“Wait a minute.”
The Thunder Lord said with an absurd face.
“Are you asking me to take you, Seventh Lord, to the Glide Mountains with my wyvern?”
“Yes.”
“Why should I...!”
She tried to protest, but soon shut up again.
It must be because it reminded her of what we just talked about. I told her I would give her information about a powerful spirit if she came to my aid.
“If I take you there... you mean you’ll tell me the location of the spirit?”
After a moment of silence, she asked in a voice that couldn’t hide her anticipation.
I shook my head.
“Of course not. Do you think that this amount of help is worth the weight of that information?”
I didn’t intend to use the opportunity to borrow the other’s power by asking her to take me to Glide Mountains with her wyvern.
I was thinking of accepting as many of these small help as possible until I had to ask for her help for something big.
As long as I was using this information as bait, she wouldn’t be able to refuse my trivial request anyway.
“...Is this your strategy? Are you going to keep using me like this until one day you ask me to do something big for you?”
“...”
It seemed that she finally caught on. A Lord was still a Lord after all.
But even if she noticed that, it didn’t really change anything.
I gave a sly expression to the Thunder Lord, who was looking at me with an astonished look.
“So, are you going to refuse?”
The Thunder Lord let out a deep sigh as she closed her eyes, as if trying to regain her composure.
“Why do you want to go there out of nowhere?”
“I’m going to catch a wyvern.”
“Why do I have to take you there?”
“Because it’s faster that way.”
Originally, I planned to go to the Glide Mountains after attending the conference. Because there’s not enough time to do that now.
But if I could go there faster with the help of the Second Lord, there was no reason not to go right away.
I thought I would rest well until the conference, but honestly, after taking a few days off, I was already feeling like I was wasting time.
Was it because of all the life-or-death situations that I experienced? Or was it because I was diligently searching for mysteries until recently?
I had never been this kind of a diligent person before.
“Anyway, I’m planning to leave right now, so get ready, Second Lord.”
There were a lot of things to do, but if one wanted to survive, they had to move without a break.
This was the end of the leisure I had briefly enjoyed over the past few days.
***
“Are you talking about the Glide Mountains..?”
“It’s where the wyverns live.”
While I was talking with the Thunder Lord, Asher was looking after Reef and Rigon. Now she looked a little embarrassed.
It was because of my words that I would suddenly head to the wyverns’ habitat.
“Wow...”
Rigon, who was sitting on one side as if he was meditating, was looking this way with his eyes sparkling.
Looking at the reaction, the word ‘wyvern’ probably attracted his attention. But, of course, I couldn’t take him.
I ordered the butler to quickly get ready and then I went outside.
I saw the Thunder Lord and a knight wearing a blue armor in the clearing located inside the castle.
And two gigantic creatures, wyverns, standing next to each other.
I tilted my head at the sight.
Did an escort knight accompany her?
[Lv. 83]
The level was also a whopping 2 levels higher than Asher. In addition, he also had a wyvern of his own.
The Thunder Lord’s family was such a huge family that it wasn’t surprising, but...
Anyway, those wyverns are much bigger than I thought.
[Lv. 67]
[Lv. 62]
Seeing it up close, the size of the wyvern felt much larger. And the levels were just as great.
The one with a higher level was the Thunder Lord’s wyvern.
After seeing me, it was frowning from afar.
Grr.
Then her wyvern also showed hostility to me and let out a low cry.
Did it even understand its master’s emotions and recognize me as its enemy? Smart.
The Thunder Lord stroked her wyvern down the neck, calming it.
She said, “I don’t see why I should do this.”
While she was waiting, thinking about it, her voice became fiercer as if more anger had risen.
I was using a Lord like a courier, so she had the right to be angry.
“Can the wyverns carry two people each?” I asked.
Originally, I hadn’t intended to take Asher with me, but since there were two wyverns, it didn’t seem to matter.
However, the expression of the Thunder Lord hardened.
“...Two people each? Are you saying my wyvern is going to carry another person as well?”
“Can’t you see?”
I pointed to Asher, who had followed me to see me off.
The Thunder Lord looked at Asher and frowned at her.
The Thunder Lord’s escort knight stepped forward and bowed his head to me.
“Seventh Lord, you and your escort knight can both ride on my wyvern.”
I looked at his wyvern.
It’s big enough that three people could ride together, but... wasn’t it better if there’s only two riding it?
When I looked at the Thunder Lord again, her expression had gone from complete disgust to relief.
Did she hate letting other people ride on her wyvern, or did she just hate riding with others?
If it was her, it was most likely the latter.
“Do you have any saddles for three in the castle? If so, please.”
“Oh, please wait a minute.”
In response to the escort knight’s question, the butler standing next to him tried to move.
I stopped him.
“It’s fine. I’ll just go by myself.”
Asher didn’t really have to accompany me.
I told Asher.
“I’ll be back in a fortnight, so in the meantime, wait while teaching the siblings.”
