MTM 51

“No, why didn’t you tell me earlier that he’s a monster….”

When Allen heard that Harto was a monster, he threw an unpleasant look at Zed. It made sense, because even after Allen apologized , Harto still didn’t show his face from inside Zed’s cloak.

“But why is he staying like that? Can’t he turn into human form?”

“I lost all my things, so he has no clothes.”

When Zed explained that he lost his only bag in the underground prison, Allen made a nonchalant expression as if it was nothing special.

“Then I came at just the right time!”

Allen opened the bag hanging from his horse and took out a set of clothes. It included clean clothes, shoes, and a cloak.

Peeking out a little, Harto finally turned his face and looked at the clothes in Allen’s hand. Now that Allen saw those blue eyes, he knew it was the same Harto he knew.

“Ahem, now that I look, he looks more like an octopus than mold… ah, I talked nonsense again! Here, Harto, put this on.”

Allen quickly handed the clothes to Harto. Harto seemed to relax soon after, thanked him shyly, and crawled into the empty tent.

While Harto changed, Allen asked Zed,

“So… where are you two planning to go now?”

“……”

It was only a question about their destination, but Zed couldn’t immediately answer.

Allen noticed that he had no clear plan and grinned.

“If you don’t have a fixed place, how about coming with me for now? I know this area well.”

When Zed gave him a look asking why he wanted to come along, Allen spoke honestly.

“Why would I act friendly for nothing? Well… I might have wanted to see that pretty face again. Ah, it’s a joke. A joke! Look at those eyes. They’re about to shoot fire….”

Allen acted sly even though he knew Zed reacted sensitively whenever it was about Harto.

“Ahem! Anyway, it’s better to travel with more people than alone. There’s a big marketplace near the Belgarde border, so I’m saying we should go together at least until there.”

Indeed, even to Zed’s eyes, the horse Allen brought looked valuable. There was no way bandits wouldn’t target it.

It wasn’t a bad idea. If he traveled with Allen, who knew the terrain well, the chance of avoiding danger would be much higher.

“Then I’ll ask Harto first, and after that….”

“Wait. Zed… is something wrong with my eyes? Do you see that?”

At that moment, Allen suddenly made a serious face and pointed somewhere.

“……?”

Zed turned his head toward the direction Allen mentioned. Between the buildings turned to ash, he saw only citizens carrying whatever items had survived. Nothing looked unusual.

“No, not that way. That way…!”

Allen grabbed Zed’s head and turned it. Then, far down the alley, something small and white was crawling toward them.

“No way….”

Zed’s eyes widened even more. What was crawling straight toward them was… worms.

Wriggle wriggle wriggle.

And it wasn’t only one. Breath worms and moss worms were crawling endlessly and swarmed until they covered the ground. The people who had escaped the fire screamed and scattered in terror at the sight of the worms.

“What the hell is that?! No, wait, that, that… someone’s riding on it…! It looks… familiar…?”

“It’s Leon.”

“Leon?! What, really?!”

Allen, who had been panicking, recognized Leon sitting calmly on top of the swarm of worms and looked dumbfounded.

Instead of using teleportation magic, Leon rode on the backs of the worms and jumped down.

“Thanks, everyone. Here!”

He took candy out of his pocket and scattered it around. The worms each took a piece in their mouths and crawled back the way they came.

“Well… that’s… quite the flashy entrance.”

Allen muttered, he couldn’t believe his eyes because it was ridiculous. He was more dumbfounded than happy after seeing an old companion again.

“Zed.”

After emptying his pocket of candy, Leon smiled gently at Zed.

“Would it be alright if I joined your journey?”

Allen was the one surprised by Leon’s polite offer.

“What’s this? Zed I can understand, but you? Why?”

Allen, who didn’t know the situation of the Night Rage, looked back and forth between Zed and Leon with a confused expression.

“Well… should I say that I graduated from Night Rage like Allen?”

Leon looked at Allen and shrugged as if it was nothing.

“What did you say…? Ha, really. Are you joking? Since when is a mercenary group an academy?”

“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never been to one.”

“Congratulations on your graduation!”

Allen immediately accepted Leon’s talk about graduating and burst out laughing. He had never attended an academy either, so he seemed to like the idea.

“Then am I the first graduate? Since it’s like this, how about making me a diploma with magic?”

“I have no thought of wasting magic on something useless.”

“You’re still talking in that weird tone, I see!”

Allen laughed loudly as he looked at Leon’s casual reply. On the other hand, Zed had a serious look as he asked Leon,

“Didn’t Walter catch you?”

“I had no thought of getting caught.”

Leon looked unconcerned about Walter’s impure intentions. He surely thought differently from ordinary people. He gave up a chance to become a royal court mage and joined a mercenary group instead, so in a way his path was as strange as Zed’s.

“I grew interested in something other than the mercenary group.”

“Interested? Don’t tell me…”

“Leon!”

At that moment, Harto came out of the tent after changing his clothes and shouted in delight when he saw Leon.

“Harto.”

A small smile appeared on Leon’s face as he looked at Harto.

“Ha….”

Zed’s eyes narrowed at the obvious sight. Then he immediately grabbed Harto’s waist.

“Eh? Uh, uh?”

Harto’s body suddenly rose into the air, and in an instant he was seated on the horse. Before he could react, Zed gripped the reins and urged the horse forward.

“Let’s go.”

“Wait, Zed…? That’s my horse…”

Allen grumbled as he followed, saying he only invited them to come along, not to ride.

“They really have an interesting relationship.”

Leon’s eyes sparkled as he watched them, and he walked away with light steps, with no regrets left.

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

“Caw–!”

Thud.

A large crow with red eyes landed on the top of the imperial palace and dropped a black lizard. The lizard, which had a deep wound over one eye, slipped into a crack in the wall.

Inside the palace, the lizard turned into a human figure within the shadow cast by a flickering candle. He was the man whose eye Harto had stabbed with a dagger.

“How did it go?”

Bernak appeared before the lizard man.

“The Basilisk… was defeated.”

“The Basilisk?”

A look of bewilderment crossed Bernach’s face at the mention of the death of the Basilisk, one of the finest illusionists.

Clack.

From behind the red curtain came the loud sound of a glass being set down. Bernak flinched and turned around.

“Another failure.”

It was a man’s low, heavy voice. He slowly pulled the curtain aside and revealed himself. Golden hair and golden eyes gleamed under the candlelight.

The man was Magnus Regnovar, Crown Prince of the Regnovar Empire.

Bernak and the lizard man knelt before Magnus. On any other day, Magnus would have ground Bernak’s face under his boot, but today his tone was smooth, as if his mood was good.

“The great serpent is dead, and the lizard has returned alive.”

However, the Crown Prince never let anything, no matter how small, pass unnoticed.

“Was that wound made by Ares?”

At Magnus’s question, the lizard man bit his lower lip and answered,

“…I was attacked by a monster.”

“A monster?”

The Crown Prince’s golden eyes gleamed. He waited, commanding him to continue.

“He’s traveling with a low residual-species monster.”

“Ares traveling with a monster? Hm, interesting.”

Magnus rubbed his chin and slowly paced, then looked again at the lizard man.

“Does he care for it?”

“Yes, he seemed to care quite a lot.”

At that moment, curiosity appeared on the Crown Prince’s languid face. He turned his gaze to Bernak and spoke.

“Bernach. This is your last chance. If you fail again, there will be no next time.”