The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent-Chapter 302

After that, I had several more conversations with the gryphon.

And through those interactions, I learned a few things.

In many subcultures, four-legged creatures that could communicate with humans often disliked letting people ride on their backs.

And when you thought about it, that was only natural.

The animals that carried humans—like horses or oxen—were usually livestock. It wasn’t strange for intelligent creatures to see the act of carrying a human on their back as degrading, as if they were lowering themselves to the level of a domesticated beast.

And in those kinds of stories, most humans who heard that explanation would nod in understanding. After all, the image of one person riding on the back of another person lying flat on the ground was undeniably bizarre.

But for some reason, the gryphon didn’t seem to care about that at all.

When I asked, "May I try riding on your back?" the gryphon knelt down immediately and lowered its wings to make it easier for me to climb up—like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Did gryphons simply not associate kneeling with submission the way humans did?

That didn’t seem to be the case.

Every time the gryphon greeted me, it bent its knees respectfully.

But fully kneeling... That seemed like something it could do if necessary, but probably not something it would casually display in front of a human.

Besides, hadn’t the first Fangryphon supposedly gone through hell to establish itself as the leader among gryphons? If a human riding a gryphon had been such a common and effortless thing, it wouldn’t have been such a legendary feat.

...Now that I thought about it, there was never any detailed account of how that process actually happened.

For a moment, I hesitated, watching the gryphon offer its back so willingly.

Then, carefully, I climbed onto it.

Despite looking rough at a glance, its feathers were incredibly soft to the touch. But they also had a slightly waxy, powdery coating—probably for waterproofing. After touching them a few times, my hands were covered in a fine white dust. Not just my hands—my clothes had picked up some too. It wasn’t exactly ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) pleasant.

The palace staff who maintained the gryphon always collected its shed feathers.

Since I had no real use for them, I didn’t bother stopping them. Whether they sold them or not didn’t matter to me. Frankly, considering the stress they had to deal with while taking care of a predatory creature, collecting a few feathers seemed like the least they deserved in return.

Once the gryphon seemed satisfied that I was securely seated, it gave a slight shake of its back—almost like it was confirming my presence—before rising to its feet.

The sudden movement nearly threw me off balance, but I gripped its feathers tightly and held on.

Did that hurt?

Well, if I could tug on them like this without them coming loose, then probably not. Their structure must have been different from human hair. The feathers that did fall out were likely just part of its natural molting process.

"Alright then—"

I was just about to say something else when—

With a single powerful leap, the gryphon shot into the sky.

A deafening whoosh of air followed as its massive wings flapped.

It felt like being launched in a supercar with a zero-to-sixty time of under five seconds—the gryphon’s ascent was instantaneous.

I gripped its feathers with both hands as tightly as I could.

With the way its back angled upward during takeoff, my body slid backward, and I nearly fell off.

Fortunately, my knees got caught at the base of its wings, preventing me from slipping further.

But every time its wings flapped, my body lifted slightly, making it impossible to stop trembling.

I forced myself to focus and glanced around.

Then I immediately regretted it.

The gryphon was already soaring far above the capital.

The air was noticeably colder up here. The temperature had already been low on the ground, but at this altitude, it had dropped by several degrees.

I quickly shifted my gaze forward, not wanting to risk vertigo.

And there, I saw the gryphon glancing back at me.

It was a bit ridiculous, trying to read expressions on an eagle’s face, but I couldn’t shake the impression that its look meant, "Well? What do you think?"

"......"

Oh.

I got it now.

The reason it had let me ride on its back so easily—

It was either trying to tease me, or it just wanted to show off its skills.

Or maybe both.

If I let my fear show now, I’d lose.

I inhaled sharply, steeling my nerves.

I didn’t have my time-rewinding ability to help me keep a perfect poker face, but I had some experience in maintaining a composed expression.

At the very least, I could pretend I was unfazed.

"Do you have a destination in mind?"

