It’s been a week since Luna took the two bloody wolves home with her.
Apparently they eventually understood that their mother is dead, and that Luna is looking after them. They warmed up to Luna completely, and now they see her as their family.
Elga and Livia were the ones who told us this, since Luna hasn’t been here the past few days because she’s busy looking after the wolf pups.
But she’s here again today, with the wolf pups in her arms.
“Krr…”
“Grr…”
The wolf pups make those noises, and apparently their names are actually Krr and Grr. They were named after the noises they make, because they’re different.
Both have blood-red fur, but Krr’s is a little darker, and Grr’s is a little whiter.
That means it’s easy to tell the difference even when they’re not making noise.
“Say hello to Miss Reina, you two.”
“Krr…”
“Grr…”
“…S-so cute.”
The two baby wolves, seemingly understanding Luna, look up cutely at Reina and make sounds.
As for Reina, she looks at them and Luna holding them and starts trembling.
“Can they run already, Luna?”
“Yes! But they’re kinda rowdy, so they’ll take off running somewhere if I don’t hold them.”
“I see. You can let them play around here. Monsters don’t get near this place.”
I guess you could say my presence is a deterrence, because we almost never see monsters near this area.
Incidentally, when I enter monsters’ territories, the monsters are perceptive enough to take off running, so that makes hunting harder.
“Hm… Do you want to play?”
Krr and Grr both make sounds.
“I see… All right then.”
When she puts them on the ground, they dash like they’re in a race.
They keep running around, treating the houses like an obstacle course.
“S-so cute…”
“Are you all right, Reina?”
“…I don’t think so. After seeing nothing but dangerous monsters on this island, that might be too healing.”
“I see…”
I guess living on this island must’ve been putting some pressure on her. This sort of thing might be good once in a while.
“Uoh! What are these!?”
“Kyah!”
As I’m thinking that, Xellos and Merlin come out of their houses, just as the two wolf pups run near their feet. They get confused and look down at the bloody wolves.
I guess Krr and Grr think that’s funny, because they start running around them.
We think that whole scene is funny too, so we laugh. Merlin on the other hand sounds troubled.
“Hey, what are these!?”
“Krr and Grr.”
“I’m not asking their names… Kya!”
Krr suddenly jumps at Merlin.
That said, she’s one of the seven great mages. Even if Krr is a monster of this island, there’s no way she’s going to lose to a newborn baby, and she reflexively catches it.
“Krr.”
“…What? Geez.”
Krr is dangling as Merlin holds it by the scruff of the neck, but from its point of view, they’re just playing. It feels like it’s laughing.
Merlin on the other hand just looks troubled, and she’s looking at the small wolf with an exasperated expression.
“Grr.”
“Wai.. Why are you coming here!?”
Grr thinks Merlin is playing with Krr, and stops running around Xellos to instead go near Merlin.
“Hey Xellos! Aren’t you taking care of this one!? What are you doing!?”
“When did we agree on that!? It’s clear it’s you they like!”
“It’s because you’re not playing with it! Wait, I’m not playing either!”
Krr is dangling from Merlin’s hand, and Grr is running around her because it wants to play too.
Luna smiles, and Reina looks jealous. This sure is a sight I don’t see every day.
◇ ◇ ◇
Some time after the commotion with the little wolves, we spread a sheet on the ground that’s supposed to be for military use, and sit on it.
The weather’s nice today, so we decided to eat outside.
“So!? What are those things!?”
“Eh? You’re asking that now?”
“I have been asking this whole time!”
Grr and Krr are sleeping on Luna’s lap, probably because they’re feeling satisfied after playing so much with Merlin.
Reina slowly moves her hand towards them, and fearfully pets the babies.
Yes, there’s a pretty heart-warming sight.
“Are you ignoring me on purpose?”
“I’m not ignoring you. It’s just, how do I explain it?”
“They’re Krr and Grr.”
“Yes, Krr and Grr.”
“I’m not asking their names…”
Merlin drops her shoulders, and sits down like she’s tired of this.
She looks pretty tired from playing with Krr and Grr too.
“Ha, pitiful. Well, you’re not young despite making yourself look that way.”
“Xellos, do you have a death wish, speaking about a lady’s age? Wait, you’re about the same age as me.”
“But it’s all about discipline. Discipline.”
They start glaring at each other, and I hurry to get away from them and towards Reina, who is touching the two wolf pups with a happy look on her face.
Anyone would rather stay in this peaceful fluffy environment instead of that volatile one.
“You look happy, Reina.”
“Ah, look, Arata. These peaceful sleeping faces that just make you want to protect them…”
Reina typically looks sharp, but her face is looking pretty loose. Not that I don’t understand why.
“…They really are cute.”
“Right?”
They’re sleeping on Luna’s lap with their bellies exposed, looking so defenceless, that you wouldn’t think they were wild beasts until just a few days ago.
They really trust Luna a lot.
Reina touches them from time to time, and they fidget a little like they’re annoyed, and move closer to Luna.
But when Luna pets them, they have satisfied looks on their faces, and make small sleeping sounds.
“Ah… Such healing…”
“Have you been feeling stressed lately, Reina?”
“Eh? Not really…”
“I see.”
I was thinking that if I’ve been stressing her without realizing it, I should work on that, but I guess that’s not the case.
I feel relieved about that, and Luna suddenly looks up at me.
“Do you want to touch them?”
“Can I?”
“Yes. They know you’re their friend.”
“All right then…”
I try softly touching the two little wolves with their bellies pointed up. They look a little ticklish, but not unhappy about it.
“They’re sleeping, right?”
“Yes, but it looks like they still get it.”
I think that much in the same way dogs have an order of preference about their owners, so do these two.
First is Luna, then Livia and Elga, and I guess I’m the fourth.
They let Reina touch them, but that’s because Luna said so, so I guess she’s around that level.
And I guess Merlin and Xellos stand a little lower than us, like playmates.
“They might actually be pretty strict despite their cute faces.”
Well, that’s about the least you can do if you’re going to survive on this island.
“What will happen as they get bigger?”
“They’re still Luna’s little brothers, so Luna will protect them?”
“I see… Then raise them well.”
Luna, an only child, finally has siblings. If that helps her grow, it can’t be a bad thing.
“Ahh… Cute…”
I’m also happy to see a side of Reina I don’t often see, so I should thank these two for that too.
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