CH 251.1

A caterpillar wearing an eyepatch sits on my right shoulder. And on the palm of my hand is a dung beetle dressed in a chestnut burr.

「Everyone’s here already huh」

From the light that came from the living room, I could see the turtle and Heavy Lancers herd next to it on the shore of the pond.

Imosuke, who was sitting on my shoulder, tapped me with his warty feet.

『Capricorn~』

Then he turned his head to the herd of Heavy Lancers. It seems Zaratan was able to bring the Capricorn with him.

But I can’t tell them apart from the Heavy Lancers. Partly because they have the same size as my thumbnail, but mostly because it’s night.

「How many of them came?」

I gave up trying to spot them on my own and asked my familiars. The two animals shook their heads as they looked around, and then looked up and down at each other.

『You find the rest?』

『No』

After nodding at each other, Imosuke looks at me. Apparently, he could only see one of them.

「Probably he just came to look around」

This is the garden forest that Imosuke is so proud of, and that Dangorou and Zaratan praise so highly. There was no doubt that it was a better environment than the spirit forest.

But the Capricorn had not seen it with his own eyes.

『This is definitely a better place than the spirit forest, so all of you should move here immediately』

Even if he was the chief, he wouldn’t be able to make an immediate decision even if he told that. If I were him, I would also send someone else first to check it out.

「This is just my guess though. We should ask Zaratan first」

I squatted down and set the brown chestnut burrs down on the ground. Then I made eye contact with the turtle looking at me from the pond.

「Welcome back, Zaratan. It looks like you’ve successfully brought in a Capricorn with you」

The turtle nodded lightly.

「Hm?」

As I was about to ask why there was only one Capricorn that came with him, the herd of Heavy Lancers moved. They retreated to the surroundings, leaving one in the center.

Left behind in the circle, the four-legged creature looked around nervously.

「Ahh, so this is the Capricorn huh」

Even I can tell in this situation. The way its horn twisted in a strange way was very different from that of the Heavy Lancers. General Dangorou must have asked him to do something,

the chestnut burr moves forward as if to break the row of Heavy Lancers herd.

After advancing a certain distance, the chestnut burr looked back at me.

『He’s injured』

It seems he had a scar on his face.

When I asked Zaratan if something was wrong, he replied with 『It’s been there when we found him』.

I wrinkled my brow and crawled closer to the Capricorn. But I could not see the extent of the injury with my eyesight.

(Now then, what should I do with this?)

According to my own rules, I can only heal Imosuke, Dangoro, and Zaratan.

Because if I include the Heavy Lancers, there would be no end to it. If I heal even one of them, more of them will come to me.

I don’t care how bad the wounds from a fight are, I’m not going to touch them.

(However, this Capricorn is supposed to be a scout sent by his herd. I guess I could cast a spell to heal his injuries to leave a good impression)

I decided and stretched out my right hand. But then I noticed a problem.

(It’s small)

I can’t really hold it in my hand like I did with the turtle.

I tried to touch it with my index finger, but the Capricorn dodged to the side.

「Hey, don’t move now. I’m trying to heal your injury here」

So I said, but I remembered that I can’t communicate with these creatures unless they’re related to my spirit beast. The Capricorn moved a bit.

I extend my hands at it as if trying to wrap him up.

「Ah」

Just as my hand was about to close, the Capricorn jumped out and ran straight into the garden forest.

I felt Zaratan’s gaze on me and shrugged.

「Sorry, I wasn’t considerate enough」

For the other party, I’m like a giant poking through the clouds. When such a being reaches out to catch him, it’s natural to want to run away.

On the contrary, I think he has endured for quite a while for now.

「Ahh, you don’t have to bring him back. He might be panicked because he’s scared」

I told Dangorou as the herd of Heavy Lancers began to move.

The chestnut burr swung its body from side to side, and the herd of Heavy Lancers returned.

「Is he gonna be okay with his injury though?」

In response to my question, Dangorou and a Heavy Lancer who have a different fur color, discuss the matter.

After a short pause, the chestnut burr turns to look at me.

『Maybe』

The same four-legged type demon beast, the Heavy Lancer’s long scars, does not count as injuries apparently.

But is it okay to regard the Capricorn’s slender silhouette as if it were a heavily armored Heavy Lancer?

It’s probably best to reconsider his opinion.

「Well then, let’s continue the talk once he calmed down. Show him around the garden forest when the the sun comes up」

The sooner I left the spirit beast and the demon beast alone, the sooner he’ll come back. It’s better if I’m not here.

The rest of my familiars seemed to agree and nodded.

「I’m going out early today, so the talk with the Capricorn has to wait until night but… is that okay?」

The turtle nodded after giving it some thought. He said he would explain to Capricorn about me before then.

『I want to talk about something later』

However, I was a little afraid since Zaratan said so. I wondered if he would give me a sermon about what I just did.

