「This is such an amazing place! We can even see giant monsters roaming around in this place…」
Aria said with admiration.
In their walk, they had seen several Plesiosaurs like the one they had spotted at first. And just as Ciel had told them, they did not need to fear that the monsters would attack.
They were walking because Ciel couldn’t use her carriage due to the condition of the road being way too horrible.
Suddenly, a serious expression appeared on Ciel’s face.
「Be careful, everyone. I found a huge carnivorous monster.」
While saying so, Ciel conjured her 《Celcius Blade》.
She had seen the figure of a T-rex-type monster similar to Noir and Freya far away in front of her.
「A carnivorous monster!」
「Will it attack us?」
Vulcan and Stella tilted their heads to the side as they spoke.
Ciel replied, 「Yeah, it will.」 She then walked forward.
It seemed the monster had already noticed Ciel and co’s presence. Without waiting for another second, it made a beeline toward Aria and co. at its fastest speed.
「〝Acrocant?, huh. Everyone, please leave this monster to me.」
After saying so, Ciel cast off her overcoat and transformed into a bunny girl both in literal sense and reality. She then dashed toward the Acrocant.
『GRRRRRRRRRRRR――!』
The monster, Acrocant, let out a warcry upon seeing the bunny girl. It opened its giant jaw and rushed toward Ciel.
「I’ve been itching to fight a dinosaur-type monster, you see.」
Ciel dodged the Acrocant’s bite with a side step as an unusual smile made its way to her face. The Acrocant didn’t stop. It turned to the side and executed a sweep attack with its tail.
However, such an attack wouldn’t work against the female hero. This time, Ciel calmly back-stepped and dodged the tail.
The moment the tail attack missed Ciel, she leaped up above the Acrocant’s head and stabbed the crown of its head with her 《Celcius Blade》.
『G—R!』
The Acrocant fell with an agonizing roar. Seeing that, Ciel took out a potion from her cleavage and applied it on the crown of the Acrocant’s head.
Aria and co couldn’t hide their shock when they witnessed this scene.
The Acrocant had recovered due to the effects of potions, and it stood on its feet again. Then, it leaned over in front of Ciel, presenting its head beneath Ciel’s feet. The monster acted just like a pet would in front of its master.
「Taming complete! From now on, your name is 〝Natsu?. 」
Ciel spoke as she patted its head. The Acrocant, Natsu, replied with a lively growl.
(I see! Taming monsters, huh. As expected of the spirit world.)
As he gazed upon the scenery before him, Tama recalled that Ark was a world where people and monsters coexisted.
May couldn’t hide her excitement while Cedric looked curious. The rest of the group were the same.
「Come out, Noir, Freya.」
Ciel took out the arkball strapped on her waist and summoned the other two T-rex-type monsters.
Her action confused Aria and co even more.
Ciel explained to her confused comrades, 「From here on, we are going to ride on their backs.」
— I see now. With the third dinosaur-type monster, Ciel finally had enough dinosaurs for everyone to ride.
Following Ciel’s instruction, Aria and co got on the dinosaur’s backs.
Even though they couldn’t compliment riding on a dinosaur’s back as a nice experience, they were at least moving faster than they did while walking.
「Let’s go.」
With the cue from Ciel, the dinosaur monsters started to run.
Frightened expressions appeared on Aria’s and Vulcan’s faces, while Stella, the two fairies, and May looked like they were enjoying the time of their life.
◆
Dozens of minutes later―
「We have arrived at 〝Ibra Village?.」
Ciel spoke as she descended from Natsu’s back.
The group had arrived in a certain hamlet. They saw several small dinosaur-type monsters mixing along with the villagers and even a little kid running along with the dinosaur amongst them…
Aria and co realized that the coexistence of people and monsters ran far deeper than they had imagined. They descended from Noir’s and Freya’s backs.
As they stepped foot on the ground, a villager suddenly called out to them.
「Eh…? No way! Are you Ciel-sama!?」
「And you’re, could it be… Hana?」
Ciel asked as if she had recalled this woman.
「YES, I’M HANA! You remembered me!」 the woman replied in a shrill voice.
It seemed Hana was an acquaintance of Ciel from her previous visit to this world.
「But, is something the matter? I thought you had returned to your home world, Ciel-sama.」
「Actually, we got involved in a really complicated situation that led us to visit this world again. Can you guide us to the village chief first?」
Upon hearing Ciel’s words, Hana guessed that something had happened.
「Understood」 she replied with a serious look on her face, then turned around to guide them.
「First, I’ll explain to the village chief the reason I came to this world again along with my comrades, and then, I’ll ask him for information about Belphegor.」
Ciel explained to Aria and co, then proceeded to follow Hana.