Published at 19th of January 2020 1:28 am

Volume 7, Chapter 2: Sequel: The Little Adorable Waitress and the Pup and the Pup and the Pup

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

“Yes, I suppose it is about time that I return home for a while,” Hagel said one day, several weeks after Dale and Latina had returned to Kreuz and their everyday lives, as he slowly lifted up his massive frame.

“Really?” Latina asked, tilting her head, only for Hagel to nod back.

“I have now experienced this ‘city living’ of the races of man, which I had always wanted to do at least once.”

Dale thought that it was thanks to the influence of his grandmother back in his home village that a rare mythical beast like Hagel knew such down-to- earth terms. He also felt it was unusual for mythical beasts to be going out on something resembling a “vacation.”

“So you’re heading back? It’ll really feel lonely around here, then.” “It was pretty fun drinking with you, after all.”

Those reactions had come from the old-timers who made up the regulars of the Ocelot. At some point, the mythical beast had become a drinking buddy for some of them. It was hard to tell what was more worthy of comment: how unprecedented the situation was, or how open-minded the old-timers were.

The world was vast, but surely there were no other stories out there of a mythical beast settling down in a bar.

With slightly cloudy eyes, Dale looked at his “big bro” Kenneth. The man had been watching his beloved daughter wander about, only to then look back at his “little bro” with an astounded gaze.

“Apparently, your grandmother introduced him to booze.” “That damn hag...!”

Sure enough, Dale’s grandmother Wendelgard had been the culprit.

“Hey, watch your mouth around Emma.”

Dale didn’t say a word about the fact that Kenneth had gone completely soft in regards to his daughter. That was because he knew to do so would result in every person in the shop unanimously stating, “you’re the one person who has no room to talk.”

“Latina grew up to be such a good kid, even though she was by my side.”

“I think that’s more proof of how much Latina’s real parents had their acts together,” Kenneth bluntly responded, and then he scooped Emma up. Dale was aware that Kenneth, who was wondering whether he’d prefer a boy or a girl for their third child, had recently restarted his training that he had neglected after retiring from active duty.

It may have been in the form of her “master,” but Kenneth had watched over Latina’s growth as one of her guardians, seeing in the process just how quickly girls came of age.

Emma was so small right now, but she would surely mature into an adult shockingly fast, too. Kenneth devoted himself to his training, for when “that day” came.

Dale thought quite a bit on Kenneth and the state he found himself in.

He doesn’t have much room to talk about me...

By the way, Kenneth felt the need to teach his daughter combat techniques and how to defend herself to a greater degree than he did for his son. Dale would helpfully agree to the plan, and so Kenneth’s children would become skilled enough to hold their own against a reasonably accomplished adventurer, but it would still be some time before that came to pass.

Everyone, the regulars included, turned a blind eye to the fact that this single bar in town possessed such an excess of military might that they would even surpass an army.

With the air of old friends of many years about them, Hagel and the regulars talked away, as if loathing to part.

“It was a daily occurrence, seeing some rookie get shocked upon seeing you, and afterwards be creeping about and ready to flee.”

Would that not be a fine example of interfering with business?

“If that’s all it takes to make them weak in the knees, they’d be of no use on the battlefield anyway.”

“That’s for sure. Well, anyone with even half a backbone went off to the relay point to Vassilios, so I suppose there’s no helping it.”

The giant beast was in the midst of those loudly guffawing old-timers as if it was only natural.

“...Wouldn’t it be more concerning to have someone not find him at all out of place?”

“It’s a little late to be saying stuff like that!” “By the way, who’s picking up Hagel’s tab?”

“Latina will be handling it. She said it was her responsibility to pay for his food.”

Dale thought on how nobody commented that normally the food for a

“pet dog” wouldn’t include alcohol.

It was then that, with Dale watching, Latina tilted her head and asked,

“It’s just Hagel? What will Vint do?” bringing up the name of the other “pet dog,” who was currently playing with the owner’s son, Theo, in the backyard. Hagel once more gave a nod and said, “I shall return with him by my side, at least for the time being. I believe my mate should also wish to see how he is doing.”

“Mate?” Latina questioned, tilting her head at the bit of unfamiliar vocabulary.

“Little Lady, he means his wife,” one of the regulars explained. “Hagel’s wife... so Vint’s mother, you mean?”

“Indeed.”

Dale wondered why nobody commented on the fact that mythical beasts forming spousal relationships was being treated as completely natural. Why was it that even though they were both members of the seven races, the people of Vassilios didn’t understand the custom of marriage, but these pups did?

Dale felt like he had just caught a glimpse of the gulf in understanding between different cultures.

“Maybe you should ask him for the secret to spousal harmony, eh, little lady?”

Latina’s cheeks tinged a little red in response to the regular’s words.

Seeing Latina act so bashfully, the people around her broke out in teasing laughter.

As if she’d ask an animal something like that, Dale thought to himself, but it was already too late.

“Males cannot form a society on their own. Treating females with proper respect is the secret to achieving harmony for the entire pack.” “You really have it rough too, don’t you?”

