~Chapter 3~
The divine beast living in the palace, the Rihwiella clan. Rail and Betten, low-ranking knights of the Holy Knights who serve them closely, were patrolling around the palace again today.
In the quiet, Betten spoke first.
“Feels like we’ve already done ten patrols today! Why is the guard duty so tough lately?!”
“We’re low ranks, so we do what we’re told. No choice.”
Though called the palace’s direct guard knights of Rihwiella, in reality they just endlessly patrol the palace grounds.
“We’re just guard dogs. Ugh…”
“By the way, do you think the rumor is true?”
“What rumor?”
Betten’s question made Rail lower his voice. After checking no one nearby was listening, he whispered into Betten’s ear.
“The rumor that Kinyaxis went missing…”
“…What?! Kinyaxis is mis—gone?!”
“You idiot! I said it quietly, but you’re telling everyone!”
“Ugh!!”
Rail carefully stopped Betten’s angry mouth.
“Haha! Really? Kinyaxis is missing?”
Who is Kinyaxis? The young divine beast of the Rihwiella clan, the precious youngest master whom all the divine beasts protect closely.
They say he hasn’t even learned to flap his wings yet, and they cherish him like a treasure, fearing the wind or rain might harm him. The youngest master never left the palace, so what? Missing?
“I can’t believe it… If Kinyaxis really went missing, the palace would be in chaos!”
“But he hasn’t been seen for nearly a week. The other divine beasts are unusually tense… The spirit creatures haven’t stayed at the palace for days doing some mission.”
“That’s true, but…”
“Also, when I went to report to the deputy chief yesterday, I overheard—”
Betten suddenly perked up.
“When you went, what—”
A voice, not Rail’s, cut between them. A rough, growling voice. Someone who shouldn’t be here.
“D-deputy chief…?”
Ethan Croyt, the Holy Knights’ captain, stood before them. His red eyes glared as if devouring his subordinates.
“Wow, captain. These two are not working and just gossiping?”
“That Ivel…!”
Rail ground his teeth, wanting to punch Ivel’s smirking face. But hearing the captain’s dark voice, he had to lower his fists.
“You’re supposed to patrol but only spread rumors. You think your mission is a joke? You have energy to babble nonsense. Is that right?”
“N-no!!”
“Sorry!!”
“Rail Wayne, Betten Toos. Don’t let baseless rumors disrupt the palace’s order. Nothing is wrong with the Rihwiella clan’s safety.”
Ethan warned in a low voice.
Suddenly,
“Ughhh!!”
A loud retching sound came from deep in the forest.
“What’s that noise?”
“I-I’ll go check, captain!”
“I’m coming too! Hey, Rail! Let’s go!”
At just the right moment, the two knights escaped the captain’s anger and breathed a sigh of relief.
“Wow. Thought someone was dying. Whoever threw up, I’ll carry them home carefully.”
“I’ll piggyback them. Really. Unless they’re an assassin trying to kill a divine beast—”
Joking, the two arrived at the noise’s source and found…
Kinyaxis foaming at the mouth, collapsed, and Rinnegrim loosening his clothes.
“That kid can’t be Kinyaxis, right?”
“No way… Someone from the divine beast palace wouldn’t wear such shabby clothes, much less foam at the mouth…”
But denying reality was impossible—it was clearly Kinyaxis.
Both drew swords at once.
“Who goes there?!”
I’m losing it!!
The worsening situation made me swallow my tears.
First, calming the men with sharp blades was priority. I raised both hands slowly and stepped back.
“P-Please, teachers, calm down. There seems to be a misunderstanding.”
“What misunderstanding! You were rifling through the fallen divine beast’s clothes!!”
“No! I wasn’t rifling, I took off the clothes to check the condition!!”
“What’s that in your hand? Isn’t that the divine beast’s?!”
Damn. The brooch Kinya gave me was still in my hand. I’d suspect myself too.
“This was given directly by Kinya, Kinyaxis!”
“Don’t be ridiculous! You must be trying to hurt Kinyaxis and steal his jewelry!”
“No, really! Kinyaxis ran away and collapsed from exhaustion, I saved him! He said he’d give the brooch if I took him back to the palace. I just got the reward! Really! See the carriage over there!”
“Claiming the carriage was for kidnapping sounds more believable. And running away! How could a young divine beast who can’t even fly leave the palace!”
“He can fly! He fell in front of me! Instead of arguing, ask Kinya yourself—”
“How dare you use the divine beast’s name disrespectfully!”
The knight raised his arm as if to swing a sword. I covered my head and crouched.
“Ah! Please calm down! Listen first! I’m not a kidnapper! Not a divine beast kidnapper! Just a good citizen! Please!”
