The Divine Majesty of the White Tiger
"Blanc!"
Kailian hurled her sword aside and came running, shattering the heavy silence that had settled over them. Her gaze was locked not on the mountain of a bear, but on me.
"Are you hurt? Let me see! Who told you to go into a bear cave?!"
She scooped me up in a panic and began checking me over. Rather than astonishment that I'd taken down a bear, her face had gone pale at the thought I might be wounded.
"Give me your front paw! You're not hurt? Are your teeth all right?"
Kailian snatched up my front paw and turned it this way and that.
"Kyau." I'm perfectly fine.
The weapon that had pulverized a bear's jaw, she stroked as if it were fragile porcelain.
"Heavens, if there were even a scratch on this squishy jelly..."
She pressed and poked at my pink jelly pads, rummaging through my fur in search of a wound.
"Your Highness, please calm yourself. The Divine Beast hasn't a single hair out of place. If anything... that bear is the one that's been smashed to pieces."
Rosalia examined the bear's jaw with care.
"The jawbone has been reduced to powder. There are no traces of a strike anywhere else. He brought it down in a single blow, with nothing but that tiny front paw."
She swallowed as she touched my squishy paw.
Hey, don't lick it. Your face is way too close.
I shoved her face away with my front paw.
"This is... evidence that he compressed mana to an extreme density in a localized area and struck with it. That's mastery on the level of at least a sixth-circle mage."
Only then did Kailian's expression shift from relief to shock, and from shock into awe.
"So... our Blanc won in one hit without getting hurt? Against an Iron Bear?"
"O Goddess above."
Lina, not to be outdone, seized my other front paw and traced the holy sign.
"To possess such overwhelming power, and yet restrain it—to stun rather than kill. This mercy! Truly, you are a Divine Beast!"
The three women crowded around me, petting me wildly, and the praise began to pour.
"Kyau!" Yes. That's it. More of that! I like it.
"Our Blanc is a genius! You even brought that back for me? What a good boy!"
"The Divine Beast's rate of growth is truly astonishing."
"I shall have to prepare a special treat!"
Cradled in Kailian's arms, I lifted my chin with imperial arrogance.
Now that's more like it. That's right—I am a white tiger.
Kailian settled me onto the fluffiest cushion she could find.
"Our little predator must be exhausted from hunting. I bet you're running on empty. Want some meat?"
She piled up a mountain of the finest jerky and meat. I sprawled on my side and accepted the snacks they tucked into my mouth.
Snacks offered up by a princess, a saintess, and the Tower Master. No wonder they taste so good.
"Say ahh."
"Nom."
Rosalia kneaded my front paws while Lina fanned me. Kailian stroked my fur and slowly fed me bite after bite.
So this is power. Thrilling.
I licked the juices from my muzzle and let my heavy, drowsy eyes fall shut. A full belly, a round of praise, and a bear taken down. A perfect afternoon.
A rustle.
Just as I was savoring that peaceful ease, the footsteps of an unwelcome guest reached my ears.
My nose twitched.
The scent on the wind has changed. The fresh smell of grass from moments ago was gone, replaced by a rank, nauseating stench of beasts rolling in from every direction.
Not one. The numbers are climbing.
"Grrrr...."
"Kyaaak...."
The undergrowth shook, and black shapes came slithering out.
"Your Highness, we are surrounded."
Rosalia rose, her voice calm, releasing my paw.
"What? They here to avenge the bear?"
Kailian snatched up her sword on reflex and stood. Lina cracked her knuckles and rose as well.
The things that emerged were not bears.
A pack of Gray Wolves with bared fangs. A swarm of Killer Bees with venomous stingers raised. Even from beneath the earth, things of unknown identity were writhing.
Creatures that ought to have been at each other's throats were moving as one, unified toward a single target. And those murderous gazes were all locked on me.
Because of me?
"Don't tell me... they've come because they sensed Lord Blanc's presence?"
"What are you talking about?"
Kailian drew her sword with a snap of irritation.
"Lord Blanc has consumed everything from Earth Dragon's Bone to Turian—all manner of rare treasures. The fragrance coming off his body must smell to them like an irresistible elixir. Like bees swarming to the scent of honey."
"Kyau." The Magical Beasts of the forest, coming to take a bite out of me.
"We're surrounded. There have to be at least a hundred of them."
Fatigue crossed Rosalia's face.
"These insane little beasts dare interrupt my—Blanc's meal? I'll slaughter every last one of them."
Kailian's eyes rolled as a chilling killing intent poured off her—so thick it recalled the moment we had first met.
"Tower Master, Saintess—both of you take Blanc and get out. I'm going to kill every last one of these vermin."
