[If you were kidnapped, you should have called me sooner! What would have happened if I didn’t have the ability to find you!]
“Aren, you could find me?”
[Have you not become my master? It is a natural ability for a Divine Beast to find its master. If you call, I can get there even faster.]
“Ah…….”
I think there was a setting like that.
Since I never imagined I would become the knight of a Divine Beast, I hadn’t paid attention to the details.
“Thanks to Aren, I was able to come to where you were.”
“By flying?”
To my surprise, Klen nodded.
I thought that might be the case, but was it really possible?
[Floating this fellow with my magic is a simple task~ Even if he is my master’s partner, I cannot just let him ride on my back recklessly, can I?]
‘……Can he even ride it?’
I stared at the tiny bird sitting on my hand.
Then I lightly placed a finger on its small back.
It felt like the weight Aren could carry was only about this much.
I guess a Divine Beast is still a Divine Beast.
There are probably many mages who can float objects in the air with magic.
But moving them is another matter.
Besides, I had heard that even high-level mages find it taxing to travel such long distances like this.
Did these two fly here the moment they heard I was kidnapped?
Literally flying through the sky.
“Were you… worried about me?”
That was surprising.
But it wasn’t a “good” kind of surprise.
Even if a carrier pigeon like that arrived.
You rushed over because you thought I was kidnapped by people like this?
Because you were worried?
Are you serious?
I looked down at Levatein in my hand.
He surely knew I had brought Levatein with me, so I couldn’t believe he was worried about me being kidnapped.
If it were someone else in the castle, I would understand.
They think I’m weak.
But Klen was different, wasn’t he?
He seemed slightly flustered, which was rare.
Perhaps it was because my expression was so stiff and serious.
When I relaxed my facial muscles, he spoke cautiously.
“I guessed that you followed them on purpose. I didn’t think you would be hurt either. But…… even so, isn’t it natural for the body to move first?”
A clear smile finally spread across the lips that finished speaking.
It was a smile with a trace of embarrassment, as if he himself didn’t know he would hurry like this.
But a sense of tension soon returned to his softened expression.
“Besides, I wanted to catch and personally punish those who laid hands on the person they should not have touched.”
Even with Aren by my side, a chill that seemed to pierce through his magic wrapped around my body, giving me goosebumps.
[Why are you like this? You also chased after your partner when he was dragged into the forest~]
“Ugh.”
Aren then laughed so hard his neck vibrated.
I choked on my breath at the sudden remark that felt like it hit me right in the gut.
It’s true I did run frantically when he was dragged into the forest.
“Th-that was because it was a dangerous place.”
I exhaled slowly and whispered quietly so only Aren could hear.
Unlike a kidnapping like this, isn’t that forest where the Divine Beast lives a hidden space that no one knows about?
Even Hugo, the protagonist, struggled quite a bit.
Besides, it’s a place so vast that one usually can’t escape alone, so it’s natural to be worried.
“Weren’t you caught while flying here?”
I quickly changed the subject since Klen was staring at me.
[Don’t worry about that! Do you think I wouldn’t have thought of that~]
“It is fine. Even if they saw us, we flew high enough that we would only look like a small dot.”
[I tried to go up to a height that would make a normal human tremble in fear……. But he didn’t shake at all. How disappointing, how disappointing.]
“Aha.”
Since he didn’t have to search for me and already knew where I was, he could fly high.
Plus, Aren is so fast he probably wouldn’t be seen.
‘Then from what height did Klen fall?’
It’s a bit scary that I didn’t notice until just before he dropped. Are his legs okay?
“Ugh. Cough, cough!”
Just then, Heather let out a cough.
It was rough, as if it were being forced out of her mouth.
True to the declaration that he wouldn’t kill her, it seems she won’t die.
However, since her whole body was wrapped in cold, hard ice, it looked like her health would suffer.
As I tried to walk toward her, Klen reached out his hand to stop me.
“She should be grateful that it stopped at that.”
[To dare harm the master of a Divine Beast. They must be made to regret it for the rest of their lives. A Divine Beast’s curse is a scary thing.]
“Aren. Calm down.”
The two of them still looked angry.
I gently stroked the back of the little guy who had his tail held high as if he were about to spit out a curse at any moment.
Then Aren made a small sound in his throat.
I guess he calmed down a bit.
A Divine Beast and a curse. He says such dangerous things so casually.
“Those people weren’t trying to kill me.”
I said as softly as possible.
[You almost died a moment ago!]
“I wouldn’t die from something like that.”
[…….]
Aren’s beak didn’t open anymore. Instead, his head tilted slightly.
Having returned to being a cute bird, he kept his mouth shut and blinked his eyes rapidly.
Seeing as there was no counterargument, he might think that was true.
“If…… even by pure accident, they had left a single scratch on you, it would not have ended like this.”
[Well said, partner of my master!]
It felt like he would have taken their heads if I had even one scratch.
If anyone thinks of making a plan like this in the future, I want to warn them to stop immediately.
But I wonder who I could even tell this to.
“We should move to another place first.”
He tidied my hair and brushed off my clothes.
Dirt and dust fell in clumps because I had passed through the narrow secret passage.
He brushed them off a few more times before pulling his hand away.
“Are we going to the castle?”
“No. There should be a place to hide nearby.”
“You plan to hide? Why?”
“Shouldn’t we get information before they fall into someone else’s hands?”
“Ah. I see. That makes sense.”
One of us is famous for being slow-witted, and the other is rumored to be so weak he might collapse from the slightest overexertion.
Information would probably only reach us at the very end after everyone else heard it.
But we can’t let that happen.
Especially me—I need to get information faster than anyone.
“Aren, bring that person.”
[The one tied up in ice? Leave it to me.]
The two seemed to have become quite close in a short time.
