Ch.374Feared Outcome (4)

As it was before, my daily routine became simpler after I started receiving special training from my father.

After waking up in the morning and finishing a light workout, I train with my father. During that time, Ariel either watches me or Adelia takes her around personally.

Following this pattern, time flies by before I know it, and dinner time approaches. Along with it comes the pain.

It’s easy to focus on training through my unique concentration that makes it impossible to escape once I’m fully immersed. The problem comes afterward.

Father also said my concentration isn’t entirely beneficial in combat. In life-or-death battles, small variables can lead to big outcomes, so I need to be aware of my surroundings.

But since it’s a habit I’ve had since childhood, it’s practically impossible to fix. That’s why Father advised that the only option is to learn how to use it well.

Anyway, this is roughly my daily life. Training with Father, writing, playing with Ariel, and so on.

Though it feels confining in the limited space of the dormitory, I’m living a fairly frugal life.

“Did you also receive training from your father in the past?”

“Yes. I also sparred with my siblings.”

Sometimes I spend time doing something different, like now, as I’m brushing the beastkin Leona’s hair.

Each time I brush, clumps of brown hair fall out, which I gather roughly and toss on the floor.

As Leona’s mother Lucia mentioned before, since Leona is a beastkin, her hair falls out excessively but grows back just as quickly.

Because of this, fur management is essential, and while she can handle other areas herself, someone else needs to manage her hair to maintain cleanliness.

Originally, Lucia managed Leona’s hair, but now that responsibility has fallen to me, so I visit the dormitory once every three days.

“Purr. Purr.”

Pleased with my brushing, Leona began making the distinctive purring sound of a cat.

The animal ears on top of her head twitched, and her tail swayed from side to side.

It gave me a strange feeling, as if I were grooming a pet.

“Did you get hurt when sparring with your siblings?”

“I got hurt a lot. Broken bones were common, and in severe cases, I almost had my internal organs spill out.”

“…Don’t you die?”

“Beastkin heal quickly, so that level of injury is minor. What would be fatal to other races is probably just a serious injury for beastkin. We evolved that way from living in harsh environments since ancient times.”

Seeing how casually she mentions such horrifying things, Leona is definitely a beastkin. A race that truly fits the description of a warrior tribe.

“Of course, my recovery ability is weaker than my siblings. As you know, I’m only half-beastkin. Instead, I’m smarter, so I know all the techniques.”

“Techniques… Don’t you use weapons? I heard that while beastkin didn’t use weapons in the past, they do now?”

Until the founding king, Hick, established Animus, beastkin fought only with their bare bodies. They had no need for weapons.

They have claws harder than steel and teeth that can chew through rock.

Plus, their robust physical abilities make the reach advantage of weapons irrelevant.

But history clearly records that when Hick took up weapons to establish civilization, he chose a large double-bladed axe.

For utilizing the beastkin’s powerful strength to its fullest, no weapon is more suitable than an axe.

“Not really. I’m far from the line of succession, and I use my brain more than my body, so I don’t use weapons. My natural strength isn’t as great as my siblings either. That’s why I prefer grappling over striking.”

“Grappling… That would suit you.”

“Want to spar?”

Leona turned to me with a grin. It was a smile full of playfulness rather than serious intent.

I chuckled at her invitation, then grabbed her head with both hands and turned it back to its original position.

Training with Father is more than enough. I’m completely drained after each session, so there’s no way I could spar with someone else.

‘When I think about it, Nicole and Adel are really amazing.’

As martial arts instructors, they serve as sparring partners for students every weekend.

No matter how strong their constitution, the fact that they spar without rest makes me naturally respect them.

As they say, the closer you get, the further they seem—that’s exactly how I feel right now.

“How are your classes these days? Are they manageable?”

“Everything except physics and math is fine. I can’t understand a word of those no matter how much I listen.”

“That’s normal. If you could understand them, you’d have become a magician long ago.”

“You don’t understand either? Weren’t you a prophet?”

“There’s much more I don’t know than what I do know. And I’m not a prophet.”

In this world, physics and mathematics derived from magic. They are disciplines born to analyze magic.

Most physicists and mathematicians are magicians, individuals for whom even the word “genius” is insufficient.

Can ordinary people understand what such individuals explain? It’s practically impossible.

Because of this, students who understand their explanations mostly become magicians.

‘Come to think of it, there’s still no institution specifically for training magicians.’

Originally, humanities and sciences should be separated, but Halo Academy isn’t like that.

It’s only divided into martial arts and literature, with nothing else.

Though the scholarship itself is developed, the lack of proper classification shows there’s still a long way to go.

‘It doesn’t matter to me since I’m in humanities.’

I continued brushing Leona’s hair diligently. Since it’s summer, I’m slightly worried about how much hair falls out in clumps with each brush.

They say it grows back as much as it falls out, but it seems like too much.

Regardless, Leona is purring contentedly at my touch.

“Have you ever thought about cutting your hair?”

“It would return to normal in a month anyway.”

“It grows that fast?”

“This is moderate because it’s summer. It’s worse in winter. This is relatively manageable.”

“Seems like it needs intensive care.”

“That’s right. So I’ll be counting on you in the future, husband dear?”

