“Then as long as you have your spell cast on Flugel, will it keep living?” he asked.
“Er... Yes, you could say that,” I replied.
I stared at him. He’s not going to tell me to keep this monster alive, is he? The thing is practically dead already. It might not be my place since I tried to turn him into my familiar, but...is he okay with this? I feel like it’d only bring a host of problems...
If I were this wyvern, I wouldn’t want my fate to be decided by others. If I weren’t even allowed to die, forced to live by someone else’s powers, I would find that cruel. Death was kinder. Yet, Warm went on his hands on knees and lowered his head, kowtowing to me.
“Please! Keep Flugel alive with your spell!” he begged. “This dragon broke its wing protecting me. It’s still young and was just about to fly into adulthood, but because of me, it could never experience that... Please! I’ll do anything!”
He prostrated and practically begged with tears in his eyes, a far cry from the Dragon Rider of the Elite Four I’d seen in my dreams.
What’s going on here? His begging is so annoying. I feel really agitated watching him...
I shook my head, freeing myself of these thoughts.
“All right,” I relented. “Raise your head. Just don’t ever do something so unsightly again.”
“Thank you!” Warm cried. “I can’t thank you enough!”
“Ugh, stop bowing!”
Everyone viewed life and death differently. If Warm and the wyvern were fine with this arrangement, I had no reason to protest. Besides, it would be good to have this guy owe me one. If one measly wyvern was all it took, it wasn’t a bad deal.
Warm happily agreed to lend me the wyvern for a time. I wasn’t sure if it would listen to my orders, but this beast obeyed Warm very well, and allowed me to ride on its back without a fuss.
As I boarded its back and left, Warm called out to me.
“Thank you for telling me about the slave trade!” he shouted. “That Gillan’s a wealthy merchant with all sorts of nasty rumors swirling around him, but he managed to cover his tracks well! My father agonized on how to catch him, but looks like we’ve got a lead! This incident will finally allow us to punish him for his misdeeds, I think. Thank you!”
“Yeah? Best of luck,” I replied.
Ah, yes, that man’s name was Gillan. It’s all coming back to me now. Personally, I had no interest in the economical affairs of other fiefs. I simply wished for the man to be punished and unable to further trouble my land.
I flew ahead toward the manor where Yusurika was waiting for me. The curtain of night had been drawn back as trickles of sunlight began to peer from the horizon.
✶✶✶
Early in the morning in Roguebert, Carlos stood on a hill near the house where Fol and her family lived. His eyes were fixated on the vast sea as he waited for the return of his master. Just last night, Lofus had left for Stelia and claimed that he’d somehow make the return trip home. If the boy could find a teleporting crystal back to Lightless, all would be well, but if he was out of luck, he’d have no choice but to use a ship or magic to cross the sea using the shortest route possible. Carlos knew as much, and Roguebert was situated directly south of Stelia.
“My lord...” he muttered.
Carlos had already been waiting for two hours, but there was no sign of Lofus. This wasn’t too unusual, for it took a full day by ship to get to Roguebert from Stelia. Even if one flew across the waters by using magic, the trip would still be quite long. No matter how one sliced it, Lofus couldn’t have returned so soon yet, and waiting on that hill felt like a waste of time. The young heir, however, had claimed that he would return by morning.
Lofus was the type to always make good on his word—he would fulfill his claims, no matter how unreasonable. He was also moody and prone to spouting nonsense as he saw fit, but Carlos felt that his lord’s promise before he left was a firm one. Lofus would surely stay true to his oath. The butler believed that Lofus would rescue Norn from captivity, find and shelter any other citizens of Roguebert, and return. Carlos had served Lofus for many years and was quite aware of his master’s antics and tendencies.
However... Carlos thought as his expression turned dark. Lofus possessed immense power and mana, enough to make any of his selfish whims a reality. However, this time around, he’d just gotten out of a tough battle and wasn’t in his prime condition. He’d exhausted the vast majority of his mana, and though he’d been treated, his body still hadn’t fully recovered from its injuries; most importantly, he didn’t have his left arm.
With Dark Knight Yusurika by his side, the boy’s safety was assured barring some sort of catastrophe, but Carlos recalled the back of his master who stood up alone against the Wicked Whale while allowing others to escape. Precisely because Lofus was so strong, he had the tendency to shoulder all the troubles by himself; he likely thought it was far more efficient to personally take care of manners, and as a result, he tried to do everything alone.
