Early DAR Vol. 2 Chapter 5 Part 3 (Patreon)

Note: This part has not been TLCed yet, and might slightly differ from the public version.  If you found any typos/mistakes, pls write it in the comment. Thanks.    

Translator: Dario

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“So, what do we do now?”

The first to speak was Nostalgia’s scout and swordsman, Kristoff.

Next to him, Dietrich was still crouching, holding his hurt thighs. The pain didn’t seem to be going away anytime soon, so he was suffering in silence. Kristoff glanced at him, but did not say a word.

“We should get out of the forest, of course. I’m sure not all the golems have been defeated.”

The party’s shield, Cornelia, ignored him too. Dietrich was right in front of her, but she ignored him utterly and completely.

“...I too think we should exit the forest...but, er, is it okay to ignore him? He looks really in pain...”

Unable to bear the situation anymore, Roa finally addressed Dietrich’s condition. 

The reasons why Dietrich was in pain were freezing and scorching paw marks left by the two magic wolves. Under Dietrich’s hands there were clearly paw-shaped marks, one burning, the other chilling. They were the results of the jealousy felt by the wolf twins when Dietrich hugged Roa: while he didn’t cause them himself, Roa felt responsible.

He had offered once to cure the wounds, but Cornelia stopped him.

“What? No, our boss is not so frail to be hindered by a couple burns, don’t worry.”

“He’s as tough as he looks, you know. He’s just acting because he wants to be consoled. Even with his thighs slashed, the next second he’d be on the offensive again...besides, if he really couldn’t stand the pain he’d dring recovery potions, it’s not like he doesn’t have any.”

“That’d be a waste of potions!!”

Dietrich finally reacted to Cornelia and Kristoff’s exchange. Thanks to the great quantity of recovery potions brought by Roa and the recovery candy he didn’t need to use any, but each Nostalgia member also had their share of recovery potions, as part of their basic equipment. 

Even if he had plenty, however, Dietrich thought it would be a waste to use one for a mere burn. Even if low level, recovery potions were not so cheap that they could be used easily. It felt wrong to use such expensive items outside of emergencies.

Dietrich had said that “it would be a waste” rather than “it could cause magic stupor”, so he too thought that the golems’ threat was over for the moment, so he could afford the luxury not to drink recovery potions right away, because of financial reasons.

“......”

The mage Bernhart then suddenly approached Dietrich. Because of his lack of expression, Dietrich did not know what Bernhart’s intentions were and stiffened for a moment. The latter did not seem to care, though: he took Dietrich’s hands and removed them from his thighs.

“......”

Dietrich, surprised by the sudden occurrence, was still frozen in place and stared at Bernhart’s still expressionless face. Roa and the two other Nostalgia members too failed to understand the mage’s intentions and looked at them, silently.

If Bernhart was capable of using healing magic, it could be interpreted as a necessary preparation to do so, but that was not the case. Most of the magic he learned was offensive, as was common for mage adventurers.

“....wonderful!!”

After a long silence, Bernhart erupted in praise, his eyes sparkling.

“No matter how much I look, only the skin’s surface is damaged! Despite that, the fact that the pain can continue for so long means that they use magic arranged in a way not to paralyze the pain receptors! Magic truly perfect to annoy others! It is simply ideal for torture! How wonderful…!”

Bernhart shouted, eyes wide open to observe the paw marks better. His lips were curved in a devious smile, difficult to imagine from the usually expressionless mage.

He was clearly overexcited, and as his entranced eyes were fixed on the paw marks located on Dietrich’s thighs, the situation could be easily misunderstood.

“Twin wolves! Yes, you two! Could you please use magic one more time!? If possible, slowly enough for me to be able to decode the enchantment! Now!”

Bernhart turned his gaze to the twin wolves, instigating them to use magic, his fingers pointing to Dietrich’s thighs…

Because of the sudden plea, the twins’ bodies shook and they dropped the materials they were holding in their mouths. Then, after looking at Bernhart, they quickly hid behind Roa, their tails between their legs. His eerie aura probably scared them.

The twins had been happily gathering ingredients until minutes ago, but their mood was now completely different. It was rather bizarre to see them quiver in fear, despite being capable of treating hordes of golems like playthings.

Despite the lack of hostility coming from Bernhart, the twins’ fur was standing straight on their backs. Their eyes were locked on Bernhart, wary of the creepy aura he exuded.

