TuxedoTranslations

Chapter 62

“Albin…”

The just-awakened Xiao Hei instinctively looked to his side.

If it were the past, Albin would be rubbing his eyes to greet him. Sometimes, not wanting to get up, he would mumble coquettishly in a lazy tone, wrap himself in the blanket, and burrow into Xiao Hei’s arms like an octopus, clinging tightly to him.

Until his father, Jacques, came in, wearing a helpless expression as he coaxed them both out of bed.

Especially in winter, Albin always had trouble getting up. The moment he stretched out a hand, he’d shrink it back like a turtle. Half-opening his sleepy eyes, he would insist on wrapping Xiao Hei up tightly with him, afraid Xiao Hei might catch cold.

So cute.

Just remembering those scenes softened the sharp, hedgehog-like prickliness Xiao Hei carried all over him.

But at this moment, there was no familiar figure beside him.

It shouldn’t be like this.

If Albin woke up earlier, he would almost never get out of bed first, for fear of disturbing him. He would always amuse himself for a while with magic, or with great interest count his eyelashes and study his tear mole, making sure that when Xiao Hei opened his eyes, the very first thing he saw was him.

Ever since learning that the little mole under Xiao Hei’s eye was called a “tear mole,” Albin found it fascinating.

—“I’ve never seen Xiao Hei cry before. I wonder what you’d look like if you did.”

But now, when he woke up, Albin was no longer there.

Xiao Hei clenched his fists and sat up. The winter air quickly chilled his exposed skin.

—“Xiao Hei is such a dummy! You’re supposed to put on clothes first after waking up. Let me warm you up.”

That warm magic would never flow into his body again. Albin would no longer busy himself, huffing warm breath onto his hands and rubbing his face.

Silently, Xiao Hei pulled on his thick winter clothes. His messy black hair fell down, half covering his ultramarine eyes.

The skies above Thorn City were rarely clear throughout the year, but whenever there was a sunny day, Albin would always look up in anticipation.

When Xiao Hei asked him what he was staring at, Albin replied: “I’m waiting for a sky as blue as Xiao Hei’s eyes to appear. Since it rained yesterday, today’s sky looks very clean.”

Then Albin would run over in a rush, lift Xiao Hei’s hair, study his eyes for a while, and shake his head.

“Nope. Today’s sky still isn’t as blue as Xiao Hei’s eyes.” He would mutter, “Guess we’ll have to wait until the summer break skies…”

At the time, Xiao Hei didn’t really understand why he was so fixated on it.

—“Because I promised to show Xiao Hei, didn’t I?”

After changing into winter clothes, washing up, and combing his hair, Xiao Hei realized his hair seemed to have grown a little longer again.

Albin’s hair must have grown longer too, right?

But Albin was always terrified of going to the barber’s, so maybe he would let it grow out?

In this era, barbers didn’t just cut hair; they also performed amputations and bloodletting, as there were always customers in need of such things.

He remembered once when Albin dragged him to a barber’s, and they happened to see such a scene. Ever since then, Albin was too frightened to ever go back.

Xiao Hei lowered his hand, sliced off a piece of bread, and ate it for breakfast.

—“You should drink soy milk or milk in the morning! Milk makes you grow taller! Hmm, maybe goat’s milk works too? Oh, does bean porridge count as soy milk…?”

Milk…

Xiao Hei glanced around the little hut. There was no milk, no goat’s milk.

When the gray-robed man finally returned after several days, the very first thing Xiao Hei said was:

“I want milk.”

The gray-robed man froze.

“Alright. I’ll get you some next time.”

Xiao Hei immediately followed with another question:

“Any news of Xiao Bai?”

“‘A white cloak against crimson’—that clue is far too little. Unfortunately, I haven’t heard anything about him yet.”

Xiao Hei recalled that great battle: “The one who took Xiao Bai might have been skilled in light or fire magic.”

“I understand. I’ll investigate. But you can’t slack off your training. With your current level, you’re no match for that guy.”

Xiao Hei had to admit he was right.

