“I— Who are you?” I said as I stood up.

The slender, brown-haired girl with sharp golden eyes stood up from the ground and introduced herself, her arms proudly crossed. She looked only a few years older than me. Despite her noble features, her face implied a sly nature. Her tail wagged subtly as she stood facing me.

“Can you not tell, demon boy? I am that ‘Lord Gryphon’ whom you graciously helped yesterday,” she spoke in Voralten.

“What? You can’t be serious,” I said.

“Oh? Verily am I serious with my words. Are my golden eyes and fine tail not sufficient to convince you of my gryphonic nature?”

Reactivating the mystic eye of magic perception, I had no choice but to accept the facts. Somehow, she was indeed that gryphon from yesterday, with the very same characteristically stormy mana reservoir.

“Alright, I’ll believe what you say then. So why do you… look like this?”

“Hmph, what a rude manner of asking so. This is simply one of my natural forms. Would you rather wish me in my noble winged, four-legged form? Quite obscene of you, a mortal seeking to lay his crawling eyes upon a gryphon’s true form.”

Me? The one who’s obscene? What the hell is this exhibitionist girl saying?

“Sorry, Lord Gryphon, I’m just not very familiar with your kind. I wasn’t aware you had humanoid forms.”

“Of course we do. Engrave that important fact in your mind, demon boy,” she stepped forwards and tapped her index finger on my forehead. “And do so not stiffly address me as ‘Lord Gryphon’,” she said while laying her right hand on her chest. “I am Princess Sharanna of the Gryphons, Lady of the Storms, Daughter of High King Aeolus of the Gryphons, Lord of the Storms.”

“I see, nice to meet you then, Princess Sharanna of the Gryphons, Lady of the Storms, Daughter of High King Aeolus of the Gryphons, Lord of the Storms. Just call me Luqa.”

“Hoh, how cheeky of you,” she said while she laid her hands on her hips. “Ditch the titles and simply refer to me as Shara. After all, those honorific titles matter not in this age and especially not to mortals like you.”

Shara?

Hearing that name brought the image of a gentle woman with long, flowing white hair and a radiant smile. The one I had loved as Malachi. And the one I had brought to death with my foolish actions.

“Hmm, what is the matter, Luqa? Does my name offend you?” She tilted herself forward to get a look at the thoughtful expression on my face.

“No… it’s a beautiful name.” The words escaped my mouth as I reminisced the few memories I had of the white-haired woman.

“Of course it is!” she huffed with pride. “Is it not a name befitting the noble daughter of the gryphons?” Her tail had begun shamelessly swinging from side to side.

“I suppose it is, but what would I know? Speaking of, legends only tell of one gryphon in the Northern Forests. Where is the rest of your kind then?”

“Left to the sands of time, unfortunately,” she said with an elegant yet sad smile. “I am all that remains of my kind. For many centuries I have roamed alone in these forests." She remained silent for a few moments. "Speaking of, I must express my gratitude to you for disposing of that beast. It has been running rampant for quite the number of seasons now.” She continued, changing the subject smoothly, as if eager to avoid speaking of her past.

“You don’t need to thank me for it.” A twinge of guilt pierced through me. “It’s my fault that ape was here, or at least why it had that much power, so it was my responsibility to put that thing down.”

“Once more with that drivel? Even if that thing is truly your fault, be proud you have taken responsibility. That is more than can be said of many of you mortals.”

“I… can’t. I can’t bring myself to be proud of it.”

“How boorish of you. This lady, lonely from centuries of isolation, simply desires to express her gratitude to you, her unlikely savior, but here you are, brooding as if the hero of a tragedy,” she said as she looked at me with half-closed, critical eyes.

“Okay I get it, Princess, I’ll accept your gratitude,” I said with a heavy sigh. I could tell this girl would be mentally exhausting.

“Again, you may call me Shara, Luqa,” she said with an expression that told me this wasn’t a suggestion I could decline.

“…Then Shara it is,” I forced the words out. Uttering the name Shara made me feel a twinge of melancholic nostalgia.

“Now, will you please listen to the request I made of you earlier? I am immensely hungry and had had enough of eating raw meat as if I were a simple beast. Don’t you demons have quite the delicious cuisine?”

“I guess we do. Really, it’s the only thing demons could shamelessly pride themselves on.”

“Then I fancy a meal befitting of your race’s pride!”

“Sure, but put this on first please.”

I threw her a blanket from my supplies, which she wrapped around herself.

“Thank you for sharing your meal with me. And this cloth, how thoughtful of you, Luqa, but the elements affect my immortal body not. I will nonetheless accept your gift,” she said with a light bow.

