The place Farah was leading the Great Oriyan was about a kilometre away, so naturally it wasn't planning on walking.
Unfurling its wings, the giant bird flapped them hard once and lifted up into the sky, kicking up a huge swirl of wind and dust in the process.
*Chirp chirp!*
With a literal storm going on around him, Lucas knew his voice wouldn't carry that far, but he could still hear his new friend calling out to him clearly, so the young boy focused his Soul Sense and shouted back, "Yes! Next time! More sugar!"
The Great Oriyan, receiving this promise, chirped happily again before casually flying after Farah. As for how long it would remain in Redwood Town, that was anyone's guess.
Still, Lucas understood that this was a precious gift they had been given, a brief respite from the approaching dangers.
Of course, there was always a chance that a beast powerful enough to ignore the presence of the Great Oriyan might appear; but if that were to happen, then regardless what they tried to do, nothing the people of Redwood Town did would matter.
Farah was already the strongest human master present, and she was no match for the Great Oriyan. If something stronger than the Low Sixth Order Spirit Beast showed up and had hostile intentions, the only thing left to do would be to pray.
…..
"So, what you're saying is that giant bird is a Spirit Beast called a Great Oriyan, and that it flew down to the Manor because it was hungry? Lucas noticed this, decided to feed it, then became friends with it so he could ask it to guard our town?" Charles asked his daughter with an incredulous look on his face.
A few minutes ago, after the ear-piercing screech had nearly deafened all the defenders at the main barricade, Charles had mentally prepared himself for the worst. Any creature capable of releasing such a call was not one they could hope to match.
It was both terrifying and awe-inspiring to see the Great Oriyan flying over Redwood Town, but when it swooped down towards his home, Charles felt his heart stop. His first instinct was to run back to try to save his family, but before he could take a single step, Farah's voice reached his ear, ordering him to stay put while she dealt with the invader.
Not giving him a chance to object, Farah had shot off at a speed Charles couldn't hope to match. He still wanted to chase after her, but he knew that there was no way he could catch up, even with a horse, and even if he could, there was nothing he could do to help.
Grinding his teeth, Charles forced himself to calm down, shouting out a series of orders to the defenders to raise their guard in case there was another beast attack.
Every second that passed felt like an hour to Charles as he waited for some sign of battle to appear, but all he was met with was silence.
It wasn't until a minute or so ago, when he saw Eris riding hard towards him, that Charles finally felt the weight on his chest ease. If nothing else, his daughter had escaped unharmed; that was something to celebrate.
However, when Eris jumped off her horse, ran up to him, and smiled widely while describing the 'giant birdy' that had become 'friends' with Lucas, Charles had the urge to clean his ears out as he wasn't sure they were still working properly.
After a few attempts, Eris was finally able to get her message across to Charles, but despite understanding what his daughter was saying, he still found it difficult to believe.
Just then, another loud screech rang out, drawing Charles' attention.
Shifting his gaze towards the Manor, the Town Lord saw the giant Spirit Beast take to the sky before flying over and landing at the western stables.
"En! That's right! I was quite scared of Mr. Oriyan at first because I thought he wanted to eat Lucas, but it turns out he's quite friendly!" Eris beamed, clearly very excited to have seen such a majestic beast up close.
"I wanted to make friends with him too, but Lucas and Aunty Farah said it wasn't possible for me yet," Eris added, pouting slightly. She was proud of her talented little brother and thought he was really amazing, but that didn't mean she wasn't jealous of his ability to speak to the Great Oriyan.
"Uh huh…" All Charles could do at this point was nod in a dull manner, his brain unable to keep up with all the crazy things that had happened tonight.
First it was the massive explosion, then it was the looming threat of beast attacks, then a massive Spirit Beast appeared out of nowhere, then his little nephew made friends with said beast. It was like something out of an epic story Charles would hear from the traveling bards back in his adventurer days.
"Sir?"
It was only after one of the Town Guard came up to Charles and called out to him that the Baron snapped out of his daze, "Yes?"
"Um, what should we do now, Sir?" The guardsman asked.
Right, what are we supposed to do? Charles seriously wondered.
