As Javier walked away, hands in his pockets and Buddy waddling beside him, the air behind him shimred.
"Then it's decided."
Javier paused, sighed, and then—Delya reappeared directly in front of him, materializing from her shadow in a swirl of violet mist. Her scythe was gone, replaced by a soft, confident smile.
"I'll be number three," she said plainly, as if claiming a seat at a dinner table.
Javier blinked.
"...Huh?"
Before he could step around her.
"YOU ANIE DEMON GIRL!!!" Mimi roared from behind. She stomped forward, her fluffy tail tripling in size from rage, ears flat against her head.
"I WAS THE ONE WHO CALLED DIBS ON NUMBER THREE!!!"
Delya calmly turned her head to her.
"He never agreed to accept you as his future wife."
Javier slowly stepped back, his face expressionless, voice dry.
"…Why are we ranking now?"
Mimi crossed her arms. "I slept with him. That counts for sothing!"
"You napped on him."
"SA THING!"
Delya closed her eyes and smiled. "Then let's settle it in order. If Liana and Gloria are one and two… Mimi and I can compete for the third spot."
Javier stared at the two, then turned to Buddy.
"Is this what Father ant by 'the journey builds character'?"
Cuquawked. ("Nope. This is divine punishnt.")
Mimi and Delya stood face-to-face, just inches apart.
Their eyes locked.
Their smiles were sharp.
Their mana flared.
A crackle of lightning and shadow sparked between them.
Mimi's tail bristled with static.
Delya's shadow stretched like a living cloak.
All around them, the air tensed with brewing chaos.
And in that exact mont...
Javier activated his invisible skills.
A soft shimr rippled across his body.
Gone.
Not a sound.
Not a trace.
Not even dust.
Beside him, Buddy also vanished, feathers fading mid-squawk as he finished his fruit and poofed out of sight.
The two girls continued to stare each other down, neither noticing a thing.
After a few paces away, in perfect invisibility, Javier walked calmly along the path with Buddy quietly padding beside him.
"…Let them sort it out," Javier muttered under his breath.
Cuquawked. ("Strategic retreat. Well-played, boss.")
"Right? This is why I love stealth magic."
He didn't look back, just kept walking toward the capital like this was a normal morning.
Once they were a safe distance away—mana cloaking still active—Javier glanced over his shoulder, confirming that Mimi and Delya were still locked in their spark-filled staring contest.
"…Good. They're too busy trying to vaporize each other to notice."
He swung onto Buddy's back with practiced ease, settling into the saddle as the big Pekko let out a soft, muffled squawked under the invisibility.
"Alright, Buddy. No stopping for food until we're well past the town gate."
Javier patted his feathery mount on the neck.
"I'm hungry too. But if we stop now—"
He looked over his shoulder again.
"—they'll find us. And I hate dealing with brats."
He leaned forward slightly, lowering his body against Buddy's feathered back like a seasoned rider on a stealth mission.
"Let's move. Quietly. Fast."
Buddy's powerful legs flexed, and without another sound, they disappeared down the shaded path beyond the outer checkpoint.
After a long ride, well beyond the Beastkin border town—and safely out of sight of any chaos princesses—Javier finally pulled Buddy to a stop along a shaded patch of woods.
He glanced around the open trail.
"Hmm… which way, Buddy?" Javier asked, scratching his head.
Buddy squawked with a shrug of his big wings. ("How would I know?")
Javier sighed.
"Well… that's fair. If we were still in the Armand region, I'd know every inch of it."
He leaned back in the saddle and muttered under his breath.
"It's all those two's fault. If not for them distracting , I would've picked up a map at the border…"
His stomach growled loudly.
Buddy's ears perked up, and he let out an excited squawk.
Javier chuckled, patting Buddy's thick feathered side.
"Alright, alright. Let's stop here. We'll grill so at first."
Buddy flapped his wings excitedly. ("Best idea today!!")
Buddy hopped around, kicking up little clouds of dust as he circled a spot.
Javier slid down from the saddle, stretched casually, then raised one hand.
Summon: Puppet Knights.
With a soft hum of mana, twenty adamantite puppet knights materialized in a perfect outward-facing circle around them, weapons ready, their armor gleaming faintly in the dappled light.
"Guard mode. Alert periter. Don't let anything sneak up."
The puppets responded by spreading out and forming a protective ring.
Javier knelt down, pulling out a mana portable grill from his magic storage—a compact, lightweight device he'd built himself.
He scooped out a massive chunk of raw at, fresh and perfectly preserved thanks to the storage's stasis effect.
Buddy's beak clicked eagerly.
"Alright!" Javier grinned, setting the at on the grill.
"I think this much is enough, right, Buddy?"
Buddy flapped his wings excitedly. ("Double it!")
Javier carefully set each thick, juicy slab of at onto the mana grill, which instantly heated with a low hum.
SSSsssshhhhh~
The sll of roasting at filled the air, rich and savory.
Buddy leaned in close, eyes wide, his huge beak hovering dangerously over the sizzling food.
A fat bead of drool ford at the corner of his beak, trembling like a tiny waterfall about to fall.
Javier noticed and narrowed his eyes.
"Oi!! The drool!!"
Plop.
A tiny drop almost hit one of the at slices, but Javier flicked it away with a quick mana burst, like a professional chef swatting away a fly.
Buddy flinched back, wings flaring in innocent panic.
Cuquawked~ ("S-Sorry!")
Javier sighed and shook his head.
"Seriously, you're worse than a Pekko chick sotis."
Buddy huffed, puffing out his feathers dramatically as he backed up a few steps, but his eyes never left the grill—laser-focused on the slowly cooking at like a disciplined soldier on a mission.
Javier flipped one slice, its surface already seared golden brown, juices hissing deliciously.
He smirked slightly.
"Just wait a bit. You'll get yours first, greedy bird."
Buddy's tail feathers wagged in excitent.
Javier flipped the final piece of at off the grill, its golden-brown crust perfectly seared and sizzling with delicious juices.
He grabbed a thick cut and tossed it lightly into the air.
"Buddy! Catch!"
Cuquawked!!
Buddy snapped it mid-air with terrifying precision, cheeks puffing out as he chewed with pure joy, feathers ruffling in delight.
Javier chuckled.
"Alright, first batch done!"
He dusted off his hands, turned back to the magic storage, and casually pulled out a small bottle of aged wine—a deep red, likely sothing fancy that Alf or Erinnete would forbid him from touching until he was "older."
He grinned mischievously.
"Well... Father's not around, and Erinnete's nowhere nearby..." he muttered, popping the cork with a soft pop.
"Hehehe... ti to enjoy this forbidden treasure."
Without hesitation, he tilted the bottle back.
Gulp, gulp, gulp.
A rich, fruity, slightly sharp taste hit his tongue. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, feeling a pleasant warmth settle in his stomach.
anwhile, Buddy happily tore into his at, juice dripping down his beak.
"UMAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!" Javier cried out, laughing and raising his bottle like he was toasting the sky.
"Man, this life is good."
He leaned back, propping himself on one elbow, watching the sky shift into late afternoon hues.
His mind wandered lazily.
"Now I'm thirteen in this world..."
He twirled the half-empty bottle slowly between his fingers.
"Sotis… I miss my life back in Japan."
He smiled faintly, the kind of smile of soone who had accepted it.
"Well… nothing I can do anymore."
He glanced at the shimring sky.
"Other than wait until I turn eighteen… marry Liana and Gloria… and live that lazy, peaceful life I deserve."
He chuckled softly, swirling the wine in his bottle.
( End Of Chapter )
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