Chapter 78: The Sacred Beast of Wisdom, the Sphinx Tribe 1
In the dark forest, I came across a strange animal that was also quite weak.
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I was mesmerized by the strange sight. No matter how many times I look at her, I can see a woman's head. Her fur is orange and she has characteristic long black hairs.
Everyone came to me, probably worried about my delay in returning.
"Alicegawa, what are you doing? What the hell is that creature?"
Sharin, peeking from behind, shouted in surprise. Everyone followed suit and said the same words. Apparently it was a completely new species that no one had ever seen before. I shook the shoulders of the human-faced lioness lying in front of me.
"Hey, are you okay?"
Then, as if sensing the commotion around her, she sat up slowly. When she noticed our presence, her eyes widened and she took a step back.
"Ah, thank God, you look good."
The human-faced cat then looked at me and began to speak in a low voice.
"Who are you? Are you from the Adventurers Guild?"
She crouches down, her fur stands on end and she looks ready to attack us at any moment.
"No, no, we're just travelers. We have no intention of fighting, you see."
She looked at us, then relaxed and sat down.
"It seems you're telling the truth. In fact, aren't you all injured? What happened?"
I told her about my encounter with the elves. Of course, for now I decided that the fault was mine.
"Ah, what a pity. Lately there has been an increasing number of scoundrels trying to invade the forest."
The human-faced cat continued to speak.
"We rarely go to places with people. But news of our existence somehow leaked and reached the ears of a noble, so a big reward was placed on us."
This human-faced cat was probably what was on the adventurers' mission in the city.
"So that's why you were being chased."
"Yeah, it's easy to just chase away adventurers, but the nobles hired their own centaurs, so they were really tough. They kept chasing us."
This means that there is still a chance that the formidable centaur is wandering around here.
"Hey, do you know any safe place nearby where we can rest? We're injured, as you can see."
"Then let's go to my village. This way."
I don't know if I can really trust her, but for now I have no choice but to count on the help of this human-faced cat.