Eryllion's Gift
"Per."
The Exiled Prince expresses his gratitude to you.
Eryllion offered me a graceful bow of respect.
Was this the bearing of royal blood after all?
It was the first formal etiquette I had encountered in this other world. I could feel the careful attention he poured into every gesture, every shift of expression. And because that attitude was rooted in genuine respect for the other party, it somehow didn't come off as unpleasant.
Royalty was usually the definition of unlikable, but this kid felt a little different. Not arrogant and stiff so much as dignified and well-mannered.
On top of that, Eryllion had a royal's sense of generosity — and a big one at that.
Anyone with money is basically my big brother, right?
Brother Eryllion! You're the best!
The Exiled Prince asks that you allow him to repay the debt of saving his life.
"Grrung-grrung!"
Of course. Absolutely.
For the sake of appearances I made a show of refusing, then stuck out my paw pad.
He stared at my jelly-soft pad for a moment, then chuckled and drew something onto it.
Fwaaash!
"Grrung!"
Ah — what the hell! That stings!
A sharp, searing sensation flared across the pad of my paw, and a suspicious pattern etched itself into the flesh like a tattoo.
What is this thing? I peered down at it, and Eryllion and the status window helpfully filled me in.
The Exiled Prince tells you to try focusing your mana.
Mana?
I gently drew up my Wildness.
And then — it opened.
A portal!!
"Grrrrung!!"
I leapt back at the sight of a tiny portal no bigger than my own head.
Something had flashed through my mind the instant I saw it.
No way. No way, is it that?!
With trembling pupils I checked the portal's name.
Can store a few small items.
Holy crap!
A real subspace inventory? You've got to be kidding me!!
I never imagined I'd get my hands on something like this here — because this was exactly the item I needed most right now.
I glanced once at Eryllion, then set down Brother Beak's egg from where it had been strapped to my back.
"Grrung?"
Can this go in?
Haha, it's a living thing, though. Obviously it won't fit, right?
A nod.
See? No good.
A firm head-shake.
"Grrung?"
"Per."
Eryllion shrugged, his body shimmering once, and spoke again.
Ah — so that also required mana.
The Exiled Prince says that storing an egg in the subspace is also possible.
"Grrung!"
Yes!!
This time I let out a true roar of joy.
"Grrung!!"
Ah, finally rid of this dead weight.
Brrr.
For some reason, Brother Beak's egg seemed to glare at me for a second.
Subspace.
A subspace was essentially a kind of inventory — a virtual space cut off from reality. I'd heard that storing a living creature normally required an enormous amount of mana.
Storing an egg in the subspace will apply a penalty to its hatching time.
An egg nearing hatch will be forcibly summoned out of the subspace.
An egg, however, could offset that mana cost with a simple penalty.
That much I could live with. Until I found a safe place, even a hatching-time penalty was better than the alternative.
I was able to carefully store Brother Beak's egg inside that one-lumen space.
"Grrung!"
Now I can finally fight without holding back!
"Per!"
"Perrrrr!"
Right on cue, goblin sentries on patrol burst into the warden's chamber.
You found us. Perfect timing, you idiot guards!
The fairies here were no longer the slaves these goblins once knew.
Time to show them what a tiger-and-fairy synergy looks like!
The Exiled Prince activates Command Lv.3!
"Grrung!"
Command was a stronger skill than I'd expected. The Ellafae lined up behind me pooled their strength and began supporting my fight with Dig.
"Kruk?!"
One leg of a goblin sentry charging at me punched straight into the ground, and the creature lost its balance.
"Grrung!"
I flashed the Ellafae a thumbs-up, finished the thing off, then activated Leg Power Boost and tore through the ranks of goblin sentries.
No longer burdened by the egg, I was a beast in full fury. Claws wreathed in Wildness could cut through anything, and the sense of balance and flexible body I'd picked up by chance proved especially devastating in a chaotic melee.
"K-kruk?!"
Combining Leg Power Boost with Gigantification, my form darted between their bodies and the terrain like a cat at full speed — unpredictable movement leveraging a small frame, and razor claws that found every opening!
I looked at the goblin sentries and thought:
Slow.
Thwack! Thud, shhhraaak!
.
.
.
Your general skill proficiency has risen!
Clearing out the sentries in Thrillzhak's hideout and rescuing the remaining Ellafae didn't take long at all.
"Per!"
"Grrung!"
Under Eryllion's guidance, I was gathering up the supplies left inside the hideout. The fairies, restored by shared potions and food, lit the surroundings like living lanterns.
"Pe-perrrr, per~ per~"
In high spirits they began singing a Song of Liberation — a melody and voice so sweet it was pure luxury for the ears. Watching the fairies dance and sing in communion with the surrounding land, I felt the fatigue melt away of its own accord.
Under the influence of the Hymn of the Ellafae, your mind and body regain their composure.
The status window confirmed it wasn't just my imagination. Even Brother Beak, brought out for some prenatal enrichment, seemed to be in a good mood — the egg bobbed gently along with the rhythm.
Those rotten goblins. Enslaving fairies this kind and precious…
Exiled Young Prince
Eryllion
Level:6
I looked at Eryllion, who had risen to Level 6 in the meantime, and suddenly wondered why he had been exiled. Judging by how the other fairies treated him, they didn't seem to dislike him at all.
Was there some kind of circumstance behind it?
"Grrung."
"Per?"
Well, in our current state it was hard to learn the full story. Sooner or later I was going to have to figure out that "communication" method Eryllion used.
