Romi whined again and buried his head into my arms. Watching him, Kanak immediately furrowed his brows.
“Was that divine beast so stupid that it forgot who its master is?”
— Kiiik.
His cold gaze stabbed down sharply. Romi must have sensed it too, because he whipped around and bared his teeth right back at him.
“Can you explain what happened first? Otherwise how are we supposed to clean up this mess?”
At any rate, now that Romi had calmed down, there was no need for them to keep fighting.
Kanak glared briefly at Romi, who was acting affectionate toward me, then sat me down on the only sofa left intact while he casually perched himself on the shattered remains of the table.
“After Master passed away, that thing—her divine beast—also disappeared. Since it had lost its master, I assumed it either left somewhere else or vanished entirely. Then suddenly this morning, it came back.”
So far, it matched Robel’s explanation.
I quietly nodded, and Kanak continued calmly.
“It barged in out of nowhere and tore through the entire room. I was going to throw it out because it was annoying, but then a bunch of so-called high-ranking mages came swarming in, screaming not to touch a divine beast… tch.”
Ah. Now I understood the whole story.
More precisely, this was a standoff between Romi, the high-ranking mages, and Kanak.
First of all, I couldn’t suddenly act like I knew Romi personally, so I had to pretend this was our first meeting.
“What’s this one’s name?”
“Romi. It means ‘fate’ in the ancient language. I still don’t understand why Master gave something like that such a grand name.”
Kanak turned his head with a scoff, muttering that the beast didn’t deserve a name like that. Then he wrinkled his nose and scratched the back of his neck.
Watching him, I abruptly stood up.
“Thief, what are you doing now?”
Ignoring Kanak’s glare, I carefully placed the exhausted-looking Romi onto the bed where the flames had already died out.
Even if it was burned and broken, the recovery magic embedded into the bed itself still remained.
“Kanak, you shouldn’t treat a divine beast named ‘Fate’ carelessly. Even fate that was coming toward you might run away.”
Divine beasts were beings where everything held meaning.
Their names were no exception.
There was a reason they were called legendary creatures.
At my words, Kanak fell silent for a moment before letting out a disbelieving laugh.
“You can still say that after seeing it charge at people with bloodshot eyes? More importantly, I hate furry animals. You can take it if you want.”
“But isn’t it Lady Lesha’s divine beast? Is that really okay?”
At the unexpected answer, I blinked in surprise. Kanak simply waved a hand dismissively.
“It follows you, doesn’t it? If you take it, it’ll probably happily follow along.”
“Hmm… maybe…”
“Just don’t let anyone untrustworthy find out that it follows you. Since it’s such a rare case, they might drag you away as an experimental subject.”
— Kyaaak!
At the mention of me becoming an experiment subject, Romi’s eyes snapped open viciously as he bared his fangs.
Kanak sighed irritably, looking thoroughly fed up.
“Hah. It acts like you’re its actual master.”
“That crazy divine beast. It’s definitely corrupted.”
Hey, I can hear you, you know.
‘Still… if I leave Romi here, a second war really might break out.’
And next time, the barrier might truly shatter.
After all, this was a clash between the strongest divine beast and the current era’s strongest Tower Master. There was no way the barrier could remain intact forever.
“Normally, divine beasts only acknowledge one master for their entire life. They’re merciless to everyone else. The fact that it follows you means you’ve been acknowledged, so you can relax.”
Kanak stared at me quietly as he spoke.
Then, in an even lower voice, he added:
“If it ever gives you trouble, bring it straight to me. I’ll throw it into the Holy Empire immediately.”
He muttered that he should have thrown it earlier after all, sounding genuinely regretful.
Then he rose from the table and looked out toward the distant sky beyond the window.
Judging by his expression, he really had intended to throw Romi somewhere.
I swallowed dryly.
The Holy United Empire—commonly called the Holy Empire—was a massive nation formed by several kingdoms that worshipped divine beasts for generations.
To say its people were obsessed with divine beasts would not be an exaggeration.
The moment they saw one, they practically lost their minds.
They worshipped both naturally born divine beasts and those created from the mana of great mages alike.
Their devotion was among the strongest on the continent.
So if the divine beast of Lesha Anis—a great mage and the promising Tower Master of the Partiel Empire—appeared there?
Cat-type divine beasts in particular were famous for their fiery temperaments and overwhelming abilities, making them even more treasured.
‘They would covet him immensely. The mana contained within Romi alone rivals that of high-ranking mages.’
The empire was undoubtedly beautiful, being home to countless divine beasts.
But twisted desires also flourished there.
That was why mages who knew the truth often avoided assignments there.
After all, few things were more terrifying than facing a group consumed by fanatic obsession.
“That won’t happen.”
“What a shame.”
“By the way, where’s your divine beast? You’re a Tower Master too, so you should have one.”
Only now did I realize I had never once seen Kanak’s divine beast before, despite visiting the Magic Tower many times.
Not every mage could possess a divine beast.
Only those whose mana surpassed a certain threshold—great mages or Tower Masters—could eventually give birth to one.
‘Someone like Kanak definitely should have one already. The fact that he stabilized my mana rampage means his own mana is extraordinarily stable.’
I had heard that some divine beasts manifested not as animals, but as fairies or even objects.
Maybe his was something like that?
“Ah, that thing.”
Kanak answered casually, like it was no big deal.
…“That thing”?
The moment an ominous feeling crept over me, he spoke again.
“I sent it to the Aldra Snowfields on an errand.”
“Ahh… wait, what?”
The Aldra Snowfields in the north?
That remote wasteland was infamous for its relentless blizzards—so severe that even communication crystals constantly failed there!
“Y-you sent your divine beast there?!”
No wonder I had never seen it!
Horrified, I immediately pointed at him.
“Divine beasts get extremely stressed when separated from their masters! You forced it to go somewhere it didn’t even want to go?!”
You horrible brat! Is this how I taught you?!
Kanak frowned slightly, as if wondering what nonsense I was talking about.
“Not at all. It actually seemed happy about it. It flew off before I even finished speaking.”
“That’s impossible. What kind of divine beast would enjoy being separated from its master—”
…Then again, this was Kanak.
For some reason, it suddenly felt believable.
“My divine beast is a bird. What’s the point of having wings if it can’t travel far?”
Every single word coming out of Kanak’s mouth was unbelievable.
I was going insane.
Most people would do anything to serve a divine beast, yet—
Only now did I understand why the high-ranking mages had rushed in so desperately to separate Kanak and Romi.
‘They were trying to save Romi…’
If I hadn’t come, Romi might have ended up thrown somewhere deep in the Mist Forest.
Though surely Kanak wouldn’t actually send Romi—who carried my mana—to the Holy Empire.
“If the Holy Empire finds out about this, things will become troublesome. Be careful, Kanak.”
Those people believed that every divine beast absolutely had to be happy.
The problem was that their definition of “happiness” was far removed from common sense.
