Chapter 143: Educational Guidance
Back to Ren’s POV.
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“Ahahaha! Over here~”
“Huh? Come over here!”
The children seemed to be having fun playing tag with Altair and Spica. At first I was worried about what would happen to them(?), the magical beasts(?)… Well, Altair and Spica. They both had a young mental age so maybe that was why they could get along with the children well.
I was smiling while watching over them when I could feel the first boy that approached me and asked me permission to see my magical beasts glaring at me.
Huh? I thought he’s the one most excited about seeing the magical beasts?
“You’re not going to play with Spica and Altair?”
Sensing I was moving, Spica came to me and coiled his body around my feet. I slowly approached the boy who had a very displeased expression on his face.
Altair was still flying in the sky, playing tag with the children who were calling for him excitedly.
“Mikal, what’s wrong?”
Sig-san who was following me also asked what was wrong with the boy. Sig-san looked confused.
“It’s fine. They are fluffy and cute but… Because they are magical beasts, I thought they would look cooler and stronger after taking a closer look at them… They don’t look that strong or cool at all… I’ve never heard magical beasts playing tag with children like this too… I guess the magical beast resembles their master?”
Apparently this boy, Mikal, was upset because Altair and Spica didn’t fit the image of magical beast he had in mind.
Well it is true that appearance wise, both Altair and Spica look like a cute parrot and cat respectively….
『What?! Are you saying that I look weak?! And you even dare say I look weak because I resemble my master?! Are you trying to make fun of me?! 』
Spica immediately reacted upon hearing Mikal’s statement. Spica was now growling angrily. He was particularly upset at the insulting remark toward me. The fur on Spica’s back was bristling menacingly.
“Spica! Calm down! Okay…?”
He looked like he was ready to pounce at Mikal at any given moment so I immediately sat down beside him, told him to calm down while stroking his back. Even though he looked small and adorable, a bite from him certainly must’ve hurt.
Well… It’s not like I don’t understand what Mikal is feeling though….
“Mikal, Altair and Spica look small like this so you guys won’t get scared of them. In their original form, they could easily swallow you whole, you know? Also, you must never say anything insulting about their master in front of a magical beast. Magical beast has pledged absolute loyalty toward their contracted master so if you’re careless, you might end up in great danger, okay?”
With a stern expression on his face, Sig-san explained that both Spica and Altair were not in their original form and taught him the danger of insulting the master of a magical beast in front of the said magical beast.
I don’t mind it because I’m well aware that I look weak but I wonder if you can really get killed just for saying things like that in front of another magical beast master? I think Sig is saying that seriously like that because he wants Mikal to truly understand how dangerous his remark was.
“Huh… Is that so? But if they look like this then… Even I can beat them up! There!”
Boys around his age admired cool things rather than cute things so of course he didn’t feel convinced that such a cute little thing like Spica and Altair were actually strong. But then, he suddenly threw a stone at Spica who was sitting beside me.
『Wha-! Master! Can I bite this brat?!』
Fortunately, the stone didn’t hit Spica directly but because Mikal suddenly threw a stone at him, Spica became angry. Spica then asked me for permission to attack Mikal back.
“Spica! You can’t bite him!”
Of course I wouldn’t let him attack Mikal but…
…. Mikal, just what are you trying to do?
“Mikal! What are you doing?!”
Sig-san immediately caught Mikal’s arm and shouted at him.
“Look! He’s not attacking back!”
Mikal huffed and pouted, turning his head away in retaliation even though his arms were still being seized by Sig-san.
Huh…? You want Spica to attack you? Do you… Have a death wish?
“Mikal, the only reason why he didn’t attack you is because Ren told him not to. If Ren gave him the permission to attack you, you can say goodbye to your life, you know?! You said that you want to become an adventurer and form a contract with a magical beast in the future, didn’t you? And yet, you think it’s alright to make fun of other people’s magical beast?!”
Yeah. Just like what Sig-san said, Spica will definitely bite Mikal if I gave him the permission to. Even if Spica doesn’t bite Mikal, he can still turn Mikal into pulp just with his roar. So Mikal also wants to summon a magical beast in the future? Then why is he acting like that against a magical beast….
“Because! Those guys are not cool at all! When I summon a magical beast, I want to get a strong, big and cool looking one!”
