12-15 minutes?26.06.2022

“It looks like when he heard of there being a harpy nest nearby. He went to deal with it himself to ensure the safety of the child. As expected, you have a child in your party.”

My face turned warm.

‘For me..?’

“You are indeed the attendant of the Duke, but we must still confirm the identity of your companion. Can I see the child for a second?”

“Yes. Just give me a second.”

The Little Bear quietly approached the carriage door. I quickly stopped casting my detection magic and sat down as if I had done nothing. The Little Bear opened the door after knocking, made sure I was alright, and hugged me.

Tant, the deputy director, stood straight in front of the carriage. Thanks to my detection magic, I already knew that she was a woman with a solid physique in her early 20s.

‘What unique hair.’

It was the color of ripe apricot.

However, seeing it through detection magic, and seeing it in person were two different things. The impact was simply terrifying. A normal child would have been scared and cried, but instead, I smiled and politely greeted her.

“Hello.”

Although my speech had improved a lot by talking to the two bears, my pronunciation still wasn’t quite up to par.

‘Ugh..’

Tant’s eyes opened wide. Soon she shouted with her hands on her cheeks.

“So cute!”

The eyes of the people around us gathered at once.

“Oh my! That bear hat looks so good on you!”

“Look at how pale her cheeks are!”

In an instant, the atmosphere around me heated up. Some even came up to me, their eyes shining.

The Little Bear held me tighter in alarm.

“The child will be surprised.”

“I’m sorry, baby!”

“Don’t be afraid.”

The people added one after another before finally moving back. However, some people were still reluctant to take their gazes away.

Still, they flinched and turned their heads after seeing Tant’s fierce eyes.

“Baby, I’m sorry for shouting.”

Tant’s gaze that shot at her colleagues was so sharp that it felt like it could pierce through their very bodies. But now, her eyes had softened, and she apologized to me in a sorry manner.

“Don’t use honorifics. We’re not aristocrats. Besides, she’s not a baby!”

“Then what is she?”

“A child.”

“Oh, yes! Of course, she’s a child!”

Tant smiled brightly.

The Little Bear laughed and stroked my hair before turning to Tant to ask,

“When do you think my party member will be back?”

“I believe he’ll be back in an hour and a half, at the latest. Mostly due to the distance, but who knows? It may take even longer. Would you like me to prepare you a meal while you wait? Maybe a snack?”

When the word ‘snack’ left Tant’s mouth, her eyes locked on me.

I wasn’t that hungry, but I was still glad to hear the offer.

“Snack? What kind of snack?”

“There’s ratfish fillet.”

“Gasp! You eat rats!?”

I had never eaten a mouse, even in my previous life.

Tant laughed and waved her arms as I exclaimed in a panic.

“We’re not actually eating rats. The dish is just a combination of dried fish. I guarantee you it’s delicious.”

I couldn’t believe it. Slyly, I whispered to the Little Bear beside me.

“Have you eaten such a thing before?”

“No, but there is an ocean at the eastern end of the territory. This fish was caught there. I’ve heard of it before. It’s good! Try it.”

“Okay!”

“Let’s go over there and eat.”

Tant pointed to a wooden bench right in front of the building.

The Little Bear hugged me as we walked beside Tant. As we moved, eyes followed us.

It was unusual after all to see children in a place frequently attacked by monsters.

‘But everyone has such strong, piercing gazes.’

It was burdensome.

And strangely enough, some of the older-looking people looked at my face before suddenly looking away.

‘What’s wrong with them?’

Tant conjured up a fire with a quick spell, baked a thin round piece of dried fish fillet, and gave it to me.

It looked hard, but it was softer and warmer than I thought. It was, however, a little hard to chew.

“Oh! You don’t have front teeth.”

“Yes.. It’s hard.. Whoo.”

I was clearly complaining, but Tant’s laughter only grew louder.

It was then-

“It’s a monster!”

A loud and clear cry descended from the third floor, the top of the fortress.

“North-west, 500 meters away! 25 Sixth-grade Harpies! Estimated arrival time is 3 minutes! Everybody get ready!”

Tant’s eyes, which had been relaxed, completely changed. Her body grew tense, and she picked up her machete, a tough grip securing it in her hands. She then quickly spoke to Little Bear.

“Go inside.”

“No. I’ll stay and help. Just let me take the child inside the fort.”

“That way.”

The Little Bear, guided by Tant, quickly took me to the ground floor of the fortress. It seemed that in this era, the interior of such fortresses was made of Black Brick. It looked tough and solid. Wizards were waiting by the palm-sized windows as well.

When the monsters approached, they immediately attacked from the windows.

‘They’ve prepared well.’

Even though they were being attacked, everyone was calm and unafraid. They systematically prepared for the attack without a hint of carelessness.

The Little Bear sat me in the chair in front of the round table on the ground floor.

“Wait here. Don’t use your mana. Got it?”

The Little Bear patted my head before jumping right out.

I unconsciously sighed as I looked at the Little Bear’s receding back.

“You don’t have to worry, kid. It’s safe here.”

“Yeah! Don’t worry!”

Many people gathered on the first floor and hollered at me.

I also said a sentence, no, two.

“I’m not a little baby! I’m a grown child!”

Everyone shut their mouths and turned away from me, looking the other way.

‘What’s wrong with them?’

I grumbled and thought to myself.

‘Detection Magic.. I want to use it..’

“100 meters! All hands, focus!”

When the words came down, everyone’s eyes, which had been relaxed, became very serious.

‘Okay! I’ll use it!’

I began to monitor the situation using Detection Magic. As first announced, there were a total of 25 Harpies.

