Chapter 54
Poof—!
She fell as if being buried into Choco’s fluffy, soft mane.
“Huh?”
While Lucilea was staring blankly at the suddenly changed scenery, Choco began bouncing energetically toward the outside of the nest.
The rebound was enormous. “Eek!” Startled, Lucilea clutched Choco’s chocolate-colored mane tightly with both hands.
[Lucy! Hold on tight! If you fall, you’ll die!]
Cookie, gripping Choco’s mane with both feet, shouted.
‘But you can fly!’
[Ah, right. Still, when else would I ever get to ride on an ancient divine beast’s back?!]
‘I don’t want to ride it, thoughhh!’
As Lucilea roared while clinging to the mane, Choco quickly reached the spot where Caillin lay unconscious.
“Huh? That’s Caillin.”
Lucilea muttered as she looked down at him on the ground.
Could it be that Choco had actually brought her here on purpose?
‘Phew. Maybe I misunderstood.’
But then—
Choco suddenly opened its enormous beak wide and lowered it toward Caillin.
Startled, Lucilea yanked on Choco’s mane frantically.
“Hey! Hey! Don’t eat him!”
But instead of biting, Choco gently caught Caillin’s collar at the neck with the tip of its beak and lifted him up lightly.
“You, w-what are you planning to do with Caillin—Waaaah!”
Before she could even finish asking, fwoooosh—! With a tremendous flap of wings, the forest shook and Choco’s body soared into the sky.
“Kyaaaaaah—!”
[Yippeeeeee—!]
Lucilea’s terrified scream and Cookie’s thrilled shout faded into the distance.
Meanwhile, outside the forest.
The subjugation of monsters was still ongoing.
Fortunately, most of the Frostfang Wolves had already been dealt with.
“Irnel, push it to the right. One more time.”
Serdian’s voice was calm. He seemed far more composed than when they first clashed with the Frostfang Wolves.
As Irnel raised a gust of wind to drive the last remaining wolf to the right, Raiden instantly conjured a circular barrier of fire to trap it.
The startled wolf hesitated, caught within the flames, and Serdian’s aura transformed into chains to bind its legs.
The final one was subdued.
“Haaah…” A collective sigh of relief escaped the children.
Serdian turned his gaze toward the forest.
The appearance of the ancient divine beast, the griffin, had alarmed the Grand Duke’s knights, who had rushed inside to search for the missing children.
But there was still no word.
And no one knew what might be happening deep within.
“That’s enough. We should head into the forest now—”
But before Serdian could even take a step,
Kiiiieeeeh!
The griffin’s cry echoed from above.
Startled, the children snapped their heads upward.
It was the same massive griffin that had entered the forest alone moments earlier.
“The griffin! Get back into formation—!”
But then—
“Serdian! Raiden! Don’t attack! It’s me, it’s me! I brought Caillin too!”
Something small clung to the griffin’s back, waving its hand frantically.
At the familiar voice, Serdian’s grip on his sword faltered, his brow furrowing.
“Lucil…ea?”
Not only Serdian—Raiden, Irnel, and every knight around them froze, their faces pale as they stared blankly up at the sky.
Lucilea, of course, had no idea.
That Caillin, dangling helplessly by the back of his neck from the griffin’s beak, looked exactly like he was about to be eaten.
“Kyaaaah! No! Caillin!”
Irnel’s scream of horror rang out from below, but it never reached Lucilea’s ears.
“Goodbye, Choco!”
Take care of that twenty gold!
Lucilea waved as Choco disappeared into the forest. Choco glanced back briefly, almost as if bidding farewell.
Lucilea forced a smile at the sight of its retreating figure.
‘Thanks for giving me a ride, but now I’ve got a mountain of explaining to do, thanks to you, Choco!’
When Choco’s figure finally vanished, Lucilea boarded the carriage at Elbadin’s call.
Sitting across from him, her eyes darted nervously left and right.
Elbadin was the one to speak first.
“Heading into the forest to rescue your companion—that choice wasn’t a bad one.”
“Oh.” Lucilea looked up at him, surprised.
That… was a compliment, right?
“Hehe, thank you.”
“But.”
Elbadin held her gaze.
“It was reckless. When you found Caillin, you should have brought him back. Not followed the griffin into its nest.”
“…Yes, sir.”
