“Belly…!”
At my quiet cry, Belly turned to look at me quickly, unlike usual. He turned his head so fast it seemed like it would make a whooshing sound.
Belly’s eyes were reddish, unlike usual. His pupils, clinging thickly with grief, wavered slightly with hope. But only for a moment—he soon dejectedly hung his head to the floor. He didn’t seem to notice me.
Ah, right. I’m using concealment magic right now. It seems I’m invisible to him.
“I’m using concealment magic right now, so you won’t be able to see me.”
Belly mumbled his mouth several times as if confused, then asked quietly. His pupils shook in confusion.
“…Is it really Jack?”
“Yeah. I got caught by someone else just now, so this was the only way. Anyway, today is the last chance.”
“I…”
Belly couldn’t answer and hung his head. His dejected crown seemed to mean refusal. I wanted to persuade him a bit more, but there was no time. The duration of my concealment magic wasn’t long. I had to free him as quickly as possible.
Without waiting for Belly’s answer, I unlocked the shackles on Belly’s ankles. I had already stolen the key to unlock the shackles long ago. I might have had a talent for thievery.
“You don’t have to come with me. But you must escape today. You understand, right? I’ll draw their attention, so escape in animal form.”
“Why, why? I…”
“You understand, right, Belly? Run away. You can’t get caught.”
I gripped his small shoulders and spoke. Once I removed the shackles that blocked the flow of mana and interfered with the beastman’s shape transformation, Belly’s skin became closer to human skin. He seemed to have recovered for sure, as he didn’t seem feverish either. His usually rosy cheeks showed no trace.
Belly looked up at where my face would be with confused eyes. Then he immediately transformed into a small lizard, clung to the wall, and left my field of vision.
“Take care.”
With a smile he couldn’t see, I bid him farewell and looked at the cages holding the magical beasts.
I had already drawn attention with a scream earlier. The same method wouldn’t allow us to completely avoid people. Moreover, there was only one exit, so they would surely be blocking it. I would do the same.
But what if these magical beasts were released? I might be attacked, but for now, I had no choice but to trust that my form was invisible. I unlocked the cage of a fierce-looking magical beast the size of a lion with the key and screamed.
“There’s a thief here! Ahhh!!”
When I deliberately shouted in a rough tone, I heard the sound of noisy footsteps heading this way. Without delay, I flung open several more cages. Was it because of the sense of crisis? My hands moved faster than usual.
Bang! People kicked down the door and entered. The magical beasts rushed out like bullets toward the noisy men.
The men who came to catch me were divided into those waiting at the door and those rushing in, and both sides began to be helplessly attacked by the magical beasts. They wouldn’t have been prepared to catch magical beasts at all, so it was a natural sequence. It was the beginning of pandemonium.
I ran without giving them a single glance. Right now the magical beasts’ attention was focused on the men, but I too could be hunted at any moment. Though my form wasn’t visible, since they were magical beasts, they surely had a developed sense of smell. I couldn’t feel safe just because I was invisible.
I ran out quickly without rest until my tongue tasted sweet. But the door leading directly outside from the auction house was sealed.
“Ugh…!”
To make matters worse, the concealment magic was also being dispelled, as my fingertips were becoming opaque. Behind me, the growling of magical beasts and people’s screams constantly echoed. Fear that made my legs weak covered me as if to devour me.
I immediately entered the security booth next to me. I thought there would surely be a button there to release the blockade.
“There it is…!”
As if my thought was correct, there was an emergency blockade release button right there. It was a red button so big I couldn’t help but notice it.
However, just as I was about to press the button, I realized that a long shadow was cast over me. And that the concealment magic was about half dispelled.
“Grrrowl…”
A cry that made my legs weak. Even without looking back, I could easily guess that the magical beast I had released with my own hands was behind me. I had to somehow escape right now, but my whole body froze with fear that rose from my toes. As if the magical beast was drooling, sticky liquid dripped onto the area filled with buttons.
At this rate, I’ll die.
But there was nothing I could do. It was partly because of fear, but also because I didn’t have the ability to fight such a thing. In the end, I squeezed my eyes shut tight and prayed that my life would end in one blow. That was the moment.
Thud!
