Name: * Level: 1 Race: Young Virigress
Age: 5 Month
Status: Health: 21/67 Mana: 4/19
Strength: 45 Intelligence: 20
Vitality: 31 Wisdom: 20
Agility: 51 Stamina: 0/68
Effects: [Exhaustion (Moderate)] [Bleeding (Minor)] [Broken Leg (Left Hind Leg)]
Skill: Magic skills and related:
[Mana Control Lv. 1]
Physical skills and related:
[Enhanced Claws Lv. 1] [Enhanced Fangs Lv. 1] [Toxic Claw Lv. 2]
Senses and movement skills:
[Stealth Lv. 1] [Enhanced Auditory Sense Lv. 1]
[Enhanced Olfactory Sense Lv. 1] [Enhanced Vision Lv. 2]
[Tracking Lv. 1] [Night Vision Lv. 3] [Presence Killer Lv. 1]
[Evasion Lv. 1] [Terrain Maneuvering Lv. 1]
Resistances:
[Physical Resistance Lv. 1] [Pain Resistance Lv. 2] [Poison Resistance Lv. 3]
Others:
[Starvation Lv. 1]
[collapse]At least it’s not another reincarnator, I thought.
Looking at the green feline monster, I noticed it had features resembling that of a tiger. It had no stripes and its fur was green, but its face reminded me of a tiger or maybe jaguar cub. Both large, scary cats, nevertheless.
[“Wow, the cub is older than me,”] Saori stated with a hint of self-deprecation.
[“I would find that hard to believe weren’t it for your profile, Miss Saori.”] Tasianna nodded, also making me aware how I was also supposed to be a toddler.
Of course, normally, this wouldn’t make any sense. Saori acted like a responsible adult, making it extremely hard to believe her if you told you she was reincarnated as a [Young Warg] two months ago. She also took a ride on the choo, choo, Hestia power leveling train for the first month, so her incredible growth was further made abnormal.
The virigress, Saori, and I still had our “Young” prefix in our race name. We were all of the same generation, however, due to our evolutions Saori and I have outgrown our feeble former bodies. We matured in a way, but probably not sexually. I haven’t felt so free of random weird thoughts on boys in like forever! And, holy, I loved it.
If we were “normal” newborn monsters, then I believed we would be just like this little one here. Nobody would expect me to be only a month older than this kitty.
“Hey, little one, where are your parents?” I said while raising my pitch to soothe it.
However, when I tried to pet it, the Virigress cub hissed at me with “mrrriiiiiiiehhh,” extended its claws and nearly scratched me but retreated my hand in time. Despite posing literally no threat to me, [Prediction] still dutifully fulfilled its task when the monster cat tried to harm me, although I could have responded even without it activating.
[“Have your parents not taught you to not pet a wild cat, Hestia? Especially when the cat has venomous claws,”] Saori said in exasperation.
Venom claws? Mhmm, venom, huh? Wonder how it will taste?
Scratching my cheeks with that thought, I responded to Saori with a wry smile, [“Hehe, uh, not really. Most strays I met in the city were pretty nice, even allowing people to pet them.”]
If you brought them food, of course. Guess those strays knew people would approach them if they didn’t try to hurt them.
["Those cats are used to humans in their day to day life, while this one probably has never seen one yet, considering how deep we are into the forest,"] Saori corrected my train of thought, reprimanding me for not being more careful.
Putting myself in the cub’s shoes, seeing a dragonewt trying to touch me while I was on the brink of death would terrify me. In this current situation, my survival instincts would overrule the rational part of my mind and anything I would do would be to preserve my life. A cornered rat fought the hardest, after all.
It should have been obvious to me.
I guess being immune to all its attacks made me a bit arrogant. I should’ve considered its point of view first before doing something. However, before I fully reflect on this mistake, I should heal it before it died. Wouldn’t hurt to be nice once in a while.
Hmm, its left hind leg is twisted, probably a broken bone? Face and body are riddled with small cuts covered in dirt, so chances are high that the bacteria are slowly entering its body through the wounds. The status board hasn’t shown it yet, but you can guess it easily. Gotta disinfect.
Well, not like I ever had those problems with [Cure] and the healing spells.
