Teti’s Practice And A New Sacred Beast

After asking the witch Cordelia to make the rejuvenation medicine, I returned to the mansion.

I had already handed the Phoenix feathers and the three kinds of items over to Cordelia.

She said the ritual would fail if I, with my enormous amount of Serâge, was present, so I had asked Liricia to stay with her.

It was afternoon beneath a wide blue sky.

I was in the mansion garden.

Since the elf Cheryl had come, I had come to see how much Teti had grown.

Leaning against the fence-like gate at the entrance, I watched Teti’s training.

In the open area outside the gate were Teti, Cheryl, and Fenrir.

Teti stood with a serious expression and used snow and ice magic.

Fenrir came running toward Teti from a short distance away.

“Got you! —Ice Storm!”

Countless blades of ice appeared in front of Fenrir and flew about like a storm.

With all that speed behind him, Fenrir could not stop suddenly, so he kicked off the ground with all four limbs and leaped high.

“Right there! —Icicle Penetrate!”

Several long spears over a meter in length attacked Fenrir, who was trapped in midair and unable to flee.

Under normal circumstances, it was a distance and accuracy that would absolutely hit.

But Fenrir kicked the air and changed his posture.

Looking closely, only the air beneath his feet had frozen into ice.

Just like that, he freely ran through the atmosphere and landed beside Teti.

He sharply placed a forepaw on the flat stone at her feet.

At once, Teti’s childish face twisted as if she were about to cry, and she shouted.

“Aaah, I lost again!”

Cheryl, who was nearby, approached Teti with her blonde hair swaying.

“No, the fact that you can use magic continuously to this extent is proof that your basic ability has improved. And the way you are mixing multiple spells together to multiply their effectiveness is quite remarkable.”

Cheryl praised her with a smile on her beautiful face.

Fenrir, who sat there poised, also nodded deeply.

“Indeed. Just as this little girl says. My chief has considerable talent.”

“But not even one of them hit!”

Teti bit her lip in frustration and glared at Fenrir.

Cheryl extended a slender arm and indicated the frozen tree and Fenrir.

“Hitting a motionless target is easy. To hit a moving target, it is important to read ahead of your opponent’s movements.”

“Read ahead… but come on, there’s no way I can read the path of someone running through the air… ah! Could I do that too!?”

“I think it would be difficult to perform the exact same movement when freezing things by your own will and when freezing them through spirits… Fenrir-sama, can you still continue?”

“Indeed. There is no problem at all. If anything, I am enjoying being able to exercise again after so long.”

Fenrir raised the corners of his mouth and showed his sharp fangs.

It seemed he had smiled.

Cheryl nodded, her blonde hair swaying.

“Then next, shall we practice freezing things instantly?”

“This time I’m definitely going to show Alec-sama how good I am—make sure you watch this time!”

Teti turned back toward me and smiled, showing her white teeth.

I spoke while lightly shaking my head side to side.

“No, no. You’re already showing me something amazing as it is. Did you drink the Puchi Elixir? Work hard without running out of magic power, okay?”

“Okaaay, thanks, Alec-sama!”

Teti raised her hand energetically, filled her green eyes with a strong light, and resumed her magic training.

—It was good to see she looked so lively.

Watching Teti having so much fun somehow made me feel relieved.

And I had been watching for a while now, but even for me, who could not use magic, this mock battle had taught me quite a lot.

How to bring down a fast-moving opponent.

Especially for me, since I could not use magic, how could I defeat something like that with only a sword while dodging those claws and fangs?

I was thinking through the movements in my head.

—And then.

I heard footsteps from just behind the gate.

When I turned around, it was Ciel, the Pegasus foal.

He was watching the fight with his large eyes.

On his back rode Spica, the small rabbit-like Almiraj.

“Hello, Alec-san.”

“Helloo~, Teti-chan is amazing.”

“You two seem lively too. Ciel, are you lonely now that your playmate is gone?”

“Not at all. I’ve made more friends, and I can tell Teti-chan is trying really hard too.”

I pushed myself off the fence I had been leaning on and looked back into the garden.

It was a garden full of fruit trees and fields.

Here and there, I could see white animals.

“How much has the number of sacred beasts increased?”

“Umm, Pegasus, Unicorn, Almiraj, White Boar, Dragon, and Fenrir-san pretending to be a White Fang?”

“Six kinds… if there are already this many, couldn’t we get it recognized as a sanctuary?”

“Yeah, I think so. I’d be happy too if this place became safe.”

“Hawawa~, I’d be so happy to live in a sanctuary~.”

Ciel narrowed his eyes and smiled, while Spica nodded over and over.

“Yeah. Right now, they’re only hiding here, after all.”

“But Alec-san is amazing. You made such a wonderful place for us. The pasture grass and apples are delicious, and the stable is comfortable too.”

“No, well… it’s for my sake too, so don’t worry about it.”

“But it’s still amazing, Alec-san. Thank you.”

Ciel spread his little wings with a flap and thanked me.

It was really just a petty-villain sort of idea: I did not want anyone to know, I did not want Kou destroyed, I wanted to spend quiet time with Liricia, and I did not want to build a house on the kingdom’s land without permission and pay taxes…

Since he seemed to have the wrong idea, it made me feel oddly ticklish.

And then one of the words I had been casually letting pass suddenly caught in my head.

“Hm? Unicorn? Was there one here?”

“Yeah, a Unicorn big brother.”

“He said his name was Sarvii. Just like me, he has a horn.”

