"I may be cowardly and incompetent, but surely there's some use for even someone like me. So..."
Shuian turned his gaze to Orca. Having heard about him on the day he learned to make flower crowns, he realized that Liam's situation was similar to Orca's. Orca was silently staring at Liam with an unreadable expression.
Was he pitying Liam, who was in a similar situation to his own? Or was he envying him for not having completely lost the person he wanted to protect so badly?
Theodore, too, glanced at Orca for a moment before becoming lost in thought, so Shuian hesitated for a moment before asking, "Is that enough?"
"...Pardon?"
"Well, it's a bit awkward, so get up and sit properly. Everyone's staring."
At Shuian's urging, his ears slightly reddened, Liam looked around and, noticing the attention, quickly straightened up and roughly wiped away his tears with his dirt-stained hands.
"Just being alive doesn't mean you can do anything."
"I know. But if I'm alive and able to return, I can at least plan for the future."
Seeing him so dejected after his tearful outburst, Shuian softened his voice.
"I'm not saying that's wrong. I'm asking if that's enough. So, if you were given a chance?"
"A chance, you mean..."
"Not just to return alive, but a chance to protect your sister. How far would you go?"
Liam snapped his head up. The eyes of the Divine Beast, which he was now seeing properly for the first time, were a strange silver he had never seen before, but strangely, they seemed more human than his father's had that day.
Even knowing that the owner of those eyes was a Divine Beast. Amused by the discrepancy, Liam chuckled involuntarily and slowly rose to his feet, kneeling before Shuian once more.
"I'll do anything. As I said, I'm useless and cowardly, so if you tell me to die, I will. But please, look after my sister. I'm being punished for ignoring my sins, but my sister isn't. If she has any sin, it's having a wicked father and a cowardly brother, so it's right that I be punished instead. I'll consider this my atonement. So, if you give me the chance, I'll do anything."
"Even if it means committing another sin?"
Liam trembled slightly and hesitated to answer, but then gave a bitter smile.
"What difference would one or two more sins make to a sinner? Yes, I will."
It was a solemn vow, but Shuian grinned.
"I'm just kidding."
"...Pardon?"
"There's no need to commit any sins. No one would call it a sin to return what you've suffered. Someone might, but at least I, as a Divine Beast, don't think so. And you're facing the wrong way."
"...Pardon?"
Shuian pushed Liam's shoulder firmly, and Liam turned his body as Shuian directed. It was in the direction of Theodore.
"The person who will give you the chance and receive the price is over here."
"Second Prince... are you talking about His Highness?"
"Yes, if Theo saves your sister, you have to die if Theo tells you to. Swear it now if you can. If you can't, go back now."
Liam, who was just staring with wide eyes, not understanding the situation, looked up at Theodore for a long time before bowing deeply.
He wasn't a knight, so he didn't know the knight's oath, but he hoped that his will would be conveyed as much as possible.
"If you give me the chance, I will give everything to the Second Prince. Even if you use me for something unjust, I swear to be loyal for life."
Theodore, who had been silently looking down at the blood-stained head, burst out laughing. Had he been planning this since he picked up that man?
Thinking that a beautiful bird was always busily moving to guide him on the right path made him laugh.
He had learned after meeting Shuian that whenever his heart felt so tight, as if someone was pulling on it, he had to kiss that beautiful face several times to return to normal. But it was a great pity that there were too many eyes watching to do so now.
"I was wondering what was going on, staring so intently instead of catching demonic beasts..."
"Were you watching?"
"You're always in my sight. It just happens naturally."
He always talks about watching me so romantically... Shuian muttered to himself, his cheeks flushing. Theodore, seeing Shuian's reddened cheeks, chuckled again, like a sigh.
"Well, since my bird brought him to me, I'll make good use of him."
"Th-thank you...! I don't know if I'll be of any help to Your Highness...!"
"You don't have to worry about that. I'll just make you useful."
"...Pardon?"
"Orca, take this guy and make sure he doesn't die."
"Oh, my, that's a big responsibility." Orca said with a grin, patting Liam's shoulder, who was looking around blankly.
"How do you feel, having a junior after all these years?"
"I feel happy and laugh... but I also feel sorry and want to cry..."
Orca tugged at his sleeve and dabbed at his dry eyes.
"Welcome. You're about to taste hell. Don't worry. It'll be a little better with two of us."
"Uh..."
"Get plenty of rest now. You won't be meeting the word 'rest' for a while in your life."
Whether Liam fully understood Orca's words or not, the two were busy teasing him.
Only after confirming that the two had accepted Liam did Shuian smile comfortably.
After that, as Theodore had mentioned, they used the holy relics to create a base camp and then advanced little by little, subjugating demonic beasts.
At first, the holy relics seemed to last a long time, but as they went deeper, they were consumed faster and faster, and towards the end, one holy relic barely lasted five hours.
While the slave soldiers and some knights hunted demonic beasts, the four mostly spent their time inside the base camp.
