**Episode 4**
Just to be sure, I watched until Edenber left for the meeting.
At this moment, there was only one tiny monster in this place.
*Clang!*
He drew the sword from his waist. As if it were a signal, the other humans also unsheathed their blades.
Startled by the sharp sound, Asil raised its head.
“Piiit?!”
“Don’t resent me, little one!”
The vassal charged fiercely.
*Pyat!* Panicked, Asil darted between his legs, dodging the sword.
*Kang!*
The sword, missing its target, struck the ground. Following that, the man beside him swung his blade.
“Haaat!”
“Piiya!”
Asil, who had been scurrying in a panic, flattened itself to the ground.
The sharply honed sword grazed dangerously close over its head.
In the midst of this dire situation, words from the beastman kindergarten teacher flickered in its mind:
“When you encounter humans, wave a white handkerchief to show you have no intent to attack.”
Asil’s eyes lit up. Where was its scarf?
Fortunately, it was lying not too far away.
Though it had turned red from strawberry juice, it would still serve well enough as a sign of surrender.
“Piiyaaaat!”
Sliding forward, Asil grabbed the scarf tightly. Just as it was about to wave it vigorously with both front paws—
“All you can do is wave a piece of cloth?!”
The vassal who had first attacked Asil stepped on the corner of the scarf.
*Rip!* The thin scarf tore apart.
“…!”
Asil froze in place at the death of its cherished scarf.
The vassal sneered at Asil.
“To think a foolish monster like this is Munlepe’s divine beast. That’s absurd!”
The sharp sword swung down from above.
Even in this life-or-death moment, Asil could only stare blankly at the torn scrap of scarf.
The words the kindergarten teacher had said echoed rapidly in its mind:
“But sometimes, there will be humans who try to attack us even if we wave a white handkerchief.”
“Die, monster!”
“In those cases, you must show them who’s boss. Teach those insolent humans how fearsome we are!”
Asil, who had been frozen, took a deep breath. Its plump, strawberry-filled belly swelled like a balloon.
With all its strength, Asil unleashed its breath.
*BOOM!!!*
* * *
Meanwhile, at that very moment,
Edenber was continuing the meeting with his key vassals.
Due to the gravity of the agenda, their expressions were uniformly grim.
“Since the summoning succeeded, we should proclaim it as the divine beast…”
The vassal who spoke glanced cautiously at Edenberg.
“Is she truly without any abilities?”
“she said to be good at climbing trees.”
Edenber replied dryly.
“she swims well and sings nicely too.”
The vassals fell silent as one.
Despite offering all sorts of bribes to summon this monster, if they declared her as the divine beast, they’d only be met with ridicule.
Edenber, who had been silently contemplating with his eyes closed, spoke up.
“Could that thing possibly overpower my uncle’s holy beasts?”
Holy beasts were intelligent animals trained through magical tools by those envious of divine beasts—in other words, fake divine beasts.
Of course, being fake didn’t mean they could be underestimated. They were created with immense financial investment.
It was said that a well-raised holy beast could rival ten knights.
When Edenber had first ascended to the dukedom, he had tried to raise a powerful holy beast to replace a divine beast.
But his uncle’s interference had prevented that.
His uncle was a greedy figure who, after the previous duke was exiled, extended his influence over the family under the pretense of helping his young nephew.
Swaying the weak-willed vassals and sowing discord within the family, he now no longer hid his ambition to become the head of the house.
The vassals, watching Edenber’s expression, responded hesitantly.
“To be honest…”
“If that’s the extent of its abilities, it would be difficult.”
As expected, they shared the same opinion. Edenber’s expression darkened as he sank back into thought.
‘If my uncle’s holy beast overpowers that thing, he’ll use it as an excuse to question my competence.’
To think that a monster subdued even by a holy beast could be declared a divine beast—wouldn’t that show a complete lack of judgment?
Already, his young age made his support base precarious. If he were pushed further to the edge here…
Edenber closed his eyes tightly.
‘If only a strong monster had been summoned.’
