Chapter 28
Feeling that something was wrong, all three — Perea, Theo, and Dia — began moving at once to look for their missing escorts. But then, Dia called out to Perea.
“Would you like to look together? I’m a little scared to walk alone.”
“Of course.”
“Mhm! If you’re with Theo the Rabbit Hero, there’s nothing to be scared of!”
Hearing Theo’s confident words and Perea’s agreement, Dia sighed in relief.
The stares from nearby travelers had started to feel uncomfortable, so she was glad to move away.
“Is Lord Theo’s escort a beastman?”
“Yes! He’s a beastman — a leopard beastman!”
“Oh my, a leopard? That’s quite rare!”
“Huh…? Ray?”
Theo tilted his head, confused, but neither Perea nor Dia heard him — both were caught up in their conversation.
Feeling ignored, Theo pouted and kicked a small pebble with his foot.
How could smart Perea get it wrong? He wanted to correct her properly, but no one was listening!
“My escort knights are wolf beastmen,” Dia said.
“Then you must be traveling as a group?”
“Yes, that’s right — five of them.”
It was typical for wolf beastmen to move in packs. They never acted alone, especially when assigned to protection work.
If one wolf was acting by himself, it usually meant something was wrong with him.
So there should be five large wolf beastmen nearby — but none were in sight.
Just as Perea was thinking that, Theo tugged at her hand tightly.
“Perea! Over there — Ray’s fighting!”
“What? Sir Ray?”
Finally, someone listened to him!
Excited, Theo wagged his tail and pulled Perea toward the direction where he’d spotted Ray.
But no matter how she looked, Perea didn’t see his familiar black cloak or big boots.
“Lord Theo, where is Sir Ray— oh?”
“There! See? There he is!”
When they turned the corner around the rest area building, they finally saw him — Ray. He had been on the opposite side of the yard, which was why they couldn’t see him earlier.
Perea felt relief at first… but it quickly turned into unease.
Five large men were surrounding Ray. All of them had pointed ears and thick tails — unmistakably wolf beastmen, likely Dia’s escort team.
“Hmm…”
Even Dia, who had followed behind, made a small noise. She could sense something tense in the air.
Why on earth are they glaring at my escort like that?
She considered shouting for them to stop, but before she could, someone else acted first.
“You mean doggies! Don’t bully Ray!”
“L-Lord Theo!”
Before anyone could react, Theo dashed forward — and Perea had no choice but to chase after him. She didn’t want to get involved in a beastmen standoff, but she couldn’t let the boy run straight into danger either.
In an instant, Perea found herself between a leopard and five wolves. She swallowed hard.
Even with one of them wearing a cloak, the pressure coming off six predator beastmen at once was overwhelming.
If she — a human — felt her hair stand on end, how must young Theo be feeling? She glanced down at him, worried.
But the boy looked completely fine. Instead, he was stretching his short legs to stomp on the wolves’ feet one by one, puffing out his cheeks.
“Don’t bully Ray!”
Startled, Perea quickly scooped him up. Even if he was a child, touching angry beastmen like that could lead to real trouble.
And sure enough, one of the wolves raised his voice.
“What’s with this little bunny prince?!”
It was clearly time to retreat. Perea thought it would be best to grab Theo and move toward Dia’s side. She could figure out what was happening later.
She was just about to step back when—
“Perea.”
If he hadn’t called her name at that exact moment, she might have escaped.
But the sound of Ray’s deep voice froze her in place, like a binding spell.
With stiff movements, she turned her head toward him. His piercing blue eyes met hers — calm but slightly irritated.
“Y-yes?”
“Tell the woman back there to come here.”
Does he have eyes on the back of his head or what…?
Perea glanced over her shoulder and saw Dia still standing behind them, fidgeting nervously.
Even the wolf beastmen gasped. They were clearly caught off guard — after all, they’d been harassing someone while on duty.
Now they all looked uneasy.
Only Ray and Theo stayed completely composed.
When Perea didn’t move right away, Ray looked at the boy instead.
“Theo. Go tell her.”
“Mm-hm!”
Theo eagerly answered and jumped out of Perea’s arms.
Before Perea could even stop him, he ran straight to Dia, grabbed her hand, and pulled her toward the scene.
Now facing her flustered escort knights, Dia froze for a second.
“You can ask her yourself,” Ray said.
“W-wait, are you serious? You’re bringing the client here as a witness? That’s unfair!” one of the wolves protested, his tail bristling.
Perea wanted to tell him, If anyone’s being unfair, it’s you five ganging up on one person. But her courage wasn’t quite big enough.
Still, the wolves’ aggressive stares softened. Their tails drooped slightly, guilt showing on their faces.
After glancing at one another, one wolf finally spoke to Dia.
“Lady Eur, didn’t this man deliberately approach you? He’s been lurking nearby — and maybe using that woman and child to get closer to you?”
Their accusation was absurd. Perea had no idea what made them think such nonsense. It was deeply insulting — not just to Ray, but to her and Theo as well.
Dia’s brows furrowed sharply. She seemed to have realized, now that she’d heard the full story, that her team had badly overstepped.
“What on earth are you saying?! How could you come up with such a ridiculous idea?!”
Her voice — powerful from years of opera training — rang out so loudly that even nearby travelers turned to look. The wolves paled.
They stammered out excuses, claiming that the “dark-looking guy” had been hanging around her carriage suspiciously, while “the woman and child” had been tampering with the wheels.
In truth, they had simply seen Perea and Theo inspecting the decorative patterns on the carriage wheels earlier.
But the wolves were on edge — Dia was a famous opera singer, and ever since they’d arrived at the rest area, many strangers had tried to get close to her.
After chasing off a dozen such people, the wolves had gotten too confident in their “vigilance.” They began seeing enemies everywhere — and now, that arrogance had turned Ray into a supposed stalker.
And Ray, who never backed down from provocation, had reacted with his usual cold glare — making things worse until it looked like a fight.
The wolves thought they were giving a “logical” explanation. But to everyone else, it was ridiculous.
They didn’t even see him do anything — and they call this protection?
If word of this reached others, it could damage Dia Eur’s reputation.
Suppressing the urge to yell again, Dia bowed her head toward Ray.
“My escorts made a terrible mistake. I was the one who approached Perea and Theo first. Please don’t hold it against them.”
“Ahem… yes, uh…”
The wolves fidgeted awkwardly, then muttered a reluctant apology.
Even young Theo could tell their apology wasn’t sincere at all.