The old-timers poured a bottle of booze into the colored plate before Hagel, urging him to keep drinking. Dale realized a little too late that that colored plate, which wasn’t normally used in the Ocelot, served as Hagel’s personal drinking cup, and was no longer able to hold himself back from making a comment...

“That’s the truth.” “Sure is, right?”

...or he was about to do so, but when his senior in terms of the married lifestyle, Kenneth, voiced his agreement with a serious look on his face, Dale swallowed his words. Apparently, the world’s spouses were hiding all manner of hardships of which someone like Dale remained unaware. He had only just had his fill of a sweet engagement period, after all.

And then, the coming day, Hagel spread his wings wide in the backyard of the Dancing Ocelot. With a heavy thud from the flap of his massive wings, he left behind some brief words of farewell to those present, “Well then, may we meet again.”

Not even waiting for a reply, Hagel took off into the air in the next instant. Without any hesitation, he changed direction to face Tislow, and they saw his silhouette take off towards the east.

Vint looked like he was about to take off after his father, but first turned around and rubbed his head up against Latina, wagging his tail all the while.

“Leaving now.”

“Take care, Vint. And give my regards to your mother, alright?”

After Latina said that, Vint trotted off towards the southern gate on the outskirts of town.

Later on, Dale was seriously chewed out by a guardsman as Vint’s “owner.”

Since the official position was more or less that he was a “dog,” it would be a serious issue if he were to suddenly and carelessly take off in the middle of town. Owing to that and the fact that he often used the forest south of Kreuz as a playground, Vint had grown skilled at passing through the southern gate at all times of day. It had reached the point where the gatekeeper stationed there simply let him pass without question.

Normally, there was a toll for entering Kreuz. When Dale questioned the gatekeeper about the matter, however, he simply asked with a straight face, “Would you take money from a dog?” Dale was left feeling strangely unsatisfied with his answer.

And then, after less than a week back home, Vint returned to Kreuz.

Moving to the beat of his own drum, as always, Vint trotted into the Dancing Ocelot, walked straight up to Latina with his tail wagging, and reported his return.

“Back home!”

“Welcome home, V...int...?” Dale heard Latina’s voice skip a beat as it trailed off into a question, drawing his gaze in the direction of her and Vint. At a glance, the soaring wolf wagging his tail near the entrance to the Ocelot looked the same as always. He still had on the poncho that Latina had made for him to conceal his wings when he was out about town, which had become his trademark. It had gotten a bit dirty from his journey.

Dale soon got a clear look, however, at what his initial glance had left him feeling was out of place.

The poncho Vint had on was squirming about. Even Dale couldn’t stop himself from shooting up a bit in surprise.

“What is that?” “What’s going on?”

“Were born,” Vint said, giving a response that was difficult to understand.

Before Dale and Latina could ask for clarification, though, three furballs rolled on out.

“Said want to come, so no helping it.”

He said there was “no helping it,” but that didn’t look at all accurate to Vint’s feelings. He really did move to the beat of his own drum, as always.

Looking closely at the furballs, they appeared to be puppies with wings.

“Brought along,” the mythical beast said with an embarrassed laugh and then stuck out his tongue. Two of the furballs were the same color as Vint, while the other had black fur. They all tilted their heads a bit in the same manner.

As Dale sat there dumbfounded for a moment, the three furballs sounded off in high voices, “Urf.” “Urf.” Woof.”

Then with a strangely satisfied look on his face, Dale gave a single nod.

“Unlike Vint, they can give a proper dog-like bark.” “Woof!”

“Yours just sounds fake.”

While Dale and Vint were having that exchange, the three furballs all headed toward Latina unnoticed. They circled around her while crying out in their sweet little voices all the while, and tried to climb up into her lap.

“Wah...”

As an animal lover, Latina completely lost any urge to remark on the current situation, instead bending her legs and scooping up all three furballs at once. Latina grinned widely when the pups in her arms happily licked at her cheeks.

Though she was enjoying it, she found just hugging to not be enough, so she lowered them down atop her knees and started petting them over and over. The furballs seemed to take great pleasure in that, their eyes happily narrowing and showing their fluffy bellies.

“...What should I do, Dale? These puppies are just too cute!” “Ah, so you finally came back to us.”

It had taken a while for Latina to return from being completely engrossed in the furballs, forgetting everything else going on around her.

Since doting on Latina was Dale’s singular focus, he simply sat there quietly and let her be.

“Vint, what’s the deal with these puppies?”

Judging from the wings, he presumed they were soaring wolf puppies.

However, they were far too young to speak the languages of man.

“Little brother, sister, brother.” “They’re your siblings, Vint?”

Now that he mentioned it, two of the puppies did have grey fur that closely resembled Vint’s. However, they were quite a bit fluffier than their older brother.

Nobody had any trouble whatsoever calling them “dogs.” The standards for what qualified as a dog had become rather out of whack for the Ocelot.

“Were born at some point.” “Is that how it went?” “Daddy surprised too.”

“Ah... So they were born when he was wandering the world with me?”

