chapter_0559

559 – Gaurik’s Homecoming

559 – Gaurik’s Homecoming

“Why is there one more here now?”

Despite the maid’s cold glare, Gaeul was engrossed in her bubble play.

When Gaeul jumped onto the basin filled with bubbles, they spread everywhere.

All of us—me, Ravi, and even the maid who had been scolding us—ended up covered in bubbles.

“Yay!”

Gaeul seemed to be having so much fun that she laughed and bounced on top of the bubbles.

Thanks to that, we ended up getting even more bubbles all over us.

“Heh…”

“Y-You…!”

Gaeul was delighted, while Ravi, though enjoying herself, kept glancing nervously at the maid.

The maid’s fists were trembling with anger.

“What kind of trouble is this?! Huh?!”

The maid, now sporting a bubble beard, approached us, clutching her apron.

Gaeul was startled by the maid’s furious expression, and Ravi seemed to shrink back, her ears drooping.

“W-We were just playing for a moment while doing laundry… I’m sorry…!”

Ravi waved her hands and took a step back.

Seeing the terrified Ravi, I realized what I needed to do here.

I had sent her here hoping to help the kind and innocent Ravi.

Right?

I firmly held Ravi’s trembling hand.

“Ravi, in situations like this, you do it like this.”

“Huh? How?”

“Like this… Run away!”

Holding onto Ravi’s hand, I dashed past the maid.

When I looked back, she was watching us with a blank expression.

“Gaeul! Run!”

“…Chuin!”

Gaeul, a step behind, finally caught up with us.

Fortunately, it seemed the maid had no intention of chasing us.

“You guys…!”

Ha!

The maid let out a deep sigh, and I could see Ravi fidgeting nervously.

“W-We’re going to get in trouble for this…!”

“It’s okay! If anyone scolds you, I’ll scold them!”

“Y-You will?”

“Yeah! Even though I look like this, I’m really fierce!”

I raised my wildness for all to see.

Then I let out a roar into the air.

“Graah!”

“Ugh!”

Surprised by my unexpected ferocity, Ravi’s rabbit eyes widened.

I patted Ravi’s back with my tail.

“Ravi, you try it too! Graah!”

“Gr- Graah?!”

Ravi let out a roar into the air.

It sounded surprisingly satisfying.

“Raaah.”

Gaeul, who had stuck close behind us, also roared along.

**

“Ha.”

Natalie, the maid of the Arimuer Baron, sighed as she watched the fleeing Beastmen children.

Those little ones are really causing trouble.

Natalie grumbled as she shook off the bubbles stuck to her face.

Her maid outfit was damp, and her hands were slippery.

How could a maid, who always had to look presentable, end up like this?

If the head maid saw her in such a state…

“Natali?”

The head maid, Margaret, appeared as if to mock Natalie’s worries.

The sound of children’s laughter and their roars echoed.

It was strange that the head maid didn’t hear such loud noises.

“What’s going on, Natalie?”

“I’m sorry. The Beastmen children were playing around…”

“Beastmen children?”

Beastmen children?

As far as Margaret knew, there was only one Beastman in the mansion.

In a small baron’s household, the head maid also took care of various matters, so Margaret could sense something was off.

“Were there any other Beastmen besides Ravi?”

“Yes. There were three of us, including Ravi…”

“I see. Please continue with your duties.”

Head maid Margaret hurriedly made her way to the Arimuer Baron’s office.

The Arimuer Baron, who was suffering from a headache due to work stress, frowned as he greeted Margaret.

“Head maid, what is it?”

“Baron Arimuer, have you recently brought any other Beastmen into the mansion?”

“No, other than that rascal Ravi.”

“……”

So it was as I suspected.

The head maid’s expression grew serious.

Since she rarely showed her emotions, Baron Arimuer instinctively sensed that something bad was happening.

“Is there a problem?”

“Yes… Maid Natalie said she saw other Beastmen children in the mansion.”

“Beastmen?”

“Yes. They say they ran away with Ravi, and I was wondering if there might be something from the Beastmen side…”

Margaret trailed off, observing Arimuer.

It was her principle to leave the judgment to the master.

“Did the Beastmen find out?”

The Beastmen had a strong sense of kinship.

If they heard that one of their kind was captured, they would likely come to rescue them.

The problem was how Ravi’s existence had leaked to the outside.

The mansion was the entirety of Ravi’s activity area.

The Beastmen’s territory was far from here.

There were three territories between the mansion and the Beastmen’s area, and how could they find out about Ravi being here?

Unless there was a traitor, it was nearly impossible to discover.

“Margaret, has Ravi ever gone outside the mansion?”

“I haven’t seen her leave, but given that the elite troops have been deployed elsewhere, there might be a gap somewhere.”

