ATAPOW Chapter 6
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Chapter 6: The cat-eared girl
Ji Bai had spent less than 10 minutes gorging down the bowl of noodles. Once that was done, he bid farewell to the owner and walked out of the shop. He casually shot a glance towards the luxurious restaurant; the four knights sitting in there had vanished without a trace.
Ji Bai, whose belly has been filled to the brim from the lunch he had earlier, was very content. He had regained his confidence in job hunting and embarked on his quest once more.
With the scorching sun above him, Ji Bai walked on the street, using a toothpick to scrape off the food debris stuck between his teeth. He was planning to toss it away, but to no avail, as there were no trash bins in his vicinity.
As an excellent knight that had once undergone excellent education, he was naturally not going to commit the barbaric act of littering.
After looking around for a while, Ji Bai had fixed his gaze onto a small alley beside him.
It’s possible that there’s a rubbish bin inside. Ji Bai thought as he slowly walked inside. Just when he tossed the toothpick into a rubbish bin and was preparing to head out, a strong smell of blood began to assail themselves onto Ji Bai’s nostrils.
This blood smell…is almost like…
Ji Bai gathered himself, then turned and walked towards the depths of the small alley. As he explored deeper, he could hear a faint delicate moan.
There was only an unremarkable corner in the depths of the alley. When he turned his head, he saw a petite body wrapped in worn-out hemp clothing wiggling about. It was a girl with cherry colored hair, who appeared to be roughly seven or eight years old. Her situation doesn’t appear to be too good at present. Her petite, porcelain doll-like face was deathly white and filled with the color of suffering. Around her snow-white ankles, blood was bubbling out of her wounds.
If the bleeding isn’t stopped, her life will be in danger at this rate!
“Are you alright? There’s nothing to be afraid of, I will immediately send you…” Before he could finish those words, Ji Bai froze. The hands he had stretched out floated in midair and came to a halt. The cause of that wasn’t because of others, but because he had seen a pair of hairy cat ears on the girl’s head.
Demons!?
Ji Bai took back his hands in a split second. His eyes, who was devoid of any reactions, were directed at the cat-eared girl that was painfully crawling and struggling on the floor. Without any word or movement, he took a step back.
Demons…How can demons possibly appear inside a human city? So…what should I do now? Do I follow the knights’ creed and its societal values and pass this young, dying catgirl off to the sacred martial association like that?
Seeing the alien’s pale complexion and how its life was continually draining before his eyes, Ji Bai was silent.
As a human and a holy knight who had vowed to kill demonkind and made it his raison d’etre, the most optimal way to deal with this type of situation was to pass the young catgirl to the holy martial association. He wouldn’t have to shoulder any burden that way as well. However, the life of this cat-eared girl would probably…
“Wuhuhuhu…” Just when Ji Bai was in a daze, the young cat-eared girl in front of him seemed to discover that there was someone ahead looking at herself. Biting on her jaws, she forced her amber eyes open. Fear and panic were written in her eyes, while her petite body was shivering so badly it seemed as if someone was using a stone mortar to pound a chive of garlic. One can tell from her overly pale skin and her emaciated body that her current state of health wasn’t promising.
“Can you please don’t harm m-mi? I, I have never harbored any ill intention towards mankind. Even when I am hungry, I have never thought about harming humans…” Her puerile, shivering voice had a trace of snivel in it.
As a former knight, am I beginning to waver? …Ji Bai bit his lips and clenched his fist. He was momentarily at a loss and clueless about the actions he should take.
Demons…Demons are the enemy of mankind. If we don’t promptly eliminate them, there will inevitably come a day where mankind will be completely annihilated. Won’t I stand against mankind if I am to let her slip now? One must never be softhearted when it comes to those packs of beasts!
Thinking up to this point, Ji Bai’s face revealed a conflicted expression. He gritted his teeth, as if he had made his final decision and slowly walked towards the young, helpless catgirl.
“Uhuhu~ I am s-sorry. I am just too unbearably hungry. That’s why I came and flipped the trash can over… If what I am doing is wrong, I won’t do it again…”
Ji Bai, who had just arrived at the catgirl’s side, was once again thrown into a daze. Looking at the catgirl who was emaciated from starvation and the wounds that were on various parts of her body, certain parts of his memories began to repeat in his mind.
His tightly clenched fists eventually relaxed, Ji Bai heaved a sigh. He felt that he was getting old and was beginning to be sentimental, like an effeminate man.
“Don’t move.”
“Eh?” Seeing Ji Bai extending his hands over, panic began to show in the young catgirl’s complexion.
“Let me bandage your wounds, don’t move.” Ji Bai squatted down and took out a white handkerchief from his pocket. While holding the delicate and snow-white ankle of the young catgirl with his hand, he began to bind the wound up in a simple manner. No matter what, he had to stop her bleeding first.