“What is this disease about, Tilimia?”

  “For the last time, I told you it was a curse, not a sickness or anything like that! Also, I already told you that I didn’t know. There are limits to what can be learned from divination alone. I don’t have the expertise in curses to tell what the hell this particular one is supposed to accomplish”

  The tigerfolk scratched her face.

  “For all we know, it is harmless and only meant to torment people with bizarre nightmares, but I feel that would be a bit too optimistic of us to assume–Did you send a message to Hymyr? She’s the only person we know in this damned country that might be able to see what’s up with this curse”

  “Heheh… Hymyr… Of course I called her! Do you think I would miss a chance to see her?”

  The tigress sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose, which wasn’t as easy as it looked since it was more akin to that of an actual tiger, so it didn’t stick out nearly as much as that of a human.

  “Rarelian. If you really like that woman so much, you should just go ahead and tell her already. No one enjoys being subjected to your daydreaming”

  The lionfolk huffed out of his nose, this action almost sounding like a deep growl as he crossed his arms.

  “You know how my clan is, I am not allowed to have any sort of relationship outside of other lionfolks–Even then, they don’t like it when the lioness I bring isn’t bestial enough… Sorry, Father. Sorry, Mother. But our particular species is pretty rare!”

  “...Anyway, so you can imagine the fuss it would be if they heard that I was in a relationship with a cowfolk. They don’t care about how talented and all that, they only want ‘proper’ descent”

  Tilimia rolled her eyes.

  “Yes, yes… I know. Do you have any idea how many times we’ve had this conversation?”

  “Far too many times. We are together so much that my parents have been accusing me of, and I quote: ‘Lying in bed with the enemy’. I swear, we haven’t had any problem with any tigerfolk clan in literal centuries before any of us were even born, but they still act like we are actively in conflict”

  The two felines walked around the edge of the nearby woods, using their superior senses to try and detect something out of the ordinary. The leonine man had already tried this previously without finding anything, but the she-tiger had performed another divination just recently, revealing that the culprit was, in fact, nearby.

  So far, however, they had not had any luck whatsoever. Whatever or whoever was responsible for casting curses at random citizens was very good at hiding, making both of them wonder if it was actually a beastfolk with a natural ability for stealth, like a chameleonfolk, or if they were simply somewhere they could neither see nor reach–Such as the sky or underground.

  Beastfolks with the natural ability to fly and dig through the ground could prove to be a pain in the backside. In Heldinot, there were entire royal battalions of elite mages that were just a bunch of winged beastfolks.

  It might not seem like much, but being able to cast spells from the sky was an incredible advantage. Especially when said elites specialised in highly destructive spells. In terms of mage artillery, they might not be the strongest, but they were definitely not a unit anyone would have to go against.

  Right now, the felines were wondering whether their culprit was just flying really high and hiding behind clouds, or alternatively, was hiding underground if they were something like a molefolk.

  In Heldinot, there were many possibilities that were all just as likely as one another. The only issue was that curse-slinging was a discipline that was basically completely unexplored here. No one was actually good enough at them to cast anything complicated like what they were seemingly dealing with here.

  Thus, there was the worry that this was a threat of foreign origins.

  Hence, why the two felids were here. Both of them were agents of the crown who had been stationed nearby and were thus available to come check out this abnormal occurrence–Now, due to the wild and feral nature of Heldinot, having to deal with beasts and monsters with odd abilities wasn’t as uncommon as one might expect, but were the culprit such a creature, then tracking it down should have been simpler.

  Tilimia’s divinations were especially powerful in detecting such creatures. This was in part due to her own nature as a bestial sapient, but also thanks to the markings painted all over her fur. She sort of specialised in hunting down problematic creatures.

  As such, it was either that the creature was incredibly good at hiding its presence, or it wasn’t a creature at all. Instead, something beyond the scope of the she-tiger’s expertise.

  “Do you not sense any danger?”

  “None”

  Rarelian had a speciality as well, and it was an array of refined sensory abilities that went beyond the five senses. He could sense the faintest amount of aggression, bloodlust, killing intent, and even danger in general. It was to the point that he could fight in a pitch black room just by using these senses.

  As could be inferred by the fact that he was huge, the lionfolk was also the stronger fighter of the two.

  They made for an efficient duo when it came to dealing with the common issues of the less inhabited countryside of Heldinot. The tigress could locate the target within moments, and the lion could ensure that they could never be ambushed while on their way to the target.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Also, they had ample strength to deal with basically any threat–At least, they had never had any problem solving an issue before.

  Rarelian slightly pinched his nose and closed his eyes, attempting to focus his other senses.

  “Mmh… I truly sense no danger whatsoever. We aren’t being targeted, and it feels like the culprit is so weak that they are incapable of being registered as a credible threat… Which is weird, that curse should definitely be threatening to me, shouldn’t it? Or does it confirm that it is just a curse that causes nightmares and nothing else?”

