#13
Well, with that small body, it must have been tiring to wander through the forest.
But what was this now? The child who always surprised him was now unpacking something from his pocket.
Drinking milk, eating cookies, looking at the sky—it was the picture of carefree leisure. Shouldn’t lost children normally be crying and scared?
It was fortunate that he had been lurking nearby from the beginning. Otherwise, the boy would have become prey for the beasts in the area where he was first discovered.
When the child made eye contact with him and offered a cookie with a smile, he approached cautiously. Sniffing it, he recognized it as the chocolate cookie he used to enjoy.
Maybe he should go out now?
Not particularly wanting to eat what the child had been eating, he quickly ate a fresh cookie nearby.
It tasted even better after not having it for so long. Putting aside his pride, he ate some of the cookies the child was eating.
And now the child was trying to talk to him.
He responded with a slight nod, which made the little one tilt his head curiously.
He was cute, indeed. Just as he was thinking about playing with him a bit longer…
The child who had been sitting nicely on the rock fell into the hot spring with a splash.
Having unintentionally caused the child to fall into the water, he headed toward the castle, intending to take him there directly. But now the child was being carried in the jaws of a fierce beast. Hey, little one. Are you getting sleepy? Are you sleeping? Are you really asleep?
He had quickly pulled him out of the water and dried all the moisture thoroughly, so there shouldn’t be any problem with the child, but he couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of the little one even snoring softly.
Then, nearly dropping the child, he quickly tightened his jaw and stopped in his tracks when he saw someone running toward the castle like a runaway train.
Just as he thought. It was the one he immediately thought of when he saw the fair skin and large green eyes.
Definitely Lucas’s son.
He stopped his leisurely pace and gently placed the child on the ground.
“……”
He had no intention of getting into a confrontation. Well then, he’d be going.
“Where you goin’?”
The snow leopard’s body froze just as he was turning away after putting the child down. There was no reason for Lucas’s voice to be this cute and tiny with a slight lisp. And this voice was the same one he had heard just a moment ago.
“Noah Schwein.”
Yes, you two sort it out. I’ve earned my cookies.
“Where you goin’~”
The snow leopard’s body, which had started moving again, froze once more. Something had attached itself to his long, luxurious tail. And that something was daringly pulling on his tail.
“Daddy! Can we go home togethew?”
Noah, who had fallen asleep after falling into the water and being carried with a gentle, rhythmic motion, had been awake for a while. He had clearly meant to touch the deer and teleport with it, but falling into the water was a genuine accident.
But what was happening now?
Looking at the swaying ground beneath him, what entered his vision was the paw of a beast larger than his head. A fluffy white paw with black markings appeared and disappeared repeatedly.
That’s when he realized that this beast was carrying him somewhere by its mouth. But because it was holding the clothes at his nape, all he could see were the beast’s paws and the mountain path. While pondering what kind of beast had fur and paws of this color, Noah turned his head slightly when the beast stopped.
And upon seeing the sturdy man with a stiff face, Noah realized immediately.
If he went home like this, he was dead.
The beast didn’t seem to have any intention of eating him, as it gently placed him on the ground.
Then it turned to leave. Hey! Don’t go! I’ll die if you leave.
Should I pretend to be awake? Should I keep pretending to be asleep?
The moment he heard Lucas’s voice, loud enough to echo through the mountains, Noah suddenly sat up and shrieked. Let’s go with this beast. His only thought was to create some kind of excuse.
When the beast, which had paused briefly, started moving again, Noah, in his urgency, firmly grabbed the swaying tail in front of him as if it were a lifeline. Then he slowly raised his head.
Meeting Lucas’s gaze looking down at him, Noah tried his best to make a pitiful expression.
Dangle, dangle.
Is this some new punishment?
Noah was at Lucas’s side. Literally stuck to his side.
He wasn’t being held properly in arms or given a piggyback ride. Lucas had wrapped one arm around Noah’s waist and was carrying him at his side. Noah’s legs swung with Lucas’s large strides.
Just before, that beast had moved so carefully, swaying gently…
When he got tired of holding his head up and relaxed his muscles, the world appeared upside down. And between his dangling legs, he could see the snow leopard following them.
A snow leopard that lives in cold regions. With its white fur beautifully decorated with black patterns, it was trudging along behind them.
Noah reached out his hand, which was swinging along with his body, toward the snow leopard.
