Without breaking my stance, I glare at the giant white tiger with fur that seems to radiantly illuminate as it basks under the moonlight. Contradictory to its beautiful display, a thick and dense magical power has invaded that whole place. The one emitting such ferocious and intense magical power is the white tiger in front of me.

Mixed with its daunting but dignified appearance, all of us are taken aback. It kind of gives me the feeling of fighting against the final boss. However, if I imagine that Nil is standing beside that enormous tiger, it would feel like it’s just a pet.

“[Barrier!]”

In haste, I cast my barrier to the surrounding with us in the center. The purpose of this barrier is of course, to protect us from the tiger and to prevent someone from suddenly entering the place. That guy will definitely sense this tiger here and will immediately rush here with these two dumb elves buck naked.

We don’t need a lucky pervert trope anymore.

While glaring at the tiger, I skillfully retrieve a body towels for Casablanca and Hibiscus. The two takes the towels in a flushed manner and immediately wraps it around their body for cover. Wearing something would be ideal but that would take too much time…

The tiger didn’t move an inch since Hibiscus told it off. Instead, it’s just staring at us silently. It’s not emitting any bloodthirst that is common for a wild animal so I just thought maybe it is not hostile. Then again, I am still not letting my guard down since it approached us in an odd way. While we are about to take a bath…

Focus never swept away from the tiger and from the other edge of my barrier, I feel a knocking sensation. That only means he is already there.

“Are you Nivalis?”

The sudden question snaps my attention back. I didn’t immediately answer back but tried to rack my brain of something. For some reason, this white tiger seems familiar to me. Racking my brain harder, I remember Astlan’s Memory Fragment.

His memory in which tells how his whole life in this world happened and how he met his end.

The white tiger in front of me…if I remember correctly…his name is…

“Eternity Lightning Fang!”

“STOP YELLING THAT! IT’S REALLY EMBARRASSING!”

The tiger in front of me roared. It’s a really interesting reaction given his size. With a new atmosphere encroaching, the heavy suffocating tension from earlier slowly fades and I lower my guard a little. The Casablanca and Hibiscus retreat back little by little aiming for their clothes at the base of the lake. As for Topaz, she just stands far away stricken with fear.

After a little while, the twins finally managed to get dress. I don’t know how this tiger here will treat us. Having a nice and comfy conversation doesn’t sound bad at all and he is an intelligent creature.

“Hey…”

“Hmm?”

“I have to tell you this. I am not Nivalis.”

“You...are…not?”

“I am her daughter…Asagao…”

“Daughter…? With Astlan?!”

“Yes…and these two elves here are Casablanca Prasiolite and Hibiscus Prasiolite. They are the daughters of Hinoki Prasiolite.”

“With…Astlan again?”

“Yeah…”

“That master of mine…creating daughters here and there…”

“For the record…he also has a daughter with Miss Izuna…”

“Goddamn…Why haven't I been told by this? Senya never mentions anything…”

“Senya?! You know where I can find Senya?!”

“Yeah, we’re actually close by.”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

STRIKE!

Catching a random curve ball! A convenient situation!

To think that we’d actually meet someone that will help us find Senya.  I do realize it myself but, I always get these random encounters that would lead to something good or weird. Was it by coincidence?

Since I already know this tiger in front of me, I might as well remove the barrier.

The barrier that separates us vanishes in the thin air like a bubble. I already lowered my guard earlier and because of our prior conversation, I place a little slither of trust towards the white tiger. I don’t want any more shenanigans so I’d better show a little opening too.

But…

At that moment, when the barrier fades… the waters splash violently. The white tiger in front of us becomes a blur. When I realize it…the reason Topaz was so scared…the lack of blood thirst…

That’s right…he was directing all of his hostility…towards Topaz…who is a devil…

My eyes promptly make its sight towards Topaz but my reaction is too slow to even deploy a barrier for her. What my eyes saw is the scene where the tiger is about to pounce Topaz with its large body, bared razor teeth towards her and claws unwind.

Topaz froze at the monstrosity in front of her while tear slowly rolls down. The whole scenario feels like in a slow motion, however, the word barrier cannot catch up with the event and despair crept up to me.

The despair of losing someone again…no…the despair of seeing Milin’s dead countenance again. In the end, I could only see Topaz as Milin and not the girl herself.

………

BAM!

Ah..!

From the curtain of the darkness deep in the forest, he appeared heroically, immediately holding Topaz in his left arm and countering the ferocious attack of the tiger with his right arm. However, strong as he may be, his attack only threw off the tiger’s balance and blow it away with just two meters away.

Since the appearance of a new enemy, the tiger retreats another meter away from Ichirou and Topaz.

