Chapter 55 · Human Hunting (5)

The surroundings filled with shock and gasps. After all, it wasn’t every day you saw a divine beast radiate a tremendous light and change its form.

“U-Useless!”

I was so taken aback that the words slipped out on their own. Limbs sprouted from Useless, and large ears and a tail popped out of its round body. Its head and torso separated.

“P-Princess… this is…”

Melvian, Freesia, and Mila, who had followed behind, also watched the scene with wide eyes in surprise. After a little time, the blinding white light gradually faded, and Useless’s form was clearly revealed. And another cheer erupted from the surroundings.

“Whoa…!”

“So cute!”

“It’s so pretty…”

“Is it a fox?”

Useless, now in the form of a white fox kit, hopped through the air and ran to me.

“Useless!”

When I called out in an overwhelmed voice, Useless slipped into my arms as usual. And it blinked its adorable emerald eyes.

“Its eyes are the same color as the princess’s!”

“Huh? But it has two tails.”

It was true. At the end of its rear were two fluffy tails, each as big as its own body. Were there foxes with two tails?! As I tilted my head at Useless in puzzlement, it casually opened its mouth wide and yawned.

“It’s so cute my heart might stop…”

Mila looked about ready to faint. Well, even I thought Useless was heart-stoppingly cute. The fluffball version had been cute too… but would it start having proper abilities now? Should I change its name from Useless?

Just then, a mocking voice came.

“It seems you’ve finally summoned a proper divine beast. Congratulations, Princess Anastasia.”

“But is it really proper? Its tail is deformed.”

Giselle and Stella were watching us with a group of students. As I faced the irritating pair, Useless, who had been wriggling in my arms, suddenly darted toward them.

“Gasp!”

“Kyaa!”

Useless stuck fast to Giselle’s head and bit at her sparkling jeweled hairpin.

“What is this thing doing!”

“Can’t you get it off?!”

When Stella roughly tried to pull Useless off, Useless, still gripping Giselle’s head tightly, slapped her cheek over and over with its big tail.

“Ugh! Why, you…!”

I barely suppressed the burst of laughter threatening to escape and simply watched the scene with a feigned look of dismay.

“Hey! What are you doing?! Get rid of this pest right now!”

Stella, now thoroughly disheveled, screamed, and I had no choice but to recite the holy word to dispel Useless.

“I’m sowwy. I’m not used to contwowwing my divine beast.”

“What kind of nonsense is that! You clearly ordered it because you have ill will toward us!”

“Perhaps it was because Miss Giselle’s hairpin was so pretty?”

At my shameless reply, Ark covered his mouth and chuckled. Seeing that, Stella turned away with a wounded face and ran off into the distance.

“Princess Stella!”

Giselle, her hair and clothes in tatters, moved to follow her, then whipped her head around and spoke coldly.

“Ark, follow me.”

“Why should I obey your orders?”

Ark’s expression changed completely, and he shot her a sharp glare.

“It’s about the family gathering the day after tomorrow. It seems there are things you haven’t been informed of because you’ve been running around like a delinquent, so I’m telling you.”

“…”

He reluctantly greeted me and followed her.

‘Hmm, looks like she’s making her move.’

Could Ark withstand the pressure from his family? Somehow I felt like I was doing him a bad turn, and a subtle guilt crept in.

◇ ◆ ◇

“It’s a nine-tailed fox.”

Paeon said flatly the moment he saw my divine beast.

“A nine-tailed fox! Good heavens! Princess!”

But the three priestesses made an enormous fuss.

“It’s the legendary divine beast said to be cherished by Lord Lux. It’s as rare as a dragon!”

“It hasn’t appeared since Sir Laudiat passed away fifty years ago…”

If it was that amazing a divine beast, it should have tremendous presence, but Useless looked endlessly harmless and just cute.

Anyway, what on earth was this god Lux thinking? Perhaps because of our history, I felt uneasy about how he kept giving me these strokes of luck.

“As expected, the princess must surely be loved by God.”

No, that’s not it…! Definitely not!

Unable to explain my troubled history, I wanted to jump up and down, but seeing the three priestesses cheering made me feel warm inside too.

But how could Paeon be so calm? Did he simply not know the emotion of cuteness?

I stared intently at Paeon with eyes demanding praise. When our eyes met, he awkwardly looked away and spoke.

“…You did well. It means your divine power has stabilized considerably.”

It was the kind of praise you’d give while demanding a bow in return, yet somehow my heart tingled. A grin spread across my lips.

“But if it’s a nine-tailed fox, shouldn’t it have nine tails? It only has two.”

“When it becomes fully grown, it will have nine.”

Whoa! Nine tails would be truly magnificent.

“All right, then from now on, Useless’s name is Nine!”

Useless—no, Nine—seemed to like the new name and wagged its tails gently.

“Khh… so cute.”

“How about recording this moment with the princess on an image stone?”

“Agreed, agreed!”

Rosa clapped excitedly at Yuz’s suggestion.

“But if the princess is using divine power, she can’t use magic. To record on an image stone, we’d need a mage…”

“Awk can do it! I’ll call him.”

