Starting with the sentries on the frontier

Chapter 1 The Talking Black Cat

"Sir, please, I... I can slowly pay back the money, but please, you must save my daughter!"

The speaker was an old man with a hunched back, half of his hair was white, his face was covered with wrinkles, he held a bag of coins in his hands, and his eyes were full of pleading.

Zag hesitated for a moment, but then a sharp voice rang in his ears: "Trying to play the good guy again? Don't forget you just spent 40 shillings last week for this reason—that's two weeks' salary!"

A winged black cat flew from Zag's left shoulder to his right, mocking, "At this rate, forget about getting treatment for your nominal mother; you won't even have a chance to keep your current assets!"

Finally, Zag hardened his heart and refused with a stern face, saying, "I don't have any extra money to help you out. That's the rule. The minimum for a Level 2 incident is 200 shillings. Otherwise, no one in the association will be willing to accept the commission!"

"Please! I promise I'll pay you back! I can pay a little bit each month!"

Zag sighed, but his tone remained firm: "Citizen, please don't interfere with my work."

"Okay, okay... I'll raise the money..."

The old man dared not linger any longer, carefully put away the cloth bag containing the money, and left the sentry post.

After the old man had walked far enough away, Zag couldn't help but reach out and poke the black cat beside his shoulder, saying, "Are you sure you're really a 'fairy' and not some kind of 'little devil' or something? What you're saying is really unpleasant!"

"Watch your words and actions, Sentry!"

The black cat leaped higher, glaring at Zag: "You should thank me for guiding you to survive in this world! Instead of questioning my identity! Sentinel!"

"Yes, yes, thank you so much!"

Zhage waved his hand dismissively, then glanced at the clock on the wall and decided to close the guardhouse door ten minutes early.

In a job that pays little, is demanding, and is extremely dangerous, it's perfectly normal to slack off occasionally. Besides, as a seasoned veteran who has traveled from another world, I've long been an expert in the art of slacking off.

Yes, Zha Ge actually comes from another world. His real name is Zhang Rui. He was doing a good job as an ordinary office worker on Earth in the 21st century. He just took a normal nap and inexplicably transmigrated.

Time travel is one thing, but soul travel is another—

He transmigrated into the body of a sentry in a border town of the Eternal Supreme Kingdom called "Zag"!

According to the explanation given by the person beside him who claimed to be a fairy but looked exactly like a black cat with wings, the original Zag died from "contamination" because the "sentinel" he was assigned to was not an ordinary patrolling sentinel, but a sentinel responsible for handling unusual events in the border town. Although both were sentinel positions, the former's work was much more troublesome than the latter's daily patrols.

Normally, the duty of this post is to receive orders from the royal court or the lord of the town to handle unusual matters, file and transcribe them, and then post them on the bulletin board next to the sentry post so that members of the various official supernatural associations can receive and process them.

At the same time, when it is necessary to preserve evidence and materials in some complex cases, Zhage must also keep them carefully so that superiors can access them at any time.

It doesn't sound difficult, but...

This work is fraught with danger.

According to the fairies, no sentinel in this position has ever lived more than five years, because ordinary people cannot withstand the influence of the supernatural.

This border town is particularly unique, situated in the easternmost part of the Eternal High Kingdom's eastern border region, adjacent to the Black Realm, which has fallen into heavy pollution. This results in a higher frequency of unusual events in the vicinity compared to other areas, and the various pieces of evidence and materials preserved in the sentry posts often carry a certain degree of contamination.

So the consequences are predictable.

For example, the Zhage before Zhang Rui wore the armor, who was the sentry himself, died after only three years.

Upon learning how dangerous the job was, Zag's first reaction was to run away.

But this other world is completely different from the other world he imagined. Not only is it difficult to move around without a legal identity, but Zag also has a nominal mother to support.

She was a woman who was not yet forty years old but looked like a woman in her sixties or seventies. She suffered from a strange disease and was bedridden for many years. Every week, Zag had to buy an expensive potion called "Hand of Healing" from the alchemy potion shop to keep her alive.

It's estimated that this is why the original owner specifically applied for this position with special subsidies.