To start off, I cast [Cure] and [Purify] on the cub, intending to remove any possibility of infections and necrosis. Afterward, a simple [Minor Heal] would be enough to refill its Health.
“Mreoow?” Noticing the white mana particles soothing its aching body and restoring its Health, the virigress cub’s eyes widened as it gave a confused cry.
The moment its attention was directed elsewhere, I gently grabbed it by the neck and pushed its head to the ground.
“Mraaaaoewwww!”
[“Princess Hestia!”] Tasianna cried out.
[“Don’t worry, I’m just checking its leg.”] Knowing this would panic the poor creature, I thought of using [Telepathy] to transfer my thoughts to it.
After all, I made sure to tell my spell during “Invocation” to not heal the leg, in case I messed it up again like when I ruined any chances to heal my left wing’s mana paths. I had to fix it with more care.
The cub was screeching and hissing like it was possessed, struggling under my hand in total fear, unable to even budge out of my grip by even a millimeter. It was trying to scratch my arm but [Draconic Barrier] made every attempt fruitless, even preventing the toxin in its claws from touching my skin. Well, it would have no effect anyway even if it could pierce through.
While it was in this state, I was holding and stabilizing its left leg so it wouldn’t harm it any further from all these movements. A proper veterinarian would probably know a better way, but I have never owned a pet before. I didn’t know how rough I could be. All my knowledge on animals came from wildlife documentaries and my stay in this forest.
When calm words wouldn’t work then let the animal tire itself out. It had [Exhaustion (Moderate)] anyways, so it shouldn't take long. And, as expected, it didn’t take too long for it to calm down.
[“Shhh, I’m sorry. I know you must be scared and stressed but I’m not here to hurt you,”] I continued speaking with the cub with [Telepathy]. [“I used magic to heal your wounds and I will also heal your leg, so please allow me to help you for just a few more seconds. I promise that I will free you once you are in tip-top form.”]
Maybe it was ‘cause I successfully persuaded it or maybe the cub just didn’t have any more energy to resist, in either case, the cub stopped growling. It was still trembling like crazy as it looked at me, before glancing away and letting me do what I had to. Since it left its guard down, I took it as my permission to continue.
A spectator would have told me to use [Telepathy] first before using brute force, but I had low confidence it would have believed me in the current situation. If its parent did a proper job, then distrust for other monsters should have been imprinted into it once it was able to move. At least, that was what I would have done if he was my cub, I believed.
This cub wasn’t Saori, after all. She had [Telepathy] and was a reincarnator, making easing her fears and gaining her trust easy. However, this cub had neither the skill nor was it a mature woman inside a kitten’s body.
That was why I resorted to dominating it. I might cringe at how I handled it, but it was the best plan I could have thought of at the moment. Despite its submissive position, I haven’t done anything yet to harm it.
I might have watched too many animal docs…
Anyway, using the trust it reluctantly gave me, I examined its leg.
Yup, definitely broken into two pieces. Something crushed its shin, causing it to splinter.
The cub was groaning and moaning in pain but allowed me to help, nevertheless. Unfortunately, “Invocation” needed me to go into detail and I wanted to not leave any lingering damage.
Yeah, I could have paralyzed some monsters and allowed the cub to kill them for a level up, which would heal its entire skeleton, but could it do this in its weakened state? Not to mention with its low stats?
Haaa, it’s so annoying that leveling up won’t heal my wing’s mana paths.
After that complaint, I held the cub’s left hind leg with both hands and used [Major Heal] on it, using the right hind leg’s skeletal feature as a reference. I didn’t know how to confirm all the broken pieces of the shin but simply telling the System “repair the bones I’m holding in my hands” seemed to have done the trick.
It was still vague but specific enough to work.
[“Can you move it? Give it a try,”] I urged the cub.
It was having a hard time standing up, due to [Exhaustion], but it seemed to have little problems moving its legs. Its eyes stared in wonder at its fully healed body.
[“That’s good to see! Good kitty!”] I praised the small cub, causing it to shrink down a bit. It probably misunderstood me of something, but I could leave that issue for later as I asked it where its parents were.
“Mreooow,” it answered.
… Ok, that was a stupid question.
[“The stampede definitely separated them,”] Saori chimed in. [“Maybe they are still in the area, but it is likely that they are gone due to all the chaos.”]
It couldn’t move. It couldn’t speak. It probably didn’t even know where it was. Why did I even ask that question in the first place?
[“It would be very difficult to track them, I believe,”] Tasianna added, pointing at the ground. [“There are too many footprints and even with [Tracking], it would be far too hard to ascertain which belonged to the virigress’s parents.”]
[“Saori, couldn’t you try and find their scent?”] I suggested, knowing her nose was the best among us.
[“I could… but in this chaos? I am not a trained police dog, Hestia. I still have not fully gotten used to my new sense of smell, so discerning through hundreds of smells is impossible for me, right now.”] Saori let out a sigh, shaking her head in rejection of my idea.
Since she was able to do it in the troll’s cave, I thought she would be able to do it here, too. But, jumping from tracking four monsters to an unknown scent amongst a 100 or so was a bit too much.
[“Besides, do we really have the time to do this?”] she asked. [“We are currently being chased and you want to track down this cub’s parents? In this giant forest? I have nothing against detours if we are careful about them, but it would be a fool’s errand to do this actively.”]
I groaned, disappointed at the reality on hand. [“… Doesn’t that mean that we need to leave it here?”]
[“You have already done your best, Princes… Hestia. You have generously shown kindness by preventing its death. Nobody can fault you for your future actions,”] Tasianna reassured me.
Hmmm… guess I have no choice.
Coming up with an idea, I picked the Virigress up, causing it to yelp “mreow?!”
[“Then instead of searching for its parents, how about we just keep h… uh.”] Before continuing, I lifted the cub’s tail up and looked at its private spot to determine its gender. [“Ah, it’s a him! How about we keep him and bring him along with us?”]
Hearing my request, Tasianna expressed shock. [“Wha-?! Princess Hestia, you cannot suggest keeping the monster with you! It's wild and dangerous and could possibly hurt you!"]
[“Hurt?”] I tilted my head. [“The only way he could kill me is with the power of cuteness.”]
I wrapped my arms under his forelegs and pressed him closer to my body, literally cuddling him now. He was dirty but that was no problem for my self-repairing and self-cleaning mana dress.
It was true that the cub wasn’t the cutest thing alive due to how fierce and wild it looked even as a cub, but a baby was still a baby.
As he was a monster and also five months old, his body was large enough to match my torso while his legs even reached down to my thighs. Watching him limply hang on my arms was simply adorable. He even turned his head around to look me in my eyes before turning back and accepting the situation that he was in.
It seems I was actually able to gain enough trust where he would allowed me to treat him like this. While smiling, I petted his head with my hand.
[“See?”] I grinned with excitement. [“Isn’t he the cutest? He’s even allowing me to cuddle him like this without being defiant about it.”]
[“Prin… Hestia, the cub is only allowing you to do so due to [Exhaustion]!”] Tasianna rebuked. [“Also, please stop rubbing your face on its fur! You are dirtying your delicate face!”]
Tasianna flew up to me and pushed my head away from the cub, before cleaning it with water produced by [Create Water].
[“Will you take care of him?”] Saori asked, chuckling from watching this comedic scene I was sharing with Tasianna.
[“Yup!”] I jumped up! [“I will feed him. I will wash him! I will trim his fur! I will also clean his litter box!”]
Saori giggled at my response, finding that last part silly. [“Taking care of a wild monster will be more difficult than a normal pet. Do you believe you can handle the responsibility of being a virigress owner?”]
["I can handle the responsibility. I am a grown girl now! I promise I will the most responsible dragonewt in all of dragonewt history!"] I puffed my chest out, speaking with full confidence.
[“… Haa”] However, it seemed my answer only made Saori exasperated, causing her to massage her temples. [“Why did I participate in this comedic act? I am an adult. I should not have acted so silly.”]
I giggled, [“You can never be too old for jokes, Saori! It just means that you aren’t a boring woman in your late twenties! You grew up properly!”]
