SWER 92

chapter 92

A divine beast—a sable.

Originally, this little guy was supposed to be the capture target for the hunting contest held on the second day of Artwal in spring.

But when the black stone Veronica brought shattered, the dark-red demonic energy that seeped out corrupted it.

Afterward, I used Cure, and fortunately, the purification succeeded.
But because of the chaos that immediately followed with Veronica, I had no idea what happened to the sable afterward.

“You… are you that same sable I saw before? Your color looks lighter somehow…”

And now it suddenly appears without any warning?

Before it turned into a monster, patches of its fur had been dark brown.
Once it was corrupted by demonic energy, it turned entirely black.

But now its fur is a light brown overall.

Its coat shimmered softly in the sunlight, almost golden at a glance.
Seeing it now, it truly did deserve to be called a divine beast.

“No, wait—that’s not what matters! You… how did you even get in here? Why are you here?”

When I asked, the sable wagged its sleek tail and approached me with a cry.

“Kyuu. Kyuu, kyu. Kyu. Kyu!”

…But I had absolutely no idea what it was saying.

Aside from the color change, it didn’t seem to have changed much.

I had worried a bit about what happened after that incident, but it looked fine.
Even if I had no clue what it was babbling about.

“Mm, I need to be able to communicate to understand anything…”

Then an idea suddenly flashed through my mind.

“…System? Can you do voice translation?”

If there was ever a time for the all-purpose system to shine, it was now!

As expected, the system window floated into the air.

[The system is not an artificial intelligence assistant.]

It isn’t…?

You always do everything, so I thought you were my personal BIG○BI.

[…Voice translation result.]

See? You can do it!

You were just being difficult for no reason, weren’t you?
I already trust that there’s nothing you can’t do.

I shrugged and waited for the translation window to appear.

Surely the system would translate it perfectly.

[“Mortal, bound by the fleeting and vain chains of life. I shall not forget how thou didst lend thy feeble will to aid my pitiable state. Though thou art now but a faint speck of soul drifting in the void, this body shall…”]

I don’t think it’s perfect.

“Hey—stop. You’re telling me it said all that?”

I froze mid-reading and urgently questioned the system.

What kind of archaic speech was that? Only some old dragon grandpa would talk that way.
Even angsty teenagers these days don’t speak like that.

[It did.]

“Lies!”

Look at this tiny cute creature!

“Kyu?”

The sable tilted its head at me with wide, innocent eyes.
I shook my head firmly. I refused to believe it.

A moment later—ding!—the system window reappeared.

[…Voice translation result. “Why dost thou mutter toward empty air, mortal?”]

“How does a single ‘kyu’ contain THAT MUCH meaning?! There’s no way it’s that efficient!!”

[This system speaks only the truth.]

…Seriously? Really?

I glared at the floating system window for a long moment, then looked down again.

There was the sable, tilting its head repeatedly with another soft, “Kyu?”

…My cute little sable couldn’t possibly be corrupted by a black-flame dragon… right?

* * *

After the brief confusion passed…

Thanks to the system’s translations, I learned why the sable suddenly appeared before me.

“Kyuu, kyuu.”
(From thy hand, this body’s soul was freed from the darkness of demonic corruption and regained the light.)

“Kyuu!”
(How could I forget such grace! Thou who restored this light, this breath, this life—this body shall repay thee without fail.)

“Kyu? Kyu.”
(How I came here? Hmph. Curious, are thee? That is…)

…This is thanks to the system, right?

Ugh, I can’t focus.

Watching this adorable creature speak in such a pompous medieval-grandpa tone… it was so ridiculous that it wrapped around and became serious again.

More cringey than dignified. Like a divine beast going through a middle-school edgelord phase.

‘Well… if it’s lived since the founding of the kingdom, then it is basically a grandpa.’

Trying to respect my elders from my past life, I steadied myself and endured the cringe.

Anyway, the important part:
The sable had been secretly sticking close to me this whole time.

“From that day in the palace forest until now? You were with me the whole time?”

“Kyu, kyu!”
(Indeed! I witnessed thy brave battle against the monsters. As expected of the one who banished the darkness from this body’s soul…)

Too long.

