Like a puppy.
After that, there were no major obstacles.
"Just keep walking straight that way."
After roughly telling the manticore the direction, Woojin lay sprawled across its back and idly lounged around… Before long, the destination came into view.
The city of the nagas. When they approached its surroundings, Woojin halted the manticore.
'I should talk to the gatekeepers first.'
He needed to give the gatekeepers a heads-up. If he suddenly brought a powerful magical beast like a manticore into the city, it would undoubtedly cause a commotion.
So Woojin went to the city entrance and briefly explained the current situation. Then, right in front of the naga gatekeepers, he personally made the manticore perform tricks.
"Sit. Stand up. Sit again."
The manticore moved without the slightest delay in response to the commands. It looked like a giant lion performing in a circus. The nagas watching it were impressed.
"You actually tamed this monster… astonishing."
"Can I enter the city now?"
When Woojin asked that, the naga warrior conducting the inspection hesitated for a moment before replying.
"It's difficult for me to decide that on my own."
"Yeah, I figured."
The manticore was large and powerful, and it had already slaughtered several livestock belonging to the naga tribe—its name was literally on their kill list. Letting such a creature casually enter the city wasn't a simple matter.
"I'll report it and come back."
With those words, the naga gatekeeper hurried off.
'Looks like I'll have to wait.'
It probably wouldn't take long. The nagas were extremely quick when handling matters. If nothing else, that was something Woojin liked about them.
While passing the time, Woojin rummaged through his bag and checked his belongings.
"Khrrk, krrr…"
Suddenly, the manticore coughed repeatedly and its body trembled. It looked uneasy. The reason for its reaction was simple.
A naga wrapped in an intense aura was slithering toward them.
Dark blue scales and shoulders spread wide like a cobra puffed up to full size.
Woojin immediately recognized who it was.
'Veshkan is coming.'
The king of the nagas had come personally.
Since the situation felt rather strange, Woojin immediately asked Veshkan a question.
"Why did you come yourself? Why not send your subordinates?"
"I came out for a stroll. I've been playing chess constantly lately, so I hardly get any fresh air."
Veshkan answered like that, but his expression wasn't very good. It was a familiar look. He always made that face whenever he lost at chess.
From the looks of it, he had gotten crushed again and came outside to clear his head.
Veshkan glanced once at the manticore.
"You actually captured this damned cat alive… May I take a closer look?"
"Go ahead."
When Woojin readily gave permission, Veshkan approached the manticore without hesitation.
The closer he got, the more timid the manticore became. It seemed thoroughly frightened after facing the naga king. Stiff with fear, the manticore lay flat on the ground and cautiously watched its surroundings.
Veshkan examined the lion-type magical beast indifferently and then muttered as if talking to himself.
"…It's still young. A sub-adult."
"So it really wasn't fully grown yet."
If compared to humans, it was somewhere between adolescence and adulthood.
There had been many times when the manticore's behavior seemed somewhat clumsy. It seemed that was because it simply wasn't fully matured yet.
"What happens when it grows up?"
"Well…"
Veshkan thought for a moment before answering.
"I doubt its size will increase dramatically from here. But its strength and abilities will probably become far more powerful."
"And what makes you think that?"
"I've seen similar creatures several times before."
The naga king had lived for hundreds of years and experienced countless things. Among those experiences was knowledge about manticores.
"Winged lions are powerful high-rank magical beasts, but at some point their numbers started dropping noticeably. They're probably close to extinction now."
"Really? Why did that happen?"
If they were magical beasts with such powerful strength, they should have flourished. Yet reality was the exact opposite. Why had manticores been pushed to the brink of extinction?
Veshkan answered as if it were nothing.
"Because they're dangerous. The Ancient Ones don't leave magical beasts with high potential alone."
If a magical beast with great potential grew stronger over a long period of time, it might eventually become a monster capable of threatening the Ancient Ones' throne.
Naturally, the Ancient Ones did not want powerful competitors to appear.
"So they crush them before they can grow?"
"Exactly. That's why some types of magical beasts are rare. Leopards, tigers, hawks, owls… Haven't you ever noticed that those kinds of predators are unusually hard to find?"
"Now that you mention it…"
Felines were naturally exceptional hunters.
Logically, magical beasts based on them should have been more numerous and more common. Yet in the Demon Realm, they were actually harder to find.
That was because the Ancient Ones had relentlessly hunted them and drastically reduced their numbers.
"Thanks to that, weaker tribes benefited greatly. With several threatening apex predators gone, they could expand their power more easily."
"You mean the naga tribe and the hyena tribe."
"That's right."
Snakes and hyenas.
Compared to other clans, they were predators with somewhat inferior hunting abilities. Because of that, the Ancient Ones didn't pay much attention to them, allowing them to survive.
Veshkan cleverly took advantage of this situation and secretly built up his strength. Now he had established a force powerful enough that even the Ancient Ones could not easily challenge it.
Anyway, the conclusion was simple.
"So this manticore is extremely rare and has high potential."
Good thing I spared it.
Woojin said that with satisfaction. However, Veshkan seemed rather displeased with the creature's existence and muttered in a cold tone.
"This thing has eaten quite a few of our livestock… Can you really control it properly? If it causes trouble again, that would be extremely irritating."
