Chapter 22

Episode 22 - A helping hand

The wolf that had been about to attack the squirrel was startled when the perfectly normal human suddenly began radiating heat and glowing, so it stepped back for a moment and watched the situation. Then, when a wolf with crow wings sprouting from it appeared in that spot, it quickly fled.

How wise.

“Squeak!! Squeak!!!”

Compared to that, this fellow was definitely lacking something in the head, or the part of him that recognized danger was broken.

The little fellow seemed extremely excited as he repeatedly climbed up and down my leg.

Even though he was the root cause of everything, he climbed onto my body, looked around at the flapping wings, and even squeaked.

Yeah, I’m surprised too.

“Woooo.”

Instead of a voice, a pitiful wolf howl rang out.

It was an ability that grew stranger the more I peeled it back, and it was not even an onion.

I could transform into animals, and on top of that, I could even mix them together however I wanted.

The range of this ability was so much greater than I had expected that it made me uneasy.

Wasn’t there some kind of handicap?

Something like my lifespan decreasing if I used it too much.

There was no way to know such invisible conditions since they could not be seen.

There had been nothing in the book about my lifespan decreasing from using Manis, so for now, I had no choice but to wait and see.

I looked over my bizarre appearance once again.

Even looking again, it was definitely a wolf’s body with black wings.

If alchemists had seen this appearance, they would have immediately tried to dissect me.

There had been scenes where they spent money and effort synthesizing animals to create chimeras, after all.

Well, even if they were not alchemists, if someone discovered a winged wolf, they might immediately try to kill it first.

There was no way a person would come in at this hour, but one never knew. More than anything, I no longer wanted to remain in this form, so I immediately returned to being human.

Fortunately, it seemed there were no special conditions for returning.

Thinking that I should end things here for today and hurry back, I quickly stood up.

“Ugh.”

But unlike my mind, I had to clutch my buzzing head and sit back down.

I was quite flustered because even when I had transformed into an animal for a fairly long time before, there had been no side effect like this.

Does transforming through fusion use more stamina?

My thoughts were slow enough for me to feel that my head was not working properly, and my body sagged as if it had absorbed water.

This is a disaster.

When I lay down with the back of my hand on my dizzy head, I saw the clear sky half-hidden by high tree branches.

It was such a beautiful forest, but nearby, there must be carnivores larger than wolves crawling everywhere.

If I stayed this leisurely in the medium-sized animal zone, I might become wild animal food.

But my body would not move the way I wanted.

Damn it, I could not die so absurdly and emptily like this.

My last remaining survival instinct allowed me to drag my body and shove myself into the rotten hollow of the nearest large tree trunk.

The squirrel fellow scampered after me and, beside me as I curled up, patted my cheek with his tiny hands, making soft smacking sounds.

Well, it was obvious that if there was no one here to protect him, he would die with me.

Smack, smack.

He sure hits with a satisfying sound.

It seemed his intention was to help me regain consciousness, but with hands like pebbles, there was no effect other than a slight sting.

“If you make it out of here alive, I really won’t let you get away with...”

When I released the strength I had been forcing into my entire body, a distant comfort washed over me, and my five senses gradually dulled.

* * *

Ran Abiran closed his eyes just like that.

The squirrel patted his unmoving cheek a few more times, then confirmed that he did not even twitch and let out a deep sigh.

Since that was not the behavior of an ordinary squirrel no matter how one looked at it, it was rather bizarre.

“Hey, did you really lose consciousness?”

But when a strange voice, somewhere between that of a boy and a girl, came from the squirrel’s mouth, the bizarreness now turned into eeriness.

“Well, well. What a weak fellow.”

The squirrel sighed once more and turned toward the outside of the tree hollow.

Once the small body came out of the hollow’s entrance, it transformed into the shape of a person with long hair hanging down.

Two wolves that had been growling in front of the tree hollow slowly approached the one who had been a squirrel, as if they had been waiting.

They were the wolf whose front paw had been bitten a little while ago and another that seemed to be its mate.

“Grrrr.”

The suspicious figure smiled brightly at the two, who looked thoroughly irritated.

The clear face softened even more gently, but the two wolves did not lower their guard and puffed up their bodies even more.

“Calm down. I said I was sorry about earlier, didn’t I? You stepped on my tail once too, didn’t you? Let’s just call it even.”

“Grr, bark!”

“How petty. It has been so long since we last saw each other, and you are going to act this narrow-minded? It was just a greeting.”

At the two wolves still glaring at them with displeased expressions, the suspicious long-haired figure’s eyes flashed brightly.

The two wolves still seemed annoyed by the other party, but even so, they straightened their shoulders as if there was nothing more they could say.

The one who had made them angry until just moments ago held out a hand as if in thanks.

