When the pursuers burst out of the cave, Nab was nowhere in sight. Instead, standing under the silver glow of the moon was a white-haired young man.
The silvery light bathed Noah like a halo, giving him a calm, sacred, almost inviolable aura. His mere presence made the five cultists hesitate.
Noah smiled faintly, eyes glimmering with interest. Their masks, robes, and equipment made their identity clear.
*Black Magic Cult. Again. They really haunt me on every long trip.*
"Who are you?!" their leader barked, dark energy already flickering in his palms. "Where's the mountain native who ran just now?"
Noah covered a yawn, ignoring the threat, then calmly raised three fingers.
"First—my name is Nexus."
"Second—he's my companion. He's from a mountain tribe, yes, but calling him 'indigenous' is insulting."
"Third—tell me why you were disguised as Vulcans."
The last word barely left his mouth before Noah's figure vanished.
Pain exploded through the leader's abdomen like a cannonball impact, dropping him to his knees. He gagged and choked, clutching his stomach.
Noah stood beside him leisurely. "Seriously? One punch and you're down? Weak."
The leader's face contorted, his body trembling from the sheer force as if he might faint where he knelt.
The other four reacted in alarm, eyes going wide. Their captain—flattened in mere seconds by this youth?
"We've got numbers!" one shouted desperately. "Four against one—victory's ours!"
"Everyone—attack!"
The classic cannon-fodder line.
Four roars, four spells unleashed at once.
"Ahh!"
"Ghh!"
"Urk!"
"Eh!"
And four heavy thuds followed.
Noah sighed and brushed off his hands, glancing at the unconscious men. "Really now… you scream louder than you fight."
He motioned Nab to emerge from hiding and tie up the four, while he himself dragged the groaning leader from the cave entrance.
Scooping up a clump of snow, Noah stuffed it down the leader's robes with a wicked grin. The freezing sting tore a shiver out of the man that even Nab flinched to witness.
"Cruel!" Nab whispered. "That's a horrible punishment…"
Ignoring the commentary, Noah crouched down. "Talk. Why impersonate Vulcans and herd them to Mount Hakobe?"
Though shivering violently, the cult captain tried to look defiant, gritting his teeth.
"Hmph! Nexus, don't dream of breaking me. I'll never reveal the cult's plans."
His chest swelled with pride. Then he blurted:
"…Don't think I'll tell you we're hunting the 'Snow White Beast.'"
"…"
"Or that we intend to use it to brew an ultimate magic potion, then perform a *blood sacrifice* on Rubinas as revenge for the fall of Black Bird!"
He snarled and snapped upright, glaring proudly. "Hah! No matter what torture you try, I'll never say another word!"
Noah and Nab blinked at him. Silence stretched.
"…You already said everything," Noah muttered, dumbfounded.
To sum up—he looked tough, but the moment he opened his mouth, every secret spilled right out. More than a trait of the cult, this was a rare talent: fearless if shameless.
Still, Noah pieced out the crucial details.
The cult hadn't yet captured the **Snow White Beast**. Rumor claimed it was an herbivore that fed solely on Winter Snow Grass—its body likely rich with healing ability and immense magic. Though no one had seen it firsthand, the cult clearly believed it.
His smile faded. A cold glint cut through his gaze. *A blood sacrifice on Rubinas… this cult is never done.*
---
[Ding~ Commission Completed. Please receive your reward.]
The voice of Prayer Magic buzzed in Noah's mind, but he barely paid attention. Nab was injured—he needed to be taken back down soon.
"Head back. You've done enough," Noah told him quietly.
The white-haired boy turned back toward the kneeling captain. Five cultists with blood on their hands. Even foot soldiers had killed to earn their place.
He had no intention of showing mercy.
His fingers snapped.
**Boom.** Lines of explosive magic in all five elements—fire, water, wind, earth, thunder—etched themselves into their bodies. The leader's eyes widened in horror, but before any protests could leave his lips, the marks flared brightly.
The snow swallowed the sound of screams. By the time it ended, the only thing the storm erased faster than their blood was Noah's footprints.
---
Atop a nearby branch, a small snow leopard cub shook flakes from its ears. Clutched in its arms, a fat white hamster gnawed on grass.
"Shirayuki! Did you see? That guy is amazing!" the kitten chirped.
"Squeak. (Yeah.)"
"He beat the bad guys, so we don't have to hide anymore!"
"Squeak. (Yeah.)"
"Then let's go make friends with him!"
"Squeak squeak squeak!!" protested the hamster desperately.
Ignoring its friend's panic, the little snow leopard seized the hamster in its tiny jaws and spread translucent wings. With a flap, it soared off after Noah, vanishing into the swirling snow.
---
**The next morning.**
The villagers gathered joyfully to send Noah and Nab off. Laden with gifts and supplies, they climbed aboard a departing merchant cart.
Noah had quietly split the commission reward with Nab the night before.
He hadn't told the village chief the true culprits were cultists—better to report the matter discreetly. Back in Magnolia, as "Nexus," he would write a full account to Lahar and trust the Council to move accordingly.
Nab, spent from battle, nodded off quickly, his light injuries needing only a few days' healing with medicine brewed from Winter Snow Grass.
Noah sat quietly, mulling over last night, when one of the gift bundles in the cart twitched.
Curious, he opened it—and blinked.
Inside was a sleeping snow leopard kitten, paws wrapped tightly around a plump white hamster. A half-chewed strip of dried meat dangled from its mouth.
The hamster, on reflex, froze solid, pressing flat against the kitten like a pancake, eyes squeezed shut in fake death.
A smile tugged at Noah's lips.
A **Transcendent Cat.** And a **Magic Mouse.**
An interesting pair, indeed.
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