I looked carefully around the mansion garden.

Then I saw a pure white horse by the watering place in front of the stable. A long slender horn extended from its forehead.

“That one, huh… that’s a surprise.”

“I think it was last night. He suddenly showed up.”

“I’ll go talk to him for a bit.”

“Okaaay.”

“Please have a nice trip~.”

Ciel and Spica answered cheerfully, then turned their attention back to Teti’s training.

I crossed the garden and went to the stable next to the mansion.

Then Mireine, the Pegasus mother, came out from inside.

“Oh my, Alec-san. Good morning.”

“Morning… this Unicorn is?”

“He is Sarvi. He says he’s traveling all over the place.”

Hearing his name, he lifted his head and glanced this way.

Even as a horse, he had a tightly honed body and a sharp face. He looked fast at a glance.

He approached, his mane swaying.

“Hello. You’re the master here, Alec-san?”

“Yeah, that’s right. So you’re called Sarvi. Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you. This is a nice garden. It makes both body and mind feel lighter. So would you mind if I eased the fatigue of my travels here for a while?”

Sarvi stared at me with large blue eyes.

I nodded.

“Take your time and relax. By the way, where did you come from?”

“From over there.”

He pointed his horn toward the west.

To the west should be the dungeon town called Westaria, farther west from there the Dwarf Duke Territory, and west of that the maritime kingdom called the Aragon Kingdom.

I had never heard of Unicorns living there.

“So you’re in the middle of a journey… are you on your way somewhere?”

“Who knows? I haven’t particularly decided on a destination. If I did, it wouldn’t be a journey anymore.”

In his airy tone, he started saying something strange.

I did not understand what he meant.

Feeling my brow furrow, I asked,

“What do you mean by that?”

“The kind of journey you’re talking about is deciding on a destination and heading toward it, right? That’s not a true journey. To put it bluntly, it’s just an errand. Only by moving about freely wherever your feet take you can it truly be called a journey.”

“That’s just getting lost.”

“Getting lost is impossible. You only get lost because you have a destination. If you never decide on a destination in the first place, then whether you go to the sea, or the mountains, or come here, every single one of them is the correct journey.”

“What is it you want to do?”

“I want to be free. That’s all.”

Sarvi said it in a matter-of-fact tone. His blue eyes were calm to the very end.

Apparently, he really meant it.

Mireine laughed brightly.

“My, my. Sarvi-san must hate being tied down, then.”

“That’s right. Freedom is best.”

For some reason, Sarvi lifted his head proudly.

I shrugged and said,

“Freedom, huh… well, do as you like. But I’d be happy if you helped out a little.”

“Help out? I’ll work enough to cover the food and lodging.”

“I see. I’m going to have this place recognized as a sanctuary soon, so I want you to come along to help make up the numbers.”

Sarvi tilted his long neck.

“What exactly would I be doing?”

“Well, all of us would meet the King and ask him to designate this place as a sanctuary because this many sacred beasts live here, and to tell people not to approach the deep forest.”

The Unicorn dug at the soil with his forehoof.

“That sounds troublesome. I don’t really want humans to see me.”

“It only has to be once. Seeing a human king might be a good experience too, you know?”

At my words, Sarvi turned his neck and looked at Mireine.

“He’s saying all that, but can he be trusted?”

“Yes, Alec-san is a good person. He’s honest with himself. And though she isn’t here right now, there is also an angel-sama, so I’m sure no harm will come to you.”

“…All right. I can’t promise, but if I feel like going into town that day, I’ll join.”

“Fair enough. I’ll pray you come… then I’ll go consult that angel.”

I left the front of the stable and headed for the mansion.

Mireine’s voice called out from behind me.

“Alec-san, please take care of it for us.”

“Yeah, leave it to me.”

Answering lightly, I went into the mansion.

I headed for the Royal Capital through Kou’s dungeon.

The passage was cleanly lit by blue-white light.

—And then.

Just as I was about to come out at the Royal Capital entrance, something suddenly occurred to me.

—If the rejuvenation medicine was being made in the Royal Capital, then when I went out into the Royal Capital, wouldn’t the influence of my Serâge cause it to fail?

So I took out the sub-device and asked.

“Kou, got a second?”

“Aww. Even though you’re right nearby, I don’t like talking through the sub-device. I want to meet and talk~.”

“I see, sorry.”

I went back down the passage and entered the chamber near the front.

Then I went up to the round sphere in the back chamber.

“Sorry, Kou. There’s something I wanted to ask.”

“What is it, Master?”

“You know where Liricia is, right?”

“If there’s a sub-device, I can see everythiiing~.”

“How far is she from the shop in the Royal Capital?”

“Hmm. About five hundred kilometers?”

“What! That’s really far away.”

“She’s probably on an island out at sea, after all.”

“Huh, a witch’s hideout, huh. Was it the same last time with Edgar too?”

“The place is different, but it’s also an island out at sea? It kind of looks like it’s moving while splishing its way through the waves?”

“So the hideout itself can move… that’s nice, hard to pin down. As expected of Cordelia.”

“Yes indeedy. What are you going to do with that information? Should I summon her?”

“No, it’s fine. I was just worried that if they were making the medicine in the Royal Capital, I might make it fail. I’m going to the shop for a bit.”

“Okaaay, have a nice trip~.”

The surface of the sphere flashed bright blue as it said goodbye.

I headed for the shop to consult Sophia about the sanctuary recognition.