Chapter 52 | Raccoon and Gorilla

Everyone had already gathered in Ella’s room. Ella, wearing an extra coat, sat on the bed with her hands crossed. The redness in her ears was still quite visible.

Aria was sitting on a chair, holding a teacup, and white steam was rising from it. “Ella, try this chamomile tea,” she said.

“Thank you,” Ella replied, looking at Rain. “Are you take it off, your fluffy?”

Rain had already taken off his beastkin ears and tail, and he was now wearing a normal black shirt underneath and topped with a white fur coat. “Yep, no more raccoon-girl,” he said with a smile.

“Umm,” Ella murmured, taking a sip of tea. Its warmth soothed her mood.

Waa, It’s perfect for you.

Guru, Guru. he poured stones from his bag and started building a tower again.

On Rave side, he was wearing a normal coat and had his hair tied up in a ponytail. He stood close to the wall opposite Ella. He looked around and checked the room. It had two windows, a small bed, a clothes cabinet, and a small table with a simple chair.

What are you looking? Red hair.

Ella stared at him, and Rave instinctively bowed in apology for his rudeness. He remained in that position without moving.

“Don’t be too angry with him. He’s just curious about how a saint lives,” Aria said.

“I know… Two windows and one door are enough. Anything more than that would make me more worried,” Ella said.

Ella stopped paying attention to Rave and looked at Aria.

“Why did you bring them here? Men are not appropriate in a lady’s room, especially at night,” she said, hugging her chest and crossing her legs, clearly displeased.

“Don’t worry, I’ll handle it if they do anything reckless,” Aria reassured her, flicking her hand.

“I’m not afraid of the red-haired one. He seems to have good social skills. But I’m concerned about that filthy…” Ella said.

Both women looked at Rain. He was sitting on the floor, with a silly expression on his face and his tongue sticking out, focused on carefully placing tiny rocks on top of a larger rock. His hand trembled slightly. “Little one, be steady…don’t fall.”

Silly Raccoon.

Ella glanced back at Aria, who already had a wry smile on her face.

“Never mind…Aria, please continue with why you brought these two here,” Ella said.

“I want to introduce this man, Ravie Gold Feather, to you, and as for Rain, he just doesn’t want to be alone with kids,” Aria explained.

As was I thought.

Ella sighed. Ella reached her hand into a nearby drawer and took out a brown flat, sugar-coated. It had a sweet fragrance and was wrapped in a transparent bag.

She handed it to Rain. “It’s called a cookie. A merchant, whose face I don’t remember, gave it to me. You can have it.”

Rain quickly received it and said, “Wow, it looks delicious. Thank you.”

Such a rushed when you saw the snack.

“Kids always act annoyed like that. Don’t take it too seriously, okay?” Ella said. She showed him to divide the cookie in half with a hands gesture.

“Um,” Rain replied. He divided the cookie in half and gave one half back to Ella.

Ella shook her head. “Thank you, but I have plenty of them.”

So Rain handed it to Aria instead.

Aria smiled and waved her hand, saying, “It’s okay, you can have it all. Having something sweet this late is not good for me.”

Since no one took it, Rain gave it to Rave.

Rave nodded, accepted it, and put it in his bag. Rain took the other half in his mouth. “Sweet, this is so good,” before sitting on the floor and continued to play.

Ella looked at Rave and asked, “I’m Ella. Who are you? Are you a friend of that filthy raccoon, Redman?”

“My name is Ravie. I want to be a follower—” Rave began.

“No, absolutely not,” Ella interrupted, placing her cup on the table. She untied her crossed leg and stood up.

Guru! Guru! Rain’s rock tower fell down. He watched Ella’s feet, swayed his head, and then started arranging the stones again.

“Ella, but you don’t have any followers. No one is helping you preach and expand your radiance,” Aria pointed out.

“I don’t want any. I can do everything myself,” Ella stated.

“Is it better? That you have more hands to help?” Aria questioned.

“Aria, you’ve also come this far without any followers,” Ella remarked.

“I have—”

Thud! A foot stomped on the floor.

Guru! Guru! Rain’s rock tower fell down again.

Raccoon is ours.