At that, the two wolves looked toward the tree where Ran Abiran was lying and began making whining sounds.

When the two wolves whined, the suspicious figure laughed and answered.

“Yes, that fellow is the human we have been waiting for. You saw it with your own eyes, so you know well enough.”

The smiling face spoke while looking at the wolf whose front paw had been bitten.

The two wolves rubbed their faces against each other and growled.

Once their conversation ended, the one smiling gently at them said,

“So tell the ones in the territory. Tell everyone to come pay their respects. From the look of it, if we go by that fellow’s method, even a year will not be enough.”

A tense light appeared on the wolves’ faces.

They instinctively realized that this playful face was not joking or playing around this time.

The two slowly stepped back and lifted their heads high toward the sky.

“Awooo—”

“Awooooooo~~”

The howls of the two echoed through the forest.

It was both guidance and warning sent not only to the other wolf packs, but to all the animals in the forest.

The one they had all been waiting for had finally arrived, so they were to fulfill their duty to their hope.

“Ah, not today. He is still a weak fellow, so he is asleep right now.”

The wolves threw him looks that said he should have said that first, but the other party merely smiled brightly.

The wolves swallowed their annoyance and began howling again.

This time with a little emotion added, along with the message that any squirrel found in their territory could be attacked as much as they pleased.

Along with the sound of cheerful laughter, the wolves’ howls rode the wind and echoed through the entire forest.

* * *

The Feedus ducal family faced a slightly early morning as they received a guest who had arrived at dawn.

The other party was Ego Crisa, the eldest son of the Crisa count family.

Those who had not worked in the ducal family for long whispered that they did not know what urgent matter had brought him here, but since Tollin’s family had visited, perhaps the terrifying atmosphere of the ducal family would ease a little today.

Without bothering to correct that absurd remark, Pale looked worriedly at the firmly closed drawing room door.

Contrary to the expectations of the people, instead of a warm conversation between brothers, a cold exchange of questions and answers was continuing inside the room.

“What did you just say?”

“Last night, Count Crisa was sentenced to house arrest by imperial order. They say that if his guilt is confirmed during the investigation period, he will be imprisoned in the imperial prison.”

“Do you think I asked because I did not hear that?”

Tollin Crisa frowned at the blunt answer, which set his already sharpened nerves on edge.

His eldest brother, who was probably going to become the next count, simply looked at him with the same expressionless face.

His taciturn brother, who rarely opened his mouth except for the minimum necessary words even normally, had never irritated him as much as today.

Tollin, who had not slept properly for two days, forced his mind, which was working a little more sluggishly than usual, to turn.

For what reason, exactly?

There was no noble more diligent and quietly upright than Count Crisa.

He did not particularly chase pleasure, nor was he someone who visibly tried to climb upward.

He was simply a typical noble of Abiran.

One who possessed the pride of a human who had long occupied a position among the high nobles.

Though not as much as Feedus, the Crisa family had also produced excellent knights who gave their lives for the imperial family, and they had proven loyalty just as excellent.

They had not committed any special crime worth mentioning, nor had they done anything so extraordinary that they would fall out of favor.

‘And since when did they ever inform me of such things one by one... Ah.’

“Is it because of me?”

If not, there was no reason for him to come looking for a younger brother he had barely faced properly in the past few years, except at Duke Feedus’ funeral.

Since when had he ever delivered family matters to him?

“Well, it is possible that they noticed the people from the streets you had locked up under the pretext of questioning their crimes are being put to work on construction.”

“Making criminals do labor is not exactly rare.”

“While also providing them with proper compensation and food?”

“......”

“It also seems you are simply turning a blind eye to the food the little children secretly take.”

Tollin silently glared at Ego Crisa.

He was right.

Everything Ego Crisa had recited was a measure designed so that the street vagrants could save money and leave.

Two months was the grace period left to them.

If they could save money and leave within that time, that would be fortunate. If they failed to come to their senses until the end, then they were simply people of that level.

However, externally, it was not something that could be used as a flaw.

What mattered was clearing out the people of the streets.

He had thoroughly investigated the central district that Prince Rasia had demanded for the hunting tournament, but aside from the fact that the temple was nearby, it was an area with nothing special about it.

But now, what...

“So, are you saying this situation is because of me?”

“That too... Well.”

Unable to endure it any longer, Tollin raised his voice.

“You did not come because you truly do not know. Do not waste my time pointlessly when you suddenly came without even a letter. Did you not come to check what conditions the imperial family will send to my side?”

“Your way of speaking has become very sharp while I have not seen you.”

Now too dry even to sneer, Tollin looked emotionlessly at his eldest brother.

There was no way he did not know the rumors and conduct circulating among the nobles, so why did he bother saying such a thing?

“Do you intend to help?”