The journey to wipe out the demon lords was already becoming a matter of the past to Dale, and had gained the nuance of being like a round-the- world trip. The hero’s brutal deeds made sure that the murdered demon lords would be turning in their graves over that thought, though.

“What’s Hagel up to, now that you mention him?” Dale asked, realizing that Vint had returned alone.

“Being lovey-dovey with Mommy,” Vint responded indifferently. He didn’t hold back when it came to his father. “May end up with more.” “Arf.” “Arf.” “Arf.”

From the way that the puppies all responded in the same manner, it would seem that they understood human language. And apparently they also felt the same way about the relationship between Hagel and his wife.

“Well... when he came along with me, he said he’d already retired as head of the pack.”

“Really?”

“So he must have time on his paws now.”

Apparently Hagel was busy enjoying his retirement. Dale could sense something akin to Vint’s whimsical nature in his father’s actions. “Daddy and Mommy, lovey-dovey alone time.”

Dale was suddenly struck by the strange additions made to the pup’s vocabulary during his long stay at the Ocelot.

Meanwhile, Latina was completely absorbed in the adorableness of the puppies, and Dale was busy being his deplorable self, so they didn’t notice, but...

Soon afterwards, the Ocelot became the site of an emergency meeting of the regulars.

“Kenneth, to start with, shut the door!”

“Sorry, Rita, but please close up shop temporarily, and restrict normal customers from coming in.”

“I suppose there’s no helping it. Theo, take Emma and head up to the second floor. And make sure you keep a proper eye on her!”

“We dispatched someone to the guard station. The captain should be here soon.”

Latina had a look of confusion on her face at the commotion going on around her, but kept doting on the furballs all the while. Meanwhile, the circuits in Dale’s brain seemed to finally click back into place, and he at last reacted. He had apparently been in quite the deplorable state, for it to have overcome his reactions as a serious hero.

“...Isn’t this really bad?” “Woof?”

“They may not have any combat ability, but these pups are still mythical beasts, right? There will be people with plenty of gold and eccentric tastes who’ll want them, and also craftsmen who want to get their hands on materials from mythical beasts, right?”

“Ah...”

It was apparently then that Latina at last recalled that her “pet dog” was a rare being known as a mythical beast. Meanwhile, Vint’s younger siblings that Latina was holding were playfully nibbling at her fingertips. No matter how one looked at it, they were just little furballs who were utterly harmless.

“With that said, if something were to happen to these pups, then the soaring wolves from back in the village would come for revenge, wouldn’t they?” Kenneth asked, causing Latina to shoot Vint a troubled look.

That had become an issue when Vint came to Kreuz, too. For beings that could travel through the sky like soaring wolves, Kreuz wasn’t an especially far off place. And it was impossible to deny the possibility that a pack of furious mythical beasts would descend upon Kreuz if anything were to happen to the puppies, as they possessed a strong sense of camaraderie.

Vint may have still been a pup himself, but he was capable of showing discretion. And when it came to Hagel, it would be flat-out ridiculous to worry about him. But it was a different story when it came to these furballs.

Despite Latina pointing a troubled look his way, Vint seemed to feel no sense of responsibility and just kept scratching his neck with his hind leg.

The heated discussion continued on for a while, until finally reaching a conclusion that made everyone give a collective sigh.

“Well... y’know...”

“That’d be safest, right?”

“And he does have the most free times on his hands.”

The members involved in the meeting all turned and looked at Dale as they said such self-serving things. Dale hadn’t participated in the discussion and paid no attention to those gazes, instead watching Latina tire herself out playing with the furballs. Jealous of his younger siblings, Vint pushed aside the furballs curled up atop Latina with his front paw, and then placed his head atop her knees. His mood seemed to turn around when Latina petted his head with a strained smile, causing him to happily wag his tail.

The puppies who were shoved aside by Vint didn’t seem to let that get them down, as two of them circled around their big brother to get back to Latina, while the other climbed atop his back and looked at her with big round, cute eyes.

“So cute!” (Dale thought about Latina frolicking with animals.)

“They really are adorable,” responded Latina with a smile, not knowing what Dale had just muttered to himself mentally. While squinting his eyes a bit, Dale called out to Vint, “Vint, you said these pups ‘wanted to come,’ so their objective was...”

“Latina, of course.” “Sure enough...”

Apparently her petting skill was already legendary amongst the soaring wolves.

“Daddy’s slick fur, really popular.”

“Because of Latina’s brushing, huh...?”

“All lovey-dovey with Mommy. Probably get more.” “Arf.” “Arf.” “Arf.”

Apparently the puppies were also fond of the idea of getting even more siblings.

“So they get along, huh?” “Lovey-dovey!”

It seemed that Latina really was loved by canines. The puppies showed no hint of budging so much as an inch from Latina’s side, and Vint looked at his siblings’ actions as if they were only natural.

“...What is it?”

“Well, those pups’ objective is Latina, right?”

“So it seems,” Dale said with a nod in response to Kenneth, who was acting as representative for the group.

“In that case, they’ll spend most of their time near her, yeah?” “I suppose so...”