Unfortunately, the old woman was still clinging to life, while Zag died young.

As a morally normal adult raised in a peaceful country, Zhang Rui couldn't bear to abandon the old woman with no one to rely on and run away, since he had inherited the original owner's identity, savings, job, and body. So he could only grit his teeth and continue doing this damn job, even though he didn't want to inherit it at all.

However, on the bright side, at least he won't be contaminated—

This is what the fairy said.

"Your spirituality is very special; you are a visitor from another world."

"Oh, don't panic, this is normal. In this town alone, I know of more than three beings from other worlds. Now there's just one more: you!"

"By the way, I don't have mind-reading abilities. It's just that your expression was too obvious. You're even dumber than Peter, who sells bread and newspapers at the town entrance every day!"

"What I mean is, you're the first person to see my Motoro!"

"This is amazing! I'm granting you the privilege of supporting me, Modo! All you need is thirty dried fish a month. The good thing is that I can help you quickly adapt to your new identity and understand this world!"

"If you don't want to, then so be it, Modo! I hope I won't see you on the gallows tomorrow. As for the charge, I bet five dried fish that you're 'possessed by an evil spirit'!"

Having just transmigrated and not yet fully processed the original owner's memories, Zhang Rui stared at the black cat in front of him—a cat that could not only talk but also fly and had wings—and pondered for a few seconds before speaking.

Two questions.

Zhang Rui admitted he couldn't resist a talking black harpy kitten, so he forcibly suppressed his urge to act and calmly asked, "First, what is 'spirituality'?"

"Good question, Modo!" The black cat twitched its ears and patiently explained, "Every Modo, that is, an ordinary person, has their own spirituality. The strength of this spirituality determines whether a Modo can enter the realm of the extraordinary—"

"Don't underestimate this point. The vast majority of Modos never qualify to learn the extraordinary in their entire lives. It's not just a matter of whether they can read or not, but that their spirituality is too fragile and can be easily destroyed by complex magical fluctuations and pollution from the Dark Realm. Only a very few Modos have strong enough spirituality to withstand the impact of magical fluctuations."

"And you, strange Mordo, your spirituality is extremely stable. Even the magical fluctuations I bring have no effect on you!"

Zhang Rui, now possessing Zhage's body, looked at the black Hakimi before him with suspicion: "Are you that powerful?"

The black cat, enraged by Zag's words, puffed out its ears. Its eyes widened, and it stood with its hands on its hips, shouting, "Insolent Modo! I am a great fairy! One of the earliest races to arrive in this world! Arrogant humans are as laughable as ants before fairies!"

Zhang Rui shrugged: "Okay, I don't understand this world, so you decide... Anyway, you mean I won't be contaminated by that Dark Realm, right?"

The black cat nodded: "At least for now, nothing has been found, in fact, not even a trace! Truly amazing spirituality! Modo!"

"My second question," Zhang Rui said, holding up two fingers to indicate his name, "I can certainly 'support' you, but this fairy, as the one being 'supported,' I wonder if you can provide me with some necessary services?"

The black cat instinctively sensed something was amiss and wrinkled its nose: "For example?"

Zhang Rui replied, "For example, performing necessary psychological therapy, like letting me touch your fur. You know, this has a very strong psychological therapeutic effect on humans. In our world, there are even beings like you who act as 'psychological healers' to provide medical services to humans and receive payment."

The black cat looked shocked: "In your world, such a deal actually exists!?"

It even pressed on somewhat impatiently, "You can make money just by having your fur touched?!"

Zhang Rui said seriously, "Of course, depending on the level of service and the quality of treatment, the cost is not low!"

"Damn it, why isn't this kind of transaction method available here...?"

The black cat muttered something under its breath, then demurely raised its fluffy kitten face and nodded, saying, "Alright, since you've so sincerely made your request, I'll mercifully grant it! But each healing service will incur an extra charge of one... no, two dried fish!"

"make a deal!"

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[Holland Daily Mini-Drama]: "Mortal," often used by arrogant races to refer to humans, means "mortal." However, it sometimes specifically refers to ordinary people who don't understand magic, but... who knows? Anyway, there's not much difference between the two, is there?