Apparently the Scarred wasn’t satisfied with gravity doing the job. Roaring, it chased after me as I fell. It wanted to finish me, but this would be my last chance too. It didn’t matter whether my sword or my hand managed to grab it, I needed to stop falling. It was a matter of seconds until the creature collided with me. Five, four, three...
I wasn’t able to count any further. The first strange thing was that my body collided with something soft. The second thing was the appearance of multiple beams of technicolor light that created a barrier between me and the gryphon. This bright wall emitted enough heat that the gryphon had no choice but to abort its dive and fly away.
“Wh-Why the hell’s it so soft?!” I couldn’t help but exclaim.
My hands were touching my perch, and whatever had caught me felt like a plush cushion. But how could a cushion catch me so high in the air? The cushion itself told me the answer.
“Miii, foohoo!”
“E-Elder?!”
Yup... The carbuncle elder had caught me out of thin air. Despite the fact that I was magnitudes larger, he had caught me as he raced through the air, surrounded by white particles of light. But that wasn’t all.
“Myuuu!” “Mifoofoo!” “Myuu, mifoo!” “Mimimimi!” “Miifiii!”
The whole pack was here. The elder’s pack of carbuncles had all appeared out of nowhere and were squeaking as they dashed around the sky. A pack of little multicolored, fluffy monsters all emitting light as they skittered about... I wondered how this looked from down below.
“Miiiii!”
A slightly pudgy black carbuncle appeared from the crowd. He was in front of the Scarred, who had stopped in confusion, and was shaking his head.
“Mii fii! Mii foo!”
“Krrrrwl, krrrwl...”
The gryphon made a guttural sound in the face of the black carbuncle’s protestations.
“Mifooo!”
With this squeak, all of the other carbuncles joined the black one and started hitting their foreheads against the gryphon’s beak. Their Carbuncle Stones plopped off one by one to rest in the Scarred’s beak!
“Mifoo!” the black carbuncle squeaked, panting, as if asking if this was enough.
The Scarred silently glanced over at the glittering tiara on Sharney’s head. It let out a tremendous screech, louder than any before, but didn’t pursue. With that, it flapped away to return to its nest down in Esartella Gorge.
“Did it give up...?” I asked.
“Mifoooon!” the elder carbuncle responded as he slowly descended to the ground. When we were close enough, I leaped down, and the elder nodded before floating away again.
“Thank you. You saved me,” I said.
“Mifoofoofoo!” the elder replied, as if to tell me not to worry about it. The carbuncles all floated up into the air.
“Hakura, are you okay?!” Leen asked while dashing toward me, a slightly squished slime in her arms.
“Yeah, just barely. How about you?”
“Some stuff is broken and a few adventurers got knocked over, but no one’s badly injured,” Leen replied. “More importantly! How dare you do something so dangerous!”
“You’re the one who said to buy you some time...”
“Yeah, but I didn’t ask you to leap onto a gryphon’s back! Ugh, you could’ve died! What would’ve happened if they hadn’t come to save you?!”
I looked up and saw the carbuncles circling the sky.
“Yeah... Did you ask them to do that?” I said.
“I did. I used the Carbuncle Stones on the tiara as a medium to call for the black carbuncle. They came quicker than I expected, thank goodness.”
“Myuuu!” “Miii!” “Mifoo mifoo!” “Myumiii!”
Their squeaks almost sounded like a song, and the particles of light that rained down seemed almost like their blessing.
“We can’t let the wedding be ruined. How about we just let this be a unique memory of the day?” Leen said.
I looked over to see Tiesel, Sharney, her loyal groom, and all the other guests gazing up at the carbuncles.
“I think that’s his way of saying thank you for taking care of him for the past year,” Leen went on.
From this distance, I could see the chubby little black carbuncle in the middle of the crowd. He was still a bit more lethargic compared to his friends, but he was gliding around as if to say that he was okay. There were some adventurers in the crowd, but no one here even thought about trying to capture them.
“Hey, Leen?” I said.
“Yes?”
I breathed a sigh of relief that I’d kept it close to me. If I’d left it with our things, it might’ve gotten blown away during the chaos. No one was looking at us, and Leen had lowered her guard. This was the time.
“About the other day... I’m really sorry.”
In my hands was a small piece of carefully crafted wood with a number of fine teeth carved into it. There were a number of fine grooves engraved into it and at one end was a little sunstone. It was a comb.
The people I’d spoken to over these past few days had advised me that if I’d hurt her hair, then the best thing to get her would be a present that would allow her to take care of it. It was an item that was practical above anything else.
When Leen had told me she had put her anger on hold, I’d lost all confidence that she’d like my choice, but something told me that if I missed this chance, I’d never be able to give it to her. But, well, if she still didn’t forgive me, I’d consider my next options. I’d got her this, so it would be a waste to just hold on to it.
“Hakura,” Leen said after a pause.
I wasn’t sure if her next words would be anger, dejection, or disappointment...
“Yeah?”
Leen chuckled. With the chorus of carbuncles and their particles of light around us, she said, “All right then. I forgive you.”
Despite the scene around us, those green eyes placed above that gentle smile of hers seemed most beautiful of all.