Cat and Dog 8
I somehow managed to get close to Juicy-san as she ran.
“Juicy-san. Juicy-san. Juicy-san. Aah, enough already, Juicy!”
The instant I called her without the honorific, she dove straight towards me.
I was easily knocked down. Somehow, this felt like déjà vu.
“Woof woof. Whine. Lord Wof. I… I just… um, um… I can’t hold back anymore!”
“W-what is it?”
What is she saying all of a sudden!?
That’s the face of a woman.
“Um, um, um, woof. Um, Lord Wof… whimper. Can I… become it…?”
“B-Become…?”
Juicy-san’s usually sparkling, starry eyes were now moist, gleaming like bewitching stars.
That wasn’t a look a thirteen-year-old should have. It was the gaze of a woman.
“Um, um, um, whimper… woof woof. Lord Wof. I, woof woof. Yip. I just… want to become [ Fenrir ]!”
“Absolutely not!!”
“Yelp!?”
I grabbed Juicy-san’s shoulders and shot upright with a jolt.
“Juicy-san. Absolutely not.”
Scary. If she gets excited, there’s no telling what she’ll do, this dog.
“Um…”
“Juicy. Absolutely not. Got it? That’s the one thing you can’t do.”
I spoke in a slightly forceful tone, looking straight into her eyes.
My voice naturally lowered.
“Um, uh, um, yes. I understand. I’m sorry. I just got so happy and excited, I lost myself. Woof woof. Lord Wof. I’m very sorry.”
When I spoke a little harshly, Juicy-san became quite crestfallen.
It seems she’s calmed down now.
Still, losing herself like that… that’s scary. Way too scary.
I’ll need to be careful when I’m around her.
The Pseudo-Deification Relic [Fenrir] is undoubtedly a secret of the Marquis Tasan Family.
Worst case, my head might literally fly off.
“Well then, let’s head back.”
“Um, woof. Y-yes. Um, will the Monokeros-sanたち be alright?”
“Eh?”
That’s when I noticed. Several Monokeroses were collapsed all around us.
They were barely breathing; most of the herd had collapsed from exhaustion.
“……I think they’ll be alright.”
They’re still breathing, so they should be fine. Still, I feel bad about this.
Even if they’re Dungeon Monsters, we ended up throwing their herd into chaos for our own convenience.
Besides, that parent and child… A parent and child among Dungeon Monsters, huh.
On the way back to Ms. Pachira, I told Juicy-san about everything that had gone well.
When we met up, she was concerned about the exhausted Dagaa, so I explained the situation.
While I was explaining, Dagaa leaped from Ms. Pachira’s chest, transforming into a Knife mid-air.
It stabbed into the grassland; I picked it up and tucked it away onto my belt. It was all rather amusing, and we laughed.
And then, it was time for a break. There happened to be a log nearby, so I sat down to rest.
Since I was hungry, I took some dried meat out of my pouch.
The other two had also brought portable rations and were eating.
Ms. Pachira had hardtack and some paste. Juicy had dried meat, the same as me.
Then, both of them started staring intently at my dried meat.
Since it seemed like a good opportunity, I cut some off with my Knife and handed it to them.
“This dried meat is quite tasty, isn’t it?”
“Um, uh, um, woof. Lord Wof. This is too delicious! I want more!”
“Honestly, you… Have you no restraint?”
“Um, uh, woof. Ms. Pachira, don’t you want any? It’s so delicious, so tasty, you know. Woof woof. It’s delicious! Please give me Ms. Pachira’s share too!”
“What?! I never said I didn’t want any!”
“Grrrrrrrrrrr!”
“Myaaaaaaaaah!”
“B-Both of you, calm down. There’s still more.”
Was it really necessary to bristle up and act so threatening?
I’m glad I brought a little extra for Dagaa.
I gave all the dried meat to the two facing me.
They started licking it up like real dogs or cats. They chewed away on it eagerly.
I ate the hardtack I got from Ms. Pachira and the dried meat from Juicy-san.
This is basically panmame. A simple salty flavor. So this is what happens when you remove all the moisture and dry it out.
The paste… this paste… it smells like blood. Don’t tell me this is blood paste?