“Wait, wait, wait!? My thighs, again!? Why!?”

“I would happily give my body for the progress of magic, but I couldn’t observe it properly like that!!”

“That’s not the problem here!!”

Looking at the bickering comrades, Roa and the others could only laugh bitterly.

“They’re making a pretty big ruckus, but won’t the golems notice?”

Cornelia was looking at Dietrich and Bernhart, speechless, then talked as if she recalled something suddenly. The mood was rather relaxed now, but they had been chased by golems since a little time before, with their lives in clear danger. It was natural for her to be concerned.

Rather, it was bizarre for Bernhart and Dietrich to be able to fight like that.

“It’s alright.”

“Eh?”

Cornelia had asked the scout Kristoff, but Roa replied instead.

“We have the twins here. If any hostile magic beast approaches, they would surely notice.”

Roa then patted the scared wolves’ backs. Their fur returned to normal, as did their expressions.

“They’re still children, but their detection abilities can be trusted.”

After Roa’s confident words, the twins stepped forward from behind him, their chests proudly swelling, in Cornelia’s direction. They also waved their paws.

“Yeah, it looks like their detection range is even wider than mine, so I guess we can rest easy. They were a lot faster than us in finding you too after all.”

Kristoff spoke with an impressed tone and the twins turned towards him, puffing their chests up.

“I think that...they probably tracked my smell, though...”

“Your smell, I see...magic beasts detect others by smell or instinct after all, we can’t even be compared.”

Kristoff first thought that the twins had used a spell to find Roa’s location, as they were capable of using magic. Because of Roa’s remark, however, he recalled that animals and magic beasts tracked others via smell. His first theory, however, was not wrong.

Because of the gryphon’s teachings, the twins could extend their magic power to detect other presences, like their mentor did. They couldn’t do so as well as the gryphon, but thanks to their innate senses of smell and hearing, they could detect presences in a rather wide range.

“How does your detection magic work, Kristoff? You are using it now, right? I always wondered about it, but I can’t understand it by myself...”

Some mages were able to analyze and decode magic spells if they were used before them. If a spell was chanted, its structure could be decoded from the enchantment, but analyzing magic without enchantments, like Kristoff’s enemy detection, was very difficult.

“Hm? Have you tried studying it?”

“...I’m sorry. I was just interested...”

In case of magic without chanting, one had to analyze the resulting phenomenon and try to decode the spell from that. There were several patterns for magic spells, so expert decoders could do so fairly accurately. Being able to do so also meant that it was possible to develop original magic spells.

Bernhart told the twins to use magic slowly so he could decode the enchantment precisely because he possessed such talent. Of course, the activation of magic spells was also tied to magic power quantity and affinity, so being able to use such a spell was a whole different question.

“Well, it’s not a secret or anything, so you don’t need to apologize...I see, you can analyze magic? I guess it would be obvious for Roa to be able to. Alchemists usually are after all...”

Differently from crafting magic potions based on existing recipes, when creating new magic potions one had to analyze the transformations happening during the process, combine materials accordingly and rearrange magic in order to generate the necessary mutations.

Considering that Roa could freely create magic potions, he had to be an expert at such analysis and composition of magic.

Kristoff found this theory convincing and, with a somewhat apologetic expression, looked at Roa, brimming with curiosity. 

In a way, Roa’s the same as Bernhart too…

The honesty in his eyes made it harder to refuse, thus making him even harder to deal with than Bernhart.

“This magic is “Sonar”, a spell used underwater, which Bernhart changed to be used above ground. Originally it was used by fishermen to detect underwater formations and fish groups.”

“By fishermen?”

“Yeah, it was used for fishing. Most fishermen have little magic power, so this spell is made to consume little magic but cover a wide area. It’s a kind of detection magic, but it’s a little too simple to deserve to be called magic. It just spreads magic power at regular intervals to scan the surroundings.”

Kristoff then lightly bopped Roa’s head, who was staring at him intently, to hide his embarrassment.

“If those magic power waves bump into something, the user feels it. But only the number and size of the target, so it’s hard to even tell people and magic beasts apart. The reason why I said I had a bad feeling so many times before was because I could feel traces of many presences when the magic power scan was too thin to actually tell what was there.”