“I suppose you naturally strut around the forest naked then…”

“Ah, that is what you are purporting with handing me this cloth. My apologies. I forget how shameful mortals can be. I suppose I’ll cover myself up then to spare you your embarrassment,” she said in a low voice.

“No, I’m not embarrassed at all! Just thought you’d like some clothing, sheesh,” I said less confidently than I’d liked.

I rummaged through my pack and pulled out a sealed container, containing seasoned, marinated firebear meat, kept cold by ice magic. Conjuring supports from the earth, I suspended an iron pot over the flame, opened the container, and transferred the meat into the pot.

“What is that rather strange substance covering the meat? It smells rather odd, no? Yet pleasing, nonetheless.”

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“That substance,” I said as I cooked the meat, which was sizzling as I stirred it, “is something that brings out the meat’s inherent flavor and elevates it. When was the last time you had a civilized meal?”

“A civilized meal? You make me sound as if I am some sort of savage beast,” she said while her stomach grumbled. “Though, if I understand what you mean by a civilized meal, it has been too long.”

While I cooked, I created earthen plates with my magic and polished them clean with water.

“Hmm, you’re quite proficient with magic, no? Why don’t you simply heat the pot with your abilities instead of cooking it over the flame?”

“That’s forbidden!”

“Why so?”

“There was once a human named Clara, and she was renowned for her abilities as a cook. She claims that no technique can parallel cooking over a flame,” I said with a knowing smile. “I'm just following her stead.”

“Oh, I see. Are you also a renowned cook?”

“You could say I’m trying.”

I transferred the cooked meat onto a conjured plate. Its scent made me salivate a bit.

“And now is time to partake! I thank you, Luqa!”

“Hold on, not yet.”

I stopped her as she began to pick the plate up. Her playful tail stopped its movements and hung down. Her gleeful, excited expression turned glum.

“Why so? Do you seek further compensation from me? I can grant you another feather. Or do you seek one of my claws?”

“I— no that’s not it. I’m just not done cooking, there’s still more to our meal.”

“Oh! Clearly! I shall make myself patient then,” she said as her tail curved upwards again. “Take as much time as you so desire, Luqa. Though my anticipation will make waiting a demanding task. Please hurry as fast as you can.”

Which is it, gryphon girl?

“You really have shattered my image of what gryphons are, Shara,” I said as I took out a cold container of yellow rice, which emanated a pleasant scent as I opened it.

“Do I not seem noble and just to you?” she asked half-jokingly. “No matter. But just what is that there? Some sort of tiny eggs retrieved from a creature’s corpse?”

“No, it’s rice. It’ll go really well with our meat.”

I scooped the rice into the pot, cooking it in the melted fat of the firebear meat, while adding some conjured water to reintroduce moisture into the dry rice. Stirring it until it was warm and fluffy once more, I portioned the rice into two plates and then added the meat on top.

“Oh, I see. What an aesthetic ensemble of pleasing colors and delightful smells! May I now partake?”

“Not yet, lion girl,” I said as I pulled out two spoons from my pack as well as a container of white sauce. “I am just adding the last touches of some white sauce that’ll make this a meal to remember.”

“How insolent! I am a gryphon, do not compare me to those oversized cats,” she said with seemingly genuine annoyance.

I scooped two large portions of the white sauce onto the two plates and handed one plate to Shara, who took it while humming.

“Ho! The texture of the meat! The sharp but pleasing flavor! And the fluffiness and subtle taste of this rice combined with meat! And the option to introduce into the meal the tanginess and creaminess of this white sauce, as you call it! Oh, Luqa, you have prepared quite the divine plate of gourmet goodness.”

“You certainly know how to describe it,” I said as I scooped the food into my mouth. I couldn’t help but smile at her words, though. Her compliments certainly made for quite the contrast to Arnulf’s affirmative grunts when I asked what he thought of my cooking.

“Now, please tell me,” Shara said in between eating, “what is a demon boy like you doing in these forests?”

“Would you believe me if I said I’m just a normal half-demon boy who’s lost in the woods?” I asked.

“Oh, don’t bother with that,” she said with a wide smile as her discerning eyes bore into me. “I told you my own truths, so it’s proper to reciprocate.”

“Then, I’m just a normal half-demon boy who’s lost in the woods, that’s the truth,” I said.

“My, you actually tried!” she giggled. “But enough of that now.”

“Alright, then,” I said with a sigh. “It’s a bit of a long, complicated story.”

“And I have all the time and patience to sit here and hear it, if you’re willing to tell.”

I should make it quick and simple.

