“Darling!”
“Whoa!”
When I approach Merlin, Tiltue, who was silently watching, suddenly charges at me.
I’m used to it, so I catch her, and she rubs her face against me.
She also crushed the squirming lower half of the basilisk along the way, but I’ll pretend I didn’t see it.
“Hm? Darling, there’s something different about you.”
“Eh? Is there?”
“The smell of a female that’s not Reina… Have you been cheating!?”
“Eeh…”
She’s probably talking about Snow, but how do I explain it?
“This is going to take a while, so I’ll explain it later, but for now I’ll just say it’s not cheating.”
“…I see. Good then.”
And as she rubs against me to put her own smell on me, I turn to Merlin.
“We actually came here to talk to you, Merlin…”
“M-Me…?”
I look at her pale face, and wonder if I brought that out too suddenly.
“Oh? The chief of the divine beast people?”
“That’s right, Bahamut kid. It’s been a while. But this isn’t about you today.”
“…Hou…”
“…What?”
“To me, the reason why you walk with my darling is… Mugu…”
I feel the situation turning volatile, and quickly press Tiltue’s face into my stomach.
“Now now Tiltue. Suzaku isn’t here to fight. Leave it at that.”
“Mmu…”
“Well, yes.”
Both hold back their aggressive aura, and Merlin finally takes a deep breath, feeling relieved.
I guess if these two threw their power at each other, it wouldn’t be good for Merlin, even if she’s been getting used to it.
“Just as I was thinking that I’ve grown since I got to this island…”
“But that really was great.”
“…As one of seven great mages, and one of the strongest human mages, I can’t be treated as a weakling forever.”
Yes, I’ve seen Xellos train too.
He’s probably trying hard to get stronger and survive on this island too.
“So, why did you come after someone that’s like this anyway?”
“Ah, well…”
I tell her exactly what Suzaku said to me, while still holding Tiltue, and it looks like Merlin understands.
“I see… Is it an epidemic?”
“I dunno. But I heard that you’re good with that sort of thing, so can you take a look?”
Asks Suzaku while bowing.
The fact that she said she wanted to ask in person, and she’s now doing this to save her people as the chief of the divine beast people, shows how diligent she is about this sort of thing.
Merlin opens her eyes wide in surprise, and freezes for a moment.
Then she, kind of awkwardly, walks towards Suzaku.
“Well, the beast people have been good to me, so I’ll go take a look.”
“We’ll owe you one.”
“Yes… You can repay me some other time.”
She says, and we’re about to head to the divine beast people’s village, but…
“Merlin, wait! We were going to train together!”
Tiltue moves away from me, and stops Merlin.
“Train?”
“Ah…”
Merlin looks a little troubled, like she knows what Tiltue is talking about.
She peeks at me and looks kind of awkward, but what’s that about?”
“Hey, Bahamut kid. Is that more important than examining the sick beast people?”
“Mu… It’s not like you’re in a hurry! And she promised me first! Promises are to be kept!”
“…”
Tiltue and Suzaku glare at each other again.
If I had to say, I’d say it’s Tiltue who’s being a little selfish, but maybe she has something she can’t give up either.
And just as I’m about to ask her, I feel a pull on my arm.
“She’s just going to sulk more, so you don’t have to do it.”
“Ah, but…”
“I’ll talk to her.”
Merlin walks between them as bloodlust flies.
Her face is a little painted with fear, so it’s amazing that she keeps going anyway.
“Tiltue, come here for a moment.”
“Mumumu? Merlin? Promises are to be kept!”
“I know. But this is a tactic too.”
“What…?”
Tiltue’s boodlust dies down after hearing Merlin, and she follows her.
It’s like the air around them is completely different, but they look like sisters anyway.
“What’s goin’ on?”
“Who knows…?”
They crouch, and talk about something. I should be able to listen if I tried, but that’s not nice.
Tiltue looks a little surprised by what Merlin has to say, but seems to agree. And by the time Tiltue comes back here, her mood is all better.
Conversely, Merlin looks a little tired.
“Darling! Be careful out there!”
“Eh? Ah, yes.”
Her attitude is completely different from before, but I guess it’s fine.
She turns into her dragon form and flies home, and I’m left wondering what caused that change.
“What did you say?”
“It’s a secret. But you’re going to have to put your working boots on for us later…”
“Seriously, what did you tell her!?”
Don’t give me that meaningful look and go quiet.
I’ve already been getting mad at for bringing in trouble when I don’t mean to…
“Then we should return to Reina first.”
“Hn? We aren’t goin’ straight to the village?”
“We don’t know what kind of disease it is, so we need at least some tools. Unlike me, who just wandered in here, Reina has a lot of useful tools with her, so let’s borrow from her.”
Suzaku is impressed. She really knows nothing about being sick.
Not that I even know what tools she’s talking about either…
And so, we go back home, and Merlin is surprised when she sees Snow playing with Xellos.
But examining the sick people comes first, so we’re heading to the divine beast people’s village.
“Tell me what that’s all about later.”
“Yes…”
I feel like no matter how I explain it, she’s going to look at me with those weird eyes.
And as I’m thinking about starting from how we met, we reach the village.
And… We see beast people suffering from the disease.
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