Chapter 27: Round-Eared Ratman

"Waaaaah!"

The little girl's crying pierced the current silence.

Lost in their own thoughts, everyone turned their heads simultaneously toward the cage still hanging beneath the large tree.

The white-furred rat appeared quite helpless, while the little girl, having regained consciousness, shrank into the corner of the cage with a face full of terror.

Seeing that there was only one rat left, Aliris gripped her sword and stood up, preparing to approach.

"Hey! Big guy, what are you trying to do? Wait! Wait! I'm not with these black rats, can't you see I'm being held captive too?

I just protected this..."

The large white rat seemed to sense Aliris's intentions and spoke hurriedly.

"Enough, Aliris. She is not like those尖耳 (Point-eared) Ratmen."

"That's right! That's right! I'm different from them!"

The white rat nodded repeatedly.

Kana walked straight over and opened the wooden cage.

She pulled the terrified little girl out. The moment she was held, the girl seemed to have finally found someone to rely on; she clung tightly to Kana and cried hysterically.

"There, there, it's alright now."

After soothing the little girl, Kana handed her over to Aliris.

Aliris was a bit flustered as she took her.

Kana looked back at the white-furred Ratman crawling out of the cage: "Round-eared Ratman, why are you here?"

Ratmen were divided into two distinct groups, with a massive gap between them.

The Point-eared Ratmen were undoubtedly an evil race; in games, they were invariably red-named monsters, embodying every negative impression intelligent life had of rats. Due to their size and cowardice, they frequently targeted the young of various races. This caused the Ratmen to cross the line of every intelligent race, making them a scourge that had to be purged.

The Round-eared Ratmen, on the other hand, were mostly green-named allies in games, or at least white-named neutrals. The worst thing they ever did was theft, and even their thievery often carried a sense of chivalry. Compared to their kin, Round-eared Ratmen possessed a very high level of civilization; their tribes frequently produced adventurers, scholars, archaeologists, and mages. In some large cities, one could even frequently see Round-eared Ratman translators. This alone spoke to their level of civilization.

Correspondingly, because they were too civilized, their population could not compare to that of the Point-eared Ratmen. They were generally only distributed around the outskirts of civilized cities, and even then, only large ones.

Distinguishing the two races by appearance was also very easy. One had pointed ears, the other had round ears. Point-eared ones mostly had black or gray fur, while Round-eared ones mostly had white or brown fur.

This Round-eared Ratman looked quite disheveled; clearly, being locked in a cage had taken a toll on her.

"Calling us by our species is a bit impolite. You can call me Popot.

Popot of Latariel—the Sapphire Island.

What is your name, big guy?"

Having crawled out of the cage, Popot brushed the dust off herself and tugged at her tattered cloth clothes.

Latariel—the Sapphire Island?

One of the four islands surrounding the sea; Kana roughly understood how she had arrived.

"You came here by sea?"

"Exactly. You guessed it right away, clever big guy. And your name?"

"Just call me Kana."

"Alright, Kana. How about we discuss these questions later? Popot doesn't think this is a very good place for chatting.

Besides, you all seem to be at war. As a commander, shouldn't you be more focused on the battle before you?"

Popot gave a kind reminder.

Her words caused a massive shift in the perception of rats for both Aliris and Black. This rat was far too different from the ones they had just been hacking down. Her tone, expression, and movements all conveyed a single piece of information: she was an erudite and civilized being.

"I must admit, you are right."

Kana turned to look at Black. At this moment, Black's complexion had recovered slightly.

"How are you? Can you hold on?"

As she spoke, she helped Black up from where he sat slumped on the ground.

Hearing this, Black nodded: "Don't worry, Your Highness. I'm just... just a bit dazed."

His experiences today were more intense than everything he had experienced in his entire life combined. He had many questions in his heart, but he knew now was not the time to ask them.

"Mm, that's good. Please go check on the situation ahead and see how Joniel and the others are doing."

The main goal was to see if the ordinary rats ahead had also been corrupted by the Void.

Black nodded and turned to walk out.

If it had been before, he might have hesitated, as his sole duty was to protect the Prince's safety. But now, he had to admit there was a gap between his strength and Aliris's. His encounter with that strange giant rat just now had proven everything. Furthermore, he had become very convinced of Kana's abilities, though he hadn't realized it himself.

Kana turned her head.

She saw Aliris standing still, her expression somewhat stiff and motionless, because the little girl in her arms had fallen asleep.

At this moment, Aliris looked at Kana with pleading eyes.

Kana said with a smile, "Let her sleep. For a child, today's experience was too much of a shock.

Besides, she feels that you can provide her with a sense of security; otherwise, she wouldn't have fallen asleep. You should be happy. Relax a little."

Aliris nodded. Perhaps because Kana's words actually worked, she relaxed slightly. She even began to sway her body gently, mimicking the mothers she had seen before. However, her expression remained somewhat lonely.

Kana saw this clearly but did not offer immediate comfort.

Meanwhile, Popot was wandering around, having somehow found a pile of old clothes to put on herself. Changing out of those rags seemed to have made her feel much better; her whole demeanor was more relaxed.

"Wow, I didn't realize you were a Prince. My apologies."

Popot performed a simple courtesy.

From this point, Kana had to admit that Popot truly understood etiquette. This was a form of diplomatic protocol found in most human kingdoms.

"I won't ask anything else for now, but I need to find something: half a stone tablet.

It's a stone tablet from some ancient civilization—most likely the Ancient Alchemical Empire. I believe if you've seen it, you won't forget it."

Popot nodded: "Popot knows what you mean. Popot saw Fork-tail take that thing.

Popot asked him to let her see it back then, but clearly, he didn't want to."

She added, "Fork-tail was that Tooth-blade... that big rat you just killed."

"I know what Tooth-blade means," Kana said.

This surprised Popot: "You are much more learned than I thought."

With that, Popot rummaged through the pile of miscellaneous items she had been sorting through for a long time. She pulled out half a stone tablet, which was about the size of her head.

"I think this is what you're talking about."

Kana looked at the tablet and nodded slightly.

"Yes, that's the one."

After taking the tablet, Kana examined it closely to confirm it was the right object.

He then began to rummage through the pile of miscellaneous items to see if there were any spoils of war.

Watching this, Popot scratched her forehead, somewhat confused. Was there some treasure in there that she didn't know about? That shouldn't be the case. It was obvious that this pile of junk consisted entirely of items these rats had picked up, stolen, or looted from somewhere.

"Uh, what are you looking for? Perhaps I can help," Popot said from the side.

"Meaningful items."

Kana gave a casual dismissal, but he didn't find anything useful in the pile of trash.

"How about this item?"

(End of Chapter)