Chapter 53 The Dog and Cat Detective Sniffs.
Ashlin glanced at the old, worn-out mirror in the corner.
In the mirror was a golden retriever that looked to be less than a year old.
It was hard to believe that the long, blond-haired creature was herself. She stared in surprise, sniffing the mirror; a strong smell of dust and bronze filled her nostrils.
Now she understood what it felt like for Lucas to be a cat, but not entirely. Clearly, she looked far more powerful than Lucas! In terms of size, Lucas could easily lie on her back.
Ashlin felt a small sense of relief; at least she wasn't the short one anymore.
Outside the window, the beastmen seemed to be laughing loudly and stomping their feet like musicians; the audience, unfamiliar with magic, were puzzled and had no idea what was happening.
However, as long as we can communicate with Lucas, it should be considered "half the problem solved".
So she forced herself to say, "Woof, Lucas, can you understand me?"
The black cat sniffed Ashlin's nose, then, as if struck by something in the air, it jerked back, shook its head violently, and closed its eyes tightly.
Ashlin leaned closer and hummed a few words of concern before he opened his eyes, his pupils dilating several times over.
Ashlin felt a surge of joy and wagged her tail. Clearly, her Lucas had returned. The Lucas with human intelligence and language.
Once she transforms into a small animal, it seems she can activate some human aspects of the black cat Lucas's soul. LKD's notes don't mention this, presumably because LKD's communicator is a real raven. Alternatively, Lucas could only be restored to his senses by Ashlin as a puppy, since his curse was also placed by Ashlin.
Lucas seemed to only then notice her, and was startled again; a line of black hair on his back bristled, resembling a fuzzy mountain range. The rest of his hair remained unchanged.
Ashlin wanted to bite him, but considering they were being watched by all the orcs, it was somewhat indecent.
Lucas narrowed his eyes. "What does that mean? Was I thinking something wrong before?"
Lucas closed his eyes and raised one paw.
“Alright, that’s enough. I can remember, but the memories feel like they don’t belong to me.” He shuddered. “It’s terrifying! I don’t understand why this happened? Was it the High Priest’s doing?”
“It was not my doing,” Araknia’s voice rang out. “Your Highness’s curse is deepening because of the entanglement between witchcraft and Your Highness’s own heart, and has nothing to do with me.”
The spider woman crawled out from the corner, the black image slowly shedding from her body like a veil. Her long, eight legs scraped sharply across the wooden floor, making a clicking sound.
"The first trial is over, Ashlyn Bailey."
She excitedly raised her legs in a series of rapid movements, which was simply dazzling.
Suddenly, Ashlin was no longer in the tree hollow, but was surrounded by orcs from the entire Coldclaw Forest.
Billy Mara shouted and led the applause, which the other orcs followed. The four-legged creature stomped its feet, and the pigeon-man cooed excitedly. The fox-orc, meanwhile, grumbled and gave Billy twenty copper coins.
"Ashlin! Ashlin! Ashlin!" they cheered, without mocking her appearance. Ashlin guessed that the High Priests' tastes might really be peculiar; they were already used to the bizarre appearances of the trial participants.
Ashlyn bowed like a dog, and Lucas happily nuzzled her. Just once.
"However, Your Highness's current return to consciousness is entirely due to the witch's transformation into a canine form, a soul-binding connection that temporarily opened your heart. If Your Highness's sanity is to remain, only a wreath can suffice," the High Priest said. "The power of the wreath can alleviate the curse, ensuring mental clarity even in cat form, and allowing one to transform into a half-human, half-cat form for a limited time of one hour. However, this is not a cure, for the wreath is ultimately my creation, and its power has its limits."
Ashlin's heart sank; the hope that had been covering her heart was blown away like dust by the high priest's words.
In other words, even if Ashlinn weren't a dog, Lucas would still lose his mind unless they obtained the wreath to alleviate the curse. After that, they would need to collect all four items to completely break the curse.
The high priest gave Ashlin a meaningful look. Suddenly, she realized she had missed a crucial hint.
"I don't understand. What is the point of this trial? And how do you know about that book, and how do you have the key to it? Do you know who LKD is?"
“I possess the Heavenly Eye, seeing the world as clearly as the lines on my palm,” Arachnia said. “The mysteries of the trial are beyond my comprehension, even for me. You must understand their profound meaning yourself. The key was left behind by Billy Mara. As for LKD…”
She shook her head, her gaze drifting towards Lucas.
So Lucas did know something, and so did the High Priest. But they both chose not to tell her.
Ashlin had never liked people who talked a lot about riddles, and those who spoke in ancient Chinese riddles were making her patience slowly wear thin, gradually reducing her already low opinion of them to negative levels. If she said a few more things like that, she would be categorizing Arachnia and Aidan as the same kind of person.