Ah… I see. He’s acting like that because Spica and Altair are not cool, contrary to his expectation. But I mean, no one can know for sure what kind of magical beast they will be able to summon. There’s still the possibility of him summoning a cute, fluffy cotton ball like Jude-san with Shèvre…. Or maybe if a cute fluffy thing were to accept his summoning, he’s not going to form a contract with them? But judging from his reaction, I don’t think it even occurred to him that a fluffy thing would respond to his summoning in the first place.
“….. Sorry, Ren. Can you help me educate this idiot?”
Sig-san seriously asked for my help while still holding onto Mikal’s arms.
“Huh?”
Help? In educating? What am I supposed to do?
“I want you to break some rocks around here. Actually, I’d prefer it if we could have a mock battle in the guild but well…”
“Rocks, right?”
“Yeah. And I want them to stay in their small form. Can you please help me out?”
I guess the reason why Sig-san specifically asked for Spica to stay in his small form is to show Mikal that despite his cute and small form, Spica is actually really strong? The rocks around here…. There’s a rock about the size of a soccer ball in the corner so I guess that rock should work?
“Spica, will you do it?”
『Yeah. I don’t want him to keep making fun of me!』
I asked Spica if he was willing to do it and he nodded his head, puffing and huffing.
“He said he’ll do it.”
“I see.”
Spica was a strong magical beast so he was really upset because Mikal kept on making fun of him like this.
“I want to teach you the danger of judging either monster or magical beast based on their appearance. Spica, sorry about this. Lucas, please take the other brats away.”
Certainly it’d be dangerous for Mikal if he keeps this attitude if he wants to become an adventurer in the future.
After Sig-san released Mikal’s arms, he came to me and Spica. He crouched down and then he apologized to Spica while gently stroking Spica’s back.
“Got it. Come on everyone, come over here.”
Sig-san then asked the beastman-sensei to gather the children away from us. I didn’t realize the children had started gathering around us.
“Well~ I don’t think it’s a bad thing to teach these children at this stage~ Come on Ren-chan~ Let’s stand up?~”
Chris-san, who had been playing with the children, came and grabbed my arm, helping me to stand up.
“While there’s not many monsters that can change their size at will, there are some monsters that look cute but are actually very ferocious.”
Both Chris-san and Fer-san nodded, they seemed to agree with Sig-san’s plan.
『Master?! What is it? What are you guys gonna do?!』
『You’ve been having it easy, huh. Playing carefreely like that. That little guy made fun of us and our Master. 』
『What did you say?! ….Then what are we going to do? Blow fire at him?』
Altair, who didn’t know what had happened, started making a ruckus with Spica. After he understood the situation, he suggested something very disturbing.
If Altair used his fire breath attack, the whole orphanage would catch fire…
“Altair, don’t do that, okay? Spica will do it so Altair, you come here to me.”
『Instead of me, it’s this guy? Well… Whatever. You better do it right! Master~』
After I stopped him sternly, Altair came flying to me and perched on my shoulder happily. I then stroked his neck from the bottom of his beak. He closed his eyes at my touch, he looked like he was enjoying it so much.
So adorable~
While glancing at Altair, Spica trotted away from us.
“Hey, Mikal. What are you going to do if you end up with something like Altair and Spica when you summon a magical beast?”
Sig-san asked Mikal after he had brought the rock to us.
“That kind of magical beast will never come to me!”
As I thought, Mikal truly thinks only a cool looking beast will respond to his summoning.
“Haaah… With that kind of thinking, no one will respond to your summoning, you know? …. Spica, I’m going to throw this rock at you and then I want you to smash it to pieces, okay?”
『Okay!』
Sig-san sighed, as if he had given up. He then prepared to throw a fairly large rock at Spica, who was only a short distance away from me.
“U-Umm! There are some children in here that had their families killed by monsters, right? I mean, I think they were alright since they were just playing around but…”
I had completely forgotten that children came here because of various circumstances. There must be some kids with that background and they might be fine since they were just playing but showing the power of a magical beast first hand might be too much for them?
“No, while it is true some children might feel nervous about it but… Here, there are monsters all over the place. No matter how much you try to run away from one, you’re bound to encounter a monster sooner or later. But still, the teacher had already pulled the recently traumatized children away from here though.”
“Huh? Ah, you’re right… I understand. Spica, you need to aim properly at the rock, okay!”
