The Snow Leopard Baby of the Black Leopard Family - Chapter 111

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 111
So it was, without doubt, a child.
Of course, Beastmen lived in this land as well, so there was nothing strange about a child existing here. But.
“What’s wrong with him?”
Olivier positioned himself in front of Iandros and Tiel, ready for any contingency, and spoke. Tiel gazed at the boy’s face.
‘He’s hurt.’
Whether he’d rolled somewhere or not, his youthful cheeks were covered in countless small wounds, and the clothes he wore were torn so badly that large patches of bare skin showed through.
After observing him for a moment, Tiel tapped Iandros’s arm. It was a sign to put her down.
“No.”
“……”
“I want to go down and examine him. What if it’s dangerous? No.”
But Iandros refused flatly. Moreover, fearing that Tiel might jump right out of his arms, he held her even more firmly.
“Oh, come on……”
Tiel eventually gave up on getting down from Iandros’s arms and instead waved her hand lightly, summoning her light into her palm.
‘Since the sun doesn’t rise here, he wouldn’t be used to light like this……”
Of course, Tiel’s light was different from other light—no matter how brightly it shone, it didn’t hurt the eyes—but Tiel still remained unaware of this fact.
The boy was probably wincing because of Tiel’s light. So the girl thought.
“Oh, no……”
But the boy didn’t seem to appreciate Tiel’s consideration. As the light slowly receded, the startled boy rushed forward with both eyes wide open.
And everyone standing there could now see the color of the boy’s eyes clearly. The color of his eyes was… water-like.
“…Nestian?”
Ludian murmured. Ferdi shook his head side to side.
“No, it’s similar to Nestian but… different.”
Nestians are born with blue eyes, but the blue eyes of the Snow Leopards were a shade slightly brighter and more transparent than the boy’s. If you had to compare it, like deeply frozen ice.
But the boy’s eyes were not that color—they were darker, a deep sea-blue……
“Like the sea, isn’t it?”
Clemens murmured. The children—except Tiel, who had actually seen the sea—all nodded in agreement with Clemens’s words. Just as Clemens said, the boy’s eyes were like the sea itself.
They resembled the depths of a restless ocean, where fierce waves seemed to swallow everything. A single question occurred to all the children at the same time.
‘Who on earth is this child?’
Who was this child to have eyes of such a color? No matter how charitably one looked at it, neither his eye color nor his hair color were the sort that would come from a commoner. Yet there was no noble house that claimed such hair and eye colors as their emblems. At least, not one they could remember.
“Help… please help……”
The boy whimpered, taking another step forward. The problem was that his voice was so small, so faint, and so weak that his words never reached their ears……
“Come no closer. Any further, and I will consider you a threat.”
The Knight Commander positioned himself in front of the children and spoke threateningly. The boy, who was less than half the Knight Commander’s height, stumbled back. The Knight Commander felt a moment of fleeting pity at the sight.
Compared to Iandros, Ferdi, or Ludian, the boy was much smaller, and he didn’t even look as tall as Olivier or Clemens. Perhaps about Tiel’s height at most. If placed beside Tiel, he seemed to be slightly taller, but……
‘The young lady is remarkably small, after all.’
One shouldn’t compare him to Tiel. Especially not if this child was a boy. The Knight Commander looked down at the small, youthful-looking child. Perhaps he was only seven years old.
Yet even as the Knight Commander felt pity for this small boy, he could not allow him to approach the children any further.
This place was a territory beyond the Imperial Palace’s surveillance, a land little known and rarely in contact with the outside world where Beastmen lived without sunrise.
There was no way he could let this boy approach without knowing what sort of boy he was. But then the boy rushed toward the Knight Commander and grabbed his wrist.
“What?”
“Help me, help… help. Please……”
Tears streamed endlessly down both his cheeks. The small face grew wet in an instant. The Knight Commander, bewildered, couldn’t even think of pushing the boy away.