Liam, who was to become Theodore's adjutant, was the same. Having suddenly risen in status from a slave soldier, he was constantly looking around, seemingly uncomfortable.
"Rest comfortably. Once we've used up all the holy relics, we'll have to move straight to the rift without sleep or rest. All you'll be doing is sticking by my side, but walking is quite tiring, isn't it?"
"Y-yes..."
Orca, who had been constantly tormented by Theodore, was eager to tease his first junior. He seemed to find it especially amusing that Liam couldn't retort whenever he said something sharp, turning pale and sweating profusely. S
huian and Theodore, who noticed that this teasing was no different from friendliness to Orca, just laughed and didn't try to stop him. As a result, only Liam was in trouble.
Shuian plucked another feather and handed it to Liam. The feather's help was essential for Liam, whose body was closer to that of an ordinary person, to withstand the demonic energy for a long time.
"If you hold this, you'll be fine even if you're exposed to demonic energy."
"H-how honored I am...!"
"If the feather turns completely black, it's no longer effective, so you have to tell me right away."
"Yes, I'll keep that in mind!"
Theodore stared intently at the feather in Liam's hand, looking very displeased. Liam glanced around for a moment and then slipped the feather into his arms.
Shuian chuckled at the almost comical sight, when those who had gone out on patrol returned. The number was less than half of the original.
Theodore watched the scene impassively and told everyone.
"We're moving again. Orca, collect the holy relics."
"Understood."
As they repeated this movement, the last remaining holy relic finally ran out of power and shattered. It was the seventh day since they had set out.
"Perhaps it's because Shuian is here, but the holy relics lasted quite a long time this time. Thanks to that, it seems we won't need the extras we brought."
There were emergency holy relics that were used in case of extreme injury or fatigue, but they would barely last 30 minutes each due to the increased demonic energy.
Still, it seemed that they could save the holy relics this time thanks to Shuian's feathers. Shuian checked the three people's feathers once more and then transformed into an eagle and flew into the sky.
As they got closer to the center, the number of demonic beasts increased to an extent that could not be compared to the previous areas, but Orca and Theodore, who had been conserving their strength, began to rampage to their hearts' content.
Thanks to the feathers, they were free to move from the demonic energy, so the entry speed was even faster.
Occasionally, intermediate demonic beasts were mixed in among the lower-level demonic beasts.
Intermediate demonic beasts were larger than lower-level demonic beasts, with most being the size of a car and some even larger.
Before encountering the intermediate demonic beasts for the first time, Shuian had briefly wondered how to hunt the larger ones, having hunted the smaller ones by tearing or breaking them with his claws, dropping them from the air, or throwing them.
But when he actually faced them, it was a problem that didn't require much thought. It was as if he instinctively knew how to fight, as if it were ingrained in his body.
Without anyone teaching him or calculating everything, his body moved naturally on its own when facing demonic beasts.
He momentarily released divine power to paralyze the demonic beast in agony and then aimed for its vitals.
If he exerted his maximum strength, he could instantly sever the neck of even an intermediate demonic beast, so it wasn't that difficult.
Even if he severed their necks, most of them didn't die immediately, but that didn't matter. They would melt away on their own with divine power anyway.
Sometimes, he would allow the demonic beasts to attack him because he was too excited, but thanks to the protective magic that Theodore had cast, the demonic beasts couldn't touch a single hair on Shuian's body.
"Screech-!!"
However, it was a separate matter that Shuian, enraged, would thrash around even more and almost tear apart the demonic beast that had attacked him. Orca, who witnessed the scene, let out a hollow laugh.
"Wow, that's scary. I thought you were just kind, but you have that side to you too. You're very ruthless."
While he had often seen Shuian get annoyed or sulky, but that was just to the extent that he looked like a pouting child, which was rather cute.
But seeing him thrashing around in anger, shooting divine power in all directions, made him inwardly flinch, and it was the first time the two had seen so much of the whites of Shuian's eyes.
"You'd better be good from now on. If you make Shuian angry, you won't even be able to collect your bones."
"I was already thinking of being even better."
After the demonic beasts were somewhat cleared, Shuian landed on the ground. Shuian, who had returned to his human form, narrowed his brows and continued to tilt his head, looking around.
"Why?"
"Something... feels left behind."
At that moment, a lower-level demonic beast hidden among the demonic beast corpses jumped out and charged at Theodore, who was closest.
Before Theodore could use magic, Shuian reached out and grabbed its neck. It didn't seem like he had used much force, but its neck broke and then melted away with divine power.
Shuian shook off his hand as if he was disgusted and said, "I thought they had low intelligence, but they even pretend to be dead. We have to be careful."
At that nonchalant reaction, Orca whispered in Theodore's ear with an even more hardened expression.
"You really have to be careful."
"Isn't it reassuring?"
Theodore, who answered with a smirk, took out a handkerchief and wiped Shuian's hand.
Comments Box