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Chapter 2 …
“Is that her? The newbie assigned to Lord Kalian?”
“Oh my goodness…”
“She looks like she won’t last even a month.”
“A month? I give her a week.”
All of it was whispered about me.
Ignoring those voices, I sat blankly in the clinic chair.
“Getting into an accident on your very first day…”
The doctor who looked at me sympathetically opened a medicine bottle. A white cotton swab was soaked with red medicine.
“It’s quite a deep hole…”
Kalian’s adorable-looking fang had far more power than expected. I could still hear the crack sound when it bit down—and now there was a hole in my forehead.
“Does it hurt?”
“…It hurts.”
“Oh dear.”
Despite the sympathetic tone, the doctor’s hands were merciless as they smeared red medicine all over my forehead. Before the stinging even faded, a white gauze was pressed onto it.
“Don’t let it get wet. So don’t wash your face for now.”
“…Yes.”
“Of all things, to be assigned to Lord Kalian…”
The doctor clicked his tongue.
At that time, I still thought it was fine. I had fallen into an unfamiliar world, but I was starting a new life. Besides, this place called the Divine Beast Management Office was similar to an animal hospital, and it had saved me from a reality that was going nowhere no matter how much I struggled.
But the one who shattered my “happy thinking” was the talkative doctor.
“Have you heard what kind of divine beast Lord Kalian is?”
“No, I haven’t.”
“Well, actually—no. Never mind. I shouldn’t have said anything. But… Lord Kalian is actually the only S-rank divine beast in the entire management office.”
He went on to explain things in detail that I absolutely did not want to know.
A divine beast is a creature with special powers.
They can use elemental abilities like fire, ice, and wind. Depending on their abilities, they are categorized as offensive, healing, or defensive types, and ranked by the management office. High-ranked divine beasts are usually managed in the Imperial Palace.
“But why… was an S-rank divine beast assigned to me? To a newbie like me?”
If Kalian was truly S-rank, shouldn’t he be under special care instead of being given to someone like me?
Adjusting his slipping glasses, the doctor said with a serious expression:
“Lord Kalian is…”
“…?”
“…the worst divine beast.”
Shockingly, despite his high rank, Kalian was infamous as the “worst divine beast.”
“W-why is he the worst…?”
“Listen carefully.”
The doctor began calmly listing Kalian’s past incidents.
-
Threatening other divine beasts, saying they looked “delicious”
-
Scratching a healing-type beast and mocking it to heal itself
-
Carrying beasts away and dropping them from high places just to “watch”
And so on.
“There are too many incidents to list in a day…”
He shook his head in disgust.
“If Lord Kalian were human, our empire would have already collapsed…”
Now I understood why people were whispering about me.
The image of Kalian’s sleeping face—looking like an angel—floated in my mind.
“Do you understand why you were assigned to Lord Kalian?”
“…Yes.”
“There is no one in the management office who can handle him. That means…”
He looked at me with pity.
“They’re dumping him on clueless new recruits and washing their hands of responsibility.”
Only then did I realize—I had been scammed into employment.
They just needed ignorant new employees. Every experienced caretaker had already dealt with him and quit or transferred.
“What else do you want to ask?”
I stood up blankly.
“…Do divine beasts talk?”
“Hmm?”
The doctor widened his eyes, then burst into laughter.
“That’s impossible. No matter how special they are, divine beasts cannot speak.”
“Then I definitely heard Kalian—”
“I’ve only heard people say Lord Kalian’s cries are as cute as a baby’s. You must have mistaken it.”
“No, he definitely spoke—”
“Haha! Impossible. If someone could talk to divine beasts, they would be appointed as the Empire’s Divine Beast Guardian and receive immense wealth and power!”
He waved his hand as if dismissing a joke.
Then what did I hear…?
After Treatment
When I returned, chaos had already erupted.
“Lorelia, where have you been!”
My supervisor grabbed me, pale-faced.
“What happened?”
“It’s Kalian… Lord Kalian!”
Of course. The infamous Kalian had caused another incident.
“He bit another divine beast and ran away with it!”
I looked at my supervisor with a “so what?” expression.
“What are you expecting me to do…?”
“Bring Lord Kalian back immediately. Or else…”
“…”
“You’ll be fired without a single coin of salary.”
Ah.
I had forgotten something important.
I had no home, no family, no friends in this place.
I was alone.
Kalian’s Incident
A black furry blur jumped across trees as if mocking everyone.
“Kalian! Come down now!”
Something yellow dangled from his mouth. It looked limp—unconscious.
“Lord Kalian!”
The staff looked up helplessly.
While everyone panicked, one person stepped forward with a determined expression.
“Move.”
It was Lorelia Leon, the new recruit.
Her vermilion hair swayed in the spring wind. A small body in an oversized uniform. Lips tightly pressed.
Honestly—
“She looks completely unreliable!”
No one believed she could handle an S-rank divine beast like Kalian.
“Kalian, come down! That chick is hurt!”
(Not a chick—it was actually a griffin.)
“If you don’t come down, I’m coming up!”
But Kalian only sneered from above.
“Hm. Not working.”
As expected.
Then Lorelia reached into her pocket and pulled something out.
A toy ball.
“Think you can resist this?”
A red ball caught Kalian’s attention instantly. His head began following it left and right, unable to resist.
“Yeah, you can’t resist.”
The crowd froze in disbelief.
This was unheard of. That was Kalian—the S-rank divine beast known for his terrible temperament.
“Now then…”
Lorelia shifted her stance.
“Fetch!”
She threw the red ball.
The moment it flew through the air—
Kalian jumped.
The supposedly untouchable divine beast leapt from the tree.
“Don’t let him go there!”
“That’s the imperial crown prince’s palace garden!”
Chaos in the Garden
“I caught you, you brat!”
Lorelia tumbled through bushes and hills, her uniform completely ruined.
But she didn’t care.
She was holding him.
A small bundle of fur—Kalian.
He had dropped the unconscious bird and was chewing on the red ball instead.
“How can you do this to such a weak bird!”
[You’re annoying.]
A sharp, irritated voice rang out.
[Stupid humans, let go of this.]
There it was again.
That voice.
[Humans are all so troublesome.]
The tiny paws kept playing with the ball as if nothing mattered.
“…He’s… speaking?”
There was no mistake.
Kalian’s voice.
The bird was unconscious. Only the two of them were here.
“You… can talk?”
Kalian froze.
His small mouth stopped moving.
A long silence.
Then—
“AAAAAAAAAH!”
[AAAAAAAH!]
They both screamed at the same time.
And freaked out while staring at each other.