Kristoff had indeed said that several times while they were on the move. Roa remembered that Nostalgia’s other members listened to his reports and acted accordingly. He thought it was a hunch coming from his experience, but now learned that it was actually based on something concrete.

“The detection range is...”

Sudden growling.

Before Roa could finish his question, the twins started growling menacingly. The blue magic wolf then ran off. It disappeared deep into the forest, running like the wind, before Roa could say anything. The red magic wolf, its fur standing up, stood in front of Roa, clearly wary of danger.

“....as expected, the wolf twins have a wider detection range. I can’t feel anything yet...”

Kristoff whispered to himself in a somewhat lonely tone.

A little while after the blue wolf had run off…

“It’s entered my detection field too. It’s just one presence, but...”

Kristoff’s expression clouded.

The others kept looking at him, without moving an inch.

“....it’s huge. More than twice the golems’ size...”

His clearly tense words changed the mood instantly. Krisoff’s detection could not tell what kind of magic beast it was. If it was a golem, the wolf that had run off would take care of it instantly. If it was another beast, however, it might prove too much for one wolf to defeat and would come to attack them too.

The presence’s size, more than twice the golems’, was the most concerning fact. There were some exceptions, but in general, a magic beast’s power corresponded to its size.

“Listen, Roa.”

The question came from Dietrich. His former dazed expression was no more: he had a seasoned warrior’s face on now. He had been lamenting the pain of his wounds until moments ago, but it was like they didn’t hurt anymore.

“The golems were chasing you, right? What’s up with that?”

“The smell. What the golems were actually chasing was the gryphon’s smell. They probably fought against Crack of Dawn and recognized the gryphon as a threat, I think. The golems which survived multiplied to defeat the enemy and started chasing the gryphon’s smell.”

Roa understood the meaning behind the question and explained his theory.

“I see, so that’s why they were coming after you...”

Dietrich remembered how Roa acted as a decoy to draw the golems away. He lit up a rope that burned with a strong smell and started running after the smoke filled the surroundings of Nostalgia’s members.

The golems, chasing the gryphon’s smell, lost track of Nostalgia because of the smoke and started chasing down Roa, the only source of the gryphon’s smell. It was proof that Roa’s theory was founded.

“Kristoff, is that unit coming towards us? What happened to the magic wolf?”

“It’s coming straight here. If it’s after the gryphon’s smell, it’s probably a golem. The magic wolf...just encountered it, apparently.”

They didn’t know who did it, but a light sigh was heard, probably to dispel the tense mood.

“...no good, it’s still heading here, as fast as before...”

Kristoff’s report sent a chill through the group. The magic beast was approaching at the same speed. It meant that one magic wolf was not enough to fight it. Their uneasiness quickly swelled.

“Ah!”

The other wolf, the one with red fur, ran off. The wolf twins had defeated golems in turn after joining with Roa: one of them would stay at Roa’s side while the other fought. If they went to fight together, the enemy had to be powerful enough to require their cooperation.

Looking at the second magic wolf go, Roa’s expression was visibly worried. Not because he felt his own life was in danger, but because he was worried about the wolf twins.

“...let’s get ready to fight too. We won’t be able to flee anyway. It’s just one, right? It’s us four and those two magic wolves together, it’ll be a cinch.”

Dietrich talked with a casual tone, to give confidence to the group, beaming a big smile. Nostalgia’s members looked at each other and quickly nodded, then prepared to fight, focusing on the direction the magic wolves had ran off to.

Fighting against so many golems had surely exhausted them, both physically and mentally. Even so, they showed no fear in the face of the powerful incoming threat, glaring at the direction the magic beast would come from, without a single opening in their stances.

They started hearing sounds of trampled trees, coming closer and closer. Nostalgia’s members drew their weapons. Then, from the depths of the forest, it appeared.

“.....Mithril Golem...”

Who did the low, rumbling whisper belong to…?

It was also rather loud.

Golems were alchemic creatures with bodies formed by absorbing minerals. Alchemic creatures were living beings modified via alchemy to give them additional abilities: most of them were created from magic beasts. Golems were said to originate from the magic beasts called “Slime”.

Their metal armor bodies were controlled by slimes from the inside. They were comparable to insects with exoskeletons.

Mithril Golem. As the name says, these golems possessed bodies made of mithril.

“...was there a mithril mine…?”

