It was the same when he had been wronged in a dream yesterday and clung to Taeyon upon waking. Even though he had done something improper to the very person who had scolded him for being improper just the day before, Taeyon hadn’t gotten angry. He had simply explained what to do if such a situation arose.
From the looks of things, it seemed that hulking man was already acquainted with Taeyon, and he was the type who couldn’t see straight when he got excited, which had apparently caused Taeyon great difficulty on multiple occasions.
Somehow, it was intriguing.
As Kaniel found himself staring absentmindedly, Taeyon, sensing his gaze, came back to him and checked his condition.
“Your trembling has subsided.”
“I thought I was going to die, so I had no choice…”
“You did well. Thanks to you, we survived. And thank you for saving that guy too. He’s pathetic, but he’s not someone who should die in a place like this.”
“I’m the one who survived thanks to you, Taeyon. At the end, when the magic wore off…”
“You were excellent enough.”
As the praise continued, Kaniel’s cheeks flushed. Perhaps because he could count on his hands the number of times he’d been praised while living on the Floating Island, whenever he heard praise like this face-to-face, he would heat up just like now.
“Please stop…”
“When someone does something worthy of thanks, you must express sufficient gratitude.”
He already knew that was Taeyon’s way. The day after saving people with the protective barrier in the village last time, hadn’t he deliberately waited in the room for Kaniel to wake up and then shown him the people he’d saved outside?
He’d been thinking since then that Taeyon seemed to be someone of high standing. A commander, perhaps, or someone like a captain who led knights.
And a high-ranking person who was very good at managing his subordinates.
‘But who praises Taeyon?’
The thought suddenly occurring to him, Kaniel impulsively said:
“You were excellent too, Taeyon. Thank you for protecting me until the end.”
Taeyon, who had widened his eyes slightly as if surprised, soon chuckled and gently ruffled Kaniel’s hair.
It was then that an unfamiliar voice suddenly interjected.
“Please introduce me too. Don’t treat me like I’m not even here.”
The warm atmosphere shattered in an instant, and Taeyon turned to look at the hulking man with a cold face. However, the man shamelessly attempted to introduce himself to Kaniel.
“I’m Arkan Daylus. I work as a knight at Oblyad Castle.”
“Uh… hello…? I’m Kaniel… um…”
He was literally a man like a bear. Overwhelmed by that bulk, Kaniel unconsciously moved slightly behind Taeyon and murmured in a crawling voice.
At that sight, Arkan seemed flustered and grinned awkwardly. Because of that, his fierce face contorted even more frighteningly.
“Hiiik…”
“I smiled, so why are you scared?!”
Kaniel flinched and stole glances at Arkan from over Taeyon’s shoulder. He wasn’t sure, but something was scary. It was like having a fierce brown bear right before his eyes…
When Kaniel reflexively grabbed Taeyon’s clothes as Arkan stretched out his neck with a flustered face, seemingly trying to look at him, Taeyon kicked Arkan’s shin.
“Aah! T-Taeyon-nim! Why are you hitting me?”
“Don’t shove your fierce face forward. You’re scaring him.”
“No, what did I even do…”
“You threw your spear while shrieking.”
“It wasn’t shrieking!”
When Taeyon snorted, Arkan drooped his shoulders sullenly.
“I said I was sorry…”
Though he was big, his hunched shoulders made him look just like a large dog that had caused trouble and was cowering in a corner. It still didn’t match his face, but Kaniel felt his fear subside a little.
Keenly catching this, Taeyon introduced Arkan again.
“Kaniel. That guy lives at Oblyad Castle, so it’ll help to know him. Since he needs to repay you for saving his life today, use him as an errand boy or something.”
“What? An errand boy, how could I…”
No matter what, telling him to use a knight who hunts monsters as an errand boy was too much of a joke. Kaniel shook his head, but Arkan, realizing this was also the price of Taeyon’s forgiveness, quickly knelt down.
As the hulking man’s eye level lowered, the sense of intimidation subsided somewhat.
“Did this small person save my life?”
At Arkan’s appearance, clearly having no idea what had happened earlier, Taeyon pressed between his brows as if getting a headache.
“The wind that Kaniel summoned stopped you from falling to your death.”
“Summoned wind? No, how does that make sense?”
“Kaniel is a mage.”
“A mage, you say? What’s that?”
