Chapter41
It was a voice I had never heard before, but there was no time to feel nervous.
Asil clutched their her head and scowled deeply.
After struggling inside the paper bag, she finally calmed down and peeked through the eyeholes in the bag to see who she had bumped into.
It was a fierce-looking male human with lush black hair and pale pink eyes.
Multiple exclamation marks popped up above Asil’s head.
‘It’s the adult beastman I saw at the imperial palace!’
To think they would meet him in a place like this!
With a racing heart, Asil stared intently at the man.
The man looked down at Asil with soulless eyes, then, as if uninterested, shifted his gaze and started to walk away.
‘No, don’t go!’
In a rush, Asil rolled forward, still in the paper bag, and shouted.
“Bbi-ya-syat?!” (Are you an adult beastman?!)
“…What?”
His expression hardened.
“What did you just say?”
“Bbi….”
So scary. Why is he looking at me so frighteningly? Asil nervously fidgeted with her front paws.
‘Could he not be an adult beastman?’
But the aura they felt was definitely that of an adult beastman….
The kindergarten teachers had said to ask an adult beastman for help if they were in trouble….
As Asil hesitated, the man spoke first.
“Why are you asking that?”
“Bbi-ya-aa.” (I felt your aura.)
“…Aura?”
A fleeting look of bewilderment crossed the man’s face. Only fellow beastmen could sense an aura.
Asil swallowed hard.
‘If this guy is really a beastman, he might take Asil back to the beastmen’s forest.’
So, with trembling hind legs, Asil mustered strength and asked.
“Bbi-ya-bbi bbi-ya?” (Are you really a beastman, mister?)
“…What if I say I am?”
“Bbi-ya.” (Asil is a beastman too.)
“What?”
It was the moment when the impossible became reality.
The man’s expression crumbled. At the same time, he swiftly pulled off the paper bag Asil was wearing.
And upon seeing Asil’s appearance, he froze as if nailed to the spot.
Finally free, Asil sprang up and tightly grabbed the hem of his pants.
“Bbi-i? Bbi-yat-bbi.” (What kind of beastman are you, mister? Asil is a black dragon beastman.)
“…Little one.”
The man, who had been frozen, suddenly lifted Asil into his arms.
“Where are your parents?”
“Bbi-ya. Bbi-ya-bbi-i.” (I don’t have any. Asil is alone.)
“What are you doing here all by yourself?”
“Bbi-ya-aa.” (I’m the boss of Monlepe.)
Puffing out her chest proudly to boast, Asil shouted confidently, but the man’s expression twisted.
“…Don’t tell me you’re the divine beast of the Monlepe ducal family?”
“Bbi-i.” (Yup.)
At the innocent response, the man fell silent. Then, in a slightly angry tone, he spoke.
“Little one, this doesn’t seem like something to talk about here.”
He immediately used spatial teleportation magic.
* * *
When Asil opened and closed her eyes, the surroundings had changed.
It was a place that looked similar to Edenber’s office, but instead of the family crest, there was a black lizard drawn where it should have been.
‘How did he use magic?’
Asil inwardly marveled. No matter how hard Asil tried, she couldn’t do it.
This mister must be a beastman specialized in magic.
‘Such a cool mister.’
Maybe he could take Asil to the forest right away! Asil looked at him with sparkling eyes.
The man, observing Asil, clicked his tongue.
“For a black dragon beastman, you’re awfully small. Have you not been eating properly?”
“Bbi-ya. Bbi-ya-bbi bbi-ya. Bbi-ya?” (No, Asil is just like this. What kind of beastman are you, mister?)
“I, too, am a black dragon beastman, little one. Do your pathetic parents know you’re here?”
“Bbi-ya bbi-i!” (Asil’s mom and dad aren’t pathetic beastmen!)
“If they let their kid end up here, they’re pathetic beastmen.”
How could this be? This mister keeps badmouthing my mom and dad!