The gryphon tilted its head slightly.

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It didn’t seem to understand what I was asking.

"If there’s somewhere you want to go, feel free to head there. I’ll follow along."

Of course, what else was I going to do? If I let go now, I’d plummet straight to my death.

But my pride wouldn’t allow me to ask it to take me anywhere, either.

"......"

The gryphon stared at me for a long moment.

Then, without another sound, it turned its head forward and began flying.

Its speed was even faster than during its initial ascent.

Some scholars had theorized that gryphons weren’t bound to a single territory—that they roamed the entire world, which was why they were rarely seen.

And judging by the sheer speed at which this one moved, I was starting to think that theory might actually be true.

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I clenched my teeth, determined not to scream.

*

And in the end, we landed... right back at the imperial palace.

To be precise, we landed in the very courtyard that the gryphon had claimed as its own.

After hearing my words, the gryphon had flown at full speed around the capital a few times. I had been too preoccupied with not falling off to keep track of our exact location, but judging by the general movement, it seemed to have done a few large loops over the city.

We hadn’t been in the air long enough to circle the entire capital, but it had definitely made several rounds.

And then, rather than landing anywhere else, the gryphon returned to this courtyard.

I forced my shaky legs to hold steady as I dismounted, then turned to look up at the gryphon.

It had just been speeding through the sky at full throttle, but now it was back in its usual loaf position, watching me calmly.

...But something felt off.

I wasn’t particularly good at reading emotions just from someone’s eyes, but I could pick up on the general atmosphere.

And from what I could tell, the expression on the gryphon’s face was confusion.

Just a moment ago, up in the sky, I had told it, "Go wherever you want."

It had hesitated briefly, then taken a few loops around the capital—before ultimately choosing to land right here, where it already lived.

"This is your favorite place?"

The gryphon tilted its head.

I didn’t think it was confused because it didn’t understand my words.

More likely, it didn’t understand its own actions.

"......"

I rested my chin on my hand in thought.

"...Have you not been to many places?"

"......"

The gryphon froze for a moment.

Then, with an exaggerated motion, it haughtily lifted its head and let out a sharp hmph.

So that’s a yes.

Now that I thought about it, something about all this was strange.

The Holy Nation had once captured gryphons and domesticated them as tools of war.

Where exactly had they found these gryphons? How had they managed to capture them alive? And how had they enslaved them with magic?

If they had tried that on a fully grown gryphon, it would have been impossible.

"How old are you?"

"......"

The gryphon pointedly turned its head away, refusing to answer.

Wait... was it younger than I thought?

What if it wasn’t even ten years old yet?

Maybe it had been captured as a newborn. Or maybe the Holy Nation had found an egg and stolen it.

Either way, plenty of people had probably died in the process.

But for them, it had been worth it. Being able to control a gryphon—even partially—was an incredible military advantage.

Of course, they hadn’t actually been able to control it in the end. They had just broken it to the point of near death.

"Where were you born?"

"......"

Silence.

I was starting to piece it together.

The gryphon was staying here because... it had nowhere else to go.

Even if it wanted to leave, it didn’t know where to go.

There were plenty of places that were rumored to be gryphon habitats.

But barely anyone who went looking for them ever came back alive.

So when people asked, "Are there really gryphons in that place?" ...most of the time, there was no clear answer.

Some evidence suggested they existed, but no solid proof.

But if this gryphon had been raised entirely by humans, then it wouldn’t know where its kind lived.

Even if it did know, that didn’t mean it wanted to return.

Why would it?

It had never formed any attachments there.

Realizing this, I suddenly felt a little sorry for it.

"...Is that how it is?"

"......"

I stepped closer and placed my hand gently on its side in a comforting gesture—

—only for the gryphon to shove me away with its foot.

"Ghk—"

I stumbled backward, barely keeping my balance.

Seriously? You won’t even accept sympathy? Are you some kind of rebellious teenager?