The Record of Unusual Creature

The moment Vivian heard the voice outside the shop, she instantly shivered. The next second, she dispersed into a large group of bats. Hundreds of small bats were flying everywhere like headless chickens, trying to find a place to hide. Some hid in the corner, some hid in the cracks between the door and its frame while another group hid in a royal spice box behind the counter. Before Hao Ren could react, Vivian had already hid in every corner of the room and disappeared out of sight. Shortly after, the antique shop’s glass door was rudely pushed open, and a short girl rushed in happily.

Hao Ren was immediately stunned when he saw the girl; this girl looked almost exactly the same as Vivian, even the details around their eyes were exactly the same like two peas in a pod. They looked almost like twins except for a few minor differences. The girl was shorter than Vivian, her hair was shorter, and the bright, cheerful expression on her face was not Vivian’s usual expression.

She was almost like a shrunken version of Vivian. Her proportions were reduced by 1/10, and she looked like she took some wrong medication.

Hesperides as usual kept a blank, stiff smile on her face. In contrast, everyone else in the house was flabbergasted when they saw the short girl. Lily jumped up and shouted, “Vivian has a sister?”

“Who are you?” The shrunken version of Vivian frowned as she looked around and asked, “Where’s my lady? I can sense that she’s here somewhere… She’s not hiding again, is she?”

“This is Hessiana.” Hesperides pointed to this somewhat nervy girl and introduced her to Hao Ren. “Call Vivian out. She won’t leave without seeing her.”

So, they had to collect Vivian’s bats from every corner. Some of them caught the bats in the corner of the walls while some caught the bats in a jar. Lily, with the help of her nose, was the fastest to collect lots of bats. She grabbed more than 100 bats from every corner at the very least. Hao Ren felt some movement in his clothes and even took out a few small bats from his sleeve as well as trouser pocket; God knows how Vivian could sneak into such places. After they found a large swarm of bats, they quickly roped in all of the bats together. Lily then waved a broom and yelled, “C’mon Battie, just come out or I’ll hit you!”

The group of bats had no choice and reluctantly formed themselves back into Vivian. She gave Hessiana an awkward smile and said, “It’s been a long time.”

“Lady Vivian, I miss you!” Hessiana said and swooped into Vivian’s arms. Hao Ren could swear to Raven 12345 that he just heard bones crunching due to the friction. The sudden swoop would have crushed Vivian’s chest if not for her extraordinary physique. Nangong Wuyue could not resist asking, “Vivian, why don’t you introduce us? Is this your sister?”

Vivian was trying hard to get Hessiana off her body. When it seemed that Vivian was about to free herself from the girl, she was interrupted by Nangong Wuyue’s question, and all her previous efforts were wasted. She had to wring the girl’s ears really hard to make her go. “Go away, don’t be crazy… That’s why I don’t want to see you, okay? If you don’t go away, I’ll really get angry…”

Hessiana reluctantly released Vivian’s arm and sighed regrettably. “Ah… it kind of feels like I’m home again.”

Then, she turned to Hao Ren and the rest, looking curiously at this group of people who seemed to be very close with Vivian. She quickly pulled herself together and became serious. Then, she politely and gently bowed before them as she said, “Nice to meet you all. I am the matriarch of the Hessiana Clan, Hessiana Ancestor. Since you are all able to come here… you appear to be people that Vivian and Hesperides trust. As such, I shall not treat you like outsiders. I hope you all have a good time in this fortress.”

Hessiana switched manners like switching shapes. It was so quick that it left Hao Ren in a daze. However, he still managed to quickly react and say, “Oh, oh, hi… I am Vivian’s friend, just call me Hao Ren. As for our race… we are human beings. According to your world, we are human wizards. The people next to me are…”

Hao Ren introduced them one by one. The identity he gave Becky was also the human wizard. This identity seemed to be very useful in their situation. A moment later, Hessiana curiously looked at Nangong Wuyue, the self-proclaimed “siren of dry land” and inquired about some of the rumours she had heard of regarding sirens. Hao Ren took this opportunity to seize Vivian and ask, “Who is this? Your sister? It sounds like the two of you share the same surname.”

“No. Her situation is more complicated,” Vivian said with a very bizarre expression. “Do you remember me telling you that the bats I summon become living, independent life once they’re not mind-controlled anymore? As long as they can find energy in time to replenish themselves, they will never dissipate.”

