Kaniel coughed even though he was hiding far away.
Grrrrr….
The tiger beast, having withstood the electric shock, let out a sharp growl, then snatched Piyod with its tail and swiftly fled through the ceiling it had destroyed.
“N-no! I don’t want to, let go!”
Piyod’s terrified screams continued at length.
Hearing that, Taeyon hurriedly tried to chase after it but staggered as if feeling dizzy. Kaniel rushed over frantically and supported him.
“Taeyon, are you okay?!”
Though he couldn’t come forward because of being told to hide, who knows how many times he’d wanted to run out. But it was obvious he’d only be in the way if he did, so he couldn’t do anything. The helplessness at that time was painfully acute.
“I’m fine… Kugh….”
The fingertips of Taeyon, who staggered and leaned on Kaniel, were trembling from being hit by the curse. The powerful curse that burst from the giant tiger beast’s body had, in an instant, broken through the detoxification spell.
“<The power to reverse a body tainted by poison….>”
Kaniel quickly cast the detoxification spell again. The curse that had already taken hold powerfully only completely fell away after reciting the spell two more times.
“I’m sorry. My magic is too weak…!”
The curse had fallen away, but the trembling of Taeyon’s fingertips didn’t subside. The pain from when the curse invaded still remained.
Looking at Taeyon’s fingertips with a tearful face, then looking up because it was strange that no answer came back, he was frowning with his eyes closed as if dizzy.
“Kaniel, sorry but… can I lean on you for a moment?”
“What? Of course. Lean on me as much as you want.”
Kaniel stood firmly on the ground, expecting Taeyon’s weight to shift toward him. But what Taeyon did was a bit different from expectation.
He spread both arms and pulled Kaniel into an embrace. Taeyon’s body did tilt slightly toward him, but he didn’t feel enough weight to call it leaning. Instead, he felt a heavy sensation from being deeply pulled in.
Kaniel, who had been blank for a moment, rolled his eyes and awkwardly spread his hands to wrap around Taeyon’s back. When he patted it like that, Taeyon exhaled hot breath on his nape.
“Hik….”
“Ah. Sorry….”
“No! I-I’m fine, but…. Are you feeling very bad? Is it because you used your ability? Like, do you feel like you might go berserk…?”
“Yeah. I’ll be fine if I rest like this for a bit….”
Taeyon’s forehead, as he shook his head, touched Kaniel’s nape. Kaniel slightly shrank his shoulders at the ticklish feeling.
Strangely, his heart beat fast.
“Taeyon, I think you need to receive tuning….”
“Yeah.”
“You can’t keep feeling unwell like this.”
“Right.”
“Are you actually listening to me?”
“Mmm….”
Taeyon answered in a drowsy voice, mumbling. He said he was leaning to rest, but somehow his condition seemed to be getting worse and worse. Kaniel let out a deep sigh and held Taeyon securely so he wouldn’t slide and fall. For now, it seemed he’d have to wait until Taeyon came to his senses.
Taeyon’s condition was of course gradually improving. The reason that had slightly flown away from being heated up in battle returned, the ears that had sharply caught even small sounds gradually became ordinarily dull, and the keen sixth sense also slowly subsided. As the sensation of feeling everything around him as a threat subsided, an indescribable peace came.
He knew the tiger beast had only fled and hadn’t been properly caught yet, but he felt as if the battle had ended.
“Kaniel, if it weren’t for you, I would….”
“Yeah. Yeah.”
You would have collapsed without a pillar. Kaniel answered perfunctorily, not knowing what kind of eyes Taeyon was making, and patted his back.
Looking at Kaniel who knew nothing, Taeyon felt a desire surge to confess everything and then swallow him up in one bite. He wanted to open his mouth wide and chew on Kaniel’s head. Not painfully, but a little startlingly.
It was an instinctive desire he had as a wolf.
But instead of acting on his desire, Taeyon buried his nose in Kaniel’s nape and deeply inhaled his body scent.
“I think I’m coming back to life now….”
“Are you feeling a bit better?”
“Yeah. Thanks, Kaniel.”
“Don’t mention it. When this is over, please find a tuner. I’m worried.”
Kaniel hid his complex inner feelings and spoke sternly. Compared to Taeyon’s health problem, his own complex inner feelings were nothing.
