Chapter 64
“What do you mean by that? That I am a descendant of Peregrie’s friend…….”
-Ah, you didn’t know? If I were to tell the full story, it would take quite some time, and unfortunately I did not have much time now. To put it simply, you are…….
“O Great Falcon! P-please give us a chance!”
Peregrie’s words were cut off by the cult leader who had suddenly interrupted.
“We have prepared for many years for Peregrie’s resurrection. If you give us a chance, we will surely bring him back. Please, once more for the Empire…….”
-Quiet. Do you think I didn’t see what you schemed all this time? During the centuries I was cursed, I saw exactly what you were planning. Even turned to stone, I could see and hear everything.
He spoke to the cult leader in a tone that was amused.
-I had no intention of being toyed with by your hands. Far from it, I had no desire to tear down the Arium country I once loved.
“Th-that’s not it! We only wanted Peregrie’s resurrection…….”
-And even if you truly wanted my resurrection, I could not be resurrected any longer. The moment my old friend’s descendant broke the curse, my rest had already been set.
“But…….”
-Quiet!
With Peregrie’s shout, a strong wind blew through the cave.
The wind sent the cult leader and all of Rhaineus’s followers stumbling backwards.
-I have nothing more to discuss with you. Tch… I meant to speak a little with the descendant of my old friend, but you wasted all my precious time.
Peregrie’s form grew faint.
It felt like it could not hold on for more than a few seconds.
-What is your name?
“Gideon Kyrgram.”
-Gideon Kyrgram, huh. Had the family name itself been lost? What a pity. That fellow would be sad.
He paused a moment, then spoke again.
-If I had more time, I would have told you many things. It was a shame. But since you were my friend’s descendant, and because you freed me from the curse… I don’t vanish without leaving one last gift.
With those words, Peregrie’s form began to fade.
No — looking closely, it was not disappearing.
The faint figure condensed into a streak of light and flew toward the back of my left hand.
Then it began to carve something onto my hand.
“Ugh?”
“Gideon!”
Lisa rushed to me with a surprised expression, and I was fairly startled as well.
But whatever could be said, it happened in an instant.
In the short span of about a second, a mark had formed on the back of my hand.
‘What is this?’
I looked at the back of my hand.
A flying falcon image — more precisely, a blue tattoo — had been engraved across the back of my hand.
While I was bewildered by the sudden situation—
“Because of those two…… just because of those two…… everything our organization spent decades doing has gone to waste…….”
The cult leader was trembling as he forced himself up again.
But he did not tremble from fear.
He was shaking from an immense rage.
“Everyone! Kill those two humans! We did fail! We failed, but at least kill those who interfered with us! Painfully! Rip their limbs apart and kill them!”
The cult leader’s insane cry caused the followers to rearm.
Like the cult leader, madness flashed in their eyes as well.
“Gideon, stay behind.”
As they picked their weapons back up and charged, Lisa stepped forward.
“You look tired. From here on, I’ll handle it — catch your breath.”
“No, I can help too… ugh?”
Just as I was about to move following Lisa, pain flared across the back of my hand.
It was not an excruciating pain.
But it was a strange sensation.
‘Cold.’
As if someone had placed ice on the back of my hand, it felt cold.
From the unexpected pain, I unconsciously brought my right hand over my left hand’s back.
The mark on my hand glowed faintly.
At the same time, a strong wind began to blow around me.
Kuru-rrung―!
It was not simply wind.
Thunder began to rumble inside the cave, and the wind came like a storm.
“Graaah?!”
“W-watch out!”
The blow of the wind was strong enough that the Rhaineus followers who had rushed at us were pushed back.
Lisa cocked her head and looked at me at the sight.
“That just now… did you do that?”
“…I think so.”
I stared at my hand in a daze.
When the wind subsided, the mark on the back of my hand stopped glowing.
“That earlier… Peregrie? He gave you power?”
“Yes, I think that’s right.”
From the circumstances, that seemed correct.
For some reason I appeared to be a descendant of the human friend Peregrie had long ago kept.
And since I had broken the curse, it seemed he had passed on his power.
‘That wind just now was indeed Peregrie’s power. Peregrie had been a gigantic falcon who commanded storms.’
Whether I meant to or not, I had somehow been able to wield Peregrie’s power.
The problem was, I had no idea how to control it.
‘Honestly, I wanted to use it again right now.’
I looked at the enemies in front of me.
Their numbers had decreased, but there were still too many for just the two of us.
Of course, with Lisa here we wouldn’t die, but if I were to be of help, making wind like I had a moment ago would be…
“This way! Over here! Everyone, come quickly!”
…It seemed I no longer needed to debate it.
Turning toward the voice, I saw Luke entering the cave plaza leading soldiers.
There were quite a lot of soldiers, and at their sudden arrival the cult leader and Rhaineus’s followers began to panic.
“Did you call them, Gideon?”
“I told Teacher Luke to come this way.”
I let out a short laugh and lifted my sword.
“Anyway, let’s finish this quickly.”
“Good idea.”
Lisa lifted her greatsword and led the way.
* * *
“Gideon, is your leg okay?”
“Yes, I’ve been treated… it’s still a bit stiff, but I think it’ll be fine by tomorrow.”
I answered Luke and looked around.
It had been about thirty minutes since Luke had led the soldiers into the cave.
The situation had wrapped up neatly.
“Yes, yes! Move these people outside first, please.”
All of Rhaineus’s followers had been subdued and were being carried out of the cave, bound.
And the one overseeing that work was Jason.