“So the obvious conclusion we reached is that you should be responsible for the pups.”

“Huh?” Dale questioned, the gazes coming from around him all turning lukewarm.

“You haven’t been leaving Latina’s side at all lately, yeah?” “Yeah, and you’ve had your eyes fixed on the little lady’s rear.”

“I’ve been looking at more than just her butt!” Dale retorted, picking a strange point to fix his rebuttal on.

“You must be overjoyed, having a good reason not to leave Latina’s side,”

Rita said. Dale had reached his most deplorable of states, reacting like he wasn’t entirely dissatisfied with the idea.

“And besides, you have the greatest authority of anyone here. And in terms of strength, well... anyone who’d try to lay a hand on you would have to be a real idiot.”

“And so, you’re the best possible guardian for the pups.”

Currently, as the patriotic savior of the nation, the world-famous

Platinum Hero, his voice would be even more influential than that of Kreuz’s ruler, Count Kleinmifel.

He was a great warrior who had defeated numerous demon lords, like a figure from some epic tale. Add the fact that he had become an extraordinarily powerful demon, and there were now none who could possibly defeat him if he employed his full power.

“Vint, you weren’t intending for us to raise the puppies here, right?”

Now that he’d had the responsibility thrust onto him, Dale was having an exchange that was like a parent telling their child, “I don’t care where you found them! We can’t keep them here!” However, since the other party he was addressing was himself a “dog,” it made for a pretty surreal sight.

“When Daddy and Mommy alone time over, take back.”

“Hmm? So it’s more like you just brought them along for a play date?”

Dale said, looking a little relieved.

“Arf.” “Urf.” Woof.” The puppies sounded off in their sweet voices, surrounding Dale as their tails wagged.

“So after a bit of time has passed, you’ll be taking them back?” “Yeah.”

Imitating Vint, the puppies let out a sniff, sniff together. He may not have had it as bad as Latina, but Dale also found their poofy fur and big round eyes plenty adorable.

It wasn’t exactly as if Dale was an animal-hater. Back in his home village, it was normal to be accompanied by a hound when hunting, and whenever puppies were born, he would go along with his younger brother to go see them.

If it’s just for a bit, then it’ll be fine, Dale thought to himself. Looking at him, Latina had a realization. They really are Vint’s siblings...

Latina realized that the puppies had cleverly employed their cuteness in a calculated manner. However, rather than taking that as scheming or something done out of ill will, she saw it as them being good at adapting to the situation, like Vint was.

Well, they’re cute, so I suppose it’s fine.

And above all else, Latina was unable to overcome the allure of their fluffiness.

Latina wasn’t the only one with an expression of joy on her face over the sudden visit from the fluffy pups. Emma had been allowed back downstairs with the conclusion of the emergency meeting in the Ocelot, and the second she saw those stuffed animal-looking furballs, she let out a squeal of delight.

“Ooh!”

The puppies realized that Emma was fond of them, and wagged their tails while letting out sweet little sounds of their own.

Vint had been staying at the Ocelot since before Emma was born.

However, he mostly played with Theo. Theo’s athletic abilities were exceptional because he had a mythical beast as his playmate since he was little, so even a simple game of tag was on a level where the young Emma couldn’t possibly join in. Furthermore, Latina had gone missing back when Emma was just a baby, before she was old enough to understand what was going on. At that time Vint was making frequent trips between Vassilios and Kreuz, so his time in the Ocelot was limited. The time that Emma was able to spend with him hadn’t been long at all.

For Emma, ever since she’d been born it had been “normal” to live with a pup (soaring wolf) around, but Vint was more like her big brother’s personal pet dog.

And also, Emma was still a little shy around Latina, as the girl had only just recently returned to the Ocelot. Even if she was told they had lived together back when she was a baby, she had no memory of that, so to Emma she was essentially a stranger she had met for the first time just the other day. To her older brother Theo, Latina was his “beloved big sis,” so ever since she returned, he had fawned on her like a little brother like it was only natural.

That had been a shock for Emma, too.

Emma truly was interested in this kind, beautiful “big sister.” However, she didn’t know how to deal with the distance between them.

It was then that the fluffy little furballs had appeared.

The puppies also seemed to be fond of Emma, wagging their tails at her, but the one they were most attached to was Latina, sure enough. If the young girl wanted to play with them, she would need to approach Latina.

And Emma also knew that Latina was fond of children and good at dealing with them, so she would look after Emma if she took the initiative. However, Dale was always clinging to Latina, so that also meant getting close to him.

By nature, Dale was also fond of children, and he didn’t have any real trouble looking after them. If Emma was nearby, he’d watch out for her second only to Latina.

Emma’s doting father, Kenneth, was also aware that Dale would never do anything to harm his beloved child. Dale cared for Latina above all else, so he would never lay a hand on somebody else’s daughter, even after Kenneth’s precious little girl matured. He was someone perfectly safe and secure for Emma to be around.

Since he was worrying about such things as he stood there on the stairs,

Kenneth really had no room to talk about Dale being a “doting idiot.”