The gray-robed man continued: “Your basic training is nearly done. From today onward, we’ll move on to real combat.”

“Real combat?”

Seeing Xiao Hei’s confusion, the gray-robed man didn’t explain much. He simply led Xiao Hei to a training ground he had prepared.

All around was forest. Xiao Hei had no idea what country this was. From the climate alone, it was definitely not Thorn City. But this vast woodland clearly belonged to some royal family or noble house.

This suspicious man—who claimed to be his teacher—occasionally gave him a sense of unease. Yet he was indeed earnestly helping Xiao Hei grow stronger, helping him search for Xiao Bai, and providing him everything he needed in food, clothing, and shelter without ever withholding.

The man seemed to truly know his mother too, and told him that she had once been the daughter of a great noble house.

It was the first time Xiao Hei had ever heard this. Hard to know if it was true, but it did explain why his mother had been literate.

For now, Xiao Hei chose to trust this man.

Suddenly, a roar echoed from ahead. Xiao Hei sharply raised his hand and gripped the broken sword on his back.

It had once been Jacques’ sword, but during the last battle, someone else had taken it and used it, and it was broken.

Xiao Hei had found it afterward, and now wielded it as his own weapon, swearing to avenge his foster father.

The broken blade still bore the emblem of the Sun God Temple. The jewel, once caked with blood, now gleamed brighter than ever after being scorched, shining brilliantly. Some of the melted gold inlays had cooled into unique patterns.

“What was that sound?” he asked.

“Monsters,” the gray-robed man replied calmly. “From today onward, your task is to defeat these rampaging low-grade beasts.”

Rampaging monsters… Black immediately thought of that magic bear from before.

He tightened his grip on the hilt, gaze firm as he faced his enemy.

But a thought still lingered in his mind—

Where had these monsters come from?

Thorn City.

Although it was the middle of winter, Albin still got up early. Distracted, he ate a little breakfast, then hurriedly led the adults into the forest to look for someone.

The remnants of the previous forest fire still lingered. Whenever they saw any flames, Albin and the others helped put them out.

They spent the whole morning wandering through the forest. Apart from the scorched black trees everywhere, they found no trace of Little Black.

At noon, they chose an unburned part of the woods, breathed in the fresh air, and sat by a stream to have lunch.

Padma had prepared some sandwiches in the morning, convenient to eat in times like this.

After walking all morning, Albin’s strength was nearly exhausted. He gulped down the water in his pouch until it was empty.

“Let’s keep asking around in the city this afternoon. We can come back here tomorrow to search again.”

Albin nodded, accepting the plan.

Walking in the mountains was far from easy compared to walking on flat ground—they’d need to change directions in their search next.

Padma took his empty pouch, went to a clean spot by the water source, and filled it with fresh water.

Albin preferred drinking boiled water. Most who worshipped the Sun God shared this habit; some even chose to replace water with second-press wine. But Padma didn’t care much about such things.

This water source was far from the city, not as polluted as the waters near it. Being a monster himself, he wasn’t that picky.

He handed Albin’s water pouch back and drank directly from his own.

Albin was heating his water when he looked up to ask Padma if he wanted some as well. After all, in winter hot water was more comfortable—and cleaner.

But then he saw Padma drop his pouch, water spilling out in a gurgling stream.

“Brother Padma?!” Albin rushed over. “What’s wrong?”

Padma clutched his neck in pain, pink hair falling loose, veins bulging on his neck and forehead. His pink fox ears and tail flickered in and out of sight, as if he were about to be forcibly transformed back into his monster form.

Zeman immediately stepped forward, casting several healing and detoxification spells.

But Zeman’s magic had no effect on Padma.

Padma lowered his head as though drowning. Albin’s anxious voice echoed dimly in his ears, but all that filled his mind was a single thought:

—Kill! Kill! Kill!

Raging emotions surged like a tide. The power of the curse became terrifyingly clear.

His body seemed on the verge of losing control, reason giving way, devoured by that dreadful impulse.

His trembling hands could no longer exert strength.