Cornelia whispered, dumbfounded. Her remark was not correct, however. There were no mines producing mithril, nor in the valley where the golems were, nor in the surrounding region.

Mithril caves originated from silver caves located where magic essence accumulated easily, which would change silver into mithril over the span of many years. The silver mine in Norfar valley was indeed close to a forest abundant in magic essence, but it was not enough to change silver into mithril.

Why was there a mithril golem here, then?

“....it’s shining...”

The mithril golem was glowing. Kristoff stared at the soft, almost warm light. It was the same light as the one emanated from Dietrich’s mithril sword when he healed the wounds of Coralde’s coachman.

“It’s holy light, right?”

No one answered Dietrich’s question, but that was indeed holy light, without a doubt. It glowed faintly when magic power was infused in mithril and could defeat the undead, which could not be damaged through normal weapons. It was also said that infusing more magic power granted it healing powers.

The approaching golem was enveloped in such a light. Its light was also shining brightly and continuously. The silver golem had transformed through its own magic power.

The silver golems, which had not been able to fight against the magic wolves and lift a finger or even get closer to the gryphon, had sought more power. They understood that numbers would not mean anything and instinctively sought another method.

The method that found was fusing together the cores of the surviving golems to create a single powerful unit. The result of the twin wolves treating the golems as playthings, ultimately leaving them alive, was that hundreds of disabled, but alive, golems remained in Norfar valley.

The golem core fruit of the fusion of the survivors had hundreds more magic power than a regular golem. The concentrated magic power overflowed from the core and was so dense it forced the silver to transform into mithril. Thus was the transformation process of the silver golem into a mithril golem.

While it glowed in holy light, the golem was like a damned soul wrapped in the dark flames of resentment.

“Ah!!”

Roa shouted. The twin wolves, which tried to attack the approaching golem, were swatted away like flies.

“Gaw!”

Whining in pain, the wolf twins rolled on the ground before Roa.

“Are you alright!?”

“Growl!”

The twins barked shortly. Roa ran closer to them, but the twins did not even glance at him: they stood back up and ran towards the golem again. They were brimming with fighting spirit and did not show a hint of fear.

“We can’t let those dumb dogs do everything!”

Dietrich howled as he rushed forward. He called the twins “dumb dogs” out of spite for the pain caused by their paw prints. He did not falter before the new threat either. He was even grinning, beast-like fangs showing from between his lips. 

The smile of a berserker: it could be described no other way, but it came from his concern for his comrades. No matter what powerful enemies showed up, he would keep smiling, so that they would not lose heart.

As Kristoff said, the mithril golem was much larger than the silver golems. Its height alone easily exceeded five meters. Dietrich could not even reach its stomach. Naturally, his blade could strike its hips at most.

“You huge lunk of rubbish!”

Dietrich swung his mithril sword towards the backside of the golem’s knees, the spot where its armor was supposed to be the thinnest, but he was easily repelled. A loud sound of clashing metal reverberated.

The mithril sword could cut through silver, but it is almost impossible to cut mithril with mithril. It is highly difficult to cut something with something of equal hardness. If it was moving, it could be only wounded at most. And that wound sealed up very quickly.

“Tch.”

The mithril golem was moving because of a massive source of magic power. While it could not use magic, the beast used this massive magic power to move and reinforce its body. The magic power in surplus was used to repair its body and emitting the leaking holy light.

Woosh.

Wind howled over Dietrich’s head. His movements were stopped because the golem approached and his sword was knocked back. It was only for a moment, but it was enough for the golem’s huge arm to swing towards him.

A flash of light. Bernhart’s lightning struck the golem. There was no effect, however: the giant was not hindered in the slightest.

When the mithril golem’s fist was about to crush Dietrich, its trajectory changed at the last moment. The fist landed on the ground, a dozen centimetres from Dietrich, carving a large hole in the soil.

“...dumb dog! I owe you one!”

It happened because of the blue haired magic wolf. It had tackled the golem’s arm and forced it out of its initial trajectory. After the tackle, the blue haired wolf spun in midair, lightly landed on Dietrich’s head to use it as a foothold, then jumped again and landed.

Hmph.

The magic wolf gave Dietrich a side glance and snorted through its nose. Despite being stomped on, Dietrich did not receive damage and just laughed wryly.

