Arc 3 - Chapter 5: On the Most Holy (2/2)

"Yu, what's going on? Yu!"

Yurine lifted her head from Yu's knees and saw the monstrous man in front of them. She immediately stepped between him and Yu, while Kigaro continued to talk about the children.

"Put him in his place."

At Yu's word, Yurine raised her hand and sent a wave of wind into Kigaro's stomach. Kigaro flew backwards and fell to the ground, which had turned to mud from the rain.

Because of Kigaro's head, the awning of their wagon was torn off and fell on them. As Yu threw the awning over them, he felt like a minimum wage earner whose second-hand car, which he had just bought with his hard-earned money, had been damaged.

"I'm scared shitless..."

At the Wizarding Academy, Yu had read books about the species of the world and learned about many of the species he might encounter. He knew that beastman peoples like the Roarons were a species that could speak human languages and had social structures and laws.

In the books he had read, he had learned that most of the beastmen lived in tribes, had a warrior culture and valued honor, pride and dignity.

Lion-men and wolf-men in particular had been noted as a species loyal to their debts. Remembering this information, he thought he could make Kigaro a slave for them.

To do this, he hid his fear behind the scenes, even though he was sweating his ass off, he gave Kigaro the impression that they were powerful people. He thought he had finally succeeded and that Kigaro would be their slave, when the stupid monster lost it talking about children.

"Yu, what's going on?"

Yurine tried to get Yu's attention by grabbing the end of the jacket he had just put on and pulling it down. Yu responded without taking his eyes off Kigaro.

"In Roaron's law, the debt of life is paid with life. Since you saved his life, his life now belongs to you, but it seems we have to tame him first."

As Kigaro lay in the mud, Yu and Yurine were getting wet in the rain because the canopy over their heads had broken. As Yu grabbed an umbrella from the wagon, the rain suddenly intensified, dampening their fire.

"Her eyes... Why are they red?" Kigaro asked.

"Ah... Here we go again."

White hair belonged to witches and witches were terrible. Red eyes belonged to devils and they were much more terrible than witches. If someone had both white hair and red eyes, they were much, much scarier and should be hated.

In Rolderhelm and İlonya, Yu and Yurine got into trouble a few times because of people who thought like that, and it ended with Yu punching a few people.

"Genetics." Kigaro didn't know what the word meant, so he looked at Yu blankly. "The parents look the way they look, the children look the way they look. The same way lions have red or black manes, Yurine is not a demon."

"Their eyes were red too." Kigaro was still lying in the mud and his body was already soaked.

"Whose?" Yu asked.

"The ones who attacked my village."

"When was your village attacked? Before you came here?"

"Yes."

After Kigaro's reply, Yu started pacing. Since he was holding the umbrella, Yurine was walking with Yu to avoid getting caught in the rain.

"At first I thought the dog was a stray beast roaming the forest and breathing fire, but it was the creature of the attackers... This forest is dangerous, we're leaving."

Apart from the eyes being genetically red, Yu had heard stories that demons' eyes would turn red when they felt pleasure. There was even a saying about it.

Yu had never seen a demon and he didn't want to. If there were demons in this world, in this forest, it was best to stay as far away from them as possible.

"I must find the children of my clan."

"If the red-eyed attackers are demons, then every second we stand in the woods we are more likely to die. In such a case, the children may already be dead, I will not put the young lady in danger for those whose fate is unknown, and you have no right to endanger the young lady who holds your life in her hands."

Yu did not want to think emotionally at this point. If he was Kigaro and it was Yurine who had disappeared, of course no one could stop him from looking for her, but he was not Kigaro.

Moreover, he had a habit of selfishness and saw no need to look for the presumably dead children of Kigaro's tribe.

"Yu, if the children are missing, we must look for them."

He expected Yurine to say that, but at the same time he was disappointed. Yu wondered, had Yurine changed or had she always been like this?

"You can kill normal people and roarons, maybe a few monsters like this one, but we are talking about demons. Yurine, we've never seen a demon before, we don't know what they are, and from what we've heard they are to be feared. I can't let you get hurt for nothing."

"It's not for nothing! It's for the future of my clan!"

Yu's last sentence made Kigaro angry and the demi-lion stood up with a roar. He straightened his muddy body and started to walk towards Yu. Yu flinched a little, but it was funny to see a furless, mud-covered lion like this.

"And you were running away from your clan's attackers to protect your clan?"

Kigaro's anger was visible in his eyes. What would have happened to Yu if Yurine wasn't here?

"Yu, I command you, we will search for those children."

"Huh?"

He did not expect to take orders from her out of the blue. Of course Yurine would give him orders in public, since he was playing the role of a butler, but taking orders seriously, even from a child, made him more uncomfortable than he thought it would.

"It is my duty to listen to the wishes of my servants and this creature now serves me. We will look for those children."

"You know what happens when we die, don't you? I can't allow it, a request that would prevent me from fulfilling my promise."

If they died, they would not be able to rewind time and Yu's promise would be broken. Yu wanted to keep his promise, not jeopardize it with foolish missions.

"My power is nothing compared to the power of a few lower forms of life. I will destroy anyone who stands in our way."

There was determination in Yurine's red eyes.

"Where did we find that monster... I wish I'd sent him away when he woke up."

He sighed and looked at Kigaro. The demi-lion was still angry.

"The magical pact. Yurine will guarantee your loyalty with a magical pact, and you will die if necessary to protect her life. I cannot do business on the honor of someone who is now more concerned with his personal affairs than his debt."

"You can't insult my honor!"

"Because of your debt, you think of others instead of the one you are supposed to protect, and you put the life of the one you are supposed to protect in danger. Is this what honor, loyalty to debt, means to the Roarons? At least in the human world, such honor would be despicable. And if you are afraid of the deal, then your honor and loyalty are indeed questionable."

"I'M NOT AFRAID! SHOW ME HOW IT'S DONE!"

As Kigaro roared in Yu's face, Yu had achieved what he wanted. He had gotten the half-lion to agree to the magical pact, now he could use the games of the pact to make Kigaro devote his life completely to Yurine.

"Give me your hand."

When Kigaro faced him, Yu raised his right hand and pointed it at Kigaro. Kigaro raised his own hand as Yu said.

"Yurine."

Yurine knew that there was no such thing as a magical pact, that what they were doing was just fooling someone. Nevertheless, she played along with Yu's game and brought the sphere of white light she had created to the center of their hands.

Yu took the white orb in his palm and joined his hand with Kigaro's. It was uncomfortable for him to touch the muddy hand of a monster.

"From now on you will dedicate your life to Yurine Valarfin. You will serve her, protect her, fight for her and die for her when necessary. She will be your master and your only master; you will not betray her under any circumstances, you will not break this pact, and you will never forget it. This agreement will go to the grave with us as a secret."

If the deal remained a secret, Kigaro would not be able to speak of a magical pact and thus would not know that it did not exist.

"The covenant will win our souls. If you do not keep the pact, if you fail in your responsibilities, your soul will be destroyed. With your soul gone, you will have nowhere to go and will fade into nothingness as a warrior without honor. Swear on your most holy that you accept the pact."

Kigaro confidently devoted everything to a little girl he had just met.

"I am Rhuu'fu Ki-Gar'o, a warrior of the Ki-Gar'o clan, and I swear on my clan, my pride, and my honor that I will honor the treaty."