“The wind blew and pushed your body up earlier, didn’t it? That kind of power is called magic.”
Arkan, tilting one of his round ears upward and the other to the side, scratched his head.
“Isn’t that an ability?”
“You…”
After a moment of silence, Taeyon sighed and clicked his tongue.
“When you get back, retake your history lessons.”
“What? Why such an ordeal…?!”
“Archmage Abloff.”
“Ah… Ah! That archmage! I remember now. But mages are all humans… aren’t they…?”
As the gaze shifted to him, Kaniel hesitated briefly before removing his hood. Since Taeyon was explaining everything like that, it seemed it was okay for the fact that he was human to be revealed. And the rabbit beastkin who was a trainee at Oblyad hadn’t minded humans either…
When his head without anything attached appeared, Arkan wore a blank expression for a moment. What must it feel like to see something that should be there missing? It probably wasn’t the same feeling as seeing something that shouldn’t be there, like himself.
Kaniel glanced furtively at the round, short ears visible on top of Arkan’s head, gauging what kind of reaction would come.
“I thought humans were extinct… No, yes. In that case, I must repay the debt for my life. I will gladly become your errand boy, Kaniel.”
Arkan, who had been blinking as if flustered, bowed his head slightly.
“But you saying this means Kaniel will be staying at Oblyad Castle from now on?”
“Yes, I’m going to the research lab.”
“The research lab, you say? That place is basically a storage room… Oops. I’m sorry.”
Basically a storage room? He hadn’t heard that! Kaniel looked back at Taeyon with a shocked face.
“That’s right. But with just you there, it’ll soon become an excellent research lab.”
When you say it like that, I can’t even get angry. Kaniel narrowed his eyes and glared at Taeyon sideways, but couldn’t help the corners of his mouth twitching.
Right. Since it seemed research on monsters had hardly been done on the Surface, that could be the case.
“Now, if you’re done with introductions, let’s make a plan for what to do from here. First of all, tracking the demonic energy is impossible. Demonic energy is everywhere.”
Demonic energy was scattered all over this place. Its concentration was also thicker than before, which was why even Taeyon seemed able to sense it to some degree.
“Still, I think we’re closer to our destination.”
“Right. Seeing this many traces, this area is definitely the hideout.”
“Maybe we took a shortcut thanks to falling.”
Taeyon clicked his tongue at Arkan, who was grinning as if it was thanks to him, oblivious to the mood. Then he gestured with his chin for him to stand up, as he was still kneeling.
Though his appearance still had a tremendous sense of intimidation, it felt much better than before. Perhaps it was because he’d learned that, unlike his exterior, he wasn’t such a scary beastkin.
“I’ll lead. Arkan, you’re at the back.”
Kaniel thought it was fortunate he wasn’t particularly sensitive to demonic energy as he walked, parting the demonic energy.
Wasn’t this place originally an ancient Dwarf city? Unlike the upper area where the paths were well-paved but full of traps, this side was all rough paths but had no traps.
He thought perhaps this was a mine where minerals had been excavated. An abandoned mine at that, where all the resources had been extracted.
Perhaps because of this, the search wasn’t particularly dangerous. They suppressed their footsteps and thoroughly searched the cave.
“Here…”
Had about an hour passed since they started searching? They discovered a suspicious path. At the end of a corridor where demonic energy was clearly pooled more densely than elsewhere, there was a cave room shrouded in pitch-black darkness.
‘Are beastkin okay when they touch demonic energy?’
Kaniel hesitated a bit, but since it seemed Arkan was bewildered in the back, he just squeezed his eyes shut and followed Taeyon. Inside the thick demonic energy was a smell like something bad had been burned and left behind. Something acrid like smoke tickled his throat.
We shouldn’t stay here long.
It was when Kaniel was thinking this.
“There’s an unpleasant smell.”
Taeyon spoke in a subdued voice. Kaniel thought he was smelling the thick demonic energy like himself. But that wasn’t it.
“Kaniel, light please.”
“Yes. <Light to illuminate the darkness…!>”
An orb of light rose and illuminated the surroundings. Kaniel raised it high to brighten the area.
Unlike the outside, it was a room where the walls had been smoothed so they weren’t sharp. In one corner, several pickaxes with rotted wooden handles rolled on the floor, and next to them, small piles of stones were stacked waist-high.