Several fireballs hit the mithril golem’s head and bounced away. The golem had a humanlike figure, but it did not have sensory organs on its head. Attacking it to make it lose its balance, however, was effective.

Bernhart’s attacks could not damage the golem, but were enough to let the magic wolves and Dietrich gain some distance from the enemy.

“We can’t even hurt it.”

“My magic doesn’t affect it either. I can’t even hold it back.”

“I tried to draw its attention, but it ignored me! I don’t think I can stop it!”

“Woof!”

“Woof...”

All members made their report, but no one gave up all hope. Nostalgia’s members spoke for a few seconds, then scattered again to strike the next counterattack. Their movements were smooth, clearly fruit of training. Roa and Bernhart stayed in the back, the others formed a circle surrounding the golem, putting enough distance from it.

It was a formation used when the party’s shield was not effective. The magic wolves, despite never having trained with Nostalgia and not even being able to communicate with them, joined it too. Nostalgia’s members were surprised by the twin wolves’ powers of perception, but they were thanks to the gryphon’s training. They had been taught to fight along humans to the point of boredom.

The mithril golem ignored Nostalgia and advanced straight towards Roa. On this route stood Cornelia. It was natural for the member with the highest defense to guard Roa and Bernhart. She tried stopping the golem with her large shield, but there was just a loud sound of clashing metal: the golem did not stop moving, going forward without paying her the slightest attention.

“Cornelia!”

The closest member, Kristoff, tried to assist her, but was blown away by a swing of the golem’s arm against a nearby tree. The twin wolves jumped at the golem from behind, but the latter did not seem to even notice. The same happened when Dietrich slashed it as well. One light swing of its arms and both the twins and Dietrich were sent rolling.

Cornelia aided herself with magic to stay standing, but her boots simply dug deep in the ground: the golem did not stop. In the end she was blown away too.

Roa took out recovery potions from his magic bag and tried running to the wounded members, but stopped when he noticed that the mithril golem was directed towards him. This mithril golem too, obviously, was chasing the gryphon’s smell. 

Roa had used a great quantity of the gryphon’s monster repellent to lure the silver golems’ horde. Its effect was still strong, so he had the strongest smell of the group.

“Roa!”

Bernhart stood between Roa and the mithril golem and started shooting fireballs. He couldn’t afford saving magic power anymore. He shot powerful fireballs from as many directions as possible, but they couldn’t even distract the golem, dead set on the smell. The magic beast lightly swung its arms, as if getting annoying twigs out of the way, and Bernhart’s body was knocked to the side.

After lighting the surroundings in red, the flames were swatted away too. Even fire magic had disappeared...signaling the depletion of Bernhart’s magic power.

The darkness of the night, broken only by moonlight. Inside it, the mithril golem continued to shine in holy light, signaling its presence. It was as vivid and brilliant as if it was the only colored existence in a monochromatic world.

The mithril golem’s hand stretched. A gigantic palm that could easily crush an average human being. Such a hand moved straight towards Roa.

Roa swallowed his breath…

He had accepted his death once, but now felt that he wanted to live. For his own sake, for those who protected him.

There was no one around that could stop the mithril golem, however. Or at least there was supposed to be no one…

Boom!

A thunderous sound and a flash of light. A streak of light falling from the sky. As if rending through the very moonlight…

The streak of light fell from the sky to the ground, piercing the mithril golem in its path. 

A blue and white light: it was a thunderbolt.

Roa thought he had been crushed by the golem’s palm and was having hallucinations. The mithril golem’s palm, however, had not reached him: it stopped in front of the boy. It did not move at all, as if it was frozen.

Magic?

Roa looked at Bernhart, but he was still lying on the ground, looking towards the sky. He was staring wide-eyed at a certain spot. Roa followed his gaze and looked up too.

The moonlit sky was studded with stars.

What he saw was a familiar figure bathed in moonlight.

“Grandpa….Gry…?”

Roa mumbled.

As his whisper melted away in the air, Roa felt vaguely dizzy. At the same time, a “voice” descended from the sky.

<Hahaha….HAHAHAHA!! What perfect timing, what opportunity! Am I not indeed like a hero, appearing just in time to rescue hapless commoners? It was worth it to hold back my impatience and wait before intervening! Someone powerful such as I must appear in the climax and be showered in praise, after all! Come, younglings, begin singing your praises! Cheer, worship! Then offer me the greatest of names! Which concretely is, Apomechanesteos!>

The inhuman, utterly boastful voice could be heard and understood by Roa too.

