The Origin of Botan

Chapter 3: The Deal

Parkerring: I found that female lion is called Lioness.

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Poor Asko wandered through a lonely winter forest in search of the white lion demi-human. He followed her tracks in the snow and he realized he had lost her when he saw her tracks stop.

Asko noticed the demi-human's footprint stopped in the center of a circular area with a radius of about 4 meters and there were no trees in that area, only trees surrounding the area. Asko began to feel scared because he had forgotten his way back and felt like he was surrounded when standing in the center of the area.

Suddenly, the lion demi-man pounced on him from behind, Asko quickly turned his back and was dragged down the snow. The demi-human sitting on his body, gently placed her hands on his chest, looking at him with lovely round eyes and wagging her tail continuously as if expecting something from him.

Asko was scared at first, but when he saw the demi-human's lovely and uncharacteristic face, he felt safe and plucked up the courage to pat her head. The demi-human showed an excited smile and wagged her tail faster when she was patted on the head. Seeing that, Asko also smiled.

"Here you are..."

A voice rang out with a gun barrel pointed at the demi-human's head at a close distance. The demi-human looked up and saw the barrel of the gun pointed at her face. It was a hunting rifle, a Nosler M21 to be exact, and the one holding it trembling was Ivor.

"I thought you'd repented...but you're attacking my brother now..."

Ivor said in a scared tone. Seeing that, Asko stood up and shielded the demi-human with his arms extending.

"Ivor! Don't shoot!"

"Get out of the way, Asko! She'll eat you!"

"You are misunderstanding! She was just...playing with me!"

"Play...?"

Ivor made a suspicious face.

"But I saw her sitting on you!"

"Like I said, she was just playing with me!"

"Who knows?! Maybe she was trapping you!"

Ivor remained stubbornly doubtful as he trembled in fear.

"What's wrong with you?! Is Jani possessing your body or something?"

While Asko was having a headache trying to explain to his brother, the demi-human noticed something in Ivor. She bravely stopped hiding behind Asko and faced Ivor.

"Wait! Yo--"

"No."

The demi-human said her first word. This surprised both Asko and Ivor but was surprised by her bravery.

"You're...scared..."

The demi-human spoke to Ivor in English.

"W-What?!?!"

Both Asko and Ivor seemed surprised that the demi-human spoke English. They understood English but because they lived in Finland, they rarely heard English spoken.

"I said you're scared of me...Ivor."

"What are you talking about?!?!?!?!"

Ivor replied to the demi-human in English with a tone of confusion and fear.

"Your hands are shaking, you don't want to shoot me, do you?"

"No! You...You are attacking my brother...aren't you...?"