"Per!"
Just then Eryllion spun a full circle in midair, announcing we had arrived.
Oh — so this was the room where Thrillzhak stayed?
Creeeak.
"Grrung!"
He really had been a "genius" shaman, it seemed.
The first thing that greeted us when the door opened was a massive collection of books.
.
.
.
And those, too, were extremely useful to me right now.
Why I needed human books.
Sure, the knowledge itself was valuable — but I had a more urgent use for them right now.
Namely: learning the language!
I already had a cheat-tier translator that would make cutting-edge AI weep — the status window. But even that had its limits.
Research on Black Magic and Shamanism
No matter how hard I stared at a book's contents, only the title would appear — never the text itself. The status window seemed designed to display words that could define a specific object or living thing.
In other words, the status window alone couldn't let me fully understand a book's contents.
But I could read the titles.
And if I had this many books…
Great Forest Report – Verdant Grove
Types and Characteristics of Monsters
Understanding Basic Military Strategy
I could log those titles in the status window and start learning the words written in them!
Pick up enough words, and eventually I'd master the language of this continent.
How about that? The genius of this tiger!
"Grrung-grrung!"
Anything you haven't done in a long time is fun when you come back to it. Lost in the long-forgotten pleasure of "reading," I tore through the books in the room in no time. Since I was only reading titles, it didn't take long at all.
Oh, there are actually quite a few useful ones here.
From the miscellaneous pile I set aside the Great Forest Report and the books on monster types, tucking them carefully into my subspace. Unfortunately, my mere one-lumen subspace was already nearly full with just those.
People — no, tigers — are so greedy. I'd just gotten a subspace artifact you couldn't buy for any amount of money, and I was already dissatisfied.
Was this even an artifact, though? How did it get engraved into a jelly pad?
Well, fretting over it wouldn't give me answers. I shook my head and scavenged a couple more of the most useful items from Thrillzhak's quarters.
"Grrung!"
After a thoroughly satisfying looting session, just as I was about to leave Thrillzhak's chambers—
"Per!"
"Grrung?"
Something that looked a lot like the crystal orb Thrillzhak used to carry began emitting a faint pulse of mana.
Eryllion stepped back warily from the orb. My thoughts, however, went a different direction.
"Per?!"
The Exiled Prince warns that it is dangerous!
At Eryllion's protest I froze mid-reach, paw extended toward the crystal.
Mm. Fair point. If I carelessly touched it and revealed myself, we'd be in real trouble.
In that case…
I decided to try a method only I could pull off.
"Kiiing, kiiing!"
Supplying mana to the crystal without using my paws!
At my current level it was frankly impossible. But I didn't only have paws, you know!
Hup!
I planted myself in a handstand on my front legs, then gently swayed my tail until just the tip brushed against the crystal orb. Bit by bit, I began feeding Wildness into it.
[……]
At first I couldn't make out what was being said. So I pushed a little more Wildness in—
[To the… forest!]
[We… advance!]
[Human… village there.]
A voice with the same clumsy pronunciation as Thrillzhak's began to come through. Since I'd started eavesdropping late, piecing together their full conversation wasn't easy. But the words that filtered through in fragments were impossible to ignore.
[To the… Verdant Grove…!]
[Must find… him……]
Verdant Grove.
And then—
[Where Thrillzhak… died!]
[Verdant… Grove.]
.
.
.
[Find him!!]
The moment I heard "where Thrillzhak died" and "find him," my heart dropped into my stomach.
Was it the surge of emotion?
[Who…?]
[Krwarra!]
A strange gaze seemed to press out from the crystal. I yanked my tail free, cut off the Wildness, and curled into a crouch.
They didn't notice me, right?
I'd only touched it with my tail from a position where even I couldn't see the crystal, so nothing should have been visible. But there was a bigger problem now.
Where Thrillzhak died — Verdant Grove.
Meaning the forest where I killed Thrillzhak was called the Verdant Grove. And—
Must find him……
—they were searching for someone in this Verdant Grove.
Damn it. At this point, who else would they be looking for?
Me.
The one who killed Thrillzhak. Odds were high they were hunting me.
Wait — was Thrillzhak really that big a deal? Goblins going out of their way to avenge him?
This is unfair. That was self-defense!
Indignation rose alongside a creeping unease. Those guys had clearly mentioned a human village nearby, and they'd used the word "advance."
My mind went blank white.
Come on, there's no way a war is about to break out between humans and goblins because of me… right?
……
No. For real?!
This is unjust! Baby Tiger was just thrashing around trying to stay alive!
What do I do?
Honestly, the answer was already set. I was a tiger by my own standards — just walking away and pretending it wasn't my problem wasn't an option.
I should take at least the minimum responsibility.
The plan was clear. If things went well, I might even intercept the goblins coming after me before they got close.
Alright. Time to move!
I gathered the books I'd selected, an unidentified ring, and Brother Beak, and prepared to leave the hideout. Of course, I didn't forget the crystal orb they used for communication either.
"Per!"
"Grrung!"
Before leaving, I took one last look around the hideout. Coming to Thrillzhak's lair had netted me a lot — fairy friends, a subspace, assorted loot, and high-grade intel. It was practically like raiding a treasure vault.
Thanks, Thrillzhak. I'll take good care of that "genius" title of yours!
"Grrung?"
And just as we were about to leave the hideout, we sensed a presence standing guard at the entrance.
What? That doesn't feel like goblins…
"Per!"
I locked eyes with the fairies, and we carefully began slipping out of the hideout.