A warm body embraced him. A familiar scent lingered at his nose.

“Brother Padma!”

Padma suddenly recalled his conversation with Albin the night before.

He did not want Albin to see him like this—driven by something outside his will.

Clenching his teeth, he struggled to suppress the maddening urge.

He had no choice but to call upon the power of the God of Wine to resist the frenzy.

After a long while, his reason finally regained control, and he gradually escaped the feeling of losing himself.

Even though it was winter, he was drenched in sweat, as if pulled from water, shivering from the icy dampness.

“I’m fine.” His lips pale, he soothed the panicked Albin, then said gravely to Zeman:

“There’s a power in the water that drives monsters into a frenzy.”

He himself had the God of Wine’s power, allowing him to resist—but other monsters likely wouldn’t be able to.

Zeman’s expression hardened, cold and serious.

“I’ll check upstream.”

“No!” Padma refused at once. “I should go. You stay here—and Jade stays too.”

If he went berserk, he could still free himself. But if something happened to Zeman, if he lost control and turned into a rampaging dragon, everyone here—and the nearby city—would be doomed.

Zeman understood, fell silent for a moment, then agreed.

Albin glanced around, still not understanding why the roles were divided this way.

“In October, Little Black and I also found many frenzied monsters in the forest. That time, it was Uncle Jacques who saved us.”

Zeman had also heard from Jacques about monster frenzies, but he had always assumed those monsters were drawn to Albin’s blood.

They waited, while Padma followed the stream upstream.

Partway along, he saw a familiar figure.

“Edward?” he blurted in surprise.

The finely dressed Edward, who should have been in the Tulip Kingdom, had come to Thorn City?

“Oh? It’s you.” Edward stood on the bank, manipulating water magic to raise a column. At its top hovered a hollow sphere of water, inside of which a chaos-colored crystal pulsed with power. But moments later, the dangerous glow faded, the crystal turning into pure black.

Padma constantly drew on the God of Wine’s power to suppress the madness that welled up when he neared the chaos crystal.

That crystal was clearly the source of the frenzy.

Edward noticed his gaze fixed on it and explained:

“I was investigating the earlier wave of frenzied monsters, and tracked it here. Looks like this crystal is the source. What are you doing here?”

“A friend of Albin’s went missing. We were searching nearby, and also noticed monsters going berserk after drinking from this water.”

Edward smiled. “Seems our goals align. Is Zeman here too? I wanted to show this to him. Since he interacts with many monsters, maybe he can tell me more.”

Padma quickly blocked him.

He absolutely couldn’t let Edward bring this near Zeman!

“He… he’s busy bonding with Albin!”

Edward gave him a strange look.

Odd. From his observations, Padma cared deeply about Albin, and didn’t get along with Zeman that well. Yet here he was, actively avoiding a confrontation?

But Padma’s face wore that polished noble smile—a perfect mask that betrayed nothing.

Edward relented. “In that case, I’ll wait a bit before going.”

Padma quietly sighed in relief. “Lord Edward, aren’t you going to do something about that crystal?”

Edward lifted it with a miniature whirlwind, examined it for a while, and then ran some detection magic.

“This thing seems harmless to humans, only affecting monsters. But based on what you told me before—that the monster tide was caused by that traitor and a rat-type monster—I’m not sure which of them is behind this. I lean toward the monster, since it doesn’t resemble a magical artifact.”

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “If it was a monster’s doing, it may be tied to a specific monster’s ability.”

“That rat’s ability should be control-type,” Padma reminded him. “Back in the tower, I saw him controlling a guard.”

Edward fell silent, noncommittal. After studying it for some time, he ultimately decided to seal the crystal first.

Padma breathed easier, then led him back to Albin and Zeman.

Edward’s sharp gaze swept over him, as though he had noticed something.

As they walked, Edward suddenly asked:

“Padma, are you a monster?”

Before Padma could reply, Edward’s eyes sharpened:

“Well, whether you’re a monster or not doesn’t matter. What I want to know is—Zeman. Is he a monster?”

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