Book 1 Chapter 72
[72]71
"You mentioned you left the inn earlier to investigate something. Leo-nim and Lunia-yang, what are you here to investigate?"
Leo answered Eiran's question.
"We're investigating the anomaly that occurred in the Fairy Forest."
"Tonight? Did you receive a separate mission from your teachers?"
"That's not it. I just followed this guy when I saw him moving on his own."
Lunia, who called Leo "Leo-kun" in front of others, seemed to have decided not to pretend in front of Eiran and called Leo comfortably.
"Then I'll help too! This land has been protected by my ancestors for generations!"
Eiran clenched his fist tightly.
It was a natural reaction, as she was the granddaughter of Elsalbekia's Grand Council Chairman and a descendant of Berkia, the last Fairy Knight.
Seeing Eiran like that, Lunia approached Leo and whispered.
"Don't say anything uncertain in front of Eiran."
Leo, knowing it was about Lauta, chuckled.
"Understood."
Saying that, Leo turned his gaze towards the Fairy Forest.
'As expected, the curse's power is getting stronger as night falls.'
The curse's energy, which was only felt in the center of the forest during the day, was now felt near the entrance.
Of course, it was a very subtle power.
But if it was this much, if they approached the center of the forest, Lunia and Eiran would definitely feel the curse's power.
"We should prepare a little before we go."
"Huh? What kind of preparation?"
Seeing Lunia with a puzzled expression, Leo opened his palm.
"By the name of the covenant, I summon you."
*Fwoosh-!*
A summoning circle of flames appeared on Leo's palm.
After a moment, a red bird appeared through the summoning circle.
Fiore, flapping its wings gracefully, exuded a rather solemn atmosphere.
*Peep-!*
Of course, the solemnity that had been hard to gather vanished in an instant with the chirp that came from its beak.
Fiore puffed up its chest, showing off its appearance to Leo, as if asking, 'How do I look?' But Leo was indifferent.
Whether it flapped its wings gracefully or exuded a solemn aura, in Leo's eyes, Fiore was just a red chick.
Seeing that indifferent reaction, Fiore chirped discontentedly.
This made it look even more like a chick.
"That's a cute familiar. What kind of familiar is that, Lunia-yang?"
Eiran exclaimed, admiring Fiore's cute appearance.
But when there was no answer, he looked to the side.
And seeing Lunia trembling, he was flustered.
"Lunia-yang?"
"Fioooraaa!"
*Peep-?*
Seeing Lunia rushing towards him with immense force, Fiore, terrified, quickly took refuge on Leo's head.
"To be born so beautiful! Fiore! It's me! Me! Your big sister Lunia! You remember, right?"
Seeing Lunia holding her hands together and her eyes sparkling, Fiore reacted warily, and Lunia looked shocked.
"Would it remember when it was an egg?"
Leo clicked his tongue, took out a few cookies from his pocket, and placed them on his palm.
*Peep-*
Fiore flew onto Leo's palm and elegantly pecked only the chocolate from the cookies with its beak.
After picking out the chocolate, Fiore pushed the remaining cookie off Leo's palm, leaving Leo with an exasperated expression.
"It's getting more and more picky as the days go by."
Fiore, having only pecked at the chocolate, chirped as if asking for more.
"I have snacks too!"
Lunia quickly took out chocolate from her pocket.
Then, it immediately flew to Lunia's palm and began to peck at the chocolate.
"Haaang!"
Fiore said, covering its cheeks with its remaining hand.
"This beautiful form! The movements that exude dignity! Ah! Beautiful!"
'No matter how I look at it, it's definitely a chick. Teacher Yura too, and this one too… Are summoners these days blind?'
Eiran cautiously asked, watching Lunia dazed by Fiore.
"Leo-nim. What is this familiar?"
"It's a phoenix."
"P, Phoenix? Leo-nim! Were you a contractor of a phoenix?"
"It just so happened."
Leo smiled faintly at the surprised Eiran and summoned another familiar.
"By the name of the covenant, I summon you."
However, even though the summoning circle appeared, the familiar didn't seem to come out.
"Aren't you coming out?"
At Leo's question, something popped out of the summoning circle.
A very small note read, [It's cold].
Leo did not hesitate and reached into the summoning circle, forcibly pulling out Kirran.
[I am a Fairy Prince! Such disrespect! Unacceptable… *Gasp*!]
Kirran, who was spouting nonsense, was thrown into the snow, and Leo stomped on him fiercely.
"A fairy? Leo-nim! You contracted with a fairy too?"
"It just so happened."
"A, Amazing!"
'A first-year student who is a contractor of a phoenix and a fairy!'
Envy filled Eiran's eyes.
"A fairy?"
Lunia, who had been squealing at Fiore, crouched in front of Kirran.
Kirran, who had barely escaped Leo, looked at Lunia and snorted.
[What? Are you mesmerized by my appearance?]
"…Is it a variant fairy? It doesn't have wings."
[Variant! Such a disrespectful remark to me!]
"Leo. While it's not bad to contract with a fairy, which is a top-tier familiar comparable to a phoenix, contracting with a variant like this is a bit much, don't you think? It might damage our Fiore's dignity."
[Don't make me laugh! That chick is more likely to damage my dignity!]
"What did you say?"
*Peep- Peep-*
'A prince complex, a doting parent, a child. What a mess.'
Leo sighed, watching the three of them create an unexpected chemical reaction, and said,
"Stop chattering and get ready, everyone. We're moving now."