『Got it!』
Well, that is true… Even if you don’t leave the city, there is still the possibility of being attacked by a monster even though it rarely happens… But just to be safe, one of the teachers apparently had already moved the recently traumatized children away from here. Huh? Edla is not here… I see… So Edla too…
“Mikal, watch closely, okay? This is the power of a magical beast.”
『GROARRR!!』
Sig-san threw the rock with quite a bit of force and then Spica easily cut the rock into small pieces with his wind attack he launched from his roar.
Mikal, who was standing beside Sig-san, was so surprised that his eyes widened and his mouth was hanging open. He couldn’t even utter a single word.
I guess it never occurred to him that Spica, who he had kept on making fun of, is capable of doing something like this.
『Master, did I do it right?』
“Yes. Great job, Spica.”
Spica came trotting back to me, wanting me to praise him. I stroked his head and then he started pressing his head against me, purring happily.
“You got it now? The magical beast you made fun of is actually really strong. The only reason that magical beast didn’t kill you is because Ren didn’t want his contracted magical beast to kill anyone for nothing. If it was anyone else, you might have already become a piece of meat by now. Just because you’re still a brat, doesn’t mean you will be forgiven. So you better think properly before you speak!”
“Yeah….”
Sig-san started reprimanding Mikal but maybe because Mikal was too shocked, he couldn’t even let out a cohesive answer.
Was it really too much of a shock for him?
Mikal then walked away and sat under the shade of a tree. He seemed to be thinking about something.
“Spica is so amazing!”
“He looks really cool.”
“It’s amazing he can protect Ren-san even though he looks this adorable!”
『I know, right? You guys can praise me some more if you want, you know?』
The children came rushing to us, praising Spica all at the same time. Happy that he was praised, Spica went over to the children and snuggled his body against the children’s legs.
It seems none of the children becomes scared of Spica. I’m glad…
『I’m amazing too! Master~ I also want to show them how strong I am!~』
“Altair, you mustn’t, okay?”
『Can’t be helped… Then, I’m going to play with them again~』
Altair, who was perching on my shoulder, said that he wanted to show his good point to the children too but I stopped him because it’d be dangerous. He then slowly went flying toward the children to play with them again.
Chapter 143: Educational Guidance
Back to Ren’s POV.
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“Ahahaha! Over here~”
“Huh? Come over here!”
The children seemed to be having fun playing tag with Altair and Spica. At first I was worried about what would happen to them(?), the magical beasts(?)… Well, Altair and Spica. They both had a young mental age so maybe that was why they could get along with the children well.
I was smiling while watching over them when I could feel the first boy that approached me and asked me permission to see my magical beasts glaring at me.
Huh? I thought he’s the one most excited about seeing the magical beasts?
“You’re not going to play with Spica and Altair?”
Sensing I was moving, Spica came to me and coiled his body around my feet. I slowly approached the boy who had a very displeased expression on his face.
Altair was still flying in the sky, playing tag with the children who were calling for him excitedly.
“Mikal, what’s wrong?”
Sig-san who was following me also asked what was wrong with the boy. Sig-san looked confused.
“It’s fine. They are fluffy and cute but… Because they are magical beasts, I thought they would look cooler and stronger after taking a closer look at them… They don’t look that strong or cool at all… I’ve never heard magical beasts playing tag with children like this too… I guess the magical beast resembles their master?”
Apparently this boy, Mikal, was upset because Altair and Spica didn’t fit the image of magical beast he had in mind.
Well it is true that appearance wise, both Altair and Spica look like a cute parrot and cat respectively….
『What?! Are you saying that I look weak?! And you even dare say I look weak because I resemble my master?! Are you trying to make fun of me?! 』
Spica immediately reacted upon hearing Mikal’s statement. Spica was now growling angrily. He was particularly upset at the insulting remark toward me. The fur on Spica’s back was bristling menacingly.
“Spica! Calm down! Okay…?”
He looked like he was ready to pounce at Mikal at any given moment so I immediately sat down beside him, told him to calm down while stroking his back. Even though he looked small and adorable, a bite from him certainly must’ve hurt.
Well… It’s not like I don’t understand what Mikal is feeling though….
“Mikal, Altair and Spica look small like this so you guys won’t get scared of them. In their original form, they could easily swallow you whole, you know? Also, you must never say anything insulting about their master in front of a magical beast. Magical beast has pledged absolute loyalty toward their contracted master so if you’re careless, you might end up in great danger, okay?”
