NOVEL NEXT Chapter 32
The day after the Lady returned.
“Long time no see, doggo?”
Terra came to the mansion early in the morning.
“What brings you here…”
“I came to see Aria, haven’t seen her while she was at the magic school.”
“You haven’t seen her all this time?”
That’s a bit surprising. Someone like Terra should be able to go to the magic school and even give lectures, right?
“Yeah, I have some bad history with the school, so I can’t go in.”
What on earth happened?
Even the daughter of the Astel family, who runs the magic school, is teaching there, right?
Seems like there’s a complicated story behind it.
“The Lady is in the mansion. Well then, I’ll take my leave…”
Not too curious about the details, I just greeted Terra and headed back to the doghouse.
I came out because I felt a strong presence, but since there’s no real business, I’ll just go back and sleep.
However.
Thud.
“Long time no see, and you’re leaving already? How cold.”
Terra grabbed my shoulder as I was about to leave.
“…Didn’t you come to see the Lady?”
“I’ll see Aria, but I can see her later.”
Saying that, Terra glanced at the small doghouse next to my house.
“What’s that? Did you get a new room?”
“Not exactly…”
While I was trying to figure out how to explain it, White Pup, hearing the noise, wriggled out of the small doghouse.
“Oh my.”
Terra, who let out an unexpectedly feminine voice, looked at White Pup, who immediately clung to me as soon as it came out.
“Is it a spirit beast? Where did you find it?”
“I found it in the Kaine Mountain Range.”
She recognized it right away.
As expected, a great mage has a different eye for things.
“Hmm, lucky you.”
Saying that, Terra picked up White Pup.
“Ah, so cute. By the way, doggo, you’ve been to the Kaine Mountain Range now?”
“I went for a walk.”
“A walk? You even managed a mercenary group, didn’t you?”
“…How did you know?”
I was surprised because I didn’t expect Terra of all people to say that.
…Come to think of it, she also knew I was a former champion.
“You’re famous among the mercenaries~ I heard it from a mercenary I trade with.”
“Has the rumor spread that much?”
“Yeah, you know how picky Jeven is? He’s the type to avoid danger at all costs, but you managed to tame him.”
“You know Jeven, huh?”
“I’ve traded with him a few times. There aren’t many at his level in the capital area.”
Was Jeven even more impressive than I thought?
Moreover, it seems Terra, being a mage, frequently uses mercenaries.
Well, it’s easier to pay a few coins and send mercenaries rather than going to the Kaine Mountain Range yourself.
“So, what happened?”
Terra asked with curiosity-filled eyes, apparently intrigued by the fact that I had Jeven under my command.
“Just got into a fight, beat him up, and now he’s working for me.”
“Hmm, surprising that Jeven didn’t run away.”
“I gave him a carrot, of course.”
“What kind of carrot? Tell me, what did you give him?”
“I’m teaching him Fleet.”
“Huh?”
Terra looked at me in surprise when I mentioned teaching Fleet.
“Is that allowed? Isn’t that something only knights use?”
“Is there a law against it?”
I genuinely didn’t know.
Was it not okay to teach it to someone other than a knight?
“Well, there’s no law, but usually people don’t teach it.”
“It’s not that big of a deal. Besides, Jeven can already use Aura.”
“Really? He’s always been different from the start.”
But it seems teaching Fleet to a mercenary is more sensitive than I thought…
Well, what’s done is done.
And it didn’t seem like it would cause me any major problems.
After all, in a way, I’m an asset of the Void Family.
They can’t hold me accountable for something like that.
Besides, Lowell didn’t say much about me teaching Fleet.
If Lowell, the top Aura user I’ve seen, didn’t react, what can others say?
If they have a problem, they can take it up with Lowell.
Anyway…
“Hey, by the way.”
“Yeah?”
“How long are you going to hold White Pup?”
I said to Terra, who was still holding White Pup.
She seemed to really adore White Pup, but White Pup looked scared.
Well, Terra’s eyes are the same color as the Lady’s, so it’s understandable that White Pup, who’s been hiding from the Lady since yesterday, would be scared.
“It’s so cute, I can’t stop looking. By the way, is its name White Pup?”
“Yes, I named it.”
