SRS 148

What was that?

Did the shop’s ceiling collapse?

The loud noise made him anxious. He was already staying at someone else’s shop, he’d have nothing to say for himself if something bad happened while he was in charge. Yohan tried to stand up but gasped. His body had suffered internal injuries, and it hadn’t recovered even after a short nap.

The divine beast stepped forward as it heard its master’s groan.

Coo, coo, coo!

It flew two circles over the distressed Yohan’s head, as if to say not to worry, and then left the room

“…Divine Beast.”

Yohan looked apologetically at the divine beast moving in his place. Calling its name deepened that feeling even more.

He should’ve given it a proper name if he’d visit our siteknown this would happen. Based on what the principal said, he’d become the divine beast’s master, but he didn’t think he could keep calling it that.

Whoosh!

The pigeon spread its wings wide and left Yohan’s sight to track the source of the noise. The noise had come from the shop’s front entrance.

Flap!

The pigeon’s body momentarily turned translucent as it flapped its wings with all its might. Then, the divine beast soared into the sky. It passed through the ceiling as if it weren’t even there and secured a view from above. There, it saw a big purple beast scratching its ear with its paw. It looked like a leopard or perhaps a jaguar. The beast noticed the divine beast’s movement and raised its head.

The pigeon’s eyes and the purple beast’s met. When the divine beast flew down and landed on the shop’s sign, the beast also stood on all fours. Its body began to emit a light.

Beautiful cosmic light, like an aurora, enveloped the beast and then vanished. The four-legged creature was gone, and a young child of about ten years old stood in its place. It was the divine beast of the Mirror Temple, who had recovered thanks to Yohan’s treatment.

The divine beast pointed at a mysterious spiritual creature on the ground by the shop’s front door. It was about half the size of the shop.

“I. Repaid you.”

The divine beast’s eyes sparkled after he said those simple words. The pigeon flew down from the sign and checked the state of the fainted spiritual creature. Fantasiademia’s professors would’ve been shocked if they&unauthorized copy#8217;d seen the spiritual creature the divine beast had caught.

That was because the creature was one of the spiritual beasts from the Island of Phantasmal Beasts, where Arun’s group had set out from. Since the pigeon was also one of Fantasiademia’s divine beasts, it recognized the creature’s identity.

Fantasiademia’s divine beast flew around the divine beast of the Mirror Temple in wonder. The latter didn’t look injured despite catching such a jig spiritual creature. Thanks to the connection they shared as divine beasts, the divine beast of the Mirror Temple understood the pigeon and wiped the dust off his face.

“The bad energy is gone. I’ve become stronger. I’m going to save Mother.”

The divine beast turned around after he said that, but the pigeon bit and pulled on his tattered clothes with its beak.

Coo! Coo!!

“…I can’t go?”

Coo, coo, coo, coo!

“It’s dangerous if I go back?”

Coo!

“I’m going anyway. I have to save Mother…”

Coo!

Fantasiademia’s divine beast must’ve been annoyed by the other’s stubbornness, because it pecked the divine beast’s head. The latter groaned, clutched his head, and glared at the pigeon. He’d even caught a spiritual creature to repay Yohan, so he couldn’t help but feel angry.

Why was that divine beast stopping him? He felt his power return as the demon’s fragment was purified. He was frustrated because he thought he might be able to save the Goddess of Honesty if he returned now. Fantasiademia’s divine beast shook its head. Then, it flapped its wings as a sign to follow.

“…”

The divine beast of the Mirror Temple followed the pigeon without a word, though he was suspicious that it might be a trap. The two divine beasts disappeared for a long time and then reappeared. They knocked out the spiritual creature again just as it was about to wake up, and then they entered the shop.

“…Divine Beast!”

Yohan had been scanning the area with his divine power just in case. He was happy when he felt two divine energies approaching his bed. He’d been worried that something had happened because it was gone for so long. He was glad they returned safely.

He wanted to get up and greet them, but he wasn’t in a state to do so. He expressed his feelings through his voice and ​stolen content​eyes, and the two divine beasts stared at Yohan after they reached his side.

Yohan’s eyes widened when he saw the Mirror Temple’s divine beast’s hair. It had been pitch black before, but now it sparkled with a beautiful purple light that looked like it carried the entire universe. He hadn’t realized it while he was corrupted, but he was such a beautiful and translucent divine beast.

“I’m glad you seem much better.”

The divine beast in the form of a child sat on the floor when Yohan spoke.