“Ugh…”

Margaret’s words were accurate.

Most of the elite troops had been sent to search for the Blessing of the Water God, leaving only a ragtag group of soldiers and mercenaries to maintain appearances.

It was a decision made under the belief that the eastern nobles would not invade, but who would have thought such a problem would arise?

Was this the limit of a small baron’s household?

Baron Arimuer frowned at the throbbing headache.

“Baron! Baron!”

Just as Baron Arimuer was lost in deep thought, someone burst through the office door.

It was Hans, the most capable among the remaining ragtag group.

Though even he was still quite lacking.

“The Beastmen, the Beastmen are…!”

“…Coming.”

So it has come to this.

Baron Arimuer let out a long sigh.

**

“Everyone, run!”

I led the children as we dashed around the mansion.

It was a huge mansion, and with so few people around, we could run freely.

We checked out the dining room and the library.

We even climbed up onto the roof of the mansion with the kids.

“Yum yum.”

Gaeul even had the luxury of eating an apple she had stolen from the dining room.

It was strangely empty, which worked to our advantage.

“Are you not coming down from the roof?!”

A guard or soldier aimed a crossbow at the roof.

Fortunately, the bolts couldn’t reach the high roof.

“That won’t reach.”

“Magic!”

Gaeul stuck her tongue out and taunted the soldiers below.

Ravi seemed to decide to enjoy the situation as well, giggling.

“What do we do now, Gyeoul?”

“It’s okay, just enjoy it.”

“Enjoy?”

“Yeah. I’ll figure something out, so just have fun.”

“Wow! Okay!”

Ravi’s eyes sparkled, and a soldier threw a stone at us.

Using the Beastmen’s unique reflexes, I dodged the stone aimed directly at my head.

“Ugh.”

Looking down, I saw about twenty soldiers aiming their bows at us.

Behind them, a man dressed quite elegantly was slowly approaching.

He looked somewhat like a noble.

“Just kids, huh?”

He muttered softly as he looked at us.

It sounded like he was talking to himself, but my Beastmen ears caught it.

“Get away.”

I shouted at the soldiers who seemed to be their leaders.

However, he showed no intention of backing down.

“How about you come down and talk?”

“No way. Get away.”

I had told Hanyeoreum to respond like this when a strange person approached.

I felt a sense of pride that I could finally use it today.

“If you refuse to cooperate, we’ll have no choice but to use force.”

Dozens of bows were aimed at us.

Startled, I drew my own bow.

‘What should I do?’

I could dodge arrows with my reflexes, but if the kids got hit by stray arrows, it would be a disaster.

In that tense atmosphere, Gaeul made a fierce expression and extended her hand forward.

“Jangka!”

“……?”

The soldiers paused at Gaeul’s intervention.

Seeing this, Gaeul pulled out an emerald-colored gem from her bag.

It was an incredible item that activated the mind.

Nimble-

Gaeul licked the gem, and her ears perked up.

Mmm.

Gaeul nodded her head and then looked back at me and Ravi.

“Juin, Gaeul has become smart.”

With her mind activated, Gaeul spoke well.

Without realizing it, I clapped my hands, and Gaeul covered her head with a cloth.

“Medicine!”

With a shout, the cloth fell away.

Gaeul, who had been under the cloth, had disappeared somewhere.

“Huh?”

“W-What?!”

“She disappeared…!”

Everyone, including Ravi and the mansion’s people, who didn’t know Gaeul’s abilities, looked at the spot where Gaeul had been with astonished eyes.

I too waited for Gaeul to return, staring at the portal she had vanished through.

“Chuin!”

Contrary to my expectations, Gaeul appeared in a completely different place.

I didn’t know when she had returned, but Gaeul was standing behind someone referred to as the lord.

“Gaeul has come back!”

With a bright smile, Gaeul waved her hand next to our Master, Park Tae-san, and Jeffrey.

Seeing the three of them, I felt a wave of relief.

“Hmm.”

Our Master looked up at me and Ravi on the roof.

Then he glanced at the soldiers aiming their bows at us.

“Hmm.”

Master’s breath deepened.

A strange sound came from Master’s clenched hand, as if a bone had cracked.

I worried that he might have broken something.

“Ugh…”

As I looked down at the Masters, I pulled the string of the security buzzer that Ensia had given me in the past.

Beep beep beep-

The emergency siren rang out, and the Masters would immediately realize that it was a critical situation.

A word from the author (Author’s note)

Thank you so much for reading today, PIA1747014585384!

Thank you for the comments and recommendations! They always give me strength…!

Gyeoul, assemble…!

───

Thank you for the 10 coins, AABABBA!

Thank you for the 2 coins, Byeolbitgonyangi!