"Waaaah!"
The cry of the little girl pierced the silence of the moment.
The people, each lost in their thoughts, turned their heads simultaneously to look at the cage still hanging under the big tree.
The white-haired rat looked quite helpless, while the little girl, who had just regained her composure, shrank into the corner of the cage with a face full of fear.
Seeing there was only one rat left, Alyris grasped her sword and got ready to approach.
"Hey! Big guy, what do you intend to do? Wait! Wait! I'm not with those black rats, didn't you see I was locked up too?
Just now I even protected this…"
The big white rat seemed to sense Alyris's thoughts and hurriedly said.
"Alright, Alyris, she's not the same as those sharp-eared Ratmen."
"Exactly! Exactly! I'm not like them at all."
The white rat nodded repeatedly.
Kana stepped over and opened the wooden cage.
He took out the little girl who had been frightened to the core, and the moment she was lifted out, she finally seemed to find some support and cried wildly, clutching Kana tightly.
"Okay, okay, it's all over now."
After calming the little girl down a bit, Kana handed her over to Alyris.
Alyris, somewhat flustered, took the girl awkwardly.
Kana took another look at the white-haired Ratman crawling out of the cage: "Round-eared Ratman, why are you here?"
The Ratmen are divided into two clans, vastly different from each other.
The sharp-eared Ratmen, undoubtedly an evil race, are always marked as red-name monsters in games, fitting all the impressions people have about rats.
Due to their size and courage, they often target the young of various races for harm.
This has led Ratmen to directly cross the bottom line of all intelligent races and become a scourge that must be eradicated.
Round-eared Ratmen, in games, are largely green allies, at the very least white neutrals.
The worst thing they've ever done is theft, and theft always comes with a touch of chivalry.
Compared to their kin, round-eared Ratmen have a very high level of civilization, and their among their groups, adventurers, polymaths, archaeologists, and mages often emerge.
In some big cities, it's common to see round-eared Ratman translators.
From this, you can tell their level of civilization.
Their over-civilization, however, means their population cannot match the sharp-eared Ratmen's at all.
They generally reside around various civilized cities, and it has to be big cities.
The distinguishing features of the two races are very easy to tell apart.
One has sharp ears, the other has round ears.
Sharp ears are mostly black or gray fur.
Round ears are mostly white or brown fur.
This round-eared Ratman looked quite miserable as well, having clearly suffered a lot while being locked up in the cage.
"Referring to rats by race is a bit impolite, you can call me Bobo.
Bobo from Ratariel—Sapphire Island.
What's your name? Big guy."
Bobo, crawling out of the cage, brushed off the dust on herself and tugged at her tattered clothes.
Ratariel—Sapphire Island?
One of the Four Islands Surrounding the Sea, Kana roughly understood how she got here.
"Did you come here by sea vessel?"
"That's right, you actually guessed it right away, smart big guy. And your name?"
"Just call me Kana."
"Alright, Kana, how about we talk about these questions later? Bobo thinks this doesn't seem like a good place to chat.
Moreover, you should still be in the middle of a battle, as a commander shouldn't you focus more on the battle at hand?"
Bobo kindly reminded him.
Her words instantly made Alyris and Blake change their perception of the rat vastly.
This rat was way too different from those rats they just hacked away at.
The rat's tone, demeanor, and actions all conveyed that she was a scholarly and civilized being.
"I must admit, you're right."
Kana turned to look at Blake, whose complexion had somewhat recovered by now.
"How about it? Can you still hang in there?"
As he spoke, he pulled the slumped Blake up from the ground.
Hearing this, Blake nodded his head: "Rest assured, Your Highness, I'm just… just a bit dazed."
Today's experiences were richer than all his past experiences combined.
He had many questions in his mind, but he knew now was not the time to ask them.
"That's good. Would you mind checking the situation ahead, see how Jonel and the others are handling it."
The main thing is to see whether those ordinary rats in front are also corrupted by Void.
Blake nodded and turned to leave.
Before, he might have dawdled a bit, as his sole duty was to protect the Prince.
But now he must admit that there is a gap in strength between him and Alyris.
The encounter with that bizarre giant rat earlier already said it all.
Moreover, he already has great confidence in Kana, though he doesn't seem to realize this himself.
Kana turned his head.
He only saw Alyris now standing still, seemingly stiff in her posture. It was because the little girl in her arms had fallen asleep.
Alyris cast a pleading look towards Kana.
Kana chuckled and said, "Let her sleep. Today's experiences were overwhelming for a child.
Besides, she feels you can provide her with a sense of security; otherwise, she wouldn't have fallen asleep. You should be happy, try to relax a bit."
Alyris nodded, and perhaps because Kana's words did indeed have an effect, she relaxed a little.
She even imitated the way she'd seen mothers before, gently swaying her body.
However, her expression still looked somewhat desolate.
Kana saw this clearly but did not immediately comfort her.
Meanwhile, Bobo was strolling around, pulling out a heap of ragged clothes from somewhere and draping them over herself.
Changing out of that ragged outfit seemed to make her feel a lot better, and she felt relaxed.
"Wow, I didn't expect you to be a Prince, truly an oversight."
Bobo performed a simple gesture of etiquette.
From this, Kana had to admit that Bobo was indeed knowledgeable.
This was a diplomatic etiquette common to most human kingdoms.
"Let's not talk about other matters first, I need to find something, a half-piece of a stone tablet.
It's a slate from some ancient civilization, quite likely the Ancient Alchemy Empire. If you've seen it, I'm sure you wouldn't forget it."
Bobo nodded: "Bobo knows what you're talking about, I saw Forktail with that thing.
Bobo even asked him to show it to Bobo, but apparently, he didn't want to."
After saying this, she added: "Forktail is the Tooth Blade… the big rat you just took down."
"I know what Tooth Blade means," Kana said.
This surprised Bobo a little: "You are more scholarly than I thought."
After saying this, Bobo rummaged through the pile of junk she had just been searching through for some time. From it, she fished out a half-piece of a stone tablet, as large as her head.
"I think this is what you're talking about."
Kana looked at the stone tablet and nodded slightly.
"Yes, that's it."
After receiving the stone tablet, Kana examined it closely once more to ensure it was indeed what he needed.
He began searching through the pile of junk for any potential spoils.
Watching this behavior, Bobo scratched her head, a little confused.
Could there be something valuable in there that she didn't know about?
Couldn't be.
It was clear that all the junk in that pile was stuff these rats had picked up, stolen, or plundered from who knows where.
"Uh, what are you looking for? Perhaps I can help," Bobo said beside him.
"Meaningful items."
Kana dismissed casually, but he didn't find anything useful in that pile of trash.
"How about this item?"