“And this cult leader? Keep him under separate watch. My family will be sending people soon, so just hold him until then.”
Jason handled everything with practiced ease.
Though still young, he must have done this sort of work quite often.
‘Well, he was born into the Hawkbat Family… he probably learned all this thoroughly since he was a kid.’
Still, among the three ducal houses, the Hawkbat Family was known to be the most harmonious and normal.
The Balmuth Family had a jinx where every head of the house was said to be missing a screw, and the Isrinbloom Family was……
‘Basically, the exact opposite of the Hawkbat Family.’
Anyway, the main incident of this school trip episode was more or less wrapped up.
Rhaineus’s followers had been nearly all captured, and Peregrie had not been resurrected but released from his curse, finding peace.
We had completely cut off the root of a future catastrophe that might have come.
“By the way, Gideon.”
“Yes, sir.”
“How did you get here before us? Didn’t you say you were staying at the lodgings?”
“I got worried, so I came. The reason I could come faster was… I used a teleport scroll.”
I lied as calmly as possible.
After all, it was awkward to admit that I raised Siri — that is, a Hellhound.
“A teleport scroll? You used something that expensive?”
“Yes, well, that’s right.”
“You must be quite rich, then?”
“Yes, sir. Gideon is rich.”
Having finished his work, Jason approached Luke and me with a grin.
“I got curious before, so I did some digging into the Kyrgram Family, and it said they had quite a large fortune.”
“Jason, when did you even investigate that?”
“Sorry, sorry. You know I can’t resist when I’m curious. But it’s strange — your family doesn’t have any notable records. Aside from being wealthy, there’s basically nothing about you.”
“Jason, I told you to fix that habit of prying into people’s lives out of curiosity.”
“Sorry, bro— I mean, sir. But I can’t help it. It’s kind of a hereditary problem in our family.”
Jason laughed awkwardly, while Luke sighed with a half-smile.
“Let’s talk about that later. So, what about them — Rhaineus, was it? What’s going to happen to those people?”
“I’ve got the Skedum soldiers watching them, and my family’s people will be here soon.”
“They’re taking everyone with them?”
“For now, yes. Rhaineus was once a group that threatened the Empire — we thought they’d been destroyed long ago, but since remnants remain, the Hawkbat Family will have to investigate further.”
With that, Jason turned his body slightly.
He looked toward where Peregrie’s statue had once stood.
“Still, to think Peregrie was here… that’s worth investigating too.”
“Yeah, that’s pretty interesting even for me.”
Luke nodded and spoke.
“I heard Peregrie had vanished without a trace, believed dead — yet he’d been sealed here, turned to stone for centuries… and Rhaineus tried to resurrect and use him.”
“Peregrie’s one of the legendary beasts often mentioned in history textbooks. If historians come to investigate, the textbooks might get rewritten soon.”
After saying that, Jason glanced at me again.
He had a face full of curiosity.
“Gideon, I heard from Lisa earlier — you inherited Peregrie’s power?”
“Yes, I don’t know why, but that’s how it turned out.”
“Yeah, Lisa told me too. You even caused a storm……”
“It wasn’t a storm.”
Cutting Luke off, Lisa entered from the inner part of the cave plaza.
“It was just a very strong wind. But in my opinion, you’ll be able to cause storms eventually. And Luke, I took Basher outside the cave — could you check on her when you have time?”
“Hm? Ah, sure, got it.”
“It’d be better if you looked at her than me. And Jason.”
“What?”
“I just heard from one of the soldiers — your family’s people just arrived in Skedum. They’ll probably be here soon.”
“They really did get here fast. Got it, Noona.”
“Yeah. And… Gideon.”
Lisa sat down beside me.
“Your leg’s okay?”
“Yes. I’ve been treated, so I should be fine by tomorrow.”
“That’s a relief. It’d be a big problem if my future husband couldn’t walk.”
“Yes, that’s tru— Wait, what?”
I had answered without thinking, then froze in confusion.
“Lady Lisa, what did you just say?”
“Why? You said you’d stay by my side. Isn’t that basically proposing to me?”
Lisa’s face remained expressionless as always.
So it was impossible to tell what she was thinking.
“You said it while fighting earlier — that you’d stay by my side from now on. Wasn’t that a proposal?”
“Th-that was interpreted that way?”
“Wasn’t it?”
Lisa tilted her head slightly, staring straight into me.
I was speechless, while nearby Luke and Jason watched us with amused eyes.
“Hey, Jason. Do you think Lisa’s serious about—”
“Sir, in moments like this, it’s best to just watch quietly.”
…Completely useless right now.
I stared at Lisa, wondering what I should even say.
In this kind of situation, what could I possibly—
“Why? You don’t want to be my husband?”
“It’s just… maybe something like that shouldn’t be decided so hastily……”
“Gideon, you do know the choice is mine, right?”
“Pardon?”
“I’m the one who decides. So, you’re my husband.”
Lisa said this still with no expression.
‘That’s strange. Lisa isn’t the type to say something like that.’
But if she really meant it seriously, what was I supposed to…
“…Hehe.”
“Hm?”
“Hehe, I’m kidding. Were you surprised?”
Lisa gave a small smile, and at that smile, my heart began to race.
“Ah… it was a joke?”
“Yeah, a joke. Though, if we talk more later… it might not be one.”
“I-I see.”
“Let’s make some time later and talk, just the two of us. That’s fine, right?”
“…That’s fine.”
At my answer, Lisa smiled brightly and nodded.
And as I looked at that smile, for the first time since coming to this world — no, for the first time in a very long while, I felt something close to fluttering excitement.