Chapter 109……………………….
“This is the Eastern Continent…”
Lin opened her eyes wide and carefully looked around. The trees in the forest, the small grass, and the flowers were all slightly different from what she usually saw.
As Lin scanned the unfamiliar scenery with curious eyes, a bird she had never seen before caught her attention.
“Wow. Look at that. The blue is really beautiful.”
Its feathers were white with streaks of dark blue.
The bird, flaunting a color that looked as elegant as a gentleman in a tuxedo, chirped loudly a few times and then flew away.
[Magpie.]
“Magpie?”
[Yes. On the Eastern Continent, the magpie is considered a bird of good omen. When it cries, it means a welcome guest is coming.]
Lin’s face lit up at Caligo’s explanation.
“So it thought of us as welcome guests!”
[Usually, it means a welcome guest will come to the person who hears the magpie, but…]
“But now we are the guests. Ah, even if it’s the other way around, it’s fine. As long as it’s a welcome guest to us… there’s only Grandpa here, right?”
“That makes sense. The only person we know on the Eastern Continent is the Mercenary King.”
Nodding in agreement, Kaidan encouraged Lin, who proudly puffed out her chest toward Caligo.
Caligo simply shrugged his shoulders, lifted his doll-like paw, and pointed down the mountain.
[Anyway, if we want to find people, we should go down to where there’s a village. Wait a moment.]
“Caligo?”
The doll slumped down as soon as he finished speaking.
Startled by the sudden disappearance of Caligo’s presence, Lin picked up the beloved doll.
The black Pegasus doll wobbled in her hands as if it had lost its soul, reflecting only empty light from its dark eyes.
“Caligo…!”
Lin’s anxious voice trembled with a hint of tears.
Then came a curt reply.
“What?”
“!”
Lin spun around at the familiar voice.
Standing there was a tall person she had never seen before.
With long black hair flowing confidently, the golden eyes staring down at her, Lin asked uncertainly,
“Caligo?”
“Yes.”
“Wow…”
Lin gasped and took in his appearance.
Kaidan, uneasy at Lin staring hypnotically at Caligo’s human form, moved closer to her side.
“Caligo is handsome.”
At Lin’s sincere admiration, Caligo’s lips curled into a smile, as if that were only natural.
Even his arrogant smile did not seem unpleasant. His striking appearance, coupled with the distinctive attire of the Eastern Continent, left a powerful impression.
His straight, sharp eyes carried a wild intensity, bowing to no one. His clear features looked as if painted by a master artist in a single stroke.
Seeing such a masterpiece of a handsome man, Lin gave him the highest praise she could think of.
“Really handsome. Just like Uncle Theo!”
“What?”
Caligo lifted his chin with a small smirk, one eyebrow raised at her awe-filled gaze.
“You call my magnificent golden eyes and refined beauty just that, you little cub?”
“Not a cub! Uncle Theo is a grizzly bear. And he’s the most handsome beastman in the world.”
“Tsk tsk. Your standards are way too low. ‘Handsome’ is a word that fits someone like me.”
“No! My standards are high!”
Lin flailed her arms in protest, and Caligo extended a long, strong finger, wagging it at her.
“Do you remember what I said before? Going down to the mortal world because of someone this fine is such a hassle.”
Lin glared coldly at the overly self-assured, supremely handsome man, thinking even being too perfect is tiring.
Unlike his usual boasting, Caligo unexpectedly played his role as guardian properly.
The group descended the mountain to a nearby village. Caligo went ahead, fetched outfits in the Eastern Continent style, changed into them, and led the way into the village.
“Wow…”
Lin marveled at the unfamiliar village of the Eastern Continent.
The first thing that caught her eye was the large buildings.
Unlike the walls and mansions of the Western Continent, the Eastern-style walls and rooftops looked incredibly intriguing.
“All the people here have black eyes and black hair. Are they all from the same clan?”
“Most humans on the Eastern Continent have black hair and black eyes. They’re not all from the same clan since they’re humans, but their families or houses are distinguished by their surnames.”
“Whoa… I see.”
The group wandered around, admiring everything. Since sturdy-looking warriors followed them, no one dared cause trouble, but many eyes lingered on Lin’s group due to their unique hair color and striking appearances.
“Are you from some noble family? You look impressive.”
“Well, I don’t see a carriage or servants though.”
“Hmm, maybe some kind of undercover mission? Look at those guards with them, can’t you tell?”
As they strolled through the village, Lin suddenly stopped, thinking aloud.
“There are so many people here too. How do we find Grandpa? Should we visit a noble’s mansion and ask?”
Caligo, confident, patted his chest and said,
“Don’t worry. It’ll actually be easier to find someone here than on your continent. There are offices everywhere, and all their reports go to the Imperial Palace.”
“Imperial Palace?”
“Think of it as the supreme lord of this land. There’s a lord who rules the entire continent.”
“!”
Lin, from the House of Great Lord Pegasus, was astonished.
Even Pegasus alone manages a large territory on their continent, but here there’s a supreme lord who governs the whole continent!
“Amazing…”
“Right? Anyway, if we go there and ask, they can find him quickly.”
Caligo spoke casually about the Imperial Palace as if visiting a local shop, but Lin, unfamiliar with the Eastern Continent, didn’t notice the oddity.
“There aren’t many foreigners here, so your grandfather should be easy to spot.”
“Thank goodness! So if we say his name, they’ll know?”
“The Eastern Continent is as big as yours, so it’ll take some time, but yes. What’s the name… Felrode Pegasus?”
“Yes, that’s right! Our Grandpa, the Mercenary King Felrode Pegasus. Ah! Grandpa has yellow eyes and sky-blue hair like me, so that should help find him too, right?”
At that moment, someone approached Lin, who was speaking excitedly.
Caligo’s golden eyes instantly turned cold, fixed on the stranger.
“Who are you?”
“I-I… I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop…”
The passerby stammered, terrified by the sharp, blade-like gaze of the warrior.
“You’re… talking about the Great Hero Baek Rodu?”
“Baek Rodu?”
“Yes! The winner of the Great War! Isn’t he renowned as the number one warrior of the era?”
Number one warrior… Baek Rodu?
Lin widened her eyes in surprise and looked at her companions.
A Village on the Eastern Continent
A man, now comfortably dressed in Eastern attire, lifted his head.
Plop.
He placed what he had carried on his shoulder onto the ground, and everyone around stepped back in shock.
“Whoa! Look at that size!”
“That’s the man-eating tiger! I’ve never seen a tiger that big in my life!”
Among the crowd, one person was crying—his family had been devoured by the man-eating tiger.
A child who had been beside the grieving mother ran up on short legs, bowed deeply before the man who had captured the tiger, and said,
“Thank you, Great Hero Baek Rodu! I will never forget your mercy in avenging my father.”
“……”
The Great Hero Baek Rodu, originally called Felrode, silently watched the child giving thanks, tears streaming down his face.
‘I wonder if she’s grown this much.’
Thinking of the granddaughter he had left far away, Felrode patted the child’s head quietly and then turned to leave.
