Chapter 16 Mela always comes up with something unexpected...
Mela always does things on a whim.
Although most of the time she was like a lazy cat, her activities revolved around the cabin, either lying in the rocking chair reading or writing a thick notebook at the table. Therefore, once she had the idea of going out, not even ten horses could pull her back.
"Let's go fishing."
Mela watched as large, dark clouds drifted overhead, gathering above the forest, threatening rain, and still spoke.
“If it rains, we might not be able to get back in time.” Compared to Mela, Lex clearly had a more realistic perspective.
What if I can't make it back in time and have to spend the night outside? What if I catch a cold wearing wet clothes?
While these things might not be a big deal for Mela—she could calmly pull out a bottle of medicine and drink it even if she had a high fever—for Lex, his subconscious instinct was to avoid getting into a mess.
Looking like a drowned rat is not a good look.
In addition, Lex sensed a pervasive dampness in the air and felt that if it were to rain, it would be a massive downpour.
In this kind of weather, it's much more comfortable to stay in the cabin and have a bowl of hot soup.
"Hehe, then Lex, you can stay here and watch the house. I'll take care of going fishing with Mela."
Sera practically wanted to raise all her paws in support of Mela's decision, and even unusually, she became the one urging, "Mela, Mela, let's forget about Lex and just go, it's just the two of us."
Mela ignored Silas and turned to Lex to confirm, "Are you really not coming along?"
Seeing that Mela was determined to go fishing before the storm, Lex relented, "I'll go pack my things."
Since we're going fishing, we need a fishing rod, right?
"A fishing rod? Can't you just find a long branch on the ground?" Mela had never used a special fishing rod before.
"What about the bait?" Lex suddenly had a bad feeling.
"Do we need to prepare for this in advance? Just dig into the ground, there will be a whole bunch of bugs ready-made." Mela said with a smile. Otherwise, Lex thought, why did she insist on bringing him and Silas along?
Of course, they had to conscript men.
Mela could simply relax and enjoy fishing with the bait they dug up.
Having come to terms with reality, Lex ended up taking only a basket of baguettes, Mela with nothing in her hands, and Silas who deliberately flew beside Mela to keep her away, and that's how they set off.
This time, Mela, along with Lex and Silas, headed southeast of the cabin.
If the Dark Forest is divided into three parts: the outer, the inner, and the deeper interior, then the cabin is built at the boundary between the inner and outer parts. The area where Bucky was last found is in the northern interior of the Dark Forest, so the tall trees block out the sun, and the surroundings appear gloomy.
But as they walked eastward, although the trees there were still tall and straight, with lush foliage, sunlight would occasionally shine through the gaps in the branches and leaves onto Mela and her party, washing away the eerie chill that seemed to rise from the depths of the earth.
That's probably why there are so many animals living in this area that can be seen with the naked eye.
Along the way, Mela and her companions encountered a family of rabbits, occasionally a roe deer peeking out from under a blade of grass, and in the distance, the clatter of hooves could be heard as the nimble figure of a sika deer flashed behind waist-high bushes.
After walking for a while, a huge lake suddenly appeared before us. The calm lake surface was like a mirror, reflecting the upside-down world.
Mela casually picked a rocky spot by the lake and sat down, then told Lex and Silas to hurry up and dig up some worms for her, and to remember to bring back a long twig.
Silas mustered all his energy this time, using both his claws and wings to frantically dig at the ground, practically wiping out the entire earthworm family.
In contrast, Lex didn't catch much bait, but the branches he brought back were long and thin, and the splinters had been trimmed, so they weren't prickly at all when held in his hand.
Mela was very satisfied, feeling that bringing the two of them out was definitely the right decision.
An earthworm was tied to the tip of a branch and submerged in the cold lake water. It struggled, creating a small, unnoticed ripple.
Perhaps the fish at the bottom of the lake also sensed the approaching storm and came to the surface to breathe, which resulted in them being attracted by Mela's insect bait.
Feeling the branch tremble, as if it had been bitten and pulled down by something, Mela immediately pulled back with all her might—the next second, a lively, silvery-white fish was flung up.
After landing on the soft grass, it still stubbornly flapped its tail, trying to jump back into the lake not far away.
However, Lex reacted quickly and poked the skin with a twig, the sharpened end of which easily pierced through the flesh.
Even though the large, silvery-white fish, which was as long as a forearm, still twitched occasionally, it was merely making a death throes on the branch.
One, two, and soon the branches were strung with fish of different sizes, and their colors indicated different species. However, as the orange-red flames rose, their thin skins all curled up from the grilling.
