The tornado that came toward us never hit us. We knew that a great force had passed by our side.
"What?
Magic dodged it!
I heard a surprised voice and opened my eyes.
I could see that Gaius in my arms was also surprised. I open my eyes and see a group of adults frozen in place with surprised faces.
Oh, thank God. If that tornado-like thing had hit me, neither Gaius nor I would have survived. Thank God. I'm glad I was able to protect Gaius. But what should I do now? The adults in front of me probably won't be able to reach me. But there is nothing I can do if things continue as they are. What should I do? How can I protect Gaius? I hug Gaius tightly. Gaius was trying to move, but I couldn't stop squeezing him.
As I was doing so, I heard a voice.
"...... what are you doing? I mean, are you a child?"
I looked toward the voice. Ah, here come the humans again. In front of the people in armor, there is a person in very sparkly clothes. He is older than me and Gaius, but I think he is still a child.
The prince! This child is protecting the beastman's child!
I can't touch him, strangely enough. I wonder if he is using some kind of strange art.
"...... strange arts?"
A man called "Prince" approaches. The prince, the prince? The prince is the ...... country's, the one who is supposed to be on top, the one who puts everyone of the beastmen in a difficult situation, such a person? A sparkling person. A very beautiful person. But something about her eyes. The eyes looking at me, sad? They looked like that.
The person comes close to me and Gaius. He reached out his hand. His hand reached me.
What was that? I don't know why. But when his hand touched mine, I heard a squeal.
Wanon's voice. I heard Wanon's voice, and then the voices of the other griffons. And then I heard Sifo's voice. I felt my strength leave my body. Ah, everyone had come. That made me happy. Not all of them were there, but I was relieved to know that they had all come. I was so relieved that I relaxed my grip on Gaius.
The sparkling person who had been reaching for me pulled his hand back in surprise. The adults made the sparkling person step back as if to protect him.
Lelunda ...... finally let go.
...... Gaius."
Gaius finally let go of my arms and spoke up. Reimer jumps out in front of me and Gaius --- between us and the humans. I am more and more relieved to see him in front of us, as if to protect us.
Raymer."
Raymer says this as if to console us. The sparkling man called the prince and the adult humans were shouting, "I can't believe there's a gryphon here," and "I can't believe he has a demon with him.
Only the sparkling man looked surprised, but he was staring at me and did not seem as confused as the other adults. A strange man, I thought. His eyes were not scary like the others. Even the way he looked at Gaius seemed different.
It was also strange that he touched me just now. I wondered why.
In the midst of my confusion, Raymer said to me, "Gururururu (get on)," and I suddenly pulled Gaius' hand. I pulled Gaius' hand and told him to get on top of Raymer. And we both got on top of Raymer. Raymer is an adult griffon, so it is safe for me and Gaius to get on him.
And Raymer soars.
The other griffons and the seafo also fly up into the sky. Gaius was clinging to Raymer's body to keep him from falling, probably because it was the first time he had ridden on the back of a griffon.
He looks down.
Humans are looking at us. A sparkling person was saying something to stop the adults who were trying to do something. I met eyes with the sparkling person. They were staring at me. I'm not sure.
"Raymer, thank you."
I thanked him on my back. I honestly didn't know what I would have done if you hadn't all come. I might not have been able to protect Gaius. I looked at Gaius. Gaius is safe. He is alive. I'm glad, I think.
I'm glad you're okay, Gaius. I was worried about you.
"I'm sorry, ....... I wanted to see you and I had to go look for you. ...... I'm sorry. I put Lelunda in danger, too.
"......Yeah. I miss you too, Athos.
What's wrong?
I asked. I asked, and Raymer said, "What's the matter?
"Really?
Athos was found. I was so happy to hear that, I shouted, but there was something wrong with Raymer who was carrying us. I felt uneasy.
What's wrong?"
"......GuruGuruGuru (Athos was found, but---)"
What?"
Raymer's next words made my mind go blank.
'Lerunda? What's going on? What did Raymer say? Did you find out something about my father?
'.........'
I have no answer to Gaius, who asks me if I have found out anything about Mr. Athos. I don't know how to answer.
I'm not sure what to tell him, because what Raymer told me, in an awkward way, was that Athos' body had been found, and that was that.
----The Girl and the Missing 4
(Maybe the godchild girl had a chance encounter with the prince, and then she found out what happened to the person she was looking for.)