TYND 25

Chapter 25

“I apologize for being late, Your Majesty.”

It was about thirty minutes later when Walter finally returned.

Lucy, lounging on the sofa with a drowsy expression, widened her eyes the moment she saw the person standing beside him. Walter glanced sideways at the man he’d brought before offering an introduction.

“This is Captain Whis Bomdeman. He leads Squad 8 of the 1st Recon Unit of the Titmouse Legion. From today on, he’ll be responsible for Your Majesty’s escort and transport.”

Whis’ bandit-like bulk entirely filled Lucy’s wide golden eyes.

An enormous bird.

But the biggest difference between Whis and an actual bird were the large hands attached at the ends of his wings. Beneath the neatly curled fists were thin, wiry shins that looked completely out of place with his huge build—no matter how you looked at them, they were bird legs.

“Greetings.”

Whis dipped his head just slightly, his beak moving faintly.

Unlike most Raphis, whose feathers were shades of gray and brown, the one before her was entirely covered in pure white plumage, as if he carried a piece of Pomnos’s snowy plains on his body.

Above those sacred-looking white feathers, a pair of cold, black eyes stared sharply at Lucy.

What was this? For some reason, he didn’t look pleased to meet her.

His blatantly frosty attitude made Lucy tilt her head. Walter seemed to notice as well and issued a quiet warning.

“Whis. Show proper respect to Her Majesty.”

“…I am Whis, captain of Squad 8 of the Titmouse Legion.”

His unwillingness was obvious. Walter almost reprimanded him once more, but held back—scolding a subordinate in front of a superior was improper for both parties.

Unlike the stiff men standing before her, Lucy eyed the Raphis with great interest and spoke. She almost used formal speech with Walter out of habit, but quickly corrected herself when she remembered they weren’t alone.

“I heard the Titmouse Legion is part of the Royal Guard. So the rumors of a Raphis unit in the Guard were true. If you’re reconnaissance, does that mean you gather intel while flying?”

“Yes. Our soldiers are not publicly known.”

Lucy immediately understood why the orderly she’d met earlier had looked so conflicted when he saw her.

Most soldiers still didn’t know who Lucy was. He must have hesitated over whether it was appropriate to mention a classified unit in front of someone he thought was an ordinary woman.

“In any case, it’s nice to meet you. It’s my first time seeing a Raphis outside the north. I look forward to working with you.”

She extended her hand. Whis’ stiff expression shifted slightly.

“You have met Raphis before?”

“Yes. I lived in the north for two years.”

“Humans don’t live in the north. Isn’t it too cold and harsh?”

“It’s true humans can’t normally live there. But Pomnos is the southernmost of the Raphis cities. It’s relatively warm—it was livable enough.”

The statement was harmless, yet Whis’ beak fell open in shock.

“Pomnos… When you said you lived in the north, you meant Pomnos?”

“You seem to know the place well?”

“It’s my hometown.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Wow. I didn’t expect to meet someone from Pomnos here. Pleasure to meet you.”

Lucy extended her hand again for a handshake. Whis, speechless, stared at her hand with his beak still slightly open.

Raphis, lacking a concept of nations, lived clustered city by city. They were extremely wary of outsiders, but treated anyone from their hometown like close kin.

“Wait—this is… huh…”

Unable to compose himself, Whis grabbed his own beak in both hands. His fingers trembled faintly with the surge of joy rushing in.

“You truly lived in Pomnos?”

“Yes. Near the foothills of Mt. Hwinnom in the Ankakhbun region. I lived quietly, selling smoked trout and malt mushrooms. They surprisingly sold well.”

“Ankakhbun? Why were you in such a remote countryside?”

“It may be rural, but the sunsets are beautiful there. You must have been there too.”

“When I was young, I often practiced gliding nearby. Yes… The sunsets were beautiful… I miss it.”

“There’s no quieter place to live. Unfortunately, I was dragged to Parnassus, but my mother still lives there, taking care of the Raphis children.”