With a stern expression on his face, Sig-san explained that both Spica and Altair were not in their original form and taught him the danger of insulting the master of a magical beast in front of the said magical beast.
I don’t mind it because I’m well aware that I look weak but I wonder if you can really get killed just for saying things like that in front of another magical beast master? I think Sig is saying that seriously like that because he wants Mikal to truly understand how dangerous his remark was.
“Huh… Is that so? But if they look like this then… Even I can beat them up! There!”
Boys around his age admired cool things rather than cute things so of course he didn’t feel convinced that such a cute little thing like Spica and Altair were actually strong. But then, he suddenly threw a stone at Spica who was sitting beside me.
『Wha-! Master! Can I bite this brat?!』
Fortunately, the stone didn’t hit Spica directly but because Mikal suddenly threw a stone at him, Spica became angry. Spica then asked me for permission to attack Mikal back.
“Spica! You can’t bite him!”
Of course I wouldn’t let him attack Mikal but…
…. Mikal, just what are you trying to do?
“Mikal! What are you doing?!”
Sig-san immediately caught Mikal’s arm and shouted at him.
“Look! He’s not attacking back!”
Mikal huffed and pouted, turning his head away in retaliation even though his arms were still being seized by Sig-san.
Huh…? You want Spica to attack you? Do you… Have a death wish?
“Mikal, the only reason why he didn’t attack you is because Ren told him not to. If Ren gave him the permission to attack you, you can say goodbye to your life, you know?! You said that you want to become an adventurer and form a contract with a magical beast in the future, didn’t you? And yet, you think it’s alright to make fun of other people’s magical beast?!”
Yeah. Just like what Sig-san said, Spica will definitely bite Mikal if I gave him the permission to. Even if Spica doesn’t bite Mikal, he can still turn Mikal into pulp just with his roar. So Mikal also wants to summon a magical beast in the future? Then why is he acting like that against a magical beast….
“Because! Those guys are not cool at all! When I summon a magical beast, I want to get a strong, big and cool looking one!”
Ah… I see. He’s acting like that because Spica and Altair are not cool, contrary to his expectation. But I mean, no one can know for sure what kind of magical beast they will be able to summon. There’s still the possibility of him summoning a cute, fluffy cotton ball like Jude-san with Shèvre…. Or maybe if a cute fluffy thing were to accept his summoning, he’s not going to form a contract with them? But judging from his reaction, I don’t think it even occurred to him that a fluffy thing would respond to his summoning in the first place.
“….. Sorry, Ren. Can you help me educate this idiot?”
Sig-san seriously asked for my help while still holding onto Mikal’s arms.
“Huh?”
Help? In educating? What am I supposed to do?
“I want you to break some rocks around here. Actually, I’d prefer it if we could have a mock battle in the guild but well…”
“Rocks, right?”
“Yeah. And I want them to stay in their small form. Can you please help me out?”
I guess the reason why Sig-san specifically asked for Spica to stay in his small form is to show Mikal that despite his cute and small form, Spica is actually really strong? The rocks around here…. There’s a rock about the size of a soccer ball in the corner so I guess that rock should work?
“Spica, will you do it?”
『Yeah. I don’t want him to keep making fun of me!』
I asked Spica if he was willing to do it and he nodded his head, puffing and huffing.
“He said he’ll do it.”
“I see.”
Spica was a strong magical beast so he was really upset because Mikal kept on making fun of him like this.
“I want to teach you the danger of judging either monster or magical beast based on their appearance. Spica, sorry about this. Lucas, please take the other brats away.”
Certainly it’d be dangerous for Mikal if he keeps this attitude if he wants to become an adventurer in the future.
After Sig-san released Mikal’s arms, he came to me and Spica. He crouched down and then he apologized to Spica while gently stroking Spica’s back.
“Got it. Come on everyone, come over here.”
Sig-san then asked the beastman-sensei to gather the children away from us. I didn’t realize the children had started gathering around us.
“Well~ I don’t think it’s a bad thing to teach these children at this stage~ Come on Ren-chan~ Let’s stand up?~”
Chris-san, who had been playing with the children, came and grabbed my arm, helping me to stand up.
“While there’s not many monsters that can change their size at will, there are some monsters that look cute but are actually very ferocious.”