The number of furballs roaming around the Ocelot had increased, but Latina’s day to day life didn’t change all that much. She cleaned the Ocelot alongside Kenneth, and then diligently carried out her work in the kitchen. She never played with Vint while working there. The puppies followed Latina about when she was in the middle of cleaning, but when they tried to chase after her as she returned to the kitchen, they found their path obstructed by their elder brother, playing the part of a faithful hound.

To Emma, such times were a chance for her to monopolize the puppies. She squatted next to Vint and went around petting the puppies. Seeing that adorable little poster girl for the restaurant enjoy herself so greatly, the regulars couldn’t help but break out in wide grins.

Latina hadn’t actually forbidden the pups from entering the kitchen. The stairs were in the rear of the kitchen, and especially in winter, Vint would often go up to Dale and Latina’s room in the attic to rest. And the quickest route to Theo and Vint’s favorite place to play, the backyard, was to cut through the kitchen. It was also very convenient for the adults to have Emma and the puppies play in the backyard, since that made it easy to watch over them.

When Latina went on her break, she rolled up an old cloth in order to make an impromptu ball. Latina beckoned Emma and the furballs to stop playing in the shop and come out into the backyard. Next, she showed the ball to the puppies and then threw it. The furballs all took off at once, looking as if they were almost rolling along. The gray-furred male puppy was the first to reach the ball. However, before he could pick it up in his mouth, the gray- furred female and black-furred male caught up. As a result, it ended up in a scuffle to grab the ball.

The black-furred puppy was the one who successfully got it, skillfully catching hold of an opening. He then ran at full speed to carry it back to Latina, then obediently dropped it in front of her while wearing a look on his face that said he wanted to be praised.

Latina petted the puppies and then handed the ball over to Emma, who had been watching with twinkling eyes.

Emma threw the ball with all her might, but it fell just a few paces away.

However, the pups still had fiery gazes in their eyes and took off after it.

Seeing Emma giggle at the puppies’ antics, Latina broke out in a gentle smile.

The puppies obediently delivered the ball to Emma as well, but apparently had hit upon the idea of stealing it back before she could throw it. Emma started running with the ball so it couldn’t be stolen, resulting in the toddler and the puppies all frolicking about together.

And unsurprisingly, before long this ended with the toddler taking a splendid spill. At first, Emma wore an expression like she didn’t even know what had happened. She looked more surprised than in pain, but after looking down at her muddy, scraped up knees, she seemed ready to burst out into tears. Emma had just noticed the pain a little late to start crying right away, but Latina hurried over and scooped up the girl, hugging her tight to console her and said, “You did real good, Emma, not crying.”

Hearing Latina’s kind voice, Emma managed to pull herself back from the verge of tears. Recognizing how hard the young girl was trying, Latina patted her on the head and praised her further.

Latina skillfully wiped away the dirt from Emma’s skirt, and then cleaned her knee at the water station behind the kitchen. She checked the wound, and then lightly applied some salve that she had at the ready. There was a reason that Latina didn’t magically heal Emma’s injury, despite being able to use healing magic. If it were particularly serious, or something life- threatening that required immediate action, Latina wouldn’t hesitate to employ it, but it would be incredibly dangerous to give the young Emma the impression that injuries are something that can be easily healed.

Dale had been fairly clear on the matter to Latina once Theo was born. That had also been a necessary measure back in his home village, a unique environment where there were many people about who could use healing magic. Latina worried about Theo as he spent everyday running and jumping about and getting all scratched up. But after seeing him grow up to into a strong-willed young man, she realized that being overprotective would be harmful to her precious “younger siblings.”

Latina was able to calmly handle Emma precisely because she had such experience.

“Alright, all better now. It didn’t sting, did it?”

Emma nodded her head, and Latina broke out in a gentle smile.

“I’m so proud of you, Emma. You really gave your best, didn’t you?”

The whole time that Latina was treating Emma’s wound, the furballs were excitedly running around them, wagging their tails and winding about

Latina’s legs as if saying, “pay attention to us!” Even though she saw their adorable antics, right now her priority was the already-in-progress action of praising Emma. Understanding that, Emma let her “big sister” dote on her, which she hadn’t been able to bring herself to do until now.

“Big si—”

However, she felt too embarrassed to say those words she wasn’t accustomed to, and instead simply hugged Latina tight.

Dale had watched over this whole chain of events, having plunked himself down by the kitchen door. Since Latina wouldn’t pay attention to him, the gray-furred male puppy came running over to Dale instead. He showed off his poofy fur, making a face as if to say, “you may go ahead and pet me.”

Dale scooped the pup up and rubbed his tummy. Even though he bared his fangs in displeasure, Dale paid that matter no heed.

Latina really does seem like she’d make a good mother, Dale thought to himself and then broke out in a wide, sloppy grin. He was in the sort of deplorable state that shouldn’t be exposed to others.

†

Not even a month had passed before it was time for the furballs to return home.

