CH 236.1

「Raitoninggu Sworrrd!」

Tauro’s home, located in the south of the entertainment district of the royal capital. It is a three-story stone building with a small third floor due to half of it being used as a rooftop garden.

Satisfied with the play with Ponytail after a long time, I returned home to spend time with my familiars.

「Is there anything you need help with or anything you want me to do?」

I sat down on the floor of the living room and called out to them.

On the bath towel laid out on the floor, three animals look at each other. Their looks resemble the fifth instar larvae of a swallowtail butterfly, a sow bug, and a turtle, respectively, but they are actually spirit beasts.

Each of them was about 15 to 20 centimeters long.

『It’s increased』

Imosuke, who looks like the fifth instar larva of the swallowtail butterfly, looks back at me.

I turned my head to look at the garden forest outside the window. At the root of the trees, I saw pale white lights scattered around.

「Ahh, the White Lady huh」

The White Lady is a type of mushroom.

Its size is about the same as the size of a fist, and it displays a lace dress-like umbrella. The name probably comes from its appearance, which resembles a lady in a white dress.

『More expensive than gold coins piled up at the same height』

It seems to be valuable as a magic material. But at the same time, it is also a poisonous mushroom.

The faint light emitting from the mushroom made it very noticeable after the sun went down.

「I did learned the technique to harvest it, but the problem is after that」

If I try to sell it myself, I will stand out because of its high value. It would be the same if I gave it away for free.

But since they are poisonous, I can’t just throw them away too.

「Can you make it so that they won’t grow here anymore?」

Imosuke is the leader of my familiars and the manager of the garden forest. I asked him, hoping for his ability.

But after lifting the front half of his body, he turned his head downward.

『It will grow itself in a place with a lot of magic』

Zaratan, who looked like a turtle, spoke up to assist him.

He sounds as if there’s no helping it. It’s like, 『Where there’s moisture, there’s mold』.

「Hee… So there’s also something like that huh」

I was impressed by his explanation after that.

It seems that my guess was not that far off. Mushrooms grow in the vicinity of potions that leak from the bottle, he said.

「Hm? What is it, Dangorou?」

The dung beetle seems to have something in his mind. He looked at me, Imosuke, and Zaratan in turn, then lifted his body.

He seems to be struggling to remember the name, but there’s no way I know.

『That’s right! It’s them!』

Imosuke seemed to get what he wanted to say. Zaratan nodded next.

「So there’s a magic beast who eat these」

According to Dangorou, some magic beast like to eat things with strong tastes, such as the White Lady. He says that some magic beasts like to eat things with strong tastes, such as the White Lady, which is probably poisonous to me.

When I asked them what kind of magic beasts they were, they immediately replied.

『They were nice』

『Yeah, they are』

According to Dangorou, they were careful not to step on him. He said that the whole herd avoided him, so it might be their nature as a species.

(Well, there’s also a fact that they both are spirit beasts)

Even a powerful large magical beast like the Heavy Lancers is obedient to General Dangorou.

Their appearance may be that of a caterpillar and a dung beetle, but they must be something special.

『I wonder if they would come here』

『Yeah, it would be great if they come』

A magic beast with a gentle nature and a tolerance for poisonous mushrooms. This is something that I would love to see coming here.

I wanted to look it up in the illustrated book, but when I asked Imosuke and the others what it was called, they didn’t know. So I asked them what it looked like.

『They got horns』

『A pair of them』

Imosuke answered, and Dangorou added. But it’s still difficult to search with only that description.

「Isn’t there anything else? Like, their special characteristics, for example」

The two animals begin to ponder. Zaratan, on the other hand, is staying silent next to me.

『I think they’re a bit similar?』

『A little bit smaller, I think』

My eyebrows arched like a roasted squid as I looked in the direction the two animals were facing. There, enjoying a nighttime stroll, was a Heavy Lancer.

「So they look similar to Heavy Lancers, but a bit smaller, is it?」

The 『similar』 part was delayed, but the turtle immediately nodded at the 『slightly smaller』 part.

(If a herd of them invades the Kingdom’s territory, it’ll be like the Heavy Lancers incident all over again)

There’s no doubt that there will be a fuss about evacuation and subjugation.

It’s not a matter of them being nice or gentle. I couldn’t leave a being that could destroy a house with a single move, get near a human settlement.

After thinking about it, I made a suggestion to Imosuke and the others.

「Why don’t you try summoning them, like the Heavy Lancers?」

Imosuke summoned Dangorou with his magic from the Spirit Forest.

Apparently he did that to help Dangorou, but he transferred the entire herd for the Heavy Lancers.

「What’s the matter?」

However Imosuke and Dangorou were fidgeting. When I ask them what’s the matter, they say they can’t summon them.

「So you can’t summon them unless they want you to, huh」

According to them, for Imosuke’s power to work, the other party needs to acknowledge him and wish to come here.

「What should we do then?」

As I and the two animals were pondering while tilting our heads, Zaratan came up with a suggestion.

「Eh? You want to go to the Spirit Forest, negotiate with them, and bring them back on your back if they agree?」

The turtle in front of me was about 20 centimeters long. But that’s just the size of when he’s here, when he’s actually 200 meters long in the real world.

(Come to think of it, he’s the world’s most famous Great Spirit Beast)

He had been living in a lake in the Spirit Forest for many years, but was attracted to Pomelo and came here by transfer magic.

He had also brought fishes from the sea, so he could use transfer magic without too much trouble.

「Surely something the size of Zaratan could carry a small herd」

The Heavy Lancers, running around in the garden forest, is about the size of my pinky fingernail. In reality, it is a large magical beast, sixteen meters tall, but in the Garden Forest, they become smaller.

It seems that it was Imosuke’s special power as the manager of this garden forest.

「I see, it’s been a year since that time isn’t it?」

The memory of that night comes back to my mind. I was in the garden forest when suddenly a mysterious voice echoed in my head.

『Choose a tree guardian』

Although I was surprised, I was urged by my familiars, so nominate myself. However, it seemed that I was not qualified, so they chose Imosuke and Dangorou instead.

They were qualified, and were given the cool titles of 『Guardian of Seeds』 and 『Guardian of Tree』.

(I didn’t think much of it at the time, but thinking about it now, it’s a strange event)

As a newcomer to this world, I can only think, 『As expected of the world with magic』.

Zaratan was nodding deeply, but it was the usual thing.

『That’s a good idea』

『Bring them here』

I turned to Zaratan as I felt a wave of approval from Imosuke and Dangorou.

「Then, I leave it to you. But be careful of the bad guys, okay」

The image of the elves appeared in my mind. Somehow, I felt as if Zaratan made a wry smile.

He said that he would be heading out in a few days, so we’ll just have to wait and see.

After all, he was a long-lived turtle. I don’t know how his sense of time works.

(Hm?)