I automatically tuned out the second half and asked again.

“…Why were you sticking to me?”

“Kyu, kyuu.”
(Hmph. Did I not say so? This body does not forget grace—O mortal who severed the chains of darkness, I shall personally bestow blessings upon thy path.)

“Blessings…?”

To summarize the overly dramatic speech:
It wanted to repay me for purifying it.

But I still didn’t quite understand how it planned to do that.

The sable continued.

“Kyu.”
(Call this body’s name whenever thou wishest. If thou dost call, even from the world’s end, I shall respond.)

If calling its name summons it, that isn’t blessing—that’s…

“You want to form a contract with me?”

It sounded exactly like it wanted to make a summoning contract.

Was I right?
The sable let out a satisfied “Kyuu,” and the translated text appeared again.

[“Rejoice, mortal, for thou hast gained the honor of summoning this body. Normally, a divine being such as I would be far beyond thy reach.”]

The creature wriggled its lithe body proudly.

Its bragging annoyed me, but god, its fluffy fur looked irresistibly soft.
I wanted to bury my face in it.

But there was one major problem.

“Hey… aren’t you the property of the imperial family?
The divine beast the fairies offered to the empire in exchange for hiding the fairies in the palace gardens—right?”

The sable was born from the Primordial Tree and supposedly handed over to the imperial family by the fairies.

That’s what Veronica told me.

“Kyu.”
(It seems that is how the tale is told… but the truth differs.)

“It differs…?”

“Kyuut.”
(The fairies did not give me willingly as payment. They had no choice.)

The sable denied my words and spoke in cryptic riddles.

“‘Had no choice’? What do you mean…?”

“Kyuuu.”
(I can speak no further, mortal. Thou art not ready.)

“…”

When I pressed, it refused to explain.
Not ready? What nonsense.

‘I thought the system was talking for a second.’

It was on the same level of baiting me with drama and then acting clueless.

The sable continued.

“Kyu, kyu.”
(Fear not. There is none in this world who can claim ownership over this body. Rather, thou hast freed me from the imperial shackles.)

“…Huh? Me? What did I do…? Wait—I freed you?”

“Kyu!”
(Indeed! Worry not. Only this body decides where this body belongs!)

Whether it decides for itself isn’t the issue!

“Does the imperial family know? Are they aware?!”

“Kyuu!”
(None may bind this body!)

“Excuse me?”

“Kyukyu!”
(This grace—I shall repay!!)

“It’s not listening…”

I stared suspiciously at the sable, which suddenly became uncooperative.

This was… weird.

Signing a contract with a divine beast sounded fun, but something felt off.

The biggest problem:
“Possessing” a divine beast belonging to the imperial family sounded like treason.

If conflict arose?
Only I could understand the sable’s words through the system.

To others, it would look exactly like I kidnapped the divine beast.

‘…Wait. What are the benefits of contracting with a divine beast again?’

I mulled it over and realized something important.

Contracting with a divine beast seemed impressive—but I had no idea what abilities this creature actually had.

I only saw it using offensive magic in the palace forest.
And that was when it was corrupted.

I scratched my head and decided to ask plainly.

“Let’s say I make a contract with you. What benefit do I get?”

“Kyuu?”
(Hm? Thou hast yet to understand? This body is a divine existence.)

“Yes, yes, I get that. But what can you actually do for me?”

“Kyu? Kyu!”
(What? Dost thou seek profit from this body? This body transcends mortal frameworks! Mind thy manners!)

“No! Think logically! Divine beast or not, I need to know what I gain before forming a contract! Am I wrong?”

“Kyuu!! Kyu!!”
(Hold thy insolence, mortal! Were it not for the grace thou hast shown, heavenly punishment would already have befallen thee!)

“…”

Oh, look at that…

I just wanted a basic self‑introduction for contract evaluation, and it suddenly couldn’t shut its mouth earlier, but now?

“Hey, Sable.”

“Kyuu!!”
(Impudence!!)

“You really… don’t have many abilities, do you?”

“……”

Its once-chattering mouth snapped shut.

Yep. I hit the mark.