Chapter 18 Part 2
“This is… a magical beast. It looks like only third-class at best…”
“It seems so. Where did it suddenly come from?”
A brilliant gleam flashed over Hyle’s green pupils. His cool gaze sharply scanned the darkness.
“Third-class usually moves in groups. The weaker they are, the more they tend to stick together.”
No sooner had I finished speaking than roars of magical beasts could be heard from various directions.
Which meant…
“It seems Mattio Laté has found us.”
“…Sigh.”
Though I didn’t want to agree with Hyle’s words, I had to acknowledge it.
I knew well that this cowardly route of distracting attention with small, insignificant creatures before suddenly attacking was Mattio’s specialty.
This looks like we’re inevitably going to fight…
“…Hyle, do you know? That I’ve ruined your life.”
My languid, impulsive words carried no particular meaning.
Honestly, it was almost… true.
However, in what might be our final moments, perhaps I wanted to be certain of his feelings.
At this, the fierce green gaze scanning our surroundings instantly softened as it turned toward me.
“That’s exactly what I wanted, Rosiel.”
His beautiful lips smiled calmly as he finished speaking.
A sharp wind blew through the dense coniferous forest.
As Hyle and I faced each other, a familiar presence was felt not far away.
“This is a rare combination.”
At the eerie voice that approached with mockery, Hyle and I slowly turned our heads in the same direction.
From the profound darkness where twilight had settled, a figure bearing a sharp chill gradually revealed itself.
Fiercely glimmering red eyes were staring directly at us.
It was the appearance of Mattio Laté, the one we had been dreading.
Fortunately, judging by the absence of Fergio’s presence nearby, it seemed only Mattio was here for now.
“To deceive a Laté bloodline into becoming the Holy Maiden, the new head of House Feros must have extraordinary abilities?”
The blatant mockery was incomparably sharp.
But Hyle said nothing, merely tightening his grip on me.
It felt as though his firm will to never let me go, no matter what happened, was being fully transmitted through his fingertips.
“Hyle, can you hold Mattio’s attention for about three minutes? I’ll go to the breeding grounds. It’s not far, so I’ll be quick.”
“I can’t send you alone. Fergio Laté might be somewhere too.”
“Unlike Mattio, Fergio isn’t the type to stand at the front lines from the beginning, so don’t worry. Fortunately, he doesn’t seem to be in the mansion right now.”
After briefly whispering our strategy, we gently nodded to each other.
In this life-threatening moment, there was nothing more dangerous than entrusting even a moment to each other.
If I were delayed even a little, Hyle could fall victim to Mattio. Of course, I had no intention of letting that happen.
I’d rather be the one to get hurt.
…The problem was that Hyle seemed to share the same thought.
“Be careful, Rosiel.”
“You too. If you get hurt even slightly, I won’t let it slide.”
Hearing my crooked words, Hyle gently curved the corner of his mouth.
Come to think of it, Hyle always smiled like that whenever I expressed concern for him.
It seems he likes it… so this is what he enjoys?
As Mattio’s eerie attack flew toward us, Hyle set me down.
Perhaps because I had been in Hyle’s arms the whole time, the feeling of my feet touching the ground felt strangely awkward.
Leaving behind an enormous, explosive sound, I quickly approached the breeding grounds.
After all, in the breeding grounds, even Mattio’s attacks would be useless.
After all, he couldn’t attack the magical beasts he had carefully trained just to target me.
I needed to reclaim my magic from the beasts as quickly as possible while Hyle bought time.
Grrrooar-
Upon entering the breeding grounds, the magical beasts that recognized me began to stir gradually.
Not just Fergio and Mattio’s beasts, but even those I had trained.
It was a natural reaction, considering that I, as their “master” providing them with magic, had become significantly weaker.
Magical beasts instinctively had a habit of bowing to those stronger than themselves.
So their rebellion against my current state was a natural phenomenon.
“I’m sorry for keeping you all captive for so long.”
There was no point in offering warm parting words to magical beasts anyway.
The lower-class beasts that couldn’t understand language were mere monsters who would obey regardless of what I said, as long as I commanded them with magic.
But this was the end… and they had worked for me in various ways until now.
Just because they couldn’t understand didn’t mean I had to end things on a bad note.
“Now, it’s time for you to return home.”
As I reclaimed all the magic I had placed in the beasts, they gradually began to lose their manifested forms, turning into pure white light one by one.
Just then, from beyond the breeding grounds, I heard a familiar sound of wings.
“Raphla…!”
But Raphla’s bright yellow eyes approaching seemed somehow different from usual, as if they were moist.
Hmm… is it just my imagination? Even for a highly intelligent magical beast, a beast is still a beast, so it shouldn’t be able to cry.
Raphla, who gently landed on my arm as usual, kept rubbing his small head against my chest.
The sight made one corner of my heart ache, as if he were saying, “At least don’t abandon me.”
Then, a small chirping sound, “tweet,” came from between Raphla’s yellow beak.
“Oh my…”
Goodness… did Raphla know how to chirp so adorably? I’ve lived with him for years and this is the first time I’ve heard it!
“Ah, did you learn that from Entrie?”
Come to think of it, didn’t Fergio mention last time that Raphla had eaten feed like a real bird?
Unfortunately, I’d never seen it myself, but Fergio wouldn’t lie about such things…
Tweet, tweet-
It seemed Raphla could only make one kind of sound, as he kept repeating the same chirp.
His rare whining was unbearably heartbreaking.
“But Raphla, as much as I want to keep you by my side…”
Seeing Raphla’s bright yellow eyes sparkle with expectation, it seemed he somewhat understood my meaning that I cared for him.
“…the problem is you have the most of my magic? You’re actually the top priority.”
After all, Raphla was a first-class magical beast.
As such, he was consuming an enormous amount of magic that would surpass even the combined magic of ten lower-class beasts.
Tweet-
“I’m sorry. Thank you for everything.”
It was a sad time for farewells.
Just as I bit my lower lip firmly and reached out to reclaim Raphla’s magic—
Tweet-tweet-!
Suddenly, a pure white bird flew in and knocked my hand away.
“…Entrie?”
Tweet! Tweet!
As if protesting, Entrie stood in front of Raphla and began chirping continuously toward me.
“No, I’m not trying to kill him…”
Tweeeet!
I was the only one surprised by Entrie’s fierce objection.
Meanwhile, Raphla was whimpering behind Entrie, hunching his body and bowing his head.
Hey, considering your body size, do you really think you can hide like that…?
Furthermore, when did these two become so close?
They were now embracing each other and crying.
Seeing this, my heart softened a little more.
Reclaiming Raphla’s magic would help in the battle against Mattio, but… perhaps we could manage without it?
Fortunately, I still had some magic left, albeit weak, so I could still control Raphla…
“Alright, stop being angry. I’ll keep Raphla with me for now.”
After barely listening to Entrie’s continuing protests, I finally withdrew the hand I had extended toward Raphla.
“Then, could you two go and call the priests from the Grand Temple? Magic like Mattio’s is best countered with divine power.”
Tweet!
Tweet!
