Guardian deity

"W-what?" Noah exclaimed in fear. All he saw was a large animal towering over him, looking at him with menacing eyes. Against the green foliage, the beast looked like a pile of snow. It seemed to be a tiger variant, but Noah had never seen anything like this. The beast hissed at him, growling to let him know he was not welcome there.

* Growl*

" Sheila, calm down. He is with me, remember me?" Alastair immediately came between them. Sheila was aggressive toward him, too, but he put a hand forward and bowed his head so she didn't feel threatened.

She came forward and circled around them, but when she smelled a familiar scent on Alastair, she immediately jumped on him while making pitch-happy noises. The sheer weight of her was enough to crush a grown adult, but for some reason, Alastair seemed fine and readily played with her.

" That's right, it's me! Look how big and beautiful you have become in a few years!" Everyone smiled at them playing, but Noah was still vigilant. Sheila, as they called her, was actively biting and grinding her massive teeth against Alastair's arms and torso.

She already tackled him down on the ground, with his head firmly placed inside her mouth. The old man would be peppered with holes if she clenched her jaw!

" Isn't that nice? She used to wait all day for him to return when he first enlisted in the army."

" Yeah, I still remember the day when he brought her home. She was riddled with wounds on her small body; it's a miracle that she survived!"

" Miracle? It's all thanks to the village chief! She is the best healer on the island!"

Noah heard them talking and gathered valuable information; Alastair seemed like a relative of the village chief, who likely was the person who could heal his broken bone. Sheila seemed friendly, but that was up for debate; Noah wasn't keen on mingling with animals, not because he hated them but because he knew how unpredictable they were.

Even on earth, he had heard of several cases where previously domesticated animals would harm their owners because something ticked them off. It was expected because no matter how much love one showed to a wild beast, separating their animalistic nature from a tame one was hard. It was because they couldn't understand one another and only lived in harmony because there was something to gain.

" Why are you laughing? Help him up and guide him to the chief's house." Alastair, who saw Noah eating dirt on the floor, snapped at others.

" It's fine, I can move on my own." Noah used the stretches to pivot himself off the ground. He wanted to get away from the white tiger, but she came to him on her own. She began circling him around and sniffed the bright orange bag beside him.

" It's fine, it's fine. Just stay still; she will not hurt you." Alastair came and petted the giant tiger the size of a minivan! Noah panicked, but he calmed down when he saw she wasn't growling or being hostile. He could see that she was curious about something.

" Did you hide something in your bag? She has a susceptible nose." Tang came in and started rubbing her chin. She didn't look afraid at all despite her being capable of slapping her to death!

" Now that you mention it, he did stash something in the bag. I tried to open it, but he refused."

" Can she really smell it?" Noah thought and pulled out a large black container that was tightly wrapped. He had a summon left from yesterday and decided to do a little experiment. So far, he knew that his remaining summon would expire once the day was over.

He was given five summon of ten-kilogram carrying capacity, but the problem was he wasn't sure if the different item would be counted as single or other summons. He was confident containers didn't matter as separate things, so he went for a big container to see if he was right.

To his delight, he summoned the item along with a container of his choice; it was a large piece of A5 grade Kobe beef of about six kilos with a black steel container weighing several kilos to complete the ten-kilo mark.

He stashed it in the bag to eat it wholly but later forgot about it, probably because Alastair was carrying the heavy load until now. Sheila seemed to be eyeing the piece of meat.

" I was hoping to bring it as a gift-"

" It's fine; let her have it." With Alastair's permission, Noah unpacked the sealed container. As soon as he brought out the slab of meat, Sheila jumped to snatch it off of him. He thought she would bite off his hand, but fortunately, she was sensible enough to not harm him.

" As this mountain guardian deity, she always has first right to everything." Alastair patted the tiger, chewing on the big block of meat. She sat down, holding the heart with her paws so it didn't touch the ground.

" Deity?"

" Yes, these mountains are not safe. She would often scare away any enemies; if she couldn't fight them alone, she would call the guards."

" She can? Does she understand what we are saying?" Noah was perplexed by the revelation.

" Yes, why not? Have you never thought of intelligent animals before?" Tang looked at him like she was looking at a lost child. Others also gave him a confused look; this is normal for everyone except him!

" As long as she doesn't eat me-"

* Growl* She looked displeased hearing him say it. Is the meat gone within seconds? Her size was not surprising, but why did Noah feel she was looking for more?

" That's all for now. Don't embarrass me in front of our guests. He needs our help; if you do that, maybe he could give you more?" Alastair came to calm her down. She was looking down, but when she heard she could get a reward, she became energetic again!

She came forward and mushed her head in Noah's chest, everyone gasped for some reason that's when Alastair explained that she liked him. It was cool and all, but why did she keep doing that? He was about to fall!

" It's an invitation that you could ride on her. Come on, I will show you how." Tang elaborated. 

"I-I am fine, I can walk!"

" Don't be shy, just do as she says."

" Honestly, old man! You should go ahead; I will follow from behind." Noah vehemently opposed the idea.

" I think we need to grab him and place him on her back."

" That's right, everyone! It's time!"

A few hotheaded personnel incited the crowd, probably because they like to torture newcomers here! Noah didn't even know what to do to get them off his fucking back!