Chapter 16

Seirios gently caressed Lion’s face, from his cheek down to his mouth. When he pressed down on Lion’s lips, stroking them as if he was enjoying the feel of them, involuntarily, Lion smiled.

“Hm? Are you awake, Lion?”

“I’ve just woken up now…”

When Lion opened his eyes, the beautiful black-haired man was lying down right next to him, sticking close. Lion had gotten to know the warmth and feel of that muscular body with all of his own last night. Feeling the tightness around his eyes, Lion suddenly remembered last night and how he sobbed out that he couldn’t take it anymore and to please let him go.

A…aaaaaaaaaah!

They got so into it that there weren’t really any excuses Lion could make for it happening. With what kind of expression did other people face mornings like these?

“Was last night enjoyable for you? I enjoyed myself a lot. So much so that I wished to always stay connected with you.”

“….hng!!”

How should Lion answer that? Not wanting for Seirios to see his bright red face, Lion scooted to the edge of the bed and swung his legs down. As he was rather obviously naked, Lion snatched up the clothes thrown onto the floor and walked into the bathroom on unsteady legs. It looked like the muscles of his inner thighs and hips were aching terribly.

“Whoa!”

Lion felt something lukewarm trickling down from his ass and he instinctively sunk down to the floor.

No way… something’s… l-leaking out?!

He spread his legs in a panic, trying to see what that trickling substance was. It was a milky white liquid.

“What’s wrong?”

The bathroom door slid open with a creak and Seirios appeared in the doorway. After spotting Lion, who had sunken down onto the floor and was looking between his spread legs, Seirios smiled lasciviously.

“This is because I came a lot. I’ll scrape it out and clean you up.”

Seirios left no room for further argument and stepped into the bathroom. Lion, who had attempted to get away, was easily pinned down and cleaned thoroughly. Seirios even inserted a finger into Lion’s swollen entrance, scraping out the liquid inside.

By the time he left the bathroom, Lion was already absolutely exhausted.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Lion was indulging himself, dozing off while snuggled up in Seirios’ arms, when he heard a few firm knocks on the room’s window. Startled, Lion froze.

This sound-

“It appears to be a summoning beast. A friend of yours?” Seirios asked him, as he – as was expected – seemed to have realized it was a summoning beast right away. Knocking three times on a window was a typical trait of messenger summoning beasts. Lion quickly leapt out of Seirios’ arms and faced the window. Perched on the windowsill was a small snow-white bird, only its beak coloured pink.

There was no mistaking it.

”

”

This was a summoning beast that excelled at delivering messages to the designated recipient. As long as their name or date of birth was known, it would find the person no matter where they were. Lion had received messages from this bird many times before, so he knew this well. When he hurriedly opened the window and ushered the bird in, emotionless pure black eyes turned towards Lion.

“Return to Mauseer, heeeeelp out,” the bird stated just these few words in a shrill voice, then flew off without waiting for an answer.

In truth, this kind of summoning beast had the ability to hear out the recipient’s answer and deliver it back to the sender, but – as always – this one had probably been instructed to return without listening to Lion’s answer. The sender had no intention of listening to any objections, as he presumed that his order would be obeyed.

But that’s right. Lion, the disgraceful failure of a member of the prestigious summoner clan that he was, had always obeyed.

Big brother…

“I couldn’t understand what it said. It was a message only meant for you, wasn’t it? What did it say?”

Suddenly feeling the presence of the tall man standing behind him, Lion turned around.

“Ah… it was just a message from a summoner friend of mine that I talk to regularly. It wasn’t anything important.”

“That so…?”

The crimson eyes looking at him from above were doubtful, but Lion just forced out a laugh and averted his eyes. He didn’t really want Seirios to know of this.

“Lion, you’re such a meanieeee! You left me behind at that drinking party and went back to your inn! And you’re already headed to Salto now, too?”

“I clearly told you that I was leaving at the party, but you were asleep, Noah, remember? And luckily no demons have invaded this place for the past few days, so I’m going to look for a new job in Salto.”

A few days had passed since they went drinking with the others. Standing before Lion now, sulking, was none other than Noah. It was already evening, and Lion had just come looking for him to say his goodbyes.

“Aww, come on! Won’t you form a party with a fellow drifting summoner for a bit longer and take up some more commissions with him, now that we’ve managed to meet up? It’s like, because apparently even the methods of summoners from other countries are different, it’s refreshing or something!”

Lion felt very happy about this request. Lion hadn’t really come into contact with many summoners outside of his family, so he was interested in the way Noah, a Tailes summoner, did things too. From time to time, Noah would say untactful things, but he wasn’t two-faced, so Lion did think it would have been nice to be able to work with Noah for a while longer, but…

This village had suffered a lot of damage from the demons, and it seemed that Noah intended on staying and taking up commissions here for a while.

“Well, seeing as the east of the Tailes kingdom is in such a state, I’m a little worried about how things are near my home… I’m thinking of gathering some information in Salto.”

“Aaah, right, you’re from the Mauser kingdom! Since the demons are on a huge rampage in the south, you must be worried! Aah ah, if that’s the case, I guess there’s no helping it.”

Although Lion was really reluctant to part with Noah, who seemed truly disappointed at his leaving, they shook hands and went their separate ways.

“Say, Lion, you’re always so insecure, but I think that you’re quite an amazing dude? Amazing enough to have some bragging rights. You’ve made that scary mister your ally one way or another, too!” Noah told him during their parting with – by Noah’s standards – a very serious expression on his face.

