Mina calmed down but the general continued to hold on to her. She couldn"t help but stare at him in annoyance but the man won"t be fazed. "Let"s continue." Mina felt the hand holding on to her when the general spoke.
"Serket," the warning was clear on the man"s tone and Mina concealed a smile while looking at the parrot who had to suppress a squawk at the last minute.
"Give grandfather some face."
The bird reluctantly stood across Mina and found the perfect pose to display its majestic wings.
"How dare this bird put display those colorful feathers!"
Mina looked at her paws and saw her shiny black fur. Absentmindedly, her eyes strayed back to Serket"s feathers who appeared to be smoothing out her feathers. She marveled at how those feathers could look so beautiful and the bird caught her doing it.
They looked at each other in the eye who looked at her with malice. A few seconds later, Mina noticed that the parrot"s beak was moving and she tried to read the mouthed words.
"Stinky cat"
"Stinky cat?"
The words kept on repeating and Mina could feel her body tense up as the parrot kept on mouthing the same words.
"How dare..."
Mina felt her hind legs crouch down instinctively.
"Grrrr..."
Unable to suppress the sound, Mina was ready to strike but something continued to hold her tighter.
"Ehem..."
When the old man cleared his throat, Mina couldn"t help but pay attention although she continued to be annoyed at the parrot who was making subtle gestures to annoy her.
"Juvenile!"
Mina mouthed the words back unable to suppress herself but not wanting to create a scene. If she made any more aggressive movements, the person holding her might chain her up like a rabid dog.
"Just you wait, you parakeet! I"ll feed you to a falcon!"
Mina"s thoughts were starting to wander to all the ways she could torture the annoyingly beautiful parrot.
"Now, now. We have to discuss the anomaly in Covin."
The old man"s voice was calm as if unfazed by the tension in the room.
"Covin?"
Mina who was still trying to wiggle out of the general"s grasp paid attention to the old man.
As if understanding her inner thoughts, the old man gave Mina a slight smile.
"Yes, Covin. Jadon found something unusual in the governor"s residence."
Mina was all ears now and she gave the general an inquisitive look. Serket who also stopped annoying Mina looked at the old man and then at Jadon and went on to ask about what happened.
"By unusual, what do you mean?"
"It has something to do with why we"re here."
After giving Serket a meaningful look, Jadon continued.
"It has something to do with the missing fairy."
The general"s words rendered the bird with shock. Forgetting the feud with the cat, Serket walked one step at a time towards Jadon.
With her wings placed behind her, the arrogant bird appeared to be lost in thought. Just when she was in front of Mina, she looked up towards the general.
"You mean..."
"Yes. I sensed Morrigan"s presence."
It was time for Mina to feel confused at that moment.
"What was the general talking about?"
She looked from Jadon to Serket and back.
"What were they talking about?"
Not knowing anything about the matter, she looked at the old man to ask for help. Grandfather was running his hands over his chin.
"What do you plan to do?"
Mina can old study everyone in silence.
"What was happening?"
"Grandfather," the general had a thoughtful tone while looking at the old man, "you know we were sent here to look for Morrigan. We have to investigate Covin first."
The old man nodded before speaking his thoughts out loud.
"Something blocked the main portal for souls that leads into the Network and this Morrigan that you are looking for suddenly appears in Covin."
"I have the same thoughts. The blockage in the portal and Morrigan"s disappearance -these two things may be related."
"What were these people talking about?"
Mina felt confused.
"Who was this Morrigan and why is it related to Covin?" She was about to ask the old man to explain but the general spoke before she could.
"The governor was boasting about a certain sculpture in the main hall."
Mina gaped. "Why are they talking about sculptures now?"
"A sculpture?" Barca looked at Jadon with confusion.
"The work of art appeared as if it was a real woman leaning on the wall."
Barca stared at the general thoughtfully and looked at his grandfather before voicing out his thoughts.
"We never had a woman"s sculpture in that hall."
"A woman"s sculpture in the hall?"
Mina was starting to think about what the humans were talking about too.
"A sculpture. There was none before."
Mina looked at the old man who also sounded a bit disturbed about the sudden appearance of the sculpture. But more importantly what was this sculpture like.
"The sculpture appeared life-like and eye-catching."
"Wait!"
"Was it..."
Mina couldn"t help but move to take a better look at the man holding on to her.
"Was it dressed or argh! naked like other ancient art pieces?"
"It seems to be calling out for help."
His expression did not change as he explained the situation but Mina"s thoughts were elsewhere.
"I returned to the hall to touch it."
"Whaaaat?"
"Whyyyy?"
"I felt something inside"
"And then..."
Mina felt like she was watching an interesting scene in some fantasy film and waited to hear what happened after.
"but I couldn"t be too sure. There were people entering the hall and I had to leave."
"That"s it!"
Boring. Mina rolled her eyes at the general and went on to see how the rest of the humans reacted.
"I need to go back to Covin to investigate."
The general"s voice was firm and full of conviction and Mina finally heard something that made her feel excited.
"Now we"re talking," Mina meowed enthusiastically. "I"ll go too!"
She struggled to look at Jadon as if urging him to take her with him.
Mina felt a hand rub her head teasingly. The warmth made her remember something and she couldn"t help but think out loud. "That cold place...that was scary. Scratch that, I won"t be back in there."
The old man who heard her muttered meows stared at Mina.
"What do you mean Boss?"
"Pffft...."
The old man calling her Boss threw her off guard and she suppressed the urge to laugh although she couldn"t suppress all the sound.
Squawk!
"Show some respect!"
The loud sound surprised Mina.
When she turned her head, she saw the parrot shouting right into her ear. It was so loud that her whole body vibrated because of the sound.
Annoyed but trying to focus on the topic, Mina ignore the bird and looked at the old man.
"The general is right. There is something unusual in Covin, I accidentally ended up in there but ..."
Mina tried to look for the right words to explain what happened. She can"t replay her memories like what Devin and Kino did to tell the old man about what happened.
"Just explain, these people know how these soul funnels work, it"s not like they"re as ignorant as you are."
The collar"s reminder made Mina realize that the annoying thing was right.
"You"re welcome."
"Urgh, and you"re annoying."
Mina looked at the old man who was looking at her as if to prompt her to say something.
"Grandpa," she meowed with hesitation, "it"s like this."