Okami Wa Nemuranai

The view below from the <Cliff> was more beautiful than anything.

The bountiful streaming river.

Flocks of birds flying across.

The mystical sensation from the complex and mysterious, yet harmonious hues of trees.

All of these are inside the territory of Zaidmahl House, he can't help but get surprised.

That said, presently even climbing down the Cliff would be a herculean task. The dream of developing the area below the Cliff is one of a distant future. If that day ever comes, that is.

After enjoying the scenery from above, they stopped by somewhere with a nice breeze and had lunch. The lunch today is grandiose. The young lady and her maid, Marinka, handed out the food themselves.

The young lady is cheerful today.

She has undergone a transformation from a kid to a girl in this past year. Lecan recalls she's 13 now, he wonders if it's a special age where they grow fast for girls. He never thought about it before.

He was told that the young lady was also on her way back from Cliff when they first met. After that time, this would be the fourth time they came here, and Lecan was always appointed to escort her.

At first suspecting glances poured on him even inside the mansion, but after Lecan started teaching the chief knight, Ezak, in swordsmanship, the majority of knights and underlings eventually looked up to Lecan, and now, an air of relief spreads among them whenever Lecan is escorting.

After the lunch, the young lady stood above the Cliff once again.

Lecan thought that her face then seemed lonely somehow.

<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka.com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>

Three days later, a celebration was held in the mansion.

The young lady Rubianafale had turned 14 year old.

For women of noble birth, 14 year old birthday holds a special meaning.

By the start of that day, they are considered an adult.

Marriage becomes possible.

A month later, Lecan was prohibited from coming to the main building. There was a guest from other house of nobility.

Using this chance, Lecan went to a faraway place and detected a strong blue dot.

It's a magic beast.

A mighty magic beast.

Since it's deep in the mountain where no one would come in the first place, it probably poses no danger even if left alone. However, there is no guarantee that this magic beast wouldn't come near inhabited towns or villages, nor wouldn't town or village people get close to the magic beast's turf.

Lecan approached quietly under the guise of shadows.

The magic beast is still outside the range of <3D Perception>, so he uses his remaining right eye to to look at it. Its body length exceeds 20 steps, height exceeds 10 steps, it's a gigantic beast.

Soaring high like a hill, its back is covered in spear-like thorns.

Lecan crouched down and closed in on it using earthen mounds as his covers, then the magic beast was finally inside his <3D Perception> range.

It has a small head, with three eyes. This is the first time Lecan saw a three-eyed magic beast. The third eye on its forehead is unusually large, moving independently from the two eyes below it. Its six legs are small relative to its huge body. It's probably not that fast mobility-wise.

The behemoth is eating a dead prey.

Lecan was hesitant as he watched it.

--I have no clue about the magic beast's attack methods nor its weakness. It's dangerous, but should I try challenging it. Or should I withdraw here.

Lecan concentrated on sensing the magic beast's presence.

--No, this is not good. It's too rash to challenge it.

Right when Lecan decided to retreat, the magic beast's third eye turned toward Lecan. Despite the lump of earth blocking its view, the behemoth's eye is looking straight at Lecan. And then, the behemoth stopped feasting on its prey and shook its whole body.

A chill assailed Lecan, he immediately jumped back without minding the sound it would cause.

Spear-like thorns on the behemoth's back got launched off. Dozens of thorns crushed the earthen mounds with tremendous forces, assaulting Lecan.

But a moment before that, Lecan swiftly cast a spell.

"Wind!"

A swirling gust of wind rolls up, carrying Lecan into the sky. The ability, <Gust>.

The thorns grazed his legs, mowing down the trees behind him. What terrifying destructive powers.

"Wind! Wind! Wind! Wind!"

Lecan successively cast <Gust>.

<Gust> is an ability to accelerate oneself and obstruct enemy's mobility, it's not an ability that enables one to fly in the sky. But he doesn't care about posing right now. He has to get away from the monster even if it means using up the entirety of his mana.

While flying in the sky, Lecan turned his head and looked at the magic beast. The monster is inhaling breath. It's some kind of preliminary action.

"Wind!"

This time, Lecan summoned a gust that threw him down from above.

The monster's magical attack passed right above Lecan as he fell down.

--Cold? This thing can spew out cold breaths!

After coming into contact with the ground, Lecan turned his back on the monster and ran. He's already 100 steps apart from the monster. He should be able to get away without problem.

However, he was too naive for thinking that.

Sounds of trees breaking could be heard behind him. Like it's some kind of a large-scale natural disaster.

Glancing behind, he saw the monster had curled up into a ball, rolling toward him at a tremendous speed.

"Wind!"

Lecan frantically ran while propelling himself forward with the magical wind. Tree branches scratched his face and arms, but none even got registered on his mind.

After running for quite a while, the sounds of the monster rolling suddenly stopped. There is no way that such a huge mass could move at that speed using just the strength of its muscles alone, it must have used mana to roll around. In other words, it's out of fuel.

However, Lecan too is in the same state.

After getting quite far enough, he sunk down to the ground. Then he regulated his breathing, took out six small mana gems from <Storage> and absorbed their mana.

Then he recalled about the magic potion he got from Zaidmahl, took it out and drank it.

It tasted awful. The pungent taste entwining in his throat remains on and on. There's something wrong with the sense of taste of this world's humans if they could drink this thing like it's normal.

Even after such an unpleasant drink, the scratches on his face and arms aren't disappearing. He wonders if magic potions in this world are slow-acting. He waited for quite a long time, but the effect never manifested itself, so Lecan drank a low grade medicine from his original world. His wounds immediately began to heal. The wounds aren't actually vanishing instantly, but he should be practically flawless by tomorrow. Of course, his left eye will remain dysfunctional. Were he drank a high grade potion right after his eye was crushed, it probably would have been restored, but he didn't have that kind money at that time.

Even while he was thinking, Lecan kept a watch on the monster's movement with <Life Detection>.

Apparently it never came to Zaidmahl territory, Lecan kept a watch for a while and decided to go back by dawn.

There's a wagon parked in front of the main building. No horse around. They're probably in the stable.

It's an awfully luxurious wagon.

For some reason, he felt a sense of foreboding from its luxuriousness.