15 The Second Rescue Operation Gets out of Hand (1/2)

I was awoken 5 hours later by a sharp pain on both my shoulders. When I looked to see who the culprit was I saw two cats sinking their teeth into my skin.

Yuu - Ouch!! If you girls were hungry I had extra food, you don't have to eat me!!

Both of them let go of me and tried to play it off as nothing happened but Shirone's stomach made an appearance which was pretty funny. Giving out a tired sigh I pulled out some bread, some eggs, and bacon as well as a pan.

Reheating the fire that died out not long ago I started making some more food but I happened to notice something that caught my attention.

*Ding* [Congradulation Host has completed the hidden quest [Prince Charming]]

[Prince Charming -

You have discovered two helpless cat girls who are in desperate need of a hero.

Task 1: Save Kuroka and Shirone(Koneko) from falling into despair

Rewards:

1) skill - Grand Lotus Protection

2) skill - Inscription]

While I was happy I got a quest completion I couldn't stop an imaginary tick mark from appearing on my head. First of all I ain't no prince charming, second I never once planned to be a hero, and third, they were never going to enter despair. Maybe they'd get depressed but not despair it doesn't say that in the book... (it think).

[Grand Lotus Protection] (Active) Lvl:1 [Max Lvl: 10]

Active effect - A skill that makes a defense barrier in the shape of a lotus, 20 times stronger than normal barriers.

[Inscription] (Active) Lvl:1 [Max Lvl: 10]

Active effect - With the use of mana the user can inscribe defense based spells or skills into equipment (Derived from blacksmithing)

Honestly, these skills were amazing, after 10 long years I finally have a pure defense skill, and the second skill lets me mimic the effect onto another piece of equipment.

Quickly giving Kuroka and Shirone their food I searched through my inventory for some equipment to inscribe Grand Lotus Protection on too. However, the only thing I could muster that meet the requirement was some necklaces.

They had the same design as the one I gave Irina but they were made after she left. 1 week after she left I didn't know what to do so I started making stuff, lost on autopilot mode I saw that I made multiple version of the same necklace.

Having nothing else to do I began to work and after half an hour I was able to make two necklaces.

[Protection Lotus Pendant -

A pendant inscribed with the protection of a lotus. Whenever the user is in danger the Protection Lotus Pendant will activate making a barrier shielding the user. (Once used the inscription will wear off and it will return to being a normal pendant)]

The usage may have been limited but it was still better than nothing.

Yuu - Hey you too come here and put these on.

I don't know why I was being overprotective but my instincts kept telling me to be prepared and my instincts were usually on point. But I didn't get why; Nekoshou were really strong, they were are even feared by devils I don't think they'll be beaten by a small group of devils... right.

Another chill went down my spine, I felt like I needed to hurry, eating my food as fast as I could I cleaned up the campsite and we left. We were all running to the same location but quickly I meet with a problem, these girls were too slow.

If it were before I came to the Underworld then we'd be even but now for me, they're slow. I kept feeling this raging emotion telling me to go faster so I switched our individual running, to them being in my arms while I run. [Ground Shrink] took a lot of energy so I only used [dash] and the trip which should have taken a day was only 4 hours.

----

When the village came into view I noticed that the surroundings were oddly quiet. There were no devils or Nekoshou in sight. Keeping the girls in my arms I made my way into the village, and the sight I saw made my mind stop for a minute.

Scattered on the floor were multiple Nekoshou woman statues, all of them had different appearances and were in different positions. Some were on the ground some were standing up. There was even a pair that was cradling each other in their arms.

The girls weren't any better, the broke free from me and ran to the nearest statue of their old clan members. Once they got up close they were shocked the same as I was but I had more surprise in expression rather than shocked.

Yuu - [The Nekoshou were said to be strong when I heard about them in the book there's no way they could have fallen like this. There must be some clues I forgot to notice.]

Releasing my spirit sense I scanned the whole village and noticed that there was a lot of water spread throughout the city. Thinking that it was the only clue I could find I appraised the water and found something I didn't expect.

[Medusa's Curse -

A poison made from the blood of gorgons and other dangerous herbs. This poison can immediate the stare of Medusa and turn the consumer to stone. When diluted in water the effect is delayed by 6 hours, the more contaminated water that comes into contact with the skin hastens the injection rate. Immune to the purifying effects of life force energy, and can't be detected once consumed.

Created by a scientist of the Naberius branch family]

Damn! Turns out me being here affected more things than I thought, even people I didn't come in contact with were affected. Returning to the girls' side I appraised the Nekoshou woman and found out that they weren't dead yet!!

From what I could point out they were in a coma-like state considering the fact that [Medusa's Curse] was meant to be a neutralizing agent rather than a killing one. In the story, Kuroka told me on our way here they were here to capture the Nekoshou rather than killing them.

This means there's probably a cure back at Naberius Manor. The reason the Naberius army wasn't here was that they were at the source of the water poisoning it. They probably had a lot of people so they can have the manpower to transport the Nekoshou!