"You must not. There are quite a number of them, and they've gone berserk. How do you intend to handle them alone?"
"Shut up..."
The instant Kailian stepped forward, the lead wolf, drooling, lunged at her.
"GROAAAR!"
"Get out of my way!"
Just as Kailian swung her sword—
Thud.
My heart gave a great leap.
My body moved before my head did. I flung aside the jerky I'd been eating, burst off the mat, and threw myself in front of Kailian.
"Blanc! No! Get back!"
Kailian shrieked in horror, but I didn't hear her.
Something inside me stirred. An ancient memory, etched into my soul, writhing up from the depths of my chest.
I locked eyes with the wolf and opened my mouth.
The very air screamed.
In that instant, superimposed over the fist-sized baby white tiger, the Magical Beasts saw the form of a white tiger larger than a mountain. Enormous golden eyes, blazing like fire, looked down upon the entire forest. That gaze was the gaze of a predator standing at the very apex of all living things.
Dare you.
Do you know whose presence you stand before?
Overwhelming terror became a physical blow and crashed over the Magical Beasts.
"Yipe?!"
"Kiiiek?!"
The charging wolf alpha's eyes rolled back midair; it foamed at the mouth and crashed to the ground. The Killer Bees stopped beating their wings and rained down in a shower. The Magical Beasts writhing in the earth scrambled to flee.
The survivors wet themselves in terror and ran without looking back.
A single roar, and it was over.
A heavy silence settled over the forest once more.
I caught my ragged breath.
"Kyau... huu..." My throat's a little sore.
I slowly turned around.
Behind me, my butlers had frozen like statues. Kailian stood with her mouth hanging open, sword still raised. Rosalia hadn't even noticed her glasses had slid to the tip of her nose. Lina was frozen in the middle of unclenching her fists.
"......."
"......."
No one spoke. The Magical Beasts that had packed the forest had vanished in an instant, and at the center of that emptied landscape stood a white puff of cotton.
They were suffering a severe case of cognitive dissonance between the colossal phantom they had just witnessed and the adorable Blanc standing before their eyes.
That overwhelming presence of an absolute being out of myth. That was really Blanc?
At the sight of them, I lifted my chin with a deliberately solemn expression, puffed out my chest, and looked them over.
Did you see that?
I waited for their reaction.
Now you understand, don't you? That I'm not just some cute white tiger who eats a lot.
I waited for my butlers' eyes to fill with praise and reverence.
".......Kyaung?"
But even after more than a minute, they didn't move. They only blinked at me in disbelief, staring as if they could bore a hole through me.
I was starting to feel a little hurt.
Why isn't anyone saying anything? Wasn't I kind of cool just now...?
Feeling aggrieved, I tilted my head slightly.
"Kyau..?"
The moment Blanc cocked his head, the taut string of tension snapped.
As if spellbound, Kailian dropped her sword and staggered toward me.
"Blanc...."
Her voice trembled thinly. She looked from the traces of the fleeing Magical Beasts to me and back again.
"That form just now... that roar... that was you?"
"Kyaung." That's right. Pretty cool, huh?
I lifted my chin with deliberate gravity.
"Incredible..."
Kailian dropped to her knees to meet my eyes. Genuine reverence filled her gaze.
"In all my life, I've never felt such overwhelming presence. To drive off that many Magical Beasts with a single roar..."
Yes! That's it!
I flicked my tail. At last, my butler was looking at me as a proper predator.
"To protect us..."
Overcome with emotion, Kailian carefully lifted me up.
The moment I settled into her arms, I saw the corner of her mouth twitch.
"But.... you're just too cuuute..."
"......???"
Wumph! Kailian buried her face in my belly and screamed.
"Heavens! Did you see that? Saintess, did you see? Our Blanc was going to protect us! That tiny mouth going 'rawr'!"
"Your Highness, that just now was not a simple 'rawr'—it was high-rank Fear—"
"I don't care! He's just too precious! When did our Blanc get so big he's going to protect his big sister!"
Kailian lifted me up and rubbed her cheek against me.
"You didn't even flinch in front of those terrifying wolves. You're so brave."
Even Lina clasped her hands beside us, her expression rapturous.
"Indeed. The Divine Beast's valiant figure... I could weep at how precious he is."
"......"
What? This isn't right.
I even showed them a mountain-sized phantom. I knocked out all the monsters with one roar. They praised me as a great Divine Beast, so why does the conclusion keep being 'precious baby tiger'?
Outraged, I thrashed in Kailian's arms, trying to escape.
"Kyaaang!" Put me down! I'm not playing! I hate all of you!