Both Chris-san and Fer-san nodded, they seemed to agree with Sig-san’s plan.
『Master?! What is it? What are you guys gonna do?!』
『You’ve been having it easy, huh. Playing carefreely like that. That little guy made fun of us and our Master. 』
『What did you say?! ….Then what are we going to do? Blow fire at him?』
Altair, who didn’t know what had happened, started making a ruckus with Spica. After he understood the situation, he suggested something very disturbing.
If Altair used his fire breath attack, the whole orphanage would catch fire…
“Altair, don’t do that, okay? Spica will do it so Altair, you come here to me.”
『Instead of me, it’s this guy? Well… Whatever. You better do it right! Master~』
After I stopped him sternly, Altair came flying to me and perched on my shoulder happily. I then stroked his neck from the bottom of his beak. He closed his eyes at my touch, he looked like he was enjoying it so much.
So adorable~
While glancing at Altair, Spica trotted away from us.
“Hey, Mikal. What are you going to do if you end up with something like Altair and Spica when you summon a magical beast?”
Sig-san asked Mikal after he had brought the rock to us.
“That kind of magical beast will never come to me!”
As I thought, Mikal truly thinks only a cool looking beast will respond to his summoning.
“Haaah… With that kind of thinking, no one will respond to your summoning, you know? …. Spica, I’m going to throw this rock at you and then I want you to smash it to pieces, okay?”
『Okay!』
Sig-san sighed, as if he had given up. He then prepared to throw a fairly large rock at Spica, who was only a short distance away from me.
“U-Umm! There are some children in here that had their families killed by monsters, right? I mean, I think they were alright since they were just playing around but…”
I had completely forgotten that children came here because of various circumstances. There must be some kids with that background and they might be fine since they were just playing but showing the power of a magical beast first hand might be too much for them?
“No, while it is true some children might feel nervous about it but… Here, there are monsters all over the place. No matter how much you try to run away from one, you’re bound to encounter a monster sooner or later. But still, the teacher had already pulled the recently traumatized children away from here though.”
“Huh? Ah, you’re right… I understand. Spica, you need to aim properly at the rock, okay!”
『Got it!』
Well, that is true… Even if you don’t leave the city, there is still the possibility of being attacked by a monster even though it rarely happens… But just to be safe, one of the teachers apparently had already moved the recently traumatized children away from here. Huh? Edla is not here… I see… So Edla too…
“Mikal, watch closely, okay? This is the power of a magical beast.”
『GROARRR!!』
Sig-san threw the rock with quite a bit of force and then Spica easily cut the rock into small pieces with his wind attack he launched from his roar.
Mikal, who was standing beside Sig-san, was so surprised that his eyes widened and his mouth was hanging open. He couldn’t even utter a single word.
I guess it never occurred to him that Spica, who he had kept on making fun of, is capable of doing something like this.
『Master, did I do it right?』
“Yes. Great job, Spica.”
Spica came trotting back to me, wanting me to praise him. I stroked his head and then he started pressing his head against me, purring happily.
“You got it now? The magical beast you made fun of is actually really strong. The only reason that magical beast didn’t kill you is because Ren didn’t want his contracted magical beast to kill anyone for nothing. If it was anyone else, you might have already become a piece of meat by now. Just because you’re still a brat, doesn’t mean you will be forgiven. So you better think properly before you speak!”
“Yeah….”
Sig-san started reprimanding Mikal but maybe because Mikal was too shocked, he couldn’t even let out a cohesive answer.
Was it really too much of a shock for him?
Mikal then walked away and sat under the shade of a tree. He seemed to be thinking about something.
“Spica is so amazing!”
“He looks really cool.”
“It’s amazing he can protect Ren-san even though he looks this adorable!”
『I know, right? You guys can praise me some more if you want, you know?』
The children came rushing to us, praising Spica all at the same time. Happy that he was praised, Spica went over to the children and snuggled his body against the children’s legs.
It seems none of the children becomes scared of Spica. I’m glad…
『I’m amazing too! Master~ I also want to show them how strong I am!~』
“Altair, you mustn’t, okay?”
『Can’t be helped… Then, I’m going to play with them again~』
Altair, who was perching on my shoulder, said that he wanted to show his good point to the children too but I stopped him because it’d be dangerous. He then slowly went flying toward the children to play with them again.