Even if it just looked ferocious, that would have been fine. They could have packaged it as a dangerous creature.
But with its stubby limbs and pink, teary eyes that looked like they’d cry at the slightest touch—
And to top it off, it even had eggshells dangling from its head, as if it had just been born.
‘Far from using it as a divine beast, she makes me want to protect her.’
There was no way they could declare such a creature a divine beast.
Biting his lip, Edenber spoke.
“Let’s treat this summoning as if it never happened and try summoning a new monster.”
“What? But I thought our finances were already stretched thin…”
“I’ll handle it, so don’t worry about that part.”
Recently, the third princess had sent a secret letter.
‘She proposed a political marriage in exchange for helping with the family’s affairs.’
Though it was obvious she aimed to gain control over the Munlepe ducal house, he had rejected it outright—
“But for a re-summoning, that’s the only option.’
To save the family, he’d have to enter a political marriage anyway.
What did it matter who the partner was?
‘I’ll send the letter as soon as dawn breaks.’
With that resolve, Edenber clenched his fist tightly. Stress made his heart ache.
It was then—
*BOOM!!!*
A deafening roar shook the ground.
What was that? Startled, Edenber turned his head.
*CRASH!!*
Another sound of something breaking and vibrations followed.
“What in the world…”
Sensing something unusual, the vassals began to murmur.
Edenber reflexively bolted out of the meeting room.
“Your Grace!”
The startled vassals called out, but he didn’t look back.
‘It came from the divine beast’s room.’
He had let his guard down since his uncle was absent. One of the vassals had seemed suspicious earlier—had they finally made their move?
*BOOM!*
A third vibration rang out as he neared the divine beast’s room, accompanied by a searing heat that stung his skin.
‘She must have used a magical tool.’
Likely to ensure the monster’s death.
To think someone dared to use a magical tool in the ducal house without the lord’s permission—
It starkly revealed how far his authority had fallen.
Edenber placed his hand on the hilt of his sword. He sprinted and turned the final corner.
And then, he couldn’t help but stop dead in his tracks at the sight before him.
The outer wall had a hole blasted through it, letting in the winter wind, and the vassals presumed to be the attackers were rolling on the ground, severely burned.
Far off, Asil was slumped over, tightly clutching a rabbit.
It seemed something had gone wrong with the magical tool, and she had all been caught in the aftermath.
‘Is she… dead?’
Edenber felt a bitter taste in his mouth.
It was the first time in his life he had seen such a pure, untainted creature.
It was the first being that had ever made him want to protect it.
…And yet, it hadn’t even survived a single day after their meeting.
‘Is there another duke in the empire as pathetic as this?’
It was then that the vassals and knights arrived.
Seeing the chaotic scene, they gasped in unison, as if by agreement.
Hiding his deep sense of loss, Edenber spoke as impassively as he could.
“These are the ones who killed an ancient creature. I’ll investigate personally, so take them to the dungeon.”
Then, looking at Asil with somber eyes, he gave another order.
“Bury it in a sunny spot. The rabbit too.”
“Yes, sir.”
The knights who received the order began to move.
Asil, who had been playing dead, was inwardly shocked.
Hearing footsteps, it had pretended to be dead, thinking another sword-wielding human was approaching.
‘My husband is trying to bury Asil and the rabbit!’
How could he be so barbaric!
Since beastmen simply left their dead deep in the forest, Asil had planned to escape when the chance arose, but she never imagined they’d bury it in the ground.
So shocked that the blood drained from its body, Asil thought it absolutely couldn’t be buried like this.
Just as the knight’s hand was about to touch it, Asil sprang up.
To show it was alive, it let out a mighty cry.
“Piiyaaaa!”
“Arghhh!”
“The monster’s alive! Hwaaaa!”
“Piiyaaaaaa!”
The knights and vassals screamed in horror.
Startled by their shouts, Asil also let out a genuine scream.
☆▪︎▪︎▪︎☆▪︎▪︎▪︎☆▪︎▪︎▪︎☆
By Anna 💓
