Chapter 95
Seeing Asil’s tears, Ikart was genuinely flustered.
Having spent quite a long time with the magician, even if that magician changed his appearance, Ikart was confident that after exchanging just a few words, he would immediately know it was him.
That’s why he noticed right away.
This child was not that magician.
That guy who lives in the world as if it were his own could never pull off this kind of acting.
But even if this fellow really was Monlepe’s little divine beast, Asil, there was still a problem.
The fact that she had humanized despite not being a formal divine beast could only lead to one conclusion: she was a beastkin who could freely switch between animal and human form—
“Ppiyaaaa……”
Right at that moment, the grief she had been forcibly holding back burst out.
Asil covered her mouth and began sobbing, “Ppiik, ppiik.”
Ikart, who was already unaccustomed to a child’s crying, became even more flustered and tried to soothe Asil.
“No, what did I even say— Don’t cry, don’t cry!”
“Ppiyaaaaaa!”
At the words “don’t cry,” her tears burst out like a faucet instead.
They say humans eat young beastkin in one bite, so Asil was now destined to be eaten.
“Ppiyaaaaaa—”
Asil wailed, pouring out tears and snot.
Even while doing so, she desperately appealed so that Ikart wouldn’t think of eating her.
“Ppiya ppi, ppiya. Ppiya ppiya ppiya. Ppiyaaaaaa—”
(You can’t eat Asil. A tiny kid like Asil doesn’t taste good. Hueeeng—)
“Why would I eat you in the first place!”
“Ppiyaaa. Ppiya—”
(Humans eat beastkin, hueeeng—)
“I said I won’t eat you! Stop!”
“Ppiik!” (Stop!)
Asil, imitating Icart’s words, sniffed loudly, “Keuhng!”
However, upon seeing the dagger in his hand, her eyes became teary again.
“Ppiyaaa……” (you drew a knife……)
“T-This…… I drew it earlier to cut the necklace. Hurry and stop crying, stop!”
Ikart quickly sheathed the dagger, took out a handkerchief, and vigorously wiped Asil’s tear-soaked face.
“Ppiyaaaa……” (It hurts……)
“Then wipe it yourself.”
In his panic, he had put too much strength into it. Icart hurriedly placed the handkerchief in Asil’s front paws.
Because he had rubbed too hard, Asil’s face had turned bright red as she wiped away her tears.
While she did that, Icart took out a strawberry cookie he had secretly taken from the Moonlefe ducal house to give to the fox he kept with him, Rune.
Then he roughly shoved it into Asil’s open, crying mouth.
“Here, good girl. Eat this.”
Basa-sak.
The moment the familiar taste spread in her mouth, strangely, her sadness subsided.
Asil held the cookie with both front paws, munching as she looked up at Icart with eyes still brimming with tears.
“Ppiyaa?” (You really won’t eat Asil?)
“I told you I won’t. I’d rather eat a flea’s liver than eat a kid like you.”
Basa-sak.
The sweet taste of strawberry cookie spread in her mouth once more.
Asil moved her tiny mouth, cautiously watching Icart’s expression.
She had been discovered as a beastkin, but he didn’t seem to have any intention of eating her like the adults had said.
That meant… she could relax just a tiny bit, right……?
Only then did she belatedly remember that she had cried like an idiot in front of a human.
‘Asil is a ferocious adult dragon.’
Yet she had ended up bawling not ferociously at all.
Asil rubbed her bright red eyes and made an excuse.
“Ppyaa ppi. Ppiya.” (Asil didn’t cry at all. This is Asil’s snot.)
“So beastkin’s snot comes out of their eyes, I see.”
“Ppi. Ppiya.” (Yes. Snot comes out of the eyes.)
She mustn’t cry anymore. She couldn’t be looked down on by a human any further.
Asil vigorously wiped the tear stains with Icart’s handkerchief that had fallen on the ground while she was eating the cookie.
When she raised her head afterward, Icart was looking at her with a troubled expression.
“More importantly… are you really a beastkin?”
“Ppiya. Ppiiiya.” (Yes. Asil is a beastkin.)
“……By any chance, was everything about being summoned to Edenber also planned?”
Ikart’s face became quite serious.
He had vaguely heard that beastkin sent spies to be wary of the empire, but to think they would send even a child this young as a spy. Veryt
“Ppii. Ppiya.” (No. I was eating strawberries and sleeping when I suddenly got summoned.)
“Then your parents must be looking for you.”
“Ppiik. Ppiya ppiya ppiya.” (Yeah. That’s why Asil has to go back to the forest soon.)
