Chapter 35
As I watched Deputy Captain Gideon and Patty, his aide, talking, Gideon noticed me and shouted angrily.
"You! Don’t you dare eavesdrop on the order’s classified business! Get out of here!"
"My apologies!"
...Wow, so that means I’ve officially been given permission to go back to the dorm, right?
They said there wasn’t any urgent work, and things seem hectic right now, so it wouldn’t be good for me to stay and accidentally overhear anything classified.
Yes, that’s permission to return to the dorm.
It still felt like I was on duty, but I decided to take advantage of the opportunity and head back to the dorm.
There was something I wanted to do before my roommate Olga returned.
On the way, I stopped by the cafeteria and got a bucketful of hot water.
Then I left the two bird-type monsters Zabiria had hunted soaking in the bucket for a while.
Zabiria still seemed to be asleep, so I left him tucked inside my uniform without moving him.
When the water in the bucket had cooled to lukewarm, I took out the bird-type monsters and plucked their feathers, taking care not to make a mess of the room. Soaking them in hot water made the feathers come off easily.
Once I’d plucked as many feathers as I needed, I poured out the water and put the monsters in the bucket.
All right, now I just need to wash these feathers and dry them. I won’t be using the meat, so maybe I can donate it to the cafeteria.
I wrapped the feathers in a dry towel and patted them repeatedly to soak up the moisture.
When the feathers were dry, I took out some blue cloth and sewed the monster feathers onto it.
Zabiria stirred just as the sun was about to set below the horizon.
"I dreamed about the old days..."
Seeing Zabiria mumble that with a dazed expression, I couldn’t help giggling.
"Oh, Zabiria. When were the old days for a zero-year-old?"
With a proud look, I brought out the thing I’d been hiding.
"Ta-da! A transformation outfit made just for you, Zabiria!"
It was a piece of cloth with a huge number of feathers from Blue Doves, blue bird-type monsters, sewn onto it.
Zabiria must have been so delighted that he was speechless for a while. Then he murmured in a dazed voice.
"Fia, don’t tell me you’re trying to disguise me as a Blue Dove?"
"As expected of you, Zabiria! That’s right!"
Zabiria looked like he wanted to say something, but seemed to decide to stay quiet and spread his wings on my lap.
"Go ahead, Fia. Turn me into a Blue Dove."
I carefully dressed Zabiria up. There were ties under his neck and belly, but the feathers were arranged to cover them, so they shouldn’t show. I even attached a beak.
Looking at the finished Zabiria, I let out a satisfied sigh.
"Perfect, Zabiria! Not a bit of black is showing. You look just like a Blue Dove!"
"Yeah, my vision’s obstructed, so I can’t see very well, but is that okay?"
"Ah, that’s because I used feathers from two birds. You’re fluffier than a normal Blue Dove. Hehe, isn’t it luxurious?"
"Yeah, I think we should be focusing on whether I look like a Blue Dove. But thanks for making me look so fancy. I’m happy."
I looked a little dejected as I stroked the blue feathers of Zabiria, now a Blue Dove.
"Actually, Captain Cyril gave me an amazing plan, but I messed it up. Apparently, the human imagination is the strongest thing there is. Instead of showing Zabiria to someone, I was supposed to make them imagine what kind of monster he was. They’d picture something terrifying and be scared out of their wits."
"Hmmm... That’s an interesting way of looking at it."
"But that plan didn’t work, so I’m giving up on it. Thinking about it, even if people were terrified by how amazing my familiar is, there wouldn’t be any benefit to me."
"The strength of a familiar probably affects the hierarchy among knights, so I think that would be a good thing. Well, Fia, you aren’t interested in that sort of thing, are you?"
"That’s exactly why!"
I lifted Zabiria in both hands and brought him up to eye level.
"That’s why I’m thinking of taking you around with me from now on! You came all this way to be with me, so I want us to stay together. Of course, if you’re bored by my side, you can sleep in my room or play in the castle gardens. But you seem stronger than I expected, so I think we should keep the fact that you’re a Black Dragon secret for a while. That’s why I’m making this Blue Dove outfit I thought I might need, and it’s already coming in handy! Of course, if the other knights’ familiars are as strong as you and introducing you wouldn’t make you stand out, I’ll officially introduce you as my Black Dragon familiar."
