Magic beasts summoned through magic usually returned after a set amount of time, but for that to happen, the caster needed to specify the duration of the summoning. This was a particularly advanced form of sorcery. Alfred, however, was not yet capable of setting those time limits. When a beast was summoned without a specified duration, the summon remained indefinitely.
Because of this, Kuroichi was still here.
Uncle Demon King requested that Kuroichi be kept far away from the Royal Capital—and especially the Academy—so he was moved into the North Forest. The Deadly Wolf, who had submitted to Kuroichi, went with him. The wolf was quite massive, roughly the same size as Kuroichi when he was enlarged. Its most striking feature was supposed to be a gray coat with black spots, but because the Demon Kingdom Regular Army had shorn its fur as proof of its "subjugation," those patterns were gone. In some spots, the skin was actually visible due to their clumsy shearing. I made sure no one laughed, though. It would only have made the Deadly Wolf depressed.
Initially, Kuroichi intended to return to the village on his own, but Uncle Demon King stopped him. He explained that simply being spotted along the way would cause a national uproar. Instead, it was decided that Uncle Beezel would send him back once he returned. Kuroichi didn't mind as long as he got home, and he spent his time exploring the North Forest. Apparently, he even enjoyed reminiscing about the old days with Foo, one of Zabuton's children.
I was a bit jealous. I wanted to meet Foo too, but since they had departed before I ever arrived at the village, we had never met. Still, it was nice to know they were well. I’d have plenty to tell Mother Zabuton later.
Then came today. Uncle Beezel finally arrived to take Kuroichi home. If Kuroichi were to suddenly teleport directly into the village, there was a chance Father might see him, so they set the destination for the hot springs instead. Kuroichi planned to use the local teleportation gate to get from the hot springs back to the village.
I expected the Deadly Wolf to accompany him, but it refused point-blank. It wouldn't even obey Kuroichi's direct orders. It hid behind Alfred—who had come out to see Kuroichi off—trembling like a terrified puppy as it resisted. I found it impressive that the beast understood by instinct exactly who it should rely on for protection, but its behavior only infuriated Kuroichi. To him, it looked like the wolf was declaring it would stay by Alfred’s side even as Kuroichi had to leave.
Since Kuroichi looked ready to go on a rampage, I stepped in to mediate. Kuroichi didn’t particularly care if the wolf came to the village or not, but he absolutely refused to allow it to stay near Alfred. Meanwhile, the Deadly Wolf was convinced that going to the village was a death sentence. It begged for mercy.
In the end, it was decided that the Deadly Wolf would be left in the care of Foo in the depths of the North Forest. Foo was truly massive. I made sure to thank them for coming all the way out to fetch the wolf. I hoped the Deadly Wolf would live peacefully deep in the woods. I told it that while defending itself was one thing, it should try to run away from adventurers whenever possible. I also hoped its shorn fur would grow back quickly.
With the wolf safely relocated, Kuroichi was finally satisfied and departed via Uncle Beezel’s teleportation magic. I apologized to Uncle Beezel for keeping him waiting through all the drama. After seeing them off, Alfred and I headed back to the Academy.
Rigne-san accompanied us. It might have seemed careless to move about so freely shortly after an ambush, but it wasn't a problem. Not because there were no more enemies, but because we had already proven that we could handle ourselves.
Actually, I realized I had completely misunderstood Rigne-san’s role. She wasn't there as an escort to protect us; she was there to ensure we didn't overdo it.
"Those children aren't the type to be handled by mere assassins. Rather, I want you to watch over them so they don't kill the attackers."
That was the request Uncle Gratz had given her. It explained why Rigne-san had been so slow to intervene during the fight. Once I heard the reason, it made perfect sense, though I wished she had told me from the start. Then again, I probably would have been annoyed if she’d said that to my face back then.
"By the way, Rigne-san," I asked. "Could you actually counter Tiselle’s giant golem?"
"You were the one who told me its weakness," she replied. "If that thing comes out, I’ll just aim for Tiselle herself."
It was the tactically correct move, but she was missing something. Would Tiselle really leave a weakness like that exposed? Not a chance. Even if Tiselle’s feet left the ground, she had ways to maintain the golem’s form. Whether or not I should tell Rigne-san that... well, I’d leave that to Tiselle.
As we approached the Academy, the fields and ranches came into view. These were the ones built by Big Brother Gol and his group. The ranch here had a lot of goats. There was also a military encampment nearby—though I doubted they were stationed there specifically to guard the farm.
Continuing past them toward the Academy, Earth came out to greet us. He and Big Brother Gol had returned late last night. Everyone had been in terrible shape—not from wounds, but from sheer exhaustion. I had told Earth to take the day off today, but he insisted on working. I just hoped he wouldn't push himself too hard.
The three of us returned to our house on campus. Alfred went straight to his room, looking like he was going to crawl back into bed. It seemed his recovery was going to take some time. Last night, Uncle Demon King, Asa, and Mettora had all shared stories of their past failures to try and cheer him up, but it didn't seem to help much.
Tiselle had been furiously taking notes while Uncle Demon King spoke, but I confiscated her notepad. Since that was paper intended for writing letters to Father, I didn't want her wasting it on blackmail material.
Speaking of paper, I needed to write a letter to Father soon. I wanted to make sure I emphasized that I had made friends here. One of those friends had been cleared of any charges, but since she couldn't exactly be granted immediate freedom, she was placed in the custody of Ridley of the Dalfon Company. I wondered if making Ridley responsible was a penalty for the fact that most of the attackers had ties to the company. If so, I felt like Representative Delinted should have been the one to take the hit... but there was no use dwelling on things I couldn't change.
Oh right, when Earth returned yesterday, he brought some people with him—twenty-six maids who had served the rebellious lord. Since they hadn't taken part in the rebellion, they were pardoned and free to go home, but the public wouldn't see it that way. Their families had refused to take them back to avoid being associated with the uprising, leaving them with nowhere to go.
They had turned to Earth for help. To be precise, they had asked Big Brother Gol and the others, but the responsibility had been pushed onto Earth. Big Brother Gol apologized to us, explaining that he had no intention of adding more wives to his household, but I felt like he owed Earth an apology too. Well, if he already said it, then that was fine.
Anyway, there were twenty-six of them, ranging from girls our age to women in their mid-twenties. Apparently, the older, more experienced maids had enough skills to find other employment on their own. I initially thought Earth was going to have them work at our house, but I was wrong. He was planning to help them open a shop in the capital.
For now, they were staying at an inn. The reason Earth hadn't come to see Kuroichi off wasn't to rest, but to visit the Dalfon Company to secure land and a building. The company promised to have something ready immediately, so the only thing left was deciding what kind of shop it would be. Based on their skills, Earth wanted to open a tea house.
In that case, we would need to source some tea. I could ask Father myself, but I decided to make Earth write that part of the letter. Since I was done with my own news, I just had to get Alfred and Tiselle to finish their sections so we could bundle them up and send them off. I really needed to thank Uncle Beezel for acting as our courier.
It would be so much easier if I could use teleportation magic myself, but it seemed I had no talent for it. A real shame.
I sipped the tea Mettora brewed for me and let out a relaxed sigh. At that very moment, I had no idea that Mother Lu was actually at the Royal Castle, demanding Uncle Demon King’s cooperation in retaliating against those who had targeted us.
Lu: "No parent remains calm when their children are made targets."
Demon King: "You're absolutely right..."