Eris said that Lucas and Farah somehow managed to get the giant bird to act as a guard for Redwood Town, but Charles didn't really understand how that was going to work. While he figured that with such a powerful beast around, the likelihood of any weaker creatures trying to attack had significantly decreased, Charles hesitated to think they were 'safe' now.
Thinking so, Charles decided to act cautiously and ordered, "Keep the lookouts in place, but have half the defenders fall back and rest. As long as there are no major attacks, we'll rotate people off the line every hour or so."
Receiving the new orders, the guardsman saluted and moved to carry them out.
"Right!" Charles thought of something and called out, "Send runners to the other barricades to let them know about the situation. I'm sure they're all worried as well."
Nodding, the guardsman ran off.
Sweeping his eyes around, Charles felt some of the tension drain away from his shoulders. For now, it seemed they had been given a gift from the Heavens, allowing them to catch their breaths; however, he knew this peace wouldn't last long.
The Great Oriyan would surely leave soon, and when it did, the beasts trying to escape the Great Western Forest would descend upon Redwood Town again.
I need to make use of this lull to prepare for the night, Charles thought to himself before turning to some of the non-combat volunteers, "Find anything that can be used as a light source and bring them here. Torches, lamps, braziers, everything!"
…..
In a stroke of bad timing, Sasha had left the Manor to help organize some of the Town Guard and volunteer defenders at the northern, eastern, and southern entrances to town where she expected refugees from the local villages to appear.
She had just been finishing up with these arrangements when the piercing bird cry rang out.
At first, Sasha was worried, but seeing the giant creature flying so high up into the sky, she figured it would bypass them as there wasn't anything in Redwood Town that could attract the attention of such a powerful beast.
When the giant bird descended on the Manor, however, Sasha panicked and swiftly mounted her horse, riding hard for home.
As she got closer, Sasha was able to get a better view of the beast and soon recognized it as a Great Oriyan.
Realizing that the uninvited guest in her home was from a relatively docile species that didn't eat meat, Sasha's pulse slowed somewhat, but her worries didn't disappear. Great Oriyans might be symbols of good fortune, but that didn't mean they weren't dangerous, especially one of this size and strength.
Just before Sasha reached the eastern entrance to the Manor, she saw the Great Oriyan take-off again and was hit by a gust of wind.
The horse she was riding bucked when the immense Spirit Beast flapped its wings, nearly throwing Sasha to the dirt. Fortunately, the Great Oriyan soon flew off in the opposite direction, allowing Sasha to coax her horse into settling down.
Once she had control of the steed again, Sasha urged it forward and quickly reached the yard where she spotted one of the two children she was looking for.
"Lucas!" Sasha cried out, leaping off her horse before it even came to a stop, "Where's Eris?! Is everyone alright!?"
Rushing over, Sasha knelt down and began checking over her little son-in-law, making sure he didn't have any new injuries.
"Aunty Sasha!" Lucas was also happy to see her, and after assuring her that he was alright, he explained, "Senior Farah is accompanying our new friend, and I sent Eris to tell Uncle Charles about what happened."
"New friend?" Sasha was taken aback, wondering just what had transpired before she arrived.
It took Lucas a few minutes to fully explain everything that had taken place, shocking Sasha several times in the process.
In the end, the Town Lady took a deep breath and shook her head, "You never cease to amaze me, Lucas. Well done!"
Shaking his head, Lucas replied humbly, "I just got lucky."
"No no," Sasha held the boy's shoulders firmly and denied, "What you did took both wits and courage, you should be proud of yourself. I know I am."
Blushing slightly, Lucas decided not to argue any further, instead coughing awkwardly and saying, "We need to use this brief moment of peace to finish up our preparations."
"You're right, this is a rare opportunity," Sasha agreed, "We can't waste it."
Frowning deeply, Sasha turned her eyes towards the west and muttered in a voice only Lucas could hear, "It's only been a few hours, but a Sixth Order Spirit Beast has already shown up. I didn't think any creatures nearly that powerful lived anywhere close to Redwood Town, but clearly, I was wrong."
The region of the Great Western Forest around Redwood Town had always been quite safe, owing to the low density of World Qi in the air.
In such an environment, precious plants and powerful beasts should have been a rarity, but the appearance of the Great Oriyan was undeniable proof that real monsters did indeed lurk in the depths of the woods. The next time such a powerful beast appeared, Redwood Town might not be so lucky.