Unlike Anisha, who was startled by the sudden appearance of the creature, Jalio recognized it right away. He had seen Sooty before when they were playing with Grand Duke Persia. Julia had brought it along.
[Buu.]
Sooty happily waved its little arms at the child, as if confirming that it was indeed Sooty.
“You... You came here alone?”
[Bbu!]
Sooty nodded vigorously, then showed him the tracking magic necklace around its neck. It was trying to tell him that the others would be coming soon.
But Jalio didn’t understand. He only stared at Sooty in confusion, wondering why it was suddenly sticking out its belly.
[Buu...]
Sooty didn’t seem to care whether he understood. As if its only concern was keeping him safe, it flew over and settled on top of Jalio’s head.
Thud! Thwack!
[Grrr... Yip! Whiiiine!]
Meanwhile, the monster was locked in a fierce battle with something. Jalio wondered if another monster had appeared, but...
A... shadow?
Looking closer, he realized the monster was fighting a shadow. It was too dark to see clearly, but there was no doubt about it. It really was a shadow.
[Whine...]
In the end, the monster was torn apart by its own shadow and breathed its last. The trees surrounding them immediately shrank away and disappeared.
Creeeak.
After some time, the tightly closed door opened again. The man who had left earlier stepped inside.
“—!”
He froze when he saw what was happening inside.
Why are the children still alive?
His eyes darted around the room before landing on the dead monster. His bewilderment deepened.
“How...?”
The question slipped out. This was completely unexpected.
The magic stone he had thrown earlier was only supposed to create a D-rank Black Forest, but the targets were just children. He thought D-rank would be enough. After all, they were barely old enough to know how to fight.
And yet...
The monster was dead? The man hurriedly searched the room. Was one of the children carrying a sword or some other weapon?
No. Even with a weapon, there was no way children under ten could kill a monster. It was impossible.
The wounds on the monster didn’t look like they were caused by a weapon. They looked as though something sharp had torn into it. Did multiple monsters appear and fight each other?
...That doesn’t make sense, either.
If that were the case, the surviving monster should’ve killed all the children. Besides, there wasn’t another monster’s corpse anywhere.
...Was something wrong with the summoning?
Since the Black Forest had been artificially created, he supposed something like this could happen.
“Tsk.”
The man clicked his tongue and pulled another magic stone from his robe. This time, it was a C-rank Black Forest stone.
Thud.
He tossed the stone into the middle of the room and quickly stepped outside. There was no reason to stay and risk being attacked by the monster, especially when he had no intention of dealing with it before the children were dead.
Bang!
The door slammed shut again. The children trembled as they remembered what had happened before. Would the Black Forest appear again?
Flash!
Sure enough, a burst of light filled the room, followed by black trees shooting up and closing in around them.
[Hissss... Hisssssss...!]
“Aaaah!”
“W-what is that?!”
A monster soon appeared. It was a gigantic snake, so large that its full length was impossible to tell. It slowly slithered around to survey the room. Its flicking tongue looked to be over a meter long.
Like the previous monster, the snake was wary at first, but once it realized the room was filled with prey, it soon let its guard down.
[Buuuuuu—]
Just as the monster moved toward the children, the little creature’s cry rang out through the room. It was Sooty.
When the man appeared earlier, Sooty had quietly hidden in Jalio’s shadow, only coming back out after he left.
[Kiaaaaaaak!]
The monster seemed to sense something strange and opened its jaws wide at Sooty’s cry. It immediately went on the attack.
Guaaaak!
[Kki...iaaaaaak!]
But the monster couldn’t move. Its own shadow had already wrapped tightly around its body, squeezing it from head to tail.
Bam! Bang, bang!
The monster thrashed wildly, trying to break free, but the shadow wouldn’t budge. Instead, it only tightened around the monster.
“Waaah!”
“Ugh... Uuugh...”
“Sniff!”
The children trembled at the loud noises and huddled farther into the corner, doing their best to stay as far away from the monster as possible.
[Kkii...ii....]
Eventually, the monster’s body went limp. The black trees surrounding them quickly disappeared.
Creeeak.
A moment later, the man opened the door and stepped inside again.
“Wha.........!”
Crazy!
The man stared at the dead giant monster with his mouth hanging open. He could’ve passed off the first D-rank Black Forest as an error, but the same thing couldn’t possibly have happened twice!
“How...?!”
Who had killed that monster, and how? The man hurriedly looked around. As expected, there were only the children, all of them trembling in fear. There was no one who could have dealt with the monster.
Haa...
Trying to calm his racing thoughts, the man sighed before pulling out another magic stone. This time, he would have to stay and see it through to the end. The monster might attack him, but he would just have to endure it.
Thud.
He tossed the Black Forest magic stone onto the floor. Once again, it was a C-rank stone. He had no more left after this. This was his last one. If it failed again, Lord Veilks would surely hold him accountable.
Snatch.
“—!”
Just as the man waited tensely for the magic stone to activate, his eyes widened. A strange creature had snatched the stone off the floor and swallowed it whole.
[Buu....]
Yuck...
“W-what are you?!”
[Bbu!]
I’m Sooty!
Sooty tried to tell him, but of course, he couldn’t understand a word. So Sooty could only glare at him.
How dare he give Sooty something this awful! He’d need at least a hundred bites to learn his lesson!
“What are you?!”
“And who are you?”
“—!”
The man was still wary of Sooty when an unfamiliar voice came from behind him. He flinched and quickly turned around, his eyes widening.
That woman!
He knew her. Was there anyone in the capital who didn’t these days?
The owner of the Tamer Relic.
It was Ceres.
Why is she here?
The man quickly backed away and drew his sword, ready to flee the moment he found an opening. He had heard that she could use a sword, but no one knew exactly how skilled she was.
Either way, crossing the owner of the Tamer Relic was asking for trouble.
Whoosh!
“Why? Trying to run?”
“—!”
But Ceres moved faster. Before he could react, she closed the distance and held her sword beneath his chin.
“Sooty.”
[Bu!]
At Ceres’s call, Sooty fluttered over and landed on her head.
Squeeze!
“Urgh!”
The man suddenly felt something wrap tightly around his entire body, squeezing the breath out of him.
What is this...?
...A shadow?!
He’d thought there was someone else there. But when he looked down and saw what had him bound, his eyes widened. His own shadow was wrapped tightly around him. He couldn’t understand what was happening.
Is this... the power of the Tamer Relic, too?
Trembling, the man stared at Ceres in disbelief.
“Was it you?”
Ceres glanced at the dead giant monster nearby.
“The Black Forest... Did you create it?”
The man remained silent, still staring at her in confusion. Ceres clicked her tongue and suddenly yanked off his mask.
Bound by the shadow and unable to resist, the man could do nothing but bite down hard on his lip.
His face was finally revealed.
Hmm?
...Why does he look familiar?
Ceres tilted her head. She was sure she’d seen his face somewhere before. Where was it?
“...Ah.”
Then she remembered.
“You...”
Ceres stared at him incredulously. She’d seen him at the Imperial Palace, standing alongside the Emperor.
“Unbelievable.”
The man who was always at the Emperor’s side like a shadow, guarding him during his official engagements.
“Why is the Captain of the Imperial Guard here?”
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter