First Outing
Far from the Imperial capital lay a small village named Swalter. It wasn’t exactly prosperous, but the villagers lived peacefully alongside one another. Within this village existed an old tale whose origins were long forgotten, and only a handful of elders still remembered clearly.
The tale spoke of a monster’s castle hidden high on the mountain overlooking the village. According to legend, anyone who ventured too close would themselves become a monster.
The oldest woman in the village, now toothless and barely comprehensible, occasionally mumbled warnings that someday the monster would descend and devour all the wicked villagers.
Of course, no one genuinely believed this scary story. Adults knew it was merely a convenient tale designed to discourage reckless children from venturing onto the dangerous mountain filled with wild beasts. At best, it was something told occasionally to frighten stubborn children into obedience.
However, lately, the atmosphere in the village had changed. Several villagers began claiming they heard strange screams or laughter coming from the mountain. As the number of these claims steadily increased, unease grew among the villagers.
Eventually, mysterious incidents occurring within the village itself began being linked directly to the monster’s castle hidden on the mountain.
“Are they serious?”
Leon shook his head in disbelief. He found it absurd that grown adults could believe something like this. In fact, he wasn’t even convinced there was actually a castle up there at all.
Yet despite dismissing the story as ridiculous, Leon decided to investigate it himself. Few villagers actively pushed him, but he couldn’t simply ignore their anxiety. After all, he was the son of the former lord.
Leon firmly believed that rights came hand-in-hand with responsibility. Even though the feudal system had long been abolished, his father, the former lord, was still respected in the village. Having lived a comfortable life thanks to that respect, Leon had sworn to devote himself to serving his village.
To his astonishment, the rumored castle turned out to be real. Following the path described by the old village woman, he soon found himself standing before a massive mansion. Remarkably, it even appeared well-maintained.
“Whoever lives here… has to be human, right?”
Leon wasn’t seriously entertaining the idea that this mansion belonged to a monster, but he still felt uneasy about simply walking in. Eventually, he mustered up the courage and shouted.
“Hello?”
“Is anyone there?”
“I’m not suspicious! I’m from the village at the foot of the mountain. Could you please open the door?”
He called out several times, but there was no response. By now, Leon felt justified in entering the mansion, yet he couldn’t quite make himself push open the gate. Feeling slightly embarrassed, he wondered if perhaps he’d subconsciously believed the old childhood stories more than he’d realized. At that very moment—
Creeeeak.
The mansion’s gate slowly swung open. What stepped out was neither monster nor human.
“Um… who did you say you were?”
It was an angel.
***
“Elizabeth, I’ve finished prepping the ingredients for lunch!”
“Oh, thank you. Excellent work, Briel.”
“Thank you!”
As usual, Elizabeth gently stroked my cheek with her paw, her praise warm and comforting. Lately, I was starting to feel as though I was working extra diligently just to receive this small reward.
Thanks to the extra help in the kitchen, the mansion employees’ once-monotonous meals now featured daily variations. Butler Squawk had carefully gathered feedback from the delighted staff, and I found myself primarily assigned to kitchen duties for the foreseeable future. Of course, I still had other tasks as well.
“Oh, look at the time. I need to go check on Gold for a moment.”
“Alright, see you soon.”
Walking Gold was also part of my daily routine. Initially, learning Gold’s true identity had caused me deep, indescribable feelings of betrayal—but that was entirely Kalz’s fault, not Gold’s. With time, I came to appreciate the arrangement. After all, openly doting on a cute animal friend inside this mansion was a delight. Being assigned to walk a dog hardly felt like work—it was a welcome addition.
Yet, just as I opened the kitchen door, someone completely unexpected hovered right in front of me.
“Huh? Butler Squawk—”
“Shh!”
In sharp contrast to my startled reaction, Butler Squawk swiftly silenced me with a practiced motion, covering my mouth with his wing. With a determined, even heroic expression, he urgently gestured for me to follow him quietly. He didn’t stop until we’d reached the lobby, finally turning to face me with concern in his eyes.
