Cloi (2)
Ah…… It wasn't until the spear tip was right at his throat that he realized the fatal mistake he'd overlooked.
Just because we met earlier than in my previous life, I thought she'd recognize me? What an idiot……
They'd met far too soon. It was only natural that Cloi wouldn't realize just how much Tiny's appearance had changed in the meantime. And the result was that hostile glare in her eyes.
"What the hell did you do to that small, cute kid?!"
"Answer her, brat."
The knight who'd escorted him thrust the spear even closer with a cold expression, the lethal threat snapping Tiny out of his momentary daze.
He'd been caught off guard by the unexpected reaction, but he already knew what he had to say.
What choice did he have? Whether she believed him or not, this was the truth.
"……I know it's hard to believe, but I am that child, Lady Cloi."
"That's ridiculous……!"
Cloi immediately rejected it, but fortunately, there was something to lend a bit of credibility.
"I'm the only black-haired kid in all of Philes Territory. No, probably the entire Duchy as well."
"……Huh?"
Confusion spread across her pretty face, and her large eyes quickly scanned the surroundings.
This was far too grand a procession for a mere outer castle patrol, surrounded by a massive crowd.
But not a single one among them had black hair.
The guarded expression melted into bewilderment.
"……No, but still, how? He was definitely a tiny, cute, pitiful little kid?"
She muttered in confusion, and one phrase stuck in Tiny's ear like a habit.
Somehow familiar.
'Small and cute……'
The embarrassing description was aimed at him, making goosebumps rise all over his body, but it suddenly jogged another memory about her.
……She couldn't get enough of anything small and cute. Her whole face would light up at the sight of something adorable.
Why hadn't he thought of it sooner?
Could it be……
The reason she gave me that ring?
He didn't want to accept the guess, but right now, it was the only thing worth banking on.
To shift this atmosphere……
'Wolrang!'
His gaze dropped to the wolf spirit he was riding, right below him.
"Woof?"
But Wolrang, who usually obeyed like a limb, shook its head firmly for the first time.
A clear refusal. The meaning transmitted to his mind was that it didn't like the idea.
But.
If you don't, no moonlight baths for a while? I'll end up locked in a dungeon.
Tiny dangled the one thing the wolf spirit loved most.
Cruelly holding hostage the spirit's sole lingering desire from life to afterlife.
"Whine."
Realizing the threat was real, Wolrang drooped its ears and sighed.
At the same time, its massive body began shrinking rapidly.
"Whoa!"
"What trick is this mutt pulling……!"
"Wait! It's not unsummoning……"
Drawing all eyes in an instant, Wolrang soon became a palm-sized silver puppy—no, pup—and hopped onto Tiny's shoulder.
Most onlookers just watched in curious fascination, but.
"Oh my!?"
Cloi's eyes, already wide, nearly doubled in size as she let out her loudest cry since they'd met.
"I've been through a lot in the short time since meeting you, Lady Cloi. Meeting this little one included."
As Tiny held Wolrang out toward her, Cloi's gaze followed perfectly.
One thing was clear from that alone.
The bait had hooked perfectly.
"Eek."
The little silver pup placed in Cloi's palm whined in annoyance at the uninvited belly rub, but to her, even that seemed cute.
"Oh, how…… such an adorable little thing……."
Her eyes grew dreamier as she scratched Wolrang's grumpy belly and stroked its cheeks, the time passing unnoticed.
Unable to stand it any longer, her guard Vivian interrupted despite the impropriety.
"L-Lady Cloi. Even so, it's a stranger's spirit……."
"I heard only pure-hearted children can contract spirits. Am I wrong?"
The lady's gaze on the unfamiliar boy was now filled only with fondness.
"……Th-That's true, but."
Vivian grimaced and glared at Tiny again.
She knew her lady's tastes and personality well.
The remark about spirit attributes was spot on.
Just an excuse she came up with on the spot to pet the cute puppy longer.
But the problem was that it was also proven fact.
The spirit user before her eyes was indeed a young boy, so the other knights naturally lowered their guards, except for Vivian.
She refused to drop her suspicion.
Well-oiled leather armor and a mace as tall as herself.
No matter how small the frame or pristine the gear, it screamed practical combat readiness.
He looked vaguely like some noble's young master, but.
Black hair, black eyes…… No nobles I know have that.
Suspicious in every way, Vivian couldn't relax her vigilance.
But.
"……What's this little one's name?"
The lady was already utterly smitten with the spirit and in no mood to listen.
Catching Vivian's sigh from the corner of his eye, Tiny smiled and answered Cloi's question.
"I named him Wolrang. It means 'moonlight wolf' in the Eastern tongue."
"What a pretty name."
The beggar boy knowing Eastern— she didn't seem to find it odd at all.
Watching her, Tiny began harboring reasonable doubts again.
The reason she gave me the ring…… was really because I was small and cute……? Ugh, no, don't think about it.
A truth from his previous life, after he'd become a giant and met her again, that he hadn't realized—or wanted to.
But now, he could say what he hadn't back then.
