Even Griffins Soften for Him
Having grown up from birth with a Cryptor as his companion, Kaisent did not see the captive griffins as monsters so much as large, magnificent animals.
Their upper bodies were those of birds of prey—white, gray, or brown feathers, each different—joined to the hindquarters of beasts he had never seen before. Unlike the vicious, savage monsters he knew, these griffins carried a strong impression of grandeur.
"May I touch them?"
"Hahahaha—absolutely not. I told you, didn't I? They lash out at anyone they haven't accepted. These ones don't cut you slack just because you're a kid."
"I really wanted to stroke one, though…"
The keeper could tell at once that Kaisent was different from other children. Far from being frightened by the enormous griffins, the boy openly wanted to touch them.
Hm? Why have these ones gone so quiet all of a sudden?
Griffins shared certain traits with birds; any unfamiliar scent near their nests made them hypersensitive. Captive griffins usually stopped at wariness so long as no one approached too closely—but they still reacted to outsiders in some way.
Right now, though, they showed no sign of it at all.
"Can't be helped. Mingming."
"Kaaak—"
Wanting to stroke feathers, Kaisent called Mingming over, settled the bird on his forearm, and ran his hand along its body.
"Kaak~ Kak~"
Mingming, clearly pleased by the touch, began calling at a pitch different from usual.
At that moment, a griffin that had been sitting in the nest directly ahead of Kaisent suddenly rose and started walking toward him.
"Huh? W-wait!"
"Stop!"
One keeper spotted the griffin approaching Kaisent; the others rushed in, desperate to pull the boy clear. Then the scene that unfolded left every one of them staring blankly in shock.
"Peeeeik—"
"Hm? You want to be petted too? Like this?"
"Peeei—"
The griffin lowered its body so he could reach more easily and pushed its face forward. Kaisent stroked along the grain of its feathers with a gentle hand; the griffin closed its eyes and began making a sound almost like a purr.
At the sight, the other griffins crowded in as well, dipping their heads to rub against Kaisent's body.
"Ahahaha—that tickles~"
Griffins that never forgot their dignity even with the knights who rode them were clinging to a boy they had never met and fawning on him. The keepers could not find words for a sight they had never witnessed in their lives.
"What…?"
"What in the world…"
A novice keeper needed at least a year to earn a griffin's acceptance. Only after their scent had soaked in over that long stretch would the beasts treat someone as part of the flock. Watching those same griffins fawn over a boy who had walked in moments ago shattered every scrap of the keepers' knowledge and common sense.
"They're pretty cute."
And that was not the only surprise. Lilith, who had come with Kaisent, was stroking the heads of two griffins that had taken an interest in her as well.
The only one completely ignored was Arty—but since she was not a living being and gave off no aura at all, the griffins simply treated her like an object.
"……"
She stayed still because she could see through the griffins' eyes that they held no killing intent toward Kaisent. Being disregarded this thoroughly still left her a little forlorn.
"How is this even possible?"
Lilith was an elf; that much could be waved away somehow. But Kaisent was human—no different from the keepers themselves, aside from being painfully adorable. That he could win this much goodwill from griffins was simply wrong.
The Absolute's blood and the Dragon Lord's blood sleeping inside Kaisent had, thanks to his gentle nature, expressed themselves softly and drawn the griffins' affection. Of course, neither he nor they could possibly understand something he himself did not know.
"Ah."
Still accepting the griffins' affection, he belatedly felt the keepers' stares and straightened a face that had gone slack with pleasure.
"Ahem. That's enough now. Everyone go back."
"Peeei—"
He gave each head a light stroke and ordered them back to their nests. Astonishingly, as if they understood every word, they began returning to their own places.
Managing griffins like that with a few sentences and no force at all?
"…Kid."
"Yes?"
"I'm asking seriously. Ever thought about working here?"
The keeper who had first guided the party made the offer with a completely earnest face. He had worked here for more than ten years and still taken rough treatment depending on the griffins' moods. Today those same griffins looked like perfectly trained pet dogs.
"You've got talent as a griffin keeper!"