[“Wha-What do you mean with ‘late twenties’!”] Mentioning her age seems to have triggered her, as a red color spread across her whole face. [“Excuse you, Hestia! I was 26, that is not ‘late.’ This is the prime time for women like me. And boring?! Pah, once we are in an elven village or city, then I will bring you to a bar or tavern and I will show you how 'boring' I really am.”]
[“Sooooo… can I keep him?”] I pleaded to Saori in one of her rare unrestrained moods.
[“Yeah, keep him,”] Saori consented!
[“Miss Saori!”] Tasianna objected. [“No, we mustn’t. This is too dangerous and-and how can we be sure we can take care of the virigress in the first place?”]
[“You do not have to worry, Miss Tasianna,”] Saori said, waving her hand. [“Hestia can do it. I can assure it. She was the one who took care of me when I was a mere newborn.”]
[“Did you hear that, Rajah? You are coming with us, if you don’t mind,”] I told Rajah, the virigress cub.
“Mreowh,” he said. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking or if he liked that name.
[“Oops, I did it again. Tap your left paw on my arm once, if you are against it, and twice, if you want to come.”] Hoping [Telepathy] would communicate my intentions, I asked him once again.
Rajah hesitated for a bit, but eventually tapped his left paw twice, the elation of seeing this forced me to beam a smile.
“A Sea of Trees
The shimmering emerald of this world
The place that I found you
Oh, Rajah, my love
My little emerald tiger! ”
Not able to hold down my emotions, my mouth couldn’t hold back, and a song came out. It was a slight variation of my song “A Sea of Trees” I sang during my first flight, changed to mention Rajah.
[“Hey, Hestia!”] Although I wanted to continue singing, Saori blocked my mouth with her hand. [“What did I tell you about keeping quiet? The wyverns are not here anymore but that does not change the fact we must be careful!”]
[“Oops, sorry… My emotions went a bit crazy,”] I said apologetically.
[“It is fine. I understand,”] she released my mouth, sighing. [“Anyways, you already have a name for him? Rajah? That does not sound like an English, German, or Japanese name.”]
Of course, it wasn’t. It was from a certain movie with a weird dude and a genie, going all princely to impress some princess.
At first, I considered “Simba,” but he wasn’t very lion-like. I also had “Shere Kahn” in mind, but my virigress cub wasn’t scary. He wasn’t a bad guy. So, I gave the cub a name from a tiger I knew was very likable. Who cared if “Rajah” was exotic, when my name “Hestia Atsuko” was already unique in this new world, in the first place.
[“Come on, Tasianna. Say ‘welcome’ to Rajah/”] I pushed Rajah in front of Tasianna.
[“… I welcome you to our little group, Rajah. May we serve Princess Hestia with all our body and mind,”] Tasianna welcomed him in the most formal way possible.
Rajah said “mreoow” and tried to swat Tasianna away like a fly.
[“… Dear Goddesses, please grant me the strength to endure all of this for my dear Princess Hestia,”] Tasianna began praying after dodging all of Rajah’s slow swipes.
Nervously laughing, I apologized to her for Rajah’s behavior. [“Sorry, sorry, I promise I will make it up for you, Tasianna. I will make sure to discipline Rajah properly.”]
Saying that I looked at Rajah while having [Noble Aura] activated. [“Rajah, that was Tasianna, my friend. She is not an enemy and if you annoy her then she will freeze you into a popsicle. If you don’t listen to me then I will actually have to discipline you… okay?”]
Oi, what the hell?!
Rajah called out “mreoooorah” in a panic and started shaking in my arms as sparks began flying around me. Did I unconsciously activate [Spark Flame Veil]?
[“… Well, let us forget about that for the meantime,”] Saori came in to diffuse the situation like she always would. [“We still have some plans until night comes, so let us be off.”]
As Tasianna and Saori went forward, I turned Rajah around and had him face me, [“I kinda skipped the process, but I think I should do it properly.”]
Remembering how Saori named me, I imitated her words. [“From today onwards you shall be ‘Rajah’. Let’s have as much fun as we can possibly have, alright, Rajah?”]
“Mreow,” he cried.
AbyssRaven First a wolf, now a tiger. Dog and cat. Also fairy. Hestia collecting RPG pets.
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Thank you for reading this chapter.
Name: * Level: 1 Race: Young Virigress
Age: 5 Month
Status: Health: 21/67 Mana: 4/19
Strength: 45 Intelligence: 20
Vitality: 31 Wisdom: 20
Agility: 51 Stamina: 0/68
Effects: [Exhaustion (Moderate)] [Bleeding (Minor)] [Broken Leg (Left Hind Leg)]
Skill: Magic skills and related:
[Mana Control Lv. 1]
Physical skills and related:
[Enhanced Claws Lv. 1] [Enhanced Fangs Lv. 1] [Toxic Claw Lv. 2]
Senses and movement skills:
[Stealth Lv. 1] [Enhanced Auditory Sense Lv. 1]
[Enhanced Olfactory Sense Lv. 1] [Enhanced Vision Lv. 2]
[Tracking Lv. 1] [Night Vision Lv. 3] [Presence Killer Lv. 1]
[Evasion Lv. 1] [Terrain Maneuvering Lv. 1]
Resistances:
[Physical Resistance Lv. 1] [Pain Resistance Lv. 2] [Poison Resistance Lv. 3]
Others:
[Starvation Lv. 1]
[collapse]At least it’s not another reincarnator, I thought.
Looking at the green feline monster, I noticed it had features resembling that of a tiger. It had no stripes and its fur was green, but its face reminded me of a tiger or maybe jaguar cub. Both large, scary cats, nevertheless.
[“Wow, the cub is older than me,”] Saori stated with a hint of self-deprecation.
[“I would find that hard to believe weren’t it for your profile, Miss Saori.”] Tasianna nodded, also making me aware how I was also supposed to be a toddler.
Of course, normally, this wouldn’t make any sense. Saori acted like a responsible adult, making it extremely hard to believe her if you told you she was reincarnated as a [Young Warg] two months ago. She also took a ride on the choo, choo, Hestia power leveling train for the first month, so her incredible growth was further made abnormal.
The virigress, Saori, and I still had our “Young” prefix in our race name. We were all of the same generation, however, due to our evolutions Saori and I have outgrown our feeble former bodies. We matured in a way, but probably not sexually. I haven’t felt so free of random weird thoughts on boys in like forever! And, holy, I loved it.
If we were “normal” newborn monsters, then I believed we would be just like this little one here. Nobody would expect me to be only a month older than this kitty.
“Hey, little one, where are your parents?” I said while raising my pitch to soothe it.
However, when I tried to pet it, the Virigress cub hissed at me with “mrrriiiiiiiehhh,” extended its claws and nearly scratched me but retreated my hand in time. Despite posing literally no threat to me, [Prediction] still dutifully fulfilled its task when the monster cat tried to harm me, although I could have responded even without it activating.
[“Have your parents not taught you to not pet a wild cat, Hestia? Especially when the cat has venomous claws,”] Saori said in exasperation.
Venom claws? Mhmm, venom, huh? Wonder how it will taste?
Scratching my cheeks with that thought, I responded to Saori with a wry smile, [“Hehe, uh, not really. Most strays I met in the city were pretty nice, even allowing people to pet them.”]
If you brought them food, of course. Guess those strays knew people would approach them if they didn’t try to hurt them.
["Those cats are used to humans in their day to day life, while this one probably has never seen one yet, considering how deep we are into the forest,"] Saori corrected my train of thought, reprimanding me for not being more careful.
Putting myself in the cub’s shoes, seeing a dragonewt trying to touch me while I was on the brink of death would terrify me. In this current situation, my survival instincts would overrule the rational part of my mind and anything I would do would be to preserve my life. A cornered rat fought the hardest, after all.
It should have been obvious to me.
I guess being immune to all its attacks made me a bit arrogant. I should’ve considered its point of view first before doing something. However, before I fully reflect on this mistake, I should heal it before it died. Wouldn’t hurt to be nice once in a while.
Hmm, its left hind leg is twisted, probably a broken bone? Face and body are riddled with small cuts covered in dirt, so chances are high that the bacteria are slowly entering its body through the wounds. The status board hasn’t shown it yet, but you can guess it easily. Gotta disinfect.
