Insect Tamer's Ascension-Chapter 402. I slept a little too much, young master
After leaving the baron alone with Alfred in the study, Theo and Lucien stepped out at the same time.
Lucien glanced at the mantis several times, biting his lips. A shiver ran down his spine whenever he looked away from it.
"Mantis, get inside the beast space. I will get you some food soon," Theo muttered out loud, giving Lucien a bit of relief.
The mantis made a few noises before turning into a flash of light and entering the beast space.
Seeing this, Lucien let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank you, Theo," Lucien said, stretching his arms and neck.
"Anytime, big brother."
An awkward silence followed along the way until they finally reached a crossroads where they parted towards their rooms in different directions.
Lucien looked at him and spoke calmly. "I expect you to get ready in two hours. We will be leaving together. Sir Knight probably might have already been informed that he needs to accompany us."
Theo nodded.
Lucien then turned and walked in the direction of his room. Theo watched him for a few seconds before heading the other way.
Once there was no one around him, the mantis came out of the beast space and began roaming freely beside Theo, as if that was the new normal it wanted things to be.
They soon reached the room. When Clara opened the door, the mantis made yet another loud noise, prompting her to nearly shut it immediately. But when she noticed Theo standing beside it, she stopped herself.
The next twenty minutes were spent with Theo trying his best to make Clara comfortable with the mantis’s presence.
She felt an inherent fear toward it, and the aura around the creature, caused by its ability, didn’t help the situation at all.
Eventually, Theo guided her hand toward the mantis’s head to show her that it wouldn’t harm her in any way.
But the mantis chose the exact moment, taking the opportunity for the first time in its whole life to move its mandibles close to Clara’s hand as if it were inspecting it.
That was the day the trauma in Clara’s eyes became far worse than normal.
Theo kept assuring her that the mantis was simply curious and that it didn’t see her as food, which helped her calm down a little, though the situation still remained uneasy.
With that, they began preparing for the travel, though they had to ditch Elias in the process since he still hadn’t returned from his vacation.
When Theo was finally ready, he saw Clara wearing a new leather vest and the buckle-like loops along the edges that held the many knives she carried.
Theo couldn’t help but feel that this was what they had needed from the start.
And finally, they left the castle and saw two men standing beside a carriage.
_____
Meanwhile, Theo sat inside the carriage with Clara beside him.
Across from them were Lucien and his attendant, who kept smiling while looking at Theo.
And for the third time, the man spoke again.
"I cannot believe how much you have grown in just a few months, young master Theo. The shock simply refuses to go away."
Theo sighed but still returned the man’s smile, while Clara stared daggers at him.
’The situation really is flipped right now; Clara is two whole levels higher than this guy...’ Theo thought, keeping the surprise to himself.
"That’s enough. Haven’t I told you to stay quiet until the hunt is over?" Lucien grumbled.
The attendant only smiled and nodded his head before glancing at Theo once more with another smile. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂
The awkward but otherwise normal journey went on for several hours before they reached the path where they would enter.
"Here, let me carry it this time since Elias isn’t here," Theo said, taking one of the three bags Clara had been planning to carry.
Clara looked reluctant, but when she followed Theo’s gaze towards Lucien’s bag, she understood why he wanted to do it.
"Thank you, young master."
From the beast space, the mantis appeared for the third time since they had entered the carriage, but Theo didn’t say anything to it this time.
Lucien’s neck twitched slightly before he adjusted his grip a few times, trying to appear normal.
"This is the path we always take, Theo," Lucien said as he tried to take his mind off that mantis and the pressure it gave off.
"If we follow this path for a few hours, we will reach the deeper part of the forest where I usually hunt."
"Is that the petrastone ape territory, elder brother?" Theo asked while looking at the path, making Lucien nod.
"We will first take this path and head to the petrastone ape’s territory. After that, if I think you can handle more, we will move further in."
Theo nodded. But before they could properly enter the path, everyone waited by the carriage.
"He doesn’t usually take this long, elder brother," Theo said with an awkward smile.
Lucien shook his head and chuckled.
"Sir Rhys is popular for being late in almost everything. I can already tell you what he will say after coming here: ’Sorry, I slept a little too much.’"
Theo chuckled but then suddenly burst into laughter, making Lucien start laughing again as well.
They waited for about five minutes before the mantis suddenly tilted its head and looked up into the sky.
No one else noticed, but Theo smiled and followed its gaze with trust.
And there it was.
A massive dragon-like beast silently descending from the clouds.
Theo raised a hand over his eyes to block the sunlight and tried to see Rhys, only managing to spot a tiny dot sitting atop the beast.
Within minutes, the wyvern descended lower and lower until it landed on the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust in every direction.
When the dust finally settled, everyone saw Rhys climbing down the wyvern’s wing while the creature looked at him as if it had done something wrong yet again.
"Sorry, young masters. I slept a little too much," Rhys said, yawning once more.
Lucien looked at Theo, then back at Rhys before the two burst into laughter once again.
This time, not even the attendants were able to hold themselves back.