Peeeeiii——!
Just as he was about to press the recruitment hard, three griffins dropped onto the dedicated landing field with their distinctive cries. The griffin riders hit the ground, moved without a single word of greeting, and vanished somewhere in a hurry.
"Looks like something's happened."
"Movement from the Saryeong Kingdom?"
"No—those riders' assigned sector is the outer territories."
The keepers, reading urgency in the riders' haste, sensed trouble. Watching them, Kaisent felt a strange foreboding of his own.
After hearing the report from the griffin riders who had been patrolling the outer territories, Akina stopped drilling Lillian and Priscilla and headed for the council chamber. By the time she arrived, several retainers holding key posts were already gathered.
"Another village has been abducted wholesale. This is the third time—they're clearly targeting us."
"Surely the work of the Saryeong Kingdom?"
"Agreed. They managed to engineer an undead incident in secret; they must have some kind of intelligence network."
Once one retainer opened the floodgates, everyone pointed to the Saryeong Kingdom as the culprit. To the humans of this world, the Saryeong Kingdom was the public enemy and the root of all evil.
Akina, who still harbored doubts about whether the Saryeong Kingdom was truly composed of nothing but wicked vampires, met her retainers' denunciations with silence.
"Hohohoho. Such a narrow view~"
"Who's there!"
From one corner of the chamber came a laugh that sat somewhere between allure and slyness. Every retainer drew steel and fixed the direction of the voice—and there they found a woman who looked as if she had been designed to match the image of a witch, along with several swordsmen.
She wore a black slit dress that bared her shoulders and opened high along the thighs; her chest was larger than her own head, and violet hair spilled beautifully down her back. From crown to toe she seemed made to seduce men.
However they had gotten in, the moment the retainers flared killing intent at the intrusion, Akina spoke.
"Charlize. What is the meaning of this."
"Hello~ Akina~ It's been a while~"
Akina and Charlize clearly knew each other; they acknowledged one another, yet the atmosphere between them was night and day. Akina stood ready to strike at any second; Charlize only beamed, completely unguarded.
If I attack carelessly, I'll be the one who pays.
Akina knew Charlize well enough to understand that if she was showing herself this openly, she had already prepared some form of countermeasure.
"I'll ask once more. What are you doing."
"Hing~ Don't glare at me like that, it's scary~"
"If you're going to play games—"
"Wait. Wait. We did not come here to fight."
Judging that conversation would go nowhere if left to Charlize, a man stepped forward and spoke.
"We are members of the Guardian Legion, an organization that tracks and annihilates the Outer God Alliance with support from the Dimenes Empire and various churches."
"The Guardian Legion?"
"I'd heard rumors of a secret order that hunts the Outer God Alliance—so they weren't empty after all?"
The retainers murmured among themselves at the revelation that the rumored organization was real.
"Are the disappearances the work of the Outer God Alliance?"
"They are. We have been tracking them for some time and witnessed them abducting your people, my lady. We attached trackers; the moment we learn where they are headed, we will share the information at once."
After laying out the situation, the man requested support for dealing with the Outer God Alliance.
"I understand the circumstances. Still—there must have been other ways to make contact than this."
"We are an organization kept secret for operational security, and agents of the Outer God Alliance may be watching our movements; we could not request an open audience. And…"
He shot Charlize a look of pure resentment.
"…Lady Charlize claimed she was already acquainted with Lady Akina…"
"Haa. Enough, all of you. Put your weapons away."
Having grasped the full picture, Akina sighed and ordered her people to sheathe their blades.
"Even if a Guardian Legion exists, we have no way of knowing these people are genuine."
"Exactly. We can't even be certain they aren't members of the Outer God Alliance themselves."
Her subordinates voiced reasonable doubts and kept their guard up, but she spoke again.
"Charlize is not the sort of person who could ever keep company with the likes of the Outer God Alliance. Trust me and stand down."
"If you put it that way…"
The retainers were curious about what history bound Akina and Charlize, but this was not the moment to ask. They put their weapons away and let their killing intent settle.
