Ted (1)

"How peculiar...."

Lu muttered while folding his arms.

In front of Lu currently, three races were sleeping together intertwined.

Ariel, Rakia, and Ghost were sleeping peacefully embracing each other.

Watching them, a satisfied smile spread across Lu's face.

Though morning had already dawned, Lu deliberately did not wake them up.

Because it was not a common sight to see an elf, dragon, and wolf embracing each other as they slept.

"Hehe, they're all sleeping soundly."

Among the three, Ariel was the first to wake up.

Ariel opened her drowsy eyes and sat up.

"Oh, sister, you're awake?"

When Lu asked, Ariel nodded her sleepy head.

Then she looked at Ghost and Rakia, whom she had been embracing.

It seemed Ghost had also woken up slightly opening her eyes, but Rakia was still sound asleep oblivious to the world.

"It seems we should wake up Rakia soon too."

At Lu's words, Ariel quietly reached out her hand.

Ariel's finger gently poked Rakia's cheek.

"Mmm..."

Rakia frowned and muttered.

"Mom..."

Seeing Rakia like that, Lu let out a small laugh.

"Pfft, a dragon looking for her mom?"

Poke. Poke poke.

As Ariel kept poking Rakia's cheek, finally Rakia slowly opened her eyes.

"Mom...?"

Rakia looked at Ariel with a dazed gaze for a moment.

"Oh!"

Then she suddenly sat upright.

"Miss Ariel!"

Rakia sat up properly in a slightly disheveled state.

"Ah, did you sleep well...?"

She had just recalled calling Ariel 'mom' when waking up from her sleep.

Rakia had not left her mother's side that long ago, so it was a habit that slipped out unconsciously.

Fortunately, Ariel did not seem to mind.

She simply stood up, stretched, and then deactivated the shield she had set up the night before.

"Kweek!"

Right away, three orcs came charging at them. They were orcs that had been waiting outside the shield all night.

A daily morning occurrence.

It had become quite familiar by now.

"Explosion!"

Rakia cast a spell.

Boom!

A powerful explosion engulfed the entire area.

And a short while later.

"I'm so sorry..."

Rakia hung her head repeatedly in apology to Ariel with a dejected look.

Perhaps her mind was too hasty.

She had used excessive magic just to deal with a mere three orcs.

As a result, the surrounding area was completely reduced to a wasteland.

It was not as devastating as the recent incident at the temple, but the ground was cratered and thick dust clouds billowed up.

In the end, they decided to move locations for breakfast.

Because the three orcs blasted by Rakia's magic were scattered in fragments all over the place.

No one wanted to eat in such a gruesome place.

"..."

Feeling guilty about the accident, Rakia became gloomy, and Lu comforted the dejected Rakia.

"It's okay, Rakia. These things can happen when you're trying your best."

Lu brushed Rakia's tousled hair and helped straighten her clothes.

At first, Lu had difficulty even speaking to Rakia, but now he felt quite comfortable around her.

After chatting a bit, Rakia didn't seem all that different.

"It's not okay... Miss Ariel must be so disappointed in me... I really am an inadequate dragon..."

"Sister doesn't really care about small things like that. So don't worry too much. Just do better going forward."

"I don't have confidence..."

Lu looked at Rakia with a complicated gaze.

For a dragon to say she lacks confidence.

While Rakia's magic to deal with the orcs was a bit excessive, it undoubtedly displayed tremendous power.

Not many beings on the continent could wield such powerful magic, and instantly at that.

A being capable of that would surely be called a Great Mage.

"Rakia, you need to have a bit more self-confidence..."

Whack!

Then suddenly, the sound of an impact came from ahead. Lu stopped speaking and looked forward.

Next to a large tree, a young boy was panting while holding a wooden sword.

The impact sound was from the boy striking the tree with his wooden sword.

Whack!

"Seven!"

The boy was counting while striking the tree with his wooden sword.

He seemed to be training swordsmanship, but his form was very sloppy.

Even his body was quite skinny, making it seem difficult for him to wield the wooden sword.

Whack!

"Eight! Hm...?"

The boy noticed Ariel's group and opened his eyes wide.

"What's this, you guys are... Ugh!"

The boy was startled to see the wolf, Ghost, and plopped down.