Everyone was hiding everything from her; she was veiled off from the world. Sanova concealed her divine blood and evaded the truth about her origins; Aidan concealed his purpose and lied, claiming to be infatuated with her; the dwarf Nova was secretive about the ring and the Yeti; Rae didn't tell her the truth about being wanted; the High Priest spoke only vague and empty words; even Lucas, who had accompanied her all the way, was full of secrets.
But when has she ever lied to anyone or hidden anything? She even considered confessing her uncertain feelings for Lucas.
The ground trembled slightly, and a few tiny ants fled from it. She tried her best to remain calm and let the magic subside.
Not now. Not when all the orcs are watching.
“So what’s the next trial?” Lucas asked. “I don’t want to lose my humanity again.”
“The Trial of Truth.” Arachnia seemed very excited. “To see through the illusions and find the truth is to pass.”
Her eight eyes were fixed on them expectantly, as if they should be shouting excitedly, "Great! Let's begin the trial!"
The result was just an awkward silence.
The dog and the cat looked at each other.
“Seek the truth you seek,” Arachnia said, looking at Ashlin, then turning to Lucas before looking back at Ashlin, “speak the truth you should speak. This is all I can show you.”
She paused. "Maintaining this state during the trial is the best course of action. The true trial begins now. You have one day; if you fail to complete it, you will die."
Those are really high standards.
Snowflakes drifted through the forest, landing on my fur with a slightly cool sensation, but much milder than the previous heavy snowfall.
For some reason, the orcs were incredibly excited about passing the trial, but Ashlin was willing to bet that very few orcs actually understood the details of the Trial of Wisdom; most were just following the crowd.
With great difficulty, they managed to jump off the beastmen's thick hands or claws and reach a quieter path.
Ashlin glanced at the cat. He continued walking, carefully avoiding all the snow and mud on the road, occasionally letting out a sound of disgust. After all, he had always "traveled" on Ashlin's shoulder or in her arms, and even after all that, his obsession with cleanliness hadn't improved.
Hmph, he seems so carefree. A nameless anger surged within her.
When he lost his mind and made a complete mess of everything, it was she who racked her brains to pass the trial; when he might become a silly cat forever, it was she who risked everything to become a dog and pull him back. And him? From beginning to end, he kept it all hidden, knowing exactly what was going on, yet acting like a spectator watching a play.
She remembered the high priest's words: "Seek the truth you seek, and speak the truth you ought to speak."
What she wanted to know was crystal clear: the truth about Billy's amnesia, the poisonous herb, LKD's notes, and Lucas's cover-up. He was the one who stole LKD's notes, and he was the one who pointed out Billy's use of the poisonous herb.
She made up her mind that no matter what Lucas said next, she would respond very, very coldly.
The tranquility of the Cold Claw Forest is always relative. After walking only a few steps, a heated argument erupted from the fork in the road.
"You blind old bird! Didn't you see Lord Marshall was about to pass by?" a shrill voice rang out.
It was a Greta orc with rabbit ears and red eyes, wearing a single gold-rimmed spectacle and an expensive fur coat. Beside him was a tall, antlered Greta, with a square chest and a jaw as wide as if filled with stones, also dressed in magnificent attire. And between them was a bird-headed Norira, with a broken pair of spectacles perched on its long beak.
The rabbit-man shoved the bird-man, while the deer-man crossed his arms and watched smugly.
"I'm sorry, I'll move it right away..." The birdman was carrying a box of jewelry, probably having just returned from a market.
"You're so slow!" the deer-man roared. "Not only did this pile of junk break my leg, but now it's wasting my precious time!"
Ashlin was instantly enraged. She was about to rush forward when Lucas pushed her down into the muddy ground by the roadside. The two of them rolled together, covered in mud, and almost tumbled into the ditch below the slope.
“That’s wise,” Lucas said in his familiar, annoying tone. “The trial only lasts one day, so don’t meddle in things that don’t concern you. I know it’s unfair that Noreira is being treated this way, but the orcish mindset is deeply ingrained, and your barking won’t change anything.”
He pounced on her, calmly watching her.
Ashlin gritted her teeth. "I understand. Just like you, as a prince, you can't change your prejudice against commoners and wizards, can you?"
Ashlin kicked him and ran towards the three orcs, barking wildly. The orcs were clearly shocked, but even more so, amused, by the little dog that had suddenly barked at them.
The deer-man howled in pain, while the rabbit-man vanished in a flash.
“Get out of here!” Ashlin said, though she knew he wouldn’t understand.
The deer-man hugged his leg, muttered a few curses under his breath, and limped away.
"Th-thank you, little puppy." The birdman gratefully patted her head with his wing, then squinted his eyes, even more surprised, "Oh, I recognize you, you're the girl who won the first trial, right?"
Ashlin nodded and wagged her tail.
The birdman rummaged through the jewelry box and pulled something out, handing it to Ashlin. It was a small silver ring.