What is this voice..? Is there someone else besides us?

It felt like the voice was delivered straight to his mind. Startled by the sudden voice, Roa looked around, but saw no one. Nostalgia’s members were lying on the ground, but no one was in mortal danger. Still in pain, they were staring dazedly at the sky, but no one seemed to be talking.

The gryphon was floating in midair, the moon at its back, silently looking at Roa and the others. It wasn’t even flapping its wings, so it was likely magic what kept it afloat.

<Yes, let us then proceed to the coup de grace….what? Slug, you are already dead! How spineless! How utterly spineless!! To fall before a warning lightning bolt is simply too weak...this is not good...if you fall in one blow my performance is cut too short. I cannot show the brat my true power like this...someone you thought wasn’t too strong was actually incredibly powerful, it’s such an emotional development, and yet…! Finishing with a lame attack like that wastes all the time I waited before appearing! >

Roa and Nostalgia’s members looked at the sky, speechless, while the magic wolf twins seemed somewhat annoyed. The brave expression they had until moments ago was gone.

They felt completely dejected. The difference in their expression was as stark as the difference between a feral beast and a stuffed animal. Roa had seen them do such an expression before, though. It happened often when they were with the gryphon. Every time it did something silly, they stared with those same eyes.

The magic wolf twins whined in unison.

<...no, twins. I am not the one to blame. Mithril does not conduct magic power or electricity well, so your magic is ill suited to fight it, there is nothing that can be done about it. If you wish to defeat one, you must train your magic control further and become able to manipulate it freely.>

More whining.

<Twins, this shiny lug here was born because you played around too much, after all. It was created because the golems you didn’t finish off fused together, you know? If you didn’t lose yourselves in playing and properly finished them off, it would have never seen the light of day.>

As the voice continued, the tails of the wolf twins progressively pointed downwards. 

“Bow”

“Bow”

<I always say it, do I not? No matter how weak the opponent may be, at times they could retaliate unexpectedly. If you don’t finish your foe when you can, it might bite you back later. Only one with absolute power can afford holding back or showing pity! One like I!>

With a tinge of dissatisfaction, the twin wolves lowered their heads in sadness. The source of the voice was clearly talking with them. Roa was looking at the flying gryphon, but his incredulity still prevented him to be sure that the voice really came from it.

<Well then...it cannot be helped. I do not endorse abuse of the dead, but I suppose I could up a little show to wrap things up. If I do not create an easily praiseworthy scene, the brat and the commoners will just keep staring at me forever.>

A breeze.

The gryphon cried loudly, as to attract attention. Then, the light of magic appeared. Thanks to the light, the gryphon’s silhouette became clearly visible.

“It’s really grandpa Gry...”

Gryphons were said to be difficult to distinguish, but Roa had lived with it or years, so he could do so with confidence. A strong wind blew, as to wipe away Roa’s whisper, creating whirlwinds of leaves. The leaves rose as high as the gryphon’s position, then gently glided downwards.

A breeze.

The gryphon cried again and, with a sharp sound cutting through the wind, something flew out of its throat. It advanced through the falling leaves, slicing them as it did. Many such unseen objects flew down through the leaves.

Wind cutter.

The invisible blades created by wind reached the immobile golem and cut through its limbs, then cleaved even the thick armor protecting its core, with almost comical ease.. The giant crumbled to pieces with a thunderous sound.

“....it cut through mithril with wind cutter!?”

Bernhart’s handsome features were twisted in utter surprise.

<Look now, we have a good commentator! Do continue, expound upon my great techniques! Commend and praise!>

“To cut through metal with wind cutter, blades of wind without actual mass...and mithril, of all metals...”

<Hahaha. Wind magic is what I am best at, after all!! Wind cutter is basic, yet ultimate! If honed to perfection, it can even cut through mithril! I prepared some nice effects too, did I not? I used the leaves to make the invisible blades visible for you humans! Now the brat and the others will think that the first lightning stopped the slug, then wind cutter finished it off! Because of my all-too-powerful strength, however, the first lightning felled it already! Fools that cannot even visually perceive when a magic beast dies need a show like this to tell who to thank as their savior! Even my thoughtfulness is truly praiseworthy!!>

“Wonderful...”

