“Why would I bring a child somewhere like that and frighten him?”
“……”
The light drained from Knox’s expectant eyes.
“Tch. Understood.”
“Don’t tch at me. Once the boy is officially taken into the estate, I’ll have you oversee his—”
“Pardon?”
Knox startled.
Ah. What was I saying.
Calypse furrowed his brow in embarrassment.
“You may go for now.”
Nothing had even been decided yet—and here he was already thinking about housing someone Aisha had dragged in.
Does that mean… what, I’m planning to raise Guide and have him live alongside Creatures full-time?
Calypse covered his face with one hand and let out a hollow laugh.
Was it because he had grown fond of Kyle? Or because he had grown too accustomed to Aisha’s audacity? Or perhaps because of that Creature—stuck to the boy like a second skin—that he had seen today?
The boundary between good and evil, which he had understood as the world’s absolute truth since birth, was growing blurry. The convictions he had held as unshakeable were beginning to fracture.
He couldn’t say exactly where it had started. But one thing was certain.
Since Aisha arrived, he had changed.
And when he compared himself now to the man who had hidden behind a mask—he found that he liked this version of himself considerably better.
Several days later.
News of the extraordinary boy who could train Creatures spread quickly through the walls of Krost Estate.
From Mai to the household staff. From the escort knights to the guard knights.
Particularly the knights stationed at the ice wall—they spoke of nothing else whenever they gathered. It made sense.
Training a Creature… if I thought of it in terms of my past life, it was the equivalent of training a dinosaur, or an alien—some existence completely beyond human comprehension.
To put it in fantasy terms: imagine taming an extraordinarily powerful White Dragon.
And the person who had made that possible was, in fact, me.
Even without my Affinity, at least I’ve contributed something meaningful to House Krost.
I was told that in the meantime, Guide had been diligently training Bibi from the quarters he had been assigned.
On the occasional days when curiosity got the better of me and I wandered over to his room—
‘I—I realized something just now. Bibi has a lot of energy, so being cooped up inside for days makes her really stressed. I think she needs to go outside for a walk at least once a day!’
—his eyes would be absolutely sparkling as he showed me his training journal.
His hands bore scratches where Bibi had caught him, but Guide looked far happier than the boy I had first encountered.
That’s it—this world’s greatest Creature trainer. Keep growing like this.
The people of House Krost who watched him responded positively, too.
‘I thought it was some kind of bizarre situation, but it might be worth seeing where this goes.’
‘Still—if that boy really can handle Creatures like they’re dogs… what would that even mean for us? Is he going to end up riding a giant Creature into battle like a horse someday?’
The knights of Krost hated Creatures more than anyone—and yet, they were probably also the ones who had wished most deeply for some kind of coexistence.
Creature hunts were not a war with a foreseeable end. Even successful hunts only maintained the status quo—people stayed safe, nothing more. And surely, among those who fought in an endless cycle that yielded no real victory, there had to be those who were exhausted by it.
But how exactly do you take a Perry for a walk anyway…?
That was the only thing I couldn’t quite figure out.
But never mind that—today wasn’t the day to think about it.
“One slice of cake. No—make it a whole cake. Please.”
Click.
I was sprawled on my bed, feet pointing at the ceiling in the most brazen way possible, making my request to Mai.
Today was a day for self-congratulations—a day to celebrate me, for discovering someone as remarkable as Guide.
I’ll have my cake, and then Mai and I can have a proper tea time!
Up to that point, I had been feeling quite pleased with myself. But then—
“Young Lady. I’m afraid you’re needed in the study for a moment.”
Knox knocked on my door with something urgent in his manner.
His expression was set in hard, rigid lines.
Several days before Knox came for Aisha.
A letter had arrived at Krost Estate by messenger.
It was a letter from the royal family, sealed in gold.