"Fufufu. See? I told you Akina can be reasoned with."
"Shut it, you witch. Right now I'd love nothing more than to tear that mouth of yours open."
"Kyaang~ Scary~"
Talking to Charlize only made her blood boil, so Akina decided to ignore her entirely and addressed the man instead.
"So why request our support? An organization that works so hard to stay unknown for the sake of secrecy."
"Because among the Outer God Alliance members we have identified this time, there is someone who must be killed."
"Who."
The man glanced around and mumbled for a moment, but Akina's unyielding stare forced the explanation out of him.
"A man called the Blood Zen."
"Blood Zen? A Murim martial artist?"
"Not… Murim, exactly. He comes from a world that uses a strange art called Daoist techniques."
"Other worlds I can grasp to some degree, but this Murim place is beyond me."
Akina shook her head and clicked her tongue under her breath.
"Why must he be killed without fail? Does he serve some special Outer God?"
"In their world they do not so much worship gods as try to become gods themselves."
"Become gods themselves? Without even followers to worship them… no—you said the laws of their world are different. Is the problem that he is trying to become a god in our world?"
"No. He has fused the techniques of his original world with the prana of ours and produced the worst possible result."
"The worst possible result?"
The man grimaced as if the words themselves were filthy.
"He makes refined pills using human beings as ingredients."
"What!"
"He uses humans as materials!?"
"Not only that—he can partially obtain the talent and abilities of the humans used as ingredients."
"……"
The shocking claim left everyone in the chamber, Akina included, staring in horror.
"…Are you speaking the truth?"
"Yes. Information bought with countless sacrifices. Because of the Blood Zen, it has become a common technique within the Outer God Alliance."
"It's already common practice—but if we kill the Blood Zen, we can at least stop any further development. If it is refined into something even more potent, true catastrophe will follow."
Even Charlize, who had worn a playful smile the entire time, wiped the amusement from her face and explained with deadly seriousness.
"We do not know why the Blood Zen moved in person, but one thing is certain: we cannot let this chance slip. To close every possible escape route, we ask for the Countess's strength."
"What do you want? An army to form a cordon? Or a small elite force?"
"The Blood Zen can suck an enemy's blood to heal wounds and restore stamina; an army would be counterproductive. Please support us with trustworthy powerhouses."
"Very well. I would go myself if I could, but I must remain prepared for the Saryeong Kingdom. I trust you understand."
"We would never have asked that much."
Grasping the gravity of the situation, Akina promised the support of strong fighters.
"Ah—one more thing I want to confirm."
"Yes."
"Is Charlize joining the battle as well?"
"Yes. She is the core of this operation."
"Eung~? Sounds like you're thinking something nasty, Akina~"
"Shut up."
Knowing that falling for Charlize's wordplay would only give her a headache, Akina extracted only the information she needed and began considering whom to send.
If Charlize is taking the field herself, the worst can be avoided. In that case…
She did not like the woman, but with Charlize fighting while already braced for the worst, this was an opportunity that had to be used. As a territorial lord she felt responsibility for her people's sacrifice—but a noble was supposed to wring multiple gains from a single means.
All the more so when the future of the house was at stake.
"Um… excuse me…"
"What is… it, sir."
Riding along, Kaisent spoke to the nearest knight. Ordinarily the man would have answered a titleless foreign child with casual speech, but Akina had issued a fierce warning to the knights, so he used formal language.
"Why am I traveling separately like this…?"
He had heard the rough outline from Akina, so he understood selecting a small elite force to suppress the Outer God Alliance that had abducted the territory's people—for the sake of experience. He also understood traveling on the ground rather than by griffin; flying would have put them on the enemy's alert in an instant.
What he could not understand was the Wolf Mercenary Group following behind while he himself moved mixed in among the knights.
"It is the Countess's order."
That was all the knight could say. He himself had not been told anything more.
Something feels off.
He had always traveled clustered together with Lillian's party; being split off like this was strange enough—but he also felt a wordless pressure from Akina. As proof, Merencia and Patisha, whom he had met before, kept glancing his way.