CHAPTER 26………………….
“V-Vomiting…? The blood I spat out was foul energy?”
“Yes. Can’t you tell by how black it is? It’s clumped up so badly it’s darker than swamp mud.”
“So I threw up something bad from inside my body?”
“That’s what I said.”
“Then I must’ve gotten healthier from puking up that bad blood!”
“Well… foul energy is never good for a divine beast’s body, so yes.”
“Wow!”
Though prickly, Carigo’s clear answer made Lin’s eyes sparkle.
Boom!
Wanting to express her joy even more explosively, Lin shifted into her beast form and dashed around the room like a wild horse galloping across the plains.
After running several excited laps around the “circular paddock” of her room, Lin pranced back with tapping hooves and proudly announced:
“No wonder I’ve been feeling lighter these days! I think I really did get healthier!”
“Hm.”
“Is it because I’ve been exercising every morning? Or because I ate lots of bitter stuff?”
By “bitter stuff,” Lin meant all those healthy but awful-tasting foods.
Feeling great, she shook her small head from side to side like a dance.
Her mane rippled gently between her round ears that twitched with each shake.
“You’re all over the place.”
“I’m just excited~ Oh! Actually, now that I think about it, I started feeling better around then.”
“Then?”
“You know—after I talked with Kei.”
As if urging Carigo to recall it too, Lin stomped her front hooves and thought back.
“When all the knight uncles were gathered. When they all made faces like—this.”
Her round deer-like eyes blinked as she tried to mimic their expressions, but beast form had limits, so she returned to human shape.
Lin puckered her lips and pushed her chin to make a walnut-like shape, then exhaled and continued.
“One of the knight uncles was even about to cry.”
“Ah. When those gloomy fellows were sniffling like overemotional brats.”
“Bad words!”
As a minor herself, Lin could not let that slide and scolded Carigo.
Carigo hadn’t intended anything deep by his comment, so he just turned his head to the side as if nothing happened.
Breaking her stern pose with hands on her waist, Lin continued describing the scene.
“Thank you, young lady. I’ve gained great insight.”
“Truly… it feels like something that was blocked inside me has finally cleared.”
Some knights who had stayed behind to clean up after training quietly came to Lin afterward, their eyes still gleaming with emotion as they thanked her.
For some reason, all the knights who had overheard her conversation with Kei had looked as if a weight had been lifted from their shoulders.
“Seeing everyone’s faces look, um… peaceful? That made me feel really energized too.”
“Ahh.”
Carigo spoke as if he’d figured something out, right into Lin’s ears as she strained to pinpoint when her “health level up” began.
“That must be your ‘origin.’”
“My origin?”
“Your essence as a divine beast.”
Fwip.
Floating in the air, Carigo drifted right up to her face.
“What did you feel at that moment?”
“Uh… peace? Everyone seemed calmer. And, um… my chest felt warm and good.”
“Exactly.”
Snap.
Unable to use fingers, Carigo created a snapping sound with divine power and waved one plush foot.
Swoosh—!
Dark smoke flowed from the doll’s foot, forming puppet-like shapes.
Monsters appeared, growling, baring sharp teeth and claws.
“To give an example… I possess the power of ‘Destruction of the Unclean.’”
Whoosh.
Carigo lightly flicked a foot, and the roaring monsters trembled, raised their arms, and instantly crumbled away like scattering sand.
“By annihilating corruption, my power grows.”
With each monster’s disappearance, the stuffed doll containing Carigo grew in size, as if showing power increase.
Now nearly as big as him, the doll made Lin’s eyes widen.
“You, too, have a core as a divine beast.”
With the last monster gone, Carigo spread his wings grandly.
“Mine is ‘Destroying Corruption.’ Yours is probably…”
“I’m…!”
Lin was completely absorbed by Carigo’s dramatic display—so unlike his usual grumbling self.
Her eyes sparkled with anticipation as she waited for his next words.
“Peace? Tranquility?”
“Peace!”
“Yes, something like that. Every time the people around you shed the faces of overworked mules and look liberated, your divine power grows.”
“Gasp! My divine power grows? You saw that?”
“How would I sense how much your tiny shred of divine power increased? That’s like asking me to tell which grain of sand is bigger.”
Hmph.
Lin puffed her cheeks like an offended pufferfish.
Ignoring her sulking, Carigo finished calmly:
“You should know your own strength. You said you feel healthier. Isn’t that the power growing?”
“!”
Carigo’s words were a huge hint. Lin’s eyes widened.
“So that’s it! When there’s more ‘peace,’ my divine power grows, and so does my health!”
“Not only that. There’s also that thing you used to call an ability.”
“Oh! My foresight!”
Of course!
Lin slapped her palm on her hand like a detective who’d solved a case.
“That’s why I could see more of the ‘original story’ in yesterday’s dream!”
“Hooh? Really? What did you see?”
After telling him about her dream, Lin kept grinning.
Good, good. My power will grow more. Then I’ll get healthier, and I’ll be able to see even more of the original story!
Imagining herself getting super healthy and using her powers freely while everyone admired her, Lin clenched her fist with determination.
“I’m going to bring even more ‘peace’ from now on!”
“You’ll be bringing peace, not doing it.”
“Yep!”
Unbothered by Carigo’s nitpicking, Lin nodded confidently and raised her fist toward the sky.
“I’m going to make lots and lots of money and bring tons of peace~!”
Humming, Lin headed toward her mother’s study.
Seeing no one in the hallway, Carigo floated beside her and asked with a dry laugh:
“Are we talking about the same definition of ‘peace’?”
“Of course!”
“You can’t buy that with money.”
“Carigo.”
Tsk-tsk.
Imitating adults who “knew better,” Lin clicked her tongue and wagged her straightened index finger.
“With lots of money, it’s much easier.”
“…”
Even the divine beast went speechless at the firm declaration of a six-year-old.
Carigo raised one plush foot to his forehead and shook his head.
Such a chaotic world, perhaps?
Ignoring his grumbling as she always did, Lin entered her mother’s study and clapped twice.
It was a feature Theodore had added after seeing Lin go up and down to the artificial spirit orb all the time—by hiring an expensive mage.
—Did you call for Tinker, young mistress?
“Yep! I want to look at the land around the territory.”
—I will locate the “map” for you. Searching… The Pegasus territory map is located on the following shelf.
As Lin hurried to look for the map, Carigo floated over to the glowing activated magic orb and examined it.
“Hooh. Humans have made another interesting thing.”
“My mom made it! Tinker is the spirit who lives in the orb, and Mom made the orb—Tinker’s house.”
“Is that so? Quite the talent, she has.”