“I hope he hasn’t sustained any more injuries,” Carlos muttered.
He closed his eyes, knowing that Yusurika was likely facing a lot more than she could handle. Just then, he perceived a chunk of mana heading straight for this town...from Stelia, no less. The butler immediately channeled his mana to his eyes to heighten his vision, and he spotted a winged shadow in the skies beyond the horizon.
“A wyvern? It can’t be...” he murmured.
The beast headed for him with incredible speed, carrying Lofus, Yusurika, and a girl who must’ve been Norn. Carlos knew that Stelia had a tendency to domesticate wyverns and use them as steeds, but he didn’t think that his own master would ride atop such a beast’s back.
“I’m no match for you, my lord,” he muttered. He smiled, relieved to see that his master was safe. “But...”
Carlos’s mana perception abilities paled in comparison to Lofus’s, who could sense any enemy from afar, but the butler could sense his master’s intense magical energy and pick it out from a crowd. Lofus’s mana was difficult to hide. Though the boy had left Roguebert with much of his mana depleted, Carlos was dismayed to find that his master’s mana was at an even lower level and its power was rather faint.
“He pushed himself quite a bit again.”
The butler predicted the swift wyvern’s trajectory, calculated its landing point, and rushed ahead. After all, he had to be the first to greet his master’s return when he set foot on the Lightless fief again.
✶✶✶
Lofus spotted Roguebert in the distance. He breathed a sigh of relief when he realized that he was now near the waters of the town. His mana had lasted long enough. He’d taken Warm’s wyvern and crossed the Devil’s Sea from Stelia. The wyvern sapped away more mana than he’d expected, and in his current weakened state, he was admittedly cutting it pretty close. Even after drinking all of his mana potions, he’d barely managed to last.
This wyvern listened only to Warm’s orders and allowed Lofus and his friends to ride on its back solely because Warm gave the command. Since the wyvern had access to Lofus’s mana, it liberally drained it all to soar faster than ever. This allowed Lofus to arrive at Roguebert sooner than expected, but he was also utterly exhausted. He only barely managed to cling onto consciousness.
“Young Master, your mana...” Yusurika said worriedly as she saw his face turn pale.
“We’ll get there soon enough,” Lofus replied gruffly. “I’m fine.”
The boy now had to decide where to land; if a monster suddenly descended on the beach of Roguebert, it’d cause a fuss.
“Over there,” he muttered. “Wyvern, land over there.”
He pointed to a rocky, hilly area a short distance away from Roguebert and gave the signal to descend. The wyvern let out a cry and slowly began its descent, flapping its wings gently to ease any burden on its passengers. This wyvern was used to carrying people and knew how to make its riders comfortable. It’s been trained well by Warm, Lofus thought, impressed.
Carlos was already standing there, and when the three passengers dismounted, the butler gave a deep bow.
Having done its job, the wyvern immediately took to the skies once more and headed back to Stelia.
Lofus turned to his bowing butler and flashed a proud smile.
“Ah, so you’re here to greet me,” Lofus said. “Well done.”
“I’ve eagerly awaited your return,” Carlos replied. “I see that you’ve pushed yourself again.”
This was a short exchange, but Yusurika stood in the back, unable to hide her astonishment. How in the world did Carlos guess their landing spot as though this were a rendezvous point? Lofus had shown no signs of telepathically connecting with his butler during the flight; in fact, it looked as though he’d chosen their descent on a whim. Literally minutes ago, he’d finally decided to land somewhere convenient, and yet Carlos had predicted it beautifully, like a mind reader. And Lofus didn’t find that at all surprising either. This relationship, built upon trust, made her cover her mouth with her hand.
Yusurika felt almost terrified by Carlos’s ability to accurately predict the future. As a Dark Knight, she acted under the orders of Alba, a man who never revealed the true extent of his abilities but clearly possessed monstrous, catastrophic power. The Dark Knights were a group of elite soldiers who could single-handedly accomplish what would otherwise take a thousand normal soldiers, but the leader—the chief of them all—was a head or two above the rest. If the entirety of the Dark Knights turned against Alba, he might ultimately lose due to sheer difference in numbers, but not without a fight; he’d at least take down half of the knights with him.
Alba was the face of true terror and horror, and his predecessor, Carlos, was no slouch either. Yusurika trembled in the presence of the butler, and Carlos, noticing her gaze, turned to her. She immediately turned stiff and straightened her posture, but his eyes softened when he saw her, kindness emanating from his gaze.