They were just wolves. But even in overwhelming numbers, before an enraged Jenkins, they were no different than a pack of stray cats.
He hadn't arrived quickly enough, so his companions' bodies were barely recognizable. He stood at the edge of the clearing for a mont, hands clasped behind his back, then took a few items from each of them as evidence before burying their mangled remains in the snowy woods.
"Perhaps they never should have traveled with ."
A wave of sorrow washed over him, but he knew such useless emotions would only cloud his thoughts. He made a ntal note to compensate the families of his three companions after the trip was over, when it suddenly occurred to him that the appearance of a wolf pack here was highly unusual.
He didn't possess any tracking abilities, so he could only search the imdiate area for potential clues. The current weather was obviously unsuitable for finding subtle traces, and just as Jenkins was about to give up, he spotted a long strand of hair beneath one of his own footprints.
It was clearly a woman's hair. Judging by the color and length, it had to belong to Miss Lawrence.
"Why would it be here?"
Jenkins was so distance from the path, and not on the route she and the others had taken to see the snow. But finding his friends was the most important thing now, so he could only try asking Chocolate for help again.
This ti, sensing Jenkins's urgency, Chocolate was obedient. The small cat's head popped out from inside his greatcoat, its little pink nose twitching as it took a few delicate sniffs of the air.
It was obviously a cat, not a dog, but as a creature of supernatural power, its sense of sll was far stronger than Jenkins had imagined. It guided him deeper and deeper into the snowy forest, and within half an hour, he had found his target.
In truth, with the falling snow obstructing his vision, Jenkins had no idea what lay ahead and nearly leaped right off the edge of a cliff. Miss Lawrence was lying in a snowdrift right by that edge. The snow had almost completely buried her, and with her light-colored coat, Jenkins would most likely have never spotted a person in the snow if not for Chocolate leading the way.
"Miss Lawrence? I actually found you. Chocolate, what in the world did you sll?"
He tried calling out to her as he helped the young woman up. Her breathing was faint, but still there. Jenkins didn't sll any blood; if she hadn't been knocked unconscious, then she must have fainted from the freezing cold.
The ends of her long hair were already crusted with ice, and a layer of frost coated even her beautiful eyelashes. She was showing signs of frostbite. If she remained out here, unable to return to the villa, she would likely die of hypothermia. Jenkins had no choice but to do sothing that might expose his identity.
"Forgive ."
He spoke in a low voice, then took Miss Lawrence's hand in his own. Flas and a green vapor flowed rapidly between their clasped hands. The intense heat lted a wide circle of snow on the ground around them, and the sudden rise in temperature made both man and cat a little uncomfortable.
"Mr. Williams?"
Miss Lawrence regained consciousness much faster than Jenkins had expected. She imdiately noticed the unusual phenonon occurring between them, but her first reaction wasn't shock. It was a warning.
"Be careful! There's a monster nearby!"
Unlike the cliché plot of a knightly romance, no monster attacked the mont the woman voiced her warning. On the contrary, there was nothing alive around them but the whistling wind and snow. The brilliant red and green light was the most dazzling thing in this world of white.
"What monster?"
He helped Miss Lawrence sit up. Though her body was still weak, she was already restored to health.
"I didn't get a clear look... We were just looking at the snow nearby, but sohow I got separated from everyone. The next thing I knew, a huge, ice-blue spider was trying to attack . I ran for my life and ended up here, but I must have tripped and passed out."
It was the truth. The judgnt wasn't based on her freshly healed forehead, but on his Lie Godhood.
"A large, ice-blue spider?"
"ow~"
The pocket watch chain and Chocolate sounded a warning at the sa instant. Jenkins instinctively ducked his head, hearing a sharp whoosh from above. Looking up, he saw it was a strand of white spider silk.
The attack had co from below the cliff; the spider was obviously lying in ambush down there. Just as Jenkins moved to pick up Miss Lawrence and retreat from the dangerous terrain, he saw another, even larger spider appear in the distance, away from the cliff's edge.
It was clearly a supernatural creature, for Jenkins didn't believe any normal animal could grow to a height of two ters. Its body was even longer than he'd first thought, its cephalothorax protected by an ice-blue carapace marked with patterns like snowflake runes. At the front of its thorax were eight single eyes arranged in two rows, the ones on the far left and right glowing with different colors.
Its body was covered in a white exoskeleton, but upon closer inspection, he could see it was coated in extrely fine, dense white hairs. Its six pairs of appendages were a terrifying sight. The swollen bases of its chelicerae and the sharp, slender fangs at their tips trembled in the wind and snow, as if poised to strike at any mont.
"Mr. Williams..."
Miss Lawrence gripped Jenkins's sleeve tightly, her body trembling violently. It was understandable. Young ladies were often afraid of terrifying-looking insects, let alone one of such monstrous size.
"I need you to promise not to tell anyone what you're about to see. When we get back to Nolan, please go to the church and sign a confidentiality pact. After all, so things must be kept from ordinary people."
"I know! Mr. Williams, please, do sothing! It's coming closer!"
"My apologies."
Jenkins whispered in her ear, then rcilessly knocked the woman unconscious.
"ow~"
Jenkins could have sworn he heard a note of mockery in the cat's cry, but he dismissed it, certain his pet wasn't capable of such complex emotions.
He carried Miss Lawrence and ran to the edge of the cliff, then leaped forcefully into the abyss below. Spider silk shot toward them from the cliff face again, but flas materialized out of thin air, burning the elegant threads to ash.
In that brief mont, Jenkins saw the spider's lair nestled in the cliff face, and with it, a second spider, slightly smaller than the one on the clifftop.
"Heh."
A flying unicorn swooped up from below to catch them. Mounting a steed in mid-air was an acrobatic feat, but Jenkins and the unicorn executed it with perfect, unspoken coordination.
He directed his mount to struggle against the fierce wind, climbing high into the sky, far away from the cliff. Through the swirling snow, he looked down at the vast, white precipice below.
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