Chapter 301
Come to think of it, this was actually ridiculous.
Sure, I knew the gryphon was making an effort to be polite. Every time it greeted me, it bowed its head respectfully.
But aside from that? I didn’t really feel respected at all.
It snorted at my words, acted like it didn’t hear me, and when it did respond, it often involved grabbing me by the neck and tossing me onto its back without warning. Sure, it had never actually dropped me, but that didn’t make the experience any less unpleasant.
And on top of that, the gryphon couldn’t talk.
The only sounds it made were those high-pitched piyo-oh cries, like an eagle. Maybe among gryphons, that counted as a form of language, but to my ears, it was just the call of a bird of prey. Even if those sounds were laced with formal speech, I wouldn’t be able to tell.
So despite this whole mutual respect agreement, the only one actually speaking formally here... was me.
...Was it even normal to feel this kind of resentment toward a non-human creature? I wasn’t sure, but either way, I did feel annoyed.
And on top of that, after making such a big deal about mutual respect, the actual negotiations were a separate matter. {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} If I wanted something from the gryphon, I had to offer something first before it would even consider my request.
If it owed me a debt, I figured we were already even. I had saved it once, and it had saved me once. After that, it just chose to stick around me for whatever reason.
Not that I minded, but it was frustrating not knowing why.
It had seemed so excited during the victory parade—so why was it suddenly reluctant to do this now?