Chapter 529: The Witch and the Reindeer
Oh~oh~oh~~~
With a loud crowing of a rooster, Zhang Da also got up from the bed and opened the curtains. The bright sunshine and the snowy scenery of the Drum Kingdom came into view again.
The crowing of the cock heralds the dawn of the world. This saying is perfect for describing the scene at that moment, as well as the atmosphere of the Drum Kingdom.
Zhang Da also stretched himself and turned around to call out, "Get up, Tom. The sun is shining on your butt."
Tom's ears moved, but he didn't respond. Instead, he turned over and turned his butt in the other direction so that it would not be exposed to the sun.
"You're really smart." Zhang Da also gave Tom a thumbs up and left it alone. In this cold weather, Tom seemed to like sleeping particularly, unless someone called him out to play.
"Good morning~" The companions who had already woken up greeted Zhang Da too.
"Good morning, everyone."
Weiwei looked behind Zhang Tatsuya: "Brother Tatsuya, where is Tom? We want to go out and play with Tom."
Zhang Da also said, "He's sleeping in. Go call him. If you want to go out and play, you better hurry up. We have to leave at noon today."
"I know!" The little girls ran to Zhang Daye's room and came back soon carrying the half-asleep Tom, running out excitedly.
Zhang Da also shouted, "Eat something before you go?"
Weiwei replied, "We've had breakfast!"
Zhang Da was about to ask Tom if he wanted to eat when a cat's paw reached in from outside the door and snatched the sandwich he had just taken a bite of. A few seconds later, the sound of swallowing was heard outside the window.
It seemed that he had finished eating, so Zhang Da had to take another one.
Not long after breakfast, Gureva boarded the Amber, holding up a bottle and chugging wine. As soon as she entered the room, she asked, "Little devils, are you happy today?"
Uncle Long hesitated, perhaps wanting to call him "old man" but afraid of getting kicked. He hesitated for a moment, then decided to omit the name. "Drinking so early in the morning isn't good for your health, is it?"
Gulewa glanced at him and complained, "Really? Don't say such spoiling things when others are drinking."
"Ah, sorry, I'm just concerned about your health." Jackie Chan scratched the back of his head awkwardly, "But you seem to be very happy today."
"Happy? Of course I lost a lot of money in medical expenses today." Even as she talked about her losses, the smile on Gulewa's face lingered. "But you guys are really brave."
Zhang Da also waved his hand: "Even if you are a few decades older than us, you can't say anything careless. It is the people of the Drum Kingdom who can't stand Wapol's atrocities and so they rose up in resistance. It has nothing to do with us."
Gurewa said, "Really? Since it has nothing to do with you, why don't you just settle my medical bills?"
Zhang Da's expression changed in an instant: "I'm sorry, that's what we pushed for. We've disliked Wapol for a long time."
"Hehehe..." Gulewa laughed. "From the looks of it, you don't want anyone to know. Then let me thank you on behalf of the people of the Drum Kingdom, even though you may not be interested."
"That's it. Please keep it a secret. This is a victory for the oppressed people of the Drum Kingdom. We are just an ordinary tour group who are lucky enough to witness this."
Near noon, Guleva examined the Misaka sisters to confirm that the medicines had indeed achieved the desired effect, and then watched the Amber set sail.
"Just for a companion, you dare to overthrow a king? Hehehehe... What a reckless young man." Guleva looked in the direction where the Amber was moving away and started drinking again.
"Property doesn't matter, as long as I can cure her." Gulewa still remembered what Zhang Da had said when he was reminded of the 'witch''s penchant for extorting money from people. She didn't think these people would do such a thing just for a few medical bills. After all, she thought, it could only be a token of gratitude, right?
Suddenly, I heard the sound of animals running and the voice of a human shouting to stop behind me: "Are you leaving? It seems I'm too late."
Gureva turned around and lifted her sunglasses. "Oh? Isn't this the new king? You must be very busy, right? Why are you here? And with... a member of 'Doctor 20'?"
