Stray

It wasn’t easy to run through the intertwining woods. Seemingly dense places could be full of rotting leaves and curly roots, not to mention the annoying vine like cobwebs. Ann ran steadily, and Oliver struggled to follow because his body hadn’t recovered. After Nemo tripped over the tree roots for the fifth time, his enthusiasm for fleeing for his life was mostly gone. If it weren’t for his resilient body that was fused with demon flesh, he would have sprained his ankle ten times over by now.

Nemo deeply suspected that he was not of the same species as the other two. Those two were seemingly born with more than a pair of eyes as they could see through the thick moss and dead leaves and avoided all the pitfalls.

Nemo gritted his teeth and tried to get up and continue running, but his ankles were tangled by a slender vine, and he couldn’t break free for a moment. He looked back subconsciously; the Seymour Worm was still stopped quietly in place, looking like a bulging black abscess from a distance.

“Hey— You two!” The staff was stained with worm mucus and was covered in dirt and grass clippings that were glued to it. He used it as a walking stick. “Wait for me—”

Oliver stopped first. He held on to the trunk of a tree and panted for a while. His injured left leg wasn’t fully recovered, and the wound had started to slightly bleed. Due to his smooth movements these past few days, Nemo thought Ann had used some powerful healing technique.

“Did you fall?” Oliver had no intention of caring about his own legs. He gently stretched out his hand towards Nemo.

The corners of Nemo’s mouth twitched. He didn’t have any cleanliness habit of hating touching other people, but at this moment, he had a weird feeling. Oliver was deliberately increasing the number of physical contacts. The last time he felt this atmosphere was when he saw the little boys in the orphanage rushing to tease the neighbor’s guard dog.

But when his gaze glanced towards Oliver’s bleeding left leg to the gentle emerald eyes, Nemo couldn’t help but soften his heart at the thought of what they’ve been through these past few days. Besides, he wasn’t a noble lady and between the two of them, there was no need to show off. He obediently stretched out his dirty hands, stood firm against Oliver, and then poked those annoying vines with his staff.

As soon as Nemo shook off the last piece of vine from his ankle, he looked up and saw Ann’s complex eyes.