“Who ever heard of a culprit introducing themselves as the culprit!!”
“Ahhh!! This is crazy!!!”
I needed to clear the misunderstanding, but the knights wouldn’t listen and Kinya just clutched his stomach in pain. If this kept going, I’d be accused of kidnapping the divine beast.
“What’s going on?”
At that moment, a low voice spoke. Two more knights arrived. More knights wasn’t good for me.
“Captain! It’s the divine beast! The divine beast has been attacked!”
“Attacked?”
Damn. One was the captain. He looked between Kinyaxis writhing on the ground and me, then picked up the small figure.
“Explain the situation.”
A knight with reddish-brown hair and red eyes commanded. This was clearly the captain.
“Yes! When we came to the vomiting noise, we found the divine beast collapsed and the woman rifling through his clothes, stealing a brooch!”
“I said it’s not stealing! She was checking why he collapsed!”
“Then what is this about stealing the brooch?”
“K-Kinya said he’d give it as a reward if I took him back to the palace!”
Even I doubted my own story. It felt like I couldn’t get out of this situation. Fear and helplessness gripped me.
“I’m serious… It sounds like a lie even to me, but it’s true…”
My voice trembled. The sharp swords looked ready to strike me.
“First—”
As the captain spoke, Kinya raised a small hand and grabbed his collar.
The captain listened carefully, and Kinya’s body relaxed.
“We need to move Kinyaxis inside first.”
The knights lowered their swords and moved behind me, signaling to follow the captain.
“Yes. We’ll come with you…”
I followed him like a criminal. My feet cramped trying to keep up, but I hid it.
“Is Prince Nilson here?”
The captain led us to what looked like a medical room.
“Gasp! It’s Kinyaxis! What’s wrong?!”
A man in a white coat gasped on seeing Kinya.
“He vomited and collapsed. Please check his condition.”
“I can’t examine the divine beast! I’ll get Chief Nilson!!”
He looked between the captain, me, and knights, then hurried out.
“While fetching Chief Nilson, tell me your story.”
“Yes?”
I raised my bowed head and looked at the captain. He would listen, not accuse like the others.
I swallowed hard.
“I brought an exhausted bird home to treat it. But the next morning, the bird disappeared, and a kid appeared claiming to be a Rihwiella divine beast named Kinyaxis. He said he ran away five days ago and wanted to return to the palace.”
“Why didn’t you inform the guards?”
“He was scared of Ray big sister. Said no guards allowed, so he came with me by carriage. The brooch was a reward. Really, really.”
“If you brought the exhausted bird to treat, why didn’t you bring it to the temple?”
Because no matter how much you pray, an exhausted bird won’t get better!!!
I wanted to say this exactly.
“I can treat animals with certain diseases. That is, um…”
I carefully chose words. I couldn’t say my source of veterinary knowledge was very different from the empire’s. Otherwise, I’d go straight to prison.
“Damn. What should I do…!”
“Hey? Isn’t this Miss Rinnegrim?”
Just as tears threatened, a familiar voice came in.
A familiar smirking face peeked in through the medical room door. Someone I met recently.
“P-Pini’s owner?”
The family of the dog Pini I treated months ago! What was their name?
“That’s right! I’m Ivel!”
Right! Ivel! I remembered because of his sly smile!
“Ivel. Do you know her?”
“Yes. She helped our Pini who was very sick when no healer worked.”
“So this woman is a healer?”
Ivel scratched his cheek, unsure how to explain me.
“Well, she’s not a usual healer. I was doubtful at first… but Miss Rinnegrim uses medicine on animals.”
“Medicine on animals?”
“Yes. The effect was immediate. Pini, who was told to prepare herself, was flying around in days.”
The captain’s eyes showed interest. He opened his lips to speak.
“You said you can treat animals with certain diseases. What diseases?”
“Vomiting with diarrhea, weakness, and loss of appetite…”
“How is Kinyaxis’s condition? Can you treat him?”
The captain stepped aside, giving me space.
“Captain!!”
The knights flinched but stayed put on the captain’s gesture.
“What are you doing?”
“Ah, yes!”
I gathered strength in trembling legs and stood. I examined Kinya lying on the bed.
I put my ear to his chest to hear his heartbeat. It was fast and pounding. Then I touched his forehead—hot and burning.
Fast heartbeat, high fever, vomiting, dizziness.
“I’m going to open your mouth for a moment…”
I opened his small lips and looked inside his throat. I saw sticky cheese-like lumps. I thought I knew his illness.
“Giardia…!”
Kinya was infected with giardiasis, a waterborne contagious disease.