“He doesn’t count. I mean the real follower who can hold the book and trust in holy words,” she pointed at Rain. “See, this fragile raccoon is not built to fight or have faith at all. He doesn’t even want to kill a single monster. He’s just a running luggage boy.”

“I see. I understand your thoughts, but we were talking about your candidate follower, or you can call him a running luggage boy if you want. This red-haired Ravie is a good candidate for that job,” Aria said.

Ella looked at Ravie and said, “No.”

“Please, Ella, listen to me first,” Aria pleaded.

Reluctantly, Ella sat back on her bed and avoided eye contact with Aria. She watched Rain playing with rocks instead. “Fine, I will listen.”

Aria’s mouth curled up slightly. “He can read and write perfectly well, better than any high priest.”

Raccoons can write as well, even though his handwriting is awful.

“Um,” Ella responded without looking back at Aria.

“He has a great memory and excellent analytical skills. He is also highly skilled in calculations. He would make a good secretary,” Aria continued.

Silly Raccoon can also calculate. Have you not seen his arrow?

“Um,” Ella said.

“He is also skilled in battles, even managing to fight me barehanded. This talent is rarely seen on the continent.”

He as well... fight...

Rain’s hands trembled as he tried to place the last rock on top.

“... I saw it,” Ella said.

“He can also imitate someone…perfectly.” Aria added.

Ella’s eyes widened as she looked at Rain’s hands, which had ten fingers.

Ten fine fingers.

Squeak! The sound of the edge of the bed rubbing against the floor. Ella sprang up.

“Guru! Guru! The rock tower fell again. This time, the man sitting on the floor didn’t collect the rocks anymore. He looked at her with a plain face, blank of emotion.

“So that means…” Ella slowly turned to look at Rain disguised as Rave. She didn’t bother checking his hands. The trembling and guilt in his eyes revealed everything. “So that’s why you always look at the floor and accept cookies so easily.”

Rain’s body startled as he quickly moved his hand to protect the cookie. His hand was now covered in sweat.

Why are you lying to me? Is that cookie more important than your life?

Ella’s eyebrows furrowed as she pointed two fists towards the ground. The tips of her hair stood on end. “Raccoon! Looked at me.”

Rain slowly lifted his head, his face glistening with sweat. His eyes darted from left to right. “H-h-hello, I’m Rain…”

Don’t give me that silly face.

Thud, thud. Ella began walking towards Rain, her eyes shone golden.

“Want…” Ella stood in front of him, causing Rain to step back until his back was against the wall. Small tears formed in his eyes.

“To be a follower…” Ella swiftly grabbed the cookie from his bag and put it into his mouth.

Rain hesitated to munch on the cookie. Ella grabbed his chin and commanded in a cold voice, “Eat it.”

Rain obediently ate the cookie, savoring its bittersweet taste. “Yum… yum…”

“Is it sweet?” Ella’s eyes shone even brighter.

“S-sweet,” Rain swiftly nodded.

“To trick me like this.” Ella lowered her eyebrows, her eyes coming closer together. Her golden irises transformed into a star-shaped cross as she stared at him.

Rain’s head temperature dropped, warmth drained from his face. “Ella, please, please listen…”

Ella refused. “No, I will cut out your tongue. The world will be a better place—” A warm sensation interrupted her as it touched her shoulder.

Aria spoke with concern, “Ella, spare him. This was not his plan.”

“What?! This mischievous plan could only come from his filthy mind. Aria, you should not defend him. I will punish him and guide him towards the light side.” Ella’s determined gaze remained fixed on him.

Aria flinched slightly. “I… will take that as a compliment.”

“Yes, you should compliment me for teaching him…this.” Ella lowered her hands and slowly turned to look at Aria. “Eh, this was your plan, Aria.”

“Um,” Aria grabbed Ella’s hand. “He refused to go along with this plan and insisted it wasn’t right. I convinced him to do it.” Aria explained.

“Really?” Ella asked, raising an eyebrow.

Aria nodded. “I thought it would work, you know, with Ravie’s potential.” Aria sighed. “If I had known it would turn out like this, I would have used his absurd plan instead,”

“Aria… Why did you do this to me? Wait, what is the absurd plan?” Ella questioned.

“...” Aria stared at Ella.

“...” Ella stared back, eager to know the answer.

