I Became a Mountain Tiger in a Fantasy World

< Chapter 16: The Mysterious Mountain Cat >

Albert was stationed, surrounding the exit of the hideout.

“Have all other exits been sealed off?”

“Yes! Gawain and Tristan are commanding the troops!”

“Good. Report any unusual occurrences immediately.”

Skrillzhak had prepared three escape routes. Including the entrance, there were four in total. Albert had deployed sufficient forces at each exit and decided to monitor one himself.

Breaking the entrance or entering directly was not an option. If an unexpected situation damaged the Phoenix’s egg, all their efforts would be in vain. At that moment, he sensed suspicious magical vibrations from inside the cave.

“Captain!”

“Prepare yourselves!”

The troops guarding the entrance were men-at-arms, not even knights, but they showed no fear. Knowing Albert’s prowess, they believed that no monster emerging from the cave could defeat him. Soon, a paralyzing roar echoed from inside the cave.

“Grrrrrrr!!”

Albert’s face hardened at the unfamiliar and strange sound.

‘What is that?’

The roar, reminiscent of a bear, strangely had a trembling that stiffened the whole body. It wasn’t caused by magic or sinister shamanism. Though his battle-hardened body quickly overcame the stiffness, his heightened senses did not miss the subtle change.

‘My muscles are tensing?’

Why? Albert was a seasoned warrior, well aware of when such sensations occurred.

‘A large monster…!’

Giant creatures that turn humans into mere prey. When facing such monsters, his body occasionally trembled like this. And each time, Albert had to lose more comrades than necessary.

“Stand back!”

Albert shouted fiercely, stepping forward. He recalled the enormous footprints he had seen once before. It must be that creature. A formidable presence that made even him, a seasoned warrior, tense up.

“Ugh!”

Albert slowly gathered his aura, preparing for battle. He felt his inner fighting spirit surge. Perhaps, it had been a long time since he had a proper duel.

“Grrrrrrrr!!”

“Whoa!”

With the roar erupting from deep within, the soldiers recoiled in surprise. And in Albert’s sharp gaze directed at the cave entrance,

“Perrrrrr!”

He saw frightened fairies rushing out.

“F-fairies!”

‘What…?’

Fairies were not common creatures.

As the mysterious appearance of the fairies, reminiscent of fireflies, momentarily captured his attention,

Polpolpol.

At the emergence of the monster following them, Albert’s eyes gleamed as he swung his sword…

“Kiing…? Kiing!”

“Hm?!”

He stopped mid-swing.

What in the world…?

Albert stared at the small creature trembling with a perplexed expression.

“Kyaah! Albert! No!”

Lia, who had been observing the situation from behind, screamed and rushed forward.

“My Lady!”

“It’s dangerous!!”

Despite the attempts of the escorts to stop her, Lia quickly ran over and picked up the young beast.

“Oh dear! Are you okay?”

“Grr, grrr…!”

The furball, which resembled a kitten, curled up and bristled at Lia’s touch in surprise.

Its eyes, as clear as rubies, blinked as it trembled all over.

Despite that, it pretended to be a fierce beast, hissing, which promptly disarmed Lia’s expression with its cuteness.

Furthermore,

“Fer!”

“Fererrr! Feru!”

Fairies gathered around the young beast and guarded it, making it impossible to think of it as a monster.

Which fairy would ever protect a monster?

But unlike Lia, who was instantly smitten by the small beast, there was someone who watched it with suspicion.

Albert looked back and forth between Lady Lia and the small beast in her arms with a confused face.

‘What in the world…’

What is this feeling?

Even while constantly on guard inside the cave, Albert couldn’t take his eyes off the young beast.

‘It clearly lacks any significant magic power.’

He checked several times, wondering if it was a mutant with strange magic power.

But no matter how he looked, he couldn’t sense any unusual magic power from the small beast.

Yet,

‘Why did I think it was dangerous?’

The moment he saw the beast, Albert felt he should be on guard.

It was the intuition of a knight honed through years of training, and it rarely failed him.

Certainly, until today.

“Albert! It’s scared!”

“…My Lady, please step away from the monster.”

“Monster? Can’t you see the fairies protecting it?”

“Grrr…”

While Albert was in turmoil, the young beast struggled and soon freed itself from Lia’s embrace.

It looked like it would run away warily, but amusingly, it moved towards the young lady.

Instinctively, it must have recognized the person who was kind to it.

Hm, Albert sighed softly, and Lia beamed at the kitten approaching her.

“Oh, come here! Good! Were you scared? Let’s get out of here quickly?”

“Gyareung…!”

Albert watched the kitten’s behavior and had an absurd delusion.

‘No way, did it recognize the young lady?’

If it was acting that way to figure out where it could survive…

‘Sigh.’

Albert, imagining such things, soon sighed and shook his head.

Was it because he had been too focused on the phoenix’s egg? What a ridiculous thought…

There couldn’t possibly be such an intelligent monster in the world.

