Home sick?

"Stinky… Stinky… In any case, it stinks badly. What's up with this smell? The stinky smell of a beast. The vigorous stream of excrement while walking. This condenses the feeling of life. None of this is found in my kingdom… And you folks often use these living beasts as a means of transportation in this day and age. It is magnificent. I have to thank your grandfather for this."

Lumine continued to chat but it seemed like none of her voices reached the young boy riding a Numel in front of her.

"..." She paused and cutely tilted her head to see the expression of the young boy.

Surprisingly, the boy in front of her is crying silently. "Gramps… Yaya… Nana…" He murmurs.

"Noah, you're not getting homesick after less than half a day passed."

"N-No! But still, I had to leave the house after the incident. I left the two girls without saying a word."

"You can just wake them up and say goodbyes."

"If they cried right there, I wouldn't feel like setting off anymore!" Tears well intensely. "Yaya and Nana were always like sisters to me. Up to this point, we were always together… Gramps may look grumpy, but he's a nice old man who picks up crying kids who have no blood relation to him… And thinking back, I miss my home."

"Isn't that homesick? Keep it together Noah, I gave you the title of Princess Knight. An ancient esteemed title in my kingdom."

"About that… What's with this knight thing?"

Lumine made a sigh before she made her response.

"It's a title that only royalty can appoint. Being a princess's knight means being a princess knight."

"That's straightforward… That means my duty is to protect you at all costs."

"That's right, even if it costs your life. Princess Knight is just one of the so-called royal knights. There is the king, queen, and prince knight. Well, there is no prince in my kingdom only a princess so there is no need to appoint a prince knight… That badge on your collar is the proof that you're mine and only mine."

"That sounds very possessive, but being owned by a very cute girl might be one of the best things that happened in my life."

Noah casually said, but the girl took his words seriously and her face blushed red.

To shift her emotions, she took the map and checked their destination.

"Anyways, our first destination will be the Valley of the Giants."

"What's up with that map?"

"Your grandfather gave it to me before we left… he also gives ratings at each destination. On a scale of five. The Valley of Giants has three stars. Maybe the scenery is only good… Oh?"

Lumine turned her head a bit and saw snow-white horned rabbits along the way.

Excitedly, she paused and pointed to the little creatures.

"Noah! Noah! What are those? Those cute creatures!!"

"Ah, those are Fluffa, I see, it's those times of the year now. We have to be careful."

"Be careful about what?"

"In this season, they mass reproduce and suck up a ton of animal blood. When they are full, they turn red. Sometimes they suck up so much blood without realizing their limits, they explode and make a sea of blood…"

"Okay, stop talking about it already."

Lumine turned her gaze back to the little creatures. And suddenly, from beneath the sand, a giant shark swallowed whole a group of Fluffa. "Chomp!"

"What?!"

Lumine screams in shock.

"A… A-A giant fish leaped and ate the cute fluff thing!"

"Crap, I almost forgot about those guys." Noah looks at the Numel Lumine riding and nods as if they already know what to do. But in this kind of scenario, there is only one thing to do.

"Run!"

Two Numel sprinted as fast as they could. Running because their life is already in the lane.

"What are those?"

Lumine asked with sparkling eyes.

"Sand sharks… Also, this is not the time to be curious… Seems like this place is their territory."

"Why do we need to enter such a dangerous area?"

"We had no choice. My home is surrounded by mountains and beyond that is this great desert… Normally, Grandfather could tell the shifting of the sand, but now, he has forgotten that he's not with us. I got careless."

The sharks have their eyes on the two. Swimming in the sand, they chased with their mouths filled with sharp teeth.

No! One sand shark leaps high up to Lumine.

Noah immediately leaped out, swung from his ride, and swung his fist at the predator's head. His fist increased its heaviness by the use of Noah's gravity ability.

The punch sends the sand shark away rolling.

Afterward, three, four, and five sand sharks go to attack Noah. Noah collected himself and bravely fought their heads on. Swiftly, he punches each of the sharks and goes back to his ride.

"Noah!"

"Don't worry about me. Follow Namell."

"Na-namell?"

"It's the Numel I was riding and yours is called Mamell."

"Mam… Namell?"

Lumine murmurs in confusion.

"The animals we're riding are called Numel and their names are Namell and Mamell!!"

"So confusing!"

Another wave of sand sharks came their way. With zero hesitation, Noah's charge heads on to the sharks to buy Lumine some time to make the distance.

Now that I caused a loud ruckus and gathered their attention in one spot. I can finally use my technique.

Noah thought and gathered lots of energy in his gear. Intensifying the gravity, he forcefully pulls all the sharks back to the ground.

"Gravity force!"

All the sharks were shocked at their bodies suddenly getting heavy and pressed down back into the sand.

Worried about the boy's circumstances, Lumine turned back.

"Noah."

She saw the boy all safe and sound. She wiped her sweat and made a sigh of relief.

But when Noah is on his way back to Lumine, Noah plummets down to the ground. His body was like a vegetable.

"Noah?!"

"Crap, I've used lots of energy battling those robots earlier… I'm out of energy."

The sand shark recovered from his attack and is now swimming at amazing speed toward him.

Noah struggles but there is no way he can move. Lumine, meanwhile, was in the distance even though the Numels ran fast to save him. There is no way they reach him on time.

This could be the end of Noah.

Lumine turned around and looked for the weapon Noah's grandfather had given them just in case this kind of problem happened.

"This is…" Lumine took her metal boots off and took the Rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) on her shoulder.

"What the?!"

"Noah, I'll save you!"

"Hey, watch your aim or else…"

Noah's fears increased by seeing the girl with the weapon. This situation gives him the feeling that he's going to die either in the sand shark's hand or the girl's rocket.

Lumine pulled the trigger and "Kaboom!"

Sharks lay down lifeless and creatures of sand appeared in the middle of the desert.

Moments later, Noah recovered some energy to move and look at the sight Lumine caused.

"Umm… This seems like dynamite fishing. People toss explosives into the sea and blow them up. Then, they took all the fish after they were stunned. It's an ancient technique. I never thought that it would work in the desert."

Lumine said proudly with the rocket propeller grenade still on her shoulder.

"How long are you going to hold it?"

"When I pulled the trigger, something awakened inside of me… I think from now on this weapon will be my partner."

"You're being too much… Stop fooling around and let's continue our journey before some monsters appear on our way."

"I'm still holding onto this," Lumine protested.

"That's dangerous, and we won't be entering the town with you holding those weapons."

"Oh, that's true."