The Beast and the Mage
"Rophen?"
"Yes."
Joseph almost laughed at himself the moment the name left his mouth. He'd spat out whatever had drifted up unbidden from the back of his mind, and only afterward realized it was the name of that lunatic mage who'd once pressed a staff into his hands.
"Sounds rather like a person's name."
"...Well. He's clever."
Joseph decided a vague answer would do.
"Shit, it's a demonic beast!"
"M-Mage! Behind you—behind!"
The moment they returned to camp, the mercenaries who'd been left on watch erupted into chaos. The white beast—Rophen—had been trailing slowly at the very rear of the party, and from where the camp sat it looked for all the world like something closing in for an ambush. Davie's soldiers, who'd remained behind as well, were no less rattled; they snatched up their weapons in a hurry.
"Stand down! That is no demonic beast!"
Fortunately, Davie's bellow snuffed the uproar out in a single stroke.
"Not a demonic beast? Then what is it?"
"It's a bit large for an ordinary animal..."
"It's Mage Joseph's familiar."
At that, the mercenaries traded looks. Then they turned to the ones who'd actually gone out on the hunt.
"What's a familiar?"
"Use your head. It means a beast he keeps."
"...He keeps something like that?"
Naturally, precious few of them were convinced on the spot. Even Joseph himself was still bewildered by the arrangement; there was no reason anyone else would swallow it whole. Of course, neither was there anyone present who dared press the matter, so they were left to watch him sidelong and keep their mouths shut.
Just as I thought...
Joseph, watching all this, let out a small sigh. He'd expected a reaction, but Rophen's appearance was dramatic enough to send even seasoned mercenaries into a full-blown panic.
Can I even bring it into the city?
He hadn't stopped the beast from following—it had clearly wanted to come—but looking at the scene unfolding in front of him, marching the thing through a city gate was going to cause a riot.
"Are there any nobles who keep beasts like that?"
"Pardon? I've heard of the occasional lord who keeps a wolf, but..."
He put the question to one of the mercenaries, who answered with a distinctly noncommittal look. So people did keep animals, then—but Rophen was clearly in a category of its own.
Well. It's not as if creatures like that are common.
A feline predator sheathed in pure white fur. Even at a glance, it was not the sort of thing a person ran into in the ordinary course of a life.
I should get in touch with Dofnik and Braham.
There was nothing to be gained by sitting here turning it over. Those two would know more about this sort of thing than Joseph did, at the very least. He drafted a letter and called over one of the mercenaries—a former hunter he'd spoken with at some length during the subjugation.
"Go back to Caladon ahead of us and deliver this to Givra."
The letter laid out what had happened in Harbert Forest, and the existence of Rophen.
"Understood."
The man packed at once and set off for the city. Joseph then ordered the remaining mercenaries into the forest to recover the demonic beast corpses. They'd already turned back once out of wariness toward Rophen, and with no one coming or going, the bodies would still be lying out there among the trees.
"...We're going into the forest by ourselves?"
"That thing will keep the demonic beasts away for a while yet. If something does show up, just run and come back."
"..."
The mercenaries looked as though they had more to say, then caught sight of Rophen prowling near Joseph, picked up their bags, and headed into the woods without another word.
In the meantime, Davie withdrew to his tent with his soldiers. Judging by the look of him, he intended to report the incident to his family.
...It'll be fine, right?
The thought of Rophen's existence reaching House Fabidea gave Joseph a brief impulse to stop him—but he had no grounds to do so. For now, all he could do was hope nothing came of it. The one mercy was that Davie did not seem particularly dissatisfied, even though the subjugation of the unidentified demonic beast had been a failure in all but name.
"That's only natural, isn't it? Solving the forest's troubles was the original purpose of this expedition."
The demonic beasts of the forest had begun spilling outward in the first place because Rophen had settled in and gone on a rampage. In the end the anomaly in the woods was gone, and the other demonic beasts had been culled besides—a result Davie could live with well enough. The reputation of Davie, the wandering knight who solved the forest's troubles, would spread without a hitch.
Toward evening, the mercenaries who'd gone into the woods came back, staggering under three bags stuffed to bursting with demonic beast corpses.
"...You gathered all of that?"
"Well, it'd be a waste otherwise, wouldn't it?"
The agreement had been that every byproduct of this subjugation belonged to Joseph. Still, with a haul this size, they'd clearly hoped he might peel off a share for them—which was why they'd bothered to bring it all back. And in fact Joseph gave an incredulous little laugh and told them he'd add a bonus to their pay.
"Yes, sir!"
At that, the rest of the mercenaries immediately threw themselves at the bags and started hauling. They ended up spending the remainder of the day sorting through demonic beast byproducts.
The next morning, before they set out for Caladon, Joseph answered a summons and made his way to Davie's tent.
Grrrng—
Rophen made to follow him inside, but there was no bringing a beast that size into a tent.
"You stay with Derik."
"What?"
"And no biting."
"What?!"
Derik nearly jumped out of his skin. Rophen growled in open discontent, but when Joseph repeated himself it slouched off toward Derik all the same. Derik's anxious gaze flicked between Joseph heading for the tent and the beast now standing in front of him. He turned around. Auk and Jiren had already put a great deal of distance between themselves and the situation, and were very carefully pretending not to notice.