The wooden sword dropped from the boy's hand and rolled around on the ground.

"A-A wolf!"

The boy shouted with a pale face, but Ghost did not react at all.

As if it wasn't even worth reacting to, Ghost just looked at the boy with indifferent eyes.

Lu stepped forward and spoke.

"No need to be afraid. Ghost won't harm others recklessly. More importantly, what is a brat like you doing here? Why are you hitting a perfectly fine tree?"

At Lu's words, the boy frowned.

"Can't you see? I'm training. And who are you calling a brat? You're the tiny one here."

"Well, I'm a fairy."

Lu calmly retorted, and the boy picked up the wooden sword again with a sullen face.

"Anyway, get lost. Don't disturb me. I need to keep training."

"Sure, then."

Lu coolly replied, and Ariel and Rakia, who weren't interested in the boy from the start, kept walking.

After passing by the boy, Ariel's group soon found a quiet spot.

It was next to a valley where a cool waterfall flowed.

Their faces brightened up.

"Oh, this place is perfect for breakfast!"

Lu exclaimed, and Ariel sat down on a rock.

Food like roast meat and desserts came pouring out from Ariel's inventory.

Ariel began eating the desserts with a very satisfied look, but the rest of the group didn't feel the same.

Lu, who was sick of desserts and roast meat, just sipped on some fruit wine, while Rakia and Ghost reluctantly nibbled on the roast meat.

Rakia was a dragon, and Ghost was a wolf.

Rather than roast meat, they would prefer tearing into raw, bloody meat.

Of course, they couldn't say that to Ariel.

"Kwaaah!"

Then, a scream rang out from afar, and a bird fluttered up.

Soon after, someone came running over in a panic.

"S-Someone help me!"

It was the boy who had been swinging the wooden sword earlier.

Behind the boy, two large wild boars were chasing after him.

Whether or not, Ariel calmly munched on her dessert, but Rakia was different.

Rakia glared at the wild boars with shining eyes.

The plump wild boars looked incredibly delicious.

"Miss Ariel, may I help that human brat?"

At Rakia's question, Ariel nodded. There was no particular reason not to.

"Eheheh."

Rakia licked her lips and stood up, then strode towards the direction the boy was running from.

Ghost also quietly followed Rakia after glancing at Ariel.

'Not too excessive this time...'

Rakia muttered inwardly as she watched the wild boars chasing after the boy.

Ghost stood beside Rakia.

"Ghost, you take one?"

Ghost nodded at Rakia's question.

"Alright, then let's take one each."

Rakia stretched out her hand, and Ghost lowered her stance.

"Kwaaah, get away! It's dangerous!!"

The boy shouted urgently, but neither Rakia nor Ghost budged an inch.

As the distance closed, Rakia's lips moved slightly, and Ghost leapt up, kicking off the ground.

"Wind Cutter."

Ssshhh!

The magic extending from Rakia's hand sliced one of the wild boars in half.

Then Ghost immediately killed the other one by biting its throat.

"Huff, huff..."

The boy, drenched in sweat, plopped down. He had lost strength in his legs after witnessing the wild boars' deaths.

"A-Amazing..."

The boy muttered with a dazed expression.

"You're incredibly strong..."

No one paid attention to the boy's praise.

Rakia approached the wild boars with a happy face, while Ghost had already started tearing into one.

"Time to eat~"

Just as Rakia opened her mouth wide to bite into the wild boar,

The boy approached and asked,

"Hey, sis, you're just going to eat it like that?"

His way of addressing her had somehow changed to 'sis'.

Well, from the boy's perspective, she had saved his life and used powerful magic, so calling her 'sis' was only natural.

She also looked only a year or two older than the boy.

"Why?"

Rakia looked at the boy with a guarded expression.

Rakia covered the wild boar's body with her slender arms, as if she wouldn't let it be taken away from her. Though it didn't cover it at all.

"If you're going to eat it, you should cook it first."

"Why bother? I'm just going to eat it raw."

"No, you can't just eat it raw. You have to cook it, or you'll get sick and it won't taste as good. Luckily, I have some spices, so I can cook it for you."

The boy came next to Rakia and began to skillfully prepare the wild boar.

"Sister, my name is Ted."

Then he shamelessly introduced himself.