What is that silly raccoon plan please tell me?

Finally, Aria signed and began explaining, “He suggested we should wear… a beastkin costume and perform a dance for you. I would be in the center, wearing a white cat dress, while two raccoons accompany me. We would dance until your heart melted, and then I would approach you and touch your chin.” Aria imitated the moves, touched Ella’s chin. “Lady Ella, would you like a raccoon as a follower? I found another one of good quality.”

“Raccoon,” “Raccoon,” “Raccoon,” the picture of Aria wearing the beastkin costume and gossiping about raccoons beside her ear repeated the word.

Aria with fluffy tail and ears... it’s absolutely fabulous! I really want to see it…please don’t touch me with that fluffy, it tickles.

Ella lowered her head and chuckled like an old woman holding a beautiful white cat. Her legs weakened, and she stumbled back onto the bed, causing blood to drip from her nose.

Aria swiftly moved towards Ella, took out a napkin, and wiped the blood away.

“What happened to her, Rain?” Aria asked, concerned. “Could there be something in the tea that she’s allergic to?”

“No, the tea is fine. It’s an anxiety remedy,” Rain replied, removing his wig as he approached the rock tower. He moved all the rocks to under Ella’s bed and gave one to Aria. “Her maiden heart is under attack. She admires your beauty through her conscious mind.”

“Ah… I see,” Aria nodded as if understanding. She placed the stone in Ella’s hand and said, “Ella, can you hear me?”

“Yes, yes, I can hear you. Good raccoon, right?” Ella responded.

“Ella, there are no raccoon here,” Aria clarified.

“Hehe, so white,” Ella giggled.

Rain looked at Ella and pleaded, “Ella, please stop pretending… I admit defeat. Please, name your price.”

Ella remained motionless, lost in her dreamlike vision.

Rain gazed at Aria, his smile accompanied by a small tear that escaped his eye. “Aria, when I’m gone, please bury me with blue flowers, alright?”

Aria tilted her head, puzzled by his words.

Rain turned to Ella and said, “Don’t make that silly face, Ella. It makes you look like a gorilla—”

Bang! Punched at the face, Rain’s body flew back, but Rave swiftly caught him before he crashed into the wall.

Aria’s eyes widened in shock.

“Your face, and the faces of all your ancestors, look like gorillas!” Ella shouted. Aria quickly grabbed her hand to calm her down.

“See! Aria? He only has bad intentions. His mind is filled with lowly thoughts. How can my beautiful face resemble that of a big black mammal that loves to eat bananas?” Ella said.

Rain, with a swollen cheek, retorted, “I mean Bower, your Bower is Btrong like a Borilla, See! Bunched me Blew like this.”

“Let go of me, Aria. I’ll teach him a lesson and turn his filthy mind to the light. He eats too many bananas. All that sugar is killing his brain,” Ella said. Aria did her best to restrain Ella while using a water ball spell to heal Rain’s swollen cheek.

“What’s wrong with your brain? I’m already on the side of white, Rave, Don’t hold me. This girl needs to eat more Chuppa Chuppa so that her brain has enough sugar to function,” Rain argued.

Ella’s eyebrows furrowed, and a vein popped up on her neck. Her hands trembled as she shouted, “Raccoon!”

“So what? Brainless, big-armed gorilla Elmyra!” Rain retorted.

“Argh, you crazy, filthy, bastard raccoon Rain!” Ella exclaimed.

Rain grinned widely. “See, Ella? My name isn’t that hard to pronounce.”

Ella was shocked by his sudden change in attitude. “Huff, huff. You tricked me again.”

Rain raised both hands in surrender. “Ella, I’m sorry. I already told you, I lost this argument. I can’t negotiate any further. Besides, you’re my friend. I don’t want to fight or argue with you. Rave and I really need your help. You’re the only one who can help us. So please, help us.”

Flop! Ella sat down on her bed, hugging her arms and crossing her legs. “Hmph! Fine, tell me, Raccoon. I’m listening.”

Aria sat beside Ella on the bed and looked at Rain, offering a smile. She also wanted to apologize to him for not initially listening to his plan.

Rain nodded and took a seat on a chair, facing the two ladies. “Alright, let’s begin from the time we depart…”