Chapter 14

On their way back to the village, they stopped by Shal’s house. Although his little sister René’s life hadn’t been in danger, her small body was covered in countless wounds. During that one week, it became a routine for them to leave Cat-sìth in the care of the siblings, and then go meet up with them on their way back.

“Big brother Noah, big brother Lion! We played hide and seek with Cat-sìth today!”

“I found my big brother!”

The siblings’ parents also bowed their heads slightly in greeting, expressing their gratitude, as playing with Cat-sìth had returned the smiles to the siblings’ faces.

When they told them that since they finished their work, the siblings won’t be able to play with Cat-sìth anymore, as they were done with purifying the entry restricted polluted area, the children began to cry loudly, clinging to Noah and Lion.

That the fact that they seemed to be scared of Seirios and wouldn’t approach him was to be expected from children, as their intuition was very sharp.1

With pained reluctance, they left the siblings’ home. When they were about to reach the few taverns in the village, a dozen or so people, seemingly swordsmen, mages and archers, ran past. They were running towards the direction Lion, Noah and Seirios came from, tense expressions on their faces. Something was not right.

They stopped a heavy-looking, flabby black mage who had fallen behind slightly and questioned him.

“What happened?!”

“The invading demons from the south crossed the forest and are headed that way! If you’re available, come help us out as well! Since it’s an add-on commission2, you can earn money for it, too!”

“Ah, by ‘that way’ you mean…”

“Exactly where you three came from! There are a few private residences that way, right?”

”

”

“!”

Lion and Noah looked at each other. Shal and René were in danger! Lion turned on his heel and broke into a run back where they just came from, Noah and Seirios following suit.

When he arrived at the houses, out of breath, Lion was shocked.

Spider demons?! These are… are you kidding me…?!

The escaped demons that had traveled through the forest looked just like spiders. Their yellow and black striped pattern seemed poisonous. These gigantic spiders were about two meters tall. Moreover, there were five or six of them. They were hanging from the walls and roofs of the siblings’ house as well as the few adjoining houses.

Looking closely, several of the residents were trapped inside white strings, hanging from the eaves of their houses. Since they were moving, it seemed that they were still alive.

There was a small figure in the shadows of the hung up people, crying, its face red. It was Shal… The spiders had captured the people who were unlucky enough to be outside.

The swordsmen, axemen and mages that had arrived earlier were at a loss on how to attack.

“Why aren’t you attacking?!” Lion promptly shouted. Seirios, who was watching the spiders indifferently from his flank, answered.

“They intend on using those suspended humans as a shield. These demons attack in packs, cooperating with each other. If you strike against them poorly, the prey might get strangled to death or eaten by the remaining spiders. If you want to attack, there might be no other way but to take all of them out at once.”

“Wha-”

What do I do…all of them…at once?

Among the people gathered here, there were only a few that carried weapons that could reach the spiders crawling on top of the roof and walls. These were the archers and mages. There were a lot of fighters with short range attacks instead.

“Shit, you want to take hostages even though you’re damn demons?! Lion, what do we do?!” Noah also seemed to be furious.

Listening to Shal’s crying voice and the pained moans of the people constricted inside the strings, Lion thought desperately. If all the party members present were to strike against the spiders at once, the safety of the captured people couldn’t be–

Fundamentally, summoners had little opportunity to command a battle. Lion, who had no confidence in his own abilities, had only ever fully committed to carrying out the tasks that he was instructed to do.

However, right now, Shal was in danger.

Having heard what Seirios said earlier, Lion got an idea. There was no time for him to be flustered and confused, he had to do what he could.

“Everyone! Please, listen closely! These spiders are a close knit group, and it seems that if we don’t attack them all at once, the captured people will be in danger! People with long range attacks and summoners, let’s all attack the spiders simultaneously! At the same time, everyone with short range attacks, please, retrieve the hostages!”

The members of the battle party were momentarily confused by Lion’s voice, but as one would expect, professionals were quick to mobilize. Quickly they split into a long range attack group and short range attack group, everyone instantly understanding what role they had to play.

“Just as I expected, Lion. Let me tell you one more thing: their weakness is wind magic.”

The beautiful demon held a meaningful smile as he gave Lion this advice, despite himself being of the same demon kin.

Wind…

“Noah! Can you summon a wind type summoning beast?”

“S-sure!”

Lion hadn’t summoned a beast today, so he could participate in the fight too. Concentrating, he joined up the summoning symbols on his hands. Intricately repositioning his fingers, he felt the sharp pain in his old chest wound.

Suddenly, a gentle breeze billowed up around Lion.

Come!

A gust of wind blew and everyone in the battle party looked up into the sky. A beautiful horse with snow white wings was elegantly flying above. The spider demons didn’t notice.

“Everyone! Now!”

**********

The small, cozy tavern was filled to capacity by the dozen members of the battle party. The village girl waiting on tables weaved her way through the crowd, carrying food and drinks.

The spider demons had been defeated and they were able to free all the captured villagers uninjured. Shal was, of course, uninjured as well. Perhaps because he felt relieved, Shal pressed his face against Lion’s chest, said: “Thank youuu, big brother Lion!” and began bawling. Unconsciously, Lion sank to the floor as well, hugging Shal close. He might have never been this glad that he was a summoner.

