Chapter 45
“Whoa, F-Fia-sama!”
After parting ways with Charlotte and walking for a little while, I ran into Commander Quentin yet again.
It looked like he’d just taken a shower; Commander Quentin’s hair was still damp.
Perhaps he’d changed into his commander’s uniform as well. The uniform that had looked rather damp and rumpled earlier now looked crisp and neat.
Come to think of it, I’d heard Commander Quentin was away on a long expedition. Had he come to check on Deputy Commander Gidion and the others as soon as he returned? If so, he was a thoughtful commander who cared about his subordinates.
“Where are you headed, Commander Quentin?”
When I looked up and asked him, Commander Quentin pointed toward a building some distance away.
“Ah, well, I haven’t had a proper meal in a while, so I’m hungry. I was heading to the dining hall...”
“Oh, what a coincidence! I’m about to have lunch, too. Would you mind if I joined you?”
“Huh?! J-Join me? ...They say you have to enter a tiger’s den to get a tiger cub, but... wait, is this person a tiger’s cub? A dragon? No, she commands a Black Dragon, so she must be beyond even a dragon. Ah, actually, I don’t have the option of refusing in the first place...”
Commander Quentin muttered under his breath, then gave me a strained smile.
“Of course, Fia-sama. It would be a great honor.”
Perhaps because it was an unusual time for a meal, the dining hall was sparsely occupied. Even so, everyone who noticed Commander Quentin stared at him in surprise and greeted him.
Oh my, it seems he’s quite famous.
When I came back with the food I’d chosen, Commander Quentin was already standing beside the table.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.”
As I sat down, Commander Quentin took a seat as well.
Wow, what a gentleman! I’ve found a gentleman who doesn’t sit down before a lady!
But when I saw the gentleman’s tray, I tilted my head in confusion.
“Huh? Why do you only have water? You said you were hungry, didn’t you?”
“Haha. The truth is, I’m rather tense at the moment. I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I can’t eat a thing.”
“Oh, I understand. You were away on a long expedition, weren’t you, Commander Quentin? When you’ve been under stress for a long time, your body can stay tense for a while, even after you return to your everyday life.”
“Hahahaha... Ahhh...”
For some reason, all I got in reply was a dry laugh and a huge sigh.
Hmm? I think his thought process is a little different from mine. It may take me a while to understand what he says and does.
As I began eating, Commander Quentin kept glancing at my left wrist.
Something seemed to be bothering him, but whenever I looked his way, he quickly averted his eyes, so I couldn’t tell what it was.
“Commander Quentin? Are you curious about my left wrist?”
As I spoke, I held out my left hand toward him.
“Huh? Ah? Would you really let me take a look?”
“Yes? There’s nothing particularly strange about it. Oh, I do have my familiar mark, but you must be used to seeing those, right?”
Commander Quentin fell silent and began studying my wrist intently. He turned my arm over and stretched the skin around the mark. He was incredibly serious about it.
Ah, I get it. I’m like this when it comes to healing magic, too. Hehe, in a way, Commander Quentin and I are kindred spirits.
As I felt a sense of kinship and looked at him favorably, Commander Quentin let out a deep sigh from his chest.
“Amazing! I’ve never seen such a perfect familiar mark! It’s an unbroken line with absolutely no gaps!”
Commander Quentin rolled the left sleeve of his uniform up past his elbow and held it out in front of me.
“Look! This is my familiar mark! Eighty knights surrounded an A-rank monster and subdued it. This is what I got!”
A diagonal line wound around Commander Quentin’s left arm from wrist to elbow, as if a snake were clinging to it. It began about three centimeters wide and was more than twice as wide at the elbow. The mark seemed to continue above his elbow, hidden beneath his uniform.
Even from a distance, I could see that the mark was scaly. It was nothing like mine, which connected into a single line.
“I-I always thought a mark this long was only natural, since we subdued an A-rank monster. But after seeing yours, it all seems so ridiculous. How can it be this thin?”
Commander Quentin muttered in a dejected tone.
“Just one loop. And only one millimeter wide. Yet there isn’t a single break in it. That’s perfect subjugation.”
