Who... Wine?
‘Thinking about it, I did say that.’
That had happened after the duel with Dullahan, while I was talking while looking at the remains of the battle that had occurred with Heungmi on the ground.
“Hiiing! If I could move in the air, I would have dodged it! It’s so, so frustrating…”
When she reached the spot where she had been caught in a net and beaten, Heungmi clenched her small fist tightly, looking angry.
Her ears and tails trembled as they stood up. She must have been quite upset.
‘Yeah, the attack itself was simple. Just turning the direction would have been easy to dodge.’
It would have been nice if I could teach her Light Body Technique, but it would have been difficult for Heungmi, who had never handled mana or accumulated inner power.
‘I could probably step on the empty air. But to use it in battle, she would need to be at the level of flying.’
Flying…?
Suddenly, a good idea crossed Rune’s mind as he told Heungmi.
“The fire spirits you’re carrying are floating in the sky. What if we apply that? For example…”
Rune recalled the perfect person and smiled faintly.
“Like Amelia’s ‘Lamel’.”
“Ah!?”
Heungmi shouted in surprise.
The water dragon hatchling who swam freely in the deep sea.
Strictly speaking, the water dragon spirit had not flown in the sky.
But the way it moved without feeling the resistance of the deep sea at all.
That was enough inspiration for “free flight.”
Rune continued speaking.
“Spirits… the fire cats don’t grow the same no matter who raises them. So think about it.”
“Um.”
Heungmi, who had lowered her head for a moment as if in thought, raised her face with a bright smile.
“Yes! I’ll do it!”
After showing the fox girl her bright smile, Rune looked at Heungmi with fresh eyes.
‘She was full of enthusiasm, but I didn’t think she’d already completed it.’
Heungmi, who had grown a low-level salamander that was originally a fire lizard into a cat form.
Even the fire cats could fly freely in the empty air, so I hadn’t doubted that she would find a way.
However, the result came faster than expected.
‘I think it was right to leave it to Heungmi, who raised the spirit herself. She has outstanding talent.’
While I was inwardly sighing in admiration, Heungmi asked with sparkling eyes.
“Lord Rune, you must be curious, right? Can Heungmi show you a little?”
If I said not to do it right now while eating, she would droop her ears and look disappointed.
Rune nodded.
“Yeah.”
‘Seeing it for a moment won’t be difficult. It’s a break time while eating snacks anyway.’
With permission, Heungmi jumped from her seat and landed on the ground.
“I’ll start!”
And with a grin, she held the red brooch on her chest.
“Come here, Samshi!”
Flare!
Flames rose in the air, and the fire cat landed on the ground.
Honestly, the cat wasn’t very big.
How would they solve it, I wondered as I looked on with interest.
‘That size is a bit awkward for riding.’
Since Lamel, the sea spirit of Amelia, was in the shape of a huge whale, the whole party could ride her.
But the fire cat was too slim to do that.
As I watched, Heungmi rummaged through her own clothes and pulled out a pouch of space magic in the colors of rainbow.
“Chai!”
Inside, the thing Heungmi pulled out was a piece of red magic stone.
And the stone was sucked into the mouth of the fire cat.
Hororok!
The fire cat that swallowed the magic stone, Samshi, erupted with flames.
And as if his body was getting a little bigger.
Flare!
Flame wings made of fire spread behind the fire cat.
“Waa!”
Amelia shouted in admiration and put her hand lightly to her mouth.
At the same time, Heungmi lightly jumped and climbed onto Samshi.
“Chai! How is it?”
It was a method possible because she was still young, but it was pretty good now.
‘Good. Heungmi also has high fire affinity. She won’t get hurt when the spirit attacks.’
Essentially, spirits don’t harm their owner, but if the spirit master uses too much power, they can get hurt too.
But Heungmi’s fire affinity had already grown to the advanced level long ago, so there was no need to worry.
Rune nodded.
“Good work. It’s a good method.”
“Waaaa!”
Heungmi cheered at Rune’s praise, and Samshi also struck an elegant pose cheerfully.
Perdikion commented on the situation.
“Hmm, not bad at all. It seems she drew out the power through communication with the spirits.”
Rune added positively.
“Yeah. I didn’t think she could awaken the power so quickly.”
When Rune agreed, Heungmi raised her tail with a happy look.
“Samshi! Slowly, just a little, fly while walking.”
Fururuk!
Instead of answering, the fire cat that raised one flame turned his feet.
The bodies of the cat and Heungmi flew higher into the air.
And they began to walk lightly in the air.
Heungmi, who had risen high enough to see all the members at a glance, tilted her head and smiled brightly.
“Heungmi named it. ‘Cat Sky Walk’!”
Rune swallowed a chuckle inside.
‘The name sounds peaceful, but in reality it’s excellent mobility.’
Heungmi had fought mainly with close combat on the ground.
But now the fighting style was about to change.
She could receive support with the help of the fire spirit, and even fight in the air.
She had developed a very useful ability.
Rune’s gaze turned to Samshi.
“Samshi isn’t the only one. All the others can do ‘Cat Sky Walk’ too, right?”
“Yes!”
At Heungmi’s spirited answer, Rune thought.
Next class would definitely be exciting with Heungmi’s activity.
‘Looking at it, that fire cat guy seemed pretty fast.’
Not just one spirit, but up to five.
Unwittingly, praise came out.
“Good work, Heungmi.”
