Guardian beasts.
Non-human creatures that inhabit the land.
They often built symbiotic relationships with the people who lived there in various ways. That was why they were called 『guardian』 beasts.
They fundantally can’t be found in crowded places like a city but in places rich in nature such as mountains and forests.
Also, their existence were rarely made public, and in most cases, only the villagers involved knew.
Therefore, it was not well understood how many guardian beasts existed, what kind of guardian beasts inhabited the area, and what kind of relationships they had with people.
“Guardian beast-sama, this is Nasu. I brought Boulan and the four people here for the subjugation request.”
From the outside of the cave, Nasu, also known as Baba-sama, politely called out to the inside.
With that voice, Etho, who had been walking while in a daze, rebooted.
Looking sideways, Ryo was relieved.
If the guardian beast was corrupted, as Ryo was anticipating, it would be a sudden battle.
In that case, it would be fatal if Etho could not act imdiately.
But …
“Um, good work.”
What slowly ca out of the cave was …
“Fenrir …”
Ryo heard what was muttered by Etho.
It was about 3 ters long. A wolf whose whole body was silver.
The wolf’s feet were atrophied, and it felt as though it was considerably weakened.
However, its gaze was firm and the words it spoke were clear.
(It seems that it wasn’t corrupted … Damn, the event didn’t happen.)
Both Niels and Amon saw the flicker of disappointnt across Ryo’s face.
And at the sa ti nodded. He was thinking about sothing weird after all …
“Hmm, a Priest of light? If you have a priest, you won’t be pushed back by their numbers. I’m not exactly Fenrir … well, I am sothing similar.”
Then the guardian beast laughed faintly.
“A Priests of light, two Swordsn … and …”
The guardian beast stared at Ryo directly and continued.
“I am called Nkusin. What is your na, Magician of Water there?”
“It’s Ryo.”
When asked for his na, Ryo answered with a little surprise.
However, Baba-sama and the village mayor Boulan, who were next to him, were more than a little surprised.
“Guardian Beast-sama gave its na …”
They were surprised that the guardian beast nad itself.
That had never happened before.
In fact, both Baba-sama and Boulan found out that the guardian beast’s na was 『Nkusin』just then for the first ti.
“It’s a na that’s hard for people to pronounce. I didn’t approach it until now. But the Magician there… did you say it was Ryo? I have to tell Ryo. It’s dishonorable not to state my na.”
“Dishonorable?”
Ryo asked back while tilting his head.
“Umu. How should I put it … I am like a relative to fairies. For such beings, you are … yes, it is very comfortable to be near you.”
It was sothing that Ryo didn’t really understand.
The teacher of Ryo’s sword was the Water Fairy King who looked like a Dullahan.
He also received a sword and robe from the Fairy King.
Looking at the robe, the Elf Sera comnted that ‘You’re liked by the Fairy King’.
And the guardian beast that was a relative of the fairies in front of him said that it was comfortable to be near Ryo.
Taken together, Ryo seed to be liked by fairies … but he didn’t know what fairies were at all.
(When I get back to the City of Rune, I should ask Sera. She said that Elves were like half-fairies so I’m sure she can tell a lot.)
“If it is pleasant to you … well, thank you?”
It felt that his answer didn’t match the situation.
When Ryo said that, the guardian beast burst into laughter.
“I should be thanking you. Thanks to you, it seems that my life has been extended by a thousand years. Actually, my life was about to expire in about 10 years … Nasu too, you brought an interesting person.”
“What …”
Baba-sama was speechless.
It was shocking that the guardian beast’s life was about to expire in another 10 years, but it was even more shocking that it was extended by 1000 years by bringing Ryo.
“Ryo is amazing …”
“It probably doesn’t have any benefit to myself though …”
Niels was impressed but Ryo shook his head and remained confused.
Having its life span extend by 1000 years just by encountering him … Ryo felt he could understand that a guardian beast was really a mysterious being.
“Well then, regarding the subjugation … because the last ones started without permission, it seems that various matters have beco difficult.”
Although it had the face of a wolf, the four people from Room 10 sohow understood that the guardian beast had a troubled look.
“Before I knew it they were in a battle with skeletons … I apologize for them polluting the forest with blood.”
The village mayor Boulan apologized to the guardian beast.
“Umu, that can’t be helped … it was for survival. But … if even those weak 30 beings were tough for them, they wouldn’t have been able to complete the subjugation anyway.”
The guardian beast exhaled a little as though it was sighing.
(The number has increased from 20 … Well, by the way it phrased it … those weak 30 beings were probably skeletons … but that ans there are other stronger ones?)
Ryo analyzed the words of the guardian beast.
“Is there anything else to subdue other than the 30 skeletons?”
Niels asked the question on Ryo’s mind.
As expected of a party leader.
“Umu. There’s only one strong one. It is the sa type but bigger. I don’t know what you call it among humans. I captured the strong one in the shrine near the entrance … If you defeat the 30 weak beings, I will release it and you can defeat it.”
“Guardian Beast-sama captured it …”
Baba was impressed and surprised by the explanation of the guardian beast.
“Umu. It seed to have been bound by the spiritual power of the shrine. I used the rest of my power to capture it … Recently, my life span has been greatly reduced due to the extraordinary need to sustain that power.”
Then, the guardian beast laughed again.
Could it laugh at its life span because it’s a strong being or because it had lived a long ti …
The guardian beast could not move from the cave, so the party traveled to the shrine.
“This size is more of a 『Hidden Temple』 rather than a shrine …”
Etho says to Baba-sama.
“Umu … I don’t know the definition in that area … we used to call it a shrine for generations in the village. However, skeletons began to appear about half a year ago … Since then, we’ve not been able to get close and could only look at it from a distance … Moreover, Guardian Beast-sama says that there is another thing in the shrine … what the hell is going on?”
After saying that, Baba-sama sighed loudly.
“Etho, what is a 『Hidden Temple』?”
Ryo was wondering, so he decided to directly ask him.
“The Temple of Light has a few 『Hidden Temple』too, but basically there is an altar installed behind the door. If you are a priest, you can perform a ritual imdiately … In the case of a 『Shrine』, there isn’t anything large installed that can be called an altar. The door would also be small. The knowledge of when and what it was made for has been scattered and lost, but so older ones were made more than 1000 years ago …”
Etho’s explanation was very interesting to Ryo.
His wording was also more polite than usual, probably because Baba-sama was also listening.
“As far as I know, the door of the shrine has never been opened. Nobody alive now knows what’s inside.”
Baba-sama comnted and shook her head a little.
“In the past, Guardian Beast-sama said that the cave seed to have so power flowing in. So, Guardian Beast-sama whose power had weakened moved to live in that cave … The source of that power may be this shrine.”
“It’s possible. There is a theory that the 『Hidden Temples』 were built on ley lines where energy from the earth gathers. If that is the case, the energy gathered from the 『Hidden Temple』 might flow through that cave.”
Etho presented his theory while thinking.
Author’s note:
Finally, the foreshadowing from the Dragon Ruwin in Chapter 0025 can be collected.
TLN: Ruwin’s thoughts in Chapter 0025:
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