The moment to return the gold ring she'd given him, after a detour through death and a full life relived.
Finally……
He hesitated briefly in thought, but the words he'd prepared for so long came easily.
"Meeting you changed my entire life, Lady Cloi. So I wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart."
Tiny meant every word.
No need to burden her with the sorrows along the way.
Feeling that sincerity, her eyes shifted once more.
The dreamy gaze on Wolrang turned serious, if only for a moment.
"Even so, that's an awfully drastic change. You looked barely ten back then. And your name meant 'small'……."
"Tiny. I'm thirteen this year. I was much smaller then. It was only after receiving mana’s blessing that I grew this much."
"Ah, right! Tiny—that was the name."
Her gaze on him still held a trace of bewilderment, but unlike before, clear fondness had taken root.
But those around her reacted differently.
"A thirteen-year-old speaking like such an adult? Too suspicious, Lady Cloi."
The red-haired knight interjected again, her face etched with clear wariness.
Objectively, her suspicion was justified.
But Tiny couldn't agree.
"Maybe because I grew up rough, you think that. But how my speech differs from kids my age…… honestly, I don't know."
"It's not about growing up rough! Your vocabulary would be different if it was. You're just speaking like an adult. Are you…… mixed-blood with some other race?"
Shing.
The red-haired knight drew her sword, her words piercing too sharply.
"Vivian!"
"Forgive my impertinence, Lady Cloi. But if I judge the situation dangerous for you, all decisions fall to me. That's Duke Valentia's direct order."
"……Even so."
"I agree—it's suspicious, Lady Cloi."
As Vivian pressed firmly, another who'd been watching blankly chimed in.
"Young Master Edmond!"
"I don't know the full story, but a spirit user suddenly approaching Lady Cloi? We should isolate and interrogate him for security."
The twenty-year-old heir to the Lucent County bowed lightly to Cloi, then barked at Tiny.
"Right!? And a commoner staring down a noble? Kneel at once!"
What the hell is this?
Tiny frowned at the blond, blue-eyed pretty boy who'd barged in—like a parasitic worm in crude terms.
But no need to deal with him.
"……I won't beg the others to trust me. Lady Cloi, are the words you said when you gave me this ring still valid?"
As Tiny addressed only her, Edmond's face flushed red at being ignored.
"Urgh!"
But he didn't explode right away.
Because.
"Ah? Ah……!"
The lady nodded, startled by the little spirit user's words.
No matter that this was his family's territory—the true authority here belonged to Cloi von Valentia, daughter of the duke.
And Tiny nodded back at her.
"You said you'd help. I need that help now."
"……What kind of help?"
"Can I meet the duke—Eschard von Valentia?"
The reaction came not from Cloi, but from those around her first.
"You bastard!"
"How dare you!"
"Madman!"
Blue mana blade surged from Vivian's sword, proving her 4th-stage mana user, Blader rank, as the knights' sharpened spears and blades turned on Tiny.
A murderous aura, ready to cut him down any second.
But……
"Do you think a mere spirit user like me could harm the famed Sword Emperor?"
"……"
Tiny's calm retort quelled their rage.
Right.
Their lord was one of the continent's seven strongest knights.
A superhuman wielding the power of destruction, aura.
No mere spirit user could touch him.
Besides.
"Sword Emperor…… Haha, Father would be embarrassed to hear it. It's only been a few years since he joined the Seven Great Knights of the continent."
As Cloi said, the title Sword Emperor Tiny dropped was still a bit grandiose.
Ah, right! At this point, he hasn't earned it yet…… Damn, another slip-up.
Of course, no one knew his regression, so to others, it just looked like Tiny greatly admired Duke Valentia.
And so.
"……Ahem, Sword Emperor suits him well."
"Makes sense for that man."
"Even in this backwater, his fame reaches us—makes me proud."
The knights' stances relaxed noticeably.
……Well, the old man had plenty worth respecting.
Since it left a good impression, no need to correct the slip.
But Cloi, the one he most wanted to impress, smiled while drawing a line.
"Still, do you really need to see Father, young master—no…… Tiny?"
Her sudden casual shift made Tiny smile instead.
She used formal speech when status was unclear, then switched to fitting familiarity once confirmed.
An upper noble overly polite—nothing grating about it.
Of course, he couldn't spill his regression, so he needed a plausible excuse.
"I want to explain the horrific events in Philes Territory recently and their background. As one of the people who lived through it."
Cloi looked puzzled, but as Vivian whispered in her ear, her face paled.
"……That happened?!"
Vivian looked troubled under her reproachful gaze, but luckily, Cloi's attention shifted fast before excuses.
"Black mages…… Ugh…… Could you tell me about it first?"
"Of course, Lady Cloi."
That question and answer signaled Tiny's safe entry into her group.
Of course.
"I'll watch for now…… But no funny business, brat. One whiff of weird, and I'll cut you down."
"Vivian!"
Her ever-wary guard knight.
And.
"……H-How dare a commoner scum ignore me?"
The young master Edmond, fists trembling in a corner—lingering variables remained.