When he estimated that the fish was almost cooked, Lex removed the branch and peeled off the fish, then put it into the bread that had already been cut.
After spreading a thick layer of meat sauce, Lex handed the bread to Mela.
Having caught so many fish, Mela's enthusiasm for fishing had long since worn off. She casually tossed aside the branch she was using as a fishing rod, took the bread Lex offered, and began to nibble on it with relish.
Lex had prepared the meat sauce in advance. Although his skills were a bit rusty, as long as he was willing to add plenty of spices, the aroma when he opened the jar was still irresistible.
Just then, the second piece of bread was ready. Before Lex could even raise his hand, Silas, who suddenly poked his head out from the corner, forcibly snatched the bread away.
Silas cast a smug look at him.
Lex also gave a barely perceptible smile.
"Cough cough, this sauce is so sour—" Silas let out a tremendous cough.
It turns out that when Lex was spreading sauce on the bread, he spread meat sauce on one half and lemon sauce on the other half.
These lemons were picked before they were ripe, so you can imagine how sour they must have been.
Faced with Mela's probing gaze, Lextar calmly took a bite of the bread in his hand.
If Silas hadn't intended to steal his bread, he wouldn't have fallen into this trap at all. So, in the end, Silas brought this trouble upon himself.
Of course, Lex wasn't actually sure if Silas would do that; he was just being cautious and tested him a little.
However, Lex is now certain that Sylas seems to be targeting him.
Before they had finished eating the bread, a sudden downpour began.
Large raindrops pounded on the ground, quickly gathering into puddles of varying sizes, which were then crushed by brown ankle boots, leaving ripples of broken water.
Mela and Lex ran one after the other through the woods.
Silas had initially flown up and stood over Mela's head, trying to shield her from the rain.
As a result, Mela grabbed him and held him in her arms as they traveled together.
"No, the rain is too heavy. We need to find shelter first." Lex wiped the rain off his face. His vision was blurred by the white rain, and he could only see vague green shadows.
If we keep running like this, we could fall into a ditch or crash into a tree. It's too dangerous. We should find a place to take shelter from the rain and wait for it to stop.
“There!” Lex spotted a gray dot with his sharp eyes.
When they got closer, they saw that it was indeed a cave.
However, the cave was small, barely big enough for Mela and Lex to stand in. If Lex were a little taller, he would have had to give up the cave to Mela and find another place nearby to take shelter from the rain.
Even so, Lex was now forced to lean against Mela's arm, his wet shirt clinging to her wet shirt, dripping water constantly.
Even so, Mela seemed to be in a good mood, humming a tune that Lex had never heard before.
Isn't the reason obvious?
Mela went out to fish, and now that she's caught some, she's grilled them and is eating them.
Although it was unfortunate to encounter a rainstorm, it was also within expectations. If Mela didn't want to get wet, she could have simply chosen not to go out in the first place.
Silas, nestled in her arms, sobbed uncontrollably, deeply moved by Mela's act of shielding him from the rain. "Waaah, Mela is so good to Silas..."
Actually, Mela could have made Sylas bigger and sheltered Lex under its wings, so she wouldn't have gotten wet at all.
But Mela didn't do that.
Sometimes it's like that; rather than sacrificing yourself, it's easier to feel better if everyone suffers together.
So much so that the little bit of malice Silas had felt towards Lex earlier dissipated. What was there for Silas to argue with Lex about? In Mela's mind, Silas was definitely on the side of the scale that had fallen.
Before Lex knew it, Mela had easily stirred up a silent storm.
However, Mela was unaware of the complex thoughts swirling in Silas's mind. She simply smiled and ruffled its hair, saying, "Silly Silas, do you think I'm the kind of master who would only use you as a tool?"
“Of course not! Mela is the best master in the world!” Silas shouted.
“If it weren’t for Mela, Silas would have died under the tree long ago. It was Mela who brought Silas back to White Pine Town and made him a talking raven.” Silas began to recount Mela’s kindness to him, his eyes becoming more and more teary as he spoke.
Lex, who had remained silent all along, suddenly noticed something in his eyes and casually remarked, "White Pine Town? I remember that's a small town in Fister Territory, isn't it? It seems quite far from the Dark Forest."
“It’s quite far. If Mela and I hadn’t met Hall on the way, we wouldn’t have been able to get here on foot.” Silas was caught off guard and habitually struck up a conversation, inadvertently revealing his and Mela’s origins.
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