At his words, Fiore and Kirran settled on Leo's shoulders.
Lunia tied her long red hair into a ponytail for ease of movement, and Eiran, with a tense expression, took out a sword and shield from an alternate dimension.
"So, where are we going?"
Lunia asked, tidying her hair. Leo glared at the forest.
"The very center of the forest."
***
*Peep! Peep!*
[Ugh! What is this smell!]
Fiore, covering its beak with its wings, and Kirran, covering his nose with his hand, reacted intensely.
Seeing that, Eiran looked flustered.
"Fairy-nim, why are you acting like that?"
Kirran, seemingly pleased with Eiran's address, reacted smugly.
[A polite elf. Why am I acting like this? Because of the stench spreading through this forest!]
Kirran grumbled.
[This place, where the fairy land once was, is so tainted with the aura of death. It's the end of times, the end of times.]
Leo, who had been walking, stopped.
"Why did you stop?"
Lunia asked. Leo said,
"Prepare yourselves."
*Fwoosh-! Fwahahak-!*
White bones began to erupt from the ground.
*Clack- Clack- Clack-*
Seeing the suddenly appearing skeletons, Lunia and Eiran quickly prepared for battle.
"They're all Skeleton Knights."
"What?"
Lunia looked surprised.
While not Death Knight level, Skeleton Knights are still high-ranking undead.
'And all ten of them are Skeleton Knights?'
Lunia, surprised, tensed up as she saw the heavily armored skeletons.
Unlike regular skeletons, the Skeleton Knights formed a disciplined formation.
*Goooh-!*
*Clank! Clank!*
As the Skeleton Knights, emitting dark energy, closed in, Lunia clicked her tongue and began to chant a spell.
"Leave this to me."
Eiran stepped forward.
Seeing that, Lunia paused.
"Leo-nim and Lunia-yang need to conserve their strength, right?"
Eiran smiled and adjusted her grip on her sword and small shield, summoning mana.
Eiran's body glowed silver and then transformed into the shape of armor.
Leo's eyes widened.
Seeing Leo's reaction, Lunia crossed her arms and said triumphantly,
"That's the magic that fuses aura and mana passed down in the Ersar family!"
"Armor of Animusr."
"Oh? You know it?"
"It's a famous technique."
It was a technique created by Berkia herself.
A unique magic of Berkia, created with Kyle's help to defend against countless enemies on the front lines.
That magic was passed down and down, continuing to this day.
Eiran, armed with the armor of light, charged without hesitation.
The sword of the dark energy-wielding skeletons swung to cut Eiran.
*Kwagagag-!*
The skeleton's attack bounced off futilely.
*Thump! Kwadudk-!*
Eiran, hitting a Skeleton Knight's head with her shield, quickly swung her sword back.
Her movements resembled Berkia's.
After instantly defeating the Skeleton Knights, Eiran approached, and Lunia smiled.
"As expected of Eiran! Amazing."
Eiran smiled shyly at Lunia's praise.
Then, looking at Leo, she fiddled with her fingers and asked.
"Leo-nim, how did it look to you?"
Leo smiled faintly at her question.
"It was just like Berkia."
Eiran's eyes widened.
"You speak as if you've seen Lady Berkia herself."
"You can learn about them in stories, can't you?"
"It, It's an honor."
Eiran blushed at Leo's compliment.
Leo smiled as he watched Eiran unable to contain her joy.
*Flap-!*
At that moment, a small bird flew and perched on a branch.
The bird's eyes glowed red.
Leo picked up a small pebble from the ground.
And flicked it with his finger.
*Thwack-! Crash-!*
"……!"
"……!"
The small pebble hit the bird's head directly, and the bird scattered into dust.
"A familiar?"
"It seems the enemy has realized our presence. More undead will attack."
Both Lunia and Eiran looked tense.
"Let's keep going."
***
"It seems we've stepped on their tail."
"What?"
Rauta frowned as he drew a summoning circle, hearing the words of Kargor, a Death Knight wearing a hood.
"What do you mean?"
"An intruder has appeared. It seems to be a hero candidate."
At that, Rauta scoffed.
"Then the knights should handle it. Isn't that why you came here?"
"Heh heh. That's true. But brat. Do you treat the Great Necromancer's knights as your servants?"
Seeing Kargor's displeasure, Rauta smirked.
"You seem to have forgotten the fact that that Great Necromancer chose me!"
Rauta raised his hand, showing a black ring.
"This is a magic artifact imbued with the power of Erebus! It's an item that your leader gave me to lead me to become a hero."
Kargor's red eyes flashed from within his hood.
"If you understand, stop babbling and deal with the intruders."
"Hoo."
Kargor let out a low laugh and disappeared into the darkness.
Seeing that, Rauta made a disgusted expression.
"Smelly undead."
Saying that, he began to draw a summoning circle.
'Just you wait. Soon, the help from those dirty Tartarus bastards will end!'
During the last vacation.
He was overjoyed when he obtained the ring that brought out his latent abilities.
But when he learned it was a magic artifact, he despaired.
'I thought I was finished. But that was an opportunity!'
An unknown demon who called himself the legendary terrifying Legion Commander, Necromancer Hell Kaiser, directly taught Rauta magic.
It was a magic formula that has now been lost and disappeared.
Rauta saw this as an opportunity to become a hero.
'I'm using them to become a more brilliant being!'
Rauta's eyes sparkled with madness.
'Beyond this… if I can just obtain the power of the progenitor! No one will be able to ignore me!'