The first ones to realize the situation were the members of the guard corps tasked with keeping the peace in Kreuz. The reason that Count Kleinmifel, the ruler of Kreuz, prepared a guard corps despite such things being unheard of in most other domains was because there were so many powerful adventurers in Kreuz. The adventurers themselves had their own unspoken rules and a self-governing organization, but things couldn’t simply be left to that. As such, an organization specifically tasked with keeping peace in the town was a needed. Since their duties were related, the gatekeepers of the town were also counted as members of the guard corps. The other counts would hire personal soldiers to guard their manors and towns from outside enemies, but the guard corps instead primarily concerned themselves with the town’s residents. As such, the guardsmen were a different sort of organization than those soldiers who stood atop the walls of the town, patrolling and keeping an eye on the outside. However, they served the same lord and their garrisons were close to one another, so it wasn’t as if they didn’t interact.

It was in that manner that the captain of the guardsmen learned that countless figures were approaching Kreuz. At first the guards had only half- listened to the information, not thinking on it deeply. It wasn’t rare at all to see flocks of birds or flying magical beasts moving as a group, after all.

Eventually, though, the captain realized a certain fact that caused him to break out in a cold sweat over his entire body. He immediately dispatched a subordinate to the Ocelot and constructed an emergency task force.

By the time he arrived at the Ocelot, the key members had already gathered, and Vint was seated quietly in the middle of them. His siblings with their matching fur colors were seated in the same posture, gazing at the people around them. They may have been thinking this was some sort of game.

Vint gave an embarrassed laugh and stuck out his tongue as everyone looked at him, and then confirmed that the situation was just as the captain had thought.

“Mommy’s scent came.”

With that one line, he had confirmed that a pack of mythical beasts had flown to Kreuz.

“...It’s only a matter of time before the troops realize what they really are.”

As they were part of a different organization, the captain couldn’t exert his authority to interfere.

“I’m sure they’ll form a squad to eliminate them.” “Yeah, that’d make sense.”

“That’d be the normal reaction, usually...”

Mythical beasts were the sort of beings that normally only ever appeared in epics and legends, so it would generally be impossible to even imagine one wanting to live as a pet dog in a bar on the outskirts of town, just to enjoy the brushing skills of one of its employees. Even with an explanation, no one aside from the regulars who had experienced it everyday would believe this confusing and bizarre fact.

“Our adventurer regulars would be able to get things under control... but not all the adventurers in Kreuz frequent our place...” Rita said with a sigh.

Kenneth continued on with a similar tone to the one his wife had used, “If some adventurers blinded by greed go for a reckless charge and are struck down in the process... well, it could even be someone with good intentions getting over eager, but that could lead to a grudge being formed.”

“Even if they are mythical beasts, there’s no guarantee that they’d come out of it unharmed, either...”

Adventurers normally made their living by hunting rare magical beasts.

Nobody had the right to stop them from doing so. Even though the adventurers of the Dancing Ocelot possessed a great deal of clout, they wouldn’t be able to enforce such a restriction.

“We’re going to be working overtime everyday from today on...”

The thought of the cleanup he would surely be in charge of no matter how things played out made the guard captain feel dizzy and caused him to sigh.

“...What if I take the puppies and head outside of Kreuz?” Latina offered, seeing the state everyone was in. She was seated in a chair with Emma atop her knees and the black puppy atop the young girl’s lap, making for a two- tiered stack. Everyone looked up together in response to Latina’s proposal, but soon shook their heads from side to side.

“That wouldn’t do, little lady.” “It’d only make things worse.”

“If we ended up with any more, it’d just be impossible to handle, right?”

If Latina carelessly came into contact with the soaring wolves, then there was a great chance they would be charmed by her and the number of “pups” hanging about would increase. It was easy to imagine her trying to negotiate to have them leave peacefully, only to end up having the whole pack follow her back into town.

“Looks like we’ll have to leave it up to you,” Kenneth said, patting Dale on the shoulder.

“Yeah... looks like it,” Dale consented with a sigh. He was still an acquaintance of the soaring wolves, even if he wasn’t as accepted by them as Latina.

Vint had a completely calm look on his face, only for Dale to stand up and give him a light thwap on the head.

“You’re going too, of course.” “Woof!”

And so, the members of the emergency task force in the Dancing Ocelot decided to bury the truth behind the incident as quickly as possible, sending Vint and Dale out under the veil of secrecy to do so.

There was a reason behind needing to do it “under the veil of secrecy,” too. Just as the emergency task force had feared, the patrols soon figured out the identity of those flying beasts. It had been decided that entry and exit through the gates would be largely restricted, under the pretexts of safety and the need to form a plan. But even so, Dale and the pup sneaked

In that way, it was a plot being concealed with the full assistance of the guard corps.

After leaving Kreuz, Dale confirmed that the soaring wolves were already at a distance where they could be seen with the naked eye, and then looked over at Vint out of the corner of his eye.

“Vint, guide them to some place a bit removed from the town. Can you use Wind magic or something to get them to notice us?” “Will give try.”

Vint’s Wind magic had earned his father’s seal of approval. Raising a roar alongside directing his magic, the pup managed to get the shapes in the distance to suddenly stop moving.

