Shadow Ruler

Why am I being carried?

I was tilting my head thinking about it.

“Neglecting such a cute little girl is just garbage, seriously… It’s impossible… She’s so cute… So cute//”

She looked so happy, holding me in her arms and petting me around.

Since she looks happy, I should just stay put for now. 

Besides, everyone told me not to force myself to walk.

“Sorry… If I’d had a carriage or something, we would have gotten there faster and made it easier on you, missy…”

“We’re just grateful to be taken like this.”

“And sorry about Lily over there…”

“Oh… Don’t worry about it, Master also seems to be having a lot of fun, enjoying a lot of stuff for the first time. Let her spoil you.”

“…そうだな。負担にならない程度にほどほどにしろと念押ししておくよ”

“あぁ、そっちは頼んだ。”

“… I agree. I’ll remind them to be reasonable and not too much of a burden.”

“Oh, I’ll leave that one up to you.”

“By the way, after you get into town, you’ll need to have your guild card made as proof, right?”

” Yeah, I remember when people needed something like that.”

” Oh, right. So, what will be your name then? You can’t just go with a random name, you know? We have lives to lead. And so does the rest of you.”

“Us, too?”

“Meow’?”

“Yeah, we’ll have to register you as contracted beasts, so you could come in and out of town and stuff…”

“So we need to have a name to be registered?”

“That’s what I mean. The race and name are the minimum requirements.”

“I see… We wanted Master to decide, so we were waiting patiently…”

“Sorry about all this…”

“It’s alright.”

“And how do you decide? This girl, you guys want her to decide, don’t you? She can’t speak, can she?”

“She can read simple letters, but she can’t speak them, so if she can write them down, she’ll be fine.”

“Is it Bird-san who taught her those letters, too?”

“No, it was the cat who did that.”

“Cat-san?”

“I’m more of a knowledge specialist, you know. Cat-san specializes in things like that, but she can write with her tail, and she can do most of the housework and mix things.”

“You guys are really protective of her…”

“I’m not exaggerating when I say that we raised her!”

“Indeed… That’s very convincing. Well then, there’s a cave-like place over there at the perfect time, so why don’t we camp there, even if it’s early? We can make a decision from there.”

“I guess so…”

The big sisters and big brothers were very fast at walking, so they progressed many times faster than I did.

They were able to do the same amount of walking in half a day that I could do in days.

And then, at the right time, they found a cave-like place that Bird-san said we would spend the night in.

And then, after deciding my name there, I will decide the names of Bird-san and Cat-san.

…Hmmm…

I don’t even have a name of my own, so why should I name them Bird-san and Cat-san?

Bird-san and Cat-san said it would make them the happiest, so I’ll have to think hard.

“Bon appétit, then!”

“Here! You have to eat your fill, young lady. Eat up, eat up.”

“Hey! Don’t let him eat that!

“And… Meat is the best way to build up your strength.”

“Master has been eating only a few nuts, medicinal herbs, and wild vegetables since she was born, and if she eats such a stomach-churning food, she will throw up! That’s a no-no! Master, your body will get sick if you eat something like that…! So, you need to let it slowly build up, okay?”

That meat is dangerous, and it will make me sick if I eat it.

I shouldn’t eat it for now… I remembered.

Meat is dangerous.

And…

“Haaah~//So Cute//”

Lily-san was holding me and hugging me while we were moving, but now I am on Anne-san’s lap, and she was petting me.

Anne-san’s boobs were about one size bigger than Lily-san’s.

Bird-san says that she was wearing a smaller dress. Bird-san says that she was trying to make herself look skinny.

Then, Cat-san made me some dumplings, so I ate them.

As usual, it was Cat-san’s original, a combination of nuts, medicinal herbs, and wild vegetables.

I would be full after a few bites, so Cat-san would make them very small.

Bird-san told me that for my age, I didn’t even eat enough for half of it.

According to Bird-san, I am too thin and weak to eat.

He said that my goal was to be able to eat the same amount of food that a normal child my age eats.

“You’re really dexterous… What does it taste like?”

“Meow?”

Want some? She tilted her head and made one, then grabbed the extra one by the tail and handed it to me.

“Are you sure? Then, thank you…”

“How do you like it?”

“It tastes really strange.”

“What does it taste like?”

“It’s like a nice, easy-to-drink blend of vegetable and fruit juices, but reworked into a herbal dumpling… I don’t know what else to say.”

“Ah… I think I kind of understand what you mean. That’s what she’s eating now, isn’t it?”

“She eats too little, so she needs to be nourished as much as possible. This is the original.”

“Heeeh~”

That’s how the meal ended.

“Now we are going to have a meeting to decide on a name… I would say, but I wanted to ask you one question.”

(?)

Dan-san had a question he wanted to ask.

“What happened to that cane you’ve been holding?”

Eh?

The cane?

“It looks exactly like the one I used to hear about a long time ago…”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

“The magic contained in the Wand is at a level where it is specialized in the support system, which is very important for this girl right now, so the auxiliary magic is not that strong and very modest, and it is definitely at a level where the strength of the magic will gradually be enhanced…”

“Hey… What’s with the Wand?”

“Bird-san, you don’t know?”

“No, we just got it from a guy by the name of Grandpa, who was working with a tough-looking older brother who gave it to us.”

“I see… That Wand looks a lot like the Wand of the sage.

He~

I’m not sure.

…Who exactly was Mr. Sage?