As he spoke, he slumped his large body against the table. He began muttering things like, “Ahhh,” and “Good grief.” After indulging in his own world for a while, Commander Quentin abruptly sat up and clasped my left hand in both of his.
“Please tell me whatever you can! With a mark this perfect, how much does the familiar synchronize with you? Just tell me what you’re able to share, please!”
Commander Quentin’s face was completely serious, and I could tell how earnest he was.
Yeah, I get it. He’s the commander of the Monster Knight Order, so he must know more than anyone about monsters and how familiars work. But that’s not enough for him—he wants to know more and more...
“Well, it was an accident that I was able to make this little one my familiar. They happened to be badly injured and close to death, so I healed them. Then they offered to become my familiar and carried out the contract themselves. Oh, right—they said that, by their race’s nature, if someone saves their life, they devote their life to that person.”
“Good heavens! Even if your familiar-sama is a juvenile, I can’t imagine a situation where they could be injured badly enough to be near death! And you healed them?! You restored an injury that this individual, with their exceptionally powerful self-healing ability, couldn’t recover from, through outside intervention? ...No, my common sense can’t make sense of any of this.”
Commander Quentin propped an elbow on the table and wildly raked his hand through his hair.
“So? How much do you synchronize?!”
“How much do we synchronize? No matter how far away we are, they come when I call. They do everything I tell them, and even when I don’t say anything, they act in line with what I want, as if they can read my mind. They also make their own decisions and act to keep me from ending up at a disadvantage. And... we’ve only been together for a short time, but sometimes they say things that make it seem like they know what happened while we were apart...”
As Commander Quentin listened to me, his expression brightened as if he’d had a sudden insight, and he snapped his fingers.
“I see! So the story about them appearing after tearing through space—that was because you called them! Still, we know almost nothing about the nature of your synchronization... Damn, Fia-sama must be so powerful that even a familiar-sama like this doesn’t interest her much. Fia-sama, would you mind if I asked your familiar-sama some questions directly? They can answer only what they’re able to, of course!”
“Huh? Oh, I’ll ask them.”
I called to Zabiria, who was in their usual spot inside my uniform. They poked their head out by my collar, glanced at Commander Quentin, then slipped out of my uniform and climbed onto my lap.
“I heard from Patty that your familiar-sama injured their syrinx, so their cries are distorted and sound like human speech. Please, speak to me in that distorted voice!”
Commander Quentin urged me with a desperate expression.
Hmm... Wait, has he figured it out?
I stopped stroking Zabiria and stared at Commander Quentin.
Commander Quentin stared back at me with a serious expression.
...Could Commander Quentin know that Zabiria was a powerful monster and not what they looked like?
I don’t think he knows they’re a Black Dragon, but... wait, he did mention them tearing through space and being a juvenile. Those are both things related to the Black Dragon.
Hmm... Come to think of it, Commander Quentin is the commander of the Monster Knight Order, so he can get more information about monsters than anyone else. If he puts all that information together, could he figure out that Zabiria is a Black Dragon?
And if he has figured it out, which would be better: pretending not to know, or showing my hand and getting him to tell me all sorts of things?
I glanced at Commander Quentin, but, as before, he only stared silently back at me. I couldn’t figure out the answer.
As I pondered and pondered, a sudden idea came to me.
That’s it. Maybe Commander Quentin’s silence is the answer.
He’s hinted at it this much but still hasn’t identified them as a Black Dragon. Maybe it’s better not to make it explicit. If we both acknowledged that Zabiria was a Black Dragon, neither of us would be able to act freely.
Making it clear that I know would mean I’d be obligated to report it, and my actions would be restricted, too.
I see, Commander Quentin!
I’ll follow Commander Quentin’s lead and not admit to anything he doesn’t ask about!
Even if something is practically black, gray is still gray—it isn’t black. What matters here is that it isn’t black!
I smiled at Commander Quentin.
“If this little one wants to answer, they’ll say whatever they like. Please ask whatever you’d like to know.”
At my words, Zabiria looked at Commander Quentin as if he were a bother.
“What do you want to ask me?”