“Thank you, Lord Rune!”
Feeling the happy mood of Heungmi, Samshi shook his head while rumbling.
Rune looked at the fire cat shaking its fire wings and thought.
‘This means I’ll have to make more strong dolls in the fire series soon.’
“Piyak!”
At that moment, Baekya, who was flying, looked surprised and flew near Samshi, flapping his wings.
“Hii, Baekya! Come here quickly!”
“Piyak?”
Baekya immediately reached right next to Heungmi at her call.
“Look at this, Baekya.”
“Pi…?”
Heungmi, riding Samshi, moved back and forth and left and right.
“Try it too, like this!”
Baekya awkwardly followed them.
“Pi, piyak!”
“Ooh, well done!”
Rune watched the scene with a satisfied heart inside.
‘They’re playing really well together.’
Although Baekya was being chased because he was a bird, fox, and cat, I could overlook it a little.
‘Good is good. As long as the kids play well, that’s it.’
The reaction of the dolls shown as prototypes was also good, and Heungmi, who had grown, and Baekya, who was being chased… no, the playing scene was also seen.
Rune leisurely sliced the butter pound cake.
‘It’s delicious.’
The sweet honey, vanilla, and savory butter milk flavor filled the bread, which crumbled softly in the mouth.
Feeling the rich sweetness, Rune moved his mouth leisurely.
From tomorrow, proper classes would begin.
Until then, I wondered what lessons Heungmi would learn through high-intensity training as she grew.
While watching Heungmi and the aerial swallow on Samshi, Rune quietly smiled with anticipation.
The next day.
Rune couldn’t hide the astonishment at the unexpected class.
The subtle hint was when the command was delivered before the class, always to maintain human form.
‘Because it’s a class related to the human world?’
Since I hadn’t mentioned species clearly before, it also meant that a unique class was waiting.
‘Whatever it is, it doesn’t matter. Heungmi has also grown stronger, and everyone had been preparing to some extent with the previous classes.’
Rune looked back.
The one whose gaze met was Perdikion, standing in particularly comfortable clothes.
“Did everyone receive the same command?”
Rune answered.
“Seems so.”
Amelia standing next to Perdikion was holding her staff ‘Mel.’
She too was fully prepared.
“H, h-hopefully… I think I should prepare. I thought…”
Her tail wagged.
She was wearing a dress with pearl decorations and flowing clothes, but Amelia was also holding the staff firmly while in human form.
“Heungmi came too!”
“Ppeok!”
Heungmi running with Baekya in her arms.
Heungmi also had no ears or tails.
Originally a fox beastkin demon.
Now she had become a very cute human girl with black hair and pink eyes.
Instead, cherry blossom-like hair decorations were attached to both sides of her black hair.
It was the human-type transformation artifact that Christina had provided separately.
“Ah, Heungmi… pretty. It suits you well…”
Hearing Amelia’s impression, Heungmi in human form smiled brightly.
“Thank you, Amelia noona!”
When we gathered, it felt more like a gathering of noble children setting out on a trip rather than adventurers.
‘I see, that’s what it feels like when going to do a quest in the human world.’
As we gathered like this, the characteristics of each member became visible.
Amelia, a pure and gentle one with pure white skin, and cheerful and lively Heungmi with a cute appearance.
Perdikion, who looked fierce but had an elegant atmosphere.
The problem was.
‘All their faces are too noticeable.’
They were in human form, but their faces were really not human-like.
‘How can these guys look like commoners at all?’
Even if they were children of merchant families who make money, their atmosphere was too noticeable.
Rune could guess the reason why dragons acted like nobles.
‘A noble who isn’t noble with that face is more suspicious.’
Clatter.
Only inside, Rune shook his head, and he predicted what the class might be.
‘There’s no way they’ll really become nobles, so maybe they’ll learn some kind of identity-disguising magic?’
While thinking that, a small white light appeared in the air.
The one who greeted first was Heungmi.
“Rai! Annnyeong.”
[? ?]
It seemed she had prepared, so Rai drew a flower in front of them and shook the light.
[?( ? )?]
Amelia cautiously guessed Rai’s drawing.
“Uh, um… shin… shin…?”
[Σ(￣□￣;)]
Clearly, it wasn’t that.
Amelia was hesitant, so Rune stepped in.
“It seems to mean ‘come this way.’”
[(????)b]??
The flower shape made of light waved and flew above Rune’s head.
It lightly touched and disappeared without a sound.
Perdikion, who saw him, opened his mouth.
“Seems your words are correct. We can go right away.”
As that was said, Rai started leading.
The destination was the garden where Christina often drank tea, with a white table.
There, Christina, who was usually in lively clothes, was sitting in a beautiful and elegant dress.
“Come in. I’ve been waiting.”
At the sight Rune had never seen before, he blinked, and Perdikion’s pupils shook as if he had noticed something.
Amelia was the one who unexpectedly showed courage.
“L, let’s see… what kind of class is today?”
Christina smiled kindly and opened her mouth.
“It’s a noble’s tea time.”
“…”
“Of course, there’s more to it than that.”
Rune looked around.
Flowers and trees with traces of hands touched by the gardener.
Chairs placed on round tables, as many as the gathered members.
And a wine bottle on one side.
‘Could it be?’
Even looking again, it was wine.
‘Could it be… wine?’
Concentrating on the sense of smell, it was a genuine one aged for a very long time.
‘Wine!’
My heart trembled.