Well, not like I ever had those problems with [Cure] and the healing spells.
To start off, I cast [Cure] and [Purify] on the cub, intending to remove any possibility of infections and necrosis. Afterward, a simple [Minor Heal] would be enough to refill its Health.
“Mreoow?” Noticing the white mana particles soothing its aching body and restoring its Health, the virigress cub’s eyes widened as it gave a confused cry.
The moment its attention was directed elsewhere, I gently grabbed it by the neck and pushed its head to the ground.
“Mraaaaoewwww!”
[“Princess Hestia!”] Tasianna cried out.
[“Don’t worry, I’m just checking its leg.”] Knowing this would panic the poor creature, I thought of using [Telepathy] to transfer my thoughts to it.
After all, I made sure to tell my spell during “Invocation” to not heal the leg, in case I messed it up again like when I ruined any chances to heal my left wing’s mana paths. I had to fix it with more care.
The cub was screeching and hissing like it was possessed, struggling under my hand in total fear, unable to even budge out of my grip by even a millimeter. It was trying to scratch my arm but [Draconic Barrier] made every attempt fruitless, even preventing the toxin in its claws from touching my skin. Well, it would have no effect anyway even if it could pierce through.
While it was in this state, I was holding and stabilizing its left leg so it wouldn’t harm it any further from all these movements. A proper veterinarian would probably know a better way, but I have never owned a pet before. I didn’t know how rough I could be. All my knowledge on animals came from wildlife documentaries and my stay in this forest.
When calm words wouldn’t work then let the animal tire itself out. It had [Exhaustion (Moderate)] anyways, so it shouldn't take long. And, as expected, it didn’t take too long for it to calm down.
[“Shhh, I’m sorry. I know you must be scared and stressed but I’m not here to hurt you,”] I continued speaking with the cub with [Telepathy]. [“I used magic to heal your wounds and I will also heal your leg, so please allow me to help you for just a few more seconds. I promise that I will free you once you are in tip-top form.”]
Maybe it was ‘cause I successfully persuaded it or maybe the cub just didn’t have any more energy to resist, in either case, the cub stopped growling. It was still trembling like crazy as it looked at me, before glancing away and letting me do what I had to. Since it left its guard down, I took it as my permission to continue.
A spectator would have told me to use [Telepathy] first before using brute force, but I had low confidence it would have believed me in the current situation. If its parent did a proper job, then distrust for other monsters should have been imprinted into it once it was able to move. At least, that was what I would have done if he was my cub, I believed.
This cub wasn’t Saori, after all. She had [Telepathy] and was a reincarnator, making easing her fears and gaining her trust easy. However, this cub had neither the skill nor was it a mature woman inside a kitten’s body.
That was why I resorted to dominating it. I might cringe at how I handled it, but it was the best plan I could have thought of at the moment. Despite its submissive position, I haven’t done anything yet to harm it.
I might have watched too many animal docs…
Anyway, using the trust it reluctantly gave me, I examined its leg.
Yup, definitely broken into two pieces. Something crushed its shin, causing it to splinter.
The cub was groaning and moaning in pain but allowed me to help, nevertheless. Unfortunately, “Invocation” needed me to go into detail and I wanted to not leave any lingering damage.
Yeah, I could have paralyzed some monsters and allowed the cub to kill them for a level up, which would heal its entire skeleton, but could it do this in its weakened state? Not to mention with its low stats?
Haaa, it’s so annoying that leveling up won’t heal my wing’s mana paths.
After that complaint, I held the cub’s left hind leg with both hands and used [Major Heal] on it, using the right hind leg’s skeletal feature as a reference. I didn’t know how to confirm all the broken pieces of the shin but simply telling the System “repair the bones I’m holding in my hands” seemed to have done the trick.
It was still vague but specific enough to work.
[“Can you move it? Give it a try,”] I urged the cub.
It was having a hard time standing up, due to [Exhaustion], but it seemed to have little problems moving its legs. Its eyes stared in wonder at its fully healed body.
[“That’s good to see! Good kitty!”] I praised the small cub, causing it to shrink down a bit. It probably misunderstood me of something, but I could leave that issue for later as I asked it where its parents were.
“Mreooow,” it answered.