"Witch... Witch!" The man driving the carriage for Doruton exclaimed, then realized his identity, "Don't be rude to Mr. Doruton!"
It seems that he is not used to being called king yet.
Doruton clearly didn't care about this little thing. He jumped out of the car and said politely, "Are you Dr. Gureva? Thank you for your help to the civilians during the period when doctors were scarce."
"As expected of the legendary 'Hero Dordon,' the man of respect for the virtuous, loving the people like his own children, and eager to help others, you're quite articulate," Gulewa said in a teasing tone. "And what are you doing here?"
Doruton's temporary guards nodded as they listened. Yes, Mr. Doruton was such a person. They didn't expect that this "witch" could summarize it so well. It seemed that she was one of them.
"Please don't say that again." Doruton blushed, as if the misunderstanding couldn't be explained. He explained his purpose: "Actually, I'm here for the Amber Tour Group. They were seeking medical treatment, so after I took care of some urgent matters, I immediately brought the doctor here, but I didn't expect to make it in time."
"That's not a big deal. The patient is fine for now," Gulewa said. "Did you really come all this way just for this?"
Doruton nodded. "Yes, it's disrespectful for a patient to come all the way to a major medical country for treatment, only to find they can't even find a doctor. Since you've already helped treat me, that's great. Thank you very much!"
"Hee... I've already received a nice thank-you gift, so I don't need you to thank me again."
"Is that so..." Doluton suddenly raised his head and looked at the almost invisible flag in the distance. Yesterday, he had a lot of things that he couldn't figure out, but now it seems that he can figure them out.
If it's them...it doesn't seem to be a particularly difficult thing.
…
On a snowy field, a group of reindeer are migrating, which is what they do every year. Especially on this winter island, finding a place to live with sufficient food is very important.
When migrating, reindeer often form fairly dense formations, which can both protect them from attacks by predators and prevent young reindeer from getting lost.
However, there was an obviously underage reindeer that had been following the group from a distance, alone but not daring to move forward - he was excluded, and had been excluded since birth because he had a unique blue nose.
Aliens are often unwelcome, and the reindeer are unwilling to travel with them, even the doe who gave birth to them. The little reindeer doesn't know what he has done wrong, and can only follow everyone helplessly, day after day, year after year.
Fortunately, as long as he didn't get too close to the reindeer herd, he wouldn't be attacked or driven away... Of course, this was the distance he determined after being attacked many times.
He thought he would continue like this until he reached adulthood and went out on his own, or joined another reindeer herd.
However, today seemed to be another day of bad luck. Since he had been following the reindeer herd, there was not much food left for him where there used to be some. He was so hungry that he ate a fruit that looked very suspicious.
Since he had no mother to teach him since childhood, he didn't know what he could eat and what he couldn't eat. Usually, he could only judge food by whether it tasted good or not. But today, he was extremely hungry, and even though this fruit was very unpalatable, he was reluctant to waste even a little bit.
Then... he suddenly realized that there was something different about himself. He began to think about why he was different from everyone else, how he could integrate into the reindeer herd, and whether he could change his nose.
As a result, he really changed. He looked completely different from the reindeer and more like a "human" who could walk upright. But even though everything had changed, only his nose remained blue.
Just when he was at a loss, he was driven away. If the reindeer could barely treat him as one of their own before, now they completely regarded him as a monster.
The reindeer would not allow a monster to follow them all the time.
The little reindeer tried to explain and beg, but the other reindeer could not understand his 'new language' that they had not had time to adapt to, so they simply attacked .
The innocent little reindeer finally escaped, with a heart full of doubts and grievances, and a body covered with scars.
He didn't know how far he had run, but he saw smoke from cooking in the distance - that was something that would scare him in the past, but now he couldn't help but want to get closer.
But his physical strength was not enough to support him to walk to the village. Tired, hungry and in pain, the little reindeer finally fell to the ground, and his body, which was almost that of an adult, slowly shrank.