“According to a missive from His Majesty King Argen of Doctia, the kingdom’s citizens are still gripped by fear in the aftermath of the Creature raid. No one could say whose fault that truly is, but…”
Knox paused in the middle of his report and let out a quiet, knowing sigh.
“Regardless. His Majesty King Argen wishes to demonstrate the kingdom’s strength and quell the people’s fear. To that end, he has requested that all members of House Krost gather at the capital to participate in a formal sword duel against the Royal Knights. More precisely—”
“He wants us to come do tricks for the public.”
Calypse cut Knox off, his face souring.
It’s been quiet since then, and here it is again…
He had thought this before, but King Argen’s good fortune was thoroughly disproportionate to his actual ability.
His queen was a formidable mage. House Krost stood guard at the ice wall on the royal family’s behalf.
This was precisely where the trouble lay.
Calypse himself had no such intentions—but citizens of the Northern territories occasionally muttered that the North should be independent, and King Argen had no choice but to treat Calypse as a threat.
So this letter, on the surface, was a call for a display of national strength to calm unrest.
But in reality—
“He’s planning to use this to go after Aisha.”
She had been confirmed as his biological daughter—but Aisha had still not demonstrated her Ice Affinity.
King Argen had not witnessed it himself. He intended to see it with his own eyes and confirm the situation directly.
“Yes. That appears to be his aim.”
Knox nodded in agreement.
It was transparent. The king must be suspecting that perhaps Aisha had no Affinity at all—and was planning to exploit that to diminish the reputation of House Krost.
“I’ll say only Lucas and I will attend. Aisha is five—there’s no appropriate dueling partner for her. Even that old man wouldn’t dare match her against a full-grown adult.”
“Understood.”
Of course, Calypse had no intention of letting Aisha be drawn into King Argen’s petty political game.
But then, a few days later—
“Your Grace. Apparently there is a peer her age to be her opponent.”
“What?”
Calypse received another unexpected letter.
“And it says here that in consideration of Aisha’s abilities, he has arranged a special opponent of the same age with unique skills—he invites her to demonstrate her power to the fullest.”
As the letters grew more outrageous, Calypse covered his eyes and laughed humorlessly.
“The king is determined.”
“So it seems. I genuinely thought His Majesty had been frightened into quiet after the execution of the former Duke of Foss. Apparently not.”
Knox let out a pained sound before continuing.
“And he’s set the date for two weeks from now. This is nothing less than a direct declaration that he intends to bring House Krost to heel.”
Knox was right.
Among nobles, the courteous standard for arranging a meeting was a minimum of one month’s notice. For official events like banquets, sending invitations three months in advance was considered proper etiquette.
And yet—a formal public dueling event, given only two weeks’ notice?
“…He wants us to come as obedient, well-trained dogs.”
The warmth drained entirely from Calypse’s expression.
The truth was, Calypse had not, until this moment, given much serious thought to the question of Aisha’s Affinity.
Even without a power, she was already his own daughter. As long as Calypse and Lucas stood firm, House Krost had more than enough strength to guard the ice wall and protect the people from Creatures.
If Aisha had a role to play as a member of House Krost, she had already fulfilled it simply by being restored to them—by existing.
But there was one thing Calypse had overlooked: he was not a common knight, but a noble.
He had never imagined that the question of an Affinity’s presence or absence could be tied directly to the reputation of his entire house.
“Send back a refusal. Say the child is going to be ill for the next two weeks—”
He had started to say that almost reflexively when he went quiet for a moment.
You did well, Aisha.
The memory of the day she had brought Guide surfaced unexpectedly.
It was the moment he had admitted to himself that Aisha was not an ordinary child.
What would Aisha do, if she were faced with this situation?
She would at the very least, he suspected, want to be asked.
For any ordinary five-year-old, that authority rested entirely with the parents. But Aisha was a child who had been raised with extraordinary purpose and unusual intelligence.
I don’t particularly want to do this. But…
Calypse closed his eyes and exhaled slowly.
“Bring Aisha here.”
“Pardon?”
