CH 29

─？side─

The Third Corps arrived at the fort.

The Captain is an Akinist, one of the three in Marihect.

His parents are the other two.

Both are currently old and retired from service.

In other words, the only Akinist who actively works as a soldier is the Third Corps Captain.

He’s also called the [Shadow King], and yet, he isn’t arrogant and was also called [Marihect’s Treasure] by those who glimpsed his strength.

That just meant his power is that magnificent.

He’s a mighty knight who can match a thousand knights.

I admire him, but I also feel afraid because anyone would be overwhelmed by an Akinist’s aura.

To an Akinist, everyone would prostrate in awe.

When they humanized, Akinists would have a weaker aura, but the weak who are sensitive to the strong…mainly children, won’t even approach.

They’d just tremble in fear and cry.

However, my eyes are pointed to the being fixed to his body.

Is that a humanized…child?

I’ve heard rumors that his child guardee is his mate, but…

Rather than that, what’s with the mighty power I can feel overflowing from this child’s body…?

“I am Rodokiaus Serafine, Captain of the Third Corps. I’ve received a support mission. I’ll be on duty from now on.”

It’s usual to confirm the request, but…as if blaming me for looking at the child, he moved in a position where the child cannot be seen.

The rumors of the child being his mate must be true.

…seeing the child sleeping in the arms of the Third Corps Captain, there’s no doubt he’s the other’s mate.

“I am Soderk Achillector (soderuku ashirekuta), Captain of the Sixth Corps. I’m sorry to have you come to Uriesto (uriesuto).”

The Captains rarely meet each other, and even some would never meet.

And so, in this way, we introduced ourselves to each other.

“I’m the Deputy Captain, Rennaiga Soeknuk (renneiga soekinuku).”

“…I’m Gijusel Kareyonya (jijuseru kareyonya), Deputy Captain of the Sixth Corps. The rest, you already know.”

Gijusel’s eyebrows rose, maybe because he didn’t like the way the Deputy Captain of the Third Corps spoke.

I have the impression that he’s a very casual guy.

Since he’s the Deputy Captain of the Third Corps, his ability must be high.

“U~n…Ryodo?”

Suddenly, I heard childish lisping words.

When I looked, the child seemed to have woken up and even moving normally.

“Kou, wake up. Arrived now.” (Kou, wake up, we’re here.)

Immediately after that, Captain Rodokiays smiled sweetly and stroked the child’s head.

Probably because the other person is his mate.

“…awibed? …Kou, shlept. Shorry.” (...we’re here? Sorry, I fell asleep.)

“All right. Apologize, don’t need.” (It’s all right. You don’t need to apologize.)

Looks like the child doesn’t speak very fluently, which is why Captain Rodokiaus spoke slowly.

This looked more like a parent who’s worrying over their child rather than a mate.

Captain Rodokiaus picked up the cloth after removing it.

The child, who was curiously looking around, seemed to notice me looking, jii*...and now he’s looking at me. (*you know those times in anime where they stare intensely at somebody and you hear the word jii, this is it.)

Black hair and black eyes.

I understand that he has a pretty face, but I’ve never seen such a young humanized figure in the first place.

“Ryodo, whu?”

“Mission, place, being, people.” (People from the mission site.)

“Work, pwuple?” (People from work?)

“Yes.”

As expected, he’s only showing that sweet side to the child.

Did he originally like children?

Or is it because they’re mates?

“Nishe tu mit yu. Kou, compwany*. Kou, Ryodo, majichan. Togwether, hope.” (Nice to meet you. I’ll be tagging along. I hope to become Rodo’s magician someday.)(*The word here meant he’s tagging along.)

While his pronunciation is lacking, the child introduced himself seriously──Kou.

“I am Soderk.”

“Shode…?”

Seems like he couldn’t hear my name.

He’s showing a troubled face.

(By the way, he also called Captain Rodokiaus “Rodo”. …can he not hear it?)

In that case, it might be better to tell him a nickname.

“Ruk, good.” (Ruk is good.)

“Ryuk?”

“Ahh.”

“? Ahー?”

He didn’t seem to understand the affirmative word, so he tilted his head.

“Yes, he said.” (He said yes.)

“Yesh?”

Unable to watch, the Third Corps Captain interjected.

And so, the ‘ahh’ affirmation is unified with the word “yes”.

“I’m ‘Jiju’.”

Gijusel also called out.

“Jijyu?”

That seemed easier to pronounce as he quickly returned the words he heard.

“Kou, compwany. Pleash take cware of mi.” (I’m tagging along. Please take care of me.)

Kou introduced himself again and bowed to us.

What a very polite child.

The moment he raised his head, I saw Kou smile and I also smiled, feeling healed at once.

With the current status, I shouldn’t be in such a smiling mood though.

“I’ll listen to the current situation later. It’ll be difficult to get the monsters all at once, but they won’t reappear in a while. I’m going to beastify, so guide the others to the barracks.”

Seeing the Third Corps Captain take off his clothes, I hurriedly headed for the barracks.

An Akinist’s aura seemed effective even for monsters.

(…by the way, what about Kou?)

He’s still being held up by Captain Rodokiaus.

Already, I’m getting off from the Doniclon I was riding on…

“Third Corps Captain. Will Kou stay with you? Or should I take him to the barracks first?”

When I called out, I somehow received a sharp glare.

“Kou is my mate.”

That low, cold voice made unpleasant sweat drip from my spine.

This is absolute “anger”.

Such hostility…that murderous intention is not a joke.

“Captain gets really scary when Kou is involved, you know? It’s completely unreasonable, but if it gets cold…it’s better to leave him alone.”