These bastards...
Derik had no choice. He looked at Rophen and tentatively raised a hand.
"...Hello."
"..."
He resolved, as a matter of policy, not to offend the beast in any way whatsoever.
"Have a seat."
Davie was already waiting when Joseph stepped inside.
"What is this about?"
At the question, Davie's eyes flicked past Joseph's shoulder.
"If you're looking for Rophen, he's with Derik."
"I see. This may be unsolicited advice, but do you intend to take your familiar into Caladon?"
"I believe so. I've sent someone ahead, so there should be people waiting by the time we reach the gates."
"That is fortunate. Even as a familiar, bringing a beast of that sort into a city will not be a simple matter."
Davie nodded once and changed the subject.
"At any rate, I asked to see you regarding the dungeon subjugation."
The commission Davie had originally meant to offer Joseph had been for a dungeon. He had not anticipated anything like what had unfolded in Harbert Forest, but the ultimate objective had not changed.
"Once you enter the city, I mean to stay in another village for a time."
"Wouldn't it be better to come into the city together? My mansion isn't particularly large, but it would still be an improvement on a small village until the dungeon expedition."
Davie smiled faintly at that.
"You really would make a better noble than a mage. But it's quite all right. I am a man of House Fabidea."
Joseph had made the offer out of genuine consideration, but he'd known Davie would refuse. House Fabidea and the Caladon Commercial Guild were not on the best of terms. Naturally, Davie would not set foot inside the city.
"In any case, I intend to set out for the subjugation in about a month. Will that pose a problem?"
Joseph nodded. They had originally meant to leave somewhat earlier; the delay had been entirely on account of Joseph's business in Harbert Forest. He was in no position to refuse a second time.
"Then I shall give you a brief explanation first. Once you return to the city, we will not find it easy to meet for some time."
Davie unfolded a map at once. It showed the Favidia Region in its entirety. He tapped a finger against a spot at the easternmost edge of the territory.
"The dungeon we were targeting is here."
It was not a style of map Joseph was accustomed to, and it took him a moment to make sense of it.
"This... is this a mountain?"
"It is."
Looking more closely, there was not a single village anywhere nearby—just a mountain standing alone in the middle of nowhere.
"It's not a particularly high peak, but as you can see, there is nothing around it."
"...I'll need to pack more supplies than I expected."
"Indeed. So it would be best to have whatever you require prepared before we depart."
Joseph was, after all, the one who had accepted Davie's commission. Provisions and the like would be Davie's responsibility—but anything Joseph needed for himself, he was being told to confirm in advance.
"I shall send someone with further details before we leave."
"Understood. Thank you for the consideration."
Davie smiled again at that, and muttered under his breath.
"...I wish you were a little more ambitious."
"Pardon?"
"It's nothing."
With that the conversation ended, and the carriage that had been sitting unused in the corner of camp finally lurched into motion. It was packed so full of smoked demonic beast meat and byproducts that the wheels creaked under the weight. Joseph climbed aboard with Rophen. He'd first considered having the beast walk alongside the carriage, but a look at the surrounding faces put an end to that idea. The mercenaries and soldiers were tense enough as it was, and the horses shied and flinched as though half-terrified; there was nothing to be done.
They rode through the day, and before long drew up near the outer gates—at the spot where they had originally joined Davie.
"As discussed, I shall be heading to nearby Deoni Village. If you need anything, send someone there."
"Understood. Then I'll see you in a month."
Davie turned his carriage and his soldiers and rode off without looking back.
"Hah..."
A small collective sigh rose from among the mercenaries the moment the knight was gone. They'd put on a calm face, but they'd been wound tight the entire time.
"Lord Joseph!"
And immediately after Davie's departure, someone called his name. Joseph looked toward the sound and found Braham galloping toward them with several soldiers in tow. With every stride of the horse, the merchant's heavy jowls bounced in a way so spectacular that Joseph and the mercenaries both had to stifle a snicker. Braham swung down from the saddle and came straight over.
"A familiar?! What on earth happened?"
He had clearly read Joseph's letter and ridden out at once. Joseph scratched his chin. He'd written the gist of it, but this was not the place to discuss the rest.
"Rophen."
At the call, Rophen—who had been sleeping quietly inside the carriage—came bursting out.
"Urgh!"
A white beast fully twice his size filling his vision at point-blank range sent Braham stumbling backward in pure terror. His heel caught on something; he sat down hard, and even then kept scooting away on his rear. Rophen stared for a moment at the merchant's sagging cheeks, then began to pad slowly toward him.
"Aaaagh!"
"Rophen—Rophen! Don't eat him!"
"Hhhhk—!"
Joseph's choice of words only made Braham panic harder. He dropped to all fours and scrambled away across the dirt. Rophen glanced once at Joseph and snorted.
"Sheesh."
Meanwhile Derik had gone around behind the carriage and pulled out a slab of smoked demonic beast meat. He shot Joseph a cautious look.
"You've been feeding it that?"
"Well, I couldn't exactly let it starve..."
"No. You did well."
Joseph nodded, then turned back to Braham. The merchant and the mercenaries he'd brought with him were staring between Joseph and Rophen with identical looks of stunned horror.
"Right... first, this fellow. Would it be possible to bring him into Caladon?"
Braham looked at him blankly.
This mage is something else...