Very much pleased by Bernhart’s adoring gaze, the gryphon boasted in midair, puffing its chest so much that it was about to flip over. If he simply saw what happened, Roa too would be impressed by the gryphon’s magic powers. He also felt grateful for it saving their lives.

Because of the savior’s voice, however, he couldn’t help but feel such enthusiasm wane. It was terrible. Most of it was. 

The twins, used to such a situation, started playing by themselves. They seemed tired of paying attention to the voice. They seemed depressed until moments before, but they had apparently recovered already.

The gryphon, its chest still swollen, descended towards Roa. It did not flap its wings once as it silently glided down. It finally landed on the golem’s remains, twisted its beak into a grin and looked at Roa. 

As the golem was still emitting a faint glow, the gryphon looked like a gloating king treating a mountain of riches as if it was worth nothing.

It was a beautiful scene, as if straight taken from a myth.

<Come, brat! Sing my praises! Then you shall offer me the greatest of names! Concretely speaking, Jupiter can be acceptable! Throw yourself onto me, weep as you express your most heartfelt gratitude! Then you will perform the brushing you have so neglected, for many more hours than usual! Then, my meal! Meat, I crave meat! I demand the finest meat, cooked to perfection!....no matter what, do not ever let me see that hellish dried things anymore!! That is the food of demons! No, it is not even food!>

All requests were very detailed. Every time he heard the voice, Roa felt his gratitude descend further. While listening to it, he looked straight at the gryphon. Still looking at it, he pulled out a small glass bottle and some sort of scissors from his magic bag.

Roa then opened the lid of a small bottle and pulled something out of it, with the scissors-like tool...then threw it at the gryphon.

<Hah?>

Something black hopped on the gryphon’s back.

Something tiny and black. When it started crawling on its back, the gryphon understood what it was.

<An insect!?>

It was one of the ghoul beetles Roa had gathered in the forest. 

Flick, flick, flick. Roa continued to launch the bottle’s contents towards the gryphon.

<Waitwaitwait!!>

The gryphon shook its body, desperately trying to throw off the insects, but their prickly appendages stuck to its soft fur, so it was very difficult to remove them. Roa continued throwing them, so the insects on the gryphon’s back kept increasing in number.

The gryphon clawed at its back with its hind legs and frantically flapped its wings to prevent the bugs to land on its back.

<Wait! Stop! I am telling you to stop!! Ah…..>

Since it was moving wildly on the unstable foothold provided by the mithril golem’s remains, the gryphon stumbled and fell…

<Kh….brat!! Why are you doing this to me...>

“Why? To confirm something, and to punish you.”

Roa peeked at the beaked face of the stumbling gryphon and laughed.

<Confirm? Confirm what!?>

“....I didn’t know who the voice belonged to. That’s what I wanted to confirm.”

<? Voice?>

Still lying on its back, the gryphon’s beak opened wide. 

What the voice said suggested that it belonged to the gryphon, but it didn’t match the movements of its beak and it was also delivered directly to Roa’s mind, so he couldn’t be sure.

Another reason was that Roa couldn’t believe that the gryphon he spent so many years with started talking all of a sudden. He then decided to act, see how the gryphon reacted, then make a final judgment. The action he decided on, however, was the rather uncouth act of throwing bugs on it.

It was also meant as punishment, as Roa said, for the gryphon’s many irritating statements…

<You….you can hear my voice? That can’t be...>

“You boast as much as I expected, grandpa Gry...I see now...you said all that because you thought I couldn’t hear...”

<But why? We shouldn’t be tied in a servant beast contract yet. The brat shouldn’t be able to….what!?>

The gryphon, still lying belly up, turned to another direction. It seemed to be looking intently at something.

<...my true name has been overwritten...a servant beast contract has been formed!? But...when!? Anyway...rather than that...my name is...>

The gryphon’s body started trembling. Its eyes were filled with despair, to the point of tears, its beak still gaping. If it didn’t have fur and wings, its skin would surely look pale.

<The overwritten name is “Grandpa Gry”!?!?! No!! I demand the contract to be formed again!! Braaaatttt!!! Rename me at once!!!>

The gryphon, now Grandpa Gry, raised a cry that echoed in the forest…

𑁋