The Snow Leopard Baby of the Black Leopard Family

The group moved along, following Karl. Thanks to Karl’s knowledge of the land, they didn’t get lost along the way.

“So why did you fall and roll over earlier?”

Olivier pointed directly at the wounds on Karl’s body. Karl, feeling embarrassed, covered the scratches on his arm with his hand.

“It’s the same path I’ve taken many times, but I wasn’t being careful and ended up falling...”

Karl spoke in a small voice, almost inaudibly. Thanks to Tiel’s light illuminating the surroundings softly, Karl’s ears could be seen turning red.

Tiel’s fish, as though questioning why they were going in the opposite direction of where she had pointed, swirled around the group.

“I have something to do. Once this is done, I’ll go to the place you told me. Alright? So calm down, little good fish.”

Tiel spoke soothingly, and the fish stopped spinning and moved forward, lighting the way.

While they were moving, the knights occasionally showed signs of worry but didn’t say anything further.

The beastkin who lived in this land had always been seen as mysterious, unknown beings. It was certain that they were alive, but no one had ever really seen how they lived, so they had always been a mystery.

But now, hearing that they were in danger... as knights sworn to protect, it wasn’t something they could just ignore, especially as fellow beastkin.

Curiosity and concern mingled as they walked, and soon, they saw what appeared to be lights in the distance. Tiel’s eyes widened.

“Lights?”

“It’s glowstone. I’ve never seen so much in one place...”

Ian Dross replied. Glowstone was a rare resource, so much so that it was only presented to the imperial family. Ian Dross himself had only seen a few pieces in his life.

But the village in the distance had so much glowstone that it was piled up. The children walked on, fascinated.

The dim glow of the glowstone flickered. Karl, seeing the faint light, muttered softly.

“But that’s the last of it...”

“Why?”

“Glowstone stopped being produced. It started around the time the beastkin began dying.”

Ferdie, noticing something strange, furrowed his brow and asked.

“Glowstone doesn’t lose its light unless it’s broken or destroyed, right?”

“But the darkness here can’t be solved by normal light. The glowstone starts losing its light the moment it’s mined... eventually, it loses all its light and turns into a stone...”

“...Karl?”

At that moment, an unfamiliar voice called out to the boy. Karl stopped speaking and suddenly turned his head toward the source of the voice.

Tiel instinctively directed her light to where the sound had come from. There, a tall man, looking older than Karsus, stood.

“What’s this... Ugh!”

“Please... please clear the light!”

Karl quickly asked. Tiel realized her mistake. She had been told earlier that the beastkin living here were sensitive to even small amounts of light, but she had momentarily forgotten.

Tiel hastily gestured, pulling back her ability. The surroundings were immediately shrouded in darkness. Thanks to this, no one could see Tiel’s face, which had turned pale with embarrassment.

“Karl, what... what is going on here? Who are all these people? And what was that just now...?”

“Eren, Uncle!”

Karl immediately threw himself into Eren’s arms. Eren instinctively lifted the small boy up. Karl tightly wrapped his arms around Eren’s neck and shouted joyfully.

“It’s all okay now! The Light Ability has appeared, the Light Ability has appeared! Ahahaha!”

Eren, still in shock, patted Karl’s back and muttered.

“...The Light Ability?”

Eren turned his gaze to the children. The children and knights hadn’t been able to see Karl and Eren’s faces since the light had been extinguished, but Eren and Karl, who had lived their lives in the darkness, were different. They could see the children’s faces even without light.

After a moment of hesitation, Eren carefully set Karl down. He then turned to Tiel and asked cautiously.

“Sorry, but could you show the Light Ability again?”

Eren’s eyes were calm, and his voice was serious. Tiel, who had been listening to the voices in the darkness, slowly nodded.

“Yes, it’s not difficult.”

Tiel carefully used her ability. To avoid the light reaching Karl and Eren, who were far away, she created a faint glow in her palm.

The light, which seemed ready to spill over from her palm, soon settled down inside it, becoming calm.

Upon seeing this miraculous sight, Eren’s expression hardened further. He stroked Karl’s head and asked.

“I know this boy hasn’t left this place. But how did you, honored guests, come all the way here?”

The moment Eren confirmed Tiel’s ability, Karl noticed that Eren’s expression had hardened even more.

‘Why is Uncle acting like this?’

If this was the Light Ability, the legendary ability that was supposed to break the curse on this land and bring morning, everyone should have been happy. They should have been happy that they no longer had to live in darkness...

But Eren’s expression seemed as if he found their visit uncomfortable. Karl, confused, looked back and forth between Eren and Tiel.

At that moment, Ian Dross, who had been silently observing, stepped forward.

“I’ll introduce myself first. I am Ian Dross Crassion, Crown Prince of the Crassion Empire.”

“...Crown Prince?”

Eren squinted in disbelief. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

This land was under the Crassion Empire’s control, but it had been a long time since they had been freed from its rule. Naturally, the imperial palace had no resources to monitor this cursed land.

But now, the Crown Prince had come here in person. It was no wonder that Eren was shocked. He now realized the seriousness of the situation and bowed his head.

“First, I will guide you to the village.”

***

“So...”

Illum looked at Eren. Eren nodded.

“Are you saying they’re really the heirs of each of their families...?”

He murmured, as though unable to believe it. Naturally. Why would the heirs of the prominent families of the empire come to this land?

But he had no choice but to believe it. They had shown their abilities to prove their identity.

Ferdie Asterian and Ludian Asterian demonstrated fire.

Olivier Wolfgang demonstrated wind.

Clemence Arne demonstrated the blessing of the earth.

And finally... Tiel Asterian demonstrated the Light Ability.

Though Ian Dross had not shown his ability, there was no need for him to. The fact that those who were traveling with him had proven their identities meant there was no need for Ian Dross to demonstrate that he was indeed the Crown Prince.

Moreover, the knights’ uniforms bore the imperial palace’s insignia. Illum had never imagined he would be receiving knights from the imperial palace, and so he was taken aback.

“There’s no time for long explanations. We need to check things out quickly and return. Karl told me that all the beastkin here are dying because of an unknown illness.”

“...Yes, that’s correct.”

“The military doctor will check their condition and prescribe appropriate treatment to alleviate it. Please guide him to where they are.”

At Ian Dross’s words, Illum let out a bitter smile and shook his head.

“They’ve contracted a disease that causes their bodies to decay when exposed to light. If the military doctor shines light on them to check their condition, their situation will only worsen.”

Illum’s words made Ian Dross furrow his brow. He hadn’t expected the situation to be so bad that even a brief exposure to light during a checkup could make things worse.

“So, I’ll decline.”

“Are you the one in charge of this land?”

“Yes, I am. My apologies for the delay in introducing myself, I’m Illum Linus.”

Illum bowed his head. Ian Dross nodded slightly, realizing that it was an unavoidable situation. They couldn’t force the sick beastkin to undergo a checkup if it would only make things worse.

As long as their purpose for being here was accomplished, that was what mattered. Just as Ian Dross was about to explain their purpose for being here to Illum...

“Um, excuse me, Illum?”

Tiel spoke cautiously. Everyone in the room turned to look at her. The small girl quickly ran over and grabbed Karl’s hand.

“This boy didn’t develop any marks even though he was exposed to my light earlier.”