"By that logic, I’ll be stuck as this blue bird forever. Ah, I’m incredibly happy to be by your side, Fia, but having to disguise myself as this weakest of monsters is painful enough to chip away at my soul."
Zabiria muttered under his breath, but I clearly heard the part about how happy he was to be by my side.
I’m glad I brought him along. Now...
"...Acting mysterious, huh? It might come in handy in the future, so I need to practice more."
"Fia, I don’t think that would help anyone, so you should stop."
"Hehe, Zabiria, you’re still such an adorable child. But adults need to be more cunning."
"...Yeah. Good luck with that."
Zabiria replied in a resigned voice and closed his eyes.
It’s okay, Zabiria.
I’ll protect you. I won’t let anyone bully you ever again.
The next morning, I headed straight for the Fourth Monster Knight Order.
Wondering where I should go, I entered the building reserved for the Monster Knight Order for now.
As I walked down the hall, I felt the passing knights glancing at my stomach. Surely they don’t think this is my actual belly, right?
Just then, Patty, the deputy captain’s aide, came walking from the other end of the hall, so I called out.
"Deputy Captain’s Aide Patty!"
Patty stared at my stomach in alarm and hurried over.
"W-what happened to your stomach? It seems a little too swollen to be from overeating..."
"I brought my familiar with me today. He’s still asleep, so I’m letting him sleep inside my clothes."
"Ah, I see. Fia, knights in the Monster Knight Order spend a lot of time caring for their familiars. The familiar stable is in a separate building, so why don’t you take a look later? Normally, I should start by showing you around the Monster Knight Order, but we’ve had an urgent matter come up, and I probably won’t have time to give you a tour for a while. I’m sorry, but would it be all right if I show you around another day?"
"Of course! If you give me permission, I’ll look around on my own and find some work to do."
I answered cheerfully.
The idea of taming monsters is so novel. They didn’t have that kind of technique in my previous life.
I happened to form a contract with Zabiria, but I don’t really understand how it works, so I’m very interested in the Monster Knight Order.
I bowed and was about to leave, but noticed Deputy Captain Gideon walking over, so I greeted him.
"Good morning, Deputy Captain Gideon."
"You’re still here?"
He didn’t return my greeting, only staring at me with a sour expression.
"Seriously, you keep showing up in front of me over and over. What, are you trying to catch my eye so I’ll promote you? I’ll have you know I’m a strict meritocrat! No matter how much you simper and fawn over me despite having no ability, or lick my boots, I won’t feel the slightest inclination to give you special treatment!"
At Deputy Captain Gideon’s words, Patty, the deputy captain’s aide, made an unhappy face.
"Deputy Captain, I thought you had a little more courtesy than that..."
But the deputy captain completely ignored Patty, as if an idea had just occurred to him.
"Right, I’ll give you a job. There are several injured familiars in the stable. Go get some healing potions from the Saint in the castle, then give them to the familiars twice a day, morning and evening. Keep doing that every day for a while!"
"Deputy Captain, that’s a bit much..."
"Shut up! Patty, tell the person assigned to healing potions this week that someone else can take over."
As I watched the deputy captain rattle all that off at once, I thought he was pretty harsh on outsiders, but people like this were often quite caring once they let you into their circle. Then Zabiria seemed to wake at the deputy captain’s shouting and stirred inside my clothes.
Then he poked his head out from my collar.
"Whoa! What is this thing?!"
Startled by a monster suddenly appearing from inside my clothes, the deputy captain leaped a step backward.
Oh, I’m glad you asked!
At the joy of being able to introduce Zabiria, a smile naturally spread across my face.
"Hehe, this is my strong and adorable familiar."
Zabiria, whom I’d introduced with pride, looked sideways at the deputy captain from beneath his fluffy feathers with clear blue eyes.