"This is for you, as a thank you gift." Ashlin wanted to refuse, but the birdman simply stuffed the ring into Ashlin's spatial backpack, picked up the box, and continued forward.
"How did it go?" Ashlin looked up at Lucas. "I've got it sorted out."
Then she realized she should act coldly, so she turned away again.
Ashlinn didn't answer, but pulled "An Introduction to the Fundamentals of Magic" out of her backpack and rudely threw it in front of the cat.
Lucas gave her a strange look, but was quickly drawn to the notebook.
Then he paused for a moment, then sniffed forward.
Ashlin took a sniff as well.
What's different about this notebook?
odor.
When she was human, she couldn't smell anything. But dogs have a very keen sense of smell, and "Introduction to the Fundamentals of Magic" smelled like a bottle of strong wine, but it wasn't real wine; it had a familiar magical scent that went beyond the aroma of wine.
She had drunk a bottle of wine that tasted exactly the same at the masquerade ball in Fairy Valley.
“I think so,” Ashlin said. “A potion of forgetfulness.”
“Billy didn’t lose his memory because of the poisonous weeds. He lost it by reading this notebook!” Lucas said immediately. “You read this notebook too, Ashlin. Do you think there’s anything missing in your memory?”
"No."
How much did you watch?
“Only the beginning.” Aha, he started again, like an interrogation.
"That makes sense. A section of this notebook was enchanted with a forgetting spell, and Billy likely happened to read that section and obtained information about the poisonous herb. Before the forgetting spell took effect, he found the herb, ingested it, and fell into a coma. Only then did the forgetting spell take effect."
Ashlin frowned. "But why would he take poisonous herbs?"
“I have an idea,” Lucas said, “but it needs to be verified.”
Ashlin had a feeling that Lucas's thoughts were complicated.
"Wait!" The black cat immediately jumped onto the book. "That's dangerous. What if we also lose our memories? Wouldn't all our efforts be for nothing? The scope of forgetting magic might be off. If we forget some important information, the consequences would be dire."
Ashlin snorted. "Alright, then what brilliant idea do you have?"
"The Truth-Revealing Magic might counteract the effects of the Oblivion Magic, allowing us to see the truth about Billy. Ashlin, do you still have the Truth-Revealing Potion from the High Priest's room?"
“Only parchment soaked in the potion of truth-revealing.” Ashlin said as she walked, taking out the rainbow-colored papers from her spatial backpack. “These are useless. I don’t know the recipe for the potion of truth-revealing.”
The black cat's blue eyes sparkled.
"Are you sure you don't know?" His tail curled into a ring. "Although Ray said the High Priestess is capricious, I don't think anything in the trials was arranged haphazardly by her. There must be a reason why she asked us to complete the second trial in animal form. What is the biggest advantage cats and dogs have over humans?"
There was absolutely no need for thought; Ashlin was already completely overwhelmed by the chaotic smells and wished she could immediately develop rhinitis to reduce the overwhelming amount of information coming through her nose.
"Smell," she said immediately.
Lucas looked at her with satisfaction.
They carefully smelled the rainbow-colored paper.
Rue, mugwort, moonflower, and the verdigris on the church door lock. Ashlind could almost see the herbal ingredients mixed together, finally brewed under a rainbow, becoming a colorful magic potion.
"Unfortunately, these things are hard to find. The High Priest might have rue, but moonflower fruit and church patina? Cold Claw Forest won't have them."
“That’s right,” Lucas said, still enthusiastic, “but you’ve overlooked one point. According to Grummel’s Three Laws of Magic, as described in *Magic and the Unfathomable Connections Between Different Forms of Magic IV*…”
"Speak like a human being, thank you."
"We are all animals."
Ashley stared at him.
“Alright! What I mean is, as long as we know the potion recipe, we can deduce the spell.” Lucas quickly said, “Revelation magic is divided into three categories, remember? Revelation potions, revelation spells, and revelation rituals. We don’t have enough materials to make the potion, and we can’t return to the high priest’s house, so perhaps we can use a spell.”
"The Mantra of Revealing Truth is an extremely exquisite mantra, as ever-changing as the Mantra of Manifesting One's True Nature. I can devise the content of the mantra based on the formula and Billy's characteristics. You will perform it."
“That sounds great, but there’s one small flaw,” Ashlin said. “I’m a dog. How do I chant the spell?”
Lucas gently patted her neck with his paw. "Dogs can chant spells too, Ash. Just use animal language; I believe the magic of the Forest Children isn't limited by animal forms."
Ashlyn tried to shrug, but the dog didn't seem to be able to.
"There's nothing to say."
Lucas took a few steps back and stood shoulder to shoulder with her.
"Is there something you're hiding from me? I heard the high priest say, 'Speak the truth, you should speak it.' If you have anything you want to tell me, I'm all ears."
How dare he say that? Who's hiding it from whom?
Ashlin glared at him angrily and walked towards Mara's treehouse without looking back.
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