Chapter 48

The knights tied ropes around the backhorn's horns and legs, dragging it away to pasture. The backhorn is a magical beast that grows one horn per year. Since this individual had eight horns, it seemed to have lived for about eight years. It was autumn, so it was quite fatty and could be said to be just right for eating.

It seemed that the backhorn was too excited to be put to sleep with magic. Perhaps it was too wild to handle, and one of the exasperated knights ran out, waving a red cloth. The provoked backhorn, breathing heavily, charged at the red cloth. Despite the presence of other knights, it seemed that the backhorn could only see the red cloth. A voice in the distance said, "Try your best, or it's over if you get caught!" Indeed, it was more efficient to lead it away than to drag it forcibly. Watching the entire process, I was reminded of that time.

"Your Grace, the reason I was targeted by the backhorn at the banquet was..."

On that day, when I tried to help the elderly couple who were unable to move at the banquet, I turned around and saw the backhorn, which had gone mad, aiming at me. The reason was, as expected,

"The color red has an exciting effect. That dress suited you well, but it might have attracted the backhorn."

"Ugh... I had a feeling that might be the case. Next time I enter the forest, I'll wear a more subdued color."

"A subdued color will make you harder to find in the forest. It could be dangerous if you get lost. Well, I'll be with you when you enter the forest, so it should be fine."

It seemed that Your Grace was really going to take me to the Elsenyie Great Forest. I was happy and looking forward to it, but I was also worried about being a burden.

The backhorn, which had been thrashing around, was gone, and the tianlang, who had finally calmed down, came running, covered in fallen leaves. As I squatted to remove the leaves tangled in its fur, it dropped something from its mouth. The object was slightly larger than my palm and had brown fur.

"Princess, please hold onto that!"

Lilian, out of breath, ran over and pointed at the brown lump at my feet.

"Do you mean this brown creature?"

"It's a pest, it eats root vegetables, a bad one!"

"Oh, that's terrible!"

I quickly grabbed the brown furry lump. It seemed to have been playing dead, but it woke up in surprise and started to struggle with a strength disproportionate to its small body. Its claws were abnormally long and very thick.

"Your Grace, is this a monster?"

"It's a pest similar to a monster called a mors. Do you not have them in Marshall Raid?"

Your Grace, with a flicker of magic on his fingertips, took the brown lump called a mors from me. The mors, seemingly startled again, fainted in Your Grace's hand. Your Grace bent down, patted the tianlang's head, and said, "Good job, well done," while the tianlang let out a proud "kyau!"

"It looks like a rat but is different in some ways."

The mors doesn't have round ears like a rat, but its tail is long and hairless like a rat's.

"This creature digs into the ground and comes to the fields from nowhere during the season when many types of root vegetables and fruits are ripe. Despite its small size, it has magical claws, is a big eater, and is very quick."

"It's a monster and a pest. It's too small to eat. If we could catch more, perhaps..."

"Hmm, I see. A lot can be caught at once, but it would be a challenge to process so many."

"If we cut off the head to remove the blood and magic, and then twist the neck, the intestines should come out from the rear. The skin can be peeled off from the cut at the neck."

"Ah, I see! That would save the trouble of gutting it."

As I demonstrated the twisting motion with both hands, Your Grace looked closely at the mors in his hand.

"Alright, we'll consider it. Since the mors is herbivorous, if it tastes good, it could be a treat after extermination."

"I can handle it alone, unlike large monsters, so please let me help with the extermination."

"If we eat it, we could stew it like a hare?"

"A stew with plenty of root vegetables and spices would be good."

Since one alone wouldn't be enough to eat, Your Grace offered the mors to the tianlang, which barked happily. However, it was still a baby and couldn't eat it on its own. With its red eyes sparkling, it looked up at Your Grace expectantly, so we decided to head to the breeding shed.

"Aah, rolling around again!"

"Kyau, kyau!"

"Your fur is white, so it's a hassle to clean when it gets dirty!"

It seemed that the tianlang had recognized Lilian as a playmate. Lilian, who didn't seem to mind, was patiently playing with the tianlang, clanking her armor. It was like a sister taking care of a younger sibling, and I couldn't help but smile.

"Being so close, it will be sad to part ways."

"Yes. If it survives the winter, it will wean and can return to the wild, but I'm sure I'll get attached."

"Haha, Your Grace really likes small, fluffy animals."

"The mors isn't cute."

