Piyod had already attempted escape seven times, and each time he was caught and brought back by the tiger monster without fail. At first, it had seemed fortunate that it didn’t kill him but caught him in its mouth and brought him back, but after several repetitions, he could tell.
That tiger monster thought of Piyod’s escape attempts as nothing more than hide-and-seek. While he was desperately trying to flee on this end, that annoying tiger monster was merely playing.
He wanted to see Matiel.
“Matiel…”
The tiger monster licked his body clean with its tongue. Piyod irritably shook off the tongue that was as big as his body.
That’s when it happened.
Grumble— A pitiful sound flowed from his stomach.
He was worried about Matiel, and even in a situation where his own life was hanging by a thread, he couldn’t believe he was hungry. It was when Piyod was clenching his teeth tightly in shame.
Thud, thud. Thinking he heard something dropping near him, he raised his head to find white bread, bacon, cheese, walnuts, apples, and other food placed around him. As if that wasn’t enough, the tiger monster was even dragging over a stew pot that had been sitting in one corner of the kitchen.
“……”
Why on earth was it doing this?
Piyod found the fact that the monster was obsessed with him utterly creepy and chilling. He even thought about what would happen if Matiel or the lord got some strange misunderstanding later.
“I want to see Matiel…”
Piyod hugged his knees and sniffled.
Then the tiger monster that had swiftly approached pulled Piyod with its large front paw and began licking his face clean.
“Stop… it!”
No matter how much he tried to shake it off, it was useless. In the end, Piyod had no choice but to accept the tiger monster’s incomprehensible grooming while fuming.
* * *
The search continued.
After checking the party hall, they checked the reception room, main hall, and another reception room—everything. There was no trace of Matiel and Piyod anywhere.
“We’ll have to go down to the basement.”
“There’s a basement?”
“More precisely, you could call it a semi-basement. There are small windows, you see. The dining room where the servants eat, the main kitchen, and the food storage are usually located on the basement floor.”
The first and second floors were usually the space for the homeowner and guests. But it would be inefficient and troublesome to put the kitchen or storage on higher floors. For that reason, the kitchen and food storage were placed on the first basement floor, which was easier to go up and down from than higher floors while not intruding on the owner’s space.
The two carefully descended to the basement floor. Kaniel walked along the corridor, which was dim because there were no lights on, relying on Taeyon’s hand. Beast eyes seemed to see clearly ahead even in faint light, as he guided Kaniel without hesitation.
The wooden door that came out after entering the corridor a little had a small hole drilled in it to peek inside.
Taeyon, who had sneaked a peek inside through there, lowered his body.
‘Are they there?’
When Kaniel asked only with his mouth shape, Taeyon nodded. He couldn’t see them, but he could sense them.
As he nervously swallowed dry saliva, Taeyon brought his mouth to his ear.
“Kaniel.”
Every time Taeyon whispered in a small voice, a faint breeze tickled the inside of his ear.
“It’s dangerous, so absolutely don’t step forward. Understand?”
“Yes. I’ll hide well.”
Only after receiving confirmation once more did Taeyon fling the door open. The door made a rough sound at his unhesitant attitude, but he didn’t care. Even if he opened it carefully, there was no possibility that the monster wouldn’t hear the sound of the door opening.
As soon as the door opened, the monster jumped up from one side of the dining room. A giant tiger monster with brown fur, black fur, and white fur forming patterns lowered its upper body and growled, making a threatening sound.
And behind it, a squirrel with a very large tail was gnawing on an almond when it turned its head with a surprised face. It was Piyod, his face soaked from crying.
“Lord Taeyon!”
“Where’s Matiel?”
“He’s not here. Didn’t you find him?”
“I thought he was with you.”
The moment Piyod tried to answer something more, a thick tail snatched his body. The tiger monster’s tail, which had moved with surprising flexibility, caught him and even covered his mouth. As if it didn’t like Piyod talking with Taeyon.
The tiger monster made a chilling growling sound and backed away. Behind it was the kitchen connected to the dining room. The tiger monster pushed Piyod into the kitchen, then dragged over tables and chairs to block the entrance so Piyod couldn’t come out.
“…Wait there for now.”
“Y-yes!”