‘They’re not far..’

All the Harpies were seriously injured as if they had been attacked and driven away by someone.

However, they didn’t seem weak at all.

The Harpies flew in, terrifying blood spouting all over their bodies as if they weren’t willing to die.

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Their purpose seemed to be to make one more human accompany them on their journey to the underworld. They were predestined to die after all.

‘Can we really stop them?’

The reason why Harpies were rated as sixth-grade monsters was that they became stronger once weakened. It was a state that was not easy to handle.

There might be more victims if this continues.

‘Do I have to fight too?’

I carefully reviewed the situation despite my impatience.

“First row, attack!’

A middle-aged woman who seemed to be the General ordered in a loud voice.

The wizards and archers behind the fort’s exterior walls fired their attack magic and arrows.

“Oh my god!”

Five of the 25 Harpies flew like arrows in the air and crashed with a scream of death.

‘Wow! It’s not easy for a normal person to shoot down a flying monster!’

I was really impressed. But it wasn’t the time to be relieved.

The other twenty started flying faster as if enraged by the death of their comrades.

It was too late for the second row to attack.

“Second row! Fall back and let the magicians support each group!”

As instructed by the General, the wizards and archers fell behind, and the magicians came forward.

The magicians soon faced the Harpies.

‘Woah..’

There were two people in a group. They continued to attack and defend each other naturally like water flowing through the rocks in a river.

They couldn’t kill all of the Harpies but got rid of ten in that single wave.

Despite the small victory, the soldiers only grew more vigilant and helped the others still fighting.

‘This..!’

There were quite a few talented people in my previous life. However, few people showed such incredible and perfect organization skills.

The rest of the Harpies began to fall quickly.

When there were only four left-

“Kkaww!!”

The loudest and strongest Harpy cried with passion. His sharp nails dug straight into the magician in front of him.

It was incredibly fast, but thankfully, the magician succeeded in casting out a shield.

Up till now, all attacks could be blocked by such shields, but this time was different.

“Crackkk!”

The claws crushed the shield and flooded forward.

Just before the Harpy could cut off the magician’s neck, a black blade cut off the Harpy’s wrist and flicked it sideways.

It was the work of the Little Bear, who had been watching the situation keenly.

Soon, the Little Bear also cut off the Harpy’s neck.

“Three!”

At the little bear’s words, the other magicians shouted in one voice.

“Three!”

It was the number of Harpies left.

One of them was suddenly decapitated.

It was done by a man who flew very fast from afar.

‘Big Bear!’

The Big Bear was not using Illusion Magic.

Soon, one of the remaining two was also killed by Big Bear.

Now, there was only one left.

I thought the Big Bear would handle it, but he didn’t.

‘Huh..?’

Something unknown, no, a cold sensation crept down my spine. At the same time, my heart suddenly skipped a beat.

“Stop.”

It was because of the person who appeared, saying this one word.

Big Bear, who came from the Harpy’s nest, flew from the West. This person came from the North, where the Leocardia Duchy existed.

‘Did she fly all the way here?’

Even though I knew it was a long distance, and almost impossible, I still thought so.

It was freezing cold here, and the wind was terrifyingly rough.

‘No matter how much one could utilize their mana, it was terribly hard to use Flight Magic in such weather.’

However, the person who flew here all the way from the Duchy seemed relaxed.

The body that came down from the high sky had landed on the ground with overflowing ease.

No, it was power.

Blazing like the sun on a summer day, it was full of power and confidence.

‘I can’t.. see it..?’

I couldn’t gauge the person’s power because they were stronger than me.

The reason I could even sense her power was that she was confidently showing off her presence like Big Bear. However, while I could check Big Bear’s power in detail, I couldn’t see anything else from this person.

‘Should I use stronger Detection Magic?’

I hesitated because I knew the two bears would be worried about me being sick after using it. However, I couldn’t help it. I was too curious.

I knew who that person was.

‘Opdolisa Leocardia.’

The master of the Northernmost territory on the continent. The Shield of the Empire. The Duke.

The wife of Big Bear and the mother of Little Bear.

‘I want to see more. I want to know clearly.’

After much consideration, I cast a stronger detection spell.

When the Duke landed on the ground, she said this.

“I have to keep one alive for my research.”

The Duke reached forward with one hand.

Ever since the Duke’s powerful appearance, the last Harpy had been frozen in place.

“Argh!”

When the Duke pointed at him, the Harpy jumped at the Duke, screaming his ears out as if he had come to his senses.

Then, a sword appeared in the Duke’s hands.

It was a huge two-handed sword well over 2 meters.

The sword was black and unadorned. It was large and thick, making it look rough, but it felt like lava boiling at its highest temperature.

‘Wow.’

The Duke used the two-handed sword as a shield to block the Harpy’s nail attack, and in a blink of an eye, hit the Harpy on the head with a kick.

Kkuk!

The Harpy’s head was harder than stone, making it difficult to shock. However, with the Duke’s kick, the Harpy’s eyes soon rolled back, and its body fell to the floor.

He must have fainted.

‘Amazing!’

The Big Bear took a net out of his subspace and threw it at the Harpy. It quickly grew and soon completely wrapped around the Harpy. Even if it regained consciousness, it could now not do anything as it was stuck in a net.

“My Lord!”

“Count!”

The people bowed their heads, kneeling on one knee.

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Just as everyone was looking down, the Duke moved.

The Duke returned the two-handed sword back into her subspace and approached the Big Bear closely.

The height difference between the Duke and Big Bear was about ten centimeters, but when the Duke raised her toes, the two became about the same height.

‘What?’

I was startled.