Chapter 22 - Miltiades’s Savior
It happened right when he was about to order his troops to retreat.
“Aaaargh!” one of the knights who had gone into the village by himself let out a shout.
“Your Majesty, please be careful!” Just as Callian yelled, the hidden beasts appeared and quickly surrounded the village.
“Your Majesty!”
The beasts weren’t the problem; the problem was that right where Miltiades stood was a purple magic circle.
“Ugh!” The light from the magic circle surrounded Miltiades, and his mind became a mess.
“…Son.”
Hearing the familiar voice, Miltiades grasped his sword.
“Cal… lian.” He looked at his retainer and squeezed out his words. “Run away.”
“…!”
As Miltiades’s golden eyes turned red, Callian signaled the troops. They were trying to give Miltiades a wide berth while avoiding the beasts.
“Ugh…” Miltiades couldn’t move his body like he wanted to. It had been a while since he had a seizure.
‘This annoying madness.’ He was able to keep control of his mind, but he didn’t know when he would lose consciousness. Before then, he needed to get away from Callian and the troops.
At that moment—
“Your Majesty, behind—”
Miltiades instinctively dodged at Callian’s yell. A huge beast had appeared behind him without him noticing it.
Roar!
The huge beast’s roar shook the earth, and the other beasts fell back.
“That thing!”
The huge beast showed itself. It was the first time any of them had seen such a huge beast.
‘This beast planned it all out.’
Miltiades wasn’t the kind of person to fall for this trap. “I’ve become lax.”
He dropped his head while thinking of Amelia. Right now, his mind was preoccupied with how to survive. He then shouted, “Run away!”
“But, Your Majesty…”
Callian and the troops were no match for the beast. The unknown beast was much more versatile than the others. It showed off its teeth and ran in. Miltiades moved at the same time. He was slower than usual, but he was still fine. Avoiding its sharp teeth, he pierced the center of its body. That place usually held a beast’s nucleus.
“…!” Miltiades abruptly stopped. The nucleus wasn’t there. As Miltiades realized he was in trouble, the beast’s eyes shone. It was the first time in a while that Miltiades thought that he was going to die.
‘Will I die here?’ He didn’t care if he died. No one would be sad at his death.
“Daddy!”
No, there was one person. A person who would be upset at his death.
Callian held onto the sword in his hand. The beast was about to attack Miltiades when something shone.
Crash!
Accompanied by a huge noise, half of the beast’s body fell to the floor. Then, it brightly burned and disappeared.
In the corner of his eyes, Miltiades saw a young holy knight holding a sword shining in the moonlight. ‘He’s…’
It was someone he knew. The holy knight Ludwig. However, Miltiades’s interest in Ludwig disappeared when he saw the small child.
“Daddy!” Amelia tearfully ran over after getting off the white horse Ludwing was riding.
Miltiades felt a surprising sensation when her small arms held him. ‘The madness…’ The magic eating his body and mind disappeared. ‘…How could this happen?’
Miltiades looked at Amelia. It was a miracle. “…Why are you here?”
“I followed you because I was worried about you going off to a dangerous place!” Amelia teared up as she answered. She then scolded him while sniffling. “You’re an adult, but how could you not know that you shouldn’t be going off to dangerous places, huh? Do you need me to teach you? This is why you should stay next to me! Don’t ever go off by yourself to such dangerous places, okay?”
Miltiades didn’t understand what was going on when he saw her fierce look. But then, he saw Callian trying to hold back his laughter and realized that this small child was scolding him.
“Okay, Daddy?” Amelia pressed him for an answer with her hand placed on her hip. It was a situation that didn’t make sense, but it wasn’t bad.
“I will.”
Amelia smiled at his answer.
