“Is something wrong?”
“......No.”
“That does not look like nothing. Are you feeling unwell?”
Melano brought his face right up to Luman’s and asked.
The man had been perfectly fine, only to suddenly flinch, stop walking, and stare into empty air. It was suspicious, to say the least. Had he been looking at some woman? No, what woman would be in the garden at this hour before dawn? Then had he suddenly fallen ill?
“Ah! It must be because you were out in the morning dew.”
“I suppose so.”
Luman nodded with a gentle smile.
Melano scolded him, saying that if he could not sleep, he should have stayed still and rested with a cup of warm tea instead of going out for a walk in the garden.
Luman had said he would go quietly by himself, but the sharp-eared servant had insisted on following him.
For a moment, Luman regretted not simply climbing down through the window.
‘No. Then I might have been mistaken for a thief.’
The lord’s castle in Loroe Territory was, in its own way, rather tightly guarded.
Luman could deceive those eyes easily enough, but he did not want to waste his ability on something so pointless after coming all the way here. No, he did not want to use his ability anymore. Even if it had its uses.
He had woken abruptly and come out because he felt like walking through the garden, but.
“The flowers in Loroe Castle are special. Look here.”
Unaware that Luman’s mind was elsewhere, Melano continued the explanation he had been giving earlier.
There were especially many blue flowers in the castle garden. After Luman bought the large jeweled ring, Melano, who seemed to have taken quite a liking to him, had been talking constantly about Kenilla Loroe. He eagerly explained little details about her tastes and hobbies, what she liked and disliked. He kept circling randomly through the same stories, to the point that Luman felt as though he had already been courting her for a year.
Luman quietly nodded along and glanced behind Melano, who was absorbed in his own speech.
There was Lante.
It was a face he had not seen in a very long time.
Though Lante was a familiar who lived almost as part of him, they rarely met face to face when it was not for a mission. It was rare for Lante to manifest on his own, too.
And yet Lante, whom he had not called, had suddenly appeared. And what had that sharp pain in his head just now been?
“Melano.”
“She is still embroidering— Yes? Did you call me?”
Melano, who had been talking on and on, reacted belatedly to his voice.
“I should return to my room.”
“What? Why, without looking around more? The flower beds are not even finished yet. There is still so much garden left to see!”
For someone who had told him not to come out, Melano looked thoroughly excited now.
“I need to relieve myself.”
“Ahem. Hm. You should have said so sooner.”
Melano cleared his throat and quickly turned back.
To say it so directly! How unbecoming! He could simply have said he was sleepy! And why was he speaking so politely again? Was this Melano making him uncomfortable? Melano grumbled inwardly about this honest and courteous Hero.
After checking Luman’s bed for him again, he entered the attached servant’s room, and Luman sat still on the bed for a while.
The silent dawn wrapped around him.
Only when he was certain he could hear no trace of anyone nearby did Luman’s lips finally move.
“Luvien.”
Saaaaah.
A sphere of gathered light spread in every direction in an instant, and a white-furred fox appeared in midair.
“Lante.”
When Luman called him and reached out, Lante put on a sulky expression but obediently settled into his arms.
After being struck down by Dell Belkerman and forcing himself to move to Coco’s castle, Lante still had not recovered from the fur he had lost and the teeth he had damaged, so his appearance was pitiful. Luman held him for a moment, stroking him, then set him down on the bed and stared into his black eyes.
“Why did you suddenly appear? I didn’t call you.”
“Is that a complaint?”
“That’s not it. It’s strange, Lante.”
Luman chuckled and lightly touched Lante’s ear. Lante flicked his ear away ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) and only blinked his black eyes as if he was about to speak, then not speak.
“You wouldn’t appear without a reason, so what is it? Hm?”
Perhaps because he was glad to see him after so long, Luman’s voice came out gentle. Lante looked briefly disgusted, then opened his mouth.
“I think Ren called me.”
“......Ren?”
Luman’s eyebrows drew together.
“What do you mean, Ren called you?”
He asked again, as if he did not understand.
“I don’t know.”
“Explain it. Why?”
“I said I don’t know! It just feels that way.”
Lante thrust out his long snout and twitched his nose in irritation.
“Ren did like you. Maybe I should have called you back in the village.”