“Here's all you need to know: I am the reincarnation of the Demon King Malachi who invaded this continent and I went deep into this forest to retrieve a piece of my soul that had wandered here between my previous life’s death and my current life’s birth. That rampaging ape from yesterday somehow managed to receive that soul fragment of mine, but I took it back when I killed it.”

“Hoh?” The girl tilted her head and stared at me with curious eyes for a few seconds. “So you speak the truth. That ape had a fragment of your soul… The Demon King’s reincarnation…Hmm…”

“I’m the reason these forests… No, the lands around us are in their state, the reason why senseless violence raged those centuries ago.”

“I know not much about him, but you certainly don’t seem to act like that Demon King.”

“I’ve learned a bit from my past,” I said. “I’d like to think I’m past that. But the fact that I am reincarnated and changed doesn’t mean I still don’t have blood on my hands.”

“At least you changed,” Shara said as she finished her plate clean. “Even immortal beings with all the time in the world with countless flaws refuse to open their eyes and change themselves. You’re quite the reformed Demon King.”

“Heh, not sure if immortals’ standards are the best to measure myself to. But just how old are you to talk about immortal beings?” I asked.

“The answer shall never be revealed, Luqa,” she said with a sly grin. “But I can tell you that, even if we count the centuries between your death and rebirth, you are still but just a boy to me.”

“I dunno, you look pretty young to me.”

“Young in years for a gryphon, yes.”

She laid her plate down, stretched with a yawn, and hummed in satisfaction.

“So what now, Luqa? Will you leave the forest now that you have received what you sought?”

“Yes, it’s time to depart from this place and truly see the world.”

“Ooh, see the world, you say. Then rejoice, boy. This noble gryphon will be willing to make herself a companion to you for the time being.”

“Huh?”

“I said, this noble gry—”

“No, I heard you the first time. But you’re leaving these forests? Aren’t you their guardian?”

“That is simply false. True, I have spent centuries here and treated it as a temporary home. But I never claimed myself as its guardian, that is simply a myth weaved by you mortals. And I no longer have any attachment to these forests. In the end, I’m one who wanders,” she said while looking around with heavy eyes.

“I will be hunting down monsters much like that ape, living an adventurer’s life. Are you sure?” I asked.

“Ooh, an adventurer’s life? Hunting down monsters?” My attempt to talk her down only caused her to lean forward towards me with excited eyes. “That is quite agreeable to me.”

“Are you really, really sure? Weren’t you injured and beaten by that ape?”

“Hmph!” she pouted angrily. “That ape dishonorably ambushed me in my sleep like a brute. Do not underestimate the might of a gryphon.” The clouds above us gathered as if converging into a storm.

“Okay, I get it. Then if you really want to, you can come. But I’ll eventually be traveling to the human nations. I don’t know what people would think if they just saw a legendary creature like the gryphon amongst them.”

“I’ll keep myself mostly to this form, then.”

“You sure? It doesn’t require mana or effort to keep that form?”

“I’ve said it already. This is simply one of my natural forms, so do not worry your little head, Luqa. And is this form not pleasing to you?” she said as her tail curved upwards.

“I—I don’t even know what to say. Yes?”

“Pleasure to hear so. And so you have no opposition to my proposal?”

I thought of more reasons to deny her, but I couldn’t, except for one, which was an instinctive desire to not travel with a companion like her. Was it simply because I could tell she would tire me out? Or that she was someone I didn't know how to deal with?

“I guess so.”

“Then I shall be your delightful companion for the time being. I thank you for your graciousness.”

A companion, huh? Even as Demon King Malachi, I couldn’t remember anyone who could qualify as a companion, except for the Shara of my previous life. Even Demon General Tareh kept a respectable distance from me. A few years into the war, I had truly isolated myself and refused to confide in anyone.

Much of the same could be said for my life as the half-demon Luqa, though not by choice. The only one who knew my true identity until today was Arnulf, who now happened to be dead.

How did this girl end up becoming the only other one to know? And someone I didn't even know as Malachi... Though, thinking about it, having someone else who knows… isn’t such a bad feeling.

“What’s wrong, dear companion of mine? Shaking in anticipation for journeying with such a beautiful yet clever girl?” she nudged me in the ribs.

“Maybe so. Who knows?”

“Well, I, for one, am looking forward to traveling with a companion,” she said as she turned away from me. “It has been too long for me. Let us get along, Luqa.” she said, tilting her head back to meet my eyes. She then turned around once again to face me while extending her right hand.

"Heh, sure, let's get along. I hope I won't regret this," I said as I took her hand and shook it.

"I promise you won't." As she met my gaze, her golden eyes shone warmly.