CH 541.2

No cheating, ever.

All of a sudden, Kurogane informed me of something via telepathy.

As expected, they were standing guard nearby…

(Monsters? There are monsters within the academy’s barrier?)

(Yeah, there are~ All of them seem weak enough for students to handle them, though.)

I see. If you don’t remember to be on the lookout for the threat of monsters, it would be dangerous when harvesting outside the academy.

(You can overlook them, we must not deprave Hector-sama of his duty. It’s something we can deal with it ourselves as well, right?)

(… My Lord, in your case, you will have to be careful not to overdo it.)

(Holding back is important.)

Hey, what do you mean by that? Why are you assuming that I’m going to do something.

(In the first place, will it even approach with you guys around?)

(Our presence is so faint at the moment that monsters won’t notice us.)

Oh, so that’s why I had no idea if you two were close by.

Usually, I can at least sense the presence of their magic power.

(It’s getting closer My Lord, you should be careful.)

(Cristea, you can’t cheat on us, okay?)

Mashiro, why are you bringing an affair into this… and don’t cut the conversation right there. Geez.

“Wah, so cute!”

I turned my eyes at the sound of Mariel-chan’s voice, and saw several fluffy, furball-like creatures creeping out of the bushes.

“The hell is this, it’s so fluffy and adorable…”

Just as Mariel-chan was about to reach out to pet one of the furballs, Ruby kicked Mariel-chan’s hand away.

“Owww!

?”

At the same time that Mariel-chan withdrew her hand in pain, the fluffy hair of the furball instantly transformed into countless needles.

“Kyaa!?”

“Look out!”

Hector-sama and Oniisama rushed over, and with their swords and ice magic, they disposed of the furballs in a flash.

“Fuhh… these are Needlebitts, and they are usually soft, but when it feels threatened, it hardens its fur and the hairs become as sharp as needles.”

It looks like a variation of a hedgehog of some kind, but their needles are quite sharp.

When they die, their fur does not stay hardened, and it returns to its original fluffy fur.

“If I remember correctly, I think someone who had them as pets brought them into the academy and one day lost them, and they bred in the Harvesting Forest.”

“Yeah. We are trying to get rid of them, but they are breeding so fast that we were told to hunt them on sight. If you guys find them in the future, please help us with the extermination effort.”

“Ehh…?”

“It’s so adorable, yet it has to be exterminated…?”

“Yeah, they may look cute, but Needlebitts are terrible for the vegetation. Moreover, they can inflict serious injuries if you are negligent. If you don’t have weapons on you, use magic to attack them from distance.”

“Ugh… understood.”

As a fluff lover, I would rather not kill them…

(Cristea. I told you not to cheat, didn’t I?)

Mashiro.

… What do you mean by cheating!

He knows exactly what I like, and that’s why he kept me in check.

(Umu. I can’t stand to see the number of contracted beasts increase any further. As expected, we should thin them out before they reach the Lord’s eyes.)

(Agreed.)

… Don’t agree!

Ahh, the desire to monopolize of familiars is so troublesome!

I am not so quick to sign a contract with Holy or Magic Beasts, okay!

… I think.