Lucilea lowered her head, knowing exactly what he meant.
“Ancient divine beasts are not friendly toward humans.”
It had always been that way. They were literally messengers of the gods—noble, proud, and highly intelligent, capable of thought and judgment.
Unless they recognized someone, they would never allow them on their back, nor show them their nest.
“You were lucky. Otherwise, the only thing before me right now would be your corpse—unrecognizable.”
Lucilea swallowed hard at Elbadin’s chilling words.
“I didn’t know… that Choco was that dangerous.”
“Choco…?”
“Yes, I gave it a name. It seemed to like it.”
“….”
Elbadin stared at her in disbelief, speechless.
A moment passed, and then—
Hoo. Elbadin sighed.
Startled by that small sound, Lucilea’s shoulders twitched.
Then he asked,
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
His tone was gentler now, softer than moments ago. Lucilea raised her gaze slightly.
His eyes were still sharp and cold, yet behind them flickered a faint trace of concern.
Strangely reassured, she found herself smiling bashfully.
“No, sir!”
At her spirited answer, Elbadin also smiled faintly, following the child’s lead.
“What happened today will remain a secret for the time being.”
“Yes! I think that’s best too.”
“Why?”
“Because… Choco’s nest looked super delicious—uh, I mean, super valuable. If greedy people found out, they might try to attack Choco to steal it.”
Elbadin chuckled.
“You don’t need to worry about that.”
“Why not?”
“Because griffin nests are protected by a barrier. They’re invisible to anyone not granted permission. The incident didn’t happen because of the nest, but because the griffin felt it was being threatened.”
“Ohhh…”
So, then, did that mean she had been granted permission? Tilting her head at the thought, she heard Elbadin continue.
“Yes. For some reason, the griffin allowed you into its nest. Whether it thought of you as prey, or its judgment was clouded by its injured young, I cannot say.”
“….”
It hadn’t seemed to think of her as food, but Lucilea pouted her lips anyway.
“In any case, a griffin of that size must have lived for centuries. Moving its nest would be nothing for it.”
With that, Elbadin stepped out of the carriage, and Lucilea followed.
He summoned the four children, excluding Caillin who was still receiving treatment.
“This mission—the subjugation of monsters in the northern mountains—did not go as planned. But.”
He paused, meeting each child’s eyes.
“In the end, you handled it well.”
At those words, the children’s weary faces brightened. It was the first time they had ever heard praise from Elbadin, and it filled them with both surprise and a swelling sense of pride.
Thus, the special squad’s very first mission had begun—and ended—without disaster.
“Preparations are complete!”
“Depart! Everyone to your stations!”
“Board the carriages!”
Once reorganized, the Grand Duke’s carriages set off again.
Inside one carriage, Serdian sat with Lucilea. His voice was cold as he asked:
“What exactly happened?”
“Hm? What do you mean?”
Lucilea tried to play innocent, but Serdian only sighed.
“The griffin.”
“Oh, Choco?”
“Choco…?” Serdian’s face twisted in disbelief at the sweet-sounding name.
“Don’t tell me, you’re calling that griffin Choco?”
“Why not? The moment I saw it, it reminded me of chocolate.”
“….”
“Its gorgeous mane was chocolate-colored. Twenty Gold is also chocolate-colored like its mom, but it already has its name.”
“…Who—or what—is ‘Twenty Gold’?”
“Oh, just a fellow who swallowed up an amount of money I’ll probably never touch in my lifetime.”
“….”
In any case, the misunderstanding about Choco carrying Caillin by the neck was cleared up.
Still, when they first landed, the knights had nearly attacked Choco, leaving Lucilea scrambling to calm it down and explain.
But suspicion toward her remained.
After all, no matter how she spun it, it was still absurd: a small girl riding an ancient divine beast through the skies.
‘That’s why I just wanted to slip back quietly…’
If Choco hadn’t acted out, she wouldn’t have had to explain so much.
Not that she blamed it. Even a highly intelligent divine beast didn’t think exactly like a human.
‘Maybe it thought it was repaying a favor.’
If so, she ought to be grateful instead.
“Hmmm.” Lucilea leaned her head against the window, staring vacantly outside.
As the forest receded in the distance, she thought of Choco.
‘Take care, Choco!’
And you too, Twenty Gold!