“Don’t. Do you think he’d like this shabby state? I’d be lucky if he didn’t burst into tears.”
“You don’t know Ren. Once that child likes something, he likes it no matter what it looks like.”
When Luman said that with a low laugh, Lante’s angry face softened too.
“I’ll treat you regularly.”
“A familiar?”
Lante snorted. The two of them chatted about this and that for the first time in a long while, and after several months, Lante fell asleep manifested in Luman’s arms.
Luman toyed with the white fox’s thin fur.
He had brushed it off as nothing, but Lante’s sudden words bothered him.
“Ren called you?”
***
“Ren.”
For an instant, Temar felt his chest sink heavily.
He stopped running at full speed and looked around.
He thought he had heard a voice calling,
‘Brother.’
Temar’s heart beat uneasily. But no matter how he looked around, there was not even a strand of human hair to be seen, let alone Ren.
He had to return quickly. Faster.
Even if he had to use every means he had.
That was the only thought in his mind.
Just as Temar was about to tighten the hand holding the reins, a massive body blocked his path.
It was an encounter he had never expected.
“Geloman.”
“Temar.”
The two called each other’s names once.
The earth writhing beneath Geloman’s feet slowly spread beneath him as though melting open. The blue energy that had been roaming fiercely around Temar like wind subsided.
“Why are you here?”
“Where are you headed?”
“.......”
Temar pressed his mouth shut.
Shhk.
Geloman drew the greatsword from his back. Even before Geloman, who radiated a vicious force, Temar did not move.
“Temar. I will ask one last time. Where are you headed? Do you serve someone other than our king?”
His voice boomed and shook the earth. The ground underfoot seemed ready to rise and seize Temar’s ankles.
“Serve someone other than him?”
Temar frowned.
“That is exactly what I asked. Do you serve someone other than our king?”
Geloman kindly repeated what he had just said.
“......I see.”
Temar muttered while looking at Geloman’s bright blue eyes, which held a trace of madness, and the sword he had drawn. Seeing those eyes crackle like lightning made him laugh under his breath.
“I understand why you’re here. You followed me because you suspect me.”
“Yes.”
Clang!
Geloman had not lied when he said he would ask one last time.
Instead of asking back or explaining, he brought his greatsword down at Temar.
Boom!
At dawn, through the quiet of Mount Geroa, the explosive sound of uprooted trees and shattering rock rang out.
***
The nicely tanned boy decided he should stop taking any interest in Ren.
“Ugh.......”
He might have kept to that thought if he had not seen Ren having a nightmare. The boy, who had been dozing lightly, opened his eyes. Ren had been muttering something to himself and rustling around, and not long after finally falling asleep, he began to groan.
“Hey.”
“Wake up.”
“Hey.”
No matter how many times he called, all that came back were pained sounds.
After poking Ren a few times and sighing, the boy eventually shook him where he was curled up tightly with his head buried in both knees.
“.......”
When Ren’s posture loosened and his face was revealed, the boy lost his words again.
His face was soaked in blood.
When the boy felt over Ren’s damp-looking knee, not-yet-dried blood smeared onto his hand.
Realizing Ren had smashed his own nose into his knee, the boy bit down on his lip.
It seemed he had finally admitted he had been tricked. Whether from rage or hurt.
‘That doesn’t mean he had to wreck his nose.’
Looking at Ren’s face, covered in cold sweat, the boy laid him on his own lap. Then he quietly patted Ren’s chest.
There was no way he was all right, but the boy just hoped he would at least wake from the nightmare. He kept patting him until Ren stopped groaning.
“Stupid.”
Tsk. The boy clicked his tongue, but without realizing it, his face had loosened. He even felt a little laugh rise from sheer disbelief.
Maybe it was because Ren, who had stupidly smashed his own nose and then had a nightmare while crying, “Brother!” and clinging fiercely to his faith like a child, seemed much younger than him.
So even when Ren woke up and glared at him with hostile eyes, he did not get angry.
His sharply raised eyebrows only made him look like a struggling cat.
“So why did you smash your nose into your knee? I’m curious.”
It felt ridiculous to be making small talk while they were locked up and being dragged away.
But seeing Ren startle and scowl, the boy felt like he could breathe a little easier.