Ah, Ms. Pachira. She really loves blood sausage, after all. Yep. It tastes like blood.
I gently close the lid on the paste. I rinse out my mouth with black bean tea.
Now then, Juicy’s dried meat is… yeah. Delicious. It has a somewhat refined flavor.
Probably. This must be a high-quality item. The color of the dried meat is beautiful and glossy, too.
But… chuckle, my dried meat is tastier. I feel like I won a little, which makes me happy.
The two of them were still munching away on the dried meat.
After the break, Ms. Pachira tried to put the two Horns they had obtained into her pouch, but…
“Heavy.”
“S-So heavy.”
They were quite long and thick, so they weighed a considerable amount.
The two of them somehow tried to carry them together, but it was impossible.
“What is with this weight?”
“This is a bit impossible, isn’t it?”
“Um, uh, um, shall I carry those?”
“Better not. They’re abnormally heavy.”
“Ah, right. Juicy-san, if you would, please.”
“Um, um, woof. Yes! Lord Wof. Heave-ho.”
She effortlessly lifts the two Horns. Ms. Pachira stares, mouth agape in astonishment.
Following my instructions, she puts them into Ms. Pachira’s pouch. Amazing.
Watching them slide smoothly into the small red pouch, which wasn’t even half their size, is surreal.
She puts it away so easily. Right. It’s a Legendary storage pouch.
They say it can hold the contents of an entire inn room. So, about four-and-a-half tatami mats, maybe?
It’s a staple in isekai stories, but it really is convenient. I want one myself eventually.
And so, we search for the next group.
We fend off an attack from Three-Eyed Rabbits and fight some One-Eyed Deer. We let the Two-Eyed Bats pass.
Wait, Two-Eyed Bats… aren’t those just regular bats?
After all that, we finally found the next group.
I tried counting the herd this time. About 20 of them, huh?
However, surprisingly, there were as many as three green lights among them. There were no yellow lights.
Having Juicy-san act as a decoy would be very dangerous, so we decided against that.
After considering various options, in the end, Ms. Pachira harvested the horns from two of them using Wind Edge.
Magnificent. While peering through the Eye of Fortune, she looked just like a sniper.
Still, it ended rather easily. Since the request was to collect four horns, we let the other one go.
When its horn was cut and the Monokeros fell, the rest of the herd scattered and fled.
They’re running away? Well, that makes sense. Of course, they would.
We could only offer wry smiles at this.
“So this is how it ends, is it?”
“…I see.”
“Uh, um, uh, that was rather anticlimactic.”
“Indeed it is.”
Well, that last one was just too irregular.
I never expected them to be parent and child, let alone use a Relic.
Hmm. Parent and child, huh?
“Ms. Pachira. Do Dungeon monsters have things like parent-child pairs?”
“You ask strange things, don’t you? I wouldn’t know, but I doubt they have relationships like parent and child.”
“Is that so?”
But those two Monokeros were parent and child. I’m a little curious. Maybe I should ask The Witch?
Juicy lifts up the two long, thick Horns and puts them in the pouch.
With this, I’ve obtained four Monokeros Horns.
“Looks like we’re done.”
“Indeed. Here you go, Wof. You dropped something.”
“Saying that, Ms. Pachira offered me something wrapped in cloth.
I took it and unwrapped the bundle. Ah, it was the blade of my knife.
“Ms. Pachira. This is…”
“It’d be a waste to just throw it away. You can just have a handle made for it, right?”
“…Thank you very much.”
She went out of her way to pick it up for me?
That’s right. If the blade itself was unharmed, I just needed to have a new handle made.
I was so blinded by rage I couldn’t even think of that.
Ms. Pachira smiled bashfully.
“Alright, alright. Well then, you two. Shall we be heading back soon?”
“Yes.”
“Um, um, it felt like it was long, but also short… um, I got to run really, really far! I’m just so happy! It was tons of fun!”
“I had fun too.”
“Indeed. This was certainly an interesting party, different from Torquetum.”
“Wha—!”
Yeah. There were some incidents, but the request was completed successfully.
We headed for Hydrangea, returning to the Seeker Guild.