Side Story: Lynx ①
I was dreaming.
I was always living in fear of some large shadow.
No matter how much I ran, that shadow would chase after me.
From somewhere, a man with glaring eyes appeared and said:
“You have talent.”
“Your mother and sister are important to you, aren’t they?”
“If you come with us, you’ll no longer have to fear the threat of the nobility.”
“The East is already escaping the control of the nobles.”
“This is an advance payment.”
“Choose, will you come with us, or else…”
The man threw those overbearing words at me and extended his hand.
Reluctantly, I had no choice but to take it.
The moment he mentioned my mother and sister, there was no choice to be made.
However, even then, nothing changed.
I was merely replaced by a more terrifying existence.
Waiting for me were endless days of continuing to obey orders.
Surely, I would meet a tragic end.
Yes, the next moment I pessimistically raised my head—
I saw a hallucination of a pure white sun exploding, burning the man before my eyes to ashes.
The sun’s flames scorched the earth, quickly transforming it into a world of death.
Amidst all that, I saw the visage of a young boy.
The eyes of that boy, shrouded in silhouette—shone with a beautiful golden light.
◇◇◇◇
“Hanya…?! Where am I?”
When I woke up, I was in someone’s house.
Potted plants were placed here and there, giving the feeling of being outside even though I was inside a room.
On the table were a mortar, scales, mysterious powders, and thick books, all crammed together.
Outside the window, a dense fog hung heavy.
“I was hit by explosion magic… ugh.”
When I tried to raise my body, a dull pain ran through me.
It was close to a miracle that I got away with this much after taking that much magic.
Lynx thought that the resident of this house had nursed me back to health, but it was strange that my external wounds had disappeared so cleanly.
“Ungh… hmm? You’re awake?”
A languid girl’s voice reached me from the direction of the sofa.
It seemed I had been occupying the housemate’s bed.
The girl sluggishly got up and approached Lynx in a slow, shuffling manner.
(Damn it, the Perception-Blocking Robe is gone.)
It had probably been blown away by the explosion.
Lynx instinctively hid her face.
For Lynx, who was destined to live as a covert operative, having her face seen was something to be avoided.
“Why are you hiding your face? I already saw it when I was taking care of you.”
“!”
Knowing that her face had been seen, Lynx tensed up.
But the next moment, words that she could hardly believe flew at her.
“Well, I’m also the type of person who can’t really show myself in public.”
Lynx was surprised to see the girl’s appearance.
The girl’s skin was as white as snow, her eyes were half-open as if she had just woken up, and her features were innocent, yet she possessed a somewhat mystical beauty.
Surprisingly, her attire consisted only of an apron-like garment tied at the back, and she wasn’t wearing anything underneath.
If it weren’t for her long, pink-beige hair that reached below her knees, everything would have been completely visible from behind.
Most of all, seeing her distinct horizontally pointed ears, Lynx realized who the girl was.
“Elf…”
“That’s right, and—are you my enemy?”
The eyes of the elven girl narrowed sharply.
A tense atmosphere.
Lynx reflected that she might have shown too much hostility.
“…N-no. I can’t possibly turn my fangs against my benefactor. Thank you for saving me.”
“That’s good then. Your sense of duty is very Beastman-like.”
The tense atmosphere relaxed.
As if reacting to the girl’s words, the beast ears on Lynx’s head twitched.
Lynx’s race wasn’t very common in the Zacharian Empire, but it was still more common than Elves.
“…”
“Come to think of it, we haven’t introduced ourselves yet. My name is Gigliola Dispiola. What’s yours?”
“Lynx.”
“Lynx, I look forward to working with you, even if it’s only for a short time.”
Lynx didn’t want to stay long.
She sensed an indescribable madness in the depths of Gigliola’s emerald blue eyes.
“Hey, Jiliora-san, did you find any of my belongings?”
“Hmm… are you talking about these?”
So saying, Jiliora showed Lynx the two Kusarigama she held in her hands.
They were Lynx’s beloved Star Tools.
“!”
“You’re a Hero of the Union, aren’t you?”
“…Did you know?”
Lynx was wary of Jiliora.
Now that she knew she was a Hero, she had no idea what Jiliora would do.
“Of course, it’s impossible for an ordinary Beastman to survive in such a battered state.”
“…Why didn’t you kill me?”
“Well, I would have killed a human Hero, but you’re a Beastman Hero. You have value to me.”
“…I swore loyalty to my boss. I can’t obey an Elf.”
“Hmm, that’s good loyalty.”
Jiliora said that and walked up to Lynx, using her left hand to pull up the shirt Lynx was wearing, and her right hand to pull down her shorts.
Her shapely hemispheres were exposed, and the line of bare skin extended from her navel down a dozen centimeters, just barely continuing.
“Nyan?! What are you doing?!”
“That’s a pretty old type of ‘Curse-Seal Magic’. It’s a type of Curse-Seal that gradually imprints loyalty to the caster. It also incorporates a function to protect the caster’s existence.”
Jiliora didn’t just want to sexually harass her.
Her emerald blue eyes were staring at the mysterious pattern engraved on Lynx’s Tanden, depicting two black arms.