Chapter 97

As Rona stepped out and followed, what she saw was Nere standing alone, illuminated by the starlight.

Standing right in the middle of the garden, her figure gave an almost mystical impression.

"Follow me."

With just those cold words, Nere started walking deeper into the forest. Without questioning her intentions or raising any doubts, Rona silently followed.

"Is this place good?"

Nere stopped and turned to look at Rona, speaking almost to herself.

They had already walked a considerable distance from the house. While there had been only the faint presence of small animals around the house, the situation changed dramatically once they entered the forest. Rona could sense the presence of creatures generally known as predators watching them from a distance, though they were insignificant to her.

"So? What do you need from me?"

Rona, no longer trying to hide her true nature, asked directly. She knew that the other party had already seen through the fact that she was not just an ordinary beast. Pretending not to understand at this point would be meaningless.

"Hmm. If you understand human language, this will be easier."

"Wow. You're not surprised?"

"I'm not naive enough to be surprised by such a trivial thing."

Nere dismissed the abnormality of a beast speaking human language as something trivial.

"Hmm. Whatever."

Rona, in turn, acted as if it didn't matter and returned to the original topic.

"So? I'll ask again, what do you need from me?"

Her golden eyes, the same color as her fur, pierced through Nere's sky-blue eyes, giving off a vibe more of questioning than asking.

"Don't you have a purpose?"

Nere's calm words made Rona's body react.

"What are you talking about? You're the one who lured me out here. That's the opposite of what you're saying."

"It seemed to me that you had something on your mind. I thought you wouldn't be able to speak freely in front of my master, so I brought you here. If you have nothing to say, then it's just my mistake."

"Wow, really? Should I thank you for understanding?"

"I don't need your thanks. If you have no purpose—"

"But no one said that."

With that, Rona crouched and got ready to attack. Her gaze, ready to pounce at any moment, was met by Nere's words, as if trying to reason with her.

"If you can use language and reason, you should reveal your intentions before showing your fangs. Attacking without any discussion is not the way of a wise one."

"Can you really expect that from a mere beast?"

Rona averted her gaze and muttered as if it were someone else's problem.

"I'm not asking for a well-structured speech. If you want to fight me, I'll respond. But I don't want to fight without understanding why."

"Do you not trust me? Do you see me as an outsider to be eliminated? Do you see me as a dangerous enemy?"

Rona's face showed her dissatisfaction and confusion.

"At least I don't see you as an enemy. I haven't decided whether you should be eliminated or not. But if you ask if I trust you... I don't know you well enough to say yes immediately."

"I have some pride in the trust my master has in me. You and my master have a deep relationship, don't you? Can you not recognize the trust my master has in me?"

"Well, Al has been staying in my den for months. I'm sure he trusts me."

Rona's expression showed her true feelings: she was not amused.

"For two days—ah, for Al, it's been a year and a half."

Rona corrected herself, as if remembering.

"Al's demeanor is much softer now. I can sense that it's due to your influence. So, in a way, I'm grateful to you. For bringing Al back a little."

"Then why do you approach me with such hostility, ready to attack at any moment?"

Nere's confusion was understandable. Rona's frustration was not based on logic but on emotion. It wasn't about whether she could trust Nere.

Seeing a stranger standing beside the man she considered her partner was not a pleasant feeling. She felt that this was her place, and she couldn't suppress the urge to assert it.

Was it an instinct as a beast? Or the discomfort of losing her place? Or the feeling of being left out? Even Rona wasn't sure.

So she chose the method she thought would effectively resolve her frustration.

This situation was what Rona wanted. Nere had only sensed it and led her here.

Sinking her body to the limit, she let out a playful voice that echoed through the quiet forest.

"Well, that's one thing. This is another."

But, Rona declared, as if giving up.

"―We need to establish the power dynamics with the new arrival, right?"

With that, her golden body launched a powerful attack on the ground.

A sharp claw strike aimed at Nere. Nere dodged, and a few strands of her hair fell.

Rona lunged to bite Nere's slender leg, but her fangs were momentarily blocked by some resistance just before they reached their target.

But Rona's fangs couldn't be stopped by such a thing. She quickly broke through the invisible resistance and closed her jaw with force.

The moment her fangs stopped was enough for Nere to draw her weapon and counterattack.

Holding a dagger in reverse, Nere aimed to stab Rona, who had just attacked. Rona, anticipating the counterattack, easily stopped and backed away.

"It would be a disgrace for a servant to attack a guest my master brought. But if the guest attacks first, it's a different matter."