“Just in time, huh. What the hell is that barrier for, Asagao?! If you hadn’t put it up earlier, I could have responded faster!”

“You plan to charge straight ahead to the place where we are taking a bath?”

“B-But…point taken. So, could you tell Topaz to separate from me?”

“With her being like that…I can’t…”

The poor girl was horribly terrified…

She wraps her arms around Ichirou. She just buries her face in his chest and silently shed tears of fear and relief. Her whole body is shaking and her shoulders are visible trembling from the fright. She wanted to utter words but her torrent of cry and hics are stopping her from doing so.

Ichirou didn’t show any indifference towards her at this moment. In fact, he never tried to push her away and kept his left arm on Topaz’s, wrapping the smaller girl from shoulder and patting her head.

I was relieved to see that Topaz is safe but still ridden with the guilt of the realization of how I truly think about her. The issue itself revealed naturally as anxiety struck me earlier.

Together with that emotion, seeing how Ichirou voluntarily soothes Topaz, prickling and squeezing pain shot my chest. I never felt anything like this before and such emotion paralyzed my train of thought. It was only that scene that was burned in my mind.

My thoughts and emotions are all over the place. I cannot fathom what’s happening to me anymore. It’s confusing, it’s scary and, it’s vexing to feel this condensed emotions swirling inside me.

Am I really glad or sad?

My own thoughts are now scaring me. I know that I am susceptible to emotions but that is because I know them that I fear them, however, I didn’t know that emotions you never felt before is more paralyzing, vexing and brings a flood of anxiety.

GROWL

A low intimidating growl brought me back to my senses. The tiger earlier is now leering at Ichirou who suddenly intrudes. I naturally enter battle state and runs to Ichirou’s side with the twins in tow.

Emby flies out of nowhere and landed on Hibiscus shoulder. Hibiscus brought out her soul weapon, the cube. Casablanca, in succession, also summons hers, the crescent moon. As for me, I pointed my sword towards the tiger and started calculating its possible movements and my possible placement for barriers.

“Why are you protecting that devil?”

The white tiger asks as he readies his stance again to pounce. This time, magical power surges throughout his body, strengthening every fiber of muscles.

“Listen to me, this girl here has emotions, feelings, ego! Even if she is a devil, she can feel pain and will suffer from it! Also, she has a name and that’s Topaz!”

“Hmph! How fancy, however, even if you decorate a box filled with mud with glitters and ribbons, it is still a box filled with mud. That is how it sounded to me. A devil is a devil, a vessel of destruction. You may see her as different but deep inside her, her root is evil and that can never ever change.”

“She is not like the other devil!”

“Laughable, child of Nivalis. Once a devil is born, they are evil. They are made up of evil desires and negative emotions. They will always have the desires to kill and to cause chaos. Even now, that girl you referred to as Topaz reeks with evil intention.”

“Shut up!”

The tiger and I threw words for words until we cannot reach a commonplace.

Fed up with his overgeneralization for devils, I ignore his words. The white tiger, upon realizing this, also stop his preach and wordlessly, prepares to launch his body towards us.

Seeing eye to eye, the night become still as words cease to be uttered.

And then… wordlessly, the white tiger kicks the ground and moves in a blinding speed, however…

“Yes, that’s enough of you, Eternity Lightning Fang!~”

Upon hearing the lax but gentle voice, the white tiger propels himself away and avoids contact with us. As he balances his footing, the white tiger leaps several meters away from us again and retracted all of his hostility.

Eh…

Wait…

With just that, the ferocious white tiger stops obediently. Also, the one who intervene the battle, we didn’t even notice her presence until she spoke…

Ichirou already knew where the voice came from so Casablanca, Hibiscus, and I follow his gaze and through the thick curtain of darkness within the woods.

A woman came out…and…she took my breath away…

Donning a platinum strawberry hair that reaches all the way to her waist and complimented with a slight gentle grin, she rides her way beside the lake in her wheelchair by rolling the side wheels. Her eyes are closed but it seems she can still see even in the darkest hour of the night. Her fair ephemeral skin is brightly illuminated by the moons and stars as their radiance rains down towards her.

She only wears a long sleeping gown covered with a long robe that is red in color. Her waistline is slightly visible and her glorious clavicle is perfectly showing.

A beautiful woman in her early twenties… An adult woman beauty that rivaled among mother, Izuna, and Hinoki in which I remember from Astlan’s memory…

And what’s more, the presence that she has the can even calm a storm…it feels surreal and out of this world. It feels so mysterious, yet charming.

It was her, the person I am looking for.

“Good evening to all of you. I’ve been expecting your arrival which I have already foretold in my divinations. I am Senya, pleased to meet you all, especially you, Nivalis daughter, Asagao Lionheart.”