“They noticed... let’s move,” Dale said before taking off running at a speed far beyond what a normal human could achieve. Vint looked surprised at first, but then happily took off at full speed after him. Vint forgot their objective along the way and started enjoying it as if they were playing a game of tag. This resulted in him almost flying right into Dale when he stopped at their destination.

“You dumb mutt!” “Woof!”

With some speedy footwork, Dale dodged Vint, then landed a light blow on his head. With that, the pup seemed to remember what was going on and started grooming himself, as if to gloss over what had just happened.

The place Dale had guided the soaring wolves to was the open clearing used as a flying dragon landing space whenever he was invited to the capital. Dale and Vint looked up at the sky and saw numerous soaring wolves descend. At their head was a slender black-furred wolf that Dale was acquainted with. Dale had previously visited the soaring wolf village to request Hagel’s assistance. At that time, he had conversed with this female wolf, Vint’s mother. She had jet black fur, and wasn’t as fluid in the

languages of man as Hagel and Vint were.

Apparently she also remembered Dale. Without any hesitation, she smoothly landed right next to Dale, not even making a sound. Vint turned to face her jet-black frame and wagged his tail.

“Mommy.”

She looked at Vint and Dale with her dark reddish-brown eyes and in a high-pitched, feminine voice said, “Sorry for all the trouble my child has caused you.” Dale had heard it before, but she really did seem strangely accustomed to saying those words.

“No, he’s been no...” Dale started to respond with that old cliche, but then stopped and thought for a second. He pondered whether or not Vint had been a hassle.

He moves to the beat of his own drum, but he carries things for Latina, and plays with Theo... He’s actually been working pretty hard, now that I think of it.

He may have actually been doing quite a bit compared to watchdogs at large the world over. He really did do as he pleased a bit too much, though, so Dale was hesitant to praise him.

Having reached a conclusion internally, Dale faced back towards Vint’s mother. He may have not wanted to praise Vint, but he also couldn’t worry the pup’s mother, either.

“Honestly, he’s been doing a good job of carrying out all the tasks assigned to him, so you don’t need to worry.” “Not at all. He surely just causes you trouble...” “No, that’s not the case at all.”

Despite being a very common sort of conversation between two guardians, it was a rather bizarre situation, as one of them was a mythical beast.

Dale caught a fleeting glimpse of Vint out of the corner of his eye, and found that the pup had a self-satisfied look about him. Dale didn’t let it show on his face, but that irked him.

Several of the other soaring wolves had a look of “well, there’s no helping that” about them in regards to the conversation between Dale and Vint’s mother. Considering how fluent she was at apologizing, Vint must have done whatever he pleased back in their home village too.

“By the way, what is it that you came here for...?” Dale asked.

“My kids, three, gone. Searching,” the mother wolf responded awkwardly.

While Dale thought on that meaning, Vint approached his mother’s side with a know-it-all look about him. “Said want come, no helping.” “Three?”

“Sad leave others behind, so no helping.”

With Vint’s reply, Dale arrived at the conclusion that they were likely discussing the three puppies. Applying a bit of liberal translation, what she was saying was, “Three of my children went missing, so I came in search of them.”

As Dale nodded to himself in satisfaction, Vint’s mother suddenly opened her mouth wide and chomped down on her son.

“Yelp!”

“Ooh, you actually sounded like a dog for once...”

Vint continued to be gnawed upon as Dale stood there choosing something unusual to be impressed over. Vint tried to escape, but his mother was easily leading him around by the nose. When she pinned him down with her front paw, Vint once more let out a pathetic yelp.

The other soaring wolves showed no signs of trying to stop this exchange between mother and son. As such, Dale didn’t feel like getting involved, either. He didn’t want to interfere with this bit of canine-style discipline, and though Vint was being bitten he didn’t seem to be injured or bleeding. It was clear that his mother knew restraint. Even for someone from a different species like Dale, that fact was obvious.

But, well... being bit by such a big carnivore sure is a pretty rough form of discipline...

He was also in awe of the way that the mother wolf handled her movements. Despite Vint’s swiftness, he was unable to do anything, left powerless to stop his punishment from continuing on. She may have been even more skilled at physical combat than Hagel.

After a short while of enduring that punishment, Vint rolled over and showed his belly to his mother. It was a pose of complete surrender.

With that, his mother stopped her attack.

Dale looked over at Vint and saw that he was tearing up. It was the same face he had made when he seriously made Latina angry and she declared she would stop brushing him. Apparently he was truly sorry.

“Um... if it’s about the pu... your children, then they’re in town, but... if a large number of mythical beasts descend upon a human town, it’ll result in utter chaos...”

In actuality, just their flying so close had caused plenty of chaos as is.

“Understood.”

“I’ll come again with them tomorrow, so could I have you wait in a place removed from town?”

“My sincere apologies for repeatedly causing such trouble for you.”

Dale couldn’t help but wonder just what Vint had done back home to result in this vocabulary of his mother’s.

After seeing Dale and Vint off, the soaring wolves took off to the other side of the mountain. Dale gave a sigh of relief, figuring if they were far enough away that they couldn’t be seen, an extermination unit wouldn’t be formed.