Although they have only been fellow soldiers in battle for a short amount of time, a strange feeling of solidarity grew between the group of party members, and they were having a party to celebrate.

“Lioon! Why didn’t you tell mee! You have rare summoning beasts like a Pegasus?! Seriouslyy? There’re just a few people in the Legrand clan who have a contract with rare type beasts! As expected of the prestigious Shray clan that keeps producing Grand Summoners! Such superior skills, that’s the first time I’ve seen it!”

Noah, who was already drunk, called out to him, looking deeply impressed. He had already told Lion the same thing several times.

“I’m just glad that it didn’t happen after I’ve already summoned a different beast today.”

“Ugh, you’re sure right about that! To tell you the truth, I thought that your summoning must be reaally difficult to use, Lion, since you can only summon one form a day, but to think that you had such an ace up your sleeve!”

Since Noah was drunk, he ended up spilling out what he was really thinking. ‘So you really thought that way after all,’ Lion thought, smiling wryly, watching Noah as he began to doze off.

When a glass of beer got placed in front of him with a light tap and Lion lifted his head, a muscular martial artist was grinning at him.

“That was awesome today; those spears of wind came down like rain! And what’s more, you didn’t put a single scratch on the hostages, sniping only those demons, all at once! That summoning beast, it was a rare type, wasn’t it?”

“Ah, it wasn’t just me. The skills of the mages and archers were also amazing.”

“You’re too modest!”

As if taking turns, someone would sit down next to Lion and they’d toast together. Everyone kept telling him that he was the key figure in that day’s demon elimination. This was a first for Lion.

Lion believed that considering his slightly introverted nature, he had talked a lot that night. Lion couldn’t really hold his alcohol that well either, so he thought that he should probably head back now and stood up.

Glancing up, he shifted his attention on Seirios, who was sitting deeper inside the tavern and drinking a glass of wine, an entourage of women appearing around him. Although it seemed that Seirios was indifferently drinking his alcohol without any expressions of joy showing on his face, the female archers, sword-wielders, and the girl that was supposed to be waitressing, were surrounding him, talking to him about something, gazing at him, captivated.

Somehow, a weird feeling curled in his chest. Could it be because it’s been a while since he’s eaten and drunk this much?

“Are we leaving?” A voice called out to him coming from Seirios’ direction, as if Seirios had sensed it when Lion for some reason failed to talk to him. Many disappointed women’s faces were looking Lion’s way.

It seemed that Noah, still nodding off, had lodging on the tavern’s second floor, so they let him be.

When they left the tavern, as Lion had expected, there weren’t any people walking on the road and all the lights inside the surrounding residences had already been extinguished. As they walked back to their lodging, Lion somewhat felt like he was floating in a dream. This was probably due to the influence of alcohol as well, but it wasn’t just that.

I was able to save Shal using my own powers. Although it wasn’t just thanks to my powers alone, various people complimented me, telling me I did a good job… I’m so glad I’m a summoner…I’m so happy…

That was right. He was happy. On its own, his expression softened.

“You seem to be in a good mood, Lion.”

“Am I? I’m so glad that we were able to save Shal. I was really happy that my powers as a summoner were actually useful. But — that’s right! It’s all thanks to you, Mister Sei.”

“Thanks to me? What do you mean?”

“Although you’re a demon, too…truthfully, you shouldn’t be telling me about weaknesses of your kin, right?”

For a moment Seirios’ expression grew cold and he barked out a laugh.

“Since I am a stray, I am in a position where I am not tied down by anything. I’m not obligated to protect demons who aren’t even my subordinates.”

“Is…is that so? But it was thanks to you telling me about their traits and weaknesses that we were able to save Shal and the other residents. Thank you very much.”

“It’s only natural for me to want to repay my owner. I’ve been useful to you, right? Were you happy?”

‘Owner’? He was talking about that kind of stuff again. The man, whose features were bright and beautiful enough to be considered flawless, be it in his human or demon form, and who was likely someone that was in a high-ranking position even among demons…!

The feelings of happiness from finishing a difficult job and feelings of excitement blended together and made Lion feel overwhelmingly delighted. A child-like, satisfied smile showed on his face.

“Hehe, to be honest, I am really really happy! I’m really grateful to you, Mister Sei.”

“…hng.”

Seirios looked at Lion’s beaming face and his expression became strange, as if he was caught off guard.

“Huh, what’s wrong?”

“…This smiling face of yours. I wanted to see it… You truly have not changed a single bit. As I thought, it is wonderful.”

“What do you mean by ‘not changed a single bit’…?”

Exactly at that moment, they arrived at their lodging. Although it was late at night, the owners of the inn were still awake, so they bowed at them as they passed, going to their lent room. The moment the door shut closed with a click, Seirios tightly embraced him from behind.

“Hey– Mister Sei!”

As if he thought that it was one of Seirios’ usual jokes, Lion laughed and tried to get away from Seirios’ arms, but Seirios’ embrace was unexpectedly strong and he wasn’t able to escape.

Seirios’ breath reached the top of Lion’s ear.

”

”

“I thought that I would wait a little while longer, but this is really difficult.”

“What are you waiting to do?”

“Lion, I want you. Show me more of the expressions you can make.”