“Haha, then you must be Blackie since your hair is dark?”
…That’s a bit racist.
Well, I’m not much better, naming it White Pup based on its fur color.
“How does Aria react? Little girls usually go crazy over things like this.”
“The Lady… well, yes, she finds it cute.”
The Lady herself seems to find White Pup cute, but…
The problem is that when her eyes glowed the other day, White Pup got really scared.
Now it just hides whenever the Lady appears.
“By the way, give it back. It’s scared, isn’t it?”
“Oh, really? I thought it was just cold.”
…The master and disciple have similar traits.
Anyway, I took back the scared White Pup.
*Whimper…*
Then, White Pup immediately clung to my shoulder with its tiny claws.
This little one has been through a lot.
But actually, shouldn’t it be scared of me?
I’m not sure if it was the mother or father, but I did kill its protector.
Now that I think about it, why was there only one parent?
I didn’t see any other creatures around.
Plus, White Pup seemed like a newborn, so I probably killed the mother.
Maybe the wolf-type monsters gathered to eliminate threats for parenting purposes.
After all, I did wipe out the high-level monsters in the area.
Anyway.
I put White Pup back inside to sleep.
“Let’s go see the Lady now.”
“Yeah, sure.”
Since Terra didn’t seem like she’d let me go, I had no choice but to head to the mansion with her.
“Doggo?”
But as we entered the mansion, I saw the Lady coming down the stairs.
“Lady, what’s that?”
“Huh? It’s a leash!”
In the Lady’s hand was a leash.
It looked quite long and sturdy…
“Oh, are you going for a walk?”
Yeah, it looked like it would fit perfectly on the collar I was wearing.
“Yes! By the way, Master, what brings you here?”
“I came to see you after a long time. Did you miss me?”
“Hmm, I did!”
“Come here.”
Watching the brief reunion between master and disciple, I connected the other end of the leash to my collar.
Hmm, fits perfectly. When did she even make this?
“Lady, why the leash?”
By the way, why did she bring a leash?
She usually doesn’t use one for garden walks, so I asked.
“Today, I want to go outside!”
The Lady said something unexpected.
Outside?
Hearing that, I looked around.
So… the person who’s always around the Lady.
Right.
I made eye contact with the old man slowly walking behind her.
Then.
“Let’s prepare and go out together.”
Lowell gave his permission.
Hmm, seems like it’s okay to go out.
It might be a bit dangerous outside, but if Lowell’s coming, it should be fine.
After all, he’s the alpha and omega of the Lady’s protection.
A mansion without Lowell and Lowell without a mansion—the latter is overwhelmingly safer.
Anyway.
“Then wait for me!”
The Lady left briefly to prepare for the walk.
Meanwhile, in the mansion lobby, only Terra, me, and the long-unseen bodyguards Darren and Kaiden remained.
“Long time no see, Rain.”
“Didn’t see you yesterday.”
Come to think of it, I didn’t see them yesterday when the Lady returned. Where were they?
“Lowell suggested we visit our families.”
“Are all your families in the capital?”
“They’re in a nearby orphanage. Both Darren and I are from there.”
“I see…”
They’re from humble beginnings too.
But it seems the Void Family doesn’t care much about origins as long as you have ability.
That’s probably why a former gladiator like me is lying around in the yard.
“By the way, let’s spar after the walk.”
Still, it’s good to see these two.
Finally, sparring partners are back at the mansion.
Though they’ll probably head back to the magic school tomorrow.
“Did you train while we were gone?”
“Don’t be surprised.”
There’s no visible progress, but I can feel meaningful growth.
After all, I’ve been through two life-and-death battles and won.
That experience is deeply ingrained in my body.
Anyway.
While chatting with Darren and Kaiden, whom I hadn’t seen in a while.
“I’m back!”
The Lady, having finished her preparations, came down the stairs with Lowell.
“Let’s go!”
Excitedly holding the leash connected to my collar, the Lady took the lead.
Behind her were Lowell, me, and the bodyguards Darren and Kaiden.
And.
“Huh? We’re leaving right away?”
Terra, who had come to the mansion to hang out, followed along.
…Is this a walk or a military expedition?
With this lineup, it’s almost like a knight order.
Thinking that, we stepped outside the mansion.