  “I would love it if that were the case, but you know how we operate. If that thing can evade my detection, then we’ll presume that it can also evade your senses… If anything, this is making me believe that we should call for even more reinforcement”

  “We are far in the north-east, we don’t really have many people that are nearby…”

  “I know”

  The two big cats searched for the rest of the day without finding anything. All that they saw and heard was most typical wildlife. The time was only passed by their discussions.

  When they returned to the small town, they found that a message had been delivered by a carrier bird to them.

  Unfurling the message, it was merely Hymyr’s confirmation that she had received the message Rarelian had sent her, and informing that she would be here in at most a week.

  Heldinot was a big piece of land filled with all sorts of difficult biomes, so one week was actually very fast.

  Four days after the message was received, however, they found out that one of the people affected by the nightmares had fallen asleep and was not waking up. No matter what was done, they simply wouldn’t open their eyes despite breathing normally. It was truly like they were in a deep slumber rather than unconscious.

  The slumbering beastfolk stirred in their sleep. Frowning and jolting at times. They were having another nightmare, only that this one was not allowing them to leave…

  ___

  “Come on, just come here! I am not going to hurt you, I promise!”

  “Get away from me!”

  “Ooh… So dramatic–Relinquish those cute ears of yours!”

  “Never!”

  What an annoyance this girl was. This was quite the attitude for someone who had failed enough nightmares to end up in this situation in such a short period of time!

  This final trial was a return to the classics, though I merely needed to catch her before a certain amount of time passed. The environment was quite novel, however… Instead of a rusted mass of steel, it was some sort of underground made from nothing but polished grey stone.

  It looked like the entire place had been carved out through one giant piece of rock, as every surface was perfectly smooth and connected to one another directly. The architecture was pristine, but the place was clearly meant to be ancient, huge, dust-ridden cobwebs filled the hallways and rooms. In fact, one could grab a handful of dust by just reaching down.

  If not for my special state as a curse-spirit hybrid, I would have been sneezing nonstop, much like my prey, which was rendered very easy to track down and catch up to because of this. She was constantly coughing and sneezing from breathing in dust.

  This made things easier for me, as–For once–I was actually slower than my prey. She was a rabbitfolk, body covered in well-kept white fur. In terms of level of animal-likeness, she was similar to the tigress. Her face wasn’t quite human-like, but definitely not fully bestial.

  Which was a bit of a shame, actually. Rabbits had very cute eyes that she lacked. Nonetheless, I was intent on catching her and scratching that one spot in between the ears–I had never had a pet bunny, but I had met a few of them back when I was little and had girly friends who would invite me to their home to play.

  Rabbits are adorable little creatures, enough to make me take some time out of my day to go see those inside the farm in the mindscape. Cuddling them is time well spent.

  Eventually, the leporid accidentally got herself into a dead end, ending up in a room that featured what looked suspiciously like a stone coffin. The second I was able to see into the room, my cute prey attempted to do a very rabbit thing and dropkick me in the chest.

  She may be quick, but not nearly swift enough to take me by surprise, especially when I was already expecting something like this at every corner to begin with. Once, I had seen a wild rabbit leap into the air and hit a damned buzzard who had failed to grab it on the first try straight in the head.

  It was a core memory of my childhood, actually.

  I didn’t fall for the sneak attack. I dodged it and grabbed the beastfolk straight out of the air, slamming her down into the ground, lifting a cloud of dust as I wrapped her into a grappling hold.

  While light-footed, she wasn’t very strong in terms of pure strength, so her struggle was utterly meaningless against my superior physique.

  “You’ve made me run a lot. It better be worth–Oh, it was definitely worth it”

  I rubbed the top of her head. That spot was so much softer than the rest for some reason, and I also had access to that sweet, sweet ear fluff.

  “W-What the hell is wrong with… You…”

  “Don’t talk too much, you’re wasting what little air you have left”

  The hold I had grabbed was a chokehold that put pressure on her airway. I wasn’t applying the maximum amount of force since I wanted to pet that head some more, but I was still most definitely strangling her right now.

  Mmh… Yes, a little bunny sister definitely sounds good. Especially if it's one of those rabbits with big, floppy ears… Can you imagine, Nara? A cute little sister with ears that are just absolutely huge and a cute little tail?

  I can imagine it quite clearly–But I think you’ve accidentally applied way more pressure

  Oh, my bad. Got a little lost in thoughts there.

  The nightmare soon collapsed around me, and I acquired my first beastfolk soul–From Heldinot, at least.

  With one death, the rest of those affected by the nightmares should start panicking and failing more of their trials… And who knows? Maybe the fear will spread to the rest of the city and allow me to get even more potential prey.

  Hopefully, I won’t have to deal with powerful beastfolks in the more simplistic trials. If those have to face me in one of those heavily rule-based trials, it would be for the best.

  Though… I suppose I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t craving some more difficult fights… Nothing was better than a good struggle!

  I think I would prefer it if the trials stayed easy to win… Even if it's all in a nightmare world, I don’t want you to get hurt

  With your cuteness, you are hurting my imaginary heart, Little Cutie. You really make me wish that you had a corporal form so that I could give big hugs and kiss that face–I am sure it would be so round and adorable too.

  Gushing over my little sisters was as good as any pastime while waiting for the next trial to come…