After saying that, Asil flinched.
Ah, right. Dad said not to tell anyone that I’m going back to the forest, didn’t he?
She hurriedly sent a pleading look asking him to keep it a secret, but Icart was distracted by something else.
“Going back to the forest……”
Somehow.
Lately there had been rumors that Lady Erzebet’s health suddenly worsened and she was returning to the countryside, so this was the reason.
But there was one more problem.
How could this beastkin child have become the young lady of Count Erzebet’s family?
Moreover, she looked exactly like Count Arcian Erzebet, to the point that no one could doubt they were father and daughter.
That would mean Arcian Erzebet was also a beastkin—
If it were any other noble, they would have immediately run to the imperial palace to report a spy.
But Ikart was not like that.
Having suffered all kinds of hardships for the sin of losing his divine beast, he had long abandoned any loyalty to the empire.
Soon, he shook his head and spoke.
“Does Edenber know that you’re a beastkin?”
“Ppiik, ppiya.” (No, Father is the first.)
“Father……”
At the word “Father” that naturally slipped out, Ikart flinched.
But soon, as if it had never happened, he instantly returned to an expressionless face and avoided Asil’s gaze.
“Judging from his appearance at the shrine, it didn’t seem like he hadn’t noticed.”
“Ppiik?” (What?)
“No, just talking to myself.”
Right then, a rustling sound came from the bushes behind them.
When he turned around, a familiar animal was there.
It was the brown fox that had informed him where the vassal’s wife was—the one who had poisoned Elkai’s alcohol.
It was still about the same size as Asil.
“Kyang!”
The fox circled around Icart as if asking what he was doing here.
Then it greeted Asil.
“Keung? Kyaaaaang.” (Ugly but strong lizard? You look even uglier when you cry.)
It was talking about the tear stains still on Asil’s face.
The fox primly circled Asil, then dropped the nuts it had brought in front of her with a plop.
It even gently patted Asil’s face with its thick tail as if wiping her tears.
“Ppiichu!”
Asil sneezed into her fox friend’s fur.
‘As expected, I smelled Father on her back then—she really knows Father. ‘
“Ppiya?” (Father’s friend?)
“Not a friend.”
Ikart twisted one corner of his mouth into a bitter smile.
“She was my divine beast.”
“……Ppiik?”
At the strange words, Asil flinched.
This fox friend was originally Monlepe’s boss?
Weren’t the divine beasts of each family supposed to be enormously large, like blooming aether?
Asil lifted the fox that was still patting her face.
The fox, frowning at being treated like a baby, snapped angrily.
“Kyaaang!” (Put me down!)
“Ppiya ppiya?” (Then Husband’s divine beast was originally this fox friend?)
“That’s right.”
“Ppiya?” (But why is she so small?)
“Keung!” (You ugly thing are smaller!)
“When the oath was broken, as a side effect, all of the divine beast’s power disappeared. Now she’s just an ordinary fox.”
As he said, Father didn’t seem to understand a single word the fox friend was saying.
Even though the sulking fox was waving her front paws wildly, yelling “Punish her!”, he didn’t budge.
“Ppiyat ppi?” (What’s an oath?)
“It’s the prohibition that binds a divine beast to the family head. It prevents the divine beast from leaving the family. Normally it’s passed down through blood to the children, but for Moonlefe, it ended with my generation……”
Ikart quickly looked Asil up and down.
“It seems Edenber didn’t place one on you.”
“Ppiik. Ppiyaa.” (Yeah. Nothing’s been put on Asil.)
“The retainers must have said something, but my son really has backbone.”
Ikart nodded with a satisfied face.
But that only lasted a moment before he suddenly lowered his voice and asked:
“By any chance, before Starafit’s divine beast tried to kill its master, did it say anything strange? Like feeling unwell or unpleasant?”
“Ppiya ppii.” (It said it felt like bugs were crawling all over its body.)
“So the oath was already breaking from then.”
It was exactly the same as the last thing Rain had said before losing her intelligence.
With a grave expression, he asked again:
“Have you heard anything about where Fear stopped by?”
“Ppiik. Ppiya.” (Yes. It said it went to the Crown Prince’s palace.)
“The Crown Prince’s palace……”
Ikart’s eyes cooled sharply.
That rat-like bastard, so he was hiding in a place like that.
“……Then how did the rampage stop? That idiot Duke Starafit wouldn’t have been able to block the divine beast’s attack.”
“Ppiya.” (Asil hit Fier.)
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