(After all, I was the one who told him to be careful because he was feared by the other beasts)

That is why Zaratan practiced carrying the Heavy Lancers on his back.

I made eye contact with the leader of my familiars and shrugged my shoulders. I put Imosuke on the branch of the medicinal tree and headed for the living room while scratching my head.

***

Heading west from the royal capital and crossing the border. Landbarn, the capital of the frontier territory of the Empire.

It was midnight, not long after the date had changed.

In the darkened corridor of the lord’s mansion, silence enveloped the place.

「How is it? Do you see something?」

The whispered voice belongs to a bald middle-aged man who was walking down the corridor while sticking to the wall. A little ahead of him is a skinny man with a handlebar mustache who is looking around at a T-intersection.

「The coast is clear, Your Excellency. There is no sign of enemy」

He checked the end of the corridor by sticking his head out a little. Handlebar mustache answered his superior, the Margrave.

He nodded, grabbed his wand, and jumped out to cross the corridor in front of him.

「?!」

The next thing the Margrave saw was a white light running horizontally. It hit Handlebar mustache in the side, sending his skinny body tumbling down the corridor.

「Damn it! They were hiding huh?」

With his bald head sticking out of the corner, the Margrave fought back with his wand. But he couldn’t even catch the figure with his eyes, and only the sound of footsteps running away that could be heard.

The only source of light was from the moon and stars coming in through the windows. He couldn’t through the darkness.

(There’s also no sign from my allies. Am I the only one who survived?)

He shuddered at the thought.

Right in the middle of the T-intersection, there was his second-in-command, his body bent into a letter『く』 shape while convulsing. He felt bad for him, but there was nothing he could do.

(No, he might still be holding out)

Further in, there should be the commander of the frontier knight order.

He may look like a dull old man, but he is a professional fighter. The margrave was certain that he knows how to survive better than himself and his second-in-command.

(We have to join with him first)

He rolled across the corridor, hoping that the enemy had left. Breathing a sigh of relief that there was no attack, he got down on one knee and wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.

But the next moment, he felt a cold stick poking against my neck.

「It’s a checkmate, Margrave-sama」

The sound was of a familiar female voice. He dropped his wand on the floor and put his hands in the air.

When he looked back, he saw that it was the captain of the Lily Knights Yellow Lily Squad standing there. She is a woman with her long blonde hair braided and wrapped around her head.

She is looking down at him while holding her wand.

「What about the others?」

With the moonlight as the background, the onee-sama with braided blonde hair wrapped around her head lifted the corners of her mouth while squinting her eyes.

「Your Excellency was the last one. Your Excellency should know what this means」

The bald middle-aged man turned his head and exhaled from the bottom of his lungs. It seems that the Knight Commander has already been defeated.

「Good grief, it’s my defeat. I never thought that one commander would make such a difference」

The captain of the yellow lily squad drops to one knee and lowers her head as his employer shakes his head from side to side.

「I’m honored by your praise」

The Margrave stood up and poked the Handlebar mustache, which was still twitching in the corridor, with his wand.

「Come on, it should have been deactivated by now. Stop lying down there and get up already」

Handlebar mustache raised himself up with a frown on his face and apologized to his superior for his ineptitude.

As to not raise any misunderstandings, the Lily Knights did not betray and try to capture the Margrave.

Using the newly acquired toy, the ten of them, including the captain of the Yellow Lily Squad, were having fun playing with it.

「But still, what an interesting idea this is」

The Margrave looked closely at the wand in his hand and nodded in admiration.

The wand is a toy, it shoots light but it has no lethal power. And shooting it makes you feel like a pilot, which is exciting.

They split up into two groups and were shooting at each other in the lord’s mansion.

On one side was a male team led by the Margrave. The other was a team of maids, plus the captain of the Yellow Lily Squad.

「But isn’t this a disadvantage for the men’s side?」

Handlebar mustache, said as he stumbled over.

What he is referring to is the damage after a hit. A thumb-sized stick vibrates when you got shot, but the rule here is that the men’s side should put it in the back hole.

「Unlike the front hole of a woman, our hole is not intended for this use」

It is said that it is very tough for those who are not used to it, as they keep shaking until the winner is decided.

「It’s a rule set forth by the merchant who sold this toy, but should we change this one rule?」

The bald middle-aged man crossed his arms and put his hand on his chin while made a serious expression.

It all started with this toy that a kingdom merchant brought in the other day. It is said to have been invented by a person called 『The Revolutioner』 and started selling it.

「It’s easy to play, so why not give it a try?」

Intrigued, the Margrave challenged the Handlebar mustache with two maids, for a total of four people. In the end, they completely enjoyed it.

「I’ll buy your entire stock」

He said something that was out of character for a Margrave from a merchant background before asking the price. His second-in-command, who was watching, couldn’t help but chuckle.

After that, he occasionally enjoyed playing the game at night after work hours.