The tree was covered in snowberries, so I plucked one and gave it a try. The surface of the berry was slightly frozen, but once I bit down, its juice seeped into my mouth.
“S-So sweet!”
I couldn’t believe it wasn’t frozen solid in an environment like this. The inside probably contained copious amounts of sugary juice.
“I think Garr and Fredrica would love these. Don’t you agree, Zara?” I asked.
“Of course. We got our hands on an amazing ingredient thanks to Sir Aiskoletta.”
I filled my basket up with snowberries. Now that our goal was complete, there was nothing left to do but head home.
Sir Aiskoletta told us to descend a bit farther down first, since the magical energy near the summit was unstable. A chill went down my spine when I peered over the cliffside. There would be no saving anyone who fell from a place like this.
“Miss Mell, Miss Charlotte, I’d like you to ride Miss Amelia on the way down.”
“Sure, we’ll— Ah!”
A strong gust of wind struck me. My body went tipping toward the cliff.
“Melly!”
“Miss Mell!”
Zara and Sir Aiskoletta reached out for me at once, but neither of their hands connected.
Slowly, little by little, the sights before my eyes changed.
Then the last thing I saw was the cloudy sky.
“Aaaaaaaaah!”
“Mell!”
“Medic Risurisu!”
Everyone’s faces grew further and further away. I watched as Amelia spread her wings and jumped after me, but the wind was blowing her back. She couldn’t fly forward.
“Kreh! Kreh! Kreeeeeeeeeeh!”
I heard that heartbreaking, tearful scream from Amelia.
Time was practically at a standstill.
I shouldn’t have held back. I should have eaten just one more snowberry—
“Kreeeeeeh!”
“Whoa!”
Just then, some sort of black creature caught me in my fall. I watched as it flapped its beautiful, jet-black wings.
“I-It’s you!”
The black griffin had swooped in to rescue me. What is he doing here?!
But more importantly, I was alive.
The black griffin carried me back to the others.
“Melly!!!”
“Kreeeeeeeeeeh!”
Zara ran up to me, but Amelia beat him to the punch, leaping into my arms.
“Kreh kreh, kreh kreh kreh, kreh kreh kreeeh!”
Amelia was weeping as she cried out with relief that I was safe. I wrapped my arms around her tightly, apologizing for scaring her.
Zara came up to me once Amelia and I separated.
“Thank god, Melly…”
“The black griffin saved my life.”
“I know, he really did.”
Zara pulled me into a big hug. I finally felt my heart settle back down.
“What a shock this is. Encountering a black griffin was the last thing I predicted.”
“Kreh kreh, kreh kreh kreh.”
The black griffin answered Sir Aiskoletta’s confusion.
When Amelia heard that, she responded, “You must be joking!”
“What’s wrong, Amelia?”
“Kreh kreh, kreh kreh kreh, kreh.”
“What…?!”
She explained that the black griffin had been following Amelia all this time. Even after we teleported away, he still managed to track her down to the mountain.
“Kreh kreh, kreh kreh kreh, kreh.”
“Kreh…”
Our contract meant that if I died, Amelia would die. That was why the black griffin saved me. Amelia was the entire reason I was still alive right now.
“Kreh, kreh kreh, kreh…kreh.”
“You’re horrible for following me around all this time… But thank you.” Amelia said those words to the black griffin before nuzzling her cheek against his.
He puffed up his feathers and wagged his lion’s tail happily.
I didn’t know if I was right, but I felt like their relationship had taken a step forward. I was actually quite touched. At least, I was, until Amelia shouted, “Don’t follow me anymore!”
That was when the black griffin suggested something outrageous.
“Kreh kreh, kreh kreh kreh, kreh.”
“Kreeeeh?!”
Amelia’s beak fell open in a cry of utter shock.
“Um, what did he say, Amelia?”
“Kreh, kreh kreh, kreh.”
“Whaaat?!”
I had the exact same reaction she did.
“What’s Amelia saying, Melly?” Zara asked.
“The black griffin told her he wanted to form a contract with me so that he could stay with Amelia forever.”
He’d made up his mind—he wanted to die when Amelia did.
“In other words, you two will enter a contract if you give him a name, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Are you going to do it?”
With the help of the Royal Mythical Beast Preservation Bureau, another griffin wouldn’t be too much of a burden on my wallet. We even had an empty room in our house.
But the real issue was how Amelia felt about it.
“Let me ask her. Amelia, the black griffin wants a contract with me. What do you think I should do?”
“Kreeeh… Kreh kreh.”
She seemed like she was pondering it for a moment, but then she responded plainly with, “I don’t mind either way.”
“Kreh kreh, kreh kreh kreh, kreh, kreh.”
“I-I see.”
“If he wants to follow me so badly, he’s not going to stop. It’d be better to just keep him around.”
“Kreh kreh, kreh kreh, kreeeh!”
“But just because you have a contract doesn’t mean I’ll agree to marry you,” she warned the black griffin next.
He seemed to respond with something to the effect of, “I don’t mind.”
“All right. I’m going to give you a name now,” I said.
I hadn’t given any creature a name in so long. I was kind of nervous. Garr would have definitely been a big help with this if he had joined us.
“Um… I don’t know what to choose.”
“He looks like a black bird, so how about Crow, Medic Risurisu?”
“But that’s already Captain Ludtink’s name…”
“Ah, that’s right.”
Ulgus’s sense for names was as amusing as ever. When she saw me struggling, Amelia chirped out, “Kreh kreh.”
“Huh? ‘Rih?’”
She explained that it meant “wind” in an ancient language.
“I like it. I think it suits him well. All right then. This is my command. You will now be known as Rih!”
I heard something like a faint pop. The griffin then stood up straight, so I knew he must be receiving the contract seal on his body.
The black griffin, now Rih, bent his knees before me. I leaned down and patted his head.