“Yes, I understand.”
The escort knight’s saddle was originally designed for two people, so there was no need to change her saddle.
She probably rode in a two-man saddle, in case she had to carry guests, as she did now.
“Shhh, it’s alright.”
As I approached, the escort knight calmed down the wyvern, who was openly showing its dislike for me, by patting its neck.
This was the reason it was impossible to breed wyverns like livestock.
It was so strong and ferocious that it was very difficult to capture it. A wyvern would also never follow anyone that it did not recognize it as its owner.
Until now, many people tried to tame the wyvern, but the reason they failed from the start was the same.
Because if they were captured and locked up, they wouldn’t eat until they died of starvation, or they would just simply turn to suicide by harming themselves.
That’s why it’s impossible to ride another wyvern unless you ride with the owner.
The escort knight who had calmed down the wyvern jumped onto its back first.
Seeing that, I hesitated for a moment, then used [Space Leap] to get on the back of the wyvern.
Because I suddenly appeared behind her, she jumped and put her hand on the hilt of her sword. Then, after realizing that it was just me, she was stunned again and then lowered her hand.
“...Apologies, Seventh Lord!”
“No. I was the one who startled you.”
Teleportation was not a common ability in this world, so it was natural to react that way.
Anyway, that’s roughly how things were prepared.
“Have a safe trip.”
Asher greeted me from below.
I nodded and looked away.
Flutter!
The Thunder Lord’s wyvern flapped its wings first and flew up. There was a gust of wind all around.
I watched it and grabbed the handle on the front of the saddle.
Soon the wyvern I was riding also flew up into the sky following the Thunder Lord’s wyvern.
As soon as it flew in the air, it sped up in an instant, and the wyverns flew at terrifying speed.
The castle below looked like a dot as it receded in the twinkling of an eye.
Hmmm.
Enjoying the feeling of riding for the first time in a while, I put more strength into the handle I was holding. Because it felt like I would be thrown off if I wasn’t careful.
I was told that it would take five days to get to our destination. That actually starting to worry me.
***
If one saw it in an animation or a movie, didn’t people ride wyverns and griffons comfortably?
In reality, fiction was just fiction.
With the wind blowing nonstop from the front, the balance rattled precariously with every flap of its wings.
Riding a flying beast was really incomparable to a horse or a carriage.
The escort knight should consider it fortunate that this body I possessed had a constitution that hardly suffered from motion sickness. Or I would have vomited on her back long ago.
If I want to have a wyvern, flying at this speed was something I had to adapt to, anyway.
I tried to enjoy the current flight with that mind-set.
I didn’t really enjoy it, but fortunately, I quickly got used to it to some extent.
Although the ride still did not feel comfortable, at least the scenery was excellent.
Oh...
I admired the verdant mountain peaks below.
I wanted to check where we were passing while looking at a map, but unfortunately I couldn’t because my hands were both full.
The wyverns flew at a constant speed without a break for half a day, as if they didn’t feel tired.
After moving for a long time, it was only when the sun slowly set that the wyverns came down to the ground.
“How far have we come?”
“About this.”
The escort knight answered by pointing to a place on the map.
I nodded and put the map back.
We reached a distance that would have taken more than a week by carriage in just half a day.
It must have been because there were no restrictions on the terrain since it was flying, but it was really an incredible speed.
The escort knight prepared dinner.
She took out the utensils from the bag attached to the wyvern’s back and started preparing the meal.
There was no one else to do this job, so of course, she could only do it herself. But when I thought about it, it was a little dumbfounding.
Because she was a level 83.
Was she not a knight?
Leaning on the side of the wyvern on one side, the Thunder Lord opened her mouth.
“Viola...”
Then, when she looked at me, she shut her mouth again.
Rising from her seat, she sneaked up to the escort knight and whispered. But because of my [Super Sensory], I heard it all.
“What are you going to do for dinner?”
“It’s a cheese stew.”
“I’m tired of stew. Grill the meat.”
“All right.”
Then, as if nothing had happened, she returned to her seat and sat down.
I couldn’t help but laugh inwardly.
Judging from the informal way of talking, what they had was not just an ordinary master-servant relationship.
Until the Thunder Lord became a Lord, she must have been a precious lady within the family.
Conscious of my gaze, the Thunder Lord said bluntly.
“What do you keep staring at?”
“Nothing.”
I shook my head.
In an instant, the escort knight set up a mold to grill the meat, took out the smoked meat, and started roasting it over the fire once more.
Soon, the meat was grilled to taste, and the meal began in a quiet atmosphere.
Near the end of the meal, the Thunder Lord opened her mouth and asked.
“You said you’re planning to tame a wyvern.”
“Yes.”
“Seventh Lord, you have to go to the conference in a while. Can you tame one before that?”
She said in a slightly proud voice.
I know why she said that.
Looking around for wyverns and hoping that even one would choose me as its master, luck was not the only thing needed.