Asil puffed up her cheeks in a sulky manner.
But the man paid no heed.
If it were any other beastman, fine, but for a black dragon beastman, renowned as the best in magic, to fail to block a mere human summoning spell was absurd.
‘They must have taken their eyes off their kid.’
More than that, a spell capable of breaking through the barrier surrounding the forest to summon a beastman was not something to take lightly.
In fact, he was a black dragon beastman who had come to the human world on a reconnaissance mission.
It seemed he would need to add to his regular report to the forest that human magical knowledge was more advanced than expected.
Speaking in a curt, dismissive tone, he said,
“Little one, as pitiful as your situation is, helping you is going to be difficult.”
“…!”
How could this be? He rejected Asil before she could even ask for help.
Why?
“The mana here is too thin to send you back to the beastmen’s forest in one go.”
“Bbi….”
I see. Even adult beastmen find spatial magic in the human world difficult.
Asil’s hopes were crushed, and she became completely dejected.
“But I can protect you and send word to the forest that you’re doing well.”
“…Bbi?”
“Little one, what’s your name?”
“…Bbi-ya-bbi.” (…Asil.)
“That’s the same name as the daughter I left behind in the forest.”
With a wistful expression, the man muttered to himself.
“By now, she must be big enough to easily devour three pigs on her own….”
In his mind, he pictured a majestic black dragon as large as a house.
Recalling the daughter he left behind, he jotted down a note.
“What’s your mom’s name?”
“Bbi-ya.” (Briana.)
“…That’s the same name as my ex-wife. Wait… what’s your biological father’s name?”
“Bbi-ya bbi-i.” (I don’t remember.)
Asil tilted their head.
Ar… something, they said.
The name “Asil” was supposed to come from her dad’s name.
But since they parted when Asil was so young, she couldn’t even remember his name now.
“What kind of idiot is so pathetic that his own daughter can’t even remember his name?”
It wasn’t just a moment of inattention; he must have had no interest in his daughter at all.
Muttering to himself, the man wrote the name “Briana” on the paper.
“There’s no black dragon named Briana, so that idiot must be a black dragon. Maybe it’s someone I know….”
“Bbi-ya.” (I think it was something like Ar.)
“As it happens, there’s exactly one black dragon beastman whose name starts with ‘Ar.’”
There is one, but….
The man’s previously dry voice gradually faded.
He wrote the four letters “Arcian” on the paper.
Then he stared at the two words, “Arcian” and “Briana.”
He looked at Asil, then back at the paper, repeating this several times.
Finally, his face showed a look of realization.
Huh?
* * *
After returning Asil to Monlepe, Arcian took out a magical communication device for the first time in a long while.
It was the device he used to communicate privately with Briana, the queen of the beastmen and his ex-wife.
A few years ago,
not long after coming to the human world for reconnaissance, he had a huge fight with Briana.
It had definitely started over something trivial, but before he knew it, they were talking about divorce.
Beastmen didn’t place much importance on marriage anyway, and since he wouldn’t return to the beastmen’s forest for at least a decade, he went ahead and divorced Briana.
And aside from official reports, he never contacted her.
Years had passed like that….
“Phew.”
Letting out a long sigh, he activated the communication device.
– Beep… Beep… Click.
After a brief connection sound, the device connected.
To emphasize that he wasn’t contacting her out of lingering attachment, Arcuan put on a stern expression.
“Briana? It’s me, Arsian.”
– Father?
But it wasn’t Briana on the communication device.
It was Snowa, Asil’s older brother and his stepson, a snow leopard beastman.
Snowa, who looked about ten in human years, blinked his sleepy yellow eyes.
– What’s the occasion?
“Why do you have this?”
– Mom told me to throw it away. I kept it to use as a ball for playing.
“…Alright, put your mom on.”
– She can’t talk right now.
“What’s she doing?”
– She’s in a meeting with the elder grandpas. About Asil.
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By Anna 💓
