Philis slled the at Fisher was grilling, just as she tried to sit up to grab a bite, she realized her waist was in severe pain, and she lay back down again. She sighed and said,
"I... I’m definitely not going to make it, from here on out, it’s all on you and the boss. But since the entire Turand Family bunch died here, and after this you’ll be heading into the most treacherous parts of the Snow Mountain, they should not be able to catch up anyti soon. Anyway, good luck."
"Now, let think about where to go after losing my job, Kado? No, that place doesn’t seem to welco demi-humans. Schwali? But the food there is just too awful to eat, plus it’s Old Ba’s holand, I really don’t want to go to a country filled entirely with people like Old Ba..."
Even with a piercing pain coming from her abdon wound, Philis had already begun to consider her plans after leaving the Northern Realm in her typical sanguine manner, prompting Valentina, who was leaning against a rock, to give a muted laugh. But the smile inadvertently brushed her back against the rock, causing a sharp sting that made her furrow her brow.
While grilling the at, Fisher glanced over at her, and as he put the at into a bowl, he said,
"You’re hurt too?"
"Ah... well, earlier, when I was on Philis’ back, I got thrown off, and the snow there was a bit thin, so..."
Fisher nodded and turned to check the campsite, finding so leftover dicine from the previous team, which seed to be an ointnt from the traditional dicines of Kado. The ancient country of Kado has not abandoned their traditions even now, constantly innovating customs including dicine, which can be considered one of their distinguishing features...
After briefly inspecting to see if the dicine was still usable, he discovered it had been brought up the mountain in the last few months. He raised an eyebrow and then, holding the ointnt, approached Valentina,
"What... what are you going to do?!"
Valentina quickly covered her body, her face turning red as she looked at Fisher, only to find him looking back at her expressionlessly; she imdiately averted her gaze.
Before Fisher could speak, Emhardt on his shoulder had already started to chuckle mischievously,
"What else could it be for, obviously to check your wound~"
Emhardt’s annoying deanor caused Fisher to involuntarily slap him lightly, interrupting his highly suggestive speech. He then shooed Emhardt off his shoulder and pointed towards a distant tent, saying,
"Using the dicine, the wound on your back will heal quickly. It’ll be troubleso if it gets inflad... I’ll just take you over there to lie down; I won’t do anything to you."
Valentina pouted and then muttered softly,
"Not going to do anything, my legs can’t move anyway, so whatever you’re going to do is..."
As she was mumbling, she suddenly felt that her own words were oddly familiar, and imdiately thereafter, the image from the Ice again floated into her mind, startling her and causing her wound to knock against the rock behind, making her gasp in pain,
"Hisss, that hurts..."
"Are you an idiot?"
Fisher looked at her incredulously as he picked her up from in front of the rock wall. He then carefully supported her into the tent, one arm around her waist and the other hand holding hers. Fisher’s gaze drifted to her pale neck and earlobe, his look growing darker, his nose inching closer to her neck,
"The clothes, how do they co off?"
"Wait... wait a minute, it feels like you... I’ll do it myself."
"...Okay."
Valentina was dressed in a layered fashion, with her outer garnts composed in such a way that the wounds on her back could be treated without fully removing her clothes. She could handle it herself, of course, but afterwards she would need Fisher to help her tie them back up.
Fisher waited sowhat disappointedly for her to begin undressing. As the heavy clothes were removed piece by piece, only a traditional undergarnt remained on her body. Her earlobes flushed slightly as she turned her back to Fisher and slowly unbuttoned the garnt, revealing her pale back in the next mont.
However, on that pale skin, there were twisted black lines spreading out from her spine, eting below her shoulder blades at two malford protrusions, like a pair of incomplete organs adding to her ugliness...
"Don’t... don’t look, just treat the wound..."
Valentina had always been insecure about the ugliness of her back. Feeling Fisher’s tangible gaze sweeping over her, she spoke in a low voice, hoping he would quickly proceed with the healing and ignore the deformity.
"Shh..."
Instead, Fisher examined the underdeveloped wings closely. He moved in and gently touched the protrusions on her back, causing Valentina to tremble sensitively.
In Fisher’s slightly glowing eyes, those protrusions weren’t simply deformities but rather like imnse wings that had been severed at the root. It seed as if Valentina’s bloodline was already shaping her into her true form but was inhibited by the dilution of her lineage, leaving what could be called malford remains.
"These are... wings. You were originally ant to grow a beautiful pair of wings, characteristic of the Phoenix Species, but due to the impurity of your bloodline, it resulted in this situation..."
"Wings?"
"Yes, the Phoenix Bloodline within you is rich enough, but still not sufficient to form the full appearance of the Phoenix Species... Just imagine how the Demon who made the deal with your family must have concentrated the already diluted bloodline into so many portions to inject into your ancestors. But I believe there is hope for solving your family’s bloodline issue. One day, you might actually turn into a real Phoenix..."
Valentina turned her head back, confused, only to find Fisher staring intently at her bare back, which made her turn her head away in embarassnt again, her voice trembling,
"A Phoenix? But I’m already of age. Is it possible for to keep developing? Or... transform into sothing other than a human?"
Fisher shook his head and explained,
"Having studied many demi-human species, I’ve co to realize a fundantal issue—that you can’t use human perspectives to asure demi-humans, especially those of high Rank... The distinction between adulthood and non-adulthood based on the short lifespan of humans is aningless to a Phoenix. In my eyes, your body is still developing, but in the direction of the Phoenix Species."
At that mont, above the pair of malford protrusions, Fisher noticed a trace of blue-green patterns sprouting as if they were growing out. Upon closer inspection, one would realize that these were not patterns at all, but fine down, like the newly sprouted feathers of a fledgling bird emitting a visible chill, and Valentina hadn’t felt the coldness of it at all...
Fisher smiled faintly, and rather than observing further, he applied an ointnt to the bleeding wounds on her back. Valentina nodded as if she understood, then she suddenly realized sothing and turned her head to ask Fisher,
"Wait, the other demi-human species you studied before... did they involve such... undressing for research?"
"...No."
"That’s good then."
Valentina turned her head back with satisfaction. Fisher had shown no discrimination towards her flawed parts, for which the previously insecure Valentina was deeply grateful, even finding the dressing of her wounds no longer painful.
anwhile, outside the tent, Philis and Emhardt, who had been listening to their conversation while lying on the ground and sitting beside the fire, respectively, had their own reactions. When Philis heard Fisher’s reply of "No," she raised her eyebrows slightly. She turned her head toward the calm relic beside her, only to find that Emhardt had long grown accustod to such oddities. He simply kept staring at the fire while quietly explaining to her,
"Shh, he’s like that. You’ll get used to it."
"..."
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