The tiger monster ran at him on all fours and swung its cursed claws at Taeyon. Taeyon’s sword and claws clashed.
“Kuh…”
A monster that has formed a nest gains stronger and more vicious power than before. The tiger monster was the same. Its curse had grown much stronger than in the morning. The pitch-black power of the curse flowed along the claws and over Taeyon’s blade.
Kaniel, who was watching that scene, clenched his fists with a pale face. The curse flowed relentlessly over the blade, reaching even the guard.
“N-no…!”
Kaniel cried out urgently and poured mana into the detoxification magic cast on Taeyon. Then light flashed from Taeyon’s sword and the curse scattered in an instant. Kaniel clutched his chest and let out a sigh of relief.
From then on, the blade didn’t allow the curse either. The curse dispersed into black smoke and lost its form as soon as it touched Taeyon’s sword.
Growl. The tiger monster, which had been growling in an annoyed voice, now began using another power.
“Oh no… It even has an ability.”
Taeyon clicked his tongue, feeling a weight pressing down from above. Rarely, very rarely, there were cases where monsters also had abilities. It was truly a rare occurrence, but this monster that had built a nest and possessed a curse even had an ability.
Taeyon transformed into lightning and rushed at the tiger monster. When he transformed back into a beastkin right in front of it and brought down his sword, the tiger monster couldn’t dodge and had its front paw slashed.
Blood dripped down from the split forearm. However, it didn’t last long. The regeneration effect wasn’t something that only appeared in monsters.
The monster would also only lose its life if its neck was severed.
And it was impossible to sever the monster’s neck in one strike. First, he had to bring it down by inflicting wounds at a speed faster than its regeneration rate.
“…This won’t be easy.”
It was the moment Taeyon muttered that. Suddenly his body flew through the air and crashed into the wall. It happened in an instant. Bricks crumbled and fell to the floor with a patter, and Taeyon rose from among them.
The tiger monster giggled and laughed while its eyes flashed.
It was strange. Taeyon didn’t get excited easily during battle. But oddly, after taking one hit from that tiger monster, irritated feelings surged up.
Taeyon clenched his teeth tightly and rushed at the tiger monster once more. The moment some force tried to slam him to the floor again, he transformed into lightning and appeared above the tiger monster’s head in one second. The force of bringing down his sword was relentless enough to shatter even bones.
However, the tiger monster this time sent Taeyon flying toward the ceiling. The next moment, Taeyon appeared on the floor again.
All of that happened in an instant.
Kaniel couldn’t even properly see that rapid exchange. When he blinked, Taeyon appeared from above, and when he blinked again, he appeared on the floor. Each time, the tiger monster moved nimbly to dodge Taeyon’s attacks or swung its front paws to attack.
During that time, the curse continued attacking Taeyon, and Kaniel’s mana was gradually wearing down too.
Taeyon’s condition wasn’t very good either. He had only allowed one hit at the very beginning, and other than that, he had succeeded in attacking every time. However, while the tiger monster’s wounds regenerated easily, Taeyon was using his ability excessively.
Emitting electricity or dropping lightning didn’t use that much power, but the ability to transform into lightning consumed a lot of power. And consuming a lot of power meant that the ability wavelength would shake more.
“Ugh…”
If Taeyon had been a beastkin familiar with ability use and tuning through many experiences, he might have been able to lead this situation more advantageously. However, he was a beginner who had only experienced tuning a few times.
Taeyon instinctively knew that at this rate, he would be exhausted first. The method he chose was to attack even more intensely.
Electric strikes that bloomed following Taeyon’s gesture shot out toward the tiger monster.
BOOM! BANG! BOOOOM! BOOM!
The tiger monster approached Taeyon while nimbly dodging the electric strikes pouring down in succession. However, the closer it got, the more accurately the electric strikes came down at it, so it couldn’t approach beyond a certain point.
Then, the tiger monster that had been growling irritably couldn’t dodge the rapidly pouring electric strikes and got electrocuted.
KRAAASH!!
Along with a sharp scream, the tiger monster suddenly began to grow giant. As its sitting height became taller than the ceiling, the ceiling collapsed and the walls crumbled. Vision was briefly obscured by the falling rubble and dust from the ceiling, and Taeyon had to step back to avoid being hit by the debris.