Since it was the first time someone from his field of work had told him that he was amazing, Lion ended up blushing involuntarily.

Seirios wasn’t with him at the moment. He had gone shopping for preserved foods, water and other rations for them. In the short amount of time he had been with Lion, Seirios showed a startling ability to learn, and he was able to adapt to human society. His appearance and aura separated him from the general masses, but he seemed to be doing the shopping with real interest, too.

Although I think it would be nice if I could take on a few more commissions with Noah too, my big brother told me to come back… If I do go back…how should I tell Mister Sei?

His goal in wanting to go to Salto was, like he had mentioned earlier, to find out about the situation in the Mauser Kingdom. On rare occasions, orders from his home would be sent to him via that messenger bird, his big brother’s summoning beast. Usually the orders were about carrying out miscellaneous errands when the family was short on hands.

Lion would blindly follow those orders too, because they were all he, the good-for-nothing little brother, could do. However, when he was contacted through the messenger bird this time, Lion was troubled. How should he tell Seirios about the position he had in his family?

“Because this failure of a half-brother, born from a different mother, is the shame of the prestigious Shray summoner clan, he has to at least obey the orders of the future head of the clan”…? Said like that makes me sound really pathetic, doesn’t it? Should I try and refuse, saying that I am busy as well…?

This was the first time Lion had that kind of a thought. Seirios would definitely accompany him, so he couldn’t just return home carelessly. Naturally, the Shray family that had one of its members be a part of the subjugation party of the Southern Demon King a hundred years ago, considered all demons to be bad. Whenever they found out that demons that weren’t one of their summoning beasts entered the estate grounds, they would immediately eliminate them.

Pondering these thoughts, Lion met back up with Seirios, who was finished with the shopping, and they set out for Salto.

“Look, Lion. When I said ‘Make this cheaper.’ they gave me double.”

“Th-this much…”

Happily, the man who possessed elegant beauty, proudly held up a bag crammed full of fruit. It was the fruit that Lion said he liked a few days ago. Its characteristic refreshing tart sweetness made it perfect as an after meal dessert, but it wasn’t something that one could eat a lot of at once. Thankfully, they didn’t spoil fast, so if they kept eating some after every meal, they should be able to finish them before the fruit started to rot.

Apparently Seirios had been watching Lion haggle when he shopped. Lion felt a bit bad for the fruit seller Seirios bargained with with a serious look on his face, as Seirios was a tall, powerful man who was clearly not an ordinary person. They must have been quite frightened.

The demon, who apparently found it enjoyable to imitate humans, somewhat merrily talked to Lion about the marketplace, and Lion listened. The road to the town of Salto led through a forest, so they carried a light with them as they walked on the path. It would only take a few hours before they would reach Salto from the village they had been staying at, so they decided that it would be fine even if they set out for the journey in the evening.

In the past, Lion would have found walking along a dim forest path with just a single wavering light lonely. But now Lion, filled with the presence of the man walking in step beside him, walked with contentment, saying things such as: “The sun is quite low on the horizon, isn’t it?”

How strange. To think that I’m feeling this at ease despite being together with a demon, a being that I thought of as nothing else but my enemy.

Moreover, to think that one of these demons, who Lion previously deemed as nothing else but enemies, made love to him and Lion had consented to it too…

Lion ended up remembering the sex they had a few days ago again and his face grew hot.

Suddenly, the man beside him stopped in his tracks. When Lion looked up at him from the side, Seirios was gazing up at the empty sky with a stern look on his face.

“Mister Sei?”

“… So they did end up catching wind of me? What have I done…”

This was the first time Lion saw Seirios look troubled and he wondered what happened.

Everything had been calm up until that moment, but suddenly a strong wind began to blow, and the surrounding trees swayed violently. The wind surged up around them, howling, and Lion lifted his arms to protect his eyes from the clouds of dust and tree leaves that were hitting his face. All of a sudden, a big body embraced Lion, protecting him from the wind.

“W-what’s up with this wind?! A tornado?”

“No…this is…”

“I finally found you, Master Seiriooooos!!”

An angry voice struck down from the sky, and immediately, Lion looked up. In the otherwise empty sky, he caught sight of a person riding a black, winged horse. The person had golden brown skin and short, blond hair, and although their figure was narrow, their frame was sturdy. It was clearly a man; however, this man wasn’t human. His ears were pointed, he had fangs, and his eyes, shining like gold, had vertical, cat-like pupils. This was a demon.

In two strides the black horse reached Lion and Seirios. The man lightly dismounted the black horse and Lion could see that although he wasn’t as tall as Seirios, he was taller than Lion, and his exposed arms bulged with wiry muscles. On his hands were intricate, red patterns.1

Seirios was standing up, still protecting Lion, and the man… kneeled down in front of him.

“I’ve been looking for you….Master Seirios. To think that you would come to such a place… I’ve been straining my ears all throughout the continent, and when my lord’s name reached them I could hardly believe it.”

Huh? Huh? What’s this person…is he Mister Sei’s subordinate?

Shocked, Lion alternated between looking at the kneeling man and Seirios, but Seirios simply kept staring at the man like he was being a bother.

Upon hearing the man’s following words, this time it was Lion who could hardly believe his ears.

“Please return to the North, Lord Seirios –no, your Highness, Demon King.”