In the Wolf Territory
"Strange… why isn't there any?"
Leon and Anis rode on Andrius' back, searching for traces of monsters.
Leon had wanted to look for rare monsters that hadn't been tamed yet, but despite searching for a long time, he couldn't find a single one of the creatures that should have been in this area.
Even when Leon tried to use his spatial perception, nothing appeared.
It was as if half of all the monsters in the Andrius Territory had simply vanished, which was outrageous.
"Leon, what do we do now? Head back?"
"No. We need to investigate this. It doesn't make sense for all the monsters to disappear from such a vast area."
Anis nodded, her expression serious.
Indeed, it had only been an hour since they entered the Wolf Territory, yet tens of thousands of monsters had simply disappeared.
This situation was both strange and critical.
"We have to find out what happened."
She pulled a magical item from her inventory that could detect the surrounding environment and began scanning the area.
Leon closed his eyes and expanded his spatial awareness, trying to detect any clues as well.
But at that moment…
"Huh? Barbara?"
He hadn't sensed any monsters, but he did sense a familiar girl — the priestess of Mondstadt.
A beautiful girl who had shared a fun night with Leon in the past alongside her sister.
She was running hurriedly toward them.
Leon: "Let's check her out. No matter how you look at it, she must have clues about what's happening here."
Anis: "???"
---xXx---
"I need reinforcements quickly! Otherwise, my sister won't be able to hold them off!"
Barbara ran along the bumpy road. Her skirt was torn, her white stockings ripped, but she pressed on, panting.
Although she had magical powers that allowed her to move faster than ordinary people, she was still primarily a priestess whose job was to heal others' injuries. On such a rough road, she hadn't chosen the best footing.
As she stumbled, she instinctively closed her eyes.
Yet the anticipated pain never came.
"Huh?"
Barbara opened her eyes in confusion. Instead of falling, she was cradled in the arms of a certain prince.
"Prince Leon!!" Barbara exclaimed, startled.
Her face flushed red.
Though it had been some time since she last saw him, there was no way she could forget their previous encounter.
"Ah~ isn't this my dear Barbara? Why are you alone in a place like this? Your clothes… they're all in tatters," Leon said with a smile.
"I'm sorry you have to see me like this," Barbara said, crossing her arms and lowering her head.
If possible, she had hoped to keep up her perfect, cute image in front of Leon, but now the battle-torn clothing made her look even more pitiful and adorable.
"It's fine. What happened?" Leon asked.
"Ah! Yes, something serious, Your Highness. A massive number of monsters are heading toward Mondstadt. Tens of thousands of them. Please, send troops to help us!"
Barbara realized this was no time to flirt with Leon and spoke urgently.
"What?! A tide of beasts?!" Leon's eyes widened in surprise.
Immediately, he realized that all the monsters that had disappeared under Andrius' lead were attacking Mondstadt, and the scale seemed far larger than when the Red Dragon had attacked.
In a one-on-one situation, a knight would not lose to a low-level monster, but for B-rank or higher monsters, human cooperation was essential.
After all, humans are intelligent beings with specialized potential, while monsters concentrate all their abilities in their bodies.
Although Leon had originally left the Western Wind Knights under Jean's command and Mondstadt's terrain was easy to defend, she would now face a tidal wave of tens of thousands of beasts.
Mondstadt was in danger!
"How long has the beast tide been happening?" Leon asked, serious.
"They haven't arrived yet. Amber, who was patrolling with the knights, discovered the beast tide half an hour ago. My sister is leading the knights at the city wall to prepare for the attack. She asked me to get reinforcements."
"Half an hour? Alright."
Leon exhaled in relief, thinking that the beast tide hadn't actually reached Mondstadt yet.
Considering the outdated communication methods in this world, which relied mainly on written letters, he had almost thought Mondstadt had already been invaded.
Although the situation was urgent, now that Leon understood it, it was no longer immediately dire.
"No need to send reinforcements. I'll handle the beast tide myself. Speaking of which… why did these monsters suddenly attack Mondstadt?" Leon frowned.
It was clear that the monsters had been stable when he and Anis arrived, so how could they suddenly decide to attack Mondstadt after subduing Andrius?
Did they get bored after lunch and decide to make a little trip to Mondstadt?
"We don't know the reason yet, but my sister and the others speculated that a powerful presence suddenly appeared in their habitat, scaring the monsters."
"A powerful presence? Really? I'm here, but I didn't notice anything… ah."
"Prince Leon?"
Barbara looked at Leon, whose expression suddenly froze, showing a confused look, tilting her head in puzzlement.
"Well… this might be my fault."
"Huh?"
"These monsters should have been afraid of me," Leon said, embarrassed.
When he had subdued the North Wind Wolf, he hadn't bothered to hide his aura, and later he used the "Dragon Power" to intimidate it. There was no doubt that this situation had happened because of his actions.
If a great power suddenly appears in their living space, of course, monsters will be frightened. Some are even more sensitive than humans.
With Leon's "Dragon Power," he was even scarier than a true Dragon King.
It would be strange if the monsters didn't flee.
"Ah… I see."
Barbara didn't know what to say either.
If you think about it carefully, the two biggest crises in Mondstadt's history — the Dragon Invasion and this Beast Tide — were both Leon's fault.
Leon scratched his head, embarrassed.
"It's fine. I'll handle the situation immediately and make sure no one dies. So… Barbara, don't blame me."
"How could I blame you!?" Barbara asked.
"Exactly. If I were hated by a beautiful girl like Barbara, I'd be deeply hurt."
Leon raised his hand and touched Barbara's head.
"!!!"
Barbara's face turned red, and steam seemed to rise from her head.
"Haha, let's save your sister!"
Leon opened a spatial door with a wave of his hand.
He stepped forward, and immediately they arrived at the walls of Mondstadt.
---
(End of Chapter)