Suddenly, Nere's surroundings were brightly lit. A group of light orbs, created without any incantation, attacked Rona from several directions.

The light beams, weaving through the trees, aimed at Rona's golden body, but she ignored them and continued her charge towards Nere. The light that hit Rona instantly heated up, trying to burn her, but left no scorch marks.

"No need to hold back."

Rona laughed with the confidence of a superior and compressed the surrounding air to create countless blades.

"This time, it's my turn."

Rona's ears twitched, and specialized magic for cutting flew towards Nere.

The blades, accompanied by branches and leaves, attacked Nere. But Nere, showing no signs of defense, advanced towards Rona with her dagger in hand.

"Good instincts."

Rona, like a teacher grading a test, muttered as she met Nere's attack. Nere's dagger, closing the distance in an instant, was swung down. Rona's footing, interfered with by Nere, suddenly lost its firmness, hindering her step.

"Ugh!?"

Surprised and off-balance, Rona was hit by Nere's merciless attack. The sound of something breaking was followed by the sound of hard objects colliding.

Rona, judging that she couldn't avoid the attack, bit the dagger with her fangs, using a magical barrier to reduce its impact. Nere's attack was not so simple that it could be easily blocked.

The relief was brief.

"I've got you."

Nere, as if on target, pointed her index finger, the one not holding the dagger, at Rona's forehead.

A tiny, blinding white light appeared at the tip of her finger, reminiscent of a midsummer sun, causing Rona to break out in a cold sweat.

Panicking, Rona released the dagger from her mouth and quickly erected a magical barrier as she retreated.

"Can you defend against this?"

With a smug line, Nere fired the condensed magic from her finger.

"No way!"

Rona, giving up on frontal defense, prioritized dodging. The condensed magic, piercing through multiple layers of magical barriers like paper, grazed Rona's tail.

"Hot!"

A single, gruesome scorch mark appeared on Rona's fluffy golden tail.

"Hmm. Well done."

In contrast to Rona's emotional reaction to seeing her tail, Nere calmly complimented her.

"How could you do that! Then I'll get serious too!"

Rona's surrounding magic began to swell rapidly.

"Hmm. If that's the case, I'll have to take appropriate measures."

"That smug face will turn into a crying face!"

As she spoke, Rona began to distort the surrounding space with powerful magic. The scene that appeared in the silent night forest was silent but emitted a sinister aura, enveloping everything around it.

Nere, preparing for Rona's attack, silently erected a defensive barrier and prepared to counterattack.

The tense atmosphere, the abnormal magic, and the fear of the forest creatures, who had stopped making any sound, all contributed to the tension.

Just as Rona's attack was about to be unleashed like a drawn arrow, something descended from the sky and pierced the ground, blocking her view.

"That's enough, Rona."

The short sword with a white blade had been thrust into the ground. The one who spoke was the young man, Rona's former partner and Nere's master, Al.

"Do you plan to blow up my house along with the twins?"

"Ugh. Don't interfere, Al. It's my turn now."

"Didn't you already understand Nere's strength?"

"But the match isn't over yet."

"What's the point of deciding the winner?"

Al put his hand to his forehead, exasperated.

"Because I'm stronger, and I've been with Al for a long time, and I know Al better, and I—"

"I get it, I get it. But there's no need to fight Nere seriously."

"But—"

"But nothing. What did I say just now?"

Rona, reminded of the advice to hold back, her pouting face turned gloomy.

"Good girl. You remembered. So what will you do? Will you calmly return home, or—"

Al drew his sword from his waist. The blue blade, reminiscent of a clear autumn sky, began to wrap itself in lightning, which Rona was afraid of.

"O-Okay, Al! I'll calmly return home!"

Feeling the obvious pressure from Al, Rona quickly dispersed the magic she had been building up.

"You should have done that from the beginning. —Nere, are you okay?"

"I had no objections from the start."

Nere, putting her dagger back, followed Al as if it were the most natural thing in the world, and it fit perfectly.

This seemed to bother Rona. She let her dissatisfaction seep through her entire body and headed home without waiting for Al and Nere.

2017/11/02 Typo correction: 伺している → 窺っている

2018/09/07 Misuse correction: 従者然り → 従者然

2019/05/03 Sentence correction: 声でロナが静かな森へ響く → 声を静かな森へ響かせる

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2019/08/11 Typo correction: 打ち出される → 撃ち出される

*Thank you for the typo report.

2019/10/02 Typo correction: 真っ直ぐと → 真っ直ぐに

*Thank you for the typo