"Don't worry. It'll probably be fine."
"I'll trust you this once."
The naga king granted permission to enter. Without hesitation, Woojin walked into the city and gestured for the manticore to follow.
The lion-type magical beast hesitated for a moment before awkwardly following behind him. Together, they headed toward the lodging.
Thump. Thump. Thump…
Heavy footsteps echoed.
The manticore was as large as an elephant, so its footsteps were equally heavy. Because of that, everyone nearby turned their attention toward them.
It seemed Woojin's companions, who had been resting in the lodging, also heard the sound. The door opened, and two women poked their heads out.
Claire and Arwen.
'Looks like they were taking a nap.'
Their hair was messy as if they had just been lying down. The two stared wide-eyed in this direction, apparently shocked to see such a massive lion-type magical beast.
When Woojin climbed down from the manticore's back, Claire—standing a distance away—called out.
"Jin! What's this big guy?"
"It's a lion-type magical beast called a manticore. I ended up taming it somehow."
"So we've gained another member of the family. What's its name?"
"I'm still thinking about that."
As always, naming things was difficult. Hearing that, Claire thought for a moment before speaking.
"Manta. What do you think?"
"The sound isn't bad."
Manta.
It sounded like a nickname derived from the word "manticore." As Woojin guessed that, Claire added an explanation.
"That's part of it, but I also named it after a sea creature I like."
"What kind of animal?"
"A manta ray. Have you heard of it? It's a ray with huge, beautiful wings."
Claire said that and gestured toward the bat-like wings growing from the manticore's back.
"It happens to have beautiful wings too. That's why the name came to mind."
"Sounds good."
For something thought up on the spot, it seemed like a pretty decent name. Since Woojin had already been worrying about what to call it, he readily accepted the suggestion.
'From now on, this guy's name is Manta.'
Just as he reached that conclusion…
Arwen approached a moment later. In her arms was the silver sky squirrel. Coco's eyes sparkled as it looked at the lion-like magical beast.
Boing!
Coco jumped down onto the ground. The squirrel immediately ran straight toward the manticore.
"Squeak! Squeak, squeeeak—"
Coco chattered something. It hopped around here and there, making chirping sounds as if it were singing. It seemed extremely excited about having a new friend.
Coco stopped in front of the manticore and extended its forepaw as if asking for a handshake.
But the lion wasn't friendly.
Thwack!
Manta suddenly swung its tail and smacked Coco away. The impact sent Coco rolling far across the ground.
Coco sat there blinking. Seemingly confused about what had just happened, it looked around… and then spotted the manticore smirking mockingly.
'So it's a challenge to authority.'
The enormous lion-like magical beast was looking down on the tiny sky squirrel.
Coco noticed this and became furious.
"Squeak… squeee."
Coco muttered something while looking this way. Woojin could roughly guess the meaning behind the cry, so he simply nodded.
"Do whatever you want."
"Squeeeak!"
Coco shouted.
The sky squirrel's tail stood stiffly upright. Its shape looked like a tilted crescent moon.
Then Coco charged straight at the manticore. The distance between them closed in an instant.
The squirrel's speed was strangely fast. Slightly startled, Manta lashed out its tail. The scorpion-like stinger shot toward the squirrel's back.
In response, Coco spun and swung its tail down with full force.
BOOOOM!!
With a thunderous crash, the stinger was knocked away. The scorpion tail slammed straight into the dirt ground.
The one who lost the clash of strength was none other than the manticore.
Because of that, Manta was completely flustered.
"Ghk—Kyaaaak?!"
A cry mixed with doubt and shock. Manta found it hard to understand what was happening.
The tiny squirrel was far too strong.
Manta repeatedly lashed out with its stinger and both forepaws, but Coco effortlessly deflected the attacks and kept pressing the massive lion.
Woojin watched the scene without much surprise.
It was something he had expected.
'There aren't many magical beasts that can beat Coco.'
That silver sky squirrel might look small and harmless, but it was once one of the dominant boss-level magical beasts deep within the Demon Realm. It was also resistant to poison, so even a venom beam wouldn't affect it much.
On top of that, after joining Woojin's group, Coco had steadily grown stronger by eating all kinds of nourishing items, including the inner core of a hydra.
In short… the difference between them was so large that Manta shouldn't have even dared to make eye contact.
'And yet it had the nerve to pick a fight.'
This was why judging by appearance alone was dangerous.
Terrified, Manta hurriedly stepped backward. It seemed to have finally realized that it had chosen the wrong opponent.
But the squirrel's anger had only just begun.
SMACK!! WHACK!!
Coco swung its tail and repeatedly smacked the manticore's head. The blows were powerful. Manta kept shaking its head to throw the squirrel off, but Coco clung on stubbornly.
The sound of the beating rang out without pause. Eventually, Manta curled up and began begging for mercy.
"Whine—Whaaaine!!"
The manticore screamed and rolled onto its back as if surrendering.
Only then did Coco seem satisfied. It snorted and stepped back.
Pride or not… Manta lay sprawled on the ground, completely battered.
This was probably a good lesson for it.
'It's probably realizing now that it's the youngest.'
No matter how fiercely it had ruled outside, the moment it joined Woojin's group… it was nothing more than a little puppy.
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