At Deputy Captain Renneiga’s words, I moved my stiff neck to the extent that I seemed to hear a noise.

“Because Kou is his mate, he wouldn’t feel pressured by an Akinist’s aura. On the contrary, when he becomes an Akinist, the child will be happy, so it’s a waste to worry about them.”

We, the Sixth Corps, can only match his cackles.

This seemed to be common sense for the Third Corps.

…I’d like it if you said that earlier.

The air pressure came from behind in the blink of an eye.

It seemed like he already beastified.

Even I, the Captain, was intimidated and slowed down.

I hurriedly moved my legs with difficulty to get away, but──

“Akinicht! Cuuuteeee, ne!”

I turned my gaze backward at that excited voice.

Kou is hugging and stroking an Akinist.

He likely isn’t overwhelmed by the Akinist’s aura.

Captain Rodokiaus was even licking Kou, who is happily stroking his body.

We’re still under pressure, but I stared at them for a while.

────

──

Shortly after we returned to the barracks, Captain Rodokiaus, who picked up Kou, came in.

The face he used to look at Kou was relaxed.

“Captain, thanks for your hard work.”

Deputy Captain Renneiga called out to him.

“Ahh.”

He didn’t get a reply.

The Captain didn’t even look at him.

“Ryen, Ryodo, ruwan, dwid! Amashing, haha!” (Ren, Ryodo ran! It was amazing!)

Kou seemed excited and reported while swinging his arms around.

Anyway…ran?

A monster appeared…that didn’t seem to be it.

Did you run just to show it to Kou?

“The Captain is fast. But even if I lose to the Captain, I’m also fast.”

“Ryen, ruwan? Juwupm, wrong?” (Ren can run? Are you not jumping?)

“Yes, I jump. How did you know?”

“Shimilar, shee. Pyonpyon, earsh.” (You should be similar to your ears, so you jump, right?)

He put his hand on his head and imitated Deputy Captain Renneiga’s ears.

I’m not the only one who thought of smiling.

Kou seemed close to Deputy Captain Renneiga.

…although Captain Rodokiaus had sharp eyes when looking at Deputy Captain Renneiga.

However, will he speak intimately to anyone?

He was smiling at us too so does that mean he’s sociable?

That must be why the Third Corps Captain is staring hard at his Deputy Captain.

Or maybe he’s interested in anything related to his mate.

“Ryodo, back, cute.” (Rodo is cute.)

“Yes. Drink.”

As soon as Kou talked to him, his face loosened.

He’s still holding him, but aren’t you gonna put him down?

Captain Rodokiaus sat down and let Kou sit on his lap.

He gave the other a water bag, but, did he always drink this way?

“…puwah.”

Perhaps drinking his fill, Kou released his mouth and handed it to the Third Corps Captain.

In response to that, the Captain closed the lid.

As expected, this is more like a parent and child interaction rather than between mates.

But why did you bring him?

Even though Captain Rodokiaus can protect him, he should have left him to someone.

He said something about “magichan”, so he probably decided to become a magician, but he’s a kid right now.

Why bring him to such a dangerous place…

Do you have the confidence to protect him?

But I’m sure he’ll stay in the barracks during the mission…

You can’t show a monster to such a young child, but, wouldn’t he be scared upon seeing an injured person?

There are many injured people in these barracks that the healer cannot handle.

From now on, it’ll be a joint strategy meeting between the Third and Sixth Corps…

But Kou is still in the Third Corps Captain’s lap.

You won’t take him to your room?

If you don’t want him to be alone, you can leave him with someone else.

“Will Kou participate in the strategy meeting?”

When I said that, sharp eyes turned to me again.

“Kou is with me.”

“Ryodo, togwether!”

Kou happily raised his hand in response to those words.

“…Kou is willing to stay with me. I’m a little late because I made Kou cry. …and Kou can become a force. He’s only an apprentice magician now, but he’s recognized as Marihect’s number one magic power holder. He can also release a fairly large amount of magic.”

I can’t hide my surprise from those words that were said while stroking Kou’s head.

Marihect’s number one magic power holder!?

This kid?

Certainly, the magic power I can feel is very powerful, but for it to be that amazing.

“Kou, magichan. Ryodo, magichan! Kou, Ryodo, potekt!!” (Kou will become a magician, Rodo’s magician! I will protect Rodo!!)

I looked away from those glittering eyes, but…is he serious?

Have you ever seen a monster?

Children probably couldn’t see one.

…won’t you cry?

Also, don’t you know that you don’t need to protect an Akinist?

The strategy meeting was advanced by the Third Corps.

Captain Rodokiaus and Kou acted as patrols in the area where many monsters appeared, while the others would take turns to patrol the other areas with a reasonable number of people.

I know he’s fine being alone…but is it okay even with Kou?

To send a child to the most dangerous place…

“Monsters, subjugation, job, exist?” (Do you know anything about monster subjugations?)

I tried to imitate him and spoke slowly.

“Exist. Ruu, shaame, shay. Kou, hichori, dwone!” (I know. Ruu said to just do magic like always. If I do that, it’ll be over!)

I can’t say anything to Kou’s reply.

I could only say “that’s amazing”.

That Ruu might be Trik’s representative.

I only call him “Trik Representative” though. Since I don’t go to the towers of other towns in the first place, I won’t know their names.

(Even if you have no combat experience, it should be fine with the strongest Akinist on your side…right?)

Maybe there’s no need to worry, but…I can’t because Kou is such a young child.

His appearance is really worrying, but…

Will he agree if I ask?

Anyway, I have to make an effort to subdue the monsters.