“You don’t look good.”

“Goodness, your speech has improved.”

“I was always good at it. Corruption slows the brain.”

“I see.”

It seemed his intelligence had dropped under the influence of the demon’s fragment during the corruption. Yohan understood the divine beast’s explanation and nodded to show he followed. Then, the divine beast pointed outside the door.

“Divine beasts repay their debts. There’s a gift outside.”

“A gift?”

Now that he thought about it, this was the same fellow who’d left a note saying he’d bring a gift. Yohan remembered that a beat late and tried to look outside the door. However, he couldn’t see anything from the back storage room that had become his bedroom.

“Then, was that soubd earlier…?”

“I made it. The gift is huge, so it makes a sound when I put it down.”

“…Is that so?”

Just how big was the thing he brought? Yohan suddenly felt uneasy. The divine beast before him didn’t seem to have much common sense. He wondered if it had raided another shop for the gift. He hoped it was just a silly thought. The divine beast’s starlike eyes sparkled as he looked at Yohan.

“You’ve become weak.”

“…I couldn’t help it because I drained my own power.”

“Your energy is weak. The spiritual creature outside has spirit pills that restore energy. You unauthorized copycan get them without killing it.”

“A spiritual creature? You caught a spiritual creature?”

The divine beast nodded. Was that allowed? Technically, the divine beast was also a type of spiritual creature, just of a higher rank. While Yohan found a spiritual creature catching another spiritual creature strange, the divine beast explained further.

“If you make it cry, it sheds tears. The tears become spirit pills.”

“A spiritual creature whose tears turn into spirit pills?”

The divine beast nodded again. Yohan barely managed to keep his mouth from hanging open. Even though Yohan wasn’t interested in martial arts, he knew that spirit pills were precious. He’d heard from the professors that many people struggled to obtain them and that outsiders who failed to enter the school often broke into Fantasiademia to hunt spiritual creatures. He couldn’t help but be shocked by this news.

A creature that didn’t just carry spirit pills but could actually create them must be incredibly rare. How on earth did he catch it? Yohan looked at the divine beast again. It was his first time seeing him recovered, and he realized the divine power he wielded was even more brilliant than he’d first thought. The high-purity brilliance felt like it was purifying his mind and body. Yohan suddenly frowned.

This was definitely no ordinary divine beast. Kylus had mentioned that gods who could create temples were on the stronger side, but this divine beast was beyond that.

“…First of all, it’s an honor to receive such a generous gift.”

Yohan belatedly used a more polite speech. He knew it might be rude, but he felt he needed to know how powerful this divine beast and the goddess he served were. It seemed that what happened [visit our site]in the divine beast’s dimension wasn’t just limited to that one dimension.

“Um…how powerful is the goddess you serve?”

Kylus was a human. There’d be a difference between human knowledge and what a divine beast knew. Yohan himself could only be sure about the top-tier god of his own dimension; he didn’t know the status or hierarchy of other gods. He asked because he thought gods or the divine beasts they raised would know more. To his surprise, the divine beast answered readily.

“She’s one of the three divinities who support the dimensions.”

He answered proudly, he must have been waiting for such a question. The three divinities who support the dimensions? It was an unfamiliar concept, but Yohan was shocked because he understood that she was among the top three.

“Someone like that was defeated by a demon?”

“People were taken hostage. Mother endured the sacrifice.”

“…Ah.”

He thought he understood the situation now. It meant the evil gods had reached out to the humans and held their souls to threaten the good gods. The scale of what was happening in that dimension was larger and more serious than he’d thought. Yohan grew even more worried, the divine beast also sighed.

“I want to go back. But I can’t.”

Yohan felt a pang of guilt. It was because he’d repaired Fantasiademia’s rift with the divine beast. But that was unavoidable. More dangerous beings would’ve definitely crossed over if they’d left it as it was.

“…Is it because the rift is closed?”

He asked out of guilt, but the divine beast shook his head.

“I know now. This place is Meow-meow. I can cross dimensions with my power, but this place will get hurt if I do. If Meow-meow gets hurt, then Meow-meow-meow-meow is in danger.”

“…Excuse me?”

What… did he just say? Yohan looked at the divine beast in confusion. The divine beast himself looked puzzled and spoke again.

“I said this place is Baaaa.”

“…”

“So if Grrr gets hurt, then Krrr.”

“…”

Yohan’s pupils shook. His education at Fantasiademia was too short for him to learn the language of beasts.