In the first place, thinking that he felt like Taeyon was being taken from him—even to himself it was such a strange thought he was curious about his own psychology.
“That’s fine, so don’t worry.”
Taeyon, who raised his body that had been leaning on Kaniel, gently stroked his head. Kaniel closed his eyes and pleasantly accepted that skinship.
Actually, he wanted to tell Kaniel everything. But he wasn’t confident whether Kaniel could accept the explanation that would inevitably follow if he talked about tuning.
Wasn’t he an innocent man who seemed like he’d run away just from hearing the story that he might want kisses or acts beyond that? Yet Taeyon found it hard to accept tuning by just holding him forever or only holding hands.
It seemed like he didn’t originally think this way, but when did his thoughts change?
Taeyon shook off the continuing thoughts and looked up at the broken ceiling.
“Then shall we chase after it again?”
* * *
The tiger beast that ran out to the manor house courtyard surveyed the surrounding situation. Dozens of knights surrounding the manor house, and its subordinate monsters that were gradually being pushed back despite regenerating.
It was clear the situation wasn’t good.
The tiger beast opened its mouth wide and roared, “Kwaaaa.” A cry like rolling thunder tore through the air.
And the monsters began to split. Severed limbs wriggled and soon transformed into monsters identical to the main body and bared their teeth. The monsters even cut off parts of their own bodies to split.
“Damn it! What’s this now!”
“The nest has upgraded another level, what else?”
“From now on, be careful not to let limbs fall off!”
The knights who had been facing the monsters clicked their tongues and began to swing their swords more carefully. This was one of the frightening aspects of a nest. Knights had to be careful to cut off heads without letting limbs fall off the monsters that rushed in recklessly, barely feeling pain.
Satisfied with that situation, the tiger beast moved its tail to put Piyod down.
“……”
Piyod looked up at the tiger beast with a blank face, then slid down to sit on the ground. It was the aftereffect of hearing the roar imbued with the beast’s power right beside him. His head was blank and his limbs wouldn’t properly receive strength.
“Damn….”
Piyod tried to stand up in beastkin form, but his trembling limbs just kept buckling. Unable to flee or hide, he felt self-loathing at the thought that he was truly utterly useless.
It was when he clenched his fist with his powerless hand and slammed it on the ground.
“Wh-what’s this…?”
A flower fell on his head. At the heavy feeling, when he looked up, a flower crown was placed on top of his head. It was a bizarre flower crown woven from flowers that had all withered and dried up and were dying.
For a moment, Piyod felt a strange sense of déjà vu seeing it.
“This….”
Confusion settled in Piyod’s expression. When he raised his head to look up, the tiger beast licked his cheek with its damp tongue. It stung a little.
Piyod placed his hand on his cheek and hesitantly opened his mouth.
“Ma…”
At that moment, something flew over and struck the tiger beast. It was a wolf—not as large as the tiger beast, but quite big. The two beasts became entangled and began to fight.
Piyod stumbled backward at the dust and pebbles flying this way and that. It was Taeyon. Taeyon in animal form was fighting the tiger beast.
“Piyod!”
Turning his head at the voice calling him, Piyod discovered Kaniel approaching stealthily and ran toward him.
“You waited, didn’t you? Sorry for being late.”
“No. I saw Lord Taeyon use his ability earlier. Without even a tuner, for my sake, to that extent….”
“Don’t worry. He rested a bit and got better.”
“He… got better?”
Piyod looked at Kaniel blankly with bewildered eyes. Because an ability user’s broken ability wavelength wasn’t something that improved just by ‘resting a bit.’ If it really were like that, ability users wouldn’t desperately search for tuners.
However, the doubt was soon pushed back. Because he had a more important problem right now. Piyod, who glanced at the tiger beast, asked carefully.
“Um, you really couldn’t find Matiel?”
“No. We searched every room from the top floor, but he wasn’t visible. Azram said when the beast appeared, Matiel and Piyod were at the manor house….”
“That’s right. We were there together.”
“Why were you there?”
That day, Matiel and Piyod had decided to stay at the lakeside alone and continue enjoying camping. But on that particular day, the wind blew so much that it wasn’t a situation where they could sleep in the tent.
In the end, after much deliberation, the two concluded they should return to the manor house before it got any later.
