Fire gets damaged, she might die completely. But now I understand, you already planned to carry her in a box with you, oh my, saying this kind of thing feels so sinful, it’s just like tearing a child apart and putting her in a box, no wonder I couldn’t imagine it before."

"But they are quite willing themselves." Looking at the two little ones, Lina couldn’t help but think of Michelle and Ansha far away in the City of Knowledge, her smile deepening, "Actually, we didn’t think of it at first, we were adamant about not bringing Little Deer, but then it was my two little sisters that came up with this idea. We tried it at home and found it was feasible before we agreed to her request, otherwise she’d probably still be crying at home in Holy City right now. Hey, you two little ones, hurry up, everyone is waiting for you."

"Sister Lina, come help me." Little Deer’s voice clearly came from behind Lina, but she was indicating a body busily working not far away, "Annie is a big dummy, she can’t even do such a simple task. She can’t dismantle my hand bones."

"You’re the dummy," the little banshee retorted discontentedly, "It’s your fault for connecting your bones so solidly. I told you from the start to control your strength a bit and not make the joints so tight, but you just can’t do it, and you still blame me."

"Both of you are dummies." Lina went over, feeling not too pleased, and quickly dismantled the joints that Little Deer had stuck together. Finally, she broke the whole spine into pieces, put them into the box and tidied it up before reprimanding, "Annie, go back to the necklace now; from this moment on, you’re not allowed to wander off. Little Deer, the same for you, you promised me when you came out to stay hidden in the backpack and not cry about being bored again. From now on, things will become very dangerous, and your sisters won’t have the capacity to protect you, so you must obey and be good, understood?"

"Don’t worry, Sister Lina, I’ll be good," Little Deer promised in a crisp voice. "Starting now, I’ll hide in the backpack and stay still, just like a skeleton."

"You are a skeleton," Lina knocked a few times on Little Deer’s head in her backpack. "No matter what you look like, just don’t move around, or you might put us in danger at a critical moment with your fidgeting and talking," she warned.

"Alright, Lina, don’t scare them," Catherine approached and patted Little Deer’s head to comfort her, then she squatted beside the Illusion Fox, took its paw and said, "Little guy, we’ve had the chance to live together these past few days, and we’ve all been so happy. Thank you for your company. But the journey ahead is too dangerous for you, so let’s say goodbye here. Take care when you’re on your own, and don’t get hurt again. If we make it back alive, we’ll come to see you, and I hope you’ll remember us then and catch rabbits for us to eat."

"Wuu wuu," as if understanding the girl’s words, the little fox’s dark eyes filled with a look of grievance. Its beautiful large tail swept back and forth over Catherine’s legs while it made sounds like a crying baby.

"We’ll miss you too," Catherine simply hugged the fluffy fox in her arms, stroking its small head and said, "But you know, up ahead is the Forest of Death. If you go there, you’d really end up in a soup."

"Ao ao, ao ao," protested the little fox, scratching Catherine’s scale armor with its paws and wagging its tail.

"This fox is really amazing," Freya, sitting under the shade of a tree, fanned herself and commented, "It looks like it truly understands Common Speech."

"It’s just picking up on the attitudes of other creatures towards it, it’s an instinct for beasts," Flare responded. "So your kindness makes it especially fond of you guys. As for Kyle..."

Flare sighed in resignation, watching Pannis crouch on the ground, moving stealthily towards Catherine, slowly reaching out to grab the little fox’s golden tail. But just as he was about to succeed, the Illusion Fox flicked its tail, sending him flying to one side.

"I guess the little fox knows he doesn’t really mean any harm," Freya covered her mouth and laughed like a noble princess. "That’s why, even though it always bites him, it has never seriously wounded him and hasn’t bitten any lethal spots."

"Who knows about that," Flare responded with a smile that dismissed the possibility, shaking her head. "The girls have all gone to say goodbye to the little guy, why aren’t you? Don’t you like animals?"

"Of course, I do. I love animals," Freya sighed. "The more people I meet growing up in a place like a lord’s mansion, the more I love animals."

"Heh, I can understand that. You humans are always like that," Flare teased. "Since you like them, why not go and play with it for a bit longer? It will be hard to see each other again later."

"I don’t like goodbyes; this is fine," Freya’s eyes, as serene as water, focused on Pannis’s face as he yelled at the little fox, and she said softly, "If possible, I wish we could keep it this way forever and ever."