248: Waited for long (1)

A month after Airn left the Adan Kingdom, the legendary animal appeared in Stanton mansion.

An animal with an eagle head on the body of a lion.

No, it looked more like the head of a parrot than an eagle’s, but in any case, the mysterious spiritual creature which wasn’t normally seen was in their mansion.

But the reaction was calmer than expected.

Lord Stanton, the knights, the servants and the guests.

Everyone had a strange expression on their face, but they weren’t frightened by the huge flying monster.

Thus, the griffin which had the head of a parrot safely landed.

A black cat jumped out.

The cat, carrying a small sack on the shoulder, looked around and shouted in a cheerful voice looking at the people who were staring at them.

“Ah! There you are Bill!”

“Nice to meet you again, Lulu.”

“Hehe! Same here!”

Lulu, who flew through the sky, stretched out her cute hand.

Bill Stanton, too, reached out and did a cute handshake. Some cat lovers envied him.

However, there was someone who watched it with a more intense gaze.

It was Quentin Stanton. The Lord of the territory.

‘Is this kid really acquainted with Airn Pareira?’

Now, the name of Airn was known all over the continent, but among them, the Adan Kingdom knew more about him.

It was because of what happened in the Land of Proof, along with the rumors that there was something going on between the swordsman and the young lady of the Lindsay family.

Airn was said to be traveling with a Griffin, which was a spiritual beast summoned by his younger sister, Kirill Pareira who was a sorcerer, and the flying cat… Lulu, who was his best friend.’

Quentin, who had suspicions, looked at his son’s face.

Actually, he didn’t believe what Bill had told him.

His son was a man in his 30s who constantly created accidents with everyone he met, so how did he get along with someone as great as Airn Pareira?

Rather, the rumors throughout the kingdom were weird.

Quentin Stanton was shocked to hear that Bill Stanton had caused trouble for the Pareira family.

But weren’t the rumors true?

Were his son’s words the truth instead?

‘How did this happen?’

The suspicion had disappeared, but Viscount Stanton still couldn’t shake off the bewildered feeling he felt.

But the surprise didn’t end there.

A necklace with blue jewels was pulled out from the bag the cat had, and a sword which looked like a treasure was also pulled out.

When everyone who saw it had blank expressions, Lulu explained.

“Thank you for helping us the last time! This is an artifact created by Kirill. It helps the wearer to feel comfortable in any temperature and has detoxifying functions, and also has a magi detection feature too.”

“Oh my, what about the… hmm, the sword?”

“This sword? Of course, it is a gift too! It’s from Airn. This was made by a very famous blacksmith! It is great!”

“Ahh, is that so? Thank you. Thank you very much!”

“Haha! You don’t have to thank us so much. Because you took care of us too! Ah, this is my gift!”

Lulu put her hand in the air and pulled out a gold statue.

It was a gold statue in the shape of a cat, with a fish in its mouth.

Bill Stanton thanked her again and Lulu laughed happily and went back to the griffin.

“I want to stay longer, but I have a lot of work to do, so I need to go. I need to see the Lindsay family off and say goodbye to my cat friends too!”

“It is fine! I’ll meet you later!”

“Great! I’ll be waiting! Bye!”

The Griffin and the cat took off into the sky and vanished into the horizon.

It was when the people who were standing there with confused faces that Bill Stanton looked at his father and said.

“Father.”

“… Uh? Ah, yes.”

“I know that this isn’t enough to make my father trust me, but you can think of this as a basic filial duty.”

Hahaha, the son who laughed after saying that, had an arrogant face.

Even while watching that arrogant attitude, the Stanton Lord couldn’t scold Bill.

Lulu didn’t go with gifts just to the Stanton family.

Count Lindsay and his wife also received valuable gifts. Elisa Lindsay was given a famous perfume from the Cesar Duchy and the Lord was given a sword.

“Um.”

Joshua Lindsay groaned.

In fact, he didn’t like swords as gifts.

It wasn’t because he didn’t like the sword. Rather, it was because he loved them so much that most swords didn’t meet his standards.

But the one he received wasn’t like that.

It had perfect balance.

And a sharp blade.

It wasn’t of sophisticated design, but it had great balance. It was enough to know that the craftsman who had made it was very skilled.

No, it wasn’t just that.

After observing the sword for quite some time, the Lord could guess that the sword’s blacksmith wasn’t some normal one and guessed the identity of the person.

And he mumbled.

‘Airn… how did he manage to get in touch with this person? Even if he is visited by a Master, he isn’t the kind to…’

“… I don’t like it.”

“No, what are you so dissatisfied with?”

The Countess looked at him with a frown.