He was a well-trained knight, but he had never been trained in how to repel a child barely eight or nine years old.
Besides.
“…You need help?”
The words the boy stammered out between his tears made it even more impossible for them to push him away or reject him.
Because the boy had given voice with all his might, this time the children standing behind could hear his words clearly.
“You said you needed help!”
“We should examine his wounds……”
Olivier and Clemens spoke. Ferdi and Ludian, who had been watching quietly, added their voices.
“Why is a child alone in these mountains? Something seems very wrong.”
“That’s true, but we should be allowed to treat him, right? Besides, we still don’t know much about the Beastmen living here. I’ve even heard rumors among Academy students that the Beastmen here eat each other……”
“Enough. That’s enough.”
Iandros was also one of the few who knew well about ‘that rumor,’ but regardless, such talk was inappropriate for Tiel to hear.
Iandros was concerned that Tiel was nestling quietly in his arms. He knew for certain that the moment she heard “help me,” she would start struggling to be put down.
The instant Iandros lowered his gaze, he met Tiel’s sparkling golden eyes staring directly at him.
“…Why are you looking at me like that?”
Iandros asked. Tiel fiddled with the edge of his sleeve and replied.
“You are… the Crown Prince, aren’t you?”
“…Yes, I am.”
“The Crown Prince wouldn’t ignore an Imperial Subject who is hurt or in danger……”
“……”
Tiel knew well that Iandros would never put her down. After all, Iandros always prioritized Tiel’s safety in any situation.
And there was one more thing Tiel knew well—that in this situation, all command authority rested with Crown Prince Iandros……
“That child is badly hurt. We brought medicine, so we could spare some. If you really don’t wish it, we could just apply the medicine and take him somewhere safe where he can rest……”
If she hadn’t heard the plea for help, that would be one thing, but having heard it, there was no way to ignore the boy’s request. Iandros was thinking the same thing. But setting that aside.
“Didn’t anyone teach you not to order and direct the Imperial Crown Prince around like this?”
“I haven’t learned that yet……. And you’re not only the Crown Prince but also my friend, my guardian, and my… oof!”
“All right, that’s enough, enough.”
In the end, surrendering completely, Iandros gently covered Tiel’s mouth and looked toward the Knight Commander. The Knight Commander still held the small child, barely half his height, at his waist and watched Iandros.
“This is not a suitable place to treat wounds. Find a place where the child can rest and his wounds can be treated. We can always find our way again with Tiel’s Ability anyway. Move quickly.”
The moment Iandros gave the order, the Knight Commander hoisted the sobbing boy, who had been gripping his wrist in tears, up onto his shoulder.
His movements were remarkably swift, as if he’d been waiting for exactly those words.
***
The knights were very skilled at quickly finding rest and shelter. Not long after Iandros gave his order, they discovered quite a decent cave nearby.
Half of the Knights Order positioned themselves in the depths of the cave to prepare for any danger, the other half at the cave’s entrance, and the children in the middle.
“By the way, did a physician come with us?”
Olivier asked, surveying the knights. Clemens, Ludian, and Ferdi all shook their heads at once.
“The physician is at the Arne Mansion. But we have a Military Physician with us, so it’s all right.”
Iandros pointed to a man emerging from among the knights, carrying what looked like a very heavy and sturdy wooden chest, and spoke. It was the Military Physician who had accompanied them since leaving Asterian at the very beginning.
The Military Physician bowed lightly to the children, then knelt before the boy lying corpse-like among them.
The boy was so exhausted and tired that he had fallen asleep while they searched for a place to lay him. A faint, gentle breathing was heard—fragile, as if it might cease at any moment.
“Examine his condition.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The Military Physician quickly examined the wounds covering the boy’s body. There might be internal injuries as well, but since they couldn’t examine that thoroughly in this place, he could only check the external wounds.
While the Military Physician examined the boy’s wounds, Tiel shone her light from beside him. The boy’s round, youthful face lay bare beneath the glow……

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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