Your Grace, with slightly red eyes, looked at the mors with a displeased expression. Personally, I thought the brown furry lump was cute, but I couldn't understand Your Grace's standards of cuteness. Our eyes met, and Your Grace, who had choked on a word, took my hand with the other hand that wasn't holding the mors.

"Melphi, where did you hear that from?"

"Um, from Chaos."

"K, just because it's an animal doesn't mean anything goes! Besides, it's not just animals..."

Your Grace muttered something else while walking briskly. His voice was too low to hear clearly. More importantly, Your Grace's grip was so strong that my hand started to tingle. I didn't want him to let go, so I held his hand back.

"Your Grace."

"W, what is it?"

"The mors is suffocating."

"Ah?!"

Your Grace quickly loosened his grip on the mors. My hand had been squeezed so hard that it hurt, but I didn't want him to let go, so I held his hand back.

---

At the dragon shed, several caretakers were working busily. It seemed to be feeding time, and a caretaker, skilled at the task, was cutting the meat of a magical beast, which the off-duty knights had hunted earlier, into appropriate sizes.

"Is that, Your Excellency... and, h, Princess?!"

A caretaker, noticing us, ran over in surprise.

"There's no one around. What happened?"

"I'm sorry. The tianlang's cub has escaped. We are currently searching for it in groups."

"Of course, it must have wandered off. It's over there."

Your Grace turned around and pointed to where the tianlang was. The tianlang, recognizing the dragon shed as its territory, didn't approach us but stayed by Lilian. The caretaker, seeing the tianlang, looked relieved and relaxed.

"Where was it? I was worried."

The caretaker's concern was ignored as the tianlang turned its head and started walking towards its own shed.

"It keeps escaping the barrier. Where did you find it?"

"It was flying around the third floor of the west wing with magic. It didn't seem to be trying to escape, perhaps it was lonely."

"Even though it's small, it's still a tianlang, so we can't put a collar on it. It's cute now, but it will become too much for us to handle as it grows."

Even though the tianlang is a magical beast and a carnivore, it is protected as the guardian of Galbreath. It can't eat on its own yet, but it will eventually. If it continues to slip through the barrier, an accident might happen.

"Hmm, if we can't find its mother within a month, we'll have to train it and keep it here..."

Your Grace, looking troubled, handed the mors to the caretaker, saying, "It's what it hunted. Let it eat it." The caretaker, taking the mors, instructed another caretaker to prepare it as the tianlang's food.

"Normally, it would learn hunting and eating from its mother. If we return it to the wild now, it might not survive on its own."

"Is that so?"

"It's too early to be separated from its mother. If it gets used to humans and is returned to the wild, it won't be good for it. It's better to make a decision quickly."

After thinking for a while, Your Grace sighed and made a decision.

"Alright, we'll try. There's been no word from the fort about its mother. We'll take it and search from the air."

"Will you search the Elsenyie Great Forest again?"

"Even though it's a baby, it might remember something, especially its mother's scent. If we find evidence of it being attacked by a Bergnyon, we'll accept it as part of Galbreath—"

At that moment, a rough bell sound started ringing from a distance. The sound grew louder and more intense, echoing off the walls of the Midleig fortress.

"It's the alarm!"

"From the fifth direction."

"But it's a single entity... What's coming?"

"Magic beasts in the early morning... Your Excellency, will you send out the drake riders?!"

The residents of the Midleig fortress, as expected, remained calm and interpreted the meaning of the alarm.

"Yes, I'll go. Which squad is on duty today?"

"Muran and Gerard squads. The Muran squad is already on standby!"

"Good, prepare the drake riders immediately."

The breeding shed became even busier. What kind of magic beast and how many were coming? I couldn't be of much help in such a situation, so I decided to go to Lilian to avoid being in the way.

"Your Grace, I'll return to my room with Lilian!"

"Be careful. If the alarm is ringing, it might be a different kind of magic beast."

"Good luck."

"Yes, don't worry, Melphi."

Your Grace had the face of a warrior. He was equipped with temporary armor, a black iron chest plate, and two spears longer than his height. He also carried four short spears for throwing.

"Princess, this way!"

"Yes, I'm coming!"

Lilian, carrying the tianlang, ran over, so I nodded to Your Grace and turned around. The alarm was still ringing. The thick walls of the fortress had towers to deploy magical barriers. As I looked up at the sky, a thin, rainbow-colored barrier was just covering the sky.