When stopped rubbing the Skysilver Beast King's head, its three tails also slowly stopped wagging. After he resumed rubbing its head again, its tails also began wagging again.
'To think the Skysilver Beast King has been regressed to this state.' Leon pondered. He found the discovery quite concerning.
If humans were infected by the overbearing Demonic Energy, would they also regress to such infantile intellect even if he cured them?
On one hand, this was a serious problem, while on the other hand, he seemed to have gotten himself a pet wolf, albeit a very large one.
"What should I do with you?" Leon mused while moving back to look at the big three-tailed silver wolf as it also looked back at him patiently with curiosity.
If he kept it and brought it back with him to the Human Domain, feeding it would be quite a huge problem.
Shortly after, he frowned from the pungent stench of the saliva mixed with rat blood on his body before he sternly said, "No more licking! Licking, bad! Understanding?"
"Arf, arf!" The Skysilver Beast King barked and wagged its tails in response.
Leon was uncertain if it actually understood his words, but he continued to speak to it, "Hmm… I can't leave you here, can I?"
"Ar-roof?" The silver wolf titled its head.
The Skysilver Beast King was a very proud Transcendent-level Beast King. To see whether it can become Leon's tamed beast, he flew up and sat on its head to gauge its reaction.
No signs of rejection were detected.
The Skysilver Beast King simply moved its head up slightly, trying to look at Leon while continuing to wag its tails.
"I guess you'll be my tamed beast from now on. Since you are no longer the same as the former Skysilver Beast King, I will just call you Silver." Leon stated while patting the silver wolf's head.
"Arf, arf!" Silver barked excitedly, seemingly accepting of its new name as its three tails wagged energetically in response.
Shortly after removing the new accumulation of Demonic Energy inside Silver's body, Leon observed the rat tide outside the region of charred-black burning carcasses in the distance.
At that moment, the numerous rats continued to leap at the airship as it was slowly gaining altitude in the sky.
"Huh?"
Leon's eyes suddenly flickered in discovery.
After leaping into the sky, the rats would eventually have to fall back to the ground. In a normal situation, they would have landed safely on the surface.
However, that was not the current case from what he was witnessing. The number of rats getting crushed to death by the overwhelming weight of their own fellow brethren was actually staggering.
As such, it had not been discovered until now.
"There are actually so many rats that they are crushing their brethren at the bottom to death! It seems that the plan will need some adjustment." Leon rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
Shortly after, Leon suddenly called out, "Silver!"
"Arroof!" The giant silver wolf answered with a bark and stood up on all four legs like it was heeding his summoning call.
"Good. It seems you recognize your new name pretty well." Leon nodded with praise and rubbed its head.
It seems the Transcendent-level three-tailed silver wolf could still understand the human tongue despite losing its maturity and ability to speak itself.
Shortly after, Leon stood up and took off from Silver's head, flying back to the airship rising in the skies. After he landed, Aria passed the modified pendant device to him.
However, he shortly passed it over to the captain.
"Your Highness?" The captain asked, confused by the prince's intention to pass such a valuable tool into his hands.
"Take it and head back first," Leon said before adding, "There are still some things I need to do here. I will return on my own, so there is no need to wait for me here and go back to Elvengarde first."
"What will you be doing, Your Highness?"
"I need to take care of that big wolf."
Seeing the prince was firm in his decision, the captain did not try to persuade Leon and complied, "Alright, we will head back first. Take care, Your Highness."
"Naturally."
Leon nodded.
Shortly after, Leon turned to Aria and said, "I need you to head back with them and deliver these to Marquis Haldir. Do you still have the Interspatial Ring I made?"
"I keep it on me at all time," Aria said while showing Leon the black ring.
When he noticed the Tier 3 Interspatial Ring was worn on Aria's ring finger, he gave her a look that immediately made her blush shyly, "There's no special meaning on which finger I wear this…"
Although she said that, Leon felt like that was not the case.
He figured that while they were happy the way they are, Aria might still want something to authenticate their relationship—an official status of sorts.
After thinking about this, he shortly said, "When we return to the capital, let's get married."
"Er… no, there's no need to do that. I'm fine with the way things—"
"Let us get married," Leon said firmly.
Seeing his determined eyes, Aria no longer tried to object. Warm tears quickly filled her eyes as she nodded, "Mm!"
"Wait, I am dirtied with wolf saliva and rat blood," Leon said as he retreated a few steps backward.
However, Aria simply lunged into his arms while saying, "I don't care! I am happy!"
"Haiz, silly girl." Leon sighed helplessly.
Sometime later, Leon emptied the exploding pill bottles into Aria's interspatial ring and bid his goodbye before returning to Silver on the surface below.
After he watched the airship leave, he turned his gaze back on Silver's big build and helplessly asked, "Why do you have to be so big?"
"Arrff…"
Silver issued a weak complaint while bobbing its head down in a downcast manner like it was saying it cannot be blamed for this.