Airn Pareira.

Just looking at him, she knew that the young man was as pure as one could be with excellent swordsmanship and no dating experience either.

Even so, the fact that he didn’t just get gifts for Ilya alone but for her parents as well showed his effort.

Then was he angry because he didn’t come in person?

Airn was the champion of the Land of Proof as well as somebody who had reached the status of a Sword Master at such a young age, and since he had just come back home, the influx of guests coming to visit him alone could keep busy for more than a month.

Or maybe it was because Airn had received a summon from the King.

‘Does this man hate or love his daughter? Does he not want Ilya to get married?’

Elisa Lindsay shook her head.

Seeing her like that, Joshua Lindsay had a gloomy face on.

When others saw him like this, they would end up asking ‘Is this how the dignified lord is actually like?’. In reality, this was the usual atmosphere of the family.

Therefore, Joshua and Elisa and the servants who served them, continued their lives nonchalantly.

Click!

“Mom, dad.”

“Uh, right! My daughter… Huh? The dress…”

“I am going to visit the Hale Kingdom.”

“What? Wai…”

Shhh.

Before he could even speak. Ilya Lindsay ran away, and the Lord stared for a long time in the direction she disappeared.

Of course, it didn’t last for too long.

He soon followed his daughter.

But,

“Then, bye! I’m leaving.”

“What? Uh? Wa-wait! Wait!”

Swosh!

Suddenly, Ilya Lindsay, riding on the Griffin’s back, flew through the sky with Lulu at a frightening speed.

The speed was so high that even Joshua Lindsay couldn’t stop it.

Ilya looked her father and said,

“Sorry dad.”

But she couldn’t help it.

It had been a month since they had left, and the moment she received Airn’s letter she was compelled by the urge to go to Hale Kingdom right away.

Nothing else mattered.

Since she would be there soon, she just had to hold on a little more.

“I won’t wait. You wait this time, Airn.”

Ilya mumbled softly with her eyes full of love.

Looking at her, Lulu thought.

‘I am a little scared!’

Turning back time a little; It had only been a few days since Airn and the party left the Lindsay mansion.

The three of them arrived in the middle of the continent in an instant and started their walking tour on their way to the estate without riding the Griffin.

It was because of what Airn said,

“I don’t think there will be an opportunity like this for a while after we return home, so let’s enjoy this leisurely.”

Unlike Kirill, who always took care of him, he didn’t take care of her on this trip.

He knew that crazy things had happened over and over again, but that was all just lame excuses.

‘I think it would be best to look at Kirill’s favorite stores and festivals and then head home.’

There was nothing special about it, it was plain consideration.

However, when Kirill heard that, she teared up.

Her older brother, who had been confined to the room for 10 years, had grown to a level where he could be conscious of his surroundings and the people around him.

Some may say that this was bound to happen as he was in his 20s, but she had been watching Airn all her life so she couldn’t help but be moved.

Rather, she liked this side of Airn more than the Sword Master side.

So did Lulu.

It was something that he should have grown up with; an emotion which should have been felt since the beginning.

She couldn’t help but feel prouder as a sorcerer when she saw her precious friends being happy despite starting out late.

“Nice!”

“I like it!”

“Hm, shall we go pick presents for our parents as well? Ah, I’ll have to buy one for Marcus too.”

“I like that too!”

“Me too! And buy me one too!”

“What does Lulu like?”

“I don’t know! Buy anything!”

“Brother, you are going to buy one for me too, right?”

“Well, unless it’s too expensive?”

“What?”

“It’s just a joke.”

Airn laughed and joked.

Kirill, who felt that this ordinary appearance was special to her, smiled. And nodded.

The full day trip which started like that was really enjoyable and meaningful for Airn as well.

Just strolling through the streets and chatting.

Listening to stuff, going to restaurants which were famous… sometimes they were disappointed and sometimes they were amazed.

It was an ordinary time, nothing special happened but this was something Airn lacked the most in his life.

Of course, it wouldn’t be the same in the future.

Airn’s heart and footsteps began to flow naturally through countless experiences and relationships he had forged.

And they arrived at the Pareira estate, the warmest and most reassuring place Airn had ever known.

It had been exactly 2 years.

After returning from the never-short journey, Airn’s mind was filled with thoughts about his parents.

However, he couldn’t go straight home.

“You! You! You…. Jerk!”

“…”

The moment he walked on the streets, he ran into someone which made Airn feel a sense of regret.

He had really, really forgotten!

But the other person didn’t forget about him.

The dwarven blacksmith, Vulcanus, was staring at him and looked like he would eat Airn alive.1

And he ran towards Airn like an angry boar.