A sound like a sack full of water falling over was heard. It was a sound right behind me. Since the expected pain didn’t come either, I carefully opened my eyes and looked back.
“…Belly?”
Belly was standing in front of the magical beast, looking at me primly. The black-maned magical beast that would have attacked me had collapsed on the floor, foaming at the mouth and convulsing.
Could it be that Belly had taken down this huge magical beast?
“Did you help me?”
“…”
But Belly just looked at me without saying anything.
Was that not it? Then perhaps he came here because there was no way out? And then saw the magical beast and dealt with it? If he was in lizard form, there would have been ventilation ducts too… Well, since I hadn’t gone there myself, I wouldn’t know. There might not have been a way out.
I pressed the blockade release button in front of me and spoke. With a rattling sound, the iron bars blocking the door lifted up.
“Now, let’s go out. If we don’t leave now, it’ll be dangerous.”
“…”
However, Belly didn’t move at all.
It was clear that Belly wouldn’t follow me. Judging from how he defeated the magical beast, it seemed he would have no problem surviving on his own. It seemed he had also somewhat resolved the groaning he’d been doing in my room all this time.
So I had my own problems to deal with. I had to leave right away.
I had already finished saying goodbye to Belly. It was difficult to say anything more to someone who wouldn’t hold my hand and gave no answer no matter how much I called out. My connection with Belly ended here.
I tried to pass by him coldly enough to feel heartless. But the moment I tried to pass—
“Take Belly… with you.”
Belly murmured in a voice that seemed about to fade. The rebellious casual speech he always used disappeared, replaced by a gentle, submissive tone like a lamb. Somehow it felt familiar.
I was so startled as if seeing a ghost that I turned to look at Belly. Belly didn’t miss that moment and pleaded with me.
“I, I… Belly can do many things. Me, take me…”
He pleaded like a young child abandoned in midwinter. Holding my hand tightly and trembling, he looked like a pitiful dog soaked in rain. No, in this case, would it be a lizard in the rain?
Anyway, there was no reason for me not to take him with me. Rather, taking him was better for me. After all, my original goal had been to persuade him and leave together.
I said with a grin.
“Alright, alright. Let’s quickly go out together, quickly. We’re escaping right now.”
“Don’t worry.”
At my words that I would take him with me, Belly’s eyes sparkled as he held my hand tightly. And then something amazing happened. As Belly’s body became transparent, my body also became transparent. It looked exactly like the concealment magic I had just used.
“Belly can do things like this.”
“Oh… Ohhh…”
The abilities of beastmen really are amazing…
Thanks to Belly’s ability, we could leave comfortably unlike when we entered. No, if it weren’t for Belly, I would surely have been caught on the way out of the auction house.
At the entrance, many people were running toward us, perhaps to catch the magical beasts inside. By a hair’s breadth, we were able to cross paths with them and get out.
* * *
Passing by people who had woken up from the midnight commotion to watch, we returned to a familiar space.
“It’s okay to dispel the concealment now.”
The two of us faced each other in the dark room. Belly looked up at me intently without showing any signs of fatigue. For some reason, his pupils were full of affection.
Before I could say anything, Belly’s clear voice rang through the room.
“Master.”
“What?”
It was shocking words. A shock like being struck by lightning ran through my body. Though dirty, I picked my ear with my finger and asked Belly.
“What did you say? I think I misheard.”
“I said Master.”
“…Ma, Master?”
At the unexpectedly shocking words and actions, I looked at Belly with a stammer, but far from retracting his words, he smiled and knelt on one knee before me as if a knight taking an oath and said.
“Since you saved Belly’s life, I will serve you as my Master from now on.”
“Uh… No, there’s no need to…”
“Since you saved my life, naturally my life belongs to Master…”
He looked up at me with eerily shining eyes for a moment. His shadowed pupils rippled murkily.
“If you abandon me, I will die right here on the spot.”
At the unusual words, it was inevitable that the child before my eyes momentarily appeared to be a madman. I broke out in a cold sweat.
All of this was too much for me to experience as just an extra. An extra receiving the loyalty of a character with obviously special abilities. This… didn’t make sense.
But the deed was already done, and all I could do was smile, help Belly stand up, and ask if he had eaten. By the way, that way of speaking seemed familiar—was it my imagination?