“My sincerest apologies. You must have been quite startled.”
“A little startled, yes. But how long have you been standing outside the kitchen?”
“Oh, not very long. Only about ten minutes or so.”
“Ten minutes? Why didn’t you just knock?”
“Haha…”
Ah, Elizabeth again. It was obvious there was something complicated going on between Butler Squawk and Elizabeth. I’d caught glimpses of their awkward interactions several times in the kitchen—Butler Squawk clearly avoiding her, and Elizabeth visibly irritated by his avoidance.
Once, I’d even subtly asked Butler Squawk about their relationship, but he’d simply given me that same uncomfortable laugh and avoided answering altogether.
Of course, I’d never asked Elizabeth directly. Somehow, I felt she knew exactly why.
“More importantly, Briel, there’s an urgent matter.”
“What is it? …Huh?”
I hadn’t noticed it in the noisy kitchen, but standing here in the quiet lobby, I could hear someone shouting outside. The voice belonged to a man, unfamiliar and clearly agitated, though I couldn’t quite make out his exact words.
“Who’s that?”
“That’s precisely the urgent matter. A stranger has come to the castle gate, demanding to speak with someone inside. Normally, I would handle it myself by pretending to be human, but…”
Oh, right. I’d seen Butler Squawk disguise himself before—a mysterious man wrapped head-to-toe in black clothing.
“But there’s no longer any need for that, is there?”
“Exactly. Don’t worry. I’ll go out and see what he wants.”
“I’m counting on you.”
Butler Squawk looked relieved and even proud of my confident response. After confirming that my task was to determine the visitor’s intentions and discourage him from returning, I stepped out of the mansion. Swinging the main gate open boldly, I immediately spotted the stranger waiting outside.
Oh, he’s handsome.
With short brown hair and clear eyes, the young man waiting there was quite attractive. He wasn’t stunningly handsome, but he possessed a certain innocent charm. His eyes were particularly captivating, as though he’d grown up seeing only the bright side of the world.
On top of that, while not quite matching Kalz, the man was clearly in good shape—tall, athletic, with lightly tanned skin that hinted at a healthy, active lifestyle.
Was I the only slender pretty boy in this world? Setting aside my momentary pang of insecurity, I turned my attention fully to my responsibilities.
“So, who exactly are you?”
“Ah…”
For some reason, the stranger looked genuinely startled, which struck me as odd considering he’d come knocking at our gate himself. Shouldn’t he have expected someone to greet him?
“Could you tell me your name?”
“Huh? Oh, my name is Leon Swalter. You can just call me Leon.”
Swalter? That was the name of the village at the mountain’s base.
Although the old feudal system was abolished, someone bearing the village’s name probably wasn’t an ordinary villager. He was likely from a prominent family there. But why would someone important come all the way up here? Feeling cautious, I carefully questioned him again.
“Right. Leon Swalter, then. Could you please explain why you’re here?”
“Well, I heard rumors in the village about this castle… but it wasn’t my idea! I mean, I didn’t actually believe them myself, but everyone kept insisting—”
Previously calm, Leon’s face quickly flushed bright red as he began stammering awkwardly.
Oh, I’d definitely seen this before.
Occasionally, there were people who behaved exactly like this in front of me—either becoming tongue-tied or babbling nervously, clearly overwhelmed by my appearance. Leon seemed to fall firmly into the latter category.
“I’m sorry, but I’m not quite following what you mean.”
“Sorry! I’m just… a bit overwhelmed. But first, if I may—what’s the name of someone as beautiful as you?”
“Huh?”
Oh no, not again. I wasn’t even wearing my usual hood today—oh, right. The apron and chef’s hat. Butler Squawk had whisked me away from the kitchen so suddenly that I hadn’t even had time to remove them.