Thus, Dale successfully stopped a fight between mythical beasts and humans before it even began.

However, he had forgotten something: there was someone in the Ocelot who it would take even more time to convince than the soaring wolves.

What Dale saw when he returned to the Ocelot was Emma with her arms around the puppies, objecting with all her might. His cowardly “big bro” Kenneth was looking on and thinking, wearing an expression that said he had no intention of getting involved with his beloved daughter’s protesting. It seemed he was afraid that if he took away the puppies, she would play her trump card of yelling out “I hate you, Papa!”

If her mother Rita were to yell at her, that would bring an end to the situation, but it would also result in a crying fit so fierce it would sound like the world was ending. Understanding that, and also being soft on the adorable little poster girl by nature, the regulars chose to simply watch and wait.

It seemed the most Emma’s little arms could hold tight was two puppies, so the gray-furred female succeeded in squirming her way free. The puppy headed towards Latina with her tail wagging, and when Emma’s attention was focused on wanting to get her back, the other two managed to slip out of her grasp. The puppies all clustered around Latina, enthusiastically wagging their tails. While watching that, Emma furrowed her little brows firmly in displeasure.

“Emma,” Latina called out in a very kind, pleasant tone. That was enough for the girl to break down sobbing. Latina beckoned Emma with a smile, and then picked her up in a hug.

“No... I don’t wanna...!” Emma yelled out loudly while crying.

“Right,” Latina replied, just hugging and listening to the girl rather than scolding her. She stroked Emma’s hair to soothe her, and waited patiently until the girl calmed down.

“Listen, Emma...” Latina said in a gentle voice, looking Emma straight in the eyes. “Their mother came to pick these little ones up. I hear she’s really worried about them.”

“But... but...”

“I know. You understand too. You just feel sad about it, right?”

Though she kept on objecting, Emma didn’t deny Latina’s statement. The whole time, a kind smile remained on the older girl’s face.

Latina had been a very pampered child. She hadn’t been spoiled, though, as she was constantly restraining herself. But at her core, she was still a pampered child even so.

Perhaps that was just the way she was because of the great loss she had suffered when she was very young. And it may have been affected by the never-ending doting from Dale, too.

As a result, Latina was skilled when it came to doting on others.

She would gently draw close, and with great kindness and her unique soothing nature, she would support those who had been hurt. Seeing her overflowing with such concern for others, she at times seemed almost divine.

Well, if demon lords are like a type of god, then I guess feeling that she’s a “goddess” isn’t exactly wrong!

However, unsurprisingly, that fact had nothing to do with how Dale felt.

Seeing how much she had grown only made it stand out all the more how much he hadn’t, to such a degree that it almost felt somehow refreshing.

“Vint, you can deliver your siblings to your mother, right?” Dale called out to Vint, suddenly remembering he was there.

“Woof.”

Immediately after the scolding from his mother Vint had been acting meek, but he had since completely returned to his usual self, lazing about.

“Won’t they get homesick, or feel lonely or something...?”

The pups didn’t look to be feeling that way at all in regards to their parting. That was why Dale had thought to ask, only for Vint to respond without a hint of hesitation, as always, “Just bring again, fine.”

“Hey.”

The pup apparently had no intention of repenting.

“They may come on own...”

Dale couldn’t immediately come up with a response to that statement.

He had no idea how long it would take for these furballs to grow up enough to understand the language of man and fly on their own. However, there was no guarantee that within a few decades, there wouldn’t be pups with wings wandering all about throughout Kreuz. In fact, it was actually pretty easy to imagine.

If I let Latina go play in the soaring wolf settlement... no. That’d only make things worse...

If he took Latina on frequent visits to his home village, the soaring wolves could let off steam by meeting with her in the mountains. That thought occurred to him for only an instant before he shot it down. With that the number of soaring wolves acquainted with her would only grow, and there was a chance it would cause the situation to worsen.

After failing to come up with a concrete solution, Dale looked over at Latina, who held Emma in her arms.

For now, it seemed that this incident at least closed the distance between those two in a single go.

Emma was so young that even Dale didn’t feel jealous of her. Theo wore a complex expression on his face, though, having had both his “big sis” and little sister taken away from him at the same time.

Dale became lost in his own thoughts again, thinking that there was no helping the way that Theo felt.

By the way, Dale had forgotten that there was no guarantee that the furballs in question would just behave themselves and head obediently back on home.

“Arf.” “Arf.” “Arf.”

“Gah?! Stay out of there!”

They were Vint’s siblings. There was no way that things would go so easily.

“Arrf.” “Urf.” “Arf.”

“Don’t go crying like that! You make it seem like I’m doing something wrong!”

“You shouldn’t go teaching the youngsters to abuse animals.” “Shut up, you!”

Dale and the valiantly fleeing furballs played a game of tag inside the Ocelot, with the regulars interjecting with occasional jeers. That “game” continued on into the night, until the furballs fell asleep with satisfied looks on their faces. Dale took them back to their mother the next day, signaling the end of this chaos.

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