Ego’s eyes as he looked at his youngest brother were emotionless.

Tollin hesitated for a moment.

Ridiculously, the thought that came to his mind as soon as he heard those words was, “Ah, if I help him, will there be any disadvantages that return to the ducal family?”

His blood-related father was in danger, yet he was worrying about the Feedus family.

How meaningless blood ties were.

Tollin did not give any particular answer to the question from his eldest brother, whom he had once feared so much.

He merely gave him a guest room and said they should watch the situation.

* * *

After returning to the office, Tollin handled his work as acting duke with one hand while organizing his thoughts on the other side.

In order to protect the ducal family, he had begun solidifying his political position among the nobles more than before, but he had not yet done anything that would go against the will of the imperial family.

This was also a tacit agreement between the imperial family and the Feedus ducal family.

The imperial family neither helped the ducal family, which was staggering under attacks from all directions because of Agony Feedus’ deviation, nor completely trampled it.

They pretended not to see the ducal family, as if punishing it for having gained the dishonor of defying the imperial family, but on the other hand, it would not be good for them if the imperial family’s sword disappeared entirely.

If the family simply showed its loyalty as it always had, it would probably slowly regain its original status from the next generation’s duke onward.

Rather, the head of the Feedus ducal family, starved for loyalty, might swear even stronger obedience.

To Tollin, who no longer possessed the same unconditional loyalty toward the imperial family as before, that thought tasted bitter, so he sometimes looked at the young little duke and smiled wryly.

Tollin was so busy protecting him that he was bowing sufficiently to the imperial family.

And he was more concerned than anything about that delicate tightrope walk.

What had irritated them?

* * *

Whether Tollin writhed in anxiety or not, that had nothing to do with those living their daily lives.

Mentil Abiran was heading to the underground sanctuary to prepare for the upcoming Tinas ritual.

It was because of the somewhat troublesome tradition that the First Princess had to appear before the citizens of the empire together with the emperor when the Tinas ritual was held.

It was pleasing that she would be able to see her father, who rarely gave her time, on the day of the ritual, but the preparation for that day was quite unpleasant.

There was nothing more tedious than spending a day in the sanctuary while being served by foolish and lowly things whose thoughts were obvious no matter how many times she looked at them.

Therefore, encountering the empress on the way to the sanctuary was nothing less than an unexpected gift box for Mentil.

And one filled only with the things she loved most in the world.

“Your Majesty, it has been a long time.”

Mentil greeted the empress first with a deliberately happy expression.

However, the empress, who had pinned up her luxuriant black hair, did not move her head in the slightest.

She merely turned her dry eyes, for which even the word cold would not be excessive, and looked at Mentil once.

Mentil kept smiling as if she was used to such things.

“Lady Mentil, leaving your post? You must never forget your duty. Are you properly preparing for the ritual?”

A voice as dry as her gaze reprimanded Mentil.

“Are you worrying about me right now?”

When Mentil asked with a soft smile, the empress answered in a voice without rise or fall.

“I am always worried. Whether the princess born from my womb might make some mistake, whether something might happen to my blood. Not a single day passes when I do not worry.”

Even at her answer, which seemed careless at first glance, Mentil blushed and smiled, as if something had made her happy.

“You are unusually affectionate today.”

After staring for a moment at her delighted face, the empress soon turned her head as she had at first and tore her gaze away from her.

“Princess, I apologize, but I think I must go now. I have an appointment with His Majesty the Emperor.”

“Ah.......”

At the words that she had an appointment with the emperor, Mentil hesitated for a moment, then obediently stepped aside for the empress.

It was because she no longer had any pretext to stop her.

With a light greeting, Mentil followed the empress passing by her side with her eyes and held the sight of her retreating back in them.

“......I do not know whether it is good or bad that my ability does not work. I cannot check whether it was an insincere lie, or whether an urgent appointment I truly do not know about has arisen.”

Mentil smiled bitterly.

When the Tinas ritual drew near, the emperor almost never came outside the palace.

So it would be one of the two.

Either the empress truly had something important enough that she had to meet the emperor, or she had left because she was uncomfortable with talking to Mentil.

She knew that the latter was probably more likely.

The empress did not welcome conversations with her growing long.

Thinking it would be better if something serious had happened instead, Mentil hastened her steps toward the prayer room again.

“Forget everything I just said.”

She also did not forget to give that order to the maids following behind her.

The maids, who had received the sudden command to tear the memory from their minds, followed behind her with blank faces.

* * *

Perhaps leaving just like that would have been happiness for her.

If a single impulse unlike her had not held her back.

If she had chosen to remain a good daughter who listened well to her mother.

If she had not suddenly changed direction toward a certain place that came to mind, instead of the prayer room where the temple priests were waiting.