Chapter 68: Lysette Part 2

-Koogooogooogooo…

-Sssshhhhhh…

It was the first time the sound of the waves felt this chilling. I stared blankly at the dark sea. Beyond the group of sea goblins, brandishing their menacing spears and swords, something huge was beginning to emerge. An armored shark? No, it was much larger than that. Could it be the deep sea blue whale? No, that couldn't be; I hadn't used my summoning skill yet.

…Then what could it be?

-Chyaaaak!

-Splash!

Suddenly, something surged from the sea. It looked like a giant spear, and at the same time, like a massive sword. Its sharp tip was piercing a sea goblin.

When the moon came out from behind the clouds and cast a faint moonlight on the sea, I was able to see it more clearly.

That was…

"…A tentacle?"

-Chyaak!

-Splash!

-Thud!

-Chyak!

-Splash!

The moment I recognized what it was, dozens of red tentacles pierced through the bodies of the other sea goblins. They died without even a chance to scream. The tentacles, seemingly intent on skewering the sea goblins like kebabs, relentlessly impaled them one after another.

-Kyaaaaak!

-Kieeek!!!

When the others belatedly realized what was happening, their screams filled the air. The red sea lions that the sea goblins were riding dropped their riders in terror and fled. It was a horrible scene, a veritable hell on earth.

But why was I starting to smile?

"You've come all this way, Ken."

The owner of those tentacles was none other than my own familiar, the young Kraken that I named "Ken". It was an unusual situation, but it seemed he had sensed danger and escaped the dungeon to come here.

"I told you not to leave the dungeon, but kids never listen, do they…"

Still, thanks to you, I survived. I watched the gruesome tentacle slaughter show with a broad smile on my face.

"Wh-What on earth is that?!"

The elves who had belatedly grasped the situation began to panic. But when Darion raised his hand high, the disarray quickly subsided.

"Draw your bows! We're up against a tentacle monster!"

"….…!"

I snapped to attention and hurriedly turned to look at Darion.

"Wait… Stop!"

I desperately covered Darion's mouth as he was about to give the order to fire. It was outrageous for a mere human to lay hands on an elf noble. This was a deed worthy of universal condemnation. But since Darion now regarded me as a brother, I figured this much was permissible.

"Brother!"

I blurted out "Brother" to the startled Darion and then whispered to him.

"Trust me and just watch for a moment."

"Mmph, mmph?"

"He won't harm us, Darion."

"Mmmph!!!"

"That creature is my friend."

As if responding to my words, the Kraken's tentacles swiftly struck, coiled, burst, and pierced through the sea goblins. Watching the sea goblins die in such ways almost stirred pity in me.

"Mmph…"

"Shh, it'll be over soon."

And it was true. The Kraken's goblin slaughter show quickly came to an end, leaving behind only the red waves and floating pieces of sea goblin corpses on the sea.

-Sssshhhhhh…

At that moment, the red Kraken briefly revealed itself. I looked into his eyes shining in the moonlight. They seemed to shine back at me. It was as if he was asking, "Did I do well?" I smiled gently at the creature. Then, with a quick splash of its tentacles, it disappeared back into the sea.

[Achievement Unlocked: The Kraken Returns the Favor]

[Additional Effect: Summon (Partial) the Red Kraken's Tentacles]

***

"You really are amazing!"

"A druid who can summon a Kraken! I've never heard or seen anything like it!"

"And to think it dispatched so many sea goblins so quickly!"

To celebrate the feat of dispatching the sea goblins without a single arrow being fired, Darion threw a lavish banquet aboard the ship. The admiration from the elves was so noisy, I didn't know such noise was possible from them. Elves can be quite boisterous when they want to be.

I wanted to avoid the attention, but Darion wouldn't let me. Being the only humans there already made us stand out, which added to my discomfort, but Darion only added to the show. "My glorious brother!" he would say, "the tamer of the sea beast!" and so on.

"…That's enough, Darion."

"Theodore, you're always too humble!"

Darion poured golden champagne into crystal glasses until they overflowed, then handed one to me. The taste of the sweet apricot-scented champagne was astonishingly good. 'So this is the craft of elven brewing. It was amazing. I quickly drained my glass. As soon as I did, Darion filled it again, generously overflowing it until the bubbles ran down onto my hand.

"As the soldiers say, I've never heard of a druid who could summon a Kraken in all my life."

"Haha, is that so?"

"How on earth did you tame such a beast?"

Darion asked with twinkling eyes. Hmm, if I honestly told him that I was raising it as a familiar in the deep-sea dungeon, this pureblood elf would be beside himself. I needed to come up with something more plausible…

"…It's because I didn't think of it as a beast."

