◈ The Saviour Embarks on a Nameless Journey
Chapter 8: Sacred Beast
We made our way into the forest, facing the direction of the voice.
When the demon king Torah uses demons to physically interfere with humans, the benevolent goddess Lānu interferes mentally by sending oracles to humans. And although the demon king has tried to whisper to humans to tempt them, it is said that the holy spirit of good deities interfere physically against it.
The holy spirit has all sorts of forms. Be it the shape of a plant or an animal, or even the shape of a human. It is customary to either help or watch over a spirit if you see one, as the land becomes prosperous just by the holy spirit being in a good mood.
“……”
Following the somewhat miserable voice which is screaming ‘pya—pya—’, I pushed aside the undergrown branches. A pure white ferret-like object was entwined and fell to the ground.
“……”
It certainly seems to have a long body, but how did it manage to tie itself into a knot? Is this some sort of a holy spirit? Or maybe a sacred beast, because of its form? Should I just pretend to not have seen it?
“Pya—”
I wasn’t sure about its appearance, but it looked like it was on the verge of crying.
“Ah—… I’ll untie you so don’t struggle, alright?”
This is the first time I’ve seen something like an entangled holy spirit.
Even if it struggled, the knot was tied quite hard. Before long, I reached my hand, and touched the sacred beast. Hmm, so fluffy… It sure has an unnecessarily good feel to it.
Perhaps because it understood my words, it was obedient, so I untied it gently. I thought that no matter what I did it might hurt, but contrary to my expectations, it was undone without any issues.
A white color which signifies that of Lānu, and only the tips of its ears, limbs, and tail are bluish-gray. With short limbs and a long body, a slightly rounder face than a ferret, and a round bottom—could it be overweight? Although its neck and upper chest are rather thin, it sure seems bulky. Ah, it looks as big when it stretches too.
“Look, this should be good enough.”
After finally being freed, the sacred beast started licking its body out of panic.
There seems to be no issue in particular. The holy spirit is relatively durable after all.
“Pya—”
I turned my back and went to the highway, only for it to suddenly climb on my cloak.
“Just to let you know, I’ll be going on a long journey. I don’t want someone who incidentally happens to be related to Lānu by my side— Everyone really gathered here the moment you started crying!?”
There were signs of two to three, no, four demons from within the forest. Since it’s not something that would usually be in a shallow area near the highway during the day, it’s definitely after this holy spirit. It seems to have been crying for a while, drawing them in from deep within the forest.
“Suien”
As I called that name, the hilt of a sword appeared from the palm of my left hand. It is the sole spell I could use, though it’s more accurate to say that it simply draws on my magical power, as the magic itself relies on Suien.
Drawing my sword, I prepare for the demons’ attacks.
Not only could I sense its presence, but I could hear the sound of it running on the ground, trampling grass, and branches breaking, and soon the monster revealed itself.
“An Ash owl and some Talon foxes, huh. Owl ears are quite good after all.”
There was one owl and three wolves.
It’s likely that a monster is living deep inside the forest, but since this forest is close to human habitation, it shouldn’t be a significant threat.
Without moving a single step, I slashed down the owl that charged right at my face. I then swung back my sword and cut down through one wolf, and the other two were dealt with in a single sweep.
The three wolves leaped at me with the momentum of their charge, but without any coordination, they were no match at all. Even if they attack simultaneously, if the two are close together, it just makes them easier targets when they’re bunched up like that.
I swung my sword to shake off the dark-red blood belonging to the monsters. After all this, not a single drop remains on Suien’s surface, leaving it perfectly clear.
I sheathe my sword into my left hand, and let out a single sigh.
“Oi, stop clinging onto me.”
The sacred beast, still firmly clinging behind my back.
I tugged on the cloak that must have been wrinkled from being clung to. That thing really does have some strength huh?
“Pya—”
It buried its face into my cloak. Seems like it has clung on even tighter now.
“Oi…”
This is quite troublesome y’know.
I went on to destroy the core of the monsters first while that thing still clung onto my back. When the core of a monster is destroyed, it collapses and disappears, leaving only a few parts behind. If you leave the core alone on the contrary, while it does take a long time, it’ll go back to its original form and start moving again.
A feather was left behind from the owl, and a fang from the wolves. These items aren’t so valuable for the current me, but I’ll still take them just in case. —I recalled being dumbfounded with Shato and Marius, who didn’t know how to earn a living. Since wolf-type monsters are quite common, their fangs became a good source of pocket money in areas where national support doesn’t reach.
By the end, Marius had turned into quite the miser, though.
“Grandfather!”
Returning to the main road, I saw Alina rushing over here.
“Welcome back.”
Io responds with a brief, informal greeting: a slight lift of one foot and a small bow of the waist.
“And here I was thinking it’s taking you longer than usual, what are you so amusingly sticking with?”
“Shut up, It can’t be helped since it won’t come off! Here, a souvenir.”
I threw a wolf’s fang at Marius, who had mockingly teased me.
“Heh, this is quite nostalgic.”
Marius said after safely catching it and looking at it in the palm of his hands.