Albert watched as the kitten, adored by the young lady, soon fled into the forest with the fairies, then he immediately gave orders to the soldiers.

“Move in.”

It seemed the monster that had roared inside had no intention of revealing itself.

In that case, they had no choice but to go down to its territory and confirm it themselves.

Albert gathered his aura and led the way.

“Stick close behind me!”

“Yes, sir!”

He couldn’t even imagine that the phoenix egg he was desperately searching for had already left its hiding place.

***

“Grr!”

“Fer.”

“Ferrererrer!”

After wandering the forest nonchalantly for a while, we soon rolled on the ground, laughing.

Stupid humans!

At the end, they entered the hideout all tense, and I almost burst into laughter at their solemn faces.

「‘The Exiled Prince’ admires your cunning!」

“Grr!”

I raised my snout high and nodded. Indeed, this small and precious appearance was like a cheat code.

The advantage of easily gaining favor from humans was much more useful than I had thought!

‘I hold this petting strategy in high regard.’

Now, a new rumor would circulate in the martial world.

Beware of children, women, the elderly, and…

Small beasts!

Oh, but this is a fantasy world. What a shame.

***

“Grr.”

After successfully escaping Skrillzhak’s hideout, I soon had to part ways with the Ellafae of Earth.

“Fer! Ferrerrer!”

“Ferururu!”

The Ellafae of Earth, as if they had grown attached, circled around me expressing their regret.

「‘The Exiled Prince’ conveys that the Ellafae would like to invite you to their ‘homeland’ someday.」

“Grr!”

Homeland? Does that mean there’s also a land of fairies?

The question was naturally answered.

As the Ellafae of Earth performed a ritual and communed with nature, a portal to their ‘homeland’ was created.

“Fer!”

“Ferururururu!”

The Ellafae circled around us for a long time, saying their goodbyes, then left for their homeland.

Feeling bittersweet, I watched the portal, then turned my head to the side.

“…….”

There, the exiled prince sat on a petal with a face that said, ‘I have a story to tell.’

Seeing his melancholy face, I curled up the corners of my mouth.

“Pfft.”

“Fer?”

A momentarily flustered Eryllion soon composed himself and asked solemnly.

「‘The Exiled Prince’ says that if you have no place to stay, you can stay with him.」

Oh? Really?

I shook my head firmly.

Then, Eryllion, expecting me to agree, opened his mouth in surprise and asked again.

「‘The Exiled Prince’ says to stop joking.」

“Grr.”

I’m not joking.

Sigh, this is a really serious matter, but there’s no way to explain it.

After pondering for a moment, I extended my claw and drew a picture.

A goblin and a human.

While Eryllion stared blankly at the drawing, I extended my claw and slashed the goblin’s neck.

“…!”

It’s too early to be surprised.

I shrugged my shoulders.

Scratch.

I slashed the human’s neck too.

“…Fer!”

「‘The Exiled Prince’ asks if you’re serious.」

“Grr.”

I nodded.

Eryllion looked utterly crestfallen.

He looked at me with disappointed eyes, but there was nothing I could do.

I hadn’t killed a human yet, but it might happen in the future.

「‘The Exiled Prince’ asks for the reason.」

I glared at him silently.

What a bothersome fellow!

Could it be that he was exiled because he talked too much?

Hmm, after contemplating for a moment, I took out Brother Beak’s egg and drew a shield in front of it.

Then, I stood in front of it and swung my claw.

He should understand by now, right?

If someone tried to kill us, whether it was a goblin or a human, it would be bad news.

So, if you stick with me, you might end up in trouble too.

I was already marked by the goblins, after all.

That was the gist of it.

Brrrr.

Shaking as if shocked, Eryllion’s eyes began to gleam suspiciously.

Then he declared.

「‘The Exiled Prince’ is greatly impressed by your chivalry!」

「‘The Exiled Prince’ says he has become interested in you.」

What is he saying?

There seems to be some misunderstanding…

「‘The Exiled Prince’ says he will accompany you specially.」

I looked at Eryllion with a face of disbelief.

Seeing his tense face, I reluctantly nodded.

Whatever.

He’ll probably leave on his own after a few near-death experiences.

“Grr!”

“Fer!”

Still, having a fairy friend wasn’t so bad.

Especially since he’s a prince?

Thump!

Eryllion’s small fist bumped against my paw.

“Grr!”

Maybe I was getting carried away by the mood.

Feeling elated, I explained the next plan to him.

Raise a shield before the humans.

And slash the goblin’s neck.

“Fer?”

Oh, come on.

I drew a crooked diagram as I explained the strategy.

Having just escaped from Skrillzhak’s hideout, a solution to our situation had come to mind.

Referring to the titles of the books, I scribbled some crooked words.

[Help from the Count’s Daughter]

I had decided to go meet her.

There was something I needed to confirm.

What did the status screen mention about her?

I was curious about her true identity.