Hello~
He had always wanted to raise a pet. A dog, a cat, a hamster, or even a fish, but he had never had the chance. And now, the first pet in his life was going to be a snow leopard. A smile suddenly bloomed on Noah’s face, which had been full of gloom until just a moment ago.
He might get scolded a bit, but at least he got a pet… No, that’s not right…
As they got closer to the castle, anxiety began to creep in.
This wasn’t something that could be easily overlooked.
By that time, due to the region’s characteristic of early nightfall, it was getting dark outside. However, as they approached the castle, it became bright again as if day had returned.
The first thing he saw were knights equipped with various weapons, the kind he had only seen during training in the practice grounds. Seeing them divided into groups of three or five, they seemed to be moving in teams. Relief was clearly visible on their faces as they saw Noah hanging from Lucas’s side.
As they entered the castle, Loren, with her eyes and eye area completely red, and Elisa, wiping her flowing tears with a handkerchief, came running out. Loren picked up Noah as soon as she ran out.
Three years old was one thing, but at five years old—even though he was smaller than his peers—the frail Loren had not been able to lift Noah for some time. Because of this, Noah also never asked her to pick him up.
Yet now she was holding him with one arm and continuously stroking Noah’s face, which had turned red from the cold, with her other hand. She kissed his cheeks, eyes, forehead—everything. As she did so, she kept calling out to the gods.
Elisa, too, stood by his side, touching his arms and legs, checking if he was hurt anywhere.
“I’m fine…”
“He’s not hurt. Noah, come here.”
Noah, who was about to say he was fine, quickly shut his mouth at Lucas’s cold words. The time had finally come.
“Were you very scared? Where did you go? How frightened you must have been all alone? Are you hungry?”
“Prepare some soft food right away…”
Lucas’s words were drowned out by Loren and Elisa’s fuss. Loren quickly entered the castle, and Noah, feeling guilty, lightly kissed her cheek. He must have taken things too lightly.
And when everyone first confirmed Lucas and Noah’s safety and then saw the large snow leopard following them leisurely, their eyes widened. There was no one in the Austen region who didn’t know about snow leopards.
It was said that the master of the Heidel Mountains in the north of Austen was the Silver Dragon, Derik. But in reality, whether dragons existed or not was unknown, so that was just a legend.
Currently, the guardian of the Heidel Mountains was the snow leopard. Knights who went on subjugation missions always knew that snow leopards were watching them. They never came close, always observing from somewhere before disappearing.
It was an unspoken rule that if anyone saw a snow leopard during a subjugation, they would stop and retreat. The purpose of subjugation was balance, and the Schwein family, who had been doing this for generations, had never broken that principle.
This was because the timing of the snow leopard’s appearance always coincided with their dilemmas. It would appear just when they were discussing whether to stop and go down or go around once more, so everyone regarded the snow leopard as the guardian of the Heidel Mountains.
And now such a snow leopard was right in front of them?
Everyone who saw the snow leopard, which looked large even from a distance and even larger up close, instinctively took a step or two back. Noah, who had kissed Loren’s cheek and gently held Elisa’s hand that was stroking his body, turned his head at the commotion.
As the snow leopard stopped, sat down with its bottom on the ground, and let out a big yawn, someone standing at a distance fainted, causing a small disturbance.
“…Lucas.”
“Noah, you tell them.”
Loren, trying to protect Noah from the ferocious beast, held him tighter and approached Lucas, but Lucas’s indifferent response was all she got.
“It’s my pet.”
Noah spoke quickly. He needed to make it clear to everyone before they drove the snow leopard away.
Noah grabbing the snow leopard’s tail after meeting Lucas, fearing he would be in big trouble if he went home, was a purely impulsive act. Having experienced both transmigration and regression twice, Noah, who was neither scared nor surprised by anything anymore, simply accepted the fact that the snow leopard had saved him.
He just really liked the snow leopard he had seen up close for the first time, and he was confident that since it had carried him so close to the castle, it wouldn’t eat him.
Above all, he felt that if he insisted on taking the snow leopard home, Lucas’s anger might be somewhat diverted.
He liked the feel of the snow leopard’s fluffy fur in his hands, but when he asked if they could go home together, he immediately received a firm “no.”
So he cried.
Hugging the snow leopard’s tail and crying loudly while stealing glances, Noah cried even louder in the awkward situation. The reason was the bewildered expression of the snow leopard, who had sat down and offered its tail to him, and Lucas’s stiff face, where his eyebrows were now twitching.
When the firm refusal came down, Noah buried his face in the snow leopard’s tail and forced out tears that wouldn’t come naturally.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