Heavy snow fell, gradually covering the small body, until an old woman dressed fashionably and reeking of alcohol passed by.
"Oh, what is this? A civet cat? A reindeer?" The little reindeer was picked up. Although his consciousness was a little hazy, he felt unprecedented warmth.
Gulewa brought the poor little guy covered in scars back home, carefully treated his wounds, fed him some sugar water, and finally sat by the bed and watched him.
The little reindeer opened his eyes a little and quietly observed the person who saved him.
But how could he hide his sobriety from Gulewa?
"He hasn't woken up in such a long time. It seems he can't be saved." Gulewa said nastily, "Why not roast him? This weather is perfect for roasting venison. Let me see, how about chopping off a leg first?"
The little reindeer immediately jumped up and said, "Don't cut it!"
Gulewa laughed and said, "What? You're awake now? And you can talk, right?"
She had just seen a cat that could talk and turn into a human, so she wasn't surprised to see a talking raccoon cat-reindeer hybrid.
"Eh?" The little reindeer showed a panic expression on his face, and quickly hid behind the cabinet, but only half of his head was hidden there.
Gulewa suddenly found this little guy very interesting and pointed at his body: "You are hiding in the wrong place."
"Eh~~~~~" The little reindeer seemed to be frightened. It hid behind the cabinet and then carefully poked its head out.
The two looked at each other for a while, and Chopper asked tentatively: "You...you really want to eat me?"
Gulewa said kindly, "Don't worry, I put so much effort into healing your injuries, not just to eat meat."
"Huh..." The little reindeer breathed a sigh of relief. He immediately believed what Guleva said and slowly walked out.
At this moment, Gulewa's expression suddenly turned evil. "Just in case, our family needs a handyman. I want you to do hard labor for me for the rest of your life. You are not allowed to rest unless I tell you to. If you dare to slack off, I will make you into a barbecue!"
"Hey???" The little reindeer was frightened again and ran out the door in a panic, but accidentally tripped over his left foot and fell.
"Hehehe..." Gulewa laughed happily. She had always been a loner, but after spending some time with the little girls and animals in the Amber Travel Group, she began to think about finding a companion. This little guy seemed to be a good fit.
"It was just a joke."
"It turned out to be a joke!" The little reindeer jumped up and shouted. After shouting, it seemed that all his courage was exhausted, and he ran out the door and hid.
Of course he dodged again.
"Formally, let me introduce myself. My name is Gulewa, and I'm a doctor. You can call me Doctor Doriel." Gulewa didn't correct him and continued, "So, what's your name?"
"Doctor Doriel..."
The little reindeer repeated it in a low voice. He didn't notice that when he said this name, Guleva's eyes became softer than ever before.
"I, I don't have a name..." The little reindeer lowered his head. He was abandoned by his mother as soon as he was born, and how could a reindeer have a name?
"Is that so? Then let me pick a name for you." Gureva guessed that the child might have had a difficult life in the past. "Before that, would you like to tell me about yourself?"
"Hmm." The little reindeer tapped its front hooves together and asked timidly, "After that... can I, can I stay?"
"Well..." Gulewa crossed her legs pretentiously. Seeing the pitiful look on the child, she couldn't help but want to bully him. "That depends on whether you have any special skills."
"Yes! I can transform into a reindeer and run very fast! I can transform into a human and I'm very strong! And... and my horns are so strong that they can even break a big tree!"
The little reindeer was like a child eager to show off, and he blurted out everything he knew.
"I see." Gulewa looked at the antlers, "I've come up with a good name."
"Really?" The little reindeer looked at her in surprise, his eyes shining.
On this day, the evil witch gained a lovely apprentice and an adopted son.
On this day, the little reindeer who was driven out of the tribe got his own name and also found a warm home that was most suitable for him.
…
On this day, the Amber left the climatic range of Magnetic Drum Island and headed for the next island.
Until then…
Zhang Da also stuck his head out of the observation room and looked up: "Misaka, why are you standing so high? The sea breeze is so strong, isn't it uncomfortable?"
