18 – A White Go Stone?
A monster with white fur and a round body.
It had no name, no intellect, it was just a beast.
It had its own tribe.
Because it was still young, the others took care of it.
They would often come up to him, open their mouths wide, and spit something out.
Those things were mostly fallen and crushed fruit or decomposing small animals.
He grew up picking and eating these things.
One day when his body had reached a diameter of about 30 centimeters, a magical array appeared at his feet.
“Squeek! Squeek!”
The surrounding fellows cried as if they were celebrating him.
He didn’t know why they were doing this. He was just scared of this strange phenomenon that he was experiencing for the first time.
“Squeek!”
With a nervous cry, he disappeared from the spot.
The view changed and-
The next thing he saw was a succubus in an extremely revealing leather suit.
“What’s this, haven’t seen one like this before.”
She frowned.
The monster looked at her nervously.
“Hey, can you do anything?”
The creature tilted its head.
“You don’t understand what I’m saying? Sigh… this summoning was a failure, too. But it seems a waste to not make use of the summoning energy, so…”
She reached out a hand to the creature’s round body and transferred some magic into it.
The creature felt its intelligence rapidly increasing.
“I should give you a name…hmmm. You’ll do.”
“Pardon?”
The creature was taken aback by its own response. It had just spoken a language, the existence of which it hadn’t known before.
“What can you do?”
“What I can do…”,
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The creature recalled scenes of its brethren opening their mouths and expelling food.
Its species had separate mouths for eating and for transporting things.
The creature opened its mouth wide towards the succubus. The mouth had expanded almost as wide as its body.
The inside was a dark void.
The succubus raised an eyebrow.
“Hmm… dimensional storage, huh… It’s not entirely useless. It’s a spell I can also use!”
She then placed several items into the gaping mouth of the creature.
“From now on, you’re my auxiliary bag, got it?”
“Yes!”
From then on, the creature spent a few weeks with the succubus.
The succubus always looked at it with disdain, but
still, she provided it with food.
Leftover foods that the succubus had been eating.
To the creature, who had been always eating rotting food in the forest, freshly cooked food was a heavenly delight.
At some point, the creature, who had been given intellect and delicious food by the succubus, started to follow her, referring to her as ‘Master’.
Then one day, a large human came to see the master.
“Squawk!”
The creature opened its mouth wide threatening the man, who did not pay any attention to it and continued with his conversation with the master.
In their conversation, words like empire, kingdom, sorcerer, and others the creature had never heard before came out.
But despite its increased intelligence, it couldn’t understand these new stories.
The massive creature seemed to not cause harm to its owner, so it curled up quietly in a corner and watched.
Several days went by after he left, and the creature went out with its owner.
Late at night. The owner who met with the gigantic man outside again was confronted by a man covered head to toe in black.
When the black man charged at the owner, the creature jumped in to stop him.
It hurt.
A severe pain it had never felt before.
Soon, even that pain began to fade and its consciousness began to drift away.
It saw the retreating figure of its owner, who had turned her back on him.
“Master…”
With all of its strength, it tried to call out, but like always, she departed with a displeasing look in her eyes.
——————————
On the day of our second meeting, I started getting dressed after lunch.
To be precise, I was being dressed.
A small male butler was struggling to get me into a jacket.
The man who was in charge of my going out preparations that day did everything from my hair, clothes, accessories, to even my makeup.
“I can put it on,”
I suggest, seeing him almost sweating and lifting his arms in struggle.
“No can do. The wrinkles need to be straightened out!”
He was small, but stubborn. Perhaps, it was the pride of a designer.
Perhaps, he was the one who did all the dressing up for the people of the household.
“It’s done. Please come this way.”
He led me in front of a full-length mirror.
“Hmm…”
He had done my styling during our previous encounter, but today he seemed to put in more effort.
My stereotype was completely different with neatly styled hair, a simple and sleek black-navy suit, and light makeup.
Thanks to daily sword training and nearly two months of strict diet control, my body was looking quite fit.
‘Isn’t this quite alright?’
Men tend to overestimate themselves.
Excess pride is not good.
‘But still, this is almost 300% beautified.’
I never realized the power of make-up. Not only my hair and clothes, but also the impressive transformation brought about by cosmetics.
Originally, I opposed the idea, thinking “Why would I want to appear feminine?” But once the make-up was applied, it cleared my skin tone, giving me a cleaner and more refined look than usual.
“Sir, have some confidence! There might be a very, very small number of women who prefer masculine types!”
‘Is she mocking me now? Was it necessary to stress the term very, very small…’
On top of that, I’m already engaged. It’s a done deal because of the contract.
So it doesn’t matter if the princess doesn’t find masculine types attractive.
What are the chances she belongs to that very, very small minority?
“Then we’ll set off now.”
“Ah, yes!”
As I lightly ignore her words and start to leave the room, she gives a final adjustment to my clothes and hair.