“Y-yes. First of all, I’m deeply honored to hear your voice, familiar-sama. How shall I describe it? Perhaps it’s somewhere around the middle of a trumpet’s range, played by an angel in heaven, or the sound of a mermaid leaping from a spring in the middle of the desert...”
“Yeah, I have no idea what you’re trying to say. I don’t intend to waste time chatting with anyone but Fia, so could you get to the point?”
Zabiria cut off Commander Quentin with an exasperated air. Commander Quentin, who had been leaning forward, hastily straightened up.
“Y-yes, my apologies! Then, may I ask about your relationship with Fia-sama?”
“Fia and I are hot and heavy. In your words, it’s perfect subjugation. For example, our life force and magic are completely connected. It only flows one way, from me to Fia, but when Fia’s life force or magic runs low, mine flows into her. So Fia won’t die as long as I’m alive, and she won’t run out of magic as long as I don’t. I’ll be with Fia until the moment I die.”
“Pfft—!”
That was so surprising that I accidentally spat out the water I’d been holding in my mouth.
Poor Commander Quentin got a faceful of the water, but he didn’t seem to care at all as he waited for Zabiria to say more.
“N-no, Commander Quentin, you should at least worry about your head being completely soaked! W-wait, a towel, a towel—!”
“Fia-sama, I’m sorry to disregard your concern, but please leave me be. More importantly, familiar-sama, what a remarkable thing to say! Is that really possible? But if the flow is one-way, does that mean no life force or magic flows from Fia-sama to you?”
“Not unless I intend it to. ...On the other hand, Fia’s actions, thoughts, and emotions flow to me. No matter how far apart we are. Knowing my master’s circumstances and how she feels toward the people around her is necessary for me to decide how to act.”
“Pffft—!”
Another unexpected revelation came up, and I spat out my water again, even though I’d been drinking it to calm down.
And sure enough, the water rained down on Commander Quentin’s head as he leaned forward right in front of me.
“T-twice! C-Commander Quentin, I-I’m so sorry! Th-this time, I really will get you a towel—!”
“Fia-sama, this is an important discussion, so please leave me be. However, familiar-sama, that’s difficult to believe. You mean that even when you’re apart, you can know everything about what your contract master is doing, what they’re thinking at the time, and how they feel toward the person they’re facing?”
“No, I have to ask: if you don’t do that, how can you anticipate your master’s feelings? Do you ask them, ‘Should I kill that insolent man named Gidion, or kill him a little?’”
After hearing that much, Commander Quentin suddenly went rigid all over, then laughed in an unnaturally high voice.
“G-G-Gidion? I-I happen to have a deputy commander with the same name in my order...”
“You’re not an idiot. You know I’m talking about that bastard deputy commander.”
“Y-yes, of course! You mean our bastard Gidion. I sincerely apologize! I’m truly sorry he spoke insolently to Fia-sama!”
As he spoke, Commander Quentin bowed deeply to me.
No, no. Commander Quentin hasn’t done anything wrong at all!
So please lift your head! Having a famous knight commander bow to me in public is drawing way too much attention. Look, everyone’s stopped eating and is staring at us in shock!
I was frantically trying to get him to raise his head when, like a savior, someone tapped Commander Quentin on the shoulder.
“So this is where you were, Quentin. Let’s go.”
The unexpected interruption seemed to bring Commander Quentin back to his senses. He blinked several times, then looked up at the knight who had tapped his shoulder.
“Ah? Oh, right. The commanders’ council meeting...”
Then Commander Quentin hurriedly stood up, but turned back to me and Zabiria as if reluctant to leave.
“F-Fia-sama, I’m sorry for making such an impertinent request, but if you have the time, would you be willing to come with me?”
“Yes? If you’d like me to.”
As I answered and stood up, the knight who had put a hand on Commander Quentin’s shoulder seemed to notice me for the first time. He stared at me in surprise.
“Fia? What are you doing here?”
“...Good afternoon, Commander Desmond of the Second Knight Order. It’s been a while.”
I smiled and greeted Commander Desmond, who had come to fetch Commander Quentin.