Leona rubbed her head against my chest with a sly request. It really feels like raising a pet.

I smiled gently at her aegyo and softly stroked her head. Her purring intensified.

“Oh, right. Leona. Can I ask you something?”

“What is it?”

“I’m curious about how beastkin view demon worshippers.”

“They’re bastards. Not only did they enslave us, but they also used us as sacrifices. Our country officially protested too.”

As Leona said, Animus was also outraged by the current situation. Being victims of genocide during the Race War makes them particularly sensitive to such matters.

Especially since Animus isn’t yet politically stable, their outrage indicates the severity of the situation.

“Bastards?”

“Huh?”

“Hmm?”

While Leona was grumbling, another voice interrupted. It had the distinctive lisp of a child.

As soon as I heard that voice, I stopped brushing and shifted my gaze. Leona did the same.

Looking over, I saw Ariel staring at us with her index finger in her mouth.

“Ah, Ariel? Weren’t you sleeping?”

“Just woke up.”

Ariel toddled toward us as she answered. Then she noticed the clumps of hair on the floor.

She picked up one of the scattered hair clumps and stared at it curiously.

Looking at it with fascination, she opened her mouth wide…

“Hey! That’s not for eating. It’s dirty, dirty.”

“Dirty?”

“Yes. It’s dirty.”

I barely managed to stop her from eating it. No matter how well she eats, even Ariel would get sick from eating something like that.

Following my instruction, Ariel looked at the well-clumped brown hair and put it down on the floor.

Meanwhile, Leona, who had been staring at her, muttered quietly.

“…She really is cute.”

“Hmm?”

“Nothing. Nothing at all. But is she really an angel?”

“Yes.”

“Born from a seed given by Hirt?”

“Yes.”

I had already explained everything about Ariel to Leona long ago. However, since Ariel was sleeping then, this is their first face-to-face meeting.

Ariel also seemed fascinated by seeing a beastkin for the first time, her golden eyes sparkling as they met Leona’s.

I paused the brushing so she could see more comfortably. Their meeting seemed more important right now.

“Up we go.”

I picked up Ariel and brought her to eye level with Leona. Even as I held her, Ariel’s gaze remained fixed on Leona.

The same was true for Leona. Their similar golden eyes were locked on each other.

In the suddenly quiet atmosphere, I softly spoke.

“Ariel, say hello. This is Leona, who will be another mother to Ariel in the future.”

“Mother?”

“Yes. Mother.”

It was an odd introduction, but I couldn’t think of anything else appropriate to say.

Though there was still some time until Leona’s heat cycle, it was already decided, so it wasn’t bad to let her know in advance.

“But she doesn’t have Daddy’s energy?”

“…She will soon. Not yet, so you can call her sister for now.”

“Mmm… okay. Then, Leona sister?”

“C-can I hold her?”

Completely captivated by Ariel, Leona asked me urgently.

With her arms outstretched and feet stomping, she clearly showed her desperate desire.

She looked so desperate that I carefully handed Ariel over as she wished.

Ariel didn’t seem to mind Leona either, willingly settling into her arms.

“Sniff… Haah. She really is Hirt’s child. The scent of nature is strong.”

Leona immediately sniffed Ariel, focusing on the sprout on top of her head.

“…You can smell even that?”

“Of course. Even as a half-blood, my senses are close to a beastkin’s. But when will this sprout grow?”

“I don’t know either. Probably as she grows up?”

*Lick*

Before I could finish answering, Leona made a sudden move. She licked Ariel’s cheek with her tongue.

I knew this was Leona’s strong expression of affection, but I wasn’t sure how Ariel would take it.

“…?”

Fortunately, Ariel’s reaction was neither good nor bad. She just looked puzzled about what Leona was doing.

Pleased with this expression, Leona began licking her cheek repeatedly.

The soft, mochi-like cheek wobbled under the grooming tongue.

An ordinary person would have rejected such an expression of affection long ago, but Ariel is an angel.

And one who could read minds, so she had probably already understood Leona’s feelings.

*Swish* *Swish*

While Leona continued her affectionate gestures, her tail moved toward Ariel.

Ariel, seemingly forgetting she was being groomed, shifted her gaze to the tail.

Eventually, after watching the swaying tail, she grabbed it firmly with her tiny hand.

“Wow.”

“*Lick* Curious?”

It seems Leona deliberately brought her tail close for Ariel to touch. Pausing her grooming, Leona spoke at Ariel’s reaction.

Meanwhile, Ariel examined the captured tail from various angles before gradually bringing it to her face.

At first, I thought she was bringing it closer to observe it better, but that was completely our misjudgment.

“Aahn.”

Ariel opened her mouth wide and put the tail inside.

“Chomp!”

*CRUNCH!!*

And bit down hard.

“KYAAAANG!!!”

Leona let out a cat-like scream at the sudden attack.

“A-Ariel! Spit that out quickly! Spit it out!”

“Mmm?”

“Don’t eat it! You’ll be punished if you eat it! Spit it out quickly!”

A major accident that no one could have predicted had just occurred.

******

At that time, Kate, who had been dispatched on Issac’s orders…

“Are these the ones? Who dared to ignore his orders?”

“Yes. That’s correct.”

She confronted those responsible for creating innocent victims.