"Hmm?"

"I just treated it as one of the many lives that share this world with us, without any prejudice."

"I can't understand. You mean you didn't subdue it?"

"We became friends."

"..."

"There are many things possible in this world once you discard your stereotypes."

I slowly sipped my champagne. The sweet fizz cascaded down my throat. Ah… The drink is good, the breeze is pleasant, but Darion's expression is not…?

"Why? Did I say something wrong?"

"… No. I'm just surprised by your attitude."

"Is that so?"

"All life is the same… It's something Her Majesty used to say often…"

Darion remained silent for a moment and then looked at me with a warm smile as if he had realized something on his own.

"Indeed, there must still be an ancient elf spirit lingering in your bloodline."

Oh, so anything that pleases him is thanks to the ancient elves. Isn't this guy just obsessed with ancient elves?

However, explaining further or engaging seemed too bothersome, so I simply nodded my head as if I understood and moved on. This fellow is too tedious to respond to. He talks more than I expected.

I used the excuse of looking after my companions to extract myself from the conversation with Darion. Although the latter suggested we continue our talk without paying attention to those insignificant others, I sneaked away while he was off fetching champagne.

"…Master!"

– Kung!

El and Ayla greeted me from a corner.

"Shh, keep it down. Darion might come back."

"That elf?"

"Yes, he's utterly tiresome. I need a moment to breathe here."

I considered cloaking myself with the shadow cloak but instead I simply leaned into the flickering shadows. Lloyd who saw this snickered. Sure, the sight of me escaping from an elf must be amusing.

"…By the way, Lloyd, did you eat properly?"

Lloyd just nodded without saying a word and turned his head back to the sea. Wow, after enduring the constant chatter of Darion, who was like a noisy parrot, seeing Lloyd felt remarkably different. I used to think his silence was suffocating, but this is much better.

"We've been fine, Master. Except that Ayla got scolded by the chef for eating an entire mountain goat."

"She ate just one mountain goat?"

"That's what I said!"

"I'll speak to the kitchen. Don't hold back and eat as much as you want."

"Hehe, thank you. The food here is really delicious! Right, Lloyd?"

"…Right."

Oh? He wouldn't answer me but he responds to El? Seems like they've gotten quite close?

I looked at them with a displeased expression and then patted Ayla on the head. Ayla, who had eaten a whole mountain goat, seemed satisfied and panted happily, enjoying my touch and eagerly licking my palm.

"…It will take a while to reach Lysette, so please bear with the elves even if they annoy you."

"Yes!"

"Understood."

"Then… now that we're full, shall we leave?"

As I spoke, I casually picked up a plate of snacks from the side, and everyone got up from their seats. It seemed everyone was as bored with the gathering as I was.

We each returned to our cabins. Lloyd went back to his small, private cabin, while El and I returned to the special cabin Darion had arranged for us.

"El, you and Ayla go to sleep first."

"Yes, Master. Good night."

El climbed onto the hammock and covered herself with a blanket, while Ayla curled up beneath the hammock and fell asleep. I didn't go straight to bed but sat down at the desk and lit a candle.

"..."

I pulled out the "scroll" that I had hidden within my robes. It was the scroll Katharina had handed to me.

Once we enter Lysette, I won't have a chance to examine this.

I untied the leather strap and unfurled the scroll.

As I thought, these are indeed the letters of a demon.

The language of demons must be read backward. I started at the bottom of the scroll and began reading in reverse.

"From the primordial… chaos… born… His… servant."

As I began to read aloud, the initially blurred letters started glowing red.

"With joyful… praise and… to the promised… land…"

The old parchment which was nothing more than sheepskin began to turn black as if it were burning.

"The time… has come… to reveal… your… form."

– Fwoosh!

The glowing red letters caught fire. Yet, there was no heat; instead, a chilling cold settled around, raising goosebumps on my skin.

"Dima… Kus… Hel?"

It was a word I had never seen before. I stuttered through the letters. Was it a spell? Or…

-Whooooosh!

Before I could ponder further, the entire scroll burst into intense flames. The fire reached up as high as the ceiling but felt not at all hot.

This is…!

I swallowed dryly as I stared at the blazing flames.

-Huuuuuu…

"It" made a strange sound like it was exhaling a breath it had long held.

– Kukukukuh…

Then, it let out a chilling laugh and began to expand, as if it was about to engulf the entire cabin.

-I warned you what would happen if you called me forth again…

"Again"? Does that mean others have summoned this thing before?"

Fine. I shall let you burn forever!"

But before I could ask anything, a huge blaze engulfed me.