… Ok, that was a stupid question.
[“The stampede definitely separated them,”] Saori chimed in. [“Maybe they are still in the area, but it is likely that they are gone due to all the chaos.”]
It couldn’t move. It couldn’t speak. It probably didn’t even know where it was. Why did I even ask that question in the first place?
[“It would be very difficult to track them, I believe,”] Tasianna added, pointing at the ground. [“There are too many footprints and even with [Tracking], it would be far too hard to ascertain which belonged to the virigress’s parents.”]
[“Saori, couldn’t you try and find their scent?”] I suggested, knowing her nose was the best among us.
[“I could… but in this chaos? I am not a trained police dog, Hestia. I still have not fully gotten used to my new sense of smell, so discerning through hundreds of smells is impossible for me, right now.”] Saori let out a sigh, shaking her head in rejection of my idea.
Since she was able to do it in the troll’s cave, I thought she would be able to do it here, too. But, jumping from tracking four monsters to an unknown scent amongst a 100 or so was a bit too much.
[“Besides, do we really have the time to do this?”] she asked. [“We are currently being chased and you want to track down this cub’s parents? In this giant forest? I have nothing against detours if we are careful about them, but it would be a fool’s errand to do this actively.”]
I groaned, disappointed at the reality on hand. [“… Doesn’t that mean that we need to leave it here?”]
[“You have already done your best, Princes… Hestia. You have generously shown kindness by preventing its death. Nobody can fault you for your future actions,”] Tasianna reassured me.
Hmmm… guess I have no choice.
Coming up with an idea, I picked the Virigress up, causing it to yelp “mreow?!”
[“Then instead of searching for its parents, how about we just keep h… uh.”] Before continuing, I lifted the cub’s tail up and looked at its private spot to determine its gender. [“Ah, it’s a him! How about we keep him and bring him along with us?”]
Hearing my request, Tasianna expressed shock. [“Wha-?! Princess Hestia, you cannot suggest keeping the monster with you! It's wild and dangerous and could possibly hurt you!"]
[“Hurt?”] I tilted my head. [“The only way he could kill me is with the power of cuteness.”]
I wrapped my arms under his forelegs and pressed him closer to my body, literally cuddling him now. He was dirty but that was no problem for my self-repairing and self-cleaning mana dress.
It was true that the cub wasn’t the cutest thing alive due to how fierce and wild it looked even as a cub, but a baby was still a baby.
As he was a monster and also five months old, his body was large enough to match my torso while his legs even reached down to my thighs. Watching him limply hang on my arms was simply adorable. He even turned his head around to look me in my eyes before turning back and accepting the situation that he was in.
It seems I was actually able to gain enough trust where he would allowed me to treat him like this. While smiling, I petted his head with my hand.
[“See?”] I grinned with excitement. [“Isn’t he the cutest? He’s even allowing me to cuddle him like this without being defiant about it.”]
[“Prin… Hestia, the cub is only allowing you to do so due to [Exhaustion]!”] Tasianna rebuked. [“Also, please stop rubbing your face on its fur! You are dirtying your delicate face!”]
Tasianna flew up to me and pushed my head away from the cub, before cleaning it with water produced by [Create Water].
[“Will you take care of him?”] Saori asked, chuckling from watching this comedic scene I was sharing with Tasianna.
[“Yup!”] I jumped up! [“I will feed him. I will wash him! I will trim his fur! I will also clean his litter box!”]
Saori giggled at my response, finding that last part silly. [“Taking care of a wild monster will be more difficult than a normal pet. Do you believe you can handle the responsibility of being a virigress owner?”]
["I can handle the responsibility. I am a grown girl now! I promise I will the most responsible dragonewt in all of dragonewt history!"] I puffed my chest out, speaking with full confidence.
[“… Haa”] However, it seemed my answer only made Saori exasperated, causing her to massage her temples. [“Why did I participate in this comedic act? I am an adult. I should not have acted so silly.”]
I giggled, [“You can never be too old for jokes, Saori! It just means that you aren’t a boring woman in your late twenties! You grew up properly!”]