Hao Ren’s expression was elusive as he asked, “So, this strange girl is…”

“I forget things once in a while.” Vivian covered her face with her hands as if it was an unbearable memory. “There was a bat that I released but totally forgot about. I only remembered it after 1,000 years. In the end, when I found it, it had already turned into human form. She’s that bat.” Vivian pointed to Hessiana and said, “Maybe due to the malnutrition and lack of care when she was young, her brain is a bit abnormal. She gets even more abnormal when she sees me. I have been avoiding her for years. Of course, I’m not hiding from her all the time, sometimes she just slips from my mind…”

Hao Ren was so surprised that Vivian could be so forgetful. She had to be the only girl in the world to have such a poor memory. On top of that, a lost bat from her could turn into a vampire and even become the matriarch of an entire vampire clan. Perhaps it was just Vivian alone who was having bad luck. Anything else related to her had better prospects than her.

At this time, Hessiana, who had split from Vivian and turned into human form, finished her conversation with Nangong Wuyue. She gazed at the people around her with a strange look and said, “Lady Vivian has begun to make friends… And I don’t know any one of them. Why do I feel like I’m being abandoned?”

Vivian hurriedly nodded and said, “Right, you are being abandoned.”

Hessiana was at a lost for words.

Lily could not help but pat her on her arm and said, “Don’t say that. After all, she’s a piece of meat that fell from you.”

“…You make me want to bite you.”

Meanwhile, Hao Ren realised that even though Vivian had been wandering around the world (in the true sense of travelling on a budget), she had her own empire: take Hessiana and the vampire family behind her. If Vivian wanted to find someone to support her, they would definitely take good care of her like an ancestor without protest. Therefore, Hao Ren was a little curious and asked, “Vivian, so you’re not homeless after all… Why didn’t you settle down in Athens like the rest of them?”

“I don’t like this kind of noisy environment. There are a lot of families living in the city, they have to worry about the attack of demon hunters, and they’re constantly infighting. There will always be people making their life difficult. Besides, people are just annoying regardless of whether they’re acquaintances or enemies.” Vivian sighed and continued, “Plus, I’ll make everybody unlucky or even cause them go bankrupt, so I rather live alone.”

Hao Ren was startled and thought Vivian’s bad luck was not just a debuff¹. Apparently, it also had a halo effect. Think about it, when she traded spices with Egypt and Rome, she caused several Blood Clan members to go bankrupt. She also destroyed two generations of Egyptian dynasties (whether this one is true or not, let’s just put all the blame on her). When he thought of these things, he suddenly got a little terrified and asked, “Wait, then, why haven’t I gone bankrupt? And when I signed a contract with the new boss, my income actually increased?”

Vivian rolled her eyes at Hao Ren and said, “You’ve got a powerful backing and my bad luck isn’t that horrible. Just renting out a house is not going to make you bankrupt. But I’m not sure what will happen if I become more powerful than your backing… I have weird luck in making money.”

Hao Ren considered finding a chance to study what was wrong with Vivian’s luck. He felt like he was being proactive in doing so! From now on, whenever he was unhappy with anybody, he could directly send Vivian to stay in their house for a couple of days. He would probably get twice the results with half the effort…

Hessiana was not happy to see Vivian busy talking with others. So, she kept pulling on Vivian’s arm to drag Vivian to her side. She then asked, “Lady Vivian, are you here for something important? Or, did you just want to see me? Ah, this makes me blush…”

“I heard you found a relic.” Vivian went straight to the point and said, “I’ve come for it.”

Hessiana immediately looked disappointed and said, “Oh, the ruins… Since you’ve asked for that, fine. But the Lucas Family… This is a bit troublesome.”

Vivian raised her eyebrow and asked, “Are they still as stubborn as they used to be?”

“They changed their patriarch. The new one is the younger brother of the old patriarch, and he’s more stupid than the old one,” Hessiana said disdainfully. “Extremely hard-headed. No matter which way you try to deal with them; violent or nonviolent, no means no.”

It seemed like entering the ruins was not going to be easy.

Translator’s Thoughts

Jillyboy Jillyboy

¹In role playing games or video games, it is an effect that makes a game character weaker; a negative status effect.