Due to her physique, she had to stretch her hand up high and strain herself to touch my hair.
“Good luck, sir!”
I sensed her deep bow from behind me.
‘No… magic?’
Ever since I started receiving magic lessons, my senses somehow heightened.
If this were a martial arts story, it might be referred to as ‘sensing Ki’—that kind of feeling.
She might be from a low-ranking noble family but as a noble, she possessed a certain amount of magic.
‘Didn’t I deserve to have some too…’
I become conscious of the bracelet hidden under the sleeve of my suit.
Is all I can rely on in case of an emergency my ten magic bullets?
As I step out of the mansion, Carol is waiting for me.
“I will accompany you.”
I give her a puzzled look.
“Wasn’t I supposed to go alone today?”
“Lady Maria orders me to accompany you until the meeting place.”
“Hmm…”
She wouldn’t just leave me there and keep watch from a distance, would she?
Even though I’m not a true member of the Anderson family, being a significant person, it was a distinct possibility.
“Alright. Let’s get going.”
I lead the way, and she follows behind.
Certainly, even if it’s the capital, the most developed city in this country, one should not consider it in terms of Korean public safety.
In that sense, Carol was a reassuring bodyguard.
At her age, she belonged to the genius level of spellcasters: a Level 3 wizard, with considerable physical prowess.
I stroll along the streets, appreciating the surrounding sights, with her just behind me.
The grandeur of the capital streets heightens every time I take a stroll ever since I arrived here.
The buildings here in particular, were noteworthy.
I’d never been on a European trip, but could this be the feel?
“Hmm”?
Almost to our destination, Central Square, I suddenly detected a hint of magical power from a side alley.
It was like…it elicited the sensation of someone in a great deal of pain.
Yes, it was a dying-like sensation, though I’ve never actually seen a person in such a state.
“Carol, wait a moment”
“Yes.”
Without a word, she followed me as I veered towards the alleyway.
Stepping into the alley, I caught sight of a white object sprawled in the narrow shadow between buildings.
“A go stone?”
It looked like the kind of stone used in the game of Go, specifically a white stone.
But as I got closer, I realized it was quite large.
The round white object looked to be over 30 centimeters in diameter.
“What is this?”
I turned to look at Carol as if to ask her, but she warned me instead.
“We should keep our distance. I think it might be a magical beast.”
“Hmm…”
Upon closer examination, the object was covered in white fur, and a pool of blood lay beneath it.
Yet, the tinge of magical power suggested that it was undoubtedly alive.
However, it seemed as if it would die soon if left unchecked.
“Mr. Thomas!”
Carol tried to stop me as I approached it.
“It’s alright. It’s almost dead.”
Confidence teemed in my voice and Carol stepped back.
I pulled out one of the three emergency potions fastened to my belt.
It was a healing potion, effective on wounds.
Holding the potion in one hand, I flipped over the giant go stone-like creature.
Short legs stuck to the lower portion of the creature and a pink mouth-like thing was visible on the edge. Its closed eyes were hidden under the fur.
And there was a long scratch on what seemed to be its belly.
“Ugh…”
I, who had only ever seen animals brutally hit by cars on the road, winced in disgust.
I twisted off the cap of the potion with my mouth and poured it on the wound.
Even after using up one bottle, the wound did not fully heal, and the creature’s life was still in danger.
The feeling of life draining away from the wound was all too apparent.
I considered the remaining two emergency potions.
One was a mana potion, and the other was the Elixir.
After debating for three seconds, I chose the Elixir.
“Mr. Thomas! Are you thinking of using that?”
Carol asked in something akin to horror.
“For some reason, I feel sorry for it and want to save it. It was given to me, so I can use it however I want, right?”
“….”
Carol affirmed my statement without words.
But she seemed quite regretful.
Without hesitation, I opened the Elixir and poured it on the creature resembling a go stone.
On second thought, it felt wasteful so I only poured about a third of it.
The result was astonishing.
“Wow”
The wound healed instantly.
Touching the creature’s white fur, I could feel its mana stabilizing.
‘It feels much stronger upon contact’
I picked up the creature and handed it over to Carol.
“We’re not far from the square now, I’ll go alone. Carol, could you take this little one home?”
“…Yes, understood”
Carol, breathing heavily, reluctantly agreed, taking the unconscious white-furred creature with an unhappy expression.
After Carol left, I moved towards the square.
“I’ve been feeling anxious since a while ago…”
I felt passersby on the street casting stolen glances at me.
I’ve always been conscious of this for several reasons, but it felt especially intense today.
Once I set foot in the square, it felt like I could develop a phobia of the gazes that were never there before.
‘Hasn’t she arrived yet?’
I looked at the clock tower a bit distance from the square.
30 minutes earlier than the scheduled meeting time.
Despite unexpectedly participating in a strange animal rescue activity, there was still ample time left.
That’s when, cutting through the crowd, the person I agreed to meet approached.
I waved my hand towards her.