Ankakhbun, Mt. Hwinnom, malt mushrooms—

No one who wasn’t truly familiar with Pomnos could throw out those words so casually.

Barely suppressing the instinctual urge to let his crest puff up, Whis studied Lucy intently. Her honey-colored hair, her fragile-looking build, her unusually large eyes—

Humans all looked similar to him, but upon careful inspection, she resembled someone from his memories. Or rather, someone from the letters his mother had sent him.

A troublesome human who’d settled in Ankakhbun and done strange things with the Lycans she kept around—

That bizarre woman.

He had heard that woman had honey-colored hair, was from Parnassus, and was a scrawny human girl who looked like she barely ate.

Having reached a conclusion, Whis gaped in horror.

“Good heavens… Your Majesty is that Lycan trafficker?!”

“Lycan trafficker?”

“My mother told me. There was a woman pretending to send Lycans to other countries, but she actually sold them off for ransom. She said this woman had honey-colored hair—”

“No!!”

Lucy flailed her hands in horror.

Lycans weren’t animals—how did helping them turn into trafficking? She couldn’t understand how her actions had been interpreted that way.

…Wait.

From the Raphis’ point of view, helping Lycans—vermin they believed deserved death—was incomprehensible.

Seeing it as ‘trafficking’ might have been the more sensible assumption to them.

Lucy understood the logic behind their thinking, but had no courage to argue with Whis’ judgmental stare. Instead, she sent Walter a silent plea for help. Understanding instantly, he straightened his posture.

“Whis. Her Majesty did not sell the Lycans. She granted them freedom.”

“But I heard she accepted money from them.”

Walter looked at Lucy, expression blank as always, but his dark eyes were swirling with turmoil.

He didn’t know much about her past either, so explaining would be difficult. Lucy folded her arms, thought briefly, and then—in a dignified voice—chose a different tactic.

“Fine. I sold them.”

Both men inhaled sharply at once.

Lucy stroked her chin and affected an arrogant tone.

“You are well aware of how filthy and base those Lycan creatures are, aren’t you?”

“Of course. They’re savage, lowly, uneducated beasts. They prey on the weak, think only of trading and selling others, and when the moon is full, they run wild like animals.”

“Exactly. Living in Pomnos showed me just how barbaric the Lycan race is.”

Lucy sighed heavily, forcing a tragic expression onto her face.

“It irritated me endlessly that such vulgar creatures set foot in a sacred city. If I were Raphis, I would’ve subdued them by force, but since I couldn’t, I deceived them and expelled them to other countries.”

“Then the money—?”

“That was… a bonus. I didn’t take that much anyway. It wasn’t the goal. In any case!”

“So Your Majesty’s purpose was to chase them out.”

“Yes!”

Whis’ previously displeased expression instantly shifted into admiration. He looked as if he’d just discovered, Ah, there was such a profound meaning behind it!

“I see… I nearly misunderstood. Of course, it makes no sense to defend such creatures.”

“Exactly. Raphis are far more noble and beautiful. Those things aren’t even people.”

Whis stared at her, beak parted, expression deeply moved. His tongue flicked anxiously—he seemed eager to speak yet unable to find the words.

“To think… I’d wondered why the Grand Marshal had chosen such a young woman as king. Now I see—Your Majesty is one of the wisest humans I have ever met. Please forgive my disrespect.”

With a softened expression, Whis bowed deeply.

Lucy accepted the greeting with a calm expression, pushing away the guilt she felt toward the Lycans. Remaining bowed, Whis continued introducing himself.

“I am the eldest son of Chief Omnu Bomdeman, who governs Pomnos. It is a great honor to meet someone who knows my homeland. I shall devote myself wholeheartedly to serving Your Majesty.”

“I look forward to it as well.”

Whis straightened and gazed at her with reverent eyes. When Lucy held out her hand, he took it gratefully, face glowing with emotion.