[“Wha-What do you mean with ‘late twenties’!”] Mentioning her age seems to have triggered her, as a red color spread across her whole face. [“Excuse you, Hestia! I was 26, that is not ‘late.’ This is the prime time for women like me. And boring?! Pah, once we are in an elven village or city, then I will bring you to a bar or tavern and I will show you how 'boring' I really am.”]
[“Sooooo… can I keep him?”] I pleaded to Saori in one of her rare unrestrained moods.
[“Yeah, keep him,”] Saori consented!
[“Miss Saori!”] Tasianna objected. [“No, we mustn’t. This is too dangerous and-and how can we be sure we can take care of the virigress in the first place?”]
[“You do not have to worry, Miss Tasianna,”] Saori said, waving her hand. [“Hestia can do it. I can assure it. She was the one who took care of me when I was a mere newborn.”]
[“Did you hear that, Rajah? You are coming with us, if you don’t mind,”] I told Rajah, the virigress cub.
“Mreowh,” he said. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking or if he liked that name.
[“Oops, I did it again. Tap your left paw on my arm once, if you are against it, and twice, if you want to come.”] Hoping [Telepathy] would communicate my intentions, I asked him once again.
Rajah hesitated for a bit, but eventually tapped his left paw twice, the elation of seeing this forced me to beam a smile.
“A Sea of Trees
The shimmering emerald of this world
The place that I found you
Oh, Rajah, my love
My little emerald tiger! ”
Not able to hold down my emotions, my mouth couldn’t hold back, and a song came out. It was a slight variation of my song “A Sea of Trees” I sang during my first flight, changed to mention Rajah.
[“Hey, Hestia!”] Although I wanted to continue singing, Saori blocked my mouth with her hand. [“What did I tell you about keeping quiet? The wyverns are not here anymore but that does not change the fact we must be careful!”]
[“Oops, sorry… My emotions went a bit crazy,”] I said apologetically.
[“It is fine. I understand,”] she released my mouth, sighing. [“Anyways, you already have a name for him? Rajah? That does not sound like an English, German, or Japanese name.”]
Of course, it wasn’t. It was from a certain movie with a weird dude and a genie, going all princely to impress some princess.
At first, I considered “Simba,” but he wasn’t very lion-like. I also had “Shere Kahn” in mind, but my virigress cub wasn’t scary. He wasn’t a bad guy. So, I gave the cub a name from a tiger I knew was very likable. Who cared if “Rajah” was exotic, when my name “Hestia Atsuko” was already unique in this new world, in the first place.
[“Come on, Tasianna. Say ‘welcome’ to Rajah/”] I pushed Rajah in front of Tasianna.
[“… I welcome you to our little group, Rajah. May we serve Princess Hestia with all our body and mind,”] Tasianna welcomed him in the most formal way possible.
Rajah said “mreoow” and tried to swat Tasianna away like a fly.
[“… Dear Goddesses, please grant me the strength to endure all of this for my dear Princess Hestia,”] Tasianna began praying after dodging all of Rajah’s slow swipes.
Nervously laughing, I apologized to her for Rajah’s behavior. [“Sorry, sorry, I promise I will make it up for you, Tasianna. I will make sure to discipline Rajah properly.”]
Saying that I looked at Rajah while having [Noble Aura] activated. [“Rajah, that was Tasianna, my friend. She is not an enemy and if you annoy her then she will freeze you into a popsicle. If you don’t listen to me then I will actually have to discipline you… okay?”]
Oi, what the hell?!
Rajah called out “mreoooorah” in a panic and started shaking in my arms as sparks began flying around me. Did I unconsciously activate [Spark Flame Veil]?
[“… Well, let us forget about that for the meantime,”] Saori came in to diffuse the situation like she always would. [“We still have some plans until night comes, so let us be off.”]
As Tasianna and Saori went forward, I turned Rajah around and had him face me, [“I kinda skipped the process, but I think I should do it properly.”]
Remembering how Saori named me, I imitated her words. [“From today onwards you shall be ‘Rajah’. Let’s have as much fun as we can possibly have, alright, Rajah?”]
“Mreow,” he cried.
AbyssRaven First a wolf, now a tiger. Dog and cat. Also fairy. Hestia collecting RPG pets.
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