Chapter 2

The next morning.

The moment he was finished with all the formalities and crossed the eastern border of the Nord Kingdom, the forest belt of dense, coniferous woods opened up before him.

This area was Thailes country’s territory.

The border guard had advised him to watch out for stray dogs and bandits. More than half of Thailes’ territory was covered in forests, so he would have to walk for at least half a day to reach a big town.

The road was dim due to the trees being crowded together, but since there were a lot of travelers and merchants coming and going, it was kept relatively clean. Suddenly, the grass growing at the side of the road shook slightly. Lion spotted a small animal cowering in the shade of the trees.

The small puppy, most likely a stray, trembled in its cower. Even though it tried with all its might to intimidate Lion with a low growl, for some reason, it wasn’t running away.

It seemed that it had some sort of injury on its hind leg.

“There, there. Hey, don’t bite me, okay? I’m going to help you.”

When he picked the puppy up, he got snapped at, but it wasn’t hard to deal with. As he carried it to the nearest watering hole and washed its injured leg, sure enough, he found that there was a gash on it. The wound was oozing blood, but there didn’t seem to be anything wrong with the bone. Lion spread some disinfectant paste onto the gash and lightly wrapped a cloth around it to stop the puppy from licking the paste off.

“What happened? Did you get separated from your mom? Do you want to come with me?”

As he held the puppy in his arms and petted its soft fur, the puppy, seemingly no longer cautious of him, started licking Lion’s hand. The puppy was very cute, and the soft, fluffy fur felt amazing.

There was no way that such a small puppy could survive on its own if it got separated from its mom, right?

Should he keep it?

However, immediately, that idea fell apart when he heard a low growl coming from behind his back.

A stray dog, having gotten close enough to be able to leap at him immediately, was baring its fangs at Lion threateningly. The dog had engorged breasts that suggested it was a female, so it was likely that she was the puppy’s mom.

“Look, your mom found you! I’m happy for you.”

Lion slowly lowered the puppy from his lap, trying not to provoke the mother, and took a step back gently. The puppy let out a whine and, dragging his unsteady legs behind, he ran towards his mom.

Until the very last second, the mom kept growling at Lion, but the moment the puppy drew near, her expression softened and she started licking her child. The two of them disappeared into the thicket.

Aww, that was so cute… Once I settle down somewhere, the first thing I want to do is to get a dog!

Since he couldn’t keep a pet at his parents’ home, his childhood dream had always been to adopt a dog.

Even when he first succeeded in performing a summoning when he was playing around as a six year-old, what he achieved had been a puppy-like beast in the middle of the summoning formation that he had learned from imitating others. The beast had glossy black fur and deep crimson, jewel-like eyes, and there was a pair of black wings on its small back.

At that time, Lion didn’t know much about contracts, so he didn’t seal any with the beast and he was just happy about having a cute puppy. He brought it home and took care of it for three months.

However, the puppy was discovered and taken away by his father, and Lion was harshly scolded for performing a summoning without an adult’s supervision.

Once it got separated from Lion, apparently, the puppy demon suddenly vanished. Afterwards, he tried asking his father about it, but his father told him that he’d never seen a demon like that, and Lion ended up never learning its name.

By that point, Lion had learned that reckless summoning was a very dangerous thing that, sometimes, even claimed people’s lives. Therefore, he understood that what he had done as a child wasn’t something to be praised for. However, the three months that he had spent with the puppy had been really fun.

As he spaced out, idly standing by the watering hole while lost in his fond memories, suddenly, there was a rustle, and all of the birds from the surrounding trees took off at once.

“Ah, that startled me!”

Had another traveller arrived? Lion wasn’t travelling in a hurry, but he wanted to reach the town where he’d be able to stay the night, while the sun was still high in the sky. As such, he shook off the memories and set forth, when-

“Hey, you there!”

A low, deep voice called out to Lion.

Eh, was there someone else around!?

When he turned around reflexively, a tall man was standing there. He was dressed in a well-tailored robe, recognizable at a glance as a high-class article. His hands were empty, and he wasn’t carrying a single piece of luggage.

