GalaxyTL
“Sorry to keep you waiting.”
As I was gazing at Juma-kun’s sleeping face, keeping an eye on Ronny’s progress, Ronny finally came back, grinning. Hiro-kun was perched on his shoulder, and next to him, a green light was floating. So that means…!
“Welcome back, Ronny! It went well, didn’t it!”
“Yeah, thanks to everyone. Thank you, Meg. And the spirits too.”
Shou-chan, Fuu-chan, and I all joyfully greeted Ronny, who was beaming. Then, at our request of, “Introduce us!”, which Ronny permitted, we spoke to the flower spirit.
“Wow, so cute!”
The green light glowed, transforming. It was a fluffy green rabbit! Whoa, so cute. Ronny’s surrounded by a fairytale forest. Especially since Fuu-chan, the yellow-green bird, was flying around him. I want to touch it…！ But I heard this one’s a bit timid, so I’ll hold back!
“I named it… Marim.”
“Marim-chan, huh. Fufu, nice to meet you.”
Marim, what a cute name. And what came to mind was… marimo (moss ball). It’s green, and if it curled up, it would be a marimo. Sorry! But it’s a cute, easy to remember name, so it’s fine!
『N-Nice to meet you… child of the Demon King.』
Uu! That bashful look and upward glance! So unfair! It’s so cute, cute…!
“Um, um… Marim-chan, can I… pet you?”
When I asked this, unable to hold back any longer, Marim-chan’s ears perked up, and its back straightened. Ah, did it not like that?
『I-I-I-I-It’s an honor! P-P-Please, with your soft hands… p-p-pet me… pet me… fwaaaah…』
But it seemed like that wasn’t the case. It was rolling around on the ground, moaning, even though I hadn’t touched it. Wh-What should I do?
Ronny, who had been watching, chuckled and explained.
“Meg… is famous among spirits. Like… someone they admire. So pet it. Marim will be happy.”
“I-Is that so? I wonder why… But, well then, excuse me!”
I approached Marim-chan and crouched down, gently petting its cheeks, back, and stomach. It’s so soft and fluffy, bliss…
『”I… I… am… so… happyyyyyy…!”』
I was basking in that blissful feeling when Marim-chan said that. Eh, Marim-chan too? Then this is a win-win situation! But I wonder why I’m famous. I wonder if being an elf and the Demon King’s daughter has something to do with it?
Ah, I wonder if it’s okay to introduce Homura-kun now?
“Hey, Marim-chan, one of my friends is a fire spirit, Homura-kun.”
『Fire… you say!?』
The moment I said, “Fire spirit,” Marim-chan stiffened. It’s okay, it’s okay, I continued petting it, conveying those feelings, and it relaxed.
“He’s very energetic, but he’s a kind spirit, so I want you to get along with him too. What do you think?”
『He’s not… scary… ?』
“Yeah!”
Now that it seemed a bit interested, I called Homura-kun. But he was timidly clinging to my back, wrapping his long, red tail around my arm. It seemed like he was only peeking out a little. Geez, he’s so cute.
『Ah, um, well… Nice to meet you, I’m Marim…』
『O-Oh, yeah. I’m Homura. Um… I’m not scary… okay?』
It seemed like Marim-chan was a bit intimidated just from being a fire spirit. But they were able to awkwardly greet each other, so this should be enough for now. I hope they slowly get used to each other and become friends.
“Hmm…? Did you finish?”
Juma-kun woke up, stretching, just as Homura-kun and Marim-chan had started to get a bit closer. Oh, perfect timing.
“Yeah, we’ve achieved our goal! Right, Ronny?”
“Yeah, I was able to form a contract.”
“Oh, you did it! Mission accomplished!”
Juma-kun said this with his usual grin and then ruffled Ronny’s hair. As always, he’s strong. He’s gotten a lot better at controlling his strength, but Ronny’s hair’s a mess. I guess it’s fine, since Ronny looks happy.
“Well then, let’s go back. It’ll be dark soon! And Saura will get mad!”
When I looked up at the sky, it was starting to turn red. When did that happen!? We returned to the guild with our new comrade. I’m getting hungry!
“What!? You hunted a chimera!? With those kids there!? What were you thinking? It’s a magical beast so terrifying that only a few people in our guild can defeat it!”
When we got back to the guild, Saura-san, Kei-san, and even Gil-san greeted us with relieved looks. Gil-san, who’d almost headed for the forest himself, was apparently stopped by Saura-san, who told him to believe and wait. She doesn’t waver.
“There’s no way I’d put those kids in danger! And a chimera, it’s nothing.”
“What if they think it’s an easy opponent just because you were able to defeat it!?”, Saura-san scolded Juma-kun, who was pouting. Don’t worry! Ronny and I won’t ever make that mistake! I exchanged glances with Ronny and chuckled wryly. It’s become clear to us too, just how strong Juma-kun really is.
“Saura-san, I learned a lot. And… I want to go with Juma-san again.”
“Ugh, Ronaldo! It’s great that you feel that way, but you need to tell us beforehand! We were worried!”
It was Ronny who defended Juma-kun. Saura-san, troubled by this, lowered her eyebrows. It’s true that they were worried. When she said she couldn’t relax knowing we might be in danger, I felt a bit guilty.
“Saura-san, I’m sorry! For worrying you… Come on, Juma-nii! Apologize!”
“Eh!? Hmm, but if you say so, Meg… Sorry, Saura.”
He apologized reluctantly, his mouth puckered. Yeah, yeah, it’s important to apologize!
“But you know? I learned a lot! We’ll make sure to tell you next time, so please don’t be too hard on Juma-nii today.”
“Ugh, even Meg-chan’s saying that, I guess it can’t be helped. …But there really was no danger, right?”
Ronny and I nodded vigorously at Saura-san’s question. Saura-san, after sighing lightly, smiled wryly.
“Alright, but just this once! From next time, make sure to tell me beforehand! Especially you, Juma, you’re always reporting after the fact! Anything that involves these kids, no matter how trivial, tell me first!”
“Got it! Thanks, Meg, Ronny!”
Juma-kun, who’d narrowly avoided the trap hell, laughed happily and tried to pat our heads. My hair can’t take any more of that, so I stopped his hand just before it could reach, but… I couldn’t help but burst out laughing when I saw Ronny doing the same thing.
“Wh-What the heck, you two?”
“Because you mess up our hair when you pat us.”
“Yeah, you’re a bit rough.”
“What!?”, Juma-kun laughed mischievously at our protest and then raised both arms above his head. It’s a strength pose! And we were dangling in mid-air, because we were still holding onto his hands.
“I’m controlling myself a lot, and it’s still not enough?”
Juma-kun said that, and then repositioned us so we were sitting on his arms. One arm each, how skillful. I felt myself float for a moment, though!
Thanks to that, Ronny and Juma-kun are now eye-level.
“Ronny, you want to do it?”
“Yeah, I agree.”
I grinned at Ronny, seizing the opportunity. He agreed without hesitation. You’re also a bad influence.
“Huh? What… Whoa, stop it!”
On the count of three, Ronny and I ruffled Juma-kun’s hair. Without mercy, completely messing it up! See, this is how it feels! How do you like it, Juma-kun?
Even though we were attacking him, he kept his feet firmly planted and didn’t move the arms that were holding us. As expected. He was saying, “Stop it!”, but he was laughing! Everyone around us was also laughing, saying, “Yeah, yeah!”
In the evening, the guild hall was filled with everyone’s cheerful laughter!