I approached Ark, who was training fiercely at the training grounds. His face was more serious than usual.

“Awk!”

Even though I shouted loudly, Ark seemed not to hear and just swung his sword like a madman.

“Aaaawk!”

Only after I shouted until my throat was raw did he flinch and turn his head.

“Princess!”

“Awk, awe you deaf?!”

“…I apologize.”

I brought the somewhat strange him to Paeon and the priestesses, and Rizen followed and whispered to me.

“Princess, does that guy have something going on?”

“…Why?”

“He’s been training like he’s dying without saying a word since a while ago. It’s not like him to be so heavy.”

“…”

So he must have heard something from Giselle.

“Awk, what did you talk about with Miss Giselle?”

When I asked worriedly, he gazed at me blankly, then shrugged.

“Just the kind of nonsense you’d expect, Princess.”

Hmm… was he really all right? Ark was now past the age for a scolding. How would they pressure him?

As if trying not to worry me, Ark held up the image stone and grinned.

“Princess, smile! You three, please squeeze in close this way too.”

The three priestesses, still awkward about having their images recorded, hesitantly came toward me. But when Nine hopped about and nuzzled against them, they soon forgot they were being recorded and squealed, cuddling Nine.

“Sir Parsiel, please come this way too.”

Sierra beckoned. Paeon, for whom refusal was routine, showed his usual reluctance and backed away.

“I’m… fine.”

At that moment, Nine slipped out of Sierra’s arms, hopped through the air, and ran to Paeon.

“!”

Paeon awkwardly caught and held Nine, who had thrown itself against his chest. The sight reminded me of our first meeting and made me burst out laughing. Like that time when he didn’t know how to hold a child and awkwardly lifted me into the carriage.

But Nine, for some reason displeased, flicked its tails against him. Paeon looked at me with eyes begging for help.

“Princess.”

“Hehe, isn’t it asking to be petted?”

“…”

At my shameless answer, he cautiously raised one hand with a troubled face. And began gently stroking Nine’s white fur. It was as if he were holding a delicate crystal sculpture afraid it might shatter at the slightest pressure. Everyone except Rizen giggled at the sight. It was so funny to see such a tall man trembling over a small baby animal.

Suddenly Leo’s face came to mind.

‘Would Leo like animals?’

However much Leo might be a cold-blooded boy resembling Paeon, he was still a child, so he’d probably like cute animals. How about using this to win some favor?

‘I should go show him!’

◇ ◆ ◇

Basileo wrote in his notebook while glancing at the empty air from time to time. He had recently developed the strange habit of staring into empty space.

‘…I look like a fool.’

He lowered his head to the notebook again. He tried to focus on what he was writing, but he couldn’t stop the distracting thoughts flooding in.

‘Liar.’

It had already been two weeks since she visited the tower. As expected, her promise to come again must have been empty words. He unconsciously opened the front of the notebook. And he glared piercingly at the words he had already read hundreds, thousands of times. He had long since memorized which page held which words.

‘…It’s better that she doesn’t come. Soon my mana will be replenished enough to use portal magic, and…’

If he used portal magic this time, could he bring back an advanced magic book? He had already failed several times. The time he could spend outside was extremely limited, and the places he could secretly wander were few.

‘A book like that is probably deep inside the royal library.’

But taking extreme risks to get it seemed foolish. As he chewed on his quill and agonized, a familiar sound reached his ears.

Coo-coo-coo-coo!

It was the sound of a portal opening.

“…!”

This time, the girl stepped lightly out of the air. Perhaps because she had used portal magic a few times now, she had become much more skilled.

“Weo!”

She came running in her pajamas, her twin-tied hair fluttering. She looked exactly as she would when going to bed. Basileo stared at her blankly for a moment, then started and hid his notebook and quill under the blanket.

“What? What wewe you witing?”

He didn’t answer and just glared at her. His heart was pounding violently, and he couldn’t get his words out properly.

“…I told you not to come again.”

Despite his cold words, she just smiled brightly and came closer and closer.

“…Wh-what are you doing?”

Even if he wanted to avoid her, the cold, hard wall was right behind him, so there was nowhere left to go. She plopped down right in front of him and thrust her arm toward his face.

“?!”

Something entered his mouth. He flinched and closed his mouth, and there was a crisp, crumbling sound. A sweet taste spread intensely on the tip of his tongue. It was a taste he hadn’t felt in a very long time.

“It’s a waspbewwy macawon! It was so yummy I got a few. It’s good, wight?”

Since the food served every day didn’t include fancy desserts, he couldn’t refuse the sweetness he hadn’t tasted in so long.

“So you don’t hate sweet things? I found a diffewence fwom Paeon.”

Paeon. The name Paeon came from her lips.

“Who… is Paeon?”

At his question, her eyes wavered for a moment. She hemmed and hawed without answering, then suddenly shouted.

“Your weak spot!”

And she snatched the notebook hidden under the blanket. He started and instinctively reached out.

“You saw my diawy. So it’s only faiw that I see youws too!”

She nimbly dodged his hand and opened the notebook.

What was written there was…