Chapter 181. Shadow of a Flying Beast
It was the height of midsummer, yet it felt as though an icy, biting wind was whipping in from somewhere.
I stiffened, and Myserln sunbae practically froze solid.
In the midst of that, Gamo—on the other side of the crystal ball—fell silent. I’d stake my life on it: it was a silence more terrifying than any words.
And in one corner of my mind, a thought surfaced.
‘This is screwed.’
Yeah. Completely, unquestionably screwed.
First off, the idea of getting permission from Gamo wasn’t bad.
If Demian had to go—and if there was no choice but for him to go—then laying it out openly like this was the best way.
But the first opening line… what?
[…My son, I think I must have misheard. Would you say that again, just once?]
“Mother, please don’t be too sad. Death is a fate that comes for everyone.”
[…Aster. Switch Aster out.]
Realizing at once that Demian was in no state to be reasoned with, Gamo turned her arrow toward me.
But Demian just shook his head, side to side. Is this the new—prototype Demian, Version 2? So reliable… apparently.
“Mother, in this matter, Aster did become the decisive trigger, but it’s not Aster’s fault.”
This lunatic?
[So that child really was the trigger… Fine. Then I’m very curious—what on earth is going on?]
“I’m going on an adventure.”
[An adventure… yes, an adventure. Good. Go on, then. And is Aster still there beside you?]
“Yes. He’s eating cookies.”
[Yes. Tell him that continuing to eat cookies right there will be beneficial to his well-being. So, you’re leaving on an adventure?]
Demian nodded with a resolute expression.
“This is an unavoidable fate.”
His tone was solemn to the extreme.
Yeah. My death was probably unavoidable too.
“It’s the first step toward becoming a hero, trampling over harsh trials and adversity. Since ancient times, great heroes have grown by crossing back and forth over the boundary between life and death—and now, at last, that kind of opportunity has come to me as well.”
And yet, I wasn’t even a hero, so why did I have to endure harsh trials and adversity?
I’d never, not once, wanted to become a hero.
Crunch, crunch, crunch.
At this point, I didn’t even feel any need to hide the sound.
Whether I stayed quiet or made noise, I’d end up dead all the same—and if that was the case, becoming a well-dressed ghost was at least the better option.
From around then, I wasn’t watching Demian anymore. I was staring out the window.
A sky draped in darkness; beautiful stars stitched thickly across it—and across the bright, full moon, a shadow passed, faintly.
Maybe the wyvern’s apostle hadn’t been Myserln sunbae after all.
While I kept following that thought, Demian preached his “hero theory” at Gamo, and he tried to persuade her of how justified his adventure was by citing various heroes’ examples… in other words, the plot of some third-rate script he’d seen and heard in Amera.
Around then, I was starting to enjoy this situation.
‘It’s not an experience you get often.’
Yeah. Where else would I ever get to watch the Great Brando’s young Head of House leaving behind his last words?
And I was already someone being chased by Deculan anyway(?). Adding one more Brando on top wasn’t going to make my life significantly more miserable.
The source of this confidence was me—me, who’d been living diligently.
‘The Academy, Lortel, Riheim sunbae, all the way to Parun. I’ve built up quite a few connections so far.’
Sure, wherever I went, I’d probably be cold rice—an unwanted leftover—but as long as I could keep my life, that was something.
If worst came to worst, it wouldn’t be bad to go into some quiet, remote mountain and become a wild man, digging up roots to eat.
As for the Tower…
Maybe I’d stack stone cairns or something.
Since it’d be lonely, I could even raise a wyvern or two—and when the time came, find them mates.
Then, when they laid eggs, I’d give names to the hatchlings in the order they emerged.
And when those hatchlings had hatchlings, and then those hatchlings had hatchlings again, that would be when I finally came down from the mountain.
That day, Brando would remember.
That powerless, frail Black and White Zone vagrant brat they had persecuted.
But by the time they saw the swarm of wyverns blotting out the sky, everything would already be too late.
Right around when, inside my head, the third generation of wyvern hatchlings was being born…
Demian’s speech reached its end, and Gamo’s voice dropped low.
[You’re going to run away from home?]
“It’s entering religious life.”
[So then, where are you going for this adventure?]
“Ancient ruins.”
[…]
From my side, I could only hear her voice, but Gamo sounded—somehow—thoroughly exhausted.
“Mother.”
[…Speak.]
“Don’t worry. The adventure won’t be very long, and if I survive, I’ll return before too much time has passed.”
[At that time, Aster will come with you as well, won’t he?]
“Won’t he?”
[Hoo……. So what is it you want to say? From the looks of it, you don’t seem to be asking for your mother’s permission.]
“I learned responsibility.”
[…Responsibility?]
Since it had been nothing but nonsense from start to finish, Gamo looked genuinely startled when an actual proper word finally came out.
But regardless, Demian calmly—and with a dignified steadiness—delivered what he had realized to Gamo.
“I realized that with every action I take, many people’s lives can be shaken. So… if I can’t come back, I was worried the people here might get hurt.”
“……”
At Demian’s sincere voice, the skin at the corner of my eyes twitched.
‘Why does formal speech sound so awkward?’
I can’t get used to it at all.
Just listening is enough to give me goosebumps.
But was Gamo different?
[…Responsibility, responsibility.]
After rolling Demian’s words around in her mind a few times, Gamo soon spoke, letting out a faint sigh.
[Do you truly have to go?]
“It’s fate.”
Ah—formal speech.
I did want him to become polite, but this… this wasn’t what I meant.
‘But… will this work?’
It won’t.
Somehow, a warm atmosphere was settling in, but the future I was imagining wasn’t good at all.
Yet Demian stubbornly continued. Calmly, but with a stronger tone than ever.
“Even if I can’t come back, that is not the fault of those here, Mother.”
“……”
At that honest voice, for a moment, Demian looked different to me.
‘Ah, formal speech.’
Anyway, I waited for Gamo’s answer in a half-given-up state, and then… what? I think I’m truly losing my mind today.
Did I hear wrong?
[…Fine. Good. I permit it.]
“…Huh?”
“Why…?”
The “Huh?” was me. The “Why…?” was Myserln sunbae.
Even though I’d heard it, I couldn’t understand Gamo’s statement. My lips trembled as I tilted my head, creak-creak.
‘Is this a dream?’
I slapped my face with all my strength, but it only hurt like hell.
Yeah. Not a dream.
Which meant… Gamo had really permitted Demian’s ancient-ruins expedition…
“Mother, may your health be ever strong, and may all be well.”
[Demian, I love you always.]
“Yes. Thank you.”
And just like that, the warm conversation between mother and son came to an end.
Leaving behind nothing but shock, horror, and confusion.
‘Is this… right?’
There’s no way.
Right as I reached that thought—
Demian, who had been bowing with a resolute face, snapped his head up and pulled me and Myserln sunbae into the middle.
“Master, you heard me get permission, right?”
“I did… hear it… but….”
“People who speak with one mouth and say two different things are worse than dogs and pigs.”
Why is he looking at me at “dogs and pigs”?
“O…kay.”
In the end, as Myserln sunbae nodded, a satisfied smile bloomed at the corner of Demian’s mouth.
“Good. Then.”
Demian nodded confidently.
I’d been stunned by the sudden change in events, but I returned to reality right after I heard the cracking sound—KWAJIK!—like something bursting.
“……?”
Demian smashed the communications crystal ball that belonged directly to Gamo.
‘Why… did he smash that?’
Right as I thought that—
Demian said with a refreshingly bright expression,
“Now let’s run.”
“……Run?”
“Yeah. Run.”
After saying that, Demian flung himself out the window.
He hung from the window frame, dangling, and signaled to me and Myserln sunbae with his eyes.
“Friend, we have to go fast. If we don’t, we’ll get caught. Master, hurry up.”
What… what kind of situation is this right now?
After cutting off the communication, Bianca stared at the crystal ball, her eyes twitching.
The emotion lingering in those eyes was half pride, half irritation.
The pride was her pleased feeling toward Demian, who had achieved a round of mental growth.
The irritation was what she felt toward Aster.
‘I… brought a devil into the family.’
But that thought only lasted a moment.
Bianca rose from her seat and walked out into the corridor.
There was no hesitation in her steps.
Almost like a general marching out to war.
With that bold stride, Bianca headed for the communications office attached to the Head of House’s residence.
“L-Lady Gamo?”
The duty mage in charge of the communications office jolted at Gamo’s sudden appearance and hurriedly wiped away the drool at the corner of his mouth.
‘…Pay cut.’
The faces of the rabbit-like puppy and the evil spirit—no, the baby-like wife waiting at home flickered through his mind.
He’d been caught dozing by Lady Gamo. How many months would his pay be docked this time?
As the mage’s face darkened, envisioning his unlucky future… unexpectedly, Gamo didn’t care at all.
She only said,
“Lord Tohoman… no, Lord Rolan… no. Whoever it is—contact the one who’s in Amera right now.”
“……Pardon?”
“Did you not hear? I said contact the one who’s in Amera.”
At that ice-cold sentence, the mage froze stiff, then moved as though someone were chasing him.
Meanwhile, Gamo Bianca chewed at a perfectly innocent fingernail, sorting out her thoughts.
‘It can’t be too late….’
That’s right.
In truth, her “Fine, do as you like” to Demian had been nothing but a pretense.
Because she knew that no matter what she said, he wouldn’t listen. Because she knew that the more she tried to stop him, the more he’d slip out using some bizarre, unthinkable method.
Just think back to the runaway fiasco before he entered the Academy.
Who could have predicted it?
Who would have thought that brat would slip past every single guard in the family and crawl all the way into the Black and White Zone?
So Gamo’s choice now was the best response born of experience.
Of course, it was something that could make her lose Demian’s trust—but to Bianca, her son’s safety mattered more than trust.
And then, how long did she wait?
“L-Lady Gamo?”
“Speak.”
“L-Lord Tohoman’s communication has come in.”
“It came in? You mean you didn’t send it?”
“……Yes.”
From the mage’s uneasy expression, Bianca could feel a bad premonition rising.
“Give it to me.”
Gamo snatched the crystal ball with a swift motion.
[La-Lady Gamo. Something terrible has happened. I’m truly sorry!]
“……What is it?”
As her anxiety thickened, Gamo’s eyes trembled. And yet, the words that came out of her mouth were not what one would expect.
[Ch-Chenbi has been kidnapped.]
…Suddenly, Chenbi?
As I tilted my head in confusion, a commotion followed from beyond the crystal ball.
[Lo-Lord Tohoman! Young Master Demian has escaped!]
[W-what… what?! Young Master Demian?!]
[A-Aster has vanished too!]
[……!]
[It’s Lord Myserln! That Myserln fellow…!]
One after another, reports so miserable they could hardly be put into words.
Gamo Bianca swept a strand of hair that had slipped down back up, bit down hard on her upper lip, and exhaled a hot breath.
“……Put a bounty on them.”
[……Pardon?]
“Tell them… anyone who brings even information will be rewarded handsomely. Anyone… anyone at all.”
On a night when the moon shone bright and full,
a nameless flying beast cut across the night sky.
Was this flying beast a wyvern?
No one could know the truth.