Even from a distance, it was obvious that the black-haired man was handsome and charming. He was manly, had a bright air to him reminiscent of some sort of nobility, and also class.

The man walked closer to Lion. As Lion had guessed at first, he was tall. He was at least one head taller than Lion, who was of average height in his home country. The light filtering through the trees lit the man’s face and, when Lion looked at the colour of his eyes, he shuddered.

He guessed that the man’s eyes were a reddish brown colour, but, perhaps due to the light level, they looked deep red. They were a vivid reminder of dried blood, left on a battlefield for many days, and Lion almost felt the stifling stench of blood wafting towards him…

When Lion unconsciously took a step back, the man’s eyebrows knit together.

“Can you hear me?”

“Y-yes,” he answered, standing at attention stiffly, overwhelmed by the man’s intimidating air.

“You are a traveler, correct? If that is the case, I would like to travel with you. Is that alright?”

“Huh?”

“I am not used to being on the road.”

“Um… aren’t you travelling together with other people?”

“My companions left me behind.”

The words were quite subtle, but Lion could imagine what had happened just as well. Since this man had to be someone of a high social standing, or perhaps an aristocrat as Lion thought earlier, he had been travelling together with his companions. Naturally, rather than his companions leaving him behind, it was more likely to think that the man had strayed away from them.

Of course! His companions would be the ones carrying all of his luggage as well!

“Since there’s just one road leading to the nearby town, it’ll be easier to find them by heading there rather than searching around the area. Alright, I can help. Stray dogs avoid larger groups of people as well.”

“Is that so? In that case, I will be in your care.”

The corners of the man’s mouth lifted up. With this gesture alone, the scene of blood that flashed through Lion’s mind earlier vanished. The unapproachable aura around the man remained, but the tension that made Lion’s breath hitch had dissipated.

“My name is Lion Shray.”

“I am Seirios al-Shalla1.”

*whoosh*

The moment the man introduced himself, a wind strong enough to make trees sway began to blow. Quickly, Lion turned his face away, and the man clicked his tongue, letting out a small ‘tsk.’

“T-that surprised me. Um, Mister Seirio…”

“Wait. Since it’ll be troublesome if people hear that name, call me… Sei.”

Before Lion was able to address him as Seirios, he immediately received a warning. If letting other people hear his name was enough to bring trouble, did that mean that the man was some sort of a royalty or a prominent aristocrat…?

It might have been better if Lion hadn’t promised to show him the way thoughtlessly.

“Mister… Sei2?”

“You don’t need to call me ‘mister’ or anything like that.”

“I think something like that might be necessary…”

If he were to carelessly address this man, who had to be obviously an aristocrat no matter how you looked at it, Lion feared what his companions would have to say about the matter once they met up with them.

After Lion turned around and told the man: ‘Well then, let’s get going,’ the man called out to him.

“Lion.”

“Yes?”

“Lion. I wanted to try saying it.”

“Hu-uh?”

Does he come from an eccentric family? Are prominent aristocrats these sorts of people?

The two of them set out on the road that led to the town. The man, even though he asked for his guidance on the road, was walking at a comfortable pace, while Lion, whose legs were shorter, reached the point where he had to keep up a semi-jog.

He was secretly watching the man from the corner of his eye as the other curiously looked at the trees and flowers and the light that spilled through the leaves.

The man appeared to be older than Lion, looking to be in his early thirties, but given his imposing demeanor, if Lion was told that he was even older, he wouldn’t question it. The man’s age was a mystery.

Such a good-looking aristocrat was likely to be suitably renowned, but, sadly, Lion was completely ignorant of the nobility that resided in these lands, so far from his own home country.

The man’s pale earlobes were decorated by small earrings with gems the colour of blood.

As Lion kept looking at him secretly from the corner of his eye, the man also turned his gaze to Lion, and their stares met straight on.

“What is it?”

“Ah, nothing, I apologize. Um- are you from this country?”

“No, I’m not. I’m from the north of the Nord Kingdom. Why are you travelling?”

Lion was being questioned in turn.

“I am… looking for work. I just got fired a few days ago.”

“Why? You seemed to be doing your job properly.”

“Eh? You know what I do for a living?”

“It’s easy to tell by looking at the patterns on your palms. You’re a summoner, right?”

He was well informed.

In order to save time when drawing a summoning formation, summoners would keep a simplified one painted on their palms. Since they painted it with a special dye, once it was drawn, it would stay on for several months.

“That’s right, you’re quite knowledgeable. Well, the thing is, I’m kind of useless as a summoner… haha.”

“I don’t think so.”

“…”

He ended up getting comforted by a stranger that he hadn’t known for even ten minutes. Afterwards, Seirios unexpectedly began talking to him quite a bit, curious about where Lion was from and what kind of jobs he had had until now.

Suddenly, Seirios stopped in his tracks and turned around.

“Lion, several men are headed our way. Are they your acquaintances?”

“Eh? I don’t have any acquaintances in this country…”

Could it be bandits!?

Didn’t the border guard also say that the numbers of bandits and stray dogs had increased?

Anyone who might have seen Seirios’ attire would notice at once that he was a wealthy person. However, Lion didn’t think that they would get targeted specifically.

“Mister Sei! Let’s run, it might be band–”

“Hehe, wait a moment there, esteemed travellers.”

It seemed that it was a bit too late to run away.

Three men, all with unshaved faces, ran up from behind them and surrounded Lion and Seirios. They weren’t even trying to hide the daggers and knives they were gripping in their hands, perhaps, even purposefully showing them off.

“You there, you are from a noble family, ain’t ya? Is this guy here your friend? It’s a bad idea to walk around these parts without a proper escort with ya. Ain’t ya pretty much asking for someone to come and get you?”

“You get our drift, yeah? Give us your valuables and no harm will come to ya.”

Smirking, the three men let out a crude laugh.

Shit, this is really bad luck…

Immediately, Lion pressed his palms together and made the required seals with his fingers3.

He chanted powerfully in his mind.

Pegasus, come forth!

A violent gust of wind blew, and the fallen leaves and scattered branches were blown around, striking the bandits mercilessly.

Lion took the opportunity and grabbed Seirios’ hand, taking off.

The men also chased after them immediately, but, materializing out of nowhere, an imposing horse with white wings blocked their way.

“Gah, isn’t this a summoning beast?!”

“Huh?! Is one of them a summoner?!”

“The three of us alone don’t stand a chance against them! Let’s run away!”

Losing their composure, the men scattered, attempting to run away. The snow white pegasus neighed in a high pitch and flapped its wings. A gust of wind swept down onto the bandits once more, and the wind transformed into blades, cutting their exposed skin. It could also cause fatal wounds, but Lion’s goal was making them lose their will to fight.

The men, unable to stand against the strong wind, collapsed, covered in injuries. Their weapons also seemed to have ended up flying off somewhere. Their fighting spirit appeared to have dampened as well, and they were staring at the white horse with a frightened look while whimpering.

“Pegasus, that’s enough, thank you.”

All at once, the stormy wind quieted down and the white horse pressed its muzzle against Lion’s shoulder fondly.

At any rate, these guys probably have some companions somewhere nearby, so we should get away quickly. Once we reach the town, I should report this to the guards.

Realizing that, when he had started running with Seirios, he had dropped some of his luggage, he went back to pick it up, keeping Pegasus on stand-by just in case. After finding the luggage right away, he ran back to Seirios’ side.

“Mister Sei, I’m back. Let’s go quickly…”

“Guk.” Lion heard a strange sound.

With a rather expressionless face, Seirios was holding one of the fat bandits up in the air. He was squeezing the bandit’s neck with one hand, carrying him easily with it. The bandit’s face turned bright red, swelling up, and the veins on his forehead bulged out.

The weird sound Lion heard was the voice of the bandit that slipped out from his half opened mouth. He was spasming a little, and his life seemed to be in danger.

“What are you doing?!!”

“What am I doing? I’m simply going to kill the man that tried to cause you harm